The ancient Zenki is a male Demon God with black and red hair, red eyes, sporting a fang is on the left side of his mouth and horns. He started out as a green skinned demon, but later became a Demon God, which changed his skin color to fair.
He is a real person, that descended from heaven in around 664 AD to 669 AD. While the actual year is unknown and Zenki's true age remains hidden, it can be assumed that he spent around 30 to 35 years in our world till he met the real Ozunu Enno.
Zenki was first spotted in a rural village in the Nara Prefecture where he lived until the districts of Tokyo were taken over by an dragon emperor who was only known by his nickname of "the Evil Dragon King of Hell".
It can be assumed that the local residents weren't to fond of the Evil Dragon King of Hell's actions, as one day, Zenki decided to go up against him. It is very likely that he wasn't the only one, as the manga depicts it as a war between good and evil, but Zenki and the Evil Dragon King of Hell were the only ones mentioned by their names.
It can be assumed that the local residents weren't to fond of the Evil Dragon King of Hell's actions, as one day, Zenki decided to go up against the vicious dragon to defend his home, a village where humans and demons accepted and respected each other.
It is very likely that Zenki wasn't the only one who went up against the dragon, as the manga depicts the scene as a war between good and evil, showing many humans and demons joining the battle and fighting the dragon's forces, but Zenki and the Evil Dragon King of Hell were the only ones mentioned by their names.
Zenki's streak of luck
Zenki is said to have faced the Evil Dragon King of Hell in a fierce battle, which almost ended Zenki's life, but when the situation got dire, he had a great streak of luck.
A man named Ozunu Enno appeared just in time to save Zenki. He was accompanied by two other people, which were named Goki and Vasara.
Zenki was badly wounded, so his new allies had to take over. In the end, Ozunu Enno, Goki and Vasara managed to overthrow the Evil Dragon King of Hell and end his dictatorship.
The four heroes, who rushed forth and risked their lives for the freedom and safety of both human- and demonkind, got recognized as heroes and went down in history.
After the battle
After the battle against the Ryuuma-ou-Mikado, Ozunu Enno saw Zenki's true nature and decided to ask the demon to join him. At first, Zenki was curious, if this human was trustworthy, but after all the human had saved his life, so he owed him.
Zenki joined Ozunu and was granted the power of the Diamond Horn by the human man, which raised Zenki to the status of a Demon God and granted him the powers of Thunder and Fire.
Zenki was very fond of his new powers and served his new master Ozunu for a long time, fighting many battles against the evils of our world and being soon given the title of the Red Lord.
After his servitude for Ozunu, Zenki returned to his hometown and continued to live there and protect it against the evils. When his hometown was safe, Zenki went out to distant villages and is said to have visited Shikigami-chou, where he went to rest his battle torn body and was sealed in a rock for a thousand years to recover his strength.
Once the thousand years had passed, Zenki was reawakened by a descendant of master Ozunu and started serving the Enno family line once again.
Being about the ancient Zenki, this doesn't belong into this article, tough, so what happened to Zenki afterwards can be read in his main article.
Notes
Chibi Zenki:
"Ningen nazo, dō natte mo oresama ni wa kankei nē!!"
Zenki is a hero to his people (aka the demons). He is an idol to them and many want to be just like him. While he is also a hero to humanity, earlier in the series he only saves humans as a side effect.
For example, at the end of the SNES game Kishin Douji Zenki - Battle Raiden's intro, he states the following: "What happens to the human race doesn't matter to me!!!" (translated by Zenki)
Ironically, Zenki is often gets turned into an object of amusement. He doesn't deserve this, but his character traits often make him a victim of this.
He loves engaging challenging foes in battle and defeating them, eating the Hyouinomi, because he loves their taste and purifies their miasma and often speaks off his mind and stays true to his word, regardless if he is punished or respected for it.
While the last one might not make sense at first, the punishment stems from him not willing to open up to Chiaki at first, thus leading to misunderstandings between them. This, for example, becomes notable in Zenki's battle against Buidou in the anime. Chiaki fears the Zenki might kill the transformed Kuribayashi and punishes Zenki after he violently defeats Buidou, as she thinks, that Zenki just killed Kuribayshi.
Had Zenki just explained to Chiaki, that everything is going to be fine, she would probably have been okay with it, but he neglected to do this, as he he has the same attitude as ingame counterpart from the quote above. Also note, that this is relatively early in the anime (aka the second episode). Later on, Zenki opens up a bit more to Chiaki, but he never seems to completely accept her.
Ironically, no matter how badly Chiaki punishes him, she cares about Zenki and will blame herself, if he dies in Battle Raiden, hold his remains after he dies after using Rudra against Hiki in the manga or later on hugs him so the same doesn't happen again, which results in him becoming Tou Kishin Zenki (aka "Battle Demon God Zenki", which is his most powerful form to date).
Though no matter how harsh or oblivious Zenki seems to others, deep in his heart, he is a kind and fun guy to have around, who just wants someone, who accepts him the way he is instead of judging him and who he can openly talk to.
The only known people in the series to achieve this are none other than Ozunu Enno and Goki.
While the translated works might not always reflect this, both the admins of this wiki and AzureKnight2008 are doing their best to make sure, that Zenki, Goki and Chiaki are presented in the proper light.
Gallery
Battle against Ryuuma-ou-Mikado
Demon Zenki and Demon God Zenki
References
- An epanded knowledge of the series and a general knowledge of its backgrounds
- Kishin Douji Zenki Manga Volume 12
- Various information on Ozunu, Goki and a few references about Zenki
- Various references from Japanese history