Of the many races that appear in "Monster Incidents," the Shiki are perhaps the most well-known monsters due to their overwhelming fighting power and their immortality. Although Shiki are the face of the Monster Incidents, their details are not explained in the story, so they are still a race shrouded in mystery. So today, we'd like to analyze and introduce the mysterious Shiki from the Monster Incidents from various angles.
What are Shiki anyway?
Before we analyze the Shiki from Monster Incident, what exactly are Shiki in our world? Here, we will explain in detail what Shiki are in the first place.
Living Corpse
Generally, Shiki that appear in fantasy novels and horror works are often depicted as moving with their own will, despite being corpses. These images are often shared with Natsuha in the Monster Incident, and it can be said that the Shiki in the work also follow these common images of Shiki.
Originally it meant "a demon that eats corpses"! ?
Generally, the image of Shiki as a "moving corpse" as explained above is well established, but there is also a theory that it was originally not a "moving corpse" but a "corpse-eating demon".
I've been swallowed up by the image of ghouls and undead! ?
Originally appearing in Japanese folk songs as "corpse-eating demons," Shiki have become associated with the image of "moving corpses" of ghouls and undead imported from overseas, and are now associated with the image of "moving corpses" like ghouls and undead.
Appears in various works
Shiki are not well known among the general public, but they appear in various works as "moving corpses." These Shiki are often called ghouls or undead, which are Western names, but there are also many works in which they appear as Shiki, which is the Japanese name.
The common reading is Shiki
In the Kaibutuzihen story, Shiki is written as "Kura", but the original reading of Shiki is "Shiki", not "Kura". Kura is just how Shiki is called in the Kaibutuzihen story, so in other works, Shiki is consistently called "Shiki".
Difficult to categorize
In the Monster Incident story, Shiki is read as Kula, and in other works Shiki is confused with ghouls and undead, so it is far removed from the original meaning of "a demon that eats corpses," and it is difficult to establish a common understanding of Shiki, and it is not possible to categorize it as "this is what Shiki is!".
Kemonozihen Kabane
So far, we have been talking about what kind of existence Shiki are in the real world, but here we will introduce Shiki in the work Monster Jihen. There are many unique features, such as the unique settings of Shiki that appear in Monster Jihen, so let's take a look at them one by one.
Foreign Monsters
In Monster Incidents, Shiki are described as "originally foreign monsters." In other words, they are not monsters that have lived in Japan since the beginning, but rather a race that came to Japan from overseas due to some kind of trigger.
Why Shiki is pronounced as Kula
Isn't the reason why Shiki is pronounced as Kula in the story because Shiki is originally a monster from overseas? In other words, the word "Shiki" originally existed in the world of the Monster Incident, and Kula, which has similar characteristics to Shiki, came to Japan, so Shiki, which has similar characteristics, was used as a kanji for Kula. With this background in mind, it makes sense that Shiki is pronounced as Kula in the Monster Incident.
I can't die
If there is one thing that makes Shiki superior to other monsters in the Monster Incident series, it is definitely that they "can't die." This image of "never dying" itself seems to be inherited from the image of Shiki as ghouls and undead.
High combat ability
Many monsters appear in the Monster Incident, but Shiki is one of the monsters with outstanding combat ability. Not only does he have a strong individual combat ability, but he also has the overwhelming cheat ability of "never dying no matter what," which allows him to easily perform suicidal attacks that other monsters cannot.
Hence the Weakness
Shiki have the overwhelming advantage of never dying, but because they never die, they tend to be less able than other monsters to determine whether an attack is fatal or not, which gives them the weakness of being able to be fatally wounded and restrained at the same time.
They cannot regenerate without oxygen
Because they are immortal, they will quickly recover no matter what part of their body is cut, but in the Monster Incident, fire is circulating inside the Shiki's body, and it seems that their bodies will not regenerate unless the fire is spreading.
Vampires and Shiki
Earlier, I explained that the Shiki that appear in the Monster Incident were imported from overseas, but what is called Shiki overseas is generally called "undead" or "ghoul". And these "undead" and "ghouls" seem to be considered to be similar to vampires in the West.
The History of Vampires and Shiki
Originally, vampires were a type of undead or ghoul that were moving corpses, and among them, the blood-sucking undead that became famous in the story of Count Dracula took on a life of their own and spread under the name "vampire."
Maybe it's similar to Mihai! ?
Looking into the history of Shiki and vampires in this way, you'll notice that they are quite close to each other. It's unclear how close Shiki and vampires are in the Monster Incident, but since Aimoto-sensei is good at coming up with detailed settings for his works, it wouldn't be strange if he had imagined some kind of relationship between Mihai, a vampire, and Natsuha.
Aren't Shiki also a higher race?
If you think about it like that, since vampires are referred to as a higher race in the story, isn't it highly likely that Shiki are also a higher race? Compared to other monsters, they have outstanding combat abilities, and it wouldn't be surprising if they were a particularly higher being like vampires among the many monsters that appear.
They are closely related to the Monster Incident! ?
The Shiki that appears in the Monster Incident may be closely related to the "Monster Incident", the biggest incident in the work. Since the main character, Natsuha, is a Shiki, it doesn't seem strange to say that Shiki is involved in the "Monster Incident", which is the key to the work, but how are Shiki involved in the Monster Incident? I would like to explain.
The whereabouts of Natsuha's parents
The protagonist Natsuha's motivation for working with Inugami is to "find out the whereabouts of his parents," but this "whereabouts of his parents" is closely related to the "Monster Incident," a conflict between humans and monsters that occurred in the past.
The true identity of the Life Stone is a Shiki! ?
One of the reasons why Natsuha's parents are deeply involved in the monster incident is that "the life stone that Natsuha's parents entrusted to her was once responsible for containing the monster incident." Furthermore, these stones, including the life stone, use the body of a Shiki, whose body never decays, so it is possible that this life stone itself is one of Natsuha's parents in the first place.
If you collect the stones, the original Shiki will be revived! ?
Furthermore, it has been revealed that these stones that once contained the monster incidents can be transformed into even larger stones by combining them, and there is a possibility that the original Shiki will be revived by combining all the stones into one.
Why the foreign monster Shiki?
However, some questions remain about these settings. The "Monster Incident" is supposed to be a conflict between humans and monsters that occurred in Japan in the past, so why was a foreign monster Shiki used for the stone that contains the "Monster Incident", an incident that occurred in Japan? These mysteries will likely be solved if the birth of the Life Stone is depicted.
It will definitely be a key to the work!
There are still many mysteries surrounding the Shiki, but in any case, there is no doubt that they are a particularly important race in the Monster Incident series. We would like to keep an eye on how the Shiki will be involved in the Monster Incident from now on.
Summary
What did you think? We have explained the Shiki of the Monster Incident, a mysterious race, but there are still many unknowns, and we hope you have learned that it is something to keep an eye on in the future. I am looking forward to seeing how the background will be explained in the anime!
