Yama King
The Yama Kings are the supreme wardens (and arguably, prisoners) of Yomi Wan. They are largely fallen servants of the August Personage of Jade who, discovering that chi could be extracted through torture, adopted torture techniques to extract chi.
Generally, the only requirement to be a Yama King is to own some real estate in Yomi Wan. While some, such as Tou Mu, are actually corrupt and fallen former judges of the dead, others are merely corrupt spirits in general (Emma-O was originally an Ainu judge of the dead made bitter and twisted by Yamato occupation of his island), and some (Haha no Fukami and Yen Lo) appear to follow their original duties to a greater or lesser extent. The Yama Kings also include beings from other places, such as corrupt mortal sorcerers (Mikaboshi) or possible Vampires (Ravana).
The Yama Kings are powerful, but they are also bound by their crimes - the oldest remember the strange smile on the August Personage's face when He turned away from them, and the wisest suspect that ultimately, they are the butt of a joke which will only be apparent at the end of time.
List of Known Yama Kings
- Tou Mu in the Hell of Being Skinned Alive, presiding over the hoarders and abusers of power.
- Mikaboshi in the Wicked City, presiding over the souls of the corrupted, isolated and anonymous sinners.
- Hluh in the Hell of Boiling Oil, presiding over the gluttonous.
- Rangda in the Hell of Burrowing Maggots, presiding over the diseased.
- Wu Hua in the Pit of Salt and Iron, presiding over the souls of traitors.
- Haha No Fukami in the Hell of Seven Burning Seas, presiding over the souls that abused fire and water.
- Tou Shen in the Feverish Hell, presiding over those who profited from smallpox.
- Yen-Lo, the First of the Fallen.
- Hine-Nui-Te-Po, presiding over the souls of those who comitted suicide.
- Malaveyovo, presiding over cannibals and hungry Same-Bito
Trivia
In Buddhist mythology, Yama (Sanskrit: यम) is a dharmapala (wrathful god) said to judge the dead and preside over the Nerakas ("Hells" or "Purgatories") and the cycle of rebirth. [1]
