Hoshin Engi - Nataku

 

Nataku ([哪吒]

Voiced by: Kōki Miyata (1st series), Makoto Furukawa (2nd series) (Japanese); Derek Wade (1st series), Justin Briner (2nd series) (English)

A living human-paope (divine superweapon) hybrid, he was once dead and now revived, with the aid of Taiitsu, built via lotus plant. He exists largely to fight and is more "directed" by Taikobo (provided that he actually listens), albeit at times that becomes hazardous to Taikobo's health, as Nataku has no qualms about shooting his weapons at people. He can fly thanks to his special paope, Fuukarin, which are metal wheels. He also possesses a weapon paope in the shape of 2 iron bracelets called Kenkonen, which work as homing missiles and striking his target with tremendous force. Throughout the manga, Nataku gets several upgrades from Taiitsu. Towards the end, Nataku receives the super paope Kinkousen (previously wielded by Chou Koumei) and has it integrated within his body, allowing him to summon up to seven dragons made of light.

Nataku may seem cold and emotionless, but, according to himself, he has a serious grudge against his father who was responsible for destroying the grave his mother made for him when he died; Nataku has had many chances to kill his father, but never did. Nataku also has a soft spot for his mother, and takes care of Ko Tensho as a brother figure.

Hoshin Engi - Taikobo

 

Taikobo (太公望, Taikōbō)

Voiced by: Hiro Yūki (1st series), Kensho Ono (2nd series) (Japanese); J. Shannon Weaver (1st series), Josh Grelle^[1] (2nd series) (English)

The protagonist of the series. He is a disciple at the Kongrong Mountains and Genshi Tenson's best pupil. He received the Hoshin Project from Genshi Tenson, and became a strategist to defeat the collapsing Yin dynasty and to help King Bu of Zhou. Although he wears very strange clothes, he has the sharpest mind in Kongrong. Taikobo was the son of the leader of the Qiang tribe, and was named Ryobo, but he lost his parents in a Yin human hunt. After twelve years on earth, he became a disciple, and with 30 years of study, attained Senin level power.

Although Taikobo is still an average Senin with a low rank, he is the personal disciple of the leader of Kongrong, Genshi Tenson, so his position in the Sennin World is high. At the beginning of the story, he receives a retractable baton-shaped paope (magic tool) called Dashinben, which grants him the power to create and control wind. Later, because of the Orb of Revival, the Dashinben gets an upgrade, a larger shape and improved abilities. Eventually, his Dashinben is upgraded by fusing with the paope 'Kyokoki' that can absorb the Kongrong Mountains's energy for recovery, and the super paope, 'Taikyokuzu,' that negates all other paope's power, draw magic seals and can heal injuries. Basically, his speciality is fighting by wits, and using cleverness to swindle his enemies, so that sometimes even his allies boo him. His constant companion, main ally, and mode of transportation is the spirit beast, Supushan. Taikobo's real age is at least 72 years old, and contrary to his boyish appearance, love of peaches and sweet things, and dislike of shots and medicine, his speech and mannerisms are that of an old man. His personality is aloof, and he has a strong belief in a peaceful Human World. Additionally, he is left-handed, but during the fight with Inkou (the older), he lost his left arm up to the elbow. Soon after, he received an artificial arm created by Taiitsu Shinjin.

Taikobo is a vegetarian. Although Taikobo is often criticized by other characters for being very 'un-protagonist-like,' he was voted first in a Weekly Shonen Jump character poll twice. Sometimes he's drawn as a cat-like alien creature. The last volume of the Kanzenban came with a limited edition plush toy of this form.

Hoshin Engi - Daki

 

Dakki (妲己)

Voiced by: Yumi Kakazu (1st series), Yōko Hikasa (2nd series) (Japanese); Claire Hamilton (1st series), Alexis Tipton^[1] (2nd series) (English)

The main antagonist of the series. Overtaking So Dakki's body (a young woman who was brought to the imperial palace to be King Chu's 200th wife) Dakki the Sennyo bewitched the Emperor with the aid of her spell of Temptation, causing King Chu to come under her control. The vixen demon is 5,000 years old, very beautiful and intelligent to the point when she could be labeled as "genius". In the anime, she is pictured as the evil, selfish empress who wants nothing but power and cares only about herself and her two adoptive sisters Okijin and Kokibi.

She is capable of using multiple paopes at once (ex: two fans, the Veil of Temptation). Her most important paope is the Veil of Temptation and she is rarely seen without it. It emits a strong scent which affects all men and bring them under control. After her descent into the Human World, she took many names (Ou Shi, Bakki) and seduced the leaders, living in luxury. At first, she was content to throw over the top and overpriced parties, but after several hundreds of years, she mastered the Temptation spell and began her reign of cruelty.

Dakki obviously enjoys other people's torment. She even built torture devices like the Horaku or the Taibon (a pit full of poisonous snakes). She is a very good actress and is capable of hiding her emotions. Another ability would be her good knowledge of human psychology. In the manga, when Chu O's first wife was imprisoned, Dakki knew the woman could not stand the pressure any longer and allowed the guard to give the true empress anything she wished for, knowing that she will ask for a dagger in order to commit suicide. She predicted Bunchu's reaction when Hiko Ko left Choka. Bunchu and Hiko were friends and Bunchu would rather kill Hiko himself than let Dakki decide how and when it would be done.

She shows sympathy only to her sisters and to her adopted son, Ou Eki/O Tenkun. Cruel as Dakki might be, she turned out not to be entirely evil in the end. In the manga the reason Dakki worked for Joka was at first due to her desire for power. But after she learned about the Ancients and that they fused with the planet, she was deeply affected and so her secret goal became to obtain Joka's body so she too may become one with the world. In this way she was able to save Taikobo at the end.

In the manga, her lines almost always end with heart shapes.