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Hyakutō (百頭 Hyakutō, lit. Hundred Heads) is a chimeric fish akuma that appeared in the Akuma-kun anime adaptation.
Appearance[]
Hyakutō is a large, blue fish with a multitude of heads of different animals, including that of a dog, rabbit, gorilla, ox, hippopotamus, horse, tiger, walrus, squirrel, monkey, wolf, black bear, elephant, raccoon dog, sheep, ram, lion, and leopard.[1]
History[]
Anime[]
Hyakutō was one of the akuma in Amduscias' Dream Demon Realm Jigoku. Mora briefly summoned it to scare, Shingo Umoregi, but the boy overcame his fear and simply walked through the demon, making it vanish.[1]
Legend[]
Hyakutō illustration
Hyakutō is the Japanese name Shigeru Mizuki gave to a legendary fish found in a Buddhist legend. This legend was introduced in Japan through the Konjaku Monogatarishū, a Heian Period book that documented stories from Japan, China, and India.
Long ago, Shakyamuni Buddha and several other monks traveled to the Rapti River. One of the local fishermen fished up a strange fish. It was massive, and instead of a normal fish's head, it had the heads of a dog, a horse, a pig, a camel, a cow, a boar, a sheep, and multiple other animals, in total, a hundred heads. It took 500 men to pull the fish out of the water. The people then consulted Shakyamuni, who asked the fish, "Where is the mother that taught you?". Suddenly, the fish spoke and said, "I fell into Mugen Jigoku." One of Shakyamuni's disciples, Anan, asked him what karma the fish experienced in the past.
Shakyamuni revealed that during the time of Kashōbutsu, the fish was once a boy named Kaburi, who was born to a Brahmin family. Kaburi was extremely wise and intelligent, and after his father's death, his mother asked him, "Is there anyone in this world who is wiser than you?" Kaburi said "Only a Śramaṇa is superior to me. If I have any doubts, he is happy to teach and enlighten me. If a monk asks me a question, I will not be able to answer." So Kaburi's mother said, "Then why don't you study the teachings of a Śramaṇa?" Kaburi said he wouldn't be willing to listen to lower-class Śramaṇa, so his mother said, "You should pretend to be a Śramaṇa, study the teachings, attain enlightenment, and then come home." True to his word, Kaburi pretended to be a Śramaṇa, studied Buddhism under one, attained enlightenment, and returned home. However, when asked if he had attained the teachings, Kaburi replied, "I have not finished studying yet." His mother then said, "If you are unable to master the teachings from now on, you should just insult and humiliate your teacher." Kaburi listened and returned to his teacher, who harshly scolded him, saying, "Śramaṇa, you are a fool without enlightenment, and your head is like an animal's." He then left. Because of this, Kaburi's mother went to Jigoku, and he was turned into a fish with the heads of multiple animals as punishment.
Anan asked Shakyamuni, "Is there any way to escape from this fish body?" Shakyamuni replied, "Even in this world of a thousand Buddhas and bhadrakalpas, they are still not been able to escape from this fish body. Therefore, people must be careful of their body, speech, and manas (actions, language, and mental processes; these are the three parts that make up a person's daily actions). If someone acts mean towards others, they will be punished according to the words they say."
Shigeru Mizuki introduced Hyakutō with a slightly different backstory. In this version of the legend, Kaburi was a Brahmin but also a normal student. He often bullied his colleagues whenever they misunderstood the scriptures they studied, insulting them and calling them "horse-faced", "monkey-faced", etc. When Kaburi died, he was reincarnated as a sea monster that had the heads of all the animals he used to insult his fellow Śramaṇa. He was caught inside a fisherman's net, but just before he died, Buddha appeared before him and comforted him.