Guardian Spirit Beast

Guardian Spirit Beast
Kanji	守(しゅ)護(ご)霊(れい)獣(じゅう)()()()()()()
Rōmaji	Shugo Reijū
Statistics
Classification	Parasitic Nen Beast
Primary Ability	Protection
Debut
Manga Debut	Chapter 349

A Guardian Spirit Beast (守(しゅ)護(ご)霊(れい)獣(じゅう)()()()()()(), Shugo Reijū) is a parasitic-type Nen beast created by the Seed Urn Ceremony. Participants of the ceremony each become a host to one Guardian Spirit Beast. All participants/hosts seen thus far have either been the king or a legitimate prince of the Kakin Empire. They are instrumental to the unfolding of the Succession Contest.

History

The Seed Urn

In the age of rival warlords, Kakin was a small country that was threatened to be absorbed by its neighboring countries. Around that time, according to ancient manuscripts, the first king of Kakin conjured the Seed Urn inspired by "Worm Toxin" and had his children fight in a succession contest for the throne, which is the foundation for Kakin becoming the superpower that it is today.

The Seed Urn

The Seed Urn, a conjured pot with some facial features, is the pivotal item for the beginning of the Succession War.

The Seed Urn Ceremony

The Seed Urn Ceremony (壺(こ)中(ちゅう)卵(らん)の()儀(ぎ)()()()()(), Kochūran no Gi) is part of the Kakin Royal Family tradition. To prove one's inheritance to the urn, the host focuses their desire for the crown and offers a drop of their blood to the urn, then puts their hand in its mouth-like opening. At this point, purple smoke fumes from the urn, and a tiny female sprite dressed in Kakin traditional clothing is holding a small egg, which she inserts into the host's mouth. The princes will thus be granted a Guardian Spirit Beast when the egg hatches.

The sprite is invisible to ordinary people, since it is made out of Nen, which caused Queen Oito to originally believe that the ceremony was only a purposeless tradition of the Royal Family.

Tserriednich offers a drop of his blood to the Seed Urn

The host inserts his hand into the urn's center

A fairy-like creature inserting an egg into the host's mouth

After receiving the egg, trying to escape the Succession War will result in the fugitive's death by countless ghostly hands that appear around the person (enforcing the ceremony's conditions).

Appearance and Behavior

Guardian Spirit Beasts are parasitic Nen beasts that possess a person related to a deceased, that are born of the deceased's strong desire for the perpetuation of their descendants. They feed on the aura of their hosts as an energy source and their forms and abilities take after their hosts' characters and dispositions. Since Guardian Spirit Beasts are a creation of the Seed Urn and not of a host, hosts cannot control their Guardian Spirit Beasts at will. Thus far, each host has been seen to host exactly one Guardian Spirit Beast, but Guardian Spirit Beasts that create other Nen beasts do exist.

The appearances and behaviors of Guardian Spirit Beasts vary as much as the appearances and behaviors of their hosts vary. Since the shape or appearance of Guardian Spirit Beasts are influenced by their host's character and disposition, they vary widely — Guardian Spirit Beasts with humanoid, creature-like, spherical, or even formless appearances have been seen. For example:

• Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou, the 4^th Prince of the Kakin Empire, has strong feelings on two-faced women. His Guardian Spirit Beast has the head of a woman, which contains another woman's head inside its mouth.
• Salé-salé Hui Guo Rou, the 8^th Prince of the Kakin Empire, seems to care about nothing other than enjoying himself and making others (particularly women) like him. His Guardian Spirit Beast is a mostly featureless spherical mass, save for mouths all over it which exhale smoke that positively influences the perception that who inhale it have of Salé-salé.

Guardian Spirit Beasts respond to changes in the emotional state of their hosts – the Guardian Spirit Beasts of Camilla and Marayam changed their appearances in accordance with their hosts' respective outrage and anxiety.

Guardian Spirit Beasts are almost always seen near their hosts. Exceptions have been seen — Tubeppa's Guardian Spirit Beast chooses not to show itself, and Momoze's Guardian Spirit Beast has been seen without her present. When Guardian Spirit Beasts are seen near their hosts, they are often seen hovering above them, perched on their shoulders, or simply physically near them, depending on the beast's anatomy. Since they feed on the aura of their hosts as an energy source, Guardian Spirit Beasts vanish when a host has insufficient aura to sustain them, whether due to sheer fatigue or because of Zetsu.

Guardian Spirit Beasts have varying degrees of sentience, a beast's level of sentience could depend on the general awareness and watchfulness of their hosts. Some Guardian Spirit Beasts have no identifiable head or form; others can identify people that are able to see them, and are varied even in response to these identified people — some stare, others intimidate. The levels of sentience that have been seen range from being unaware of lethal threats in close proximity to an awareness of people that are watching it to a human-like level of awareness.

Guardian Spirit Beasts generally protect their hosts against threats, at least physical (including attempted suicide via bullets) and likely against Nen-based threats as well. Just like many other features of Guardian Spirit Beasts, this protection likely depends on the abilities and personality of one's host. Guardian Spirit Beasts are not immune to attacks; they have been eliminated by other Nen abilities.

All Guardian Spirit Beasts created from the same Seed Urn are imbued with two primary instinctual rules:

1. they do not kill one another;
2. they do not directly attack a person possessed by a Guardian Spirit Beast.

Guardian Spirit Beasts vary greatly in abilities. Some Guardian Spirit Beasts are essentially only "fangs and claws". Others are endowed with abilities that make them skilled in logistical support. Some Guardian Spirit Beasts are even able to half-awaken others to Nen and even endow their hosts with Nen abilities.

Properties

Each Guardian Spirit Beast is endowed with its own Nen type, which may differ from its host's. However, its abilities are still influenced by the host's personality and their Nen category. A Guardian Spirit Beast cannot manifest itself while the host is in a state of Zetsu, and it may find itself unable to protect its host if the latter has run out of aura.

The host cannot see their own Guardian Spirit Beast, nor can they see those of other hosts from the same generation even if they are a Nen user. Balsamilco surmised that there must be a limitation that prevents the ceremony participants from seeing the Guardian Spirit Beasts or a condition that must be fulfilled before they can do so. However, a host from a previous generation can see the Guardian Spirit Beasts of the next.

Kurapika seems to have implied that Guardian Spirit Beasts are conjured; however, unlike many Conjuration abilities, they are invisible not only to the hosts of one but also to all non-users. This makes them a low-risk ability, which should have resulted in a tremendous amount of aura being spent to infuse the 14 princes with one Guardian Spirit Beast each. He, therefore, speculated that a complex system of Vows and Limitations ensures their continued existence and that if a prince managed to pull out of the Succession War, all Guardian Spirit Beasts would disappear. Curiously, despite Kurapika's inference, many Guardian Spirit Beasts have shown the ability to phase through solid matter, a trait which seems to be associated with Emission.

Guardian Spirit Beasts

Nasubi Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	King Nasubi's Guardian Spirit Beast is a huge creature composed of two lateral sections, each with five similar insect-like limbs ending in human hands. It has a head in the central part of its body that resembles a human that has an elongated shape, long hair and two enormous ears. Its mouth is upright starting from the height of the eyes to the chin leaving a long tongue out. Perhaps its most distinguishing physical characteristic are the numerous veiny flesh mounds covering most of its body that resemble human breasts, thirteen on each side of its body.
Benjamin Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Benjamin's Guardian Spirit Beast is a humanoid creature similar to a large beetle. On its head can be distinguished a phallic shape on the top, two mouths, one much bigger with enormous teeth that seem to be grinding, and another smaller at the height of the neck, that simulates a smile; two barbed ears, and two lobes that separate the top of his head and which would apparently contain insect eyes. It has beetle wings and two clawed arms, a human trunk and abdomen, and its legs are irregularly huge and quite muscular that also end in claws.
Camilla Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Camilla's Guardian Spirit Beast has the form of an actirian or sea anemone of great size. It could also be a kind of jellyfish. It has a cylindrical shape, in which the upper part is comprised of several tentacles with sunken tips that protrude outwards as if they were the branches of a tree. When first pictured, the beast is headless, but a head-like protrusion eventually emerges when Camilla has feelings of outrage. The lower part of its body extends like a great mantle and ends up forming a kind of skirt. It is known to be a Manipulator with a coercive-type ability that takes complete control of a target who fulfills certain conditions.
Zhang Lei Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Zhang Lei's Guardian Spirit Beast is shaped like a big dharmachakra (☸) with a dark flame covering its rim. It has inscription-like patterns on its inner part and has narrow eyes and mouth. Eight crosses spread around its body in a clockwise manner, and a single cross with a circle around it on its forehead. This Guardian Spirit Beast is a Conjurer with the compound type ability to produce a coin from its mouth every day. The owner of a coin will gain various abilities after fulfilling certain conditions.
Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Tserriednich's Guardian Spirit Beast resembles a horse with feminine features with long fair hair, a long neck with a mane that can extend several meters, big four-fingered hands, big sharp pointed nipples, a tail resembling a nine-tailed whip, and it wears high heel shoes. The inside of the beast's mouth reveals another face within, with a split tongue and jagged teeth.
Tubeppa Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Tubeppa's Guardian Spirit Beast resembles a giant toad or chameleon with spiked axle wheels for legs and has many pole-like horns on its back. It is a Transmuter with the ability to concoct chemicals with all manners of effects inside its body. As a collaborative type ability, however, it requires a "partner".
Tyson Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Tyson is guarded by a large, heart-shaped creature with one eye and four small wings that hovers above her. It spawns multiple eye-wogs which have a slender body and limbs, as well as a round caudal fin. It is an Emitter with a diffusive levy type ability. Through one-eyed, lizard-like Nen beasts that attach themselves to whoever listens to Tyson's teachings, it collects aura and bestows happiness in return. As the amount of happiness grows, so does the target's dedication for Tyson's doctrine. If its only taboo is broken, harsh punishment is dealt.
Luzurus Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Luzurus' Guardian Spirit Beast looks like a big, sinister centipede with crooked, jagged teeth, big wide black eyes, small wing-like extensions, antennae on either side of its head and a pincer at the end of its tail. It is a Conjurer that makes use of pseudo-coercive Manipulation. It has the ability to set traps by materializing whatever the target desires as bait. When the target satiates their desire, the trap is sprung and the ability is activated.
Salé-salé Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Salé-salé's Guardian Spirit Beast is a large spherical mass without a clear anatomy. It is covered in mouths of various sizes but has no other distinct features. Unlike other beasts that have been seen without their hosts at times, Salé-salé's Guardian Spirit Beast has only been seen hovering over him, but there have been (unshown) times where it goes into hiding. The Nen beast is a diffusive induction-type Manipulator. It is weakly compelling but capable of controlling many targets and is closely linked to Salé-salé's libido. The numerous mouths on Salé-salé's Guardian Spirit Beast continually emit white smoke, which increases one's goodwill to Salé-salé when inhaled. This white smoke can be blown away, though it appears that non-Nen users are unable to see or react to the smoke. Small clones appear over the heads of those that inhale enough smoke (amount needed varying with one's loyalty towards Salé-salé to begin with). Salé-salé's emotions affect the amount of smoke and area of influence, averaging a radius of 7 meters; the clones have an effective radius of 2 meters. According to Rihan, with enough time and sufficiently weak political opponents, this Guardian Spirit Beast could form the world's securest dictatorship. The beast and its clones were eventually eliminated by Rihan.
Halkenburg Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Halkenburg's Guardian Spirit Beast resembles a giant gargoyle with one big eye, four nostrils (two on each side of its face), with a giant scowl on its face. Its body is covered in shaggy fur, while two horns are mounted just above its head. It has three claw-like fingers and toes, and what appears to be an exposed hole on its back. It is an Enhancer that is also capable of soliciting Manipulation. After knocking them out, it imprinted a pinion on the back of Halkenburg bodyguards' left hand. Their memories of being rendered unconscious were rewritten to prevent them from panicking. The more people are imprinted with the mark, and the more of them gather around Halkenburg all with the same will, the more their aura output grows, reaching levels that surpass all Nen abilities.
Kacho Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Kacho's Guardian Spirit Beast is named "Without You", it is a formless mutual cooperation Nen beast. The beast has no functionality until either Kacho or Fugetsu die. When either one of the sisters is dead, the Guardian Beast will assume the form of the deceased, staying by to protect the other until death.
Fugetsu Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Fugetsu's Guardian Spirit Beast manifests as a small, ornate door identical to the entrance of a playground, named "Magical Worm", she and Kacho used to play in as kids. This door, which Fugetsu named "Outgoing Door", can take Fugetsu to her sister Kacho. Once she steps out, the "Return Door", which can be opened only by Kacho, appears, which can take them to any destination.
Momoze Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Momoze's Guardian Spirit Beast is a large, plump, cartoonish hamster-like creature. It is covered in hair, has stubby, undefined arms, has large round feet with three toes and prominent claws on each toe, and a mouse-like tail. It has black beady eyes, short whisker-like features on its cheeks, large ears, and a mouth with angular, triangle-shaped teeth. It has two eye-like features on its forehead, and a heart design on its belly. Momoze's Guardian Spirit Beast is capable of phasing through walls. It is a pseudo-coercive Manipulator. It manipulates targets by asking them if they are free (being a Guardian Spirit Beast, only Nen users can hear its questions). Should a target respond no, a small copy of the beast appears behind the target, visible only to them, which continues pestering the target and asking them if they are free. When a target responds yes, they lose control of their body (but not mind) and can be manipulated to do the beast's bidding, for example to kill those nearby.
Marayam Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Marayam's Guardian Spirit Beast resembles a Chinese dragon, with three paired horns on its head, pelvic fins on each lower side of its body, and a pointy caudal fin for a tail. Hanzo and Biscuit note that its size grows at an abnormal rate and that its appearance reflects the prince's state of mind. It is suspected to be the creator of the barrier around Room 1013, preventing anyone outside of it from walking in, instead of teleporting them to an empty version of the prince's quarters.
Woble Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast
	Woble's Guardian Spirit Beast is currently unknown.

Trivia

• "Worm Toxin" (蠱毒, Kodoku) is a type of Japanese poisonous magic, derivative of the Chinese Gu (蠱, gǔ or ku) magic. To create it, several poisonous insects are closed together inside a jar, which is opened when only one of them remains. The surviving insect is said to have absorbed the poison of all the other insects.
  • The inspiration for the Seed Urn is self-evident as the similarities do not stop at the ritual through which the members of the Kakin Empire's Royal Family obtain a Guardian Spirit Beast, but extend to the whole Succession War: the siblings are in fact forced to stay on a ship journeying to the Dark Continent while they attempt to kill each other, with the only survivor becoming the legitimate heir to the throne.

Intertextuality and References

• The Seed Urn's facial features highly resembles the facial features of the clay dolls from the late Jōmon period of Japan.
• In Togashi's manga YuYu Hakusho, an egg is given to new Spirit Detectives. After a while, a Spirit Beast will hatch from it, with its appearance, personality and powers resembling those of the one who keeps it. The whole process is very similar to the Seed Urn Ceremony through which Nasubi and his children obtained their Nen beasts.
• When asked to place his hand in the mouth of the Seed Urn, Tserriednich worried it might be bitten off: this may be a reference to "La Bocca della Verità" ("The Mouth of Truth"). Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie while his hand was in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off.
• Guardian Spirit Beasts share similarities with the following real-life concepts, myths, and/or beliefs:
  • Ancient Greek religion and mythology's daemons, which originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit.
  • Christianity's, Islam's, and Zoroastrianism's guardian angels, an angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group, kingdom, or country.
  • Islam's Qarins—unseen spirits, either a Jinn ("devil") or an angel that accompanies a person and influences its host to lead an ungodly or godly life respectively. This can be seen on the royalties of Kakin of unsavory characters that have obscene, repulsive, and sinister-looking beasts.
    • Tserriednich's Guardian Beast resembles Burāq (from Islam), a horse-like creature with a beautiful face (often portrayed with woman's features) that once carried Muhammad.
  • Hantu Raya in Malay culture and spirituality (formerly a mix of animism, Hinduism, and Buddhism). The owner of a Hantu Raya is said to have formed a pact with a demon or inherited it from older generations as a legacy and in return for advantages and power, the owner agrees to provide for the ghost and appoints a new owner for it before dying. The creature resembles the look of its owner even after death and goes roaming.