GENJO SANZO

Height: 177 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Age: 23
Birthdate: November 29
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Blood type: A

Voice actor: SEKI Toshihiko
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He smokes, he drinks, he swears, he gambles, he kills, and he fires his gun in the air just to get his companions to shut up. He doesn't believe in any God, nor in anyone but himself. How much holier can you get? Yet this irreverent creature bears the title of "Sanzo," the highest given to priests in the world created by Minekura Kazuya.

Sanzo is an emotionally cool person, as well as selfish in nearly every sense of the word. His being the bearer of the Maten Kyoumon (Evil Sutra) is probably justified, since that particular sutra professes faith in oneself above all else.

Sanzo advocates this belief by example: he doesn't tolerate people who live for anything except for themselves, and pursue goals other than their own. He even hates being touched, preferring to keep to himself most times.

He doesn't seem to have any regard for personal tragedies, either: one must deal with one's own pain. True to form, he doesn't make a big fuss about the most traumatic thing about his past; it's up to his companions to understand when his memories rise to the surface and cause him to behave in an unusually antisocial manner.

However, from time to time we see breaks in his attitude. Particularly when his companions Goku and Gojyo piss him off. When that happens, behold his comic symbols of authority -- the almighty paper fan, and the spirit-exorcising gun.

His companions (whom he sometimes refers to as his "servants" in the presence of witnesses) call him "Sanzo" familiarly, as if it were his first name. Not that he cares.

As part of his priestly garb, he wears the Maten Kyoumon on his shoulders, and has a small red chakra at the center of his forehead. So it's kind of hard to disguise him as a high official of the church, despite his attitude. He is also in charge of a divine gold card (as it were), which he thinks nothing of spending, since it's not his.

He has downturned blue eyes and golden hair, as well as a tendency to be called "pretty" from time to time.

Original chara: Hsuan Tsang, later Tripitaka

Hsuan Tsang was a Chinese Buddhist priest from the province of Chang'an who was sent by the Emperor on a pilgrimage to India to collect a certain number of holy scrolls (sutras), then bring them back to China to help his people better understand Buddhism. The whole journey took 14 years, but Hsuan Tsang returned with a grand total of 5,048 scrolls, and for his nobility he was rewarded by the Emperor with a holy name, Tripitaka.

There is evidence that Tripitaka is a historical figure. On the other hand, his three followers -- Son Wukung, Sha Monk and Chu Pa Chieh -- seem to have been invented by ye olde yarn-spinners to make Tripitaka's journey more interesting.

Tripitaka was supposed to have been chosen as the "purest" person, in order to undertake the holy pilgrimage. His heart is free of malice, containing only goodwill for all creatures on the Earth. You don't need me to tell you that Genjo Sanzo, the "ill-behaved" priest of Minekura's devising, is far from this ideal.

Minekura preserves the superstition among demons that eating the flesh of a pure Buddhist priest will grant eternal life. In the original legend, Tripitaka's unsullied holy flesh had to be defended from assault by his three disciples. In parallel, various youkai have popped up wanting a bite of Sanzo's meat.

"Sanzo" translates to "three storehouses" -- while "Tripitaka" translates to "three bundles." The "three bundles" spoken of here relate to the three sections of the Great Vehicle teachings that help people reach Heaven (Buddhist doctrine).

Other main characters:

Cho Hakkai
Son Goku
Sha Gojyo