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✩ CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: Koumyou Sanzo
CANON: Saiyuki
AGE: mid-to-late 20s
CANON POINT: Ibun, as Tenkai Sanzo is dying
BACKGROUND: Wiki Link

PERSONALITY: Koumyou's major motivations in life are rather obscure, but he tends to act as a guiding force for other people. Only directly interfering when necessary, he walks a path that embraces the Zen Buddhist ideal of freedom from worldly desires in an unconventional way. Described as a straying cloud, he's created his own path and offers insight to those that haven't yet figured out where they're going. Surprisingly enough, sometimes he's quite good at it.

While Koumyou is among the most exalted priests of his world's version of Buddhism, he's not what one might expect. He wears his hair in a ponytail where other holy men would sooner shave, and enjoys worldly pleasures without any guilt. He enjoys a variety of pastimes, such as drinking sake and gambling, and was known by his fellow student-monks in his training as being an irreverent goof. The general Buddhist prohibitions for a monk don't seem to apply to him, and he's shown that he's willing to kill in serious circumstances.

Good-natured, Koumyou is known to be something of a natural. Yet his skill in magic is apparently unsurpassed in his world, and comes to him so easily that he doesn't even have to commit the mantras and mudras necessary to use it. As a result, he's known to have had trouble memorizing Buddhist scripture, and he even seems to retain that somewhat shaky grasp on the teachings as he grows older. He's quite comfortable with this, saying in his latter years that he really shouldn't be teaching anyone anything besides folding paper airplanes. Instead, he tends to exemplify the lessons through how he lives his life.

He is also a natural fool to the core. He can seem helplessly ditzy at times, forgetting simple things and failing to take time to care for his own health. Even in his twenties, he's known for whining in a childish sort of way. (He's no fan of the cold!) During the life or death training to become a Sanzo priest, the holiest of the holy, he was known for falling asleep during lessons. Yet, despite his many failings, he cares deeply for others and wants to offer them help. Unfortunately, there's no telling whether he might offer a profoundly insightful advice or a baffling non sequitur.

Compassionate, he is deeply invested in other people. He despises monks that hold themselves apart from other people or use their position in unjust ways. As he grows older, he seems increasingly detached, but it never detracts from his love of the world and of all people. Though his life as a "stray cloud" sort of person makes him seem frivolous, there's a deeper side to him defined by his dedication to others.

For one reason or another, he doesn't seem to pass judgement often. He may intervene to stop needless harm, but he doesn't pursue revenge. He'd rather avoid conflict altogether, and rarely takes anything personally. After all, everyone earns the life they are given through karma. He'd sooner attempt to obliquely influence the path of another person, to redirect or to distract, but their choices and the consequences are their own doing. And, in the end, he feels sympathy for those that are driven to go down a darker path.

It's rare that he takes on a serious expression. While he is playful and foolish when allowed to be, he can be dangerous when pushed to his limit. While it takes a great deal to provoke him, he's coldly vicious in his retaliation and known to respond with overwhelming force. He'd much prefer to settle a problem without violence if at all possible, as it's better to become friends over sake than it is to leave bodies in his wake. That said, he'll go to extremes if he believes he must, and will put everything on the line for greater good. This is a man that will one day be able to die of his own volition with no regrets and a smile on his face.

ABILITIES/POWERS: In a world where concentration and chi fuel magic, Koumyou is quite possibly without peer. Unlike most people in his world, he's able to focus his power instantly without either mudras or mantras. He can use his power to manipulate people's bodies in ways such as sealing their movement or causing physical harm or healing without touching them. He also demonstrates a wide variety of elemental manipulations such as creating a dragon out of water, a comically muscularly proportioned snowman, and great blazing fires. In addition, he has supernatural physical strength and constitution, and is a skillful escape artist.

INVENTORY: Seiten sutra - This holy artifact is one of the five Founding Scriptures of Heaven and Earth that are guarded by Sanzo priests, and were thought to have been used together to create the world. Koumyou's Seiten sutra covers the yang principle. The Seiten grants him the ability to heal and restore on a grand scale, and also to create light. Seiten has a physical manifestation as a scripture, but it's functionally tied to him and can recreate itself if damaged.