In Japanese mythology and fantasy, mazoku (魔族) are supernatural beings, normally evil ones such as devils or demons.
[1] A maō (魔王) or maou is a ruler of mazoku, or in fiction more generically a dark lord or powerful monster.
[2] The term "mazoku" was used to describe the asura and yaksha in Hindu mythology, as well as Zoroastrianism's daeva.
The Japanese feudal lord Oda Nobunaga also called himself a maō in a letter to Takeda Shingen, signing it with 第六天魔王 ("the demon king of the sixth heaven").
The term daimaō or daimaou (大魔王 – great demon king) is sometimes used to describe a very high-ranking or powerful maō.