This is about the anime character. For the monster itself, see Shogun.
Shogun is a monster from General Durahan's collection of warriors in the anime series. He's famous throughout the world of Monster Rancher for his feats, earning titles that evidence his powerful reputation. He's been called "The Mightiest Warrior" (最強の戦士 - Saikyō no senshi), "Black Lightning" (黒い 稲妻 - Kuroi inazuma) and "Black Lightning of the East".
Appearance[]
Shogun is, like General Durahan, a ghost inhabiting an armour. As such, there is nothing visible underneath the metallic armour he wears (no limbs, head or face). Unlike his game counterpart, whose head consists only of a helmet, this Shogun has an accompanying golden mask, serving as a face, to allow him a wider range of facial expressions (mostly for comedic reasons), as well as a pair of floating orange orbs for his eyes, just like general Durahan. His design is inspired by samurai armours, in purple and red, with golden details. Shogun wears a white belt and wields a katana as his primary weapon, though, when forced, he can take a stick in his hands to deal just as much damage to his opponents.
In a flashback scene from when he was young, Shogun lacked the grey mustache and goatie he's seen with in the present, implying that he's an old monster (he's also called old by other characters).
Season 3[]
Shogun is revived accidentally by Mum Mew as she and Gobi tried to fix the mechanism behind General Durahan's collection of frozen monsters. Trapped inside a chunk of ice and marked with a skull for emphasis, he was to never be awakened as per the General's orders, due to his dangerous power.
His first impulse after being brought back is to challenge Durahan to a duel, but he's bitterly surprised to notice that all that's left of his old rival is his helmet, tied to life support. When the General tells him that he ended up in that state because of the ultimate warrior: seven that became one and have fought a thousand battles, he believes his words, imagining the creature in question as a seven-headed dragon created out of seven Shogun-like monsters, and when Durahan tells him that the reason he's back is to avenge him, Shogun gladly accepts this mission, wishing to taste their power himself.
In the company of Mum Mew, Gobi and Zuum troops, Shogun approaches the area where he'll find the Searchers. She gets curious about how he got caught if he was so strong, and Shogun recalls the day he became part of Durahan's collection. After a battle in which he had defeated the General, he was swayed by the sight of Lilim, who had rushed to her boyfriend's side as he lay defenseless in the snow. He chased her around until she tricked him into falling into the freezing water, becoming trapped in ice before he could escape. Trying to defend himself from Mum Mew calling him "a dirty old man", Shogun says that a beautiful young lady is the source of a warrior's strength. Considering these words and the fact that Durahan had sent her along with him, she concludes that it was due to her beauty and tells Shogun to use her as his inspiration. A comment that made her feel insulted (i.e. called old), makes her angry and he ends up falling into the nearest river, accidentally.
Even if only by chance, he comes across the Searchers without knowing that they're the ones he's looking for. The seven, who were crossing the bridge right where the river took him, see a monster struggling not to drown, victim to the violent current of water, and Genki extends a hand to help him. As he gets closer to them, his eyes find Holly, and all his desperation quickly fades away as he reaches for her hand (which was just resting on the bridge, not extended at him). He thanks her for saving him and Suezo gets defensive of her, tongue-slapping him, though that makes Shogun pull him into the water with him, just to be carried away again. Once he and everyone else is on firm ground again, they have a conversation in which the Searchers discover that he's a legendary warrior who's known (and feared) for possessing a special attack that can kill one hundred men at once, dubbed The Black Lightning Bolt of the East. When Holly hands him a bowl of stew, he shows his preference for young girls once more, commenting on how warm her hands are as he caresses them, stopping only when Suezo physically forces him to, getting angry and challenging him to a battle because of that. Seeing this as a unique opportunity, Hare, Genki and Mocchi ask him to train them for the Legend Cup, for it means a lot to them, but he mocks tournaments instead, because real battles should be life or death matters. As soon as Holly asks him, though, he quickly changes his mind and decides to help them.
Shogun's training routines (meditating to strengthen one's mind, balancing while standing on one leg on a log of wood and wielding a stick as a sword) all end, one way or another, with him attempting (or succeeding) to somehow touch Holly, being stopped and scolded by Suezo every time. When a Zuum distracts the group and leads them away from Shogun, he's met with Mum Mew and Gobi again, and, at that moment, he learns that they were the warriors he was supposed to eliminate, imagining them as the seven who merge into one to fight. When the Searchers return, he threatens to attack them for playing dumb to try and steal his secrets from him, and asks them to transform for an honourable fight, but they refuse in utter confusion. He insists for a while until he becomes exasperated and makes the first move, charging a lightning attack that, sadly, doesn't meet anyone's expectations. A small current of electricity falls like a waterfall from his katana, damaging no one. When this fails, he compliments them for stopping his attack and tries a different move, a Rolling Slash, that fails and results in his sword hitting a stone and breaking in half. Refusing to give up, he chases the Searchers with his shortened sword, but he still can't hit them. Breathless, tired, he can't believe how they dodged every attack, although they effortlessly did it due to his katana being so short now. Tiger's lightning, on the other hand, can send him flying against a tree, quickly defeating him. He attempts one last technique of his, Twister Slash, but he can only spin in place for a few seconds before getting dizzy and falling to the ground. Shogun then refuses any assistance and admits his defeat, asking to be finished off with honour, before the Zuum troops intervene and force them all to flee.
While some of the Searchers looked for a way out of that place, the rest tried to convince him to change his attitude and not be so dramatic about this defeat, but he's stubborn about his way of viewing battles. Even Holly's words, telling him that what truly matters isn't winning but having the guts to keep trying when you fail, can't move him. When they find a possible route to escape, Shogun refuses to follow them, staying in place instead. There, her words return to his mind and he remembers his days as a young Shogun, recalling his perseverance in training to reach his goals despite any exhaustion or frustration. Then, he speculates that that's the essence in a true warrior's soul.
As the Searchers find themselves cornered, with no way to escape from the baddies, Shogun reencounters them, overhearing Mum Mew as she confesses that they only used him and his gullibility to get their hands on the disc containing Moo's evil soul. Armed only with a stick and a strong sense of honour, he challenges the baddies to defend his new friends. Despite their mocking comments and his downgraded weaponry, Shogun uses his famous Flash Slash to swiftly knock all Zuums out, forcing all the baddies to retreat in fear. He later thanks the Searchers for opening his eyes to realize what he had once known: the value of continuing to face challenges like he did when he was young; he bids them farewell, wishes them luck and leaves to resume his training, hoping to meet them again someday so they can transform into one and fight him in their true form.
Abilities[]
Like any other Durahan monster, Shogun is very skilled wielding long weapons, be it a katana or a simple stick. His swordsmanship doesn't depend on the kind of "sword" he's battling with, as shown when he was able to knock several Zuums out using only a stick found in the forest. He proved to be strong enough to defeat General Durahan in a one-on-one battle in a location with a hostile weather (a heavy blizzard); considering that the General was one of the highest-ranked followers of Master Moo, having conquered the Eastern Continent on his own and leading his own fleets of minions, puts into better perspective the magnitude of Shogun's own power. His abilities in battle were decimated, though, when he spent a long time trapped in ice (Shogun guesses that his sword, too, was weakened due to this, causing it to break when hitting a rock when his attack failed). Despite that, it was shown that he could potentially recover his previous state if he was determined enough to train again for as much time as necessary, similarly to how Tiger lost his best moves after being turned into a Mystery Disc.
His most notable weaknesses are his obsession with young women and his inability to swim.
Shogun proved to be able to use four different techniques: Rolling Slash, Twister Slash, Lightning and Flash Slash. The last two are definitely the most responsible ones for his fearsome reputation, being Lightning the reason for his "Black Lightning Bolt of the East" title, and Flash Slash, his most deadly move, famously known as an attack that could kill a hundred enemies at once.
Personality[]
Shogun was shown to be a powerful warrior, rightfully proud of his might, as he's the only monster (other than Master Moo and the Searchers when combining their powers with Genki as a catalist) who could beat General Durahan, seemingly effortlessly. He's stubborn and has some antiquated opinions on certain topics, like his statement about real battles being life-risking struggles where the loser must die, or his underestimation of whether a woman could understand the true way of a warrior, as seen when he made one such comment to Holly as she tried to console him. When he couldn't defeat the Searchers, Shogun felt useless and kept asking to be finished off to die honourably, but he ultimately changed his mind after reminiscing the past and showed up when his new friends needed his help.
Aside from his attitude about battles, Shogun exhibited a lascivious behaviour towards "young beautiful women", namely, towards Lilim and Holly (and, potentially, any other Pixie monster, such as Poison, as suggested by General Durahan). Just the sight of a lady was enough for him to abandon all reason and chase after her, seeking to make physical contact or even reclaim her as his. He seemed to be quite fixated on the warmth of Holly's hands, for some reason. His intense interest for women caused two drastic changes in his life: because of his pursuit of Lilim, he fell into freezing water and was added to General Durahan's collection, despite defeating him, and, because of Holly's comforting words when he thought he deserved to be killed, he remembered the importance of never giving up and keeping trying just like he used to do when training as a young Shogun. Unlike Captain Horn at the end of his episodes, Shogun didn't insist with his approaches towards Holly nor did he directly interact with her before departing.