Gensoukyou:Shou Toramaru

Origins
 Well over a millenium ago, Tigers were still the subject of myths and legends in Japan, seeing that no one really knew about that fabled beasts, not how they looked like, nor how they acted in truth. The stories that turned the felines into voracious man-eating youkai were quite popular and trendy, especially to discourage little kids from wandering about late at night, “lest they be eaten by a ruthless, voracious feline with unmeasurable strength.” Such stories melded with the humans' fear, and eventually, in the very well known process, began creating Youkai tigers left and right. One of these products was Shou herself.

Funnily though, Shou wasn't made out of pure fear and such – she was in fact, a local stray cat that had grown quite big and often wandered around the village in which she resided, looking for “normal” food, since she was still mostly nothing more than a large cat at that point, although traits of Youkai-ification had begun to take form.

What eventually turned the “cat” into a “tiger” though, was the villagers' confusion, and probably, their exaggeration of the truth. Even though she was quite large, Shou never preyed on humans, preferring to eat the more vulnerable poultry, or just random wild animals. There came a day though when she stumbled upon a freshly murdered corpse, and seeing that it was already dead, began scavenging the remains. Children saw Shou as she was having her meal though; it didn't help that it was in the middle of the night, and they could only see Shou's large silhouette. The kids immediately screamed in terror, ran away, and eventually, began spreading rumors about Shou being a Tiger Youkai.

Thus came the turning point where combined with her unusual long life, the fears of humans eventually morphed Shou into a hungry human-eating monstrosity. She would remain in this form, and begin preying left and right on whatever flesh she could get her teeth on, may they be wild deer, fox, wolves or humans.

Meeting with Byakuren
 During the Asuka period, Buddhism began to take over Japan as Prince Shutoku and the Soga clan defeated the anti-Buddhist Mononobe Clan in a fierce battle. The decisive moment when the pro-Buddhist movement gained the upper hand was during Bishamonten's personal appearance in the field: the god came to the help of its supporters on the hour of the Tiger of the day of the Tiger of the year of the Tiger (in short, the most Tigerish moment ever). As one can guess, the Tiger immediately became associated with Bishamonten from that point.

Shou remained mostly unaffected by such happening though, continuing to devour whatever came by. That is, until one day, a certain monk came to the village nearby of Shou's “hunting grounds”. The terrified villagers pleaded with the monk to exterminate the scourge that had been plaguing them for so many years, and “she” complied, walking right into the Tiger's den and seeking a direct confrontation with the beast.

This wasn't the first time that Shou was dealing with Youkai Hunters, or well, this wasn't technically one, but in the end, both that monk and the other people that came to her grounds on purpose had the same goal – to exterminate Shou. The Tiger Youkai's answer had been so far, to happily make the daring fools her meal – and there didn't seem to be a change of plan for this particular monk.

But something was off. The woman that came to deal with Shou had not a grain of killing intent. From the very moment that she came into Shou's hostile glare, she always kept a serene, peaceful smile, as if she had come to see an old friend. There was no hostility, nor any fear within the woman's expression, and this left the Tiger Youkai most puzzled.

The monk introduced herself as “Byakuren Hijiri”, claiming to be here not to exterminate Shou, but rather, to make her follow the proper path. Shou was still a feral creature that desired to consume flesh though, and even though she tried conversing with Byakuren, the combined facts that the Tiger Youkai was incredulous about stopping her voracity for meat and that Byakuren's fresh human scent had grown fragrant caused Shou to attack.

At her great surprise, the seemingly frail monk had the strength of an oni. She effortlessly paried the Tiger Youkai's pounce, but did not cause any harm to it. Shou, incredulous and irritated that she had been just brushed off by a mere human, renewed her charges, yet once again, Byakuren negated Shou's attempts as if it was child's play.

Yet Shou kept coming again, again and again. She persevered, hell bent on eating that monk, thinking that the human would be quick to tire herself... but Byakuren never showed any sign of tiredness. On the contrary, it was Shou that was slowly being worn down, until the moment came when the Tiger just collapsed on the dirt, unable to move anymore as she had exhausted all of her strength.

Shou admitted her defeat and told the Monk to finish her, for all her pride was gone after this humiliating encounter. The Monk however, simply smiled, and instead of killing Shou, proceeded to sit down next to the Tiger and explained her beliefs to it. She told him her story, her altruistic ideals, her dream of cohabitation between Men and Youkai, of how she believed that all living beings were meant for bloodless cohabitation.

Was it the gentle voice? Perhaps the angelic aura? Or possibly the heavenly smile? Whatever allowed the Tiger Youkai's heart to be touched, it doesn't matter anymore – Shou became Byakuren's disciple from that very day, her Youkai logic swept aside by the mystic's aura.

From Youkai to Avatar
 As Byakuren traveled across the lands, Shou dutifully followed the monk as one of her closest friends. The Tiger Youkai tried her hardest to become a proper disciple for Byakuren, totally forgoing her carnivorous diet and learning the ways of Buddhism meticulously. Everything appeared to be going for the best – Shou's help was greatly appreciated by Byakuren, and Shou herself was turning out to be quite the preacher on her own, becoming quite insightful about life, and acquiring enough wisdom to counsel those in need.

However, a problem would eventually arise – the core of Shou Toramaru wasn't something very stable. She was a Youkai of Tiger Stories, and since the Tiger's general appearance had become known to most of Japan's populace, fear of such a creature was fading, eventually reaching a point where Shou would begin to lose her mind as the very source of her existence vanished.

Shou herself knew that it wouldn't be too long before she'd vanish from the world, but didn't bother much with her demise, happy that she had accomplished as much as she had. Byakuren however, could not accept Shou's loss and came up with a solution to save her dear friend – the monk thought about turning Shou into an avatar of Bishamonten since Tigers were by then often associated with the War God. It also had the dual purpose of comforting the other Youkai that feared the God very much, since if the deity had a youkai acting as its avatar, then, what else was there to fear for the rest of them?

Shou initially refused, calling such a thing cheating death. However, when Shou realized that it was, at the same time, being stubborn and selfish, the Tiger Youkai eventually changed her opinion and gave the solution a try: much to Byakuren's relief, it worked.

Shou also gained a new companion, a helper of Bishamonten named Nazrin. A very strong bond of camaraderie would grow between both of them.

The Savior's sealing
 The Myouren temple flourished with Shou as Bishamonten's avatar. Uniting all youkai under her and brushing away their fears about the god exterminating them, Shou once again exceeded as her duties. She still doubled as Byakuren's 2nd High Monk, since at times, the workload proved to be really overwhelming for the Monk. Even though she was quite the thing, Byakuren could after all, only be in one place at a time.

But all good times come to an end. Humanity was not ready for peaceful cohabitation with youkai, and when words of Byakuren's ideals reached the ears of more radical powers, things took a turn for the worst: an elite squad of Youkai Exterminators were sent to seal Byakuren and her youkai followers.

The encounter nearly turned into a blood shed, but Byakuren managed to avert it all, ordering her followers to stand down – she would not allow violence to happen, for that would only serve to reinforce the narrow-minded point of her enemies: that youkai were savage beasts. The monk bargained with the youkai exterminators, asking them to let her people go, and that she alone would be enough. Seemingly compliant, these people were in fact lying – once they had made sure that Byakuren was well secure in their hands, the exterminators proceeded into sealing the rest of the youkai underground.

One person got to watch all of it from the sidelines, one person named Shou Toramaru. She could only cry and lament herself as everything dear to her vanished before her very eyes. Her youkai friends, her master, and everything that they had built together, it all crumbled away.

Why was it that Shou had not been sealed? Well, because under the eyes of everyone else, she was not a youkai, but an avatar of Bishamonten. Byakuren pleaded with her to remain so and hide her youkai lineage so that she would be safe, for the Monk had a hint of suspicion about the exterminator's honesty, or to be precise, their lack of.

If it wasn't for Byakuren's teachings and all the time she had spent absorbing the monk's ideals, Shou would have eventually turned her rage on the humans. With them though, she continued acting as a disciple of Bishamonten, peacefully channeling her anger away and acting as a deity's aspect, her true nature as a youkai hidden from all.

But what a torture it was for her, what a torture. Shou felt as if she had betrayed everyone she knew, and would have fallen to this misconception if it wasn't for the constant support of her friend Nazrin.

Return
 [INSERT UFO STORY AND WHAT HAPPENED AFTER]

Personality
Dignified, diligent, straightforward and honest, Shou has all the qualities of a wonderful person – well that is arguable, but the fact remains that people like her are usually some of the most enjoyable to speak to. Shou will never beat around the bush or go about poking people's faults. She just accepts people as they are, and generally will be happy to share a good conversation with whoever wants a chat or some advice; not surprising, as the avatar is a firm advocate of peaceful cohabitation between Human and Youkai. Her faith in the idea has especially been renewed since her savior's return and after having witnessed the extraordinary cases of youkai and humans getting along in the Land of Fantasy.

Shou's relaxed and peaceful aura might come off though if she comes across a person that is the total opposite of her values. She hates conceited, deceitful and chaotic individuals, and is rather easy to anger when it comes to handling such people, especially if they are not following a proper code of conduct on the Temple's grounds. Also, while Shou is rather considerate, she can be quite dense and oblivious to a few things at times – this combined with her straightforward character means that at times, she wouldn't mind telling you in the face that she did not like that meal you just cooked.

One should note that calling her coward for hiding away while Byakuren was sealed is a very, VERY good way to get her mad. Bishamonten save you if that ever happens. She will do her best to control herself if this is mentioned, but repeatedly hammering it on her will only cause the youkai to go berserk.

Relationships
Byakuren Hijiri


 * Shou's savior, master and friend, the human monk means everything to Shou, to such a point that the Tiger would gladly put her own life on the line if Byakuren's is ever endangered. Shou sees Byakuren more as some sort of Motherly figure than an equal, the monk being one of the very few against which Shou will rarely raise her voice. In fact, Byakuren tends to scare Shou at times, especially when the latter makes her discontentment known.

Nazrin


 * Shou's trusty helper and companion. Nazrin was initially sent by Bishamonten to watch over the Tiger Youkai when it became one of the god's avatars, but a relationship far beyond the one of master-familiar was forged between the two, especially when Shou went through the troubling hundreds of years after Byakuren's and the other youkai's sealing. They are very good friends to this day, and actually, Nazrin appears to be the rather haughty one, sometimes poking Shou about her habbit to lose things easily.

Nue Houjuu


 * A Youkai that has recently settled itself within Myouren Temple's premise, Shou does not really appreciate Nue's defiance of the temple's code of conduct, especially when it comes to not eating humans. The Avatar of Bishamonten really has to restrain herself at times from breaking in an all out rage when facing Nue's provocations, seeing that the latter appears to particularly enjoy tormenting Shou. The only reason why Shou tolerates Nue as much as she does is that Byakuren appears to appreciate the Youkai, and Shou hopes that the monk will one day reach the Black Youkai's heart.

Myouren Temple's Other Residents


 * When Byakuren is busy/not around, Shou is automatically considered the one in charge, since she's the highest ranking priest after Byakuren. Due to this, most of the other youkai at Myouren Temple respect her highly. She treats them as fellow friends though, perhaps even as a family, not letting rank stand as a barrier between them.

Overview
Shou's combat abilities are somewhat unusual for what one might expect of a former Tiger Youkai and an Avatar of a God of War. Close combat is surprisingly the area where she excels the least in, preferring to stay afar and use her amble spiritual reserves to fuel her Jewelled Pagoda's lasers. This will catch off guard most enemies since most, if not all of them, will expect Shou to be someone that favors getting up close and personal – her tigerish flair and the spear that she holds are most misleading.

There comes a point though when Shou turns either extremely angry or serious, she will consider calling forth Bishamonten and channel the God of War through her body – in this situation, she will then gain melee abilities finally sufficient to match her ferocious appearance; if not supersede them.

Still, even when not channeling Bishamonten, one should take care of underestimating Shou. She has strength and speed, she can still use those to bat away or impale fools that incur her wrath; granted, she always tries to make sure that she doesn't deal mortal wounds to her enemies.

Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths:
 * Has formidable firepower coming from her Jewelled Pagoda. Able to fire laser, even curved ones, Shou can rain down destruction on enemies from afar.
 * She still has impressive strength and speed since she's the avatar of a god of war
 * Even though she's considered a youkai, Shou is more of an Avatar of Bishamonten, thus somewhat closer to being a god than a proper Youkai.
 * When fully channeling Bishamonten, she turns into an impressive jack of all trades since her melee deficiency is fixed.

Weaknesses:
 * Having spent most of her time acting as a simple avatar, and because she was afraid of not being able to control her strength, Shou doesn't have much up close combat experience.
 * She does not have skill and knowledge for proper martial arts -- the best she can do with her spear is just thrust and pray or bat away hostiles.
 * Shou very, very rarely uses her ability to channel Bishamonten. The problem is that she doesn't really like using him to help in battle, as she fears that his warmongering tendencies could possibly drive her into giving a bad image to Myouren Temple.

Spellcards
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