The Dōshi (道士 Dōshi?) are higher-class monsters serving as students, servants, and military force to Lord Tensen in Hōrai.
Appearance
The Dōshi have human bodies with heads that are based on insects, plants, or other abnormal characteristics. While their standard attire is a changshan, other Dōshi have the option of wearing ceremonial Taoist robes adorned with beaded necklaces, and a headpiece bearing the Yin-Yang symbol.
Personality
The Dōshi have higher intelligence and their own individual personalities than the Sōshin and Mōshin. As servants and students of Lord Tensen, they have pledged their loyalty towards them and focus on their Tao training in Hōrai. However, they are liable to give up information or support their enemies if they get the better of them.
Biology
Similar to the ovules of a Tensen, the Dōshi possess a heart-like organ located within their tandens and will die if destroyed.
Abilities and Powers
The Dōshi have knowledge and proficient use of the life force energy known as Tao where they can enhance their physical strength, harden their bodies, read movements, and send out invisible projectiles. Two have been shown to be able to control the Tao of the Paradise Centipedes and Butterflies. Since they are of higher status, they have the authority to order the Sōshin. They are also capable of wielding weapons such as spears.
They can also regenerate any damage they take and are able to endure huge amounts of pain, with at least one shown being able to remain active with only their head after their body had been cut to ribbons by Yamada Asaemon Shugen. However, they are capable of being killed if their tandens are destroyed or if their bodies are incinerated to ash.
History
The Dōshi were originally humans that ventured to Kotaku but fell victim to Lord Tensen's experimentations, morphing them into loyal servants with no traces left of their former selves, including the absence of their memories. They came to live in Hōrai where they were taught Taoism by Lord Tensen and mastered the ability to use Tao.
After defying Rien, Mei was sentenced to undergo Bōchū Jutsu with the Dōshi to complete their Tao training but soon made her escape from the palace.
Plot
Lord Tensen Arc
After a group of humans sent from Japan manage to make it half way through the island, Lord Tensen sends out three Dōshi to investigate. One Dōshi goes out to check on Aza Chōbē and Aza Tōma to see that they have become Tan in the pit after their encounter with Ju Fa and Tao Fa. The two brothers manage to make their way out of the pit and fight against the Dōshi. After gaining new powers from his time down at the pit and awakening his ability to use Tao, Chōbē manages to defeat the Dōshi and forces him to guide them to Hōrai.
Meanwhile, two Dōshi confront Gabimaru, Tamiya Gantetsusai, and Yamada Asaemon Fuchi at the Sōshin Valley and find that Mei is accompanying them. They wish to take her back to Hōrai to complete their Tao training but are hindered by the humans from doing so. With her help, Gabimaru awakens his ability to sense Tao and defeats the Dōshi.
Once the Aza Brothers made it to Hōrai, they encounter Gabimaru, Gantetsusai, Fuchi, and Mei and engage in conflict. While fighting Gantetsusai, Tōma orders the Dōshi they enslaved to attack Fuchi and Mei. The Dōshi agrees to cooperate and realizes that the little girl Fuchi was guarding was Mei that went missing in the past. After Mei ceased the conflict by having Chōbē fall down a crater she unleashed, the Dōshi is taken along with the group as they make their way to the palace. He is then later set free by Fuchi after the Asaemon became depressed to know that his comrades were dead.
Hōrai Arc
After the arrival of a second landing party, Rien sends out a Dōshi to eliminate them. The Dōshi confronts the humans with the Mōnshin at his command but is ultimately taken down by Yamada Asaemon Shugen and becomes subjugated to interrogation to divulge information about the island.
Two Dōshi were stationed as guards near the Dō'in Temple but were quickly killed by Gabimaru and Yuzuriha who had suppressed their Tao as a means to not get spotted as they infiltrate the palace. During the survivors fight against the Tensens in the palace, the Dōshi were put in charge of loading the floodgate ships with cargo containing the Paradise Butterflies in preparation for Rien's plan to sail to Japan. However, after a raid ensued by the second landing party, Rien sends out the Dōshi to eliminate them. When Zhu Jin emerged out in the open fully fused with the Banko, Jikka witnesses a Dōshi reverting back to their former human body while wondering what has happened ever since they came to the island in the past. The roots from the Zhu Jin-fused Banko then start hunt down the Dōshi and turn them into trees with smiling heads sprouting from bloomed buds. As a result, the Dōshi race became extinct.
Trivia
- Though it has become apparent that a Dōshi will die if their tanden is destroyed, the Dōshi who was defeated by Chōbē was shown to remain alive after having his tanden severely damaged and his lower body separated. The reason behind this remains unclear.
