Homura

Homura Toushin Taishi War God Prince Homura (焔) is a character added into the anime version of Saiyuki Gensoumaden during the second season as a new main antagonist. He is a demigod bearing the title of war prince and is hatching a plan to eliminate Heaven.

Personality
When initially met, Homura is deceptively calm, and while not necessarily cheerful, would be seen as more of an amused person than a depressed one. He is highly-charismatic, able to charm and convince with his words, and might come off as a bit obsessive if he's really trying to manipulate someone. He does have a temper which will come to the surface if he gets frustrated enough, and he will openly voice his displeasure at something, especially if a person has disappointed him. He's not above mocking people, but will do it in a subtle way...unless he truly sees that person as being beneath him. Homura will likely be very annoyed, if not angered, over what he considers unfair treatment, especially if it hurts him. Expect snark and challenges from Homura before fondness and affection.

Appearance
Homura is a slender young man who has short black hair that is about shoulder length. Although he doesn't change through out the arc he is not as healthy as he appears to be. Because of his human blood he becomes sick. He never gives up on what he believes to be right and manages to look very healthy despite what the truth is.

Backstory
Homura was born a heretical being and forbidden taboo child of a god and a human. The only reason Heaven didn't kill him immediately was probably because he was the Jade Emperor's kin. Instead, they kept him locked up in a prison cell for years, with nothing to look forward to but his eventual death. He stayed in this cell for years, until his body appeared to have aged into his late teens/early twenties.

Eventually, Heaven saw fit to release him. There was no particular reason given for this action other than that the Jade Emperor decided to do it. However, a condition of this release were that Homura would be forced to wear metal shackles on his wrists (and on his ankles initially, but he only wears those until he is brought before the Jade Emperor), with a chain linking these shackles. He is given a plain room in the palace, and left to his own devices. Quite understandably, Homura has no idea what to do at this point, and thinks that it's the same as the prison, in there is no point to his life.

But conveniently, purpose bumps into him—literally. As Homura is standing in a courtyard, a god named Rinrei, who is not paying attention to where she's walking, bumps into Homura. The two talk, meet again and then, somewhere down the line, fall in love. And life it seems finally has purposeful and is good for Homura. Except for one tiny problem: it is a serious taboo for gods and heretics to have intimate relationships. And since Homura was born unlucky, his relationship with Rinrei is discovered.

The time-line gets a bit tricky here, but for a time Homura and Rinrei were only separated. Rinrei may have been taken into prison, or put under some sort of house arrest, but what is clear is that Homura does not see her, nor does he expect to see her ever again. So he spends his time staring at fields of flowers that he and Rinrei used to spend time together in, and it's in one of these fields, he meets a boy named Son Goku.

It's an unimportant encounter, though Goku describes Homura as "boring," which means something akin to "lacking any sort of spirit." (Based on an earlier narration by Goku.) Several major events (which comprise Saiyuki Gaiden) happen focusing around Goku and a group of gods: Konzen, Tenpou, and Kenren. Homura is witness to at least one of them, and is surely to learn of the rest, and they ultimately inspire him, because these four are acting in a way that is in their own interest, not according to the restrictions Heaven lays out for them. The ultimate result is that Konzen, Tenpou, and Kenren are reincarnated to the human world, and Goku is imprisoned on the Lower World, with his memories of Heaven locked away.

Another god, Nataku, is also rendered useless by the events. After the events of Gaiden, Homura is again brought before the Jade Emperor, who announces that Rinrei will also be reincarnated to the Lower World. Reincarnation, ultimately, is the closest the gods can come to a death sentence, as they are immortal beings who cannot die. Homura, of course, is not pleased by this, and demands to know why, but is instead told that now that Nataku cannot be used, Homura will take over the role of Toushin Taishi, or War Prince. This title is given to a god who is used as a tool of the Heavens to quell any sort of uprising (be it demonic or otherwise) in the Lower World. The War Prince is first (and often the only) one into battle, and is expected to be willing to die in order to win. He is also the only god granted authority to kill.

For about 500 years, Homura fills this role and while so, he develops a plan to recreate the universe. Along the way he picks up followers, the most important of whom are Xenon and Shien. When they decide the time is right (and it very likely has to do with the freeing of Goku), they begin to put their plan into action. To do this, they need to get three things: the Seiten and Maten scriptures (which were used to create the original universe), and Goku, who was born of the Earth, and holds its power within him. The Seiten scripture is obtained fairly easily; the Maten scripture could be taken in similar fashion, but Homura doesn't, for multiple reasons. The ultimate reason, which doesn't become clear until late in the storyline, is that Homura needs Goku to grow stronger than he is in their first encounter in order for the boy to have the power needed to create a new Heaven and Earth. It should be noted that the party that holds the Maten sutra--Sanzo (who possesses it), Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku—are the same group that Homura watched and envied in Heaven, though none of them remembers this.

Homura spends a good deal of time toying with the Sanzo Party, both through minions sent after them to direct confrontations. Eventually, however, Goku does become powerful enough to serve Homura's purpose, and he takes the Maten sutra, knowing that the foursome will come after it, even going far enough to tell them where he can be found: in the Tower of Konran. A series of battles take place in the tower that give Homura, Shien, and Xenon enough time to create the new world. The first part of the process requires all three of them; when they've finished, the three together fight Sanzo and Goku (Hakkai and Gojyo are engaged in other battles), ultimately defeating them both. Homura takes Goku to complete the second step while Shien and Xenon remain behind to prevent the others from interfering.

The seed for the new world is successfully formed, but Xenon and Shien die as a result of further battle. Homura proceeds into the new Heaven and Earth, where he is confronted the Sanzo party again, but only fights Goku. At one point Homura is knocked out, during which time Sanzo stops the process that would cause the present universe to collapse, and the new Heaven and Earth from taking it's place. When Homura awakens, he removes his manacles, and fights Goku in earnest. He briefly gets the better of the boy, until Goku tells himself to to stop holding back—at which point Goku thoroughly thrashes Homura. For his final attack, Homura leaps over Goku, and instead goes after Sanzo with a fatal blow. This forces Goku to act with equally fatal force in order to stop Homura, and although he does see the blow coming, he purposely doesn't dodge it.

The reason for this is simple: Homura's life is at it's end anyway; in earlier scenes we've seen him suffering from crippling moments of pain, and he has repeatedly said "not yet; it can't be over yet." He reveals this, and his reasoning to the Sanzo party just before he dies: he wanted to die outside of the Heavens he hated, and during a battle against the strongest enemy he could face. Ultimately, he's happy with how he lived the end of his life, because it was on his own terms. Then Homura dies smiling.

Relationships
Rinrei - She is the first person he met after Homura was released in jail. The two met when Rinrei accidentally bumped on him as she asked for forgiveness. Homura asked her ''"Why are you saying sorry?" She answered "That's because it's my fault." Homura asked "Is it a crime?"'' as Rinrei wondered and answered that it was nothing serious. Later on, the two developed a friendship as Homura finally has a purpose to live and he was never lonely again. They used to go a place which is full of flowers (where Goku gathered some flowers before). She even promised to Homura that she will stay on his side. She wishes to be with Homura forever however, it is impossible for her to stay with him. Homura fell in love with her actually, but wasn't able to tell his feelings for her because Homura is not a pure blood immortal. Mortal gods are forbidden to love immortal gods. Later on, Homura never saw her again and she might have been taken into prison. The heaven's emperor announced to Homura that Rinrei will be reincarnated in the lower world.

Goku - Homura first met Goku when he was still young and in Heaven, asking if he could pick flowers in the field he was standing in and then leaving when Goku asked for his name. Throughout the second half of the Gensomaden, Homura showed borderline feelings of obsession towards Goku, to the point where he tried to convince Goku that he'd protect him and to basically be his. Homura needed Goku to fulfill his plans of creating a new world, saying it was to right the wrongs of the one that currently exists, when he really was creating it so he could have a place to die. Also, Homura, being the War Prince, couldn't die by any means outside of battle, so he pursued Goku because he knew he was the only one strong enough to kill him. Homura was the first person that gave Goku a hard time in battle and was the first to defeat him, so this sparked resolve and the desire to become stronger in Goku. It's also hinted at that Goku reminds Homura of Rinrei; for instance, their innocence and naivety.

Abilities and Weapons
He is capable of manipulating his shinki to produce potent flames, render himself intangibile, generate barriers, summon powerful familiars, teleport, and levitate. Due to his affinity to fire, he is practically immune to all forms of flame. His strength is quite formidable, proving to be above his subordinates', who can subdue Ririn (who possesses enough strength to toss a ten ton boulder with ease) with their limiters in place. After removing his power limiters, He was able to kick Goku into a massive rock formation and destroy it. However, when he faced against Goku in his Seiten Taisei form, he was rendered nearly helpless by the heretical being's unfettered strength. As a God, he can also bestow the powers of God on to mortals, while also enhancing their inherent abilities. The consequence, however, is that while they may maintain their personalities, their individuality is completely stripped from them and are rendered subservient to Homura.

He is not without weaknesses. Because of his demigod heritage, while retains his youthful appearance, his health has steadily declined over the centuries. His condition becomes greatly exacerbated when he releases his full strength.

Standard Equipment: Blue Dragon Sword: A hilt that forms a blade of heat and light using Homura's ki (per the novel description).

Appearance in other media

 * Homura first appeared in Gensoumaden Saiyuki.
 * Though Homura was basically made for filler episodes, Minekura considered making a chapter about Homura in Gaiden. The publisher advised against it, saying that it would take at least 10 more chapters to cover his story, so she decided to give readers a glimpse of him in a one shot chapter released by G-Fantasy. Years later, the one shot chapter reached printing via Saiyuki Offroad during 2005's Comiket.
 * Homura re-appeared in Kozero-sum's mini issue.
 * In one of Minekura's journals, he appeared once more in a short story.
 * Kazuya Minekura drew one of her original characters, Kubota Makoto wearing Homura's outfit.