Classes/Races in HoS

## The Gods

### Mixed Bloods

Mixed Bloods are a race of very gifted children who possess the blood of not just one God but that of two in their ancestry. Each from the opposing side of the spectrum, meaning one of Good AND the other Evil. Which sometimes can lead to some very surprising situations not mention an abundance of power to the individual who is born under this right. For there is always the constant struggle of good vs evil going on their hearts through out every second of their lives, as to which side wins or looses...well now that will be completely up to them.

### Nephilims

Nephilim are a race of hybrid beings within this universe. They are the offspring of angels and demons, and are considered the "third race". However, the Nephilim are a severely endangered species, as any and all known existing Nephilim were hunted down and slain by demons out of fear of their power. There is only one family of Nephilims known to currently exist here in Japan: The Tetsu Family

## Demigods

Demigods, or half-bloods, are a race of beings who are half human, half god. They possess human souls and are vulnerable to old age and death; however, their godly blood endows them with special abilities that allow them to achieve feats not usually possible by humans. This also includes those who were born on the unholy side of the spectrum like those of the Takageuchi Clan were.

## Yokai/Demons/Onis

Yōkai are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "bewitching; attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious". They can also be called ayakashi, mononoke, or mamono. Yōkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them. Often they possess animal features (such as the Kappa, which is similar to a turtle, or the Tengu which has wings), other times they can appear mostly human, some look like inanimate objects and others have no discernible shape. Yōkai usually have a spiritual supernatural power, with shapeshifting being one of the most common. Yōkai that have the ability to shape shift are called obake.

Japanese folklorists and historians use yōkai as "supernatural or unaccountable phenomena to their informants". In the Edo period, many artists, such as Toriyama Sekien, created yōkai inspired by folklore or their own ideas, and in the present, several yōkai created by them are wrongly considered as being of legendary origin.

### **Types**

There are a wide variety of yōkai in Japanese folklore. In general, yōkai is a broad term, and can be used to encompass virtually all monsters and supernatural beings, even including creatures from European folklore on occasion.

**Animals**

Ukiyo-e print of yōkai, by Kawanabe Kyōsai
Many indigenous Japanese animals are thought to have magical qualities. Most of these are henge (変化?), which are shapeshifters (o-bake, bake-mono[3]) that often appear in human form, mostly women. Some of the better known animal yōkai include the following:

Tanuki (raccoon dogs)
Kitsune (foxes)
Hebi (snakes)
Mujina (badgers)
Bakeneko (cats)
Tsuchigumo and jorōgumo (spiders)
Inugami (dogs)

**Oni**

One of the most well-known aspects of Japanese folklore is the oni, which has traits of demons and ogres, usually depicted with red, blue, brown or black skin, two horns on its head, a wide mouth filled with fangs, and wearing nothing but a tigerskin loincloth. It often carries an iron kanabo or a giant sword. Oni are depicted as evil.

**Tengu**

A goblin from Japanese mythology that has several supernatural powers and skills in martial arts, the tengu were originally extremely dangerous demons and enemies of Buddhism. Over centuries, their behavior changed from spirits of the damned to active defenders of Dharma.

**Tsukumogami**

Tsukumogami are an entire class of yōkai and obake, comprising ordinary household items that have come to life on the one-hundredth anniversary of their birthday. This virtually unlimited classification includes:

Bakezōri (straw sandals)
Biwa-bokuboku (a lute)
Burabura (a paper lantern)
Karakasa (old umbrellas)
Kameosa (old sake jars)
Morinji-no-kama (tea kettles)
Mokumokuren (paper screens with eyes)
Human transformations[edit]

Ukiyo-e print of yōkai, by Kawanabe Kyōsai

"Various Yokai Flying out of Wicker Clothes Hamper" from the "Omoi Tsuzura", Yoshitoshi"

There are a large number of yōkai who were originally ordinary human beings, transformed into something horrific and grotesque usually during an extremely emotional state. Women suffering from intense jealousy, for example, were thought to transform into the female oni represented by hannya masks.[4] Other examples of human transformations or humanoid yōkai are:

Rokuro-kubi (humans able to elongate their necks during the night)
Ohaguro-bettari (a figure, usually female, that turns to reveal a face with only a blackened mouth)
Futakuchi-onna (a woman with a voracious extra mouth on the back of her head)
Dorotabō (the risen corpse of a farmer, who haunts his abused land)

**Draconians**

Are a race of dragon humanoids, also called dragon men because they walk upright and are human-sized. Some Draconians have scaly bodies like a dragon's, a snout and short stubby tail. While the majority appear to be or are human in their appearance but carry the characteristics or powers of a full blooded dragon.

**Other**

Some yōkai are extremely specific in their habits, for instance:

Azukiarai (a yōkai who is always found washing azuki beans).
Akaname (only found in dirty bathrooms and spends its time licking the filth left by the untidy owners).
Ashiarai Yashiki (A gargantuan foot that appears in rooms and demands the terrified home owner wash it)
Tofu Kozo (a small monk who carries a plate with a block of tofu).

## Hanyous/Half Demons

A Hanyō or Half-demon is a mixture of a human and a yōkai, either by birth or by unnatural means. There are two ways that a hanyō is born. One can be born of a yōkai and a human. The other way is when a human with an unfulfilled desire merges with many demons; most hanyous in 2nd Soul are born in this fashion. Though most by birth show physical signs of their yōkai roots, though they usually have a primarily human appearance up until either a certain age or incident occurs in their life that changes this, like the death of a love one rather unexpectedly or worst.

And while a hanyō can never be as strong as the demonic parent without becoming a full yōkai, most hanyō seem to be powerful enough to not only deal with any human hostilities, but also to easily dispatch most yōkai if their will and aggression is very strong. It seems that this attribute mostly applies to the demons strong enough that their hanyō spawn are more powerful than an ordinary Yōkai even when diluting their power with human blood. Lotus of the White Lotus Clan is the prime example of this, having been born of a very powerful daiyōkai herself.

Half-demons have a big weakness. Once a month, they lose, for one day or one night, their demonic powers, and are no different from pure humans. It is said that because of this most half-demons hide the time of their weakness because of fear. However, vice-versa, a hanyō can also become a pure demon when he must endure big pains and tortures, or their life is in danger. In this case, they are also as strong as the yōkai from which they are descended from.

For now there is no known hanyō which has such a form yet, but is it predicted by most hunters that as a yōkai, a hanyou would immediately become very wild, also cruel, and even desire to kill random humans. These of course are pure assumptions of course as again it is unclear whether they also lose their human minds during their transformations and become lascivious for murder. Indeed, one can assume from the fact that it is so.

A half-demon does not always possess the self-healing factor of a demon. Most aged more than 200 years, only slowly, and can recover within mere hours or days from heavy injuries, even growing a new fang in half a day. However, other seem to grow old at human speed, and recovers from injuries at human speed.

Natural-born half-demons are to be recognised almost always as those. However, hanyō which originated outside of conventional birth can apparently look like pure humans, and are recognized - at least optically - not as this what they are in truth.