Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...

and fantasy, are supernatural beings, normally evil ones such as devils or demons. A or maou is a ruler of mazoku, or in fiction more generically a

dark lord In fiction and mythology, a dark lord (sometimes capitalized as Dark Lord or referred to as an Evil Overlord, Evil Emperor etc. depending on the work) is an antagonistic archetype, acting as the pinnacle of villainy and evil within a typically ...

or powerful monster.

Etymology

The name ''ma'' ( –

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

) suggests that they are meant to threaten human existence or defy the gods, while -

zoku is a Sino-Japanese term meaning tribe, clan, or family. As a suffix it has been used extensively within Japan to define subcultural phenomena, though many zoku do not acquire the suffix (e.g. cosplay). A ''zoku'' may be labeled with a Japane ...

( – tribe, clan, family) indicates that they are a family. Maō () is a term derived from mazoku, suggesting a king ( ''Ō'' – king, ruler) that rules the mazoku.

In mythology and legend

The term "mazoku" was used to describe the

asura Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indian religions, Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Deva (Hinduism), Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhism, Buddhi ...

and

yaksha The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and reg ...

, as well as

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...

daeva A daeva (Avestan: 𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 ''daēuua'') is a Zoroastrian supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the ''daeva''s are "gods that are (to be) rejected". Thi ...

. It is a general term for devils, demons and evil beings. In Japanese

polytheism Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...

, it is an antonym of (shinzoku), "the tribe of gods". A maō is a king or ruler over mazoku. For instance, in Bible translations,

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

is a maō. In polytheism, the counterpart of maō is (shin'ō), "the king of gods". The Japanese feudal lord

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

also called himself a maō in a letter to

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

, signing it with ("the demon king of the sixth heaven").

In fiction

In Japanese fantasy, the meaning of "mazoku" differs from work to work. Some works use the term for all evil beings that are enemies of humans or good beings, while others use it to specify a certain group of beings (not necessarily evil). The term ( akumazoku) may be used to designate evil mazoku specifically (the word , aku, means "evil"). A maō may be a king of the mazoku, or more generally a king of demons, overlord,

, archenemy of the hero or

video game boss In video games, a boss is a significant computer-controlled opponent. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the player has faced up to that ...

. The term is not gender-specific. For instance, "

Erlkönig "Erlkönig" is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It depicts the death of a child assailed by a supernatural being, the Erlking, a king of the fairies. It was originally written by Goethe as part of a 1782 Singspiel, . "Erlkönig" has been ...

", by

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

, widely translated as "Elf King" in English, was translated as "maō" in Japanese. The term daimaō or daimaou ( – great demon king) is sometimes used to describe a very high-ranking or powerful maō. An example is

Piccolo Daimaō '' Dragon Ball'' is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The franchise features an ensemble cast of characters and takes place in the same fictional universe as Toriyama's other work, ''Dr. Slump''. While many of the c ...

, a villain from the ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...

'' manga.

References

{{Japanese folklore long Fictional demons and devils Asian demons Japanese legendary creatures Japanese fantasy