Fu Leng

From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings

Fu Leng
Born:	Pre-calendar
Died:	1128
Parents:	Amaterasu, Onnotangu
Siblings:	Akodo, Bayushi, Doji, Hantei, Hida, Ryoshun, Shiba, Shinjo, Togashi
Spouse:	Demon Bride of Fu Leng
Children	Dark Daughter of Fu Leng
Titles:	The Ninth Kami, The Dark Kami, The Dark God, He Who Shall Not Be Named
People

Fu Leng is the Ninth Kami and the lost brother of the Kami, but his true name has been lost to time. It was Fu Leng who caused the fall of the Kami, and Fu Leng who fell past Ningen-do and into Jigoku. From the Realm of Evil he tried to conquer and destroy the empire that his siblings built. Amongst the Kami he was second-best at nearly everything, excluding patience and bravery. ^[1]

Like his brother Togashi, he is able to take the form of a dragon. ^[2]

Contents 1 True Name 2 Onnotangu's Wrath 2.1 Fall from Tengoku 3 Jigoku 4 War Against Fu Leng 4.1 Human followers 4.2 Gathering of Thunder 4.3 Day of Thunder 5 The Second Day of Thunder 6 War in the Heavens 7 External Links 8 References

[edit] True Name

Fu Leng's true name has been lost to time. It was believed that the First Oni, the first oni that Fu Leng created carried Fu Leng's true name. The mad monk Kokujin became so obsessed with learning Fu Leng's true name that he released the First Oni from it's prison beneath Shiro Heichi in 1159.^[3]

[edit] Onnotangu's Wrath

Onnotangu and Amaterasu had ten children but Onnotangu, whose insecurities were being preyed upon by Nothing, grew fearful of his children. Shiba and Bayushi sensed their danger and approached Hantei to do something about it. Hantei was outraged and forbade them to do anything, but did not tell Onnotangu about their scheming. Fu Leng thought he would gain his father's favor by telling, and did so immediately. Onnotangu's wrath was terrible, and he sought out each of his children and ate them, including Fu Leng. With each child Amaterasu fed Onnotangu a poisoned cup of sake, and by the time Onnotangu came to eat Hantei he ate a stone by mistake.^[1]

[edit] Fall from Tengoku

Hantei hid in the Realm of Dreams until the time when he was ready to face his father. It was a mighty struggle, and when Hantei heard the sound of his siblings he cut open his father's belly. Onnotangu struck out in pain, tearing a hole in the sky. Through it fell the Kami, except for Fu Leng who reached out and caught his father's hand. Rather than help his son, Onnotangu began to crush Fu Leng's hand. Seeing the pain that his brother was in, Hantei cut off his father's hand, and both the hand and Fu Leng fell from Tengoku.^[1]

[edit] Jigoku

Whereas the other Kami fell at Seppun Hill, Fu Leng fell through the earth and ripped a hole to Jigoku. This hole became the Festering Pit, the centre of the Shadowlands. The spot where he fell was formerly the center of an advanced Nezumi civilization, but this was destroyed as he passed through it and released the demonic forces of Jigoku upon their land. In the depths of Jigoku, the demons of that realm became Fu Leng's only companions, as there were no mortals there to become his followers. The powers of Jigoku concealed his presence among them from the other Kami, concealed from Fu Leng that they separated him in this way, and encouraged him to destroy everything that his siblings had built. The demons molded Fu Leng to become their retribution against the children of the Sun and Moon. Their interference and brainwashing of the Kami began a thousand-year war between the Shadowlands and Rokugan, and Fu Leng's destiny to form a Great Clan as his brothers and sisters did remained denied to him. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] War Against Fu Leng

As Fu Leng grew in power and the Shadowlands grew in size, more followers came to him, armies of dark creatures, twisted by the evil of the Dark Kami and Jigoku, that waged a war for the supremacy of Rokugan.

[edit] Human followers

Some time after the Fall of the Kami, a tribe of bandits known as the Tribe of Noriaki came to swear fealty to Fu Leng. The tribe had been defeated by the Seppun and Kami led by Hantei at Seppun Hill, and fled south into the Shadowlands under the leadership of Mutsuhito. After three months in the Shadowlands, the few Noriaki remaining reached the Festering Pit, where they met Fu Leng. Fu Leng questioned why he should accept the fealties of these men, but Mutsuhito convinced the Dark Lord of their use.^[4]

"Yet I am Fu Leng, the greatest of the Kami. What need have I for sheep such as yourselves? Why should I not destroy you as I destroyed the Nezumi?" -Fu Leng [4]

[edit] Gathering of Thunder

Fu Leng was winning this war, until Shinsei, a simple monk, convinced the other Kami to give him one hero from each clan to take the war to Fu Leng himself. These heroes became the Seven Thunders. Fu Leng attempted to defeat the Thunders before they even faced him, by having the Crane thunder Doji Yasurugi assassinated. The plot failed however, as Yasurugi's twin sister Doji Konishiko shared his soul and stepped forward to replace her brother among the seven.^[5].

[edit] Day of Thunder

Deep inside the Shadowlands, in Fu Leng's fortress, the Thunders came face to face with the dark Kami. While the other Thunders distracted the evil god and his minions, Isawa bound Fu Leng in twelve scrolls, never again to touch Rokugan, unless someone were to read the dark magics the scrolls contained and free his spirit. As the only surviving Thunder, Shosuro brought the scrolls out of the Shadowlands.^[6] Shosuro passed on the final words of Isawa to the Kami, warning them that the scrolls contained the doom of Fu Leng. The scrolls were then taken by Bayushi to be guarded by the Scorpion Clan. This became known as the Day of Thunder.

[edit] The Second Day of Thunder

As prophecy foretold, the black scrolls were reopened 1000 years after they were created, and with their opening, Fu Leng once again crept back into Rokugan. Due to the weakness of Hantei XXXIX from the poison of Bayushi Kachiko, Fu Leng was able to possess the young emperor. Piece by piece as each scroll was opened Fu Leng's control of the last Hantei became more complete. With the opening of the twelfth black scroll, Fu Leng fully entered Ningen-do and became mortal. It was then that Toturi and Doji Hoturi struck simultaneously and cut down Fu Leng, sending his spirit to the eternal wastes of Meido, where he was imprisoned by Emma-O. ^[2]

[edit] War in the Heavens

Many years after the death of Fu Leng, Daigotsu hatched a plan to destroy the capital city of Otosan Uchi and release Fu Leng from Meido. Daigotsu travelled to Meido from a portal in the Imperial throne room and ensnared Emma-O by placing the Porcelain Mask of Fu Leng upon his face. The only being that could remove the mask was Fu Leng. When Emma-O summoned Fu Leng to remove the mask, he was struck down by his own spear, a weapon capable of smiting a god, and Fu Leng was free to ascend to Tengoku, the Celestial Heavens. ^[7]

Once back in the heavens, Fu Leng and his oni horde waged a bloody war with the Kami, Fortunes and Dragons. His sister Shinjo attempted to stop him, but he slew her with Emma-O's spear. ^[8]

The invasion was halted when the words of Hantei Naseru tricked Fu Leng into distrusting Daigotsu, whose faith was the source of Fu Leng's power. ^[9] Taking advantage of this moment of weakness, Bishamon deprived Fu Leng of the spear of death, and Hoshi pushed him back to the gates of Tengoku. Fu Leng was once again confronted by the Seven Thunders and decided to retreat.^[10]

Upon his return to Jigoku, Fu Leng spoke with Tsukuro and pondered his defeat.^[11]

[edit] External Links

• Fu Leng (Dawn of the Empire)
• Fu Leng (Dawn of the Empire)

[edit] References