Chen Shou

**Chen Shou** (*Chinese: 嗔兽 pinyin: Chēn Shòu*, *lit. Angry Beast*) also known as the **Peacock Demon** (Chinese: 孔雀妖怪 Pinyin: *Kǒngquè Yāoguài*), is a Demon and the main antagonist of Season 1 of the Fog Hill of Five Elements. He is one of the Three Venerable Beasts, alongside Tan Shou and Chi Shou.

## Appearance

When he first appeared, Chen Shou disguised himself using fabric wrapped around his face save for his eyes, a large dark green hat with a cone shape on it that was dark in color, whilst wearing a long-sleeved robe which almost reached his feet with a cream-colored trim and the hem was of same cream color, with a white cloth in front of the robe that had a symbol etched on it, whilst carrying an umbrella on his back.

After his companions were killed, Chen Shou took to the form of a giant peacock. His eyes changed to cyan irises and black sclerae, and his body was covered in cyan or deep green feathers with brown feathers that ended in gold feathers halfway on his wings. His tail feathers had a light green center, a cyan-colored outer core and a black inner core.

After consuming the essence of the humans who consumed the Panacea, Chen Shou regained a near complete version of his true form. In this form, Chen Shou now appears as a toned male humanoid with pale blue skin, cyan eyes with black sclerae, pointed ears, and pale cyan spiked hair. His wings also match his skin color but are shorter and now sprout from his back. His fingers end in claws as do his toes. He also wore a battle hanfu that left his upper body exposed with hair of a deeper pale blue color that has a spiky appearance of shoulder length.

After his heart was destroyed by Wenren Yixuan and near death, Chen Shou reverted back to his peacock form but his feathers turned white while his tail feathers now had a red center, black outer core and yellow inner core.

## Images

Chen Shou's human disguise.Chen Shou's peacock form.Chen Shou's peacock form at near death.Chen Shou's near-perfect form
## Personality

Chen Shou struck the middle ground of temperaments of the Three Beasts; not as expressive as Chi Shou, but not as stoic as Tan Shou. In conversation, Chen Shou displayed an affable nature despite his intimidating presence. While polite, Chen Shou lived up to his name and carried a vitriolic rage towards humankind. During and after his battle with Wenren Yixuan, he spoke about the darker aspects of mankind and pondered why the Envoys protected humans when many of their acts were no different from Demons, finding the divine protection given to “blasphemous” humans a waste. Arrogantly, he claimed his actions towards mankind were deserved and promised to show Xuan humanity’s dark side.

Following his defeat, Chen Shou showed respect toward Xuan and his strength, but mocked his naivete for believing all his problems will vanish once he returns the Qilin’s son to his father. He promised Xuan that with his death, Demons will seek vengeance, razing every village they find as atonement for their fallen leader and mankind’s sins.

## Abilities and Powers

**Overall Abilities:** As one of the Three Venerable Beasts, Chen Shou is recognized to possess unimaginable power, with his continued imprisonment in Finger Pond a major priority. Though he never returned to full power, he showed skill, strength, speed, and a variety of abilities that made him a genuine threat to the Envoys even while weakened and in a sub-standard form.

**Body Splitting:** One of Chen Shou's unique abilities. As stated by the Metal Envoy Xuanyuan Shenjun Chen Shou possesses the ability to split his body into several smaller parts and later recombine. However, Chen Shou must sacrifice his spiritual cultivation and it takes an extended period of time for him to put himself back together, with the implication he only recently regained his full form after escaping three years prior.

**Demonification Inducement:** An amplified effect of a normal Peacock Demon's ability to induce rage through its tail feathers, Chen Shou is able to turn humans into uncontrollable demons. This appears to only affect humans that have consumed Juxian Pills, with Su Xiao An being an exception.

**Juxian Absorption:** Along with the other Beasts, Chen Shou has the ability to absorb the essence of Juxian Pills made from Qilin scales. When absorbing it from living beings, the effect causes the victim to wither and turn to dust.

**Gale Blasts:** In his battle with Wenren Yixuan, Chen Shou demonstrated the ability to fire powerful bursts of air from his mouth, with each capable of immense damage. While powerful, the attack requires Chen Shou to inhale an immense amount of air into his throat, taking up time and creating a tell by causing his throat to glow. To circumvent this, Chen Shou typically uses diversionary tactics and misdirection to give himself openings, such as starting the attack while hidden behind a wall of water or out of the opponent's line of sight.

* Chen Shou's blades being used to hold down Wenren Yixuan
* Chen Shou's Enhanced Blade Feathers
* Chen Shou creating a makeshift spear to kill Wenren Yixuan
1/3**Bladed Feathers:** During his battle against Xuan, Chen Shou demonstrated the ability to mold the golden feathers on his wings into rectangular blades. These blades are shown to be sharp enough to stab through rock. In his near-perfect form, he is able to combine this ability with is splitting technique to separate his feathers into individual, flexible, razor-sharp projectiles to strike opponents from a distance. As a desperation attack, he can combine them into a massive pike, several times larger than himself.

**Parasitic Gu:** As a passive effect of his body-splitting ability, Shen Chou is able to embed a piece of his body in others if he's able to pierce their skin. While doing this, Chen Shou is able to inhibit the elemental powers of his victims and cause extreme pain when they try to use them. This pain can become excruciating enough to cause fainting or even coughing up blood. It is also extremely difficult to remove the parasite, with the most common method of dealing with it is to use medicine made by the Rongcheng Clan to hinder it. However, Wenren Yixuan was able to remove it after entering the Yin-Yang State.

## Trivia

* Chen Shou is based off of and named after the concept of **Dvesha,** better known as hatred, anger, or aversion and one of the **Three Poisons of Buddhism**. It is treated as one of the main sources of **Dukkha** (suffering) in humans and must be overcome in order to break of free the cycle of reincarnation. It's counter-quality is **Maitri** **(Benevolence)**, and in the center of the Bhavacakra, it is represented by a Snake.
* Lin Hun was inspired to design Chen Shou as a peacock while taking a trip to the zoo with his daughter, finding the peacock's natural beauty and feathers perfect for designing.