Over Soul
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Over Soul is a fictional technique used by the Shamanic protagonists of the manga and anime Shaman King, by Hiroyuki Takei.
[edit] Introduction
Over Soul, or Spirit Control, is the most common Shamanic technique. The ability to master it is in itself the qualification to receive the Oracle Bell, and an entrance to the Shaman Fight.
It involves in summoning the Shaman's Guardian Spirit inside his Shamanic Focus (the weapon he's wielding). The Spirit will then wrap itself around it, giving it a distinct new shape and new powers. The effects of this technique will vary depending on the Shaman (to a lesser extent), the Spirit and more importantly the Focus used. Indeed, most of Yoh's group had a second focus, generally producing a more powerful Over Soul than their first (on the exception of Ryu and Chocolove)
Unlike Integration / Spirit Unity, which stops only when the Shaman can physically stand the fight no longer, the Over Soul drains a particular kind of energy : Furyoku. Depend on how much Furyoku the Shaman decides to unleash, the power of his blows will be stronger or weaker. Sometimes, his control over his Furyoku is out of his grasp : an angry Shaman will have more physical strength but will burn lot more of Furyoku than a completely calm one. Two examples of these effects are Yoh's fight against Faust VIII (where because of his anger he rapidly lost most of his Furyoku, but gave him the willpower to go on fighting) and the final duel between Ren and Yoh (where Yoh was completely calm, thus, more focused).
[edit] Shamans, Spirit and Focuses
Here is a short list of different types of Over Souls :
- Spirit: Amidamaru (Samurai)
- Focuses: Katana, Antiquity
- Over Soul: the Katana is covered with blue-white flamelets. At the base, two samurai armor plaques covers the pommel of the sword, where Amidamaru's face can be seen, much like in his Spirit Ball form. Yoh will never use his second focus (the antiquity) alone, and always in conjunction with his katana, in Giant Over Soul or Double Medium.
In the manga, Yoh also upgrades his oversoul a bit before learning the Giant Over Soul. After venturing in Yomi's Hole (or Tunnel of Tartarus), the oversoul uses more attributes of Amidamaru, using pieces of armor to shield also all of Yoh's right arm and enlarging Amidamaru's head and giving it the ability to speak and talk on his own
- Spirit: Bason (Chinese Warlord)
- Focuses: Kwan Dao (Chinese haldberd), Horaiken (called the Sword of Thunder in the anime)
- Over Soul: Bason creates a golden, heavily armored spiked ball just at the base of the blade. His second medium, the heirloom of the Tao family, will gain the ability to launch weapons out of the ground to impale enemies (note: when Ren uses this technique, he already knew Giant Over Soul).
- Spirit: Kororo (Koropokkur / Minutian)
- Focuses: Snowboard, Ikupasi
- Over Soul: With the Snowboard, the black tribal markings will sprout a pair of eyes and a mouth, both belonging to the spirit within the board (Kororo). It will also be surrounded in an ice-blue halo. With the Ikupasi (a woodcut charm, typical of his folk), a six-bladed shield will be formed, in the same ice-blue tones and Kororo's eyes and mouth.
Ryu is one of the exceptions to the fact that all of Yoh's party have a second focus : instead, Ryu's Spirit will be able to become the Yamata No Orochi, giving his partner extra power and abilities.
- Spirits: Tokagero (lizard-ninja and bandit), Tokagero in the shape of the Yamata no Orochi
- Focus: Wooden sword (hence his nickname, Bokuto no Ryu, or Ryu of the Wooden Sword)
- Over Soul: With Tokagero, the sword is sometimes covered in purple flame, or has a larger version of Tokagero's green spirit ball near the base. When Ryu transforms Tokagero into Yamata no Orochi, his focus is covered in white, with the mighty snake's eight heads sprouting from the tip.
- Spirit: Eliza (his deceased wife)
- Focus: Eliza's skeleton (or any other skeleton or skeletons), special scythe adapted with a Guillotine blade.
- Over Soul: During his possession of a skeleton, it will be surrounded in a green aura. The more Furyoku Faust uses, the more the skeleton in question will regain its former appearance as a human. Thus, he can control a vast army of skeletons, by giving them the smallest amount of Furyoku. His special scythe will be wielded by the skeleton he controls, generally Eliza (though later he used it himself).
Chocolove is the second exception to the fact that Yoh's party have two Focuses. He claims to use Spirit Fusion : it actually consists of an Over Soul, but with the Shaman's body being the Focus (or so it is thought).
- Spirit: Mic (Jaguar) pascal avaf ( indian spirit )
- Focus: His body, and especially his nails
- Over Soul (Spirit Fusion : Chocolove's body is covered with black tribal markings, his nails become razor sharp claws made out of metal. He is covered with the typical Over Soul flame, an orange-yellow color one.
- Spirit: Morphine (uncensored)/Chloe (censored) (Fairy)
- Focus: Radiesthesist's Pendulum
- Over Soul: Chloe dons her flying glasses and physically goes inside Lyserg's pendulum, in a sort of pilot's cabin. Both the pendulum and the cable glow blue-grey, and can fly at will in defiance of gravity at great speed. The cable, highly infused with Furyoku, does significant damage on contact, even more so when it tightens around the enemy.
Although Manta is not a Shaman, he managed to maintain Over Soul for a few minutes on several occasions after his encounter with Fudo and the Spirit Hunters, late in the series.
- Spirit: Mosuke (Blacksmith and friend of Amidamaru)
- Focus: Hammer, laptop.
- Oversoul: With the Hammer, it becomes unnaturally large and slightly transparent. With the computer, Manta wields a red and yellow hammer, much like Amy's one in the Sonic series. Mosuke will not however be able to get out of the laptop once inside, being unfamiliar with new technology.
| Shaman King |
|---|
| Techniques |
| Over Soul (Spirit Control)| Giant Over Soul (Giant Spirit Control) |Double Medium | Spirit Reduction |
| Characters |
| Asakura Family:Yoh Asakura | Anna Kyōyama | Kino Asakura | Yohmei Asakura | Hana Asakura | Asakura Yohken |
| Allies/Teammates: Horohoro (Trey Racer) | Manta Oyamada (Morty) | Chocolove McDaniel (Joco) | Faust VIII | "Wooden Sword" Ryu (Rio) | Tamao Tamamura (Tamara) |
| Spirits: Amidamaru | Bason | Lee Bailong | Tokagero |
| Native American Shamans: Silva | Kalim |
| Tao Family: Tao Jun (Jun) | Tao Ren (Len) | Tao Yúan (En) |
| X-Laws: Iron Maiden Jeanne | Lyserg Diethel | Marco |
| Enemies: Hao Asakura (Zeke) | The Hanagumi | Opacho |
