Makai

Deserted Chateau stage featuring the Aensland Castle's entrance.

Makai (魔界, lit. "Demon Realm"), sometimes known as Demon World, Dark World Dark Dimension, or Darkrealm in other translations, is a realm that is home to many of the supernatural beings in the Darkstalkers series that is connected to Earth and different realms.

About

The three Makai nobles

In historical records of Makai, Zeruru Aensland, an ancestor of Belial, was the first supernatural being who respectfully ruled over Makai and its people. This marked the rise of the Makai nobles, and their goals to control different parts of the realm and control over separate regions of the realm such as Jedah Dohma, who had plans to control the realm for himself and control humanity, many supernatural beings were often in conflict with the Makai nobles due to their views for controlling everything and their desire for power, and some left the realm in order to have their control over their own fate, having relationships and families of their own, even with humans.

The realm of Makai was mainly led by three noble families: The Aensland, led by Belial and later Morrigan, the Dohma, led by Jedah, and the Voshtal led by Galnon. The three ruled Makai for 10,000 years. After the fall of Galnon, Jedah started a war to overthrow Belial and become the only ruler. Jedah had a confidant named Ozom that betrayed him and took his place as the ruler of the Dohma lands, reigning for a time. During the war, Demitri Maximoff challenged Belial and lost, being banished to the human world alongside his castle.

It may also be possible to open a portal from Earth that leads to Makai, something that Bishamon has done to find and silence the cursed armor that possessed him formerly, through deep meditation in the mountains.

Creation myth

Ancient writings of the realm states that Makai was created from a supernatural being who appeared where there was nothing. Every creature in this realm are descendants of this being, and that Makai itself is a deity.

Souls

Lilith holding a soul.

In Darkstalkers media, a soul is the spiritual energy, life force and source of power of beings. In Makai, class is mainly determined by the strength of the soul:

• Class S - Demons with great power, capable of reigning from the top, namely Belial Aensland, Jedah Dohma, and Galnon Voshtal. Belial was so powerful that he was considered a class S+ demon.
• Class A - Primarily refers to the leaders of the seven noble families that form Makai's aristocracy, such as Demitri Maximoff before he challenged Belial. Ozom was considered a class A+ demon during his reign.
• Class B+ - Warriors with special abilities and soul strength that exceed the standard. This class is collectively known as Darkstalkers (ダークストーカーズ). Makai has approximately 10,000 class B+ demons. The abilities from most playable characters in the series are around this level.
• Class B - Makai's average class, without special traits. There are about 6 million demons of this class.
• Class C - Slaves, used by higher classes as servants or livestock. Without them, the economy from the Makai would not work. Some humans that ended up in Makai are also part of this class. There are approximately 1.2 billion slaves.
• Class D - Generally refers to low level beasts. It is also used to refer to all of Makai's non-humanoid creatures, although there are many stronger than class B demons. While most are wild beasts, some can understand language and even have their own society. Makai has over 30 billion beasts, with roughly 2,000 of them having powers equivalent to class B+, such as Hannya and Kien.

When Morrigan was born, she had so much raw power that she was classified as an S Class Supernatural. As a baby, Morrigan could not control these powers because if one does not recognize oneself it is hard to control them, and because of this Belial had to divide her soul into three, keeping only one portion with her and the other two within him and within a different realm. It is that said if she were to be left alone, she would have destroyed everything around her including herself so Belial only planned on her gaining her full soul back when he believed she was ready. The piece of her soul that was within that particular realm had gained a consciousness of it's own becoming Lilith. It is said that because the soul she originated from was so powerful that is why she became sentient.

Lilith was the only piece of Morrigan's soul that was not within a body which could imply that only intensely powerful soul fragments that lack a body for too long are capable of becoming new souls, as there is no mention of the other pieces of Morrigan's divided soul gaining life on their own.

When a divided soul gains sentience, it can be given a separate body by another force. Jedah was capable of giving Lilith a body of her own giving her the form of a miniature succubus. It is unknown if a soul can only gain a body of the original species they came from as it's said that Lilith's form as a succubus is an imitation of Morrigan since she wanted something similar to her original body. The body Jedah gave Lilith was only temporary and if it died she would die as well. A divided new soul gaining a longer lasting or permanent body has still yet to be seen. Even with a newer body of their own a divided soul fragment can still merge with their original body as seen when Morrigan and Lilith fuse in their respective endings. In Lilith's ending she only gets to touch her original body's hand becoming Morrigan's left hand which could mean divided souls can only become the body parts they touch. If a soul is divided, altered or merged in some way the soul or soul pieces change as well. When Morrigan and Lilith fuse, Morrigan's personality changes and gains a new view of life. When Donovan comsumed all the darkstalkers in his ending in Vampire Hunter or Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge, it is implied that he may end up consuming the darkness of all of those he hunted and his soul became fully corrupted and succumbed to his vampire half.

Souls from even those born as full or normal humans are capable of becoming darkstalker souls or an equivalent to it. This can either be by becoming an actual darkstalker in some way or just the soul itself becoming corrupted. A great example would be Baby Bonnie Hood who is a human being but is said to have the soul identical to a darkstalker which caused Jedah to detect her as what he considers a worthy soul. A "worthy soul" to Jedah is just what he considers fitting for his new dimension but because of how he detected a human with a dark soul and confused it for an actual darkstalker it is most likely that even a powerful S Class darkstalker can get confused on what species the soul can come from. It is unknown if an S+ Class darkstalker can already tell the difference but because of how powerful Belial was and was said to have "omnipotent foresight" it is possible they can. B.B. Hood's soul was filled with such darkness which explains how even as a normal human she can be at the same level with powerful darkstalkers. It is unknown if B.B. Hood's title as an "Special S Class Hunter" is equivalent to being an S Class darkstalker in terms of exact levels of power but with how she has the possibility to put up an equal fight against beings like Jedah and Morrigan it is possible. Her stare alone is said to strike fear in lower class darkstalkers.

One of Jedah Dohma's winposes has him slice the defeated opponent in half and collect their soul. In this animation it is shown that the soul takes the form of an orb and is located in the body's abdomen. The soul becomes covered in blood in Jedah's win pose which shows that they can still be covered by tangible objects, but because Jedah's blood is supernatural in nature it is likely that only supernatural matter is capable of touching souls. In his move Prova di Servo, after slamming his opponent on a contract to collect their soul, it is shown what a soul looks like without blood on it. Souls are colorized as blue with white on the inside.

Outside the games, souls tend to be colorize differently. As 1/3 of a soul, it is possible that Lilith's form as a divided soul was either a smaller version of this spiritual orb or a "pie slice" of it, indicating that its only a mere fraction of a fuller object. Some adaptations of Darkstalkers also visualize her as a smaller orb sometimes with a flame-like appearance.

Many creatures of Makai need to devour souls as a food source or gain power, such as succubi, soul bees, ghouls/zombies or other supernatural beings. Some creatures will prefer the souls of specific species or souls considered "darker"/"lighter", while others will be nearly indiscriminate such as soul bees who will go after anything but their own kind. Other supernatural creatures, like vampires, will go after more physical things such as blood, but it is unknown if those things are entirely linked to the soul, or are more similar to how humans and non-supernatural animals need physical food. Donovan's seems to get more and more corrupted by the amount of bloodshed he causes, proning him to become insale to the blood. As a result, it is likely that it could be the former.

Inhabitants

Makai has more than hundreds of trillions of species of demonic creatures, each with their own society and territory.

Many of the beings who inhabit Makai are supernatural creatures based on real life legends and tales, such as vampires, succubi, werewolves, zombies, and many more. Many of these are known to prey on hapless souls of humans, given the chance, and there are also those who seek to rule over humans, but not all of its inhabitants are hostile to mankind.

Known residents of Makai

• Aensland family
  • Belial Aensland - Former head of the Aensland family. Deceased.
  • Morrigan Aensland - The current head of Aensland Castle. A noble adopted by Belial.
  • Mudo and Lucien - Top servants of the Aensland Castle and the main caretakers of Morrigan.
• Dohma family
  • Jedah Dohma - Head of the Castle Dohma and the youngest of the three head Makai Nobles.
  • Ozom - Jedah's former right hand man who became the base of the Majigen. He was responsible for turning Lord Raptor into a zombie, and for tricking Jedah into consuming more power than necessary, causing the latter's temporary destruction.
  • Hamotu - Udon comics only. A servant of Jedah before being under the rule of Ozom.
  • Q-Bee - Jedah's right hand woman who is the leader of the Soul Bee race.
  • Soul Bees - Species of hive-minded supernatural bugs native to the lands of Dohma. They have an alliance with the Dohma family and feed off of the souls of anyone but their own.
• Voshtal family - Led by Galnon Voshtal (ガルナン・ヴォシュタル Garunan Voshutaru, also written as Garunan Bosital), also known as the Spirit Lord Galnon (霊王ガルナン). A Class S demon that ruled the Voshtal family for over 20,000 years and ruled Makai alongside the Demon Lord Belial and the Underworld Lord Jedah for over 10,000 years. He was the oldest of the three nobles, having over 32,000 years when he passed away. His demise broke the balance of power in Makai, with Jedah using the opportunity to start a war against Belial and seize full control over Makai.
• Maximoff family - Currently led by Demitri Maximoff, one of the seven class A nobles. He resides in Castle Zeltzereich and is eager to be the undisputed lord of Makai. He challenged Belial and was banished to the human realm alongside his castle. The battle weakened him, requiring years to recover, being class B+ during the games.
• Lepe family - Led by Persimmon de Lepe (パーシモン=デ=レペ), one of the seven class A nobles. The gate that connects Makai with the human realm is located on their lands. The second oldest family of nobles in Makai, after the Aensland family.
• Hartland family - Led by Gregorio Hartland (グレゴリオ=ハートランド), one of the seven class A nobles. He is considered the most handsome noble of Makai and indulges himself with pleasure every day, being surrounded and served by many women. He has a powerful and subservient female ally named Megina (メジーナ) that is his confident and advisor.
• Kreutz family - One of the seven noble families. Although they have the title of nobles, they are more like an army, being a highly trained and organized family of rough warriors that resemble beasts, being the opposite of the Hartland family. But in contrast to their savage looks, they have no vulgarity or crudeness, all being first class fighters who have received advanced education and training in battle, operating under strict discipline. They have integrity and are absolutely loyal to their master's orders, paying for failure or betrayal with death. Though their numbers are few, they are feared for possessing powerful attacks that can kill with one hit, being known as the "Bullets of Makai" (魔界の弾丸).
  • Xell Kreutz (ゼル=クロイツ) - Head of the Kreutz family, a rowdy man who is one of the seven class A nobles. Among the seven noble leaders he is the one that least looks like a human, resembling a winged dragon, possibly being a weredragon. He is 5 meters tall.
  • Baraba Kreutz (バラバ=クロイツ) - A veteran werewolf warrior with the title of "Wolf Lord" who is the captain of the Kreutz family royal guard. Due to an incident, he wandered the human world for over 20 years, and he got injured and collapsed. His memories of that time are vague, but he remembers that a human woman nursed him. Unknown to him, the woman got pregnant and gave birth to Jon Talbain, and she died at childbirth. When he returned to Makai, he fought bravely for the family in the war to conquer Makai, so much that Demitri considered him the best opponent he ever had in his life. Demitri sensed an aesthetic in Baraba's fighting style that other warriors lacked. However, a few decades after his return to Makai, Baraba suddenly disappeared. Xell ordered his men to search for Baraba for several years, but he was never found. Some say that Baraba may have returned to the human world to reunite with the woman he met, but the truth remains unknown.
• Drey family - Led by Taurus Drey (トーラス=ダレイ), one of the seven class A nobles, a collector who owns a variety of items. It is rumored that Hannya and Kien were originally part of this collection.
• Gilman family - Led by Sierra do Gilman (シエラ=ド=ギルマン), one of the seven class A nobles. She is a philosopher that wrote many books, speaks 78 languages, and knows 1,400 spells. Some of her books include "Dark Beginning" (闇の開闢) and "Me and Makai" (私と魔界).
• Funechika family - Led by Ed Funechika (エド=フネチカ), one of the seven class A nobles and the family's honorary assistant instructor. The Funechika family is formed by martial artists, and Ed has a 666 dan in Makenpō (魔拳法, lit. "Demon Fist Method"). However, he has the tendency to place too much importance on spirituality, lacking practical skills.

Geography

Makai's environment is harsh, with normal humans being unable to survive for a day. The realm is primarily made up of a continent known as Matairiku (魔大陸, lit. "Demon Continent"). Matairiku is several hundred times larger than the combined area of the Earth's continents. In middle of the continent, an 8,000 km (4.97 mi) high mountain range (デビル山脈, lit. "Devil Mountains") sits with a 3,000 km (1.86 mi) high waterfall known as the Sky to Ground^{[citation needed]} (ヘブン・トゥ・ヘル, lit. "Heaven to Hell") capable of dragging anyone who approaches it to a dark pool.

The oceans that surround Matairiku have an immeasurable area. The ocean that lies on the eastern side of the continent is Daimakai (大魔海, lit. "Great Demon Sea"), which is a sea of fire that can reach over 10,000 degrees Celsius (18,032 degrees Fahrenheit). The ocean in the western side of Makai, Daimayou (大魔洋, lit. "Great Demon Ocean"), is opposite of Daimakai and is made up of ice. Where the two oceans meet, there is a deep fissure (200 km wide) enclosed by never ending winds, lightning, and thunder.

Gate

Makai and the human world are connected by a spatial distortion known as the "gate" (扉), located on the summit of Girara Gira (ギララ・ギラ), a giant active volcano in Matairiku's center. The gate is a floating jet-black fissure that bends all forces around it, such as light and gravity, and it opens and closes at regular intervals of about two weeks. At its widest, Makai and the human world can come into physical contact and connect for a few seconds, creating a path between the two realms.

The gate was discovered approximately 2000 years ago, when a strange phenomenon came without warning: The flaming blizzards blowing down from Girara Gira known to exist since ancient times and scorch anyone who dared approach it had suddenly stopped. The head of the Lepe family at the time sent a messenger to investigate its cause, who returned with a report about an abnormal event happening on its summit. The head of the Lepe family then went to investigate personally, but was engulfed by a strong torrent of magical power and disappeared, presumably being killed by it, and the news spreaded around Makai. The habitants feared the gate due to it being able to kill even a class A demon, and it became known as a source of misfortune and death. After several discussions between the powerful figures of Makai at the time, the gate was sealed away.

In reality, the gate is a path to different realms, and anyone who carelessly approached it could be instantly sent to other dimension. The top demons kept its existance a secret before anyone realized its usefulness in order to maintain their power. After several years without mentioning it, the gate's existence was forgotten by most demons, with only the noble families continuing to examine it and discovering its usefulness. They eventually discovered that the gate could be used to reach a dimension known as the human world, which had a large supply of evil souls that could be converted into magic power. Any demon that gathered this power would be able to rival the three great noble rulers, so many demons waged war for it, with the tensions intensifying after Galnon's death. Jedah broke the gate's seal in order to absorb the souls from the human realm and increase his power, but he absorbed more souls than he could handle, causing him to self-destruct.

Other appearances

Marvel vs. Capcom series

In the world of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, due to the actions of Ultron Sigma, set-up by both Jedah and Mistress Death, the Makai realm merges with the Dark Dimension and becomes the Dark Kingdom. It is here that Morrigan and Arthur form a friendship. Jedah also appears to have some knowledge of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda (Dante's father), a demon who inhabited the realm of Limbo, suggesting that the Limbo Realm may be one of the many realms connected to Makai.

UDON comics

In the UDON comics, the realm of Makai from the Darkstalkers series is shown to be connected to the human realm, coexisting with the Street Fighter comic universe, the two meeting in Street Fighter VS. Darkstalkers. Makai is also connected to an infinite number of space-time continuums.

Makai is the origin of the Satsui no Hado, and it is able to send victims to Makai. It is also related with the Mu no Ken (a power that ultimately made its way into Asian mythology and the legend of the demons and warriors of Japanese myths), Psycho Power, and Soul Power (two powers that were a part of European mythology and witchcraft, which started with the legend of the Gypies).^{[citation needed]} These are the legendary powers that lay dormant in several characters throughout the comics, including Ryu, Ken, Akuma, M. Bison, and Rose.

Gallery

UFS artwork by Gunship Revolution "Land of Makai"

UFS artwork by Gunship Revolution "Where the Seas Meet"

UFS artwork by Gunship Revolution "Matairiku"

Trivia

• Though the two series are not entirely connected, the original Japanese title of Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins series is Makaimura (魔界村, lit. Demon World Village).
• It has been theorized that Mudo (Morrigan's servant) doesn't like the secrets of Makai to be known to other realms, as such information would put their realm at risk; this even goes further, as it is hinted in the UDON Comics that the realm of Makai may not be the only dangerous (or arguably even the most dangerous) realm out there that Morrigan herself doesn't know about yet.