Shadow clan

Kage's mother, a trained assassin of the Shadow clan

**The Shadow clan** was an infamous clan of cursed human assassins in the Ousama Ranking universe. They were characterized by their inhuman appearance, with dark, flat, almost fluid-like bodies.

Once servants of the Bo Kingdom, most of its members were killed in a politically-motivated genocide.

## History

The Shadow clan was a bloodline of humans rumored to be cursed by the gods for an ancient offense. The nature of this offense is lost to history, but is said to be the origin of their inhuman appearance.

Sometime in the past, the Shadow clan came to live in the Kingdom of Bo, with their members swearing loyalty to the King. This would continue until the attempted assassination of King Bo, which was used as a pretense to stage a pogrom against the clan. Members of the rival Light clan were used to assist in the massacre of the Shadow clan.

Currently Kage is the only known survivor of their genocide.

## Abilities

#### Cursed Bodies

Shadow clan members possess inhuman, flat, almost fluid-like bodies that blend into shadows and darkness. They are capable of moving quickly and silently across nearly all surfaces, including vertically up and down walls and underneath doors. Presumably this talent helped the Shadow clan sneak into buildings to commit assassinations. They also appear to heal much more quickly and completely compared to other races.

Each Shadow clan member seems to have two arms that can retract completely into their bodies when not in use. They also possess a third arm that typically protrudes from the top of their heads, and can emanate sound from a crude mouth, as well as consume food. Shadow clan members are also able to store and retrieve items that are larger than themselves within their bodies using this third arm.

The Shadow clan's greatest weakness appears to be the magic of the Light clan, a rival organization. Specifically the Light clan spell, "White," allows its user to cast illuminating light in all directions, which quickly eliminates the Shadow clan's ability to hide in darkness. Whether the Light clan possess other magic that also affects the Shadow clan is unknown.

#### Magical Properties

The bodies of Shadow clan members seem to contain a form of spatial magic. It's unknown if members of the clan were aware of this, but each individual's body can act as a portal to a random location.

Miranjo exploited this quality to create a portal to the Underworld out of the corpse of a Shadow clan member, allowing her to completely bypass the traditional borders of the kingdom.

#### Unshakable Loyalty

Supposedly, according to Bebin when first confronting and attempting to capture Kage, it is rumored that when a Shadow clan member swears their loyalty to someone, they never betray them. This reputation has since been harmed by the rumors that the Shadow clan attempted to assassinate King Bo, though it is hinted this may be a lie created by Geslan of the Light clan.

#### Enraged State

When a Shadow clan member witnesses the one they swear loyalty to under attack and potentially at death's door, they appear to have an ability that triggers. This ability allows them to grow exponentially in size, to the point where they can consume another living creature. This may also explain how they are able to store multiple items in their stomachs. Currently, only Kage has demonstrated this ability during Bojji's fight with Ouken.

## Quotes

* *"Being able to store anything in your mouth must be pretty convenient."* - Bebin to Kage, Chapter 11.
* *"A clan of shadows that made a living out of assassinations. They were former assassin group that served the Bo Kingdom. Once you have chosen your lord, you can never betray him. But one of you still tried to kill him anyway, which resulted in the annihilation of your whole clan."* - Bebin to Kage, Chapter 11.