Hiei

Hiei is a fictional character in the anime and manga series YuYu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi. Hiei's seiyū is provided by Nobuyuki Hiyama in the original anime. Hiei's English voice actors are Chuck Huber in the FUNimation dub of the television series, Kirk Thornton, in the dub of YuYu Hakusho: The Movie, and James Stanley in the second movie, Yu Yu Hakusho: Poltergeist Report.

In the English-language manga Hiei is called Hiei of the Evil Eye.

Hiei's powers and personality

Hiei is a hybrid fire and ice yōkai. He has some pyrokinetic and cryokinetic powers, which grant him amazing resistance to extreme temperatures as well as limited immunity against fire and ice based attacks.

Other than being a master swordsman, Hiei is also lightning fast, able to move much faster than human and sometimes demon eyes can follow. He is a master of the Kokuryuuha, or Dragon of the Darkness Flame, which he tamed and summons from the Demon Realm for his use through the tattoo on his right arm.

He possesses an implanted third eye in the middle of his forehead, called a Jagan (邪眼, literally Evil Eye; which is the term used in the English-language manga and Poltergeist Report dub when referring to it). Said implant amplifies all his natural powers, and enables him to summon both the hell-fires of his homeland, Makai (魔界 Demon Realm) and the tamer, but still dangerous, fires of Ningenkai (Human Realm). At the same time, it grants him several near psychic abilities, such as: Hypnosis, Telepathy, and Remote Viewing powers. Yet, despite all this, Hiei must hide it behind a special sutra enscribed strip of cloth he uses as a bandana, because despite it being a part of him, the Jagan is a sentient being and has a mind of its own and needs to be kept in check by such items.

Hiei typically squabbles with Kazuma Kuwabara and keeps a cold and uncaring exterior, but seems to hold a certain amount of respect for all his teammates. He seems to be closer to Yusuke and Kurama. Hiei prefers to work on his own agenda, and has a notorious reputation in the Demon Realm, but despite this, he is very honorable and always keeps his word.

Early life

Hiei is known as "Emiko ("boy of fire"), because he is a male fire demon born to an ice maiden (氷女, kōrime), an all-female race. He was born male because his mother "interacted" with a male demon outside her isolationist Kōrime community, which led to him being cast out as an infant. After surviving his fall down, he was found and raised by a gang of bandits, but it didn't last long. After realizing the value of the Tear Stone shed by his mother at his birth, he wore the Stone in full view of everyone, hoping to attract enemies to kill. As he grew older, he killed mostly for fun, causing those that survived to greatly fear and reject him.

Later Hiei requested Shigure, the demon surgeon, to implant him with the Jagan. This only happened after Hiei succeeded in paying the doctor's asked price: telling him an interesting story. Hiei did when he told Shigure the story of his life up to that point in time, and was warned before of the physical cost of having the Jagan implanted in him. Despite the warnings that the surgery would drain Hiei of all his (former) strength and that it would be incredibly painful, he went through with it anyway. Afterwards, he chose to accept Shigure's lessons in the art of swordsmanship in order to survive. He did so because his original level of power, that of an A-Class demon, was reduced to that of a lower D-Class.

During his stay and training with the demon surgeon, Hiei decides to use his implant for what he originally wanted it for - to find the special jewel that he had lost in a battle with another demon, the very same one created from his mother's tears when he was a baby.[3] He set out on his journey and instead of finding his jewel, Hiei found his way back to the Glacial Village where he was originally born in. Once there, he decided to find his mother, Hina, but would find her friend, Rui, the woman who was forced to cast him off the village and into a river below. From her, he found out that his mother had died years ago, she had committed suicide due to the depression of losing her son and witnessing his "death".

It was also here, from Rui, that Hiei learns of the existence of his twin sister, Yukina, who left the village without explanation a few years before. However, she also told Hiei that it was assumed by herself, and her fellow villagers, that Yukina's reasons for leaving were more than likely due to discovering that she had a twin brother, and decided to seek him out. After she finished answering his questions, he simply turned to leave without another word. However, before he did, she quickly realized Hiei's identity as Hina's son, and begs him to kill her then and there for her part in his fate. After appearing to think it over, he refused and continued to walk away.

On his way back to Shigure, Hiei decides from then on to use his Jagan to watch over his sister, rather than finding his jewel. So it was, that upon his final departure from the demon surgeon, he decided to pay Shigure for his services as a swords-teacher. As payment for his teachings, Shigure has Hiei swear an oath to never to tell Yukina that he is her brother. Hiei accepts the terms, and states that he never planned to tell Yukina.

In the human world

After that moment, Hiei traveled everywhere, intent on finding his sister, Yukina. His search eventually took him to the Human Realm, and it was during this time that he first met the human form of Yoko Kurama, Shuichi Minamino. This took him from his quest briefly in the form of planned robbery of the Spirit World's artifact vault. Together with another demon named Gouki, the three stole three dangerous weapons from the Reikai (霊界, lit. spirit world), and became the targets of Yusuke Urameshi's first case.

Shortly after the heist, Kurama walks out on Hiei and Gouki. Hiei is initially furious, but later the scenario is shown from a very different angle: During their partnership, Kurama allowed Hiei to push him around out of fear that he might lose his chance to heal his mother if he didn't do as Hiei said. Hiei was impressed that Kurama stood up for himself, and this may have been a factor when he forgave Kurama for his betrayal.

Sometime later (two weeks in the manga, one month in the Japanese anime version, six months in the English anime), Hiei became a valuable ally in Yusuke's third case. He helps to fight against the Shiseiju ("four beasts"), defeating Seiryu. During Urameshi's fourth mission - to rescue Yukina - he was given the task of giving Yusuke the tape with the mission briefing. Koenma gave him this task to keep Hiei from knowing the details, knowing that Hiei would certainly kill Tarukane, the man holding his sister. Hiei would be severely punished if he were to succeed in killing the evil human, since yōkai are forbidden from killing any humans.

Hiei found out the details anyway, and almost succeeded in killing Tarukane, but Yukina stopped him, saying that she did not want any more violence and bloodshed, despite the cruelty that Tarukane had shown her. Hiei agreed to her plea, and stated that he didn't even think Tarukane was worth killing. Afterwards, she said that Hiei seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't place him. Hiei remained quiet and told her nothing, not only upholding his oath to Shigure, but also because he was afraid that she would be ashamed of his past.

Dark Tournament

During the Dark Tournament, Hiei was able to master the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, a Jaou Ensatsu technique, winning his match against Zeru in the first round in a short amount of time thanks to his Jagan. However, because it was his first time using this attack it crippled his arm. This was a feat on its own as anyone else attempting this would have had their arm blown off after using it. Because of this, he only got to fight in four matches during the entire tournament. During the tournaments third round he was tricked and captured in a force-field of an experienced demon force-field maker making him unable to participate in that round. However, this ambush worked against the demon ninjas, because the field had an unusual effect on Hiei's arm, as it healed it back to 100% health. Later, he masters the technique to and is able to use it against Bui of Team Toguro in the last round and beat him, wrecking half the stadium in the process.

It was also revealed during the Dark Tournament that Hiei's name means 'flying shadow', which is fitting due to his incredible speed that would have aided him in the few fights he was in.

Chapter Black

During the Chapter Black arc, Hiei did not want to join the group in their mission against Shinobu Sensui at first because he felt it did not involve him in any way. Later, after saving Yusuke from Sensui's follower Sniper (Kaname Hagiri), Hiei fought against Yusuke again in order to help calm him down, since Yusuke was in a rage over Sensui kidnapping Kuwabara. He joins up with the others to fight against Sensui and is eventually trapped in another dimension with Kuwabara and Kurama, forced to watch Yusuke fight Sensui. However, his newfound powers that he gained over Yusuke's death aren't able to match up against Sensui's S Class sacred energy and it is a resurrected Yusuke who defeats Sensui. Afterwards, Yusuke bribed Hiei with the Chapter Black tape, a VHS tape said to contain on record all of the crimes mankind has ever done onto itself and others, in exchange for helping to defeat Sensui. Hiei managed to gain possession of the tape in the end, but destroyed it without ever watching it.


Three Kings

During the Three Kings arc, Hiei is invited by Mukuro to travel to her territory and become a part of her army. For six months Hiei was put to a survival test by Mukuro and then faced off against Shigure, the one who implanted him with his Jagan. Hiei was able to defeat Shigure, but lost most of his left arm which was cut off and also ended up being mortally wounded in the process (in the manga, he was literally cut in half at the waist). Afterwards, per Mukuro's wishes, his arm was restored and he was healed, and Hiei continued to train under her. When Raizen died, Hiei traveled to Yomi's territory to meet up with Yusuke.

It was here that Yusuke announced his decision to hold a tournament to determine the Demon Realm's new ruler, rather than to have individual territories. Hiei entered and was among one of the many competitors. Hiei was able to make it through the preliminaries and first round, but lost to Mukuro in his final round.

In the final episode, Hiei chose to remain in the Demon Realm, and took up the task of escorting humans who have accidentally wandered into the Demon Realm back to the Human Realm.

Powers and abilities

* Jaō Ensatsu Kokuryūha (邪王炎殺黒龍波 literally Tyrant-King's Blaze-Murdering Black-Dragon-Wave).

Black Dragon Hell/Unholy Fire in the English manga.
Black Dragon Wave in the English dub done by U.S. Manga Corps.
Dragon of the Darkness Flame in the English dub done by Funimation.
Black Dragon Spirit Technique in the Filipino dub Version.

This technique involves Hiei creating dragons of fire from demon world using his demon energy to lure the flames to him and then releasing them in the direction of his target/enemy. The dragon cannot be controlled directly once released, however eventually Hiei learns to absorb the dragon once it is stopped and thrown back at him. This puts him in a temporary super state with access to incredible power. As the series progresses, Hiei can use the dragon at will without seriously damaging his arm. It initially crippled his entire right arm the first time he used it, but was later accidentally healed by an enemy's attack. This is one of the strongest attacks in the YuYu Hakusho universe.

* Jaō Ensatsu Rengoku Shō (邪王炎殺煉獄焦 Tyrant-King's Blaze-Murdering Purgatory Scorch)

Fist of the Mortal Flames in the English Dub.
Blazing Fist of the Overlord in the English Manga.

Hiei draws the lesser flame of the human world into, one or both, of his fists, and utilizes his lightning speed to create an incredible fire based close range multi-striking attack.

* Jaō Ensatsu Ken (邪王炎殺剣 Tyrant-King's Blaze-Murdering Sword)

Sword of the Darkness Flame in the English Dub.
Black Fire Sword in the Filipino Dub.
Hiei lures the darkness flames of spirit world using his demon energy again, but channels them into his sword instead of fully releasing them, making it less dangerous for him and his body (In the Japanese version Hiei creates this attack by merging his yoki with the flames of Demon World and the Dragon is not mentioned at all). Hiei notes his distaste for this particular attack (since it is similar to Kuwabara's). He eventually learns to create the sword without a channeling point, as Kuwabara does.