List of Saiyuki characters
Ill-tempered and cynical, Sanzo is frequently smacking Goku on the head with his fan whenever he does or says something annoying and constantly shoots at both him and Gojyo whenever they start arguing.
Despite the fact that he refuses to openly acknowledge the other members of his group as friends, Sanzo deeply cares for his teammates and will do whatever it takes to protect them.
Son Goku (孫悟空) A heretical existence that is neither a human being nor a youkai nor a god, born from a rock on the summit of Mt.
There is no explanation given in the anime as to the origin of Goku's weapon; in the manga, it is revealed that the Nyoi-bo was sealed in a canister in the temple, which he and Gojyo shattered whilst goofing off.
Goku joins Sanzo, Hakkai, and Gojyo to stop the resurrection of Gyumaoh, during which he discovered that he was Seiten Taisei, having previously been aware of it.
Torn with shame and guilt over the tragedy, Jien abandons Gojyo, and the brothers only meet again years later on opposite sides of their current conflict.
He is voiced by Illich Guardiola in English for the original series and Requiem, by Tony Oliver for Reload and Gunlock and by Ian Sinclair in Blast and ZEROIN.
He was romantically involved with his elder sister, Kanan (not Kanaan), though they hadn't originally known this as they had grown up in separate orphanages (this is revealed in the manga, but is never made clear in the anime).
Kanan was later raped by a youkai noble, Hyakugen Maoh, while Gonou was away at work, and despite being rescued, she committed suicide, not wanting to bear the child.
In English, he is voiced by Braden Hunt for the original series and Requiem, Steve Cannon for Reload and Gunlock, Micah Solusod in Blast,[2] and by Howard Wang in ZEROIN.
Gyumaoh (牛魔王): The great Youkai buried by the war god, Crown Prince Nataku, five hundred years ago at Houtou Castle in India.
As a scientist named Kenichi Kyo, he is involved in experiments to revive the Ox Demon King, but his true identity is one of the highest priests, Ukoku Sanzo.
During his time before becoming a priest he easily mastered all material arts and spiritual powers, growing strong enough that he could literally kill others with a wave of his arm.
In the English versions, he was voiced by Tommy Drake in the original series, Kirk Thornton in Reload and Gunlock, and by Justin Doran in ZEROIN.
Lirin is highly skilled hand-to-hand fighter, but she isn't very smart and as running gag Sanzo "defeats" her just by tossing her a meat bun which she focuses on instead of fighting.
In the Japanese versions, he was voiced by Dai Matsumoto in the first series, Jurota Kosugi in Reload and Gunlock and Jin Yamanoi in Blast and ZEROIN.
She is deeply devoted to Kougaiji, who saved her from being sacrificed to the Centipede Demon, and has rashly taken on dangerous missions to prove her loyalty to him.
He is elegant and soft-spoken, and speaks fluently with the intonation peculiar to the western continent, He is quite confident and has a lot of words and deeds that rub people's nerves the wrong way.
Gato willing goes along with the charade the Great Spirit created until the finale of the series, where he decides to fight the Sanzo party without Hazel using any souls to revive him.
Homura Toushin Taishi (焔): a character added into the anime version of Saiyuki GensoMaden mid way into the series and becomes the main antagonist.
Homura was stated to be the half-human grandson of the daughter of the King of the gods of Heaven with a human man from Earth (presumably inspired by the Taoist legend of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, involving the goddess Zhinu and her mortal lover Niulang).
Although he succeeded Nataku Taishi (who destroyed Gyumaoh-Bull Satan 500 years ago), he eventually grows disgusted with the boring tranquility of the lazy life in Heaven.
He constantly observes the Sanzo party's movements, sometimes sending his underlings to fight them to push them to grow stronger or going to meet them in person (along with his two companions, Shion and Zenion) to do so, which always resulted in him brutally thrashing Goku.
He is a half-mortal war god who won the then-divine Son Goku (Sun Wukong)'s friendship, since both golden-eyed boys were branded as "heretical" beings due to the nature of their births.
Unfortunately, Nataku falls into a catatonic state (the reasons for this are not disclosed in the anime) and sits in the divine garden of heaven with only the Goddess of Mercy to keep him company, staring blankly ahead for all time (it is implied by Kanzeon Bosatsu that he is waiting for Goku to return).
In the anime, Nataku goes by a different title than in the manga, but his background is still very much the same - right down to his father (the overambitious and duplicitous Commander Li Touten), and the use of a long spear as a weapon of choice.
It is gradually revealed that Li Touten is exploiting his son for fame and recognition from the rest of Heaven, and it is also implied that he is actually using him as tool in order to gain political power and influence among the other gods (reversing the traditional role in mythology that Nataku is actually to blame for his own misfortune).
Nataku's father is later confronted by the past reincarnation of Cho Hakkai (Field Marshal Tenpou Gensui), and further mistreatment of his son is then yet to be seen in the series.
In his past life, he was actually the god Goujun, the Dragon King of the West and a commanding officer (Kenren Taisho's immediate superior) of Heaven's army.
He was a supreme priest with an easy-going and elusive personality who possessed two Seiten and Maten and "Magic Heaven", but he was attacked by a youkai and died while protecting the still young Genjo Sanzo.
