Basic InfoMAZOKU
A mazoku (Japanese: 魔族 evil race or demon race; English: Monster) is a spiritual being that resides on the astral side. Mazoku do not have a true physical form, but ones with enough power can project an image onto the physical plane to represent themselves. They also have a so-called beast form; a form that is closer, but mostly not equivalent to, their appearance in the astral side. They are the force opposite the shinzoku. Also referred to as creatures of chaos, the ultimate goal of their existence is to return the world into its original form - the Sea of Chaos, effectively destroying it in the process. It must be noted that regardless of her occurrent desires, the Lord of Nightmares is not a mazoku, although even high ranking shinzoku and mazoku are known to believe otherwise.
A mazoku's source of energy (food) is shōki, the miasma produced by humans and other beings (even manifested lesser demons) when they experience negative emotions such as anger, sadness, and fear. Mazoku can sense malice and enmity in humans, and are able to use those sentiments like homing devices when need be.[1] Being able to appear as a human is a great adaptation for a mazoku, as it allows it to live among humans and feed off their emotions with little or no suspicion. It is also worth noting that the more power a mazoku has, the more humanlike it can appear, although the difficulty of this feat is often overrated among fans. It was clearly shown in the novels that even middle-ranking mazoku like Kanzel are able to succesfully disguise themselves; they were never suspected to be mazoku until they declared themselves as such. (Xelloss' sinister-looking eyes may very well be intentional.) Low-ranking mazoku like Seigram have problems when attempting to make a human form, however, as it usually comes out looking mutated. Lesser demons are unable to enter the physical world by themselves at all, they must posess physical objects or beings to do so.
Another fact that is seriously overrated among fans is the mazoku's inability to use spells or items. To understand this subject, we must keep in mind that they are completely spiritual beings - their thoughts define who they are. So, if a mazoku thinks "I am weak", the mere thought will make it weaker. This fact forces them to follow a seemingly strange code, such as not attacking a human directly from the astral side, as this could mean to them that they aren't powerful enough the confront them face-to-face, or restrain the use of mortal spells and items.[2] However, this does not mean that they are physically unable to do so, but they usually refrain from it as it would damage their ego, and through that, themselves. There are certain situations when mazoku are willing to take the damage as casting a shamanistic spell would allow them to blend in among humans more, for instance. (Evidence suggests Xelloss even using white magic once.) There is still one exception to this: Casting a black magic spell that calls upon another mazoku is so damaging, that the caster will die before even finishing the incantation. Only speculations exist about the reason, but it seems likely that, as they all were part of a more powerful being once, calling upon another mazoku would deny their separateness, and therefore their existence. Still, mazoku are seen using certain special black magic spells; but those are presumably personal, calling upon their own power. It must also be said that lesser demons are a different matter altogether, as they, while fusing with physical beings, gain a real body (similarly to some half-mazoku) and because of that are not subject to these limitations. They use Flare Arrow excessively, for instance. Most mazoku have bucket and pool capacity much higher than humans.
Mazoku can be divided into four ranks, according to the amount of power they possess: high-ranking, middle-ranking, low-ranking mazoku and lastly the lesser demons.
HIGH-RANKING MAZOKU
High ranking mazoku are the strongest of the mazoku race. This category includes the ma-ō, the mazoku lords and their generals and priests.
A high-ranking mazoku's human projection is as perfect as it wishes it to be. Some of them, such as Xelloss, go so far that they are even seen bleeding at times, which indicates that they are even able to completely mimic the insides of a human body. (Others, such as Hellmaster Fibrizo don't bother with such details.) High-ranking mazoku have been seen creating illusions of an entire city, even taking the form of food without notice. Because of this, they rarely expose themselves as mazoku in front of humans, even when making a deal with them. Such deals are often part of a greater plan; most high-ranking mazoku are extremely intelligent and can think up plans spanning hundreds of years.
Ma-ō are immune to Dynast Breath-class spells and such magic also barely registers against other high class mazoku. Dragon Slave-class spells do greater, but still not really significant amount of damage. Spells such as Ragna Blade or the Giga Slave are required to seriously hurt or kill such beings.
MIDDLE-RANKING MAZOKU
Middle-ranking mazoku generally serve as lieutenants of a mazoku lord. There are not too many of them and are quite strong, but their power is still far from that of a high-ranking mazoku. Two well known examples of a middle-ranking mazoku are Kanzel and Mazenda.
They are the weakest of the mazoku being able to blend into mortal society entirely; their projected form looks completely human. They are quite intelligent and like to plan ahead. When their plans or orders require it, they sometimes propose a deal to powerful mortals, although they usually use them as simple pawns to reach their goals which may have nothing to do with the contract, and often do not have any intention to fulfill their part of the deal.
They show some resistance against Dynast Breath-class spells, although they do damage them to an extent. Weaker spells, such as Blast Ash are useless against them. Dragon Slave-class spells have the ability to seriously hurt or even destroy them, but only on a direct hit, and such mazoku often have special methods such as advanced dimensional manipulation to get out of the way.
LOW-RANKING MAZOKU
Low ranking mazoku are one step above the lesser demons, the weakest of the mazoku. Some good examples of low-ranking mazoku are Seigram and Zorom.
Unlike the lesser demons, they are more intelligent and have the ability to project an image to the physical side, but their attempts at taking a human form generally fail: Their form is in some cases barely humanoid, in others looks more or less human but some apparent details such as fangs or spider-like eyes betray their nature immediately. They are sometimes summoned by powerful sorcerers to make a pact with them or otherwise force them to do their bidding.
Low ranking mazoku can be seriously wounded or even killed with a Dynast Breath-class spell, and a Dragon Slave-class spell destroys them for sure.
LESSER DEMONS
Lesser demons are the lowest ranking mazoku. Many lesser demons appear in Slayers stories, but none of them are named.
Unlike other members of their race, they do not have enough power to project an image to the physical world in order to be able to interact with it. Instead, they possess objects or creatures, gaining a body in the physical side, but this method makes them practically half-mazoku as long as they stay that way. This means that they are vulnerable to simple physical attacks such as non-magical weaponry or elemental (air, fire, earth and water) shamanistic magic. However, this also enables them to utilize their magical potential to its fullest without the fear of damaging their ego and themselves. Their intelligence is severely limited, however, which makes them unable to use any save the simplest shamanistic spells, such as Flare Arrow.
Being little more than mindless beasts of destruction, lesser demons are used as cannon fodder in mazoku armies, to keep the weakest foes occupied, or to create a diversion. Some more powerful mazoku are not above using them as last-resort sources of shōki (negative emotions), wounding and killing them to feed upon their agony, gaining a little extra power.
Almost any kind of spell can destroy a lesser demon, even elemental spells such as Freeze Arrow or weaker astral spells such as Elmekia Lance.
KOMA WAR
The Kōma War (Japanese: 降魔戦争 Romaji: kōma sensō, also translated as The War of the Monster's Fall) was one of the greatest conflicts in the Slayers world. It took place roughly 1,000 years before the birth of Lina Inverse.
The war had four phases. First, Hellmaster staged a conflict between the humans in the peninsula which was later surrounded by the mazoku barrier. The war was a long and deadly feud, and left the human nations seriously weakened and their best fallen. Still, the local ryūzoku, elves and dwarves did not interfere yet, so in order to keep them occupied, Fibrizo started the second phase, and the peninsula was overrun by lesser demons. While the newly formed alliance of humans and other races fought against the demon onslaught, the more powerful mazoku were free to act as they wish and began the third phase.
The five subordinates of Ruby Eye gathered in the Kataart Mountains, now mostly abandoned by ryūzoku troops, and began to weaken the Aqualord's forces by systematically destroying her temples and killing her priests. Most of the knowledge of the human practicion of holy magic might have been lost in the process. When the ryūzoku managed to respond, they were too late, as the last phase already began and a piece of Shabranigdu was reborn. Sometimes, only this last phase is refered to as the Kōma War by certain sources.
Although even he could not know for certain, Fibrizo theorised that a piece of Ruby Eye was sealed away in the famous and powerful sorcerer Lei Magnus, so he tried to use the horrors of the the war to weaken the seal. His assumptions were correct, and Ruby Eye was awakened. Knowing that their plan of destroying Ragradia was surely discovered by now and they will be soon confronted with the ryūzoku and the shinzoku of the entire world, the mazoku put a barrier over the peninsula and managed keep the enemy's reinforcements out of the battle. Because of this, however, four of the five lords were unable to participate in the war anymore, so priests and generals were created in order to represent them.
The ryūzoku were able to eliminate Fibrizo's priest and presumably Dynast Grausherra's general and priest as well, but Xelloss gave them a stinging blow by destroying thousands of dragons with one swipe of his finger. Meanwhile, Shabranigdu and the fifth lord, Chaos Dragon Garv, appeared in the Kataart Mountains and challenged Aqualord Ragradia. During a fierce battle, Aqualord was defeated, but she still managed to wound Garv, force him into a human body and seal the piece of Shabranigdu into a block of magical ice far to the north.
In the end, the war had no definite victor.
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