The image of the "demon Lord" in Japanese fantasy: traditions, formality, originality

Kovlekov Kirill Ivanovich ORCID: 0000-0002-9520-5521 Researcher, Research Laboratory "Oriental Languages in Secondary School", Institute of Asian and African Countries, Lomonosov Moscow State University 125009, Russia, Moskva, g. Moscow, ul. Mokhovaya, 11, str. 1, aud. 319 aevin.laelist@gmail.com

IntroductionIn the popular culture of post-war Japan, conditions have developed for the formation of the "otaku" subculture, which later served as the basis for the emergence of such a phenomenon as Japanese fantasy in the literature of the country.

The peculiarities of Japanese fantasy are manifested, first of all, in peculiar interpretations of one of the central motives of the novels - the struggle of good and evil, personified in the image of the confrontation of Yu:Xia (ÿ - - "hero, brave man") and Mao: (ï - "demon lord"). In this regard, the study of the role of this dichotomy in the synchronic and diachronic aspects is of research interest, contributing to the disclosure of the question of the identity of the poetics of modern Japanese fantasy.

The scientific novelty of the research is due to the disclosure of the originality of one of the central motives of the novels of Japanese fantasy – the interpretation of the struggle of good and evil in the interaction of the images of the hero-yu:xia and the demon lord, together with the application of new approaches to the study of this dichotomy by methods of corpus linguistics and linguopoetics. Quantitative research methods were used to perform the research tasks.

The purpose of the study is to determine the role of the image of the demon lord in modern Japanese fantasy.

Tasks: 1) to reveal the historical background of the appearance of the image; 2) to establish a synchronic image of Mao:; 3) to highlight the characteristic features of the image.

The sources for the study were fantasy novels published in the 2010-2020s, selected for the purposes of the study. During the study of the topic, materials from electronic dictionaries, an artificial intelligence algorithm for processing BigData from User Local, Inc. were also involved.

In the literary formula of "fantasy", as part of the world mass literature, a significant number of works of various kinds are attributed, united by a single category of the fantastic. In the motive of the confrontation of Good and Evil, as a standard^[3] literary formula, some researchers see a kind of attempt to comprehend, sometimes rethink, the ethical principles of human life^{[2, 7]}. At the level of archetypes, this motif is reflected in fairy tales. For example, in the plot "Dragon Fighter" ATU-300^[14], archetypal motives are traced, in accordance with which the hero fights with a dragon and receives as a reward his treasures, virgins, etc. In some interpretations, this motive of victory over a dragon is a reflection of overcoming fear (including primate primate fear of snakes) as values, comprehension of wisdom as a treasure^[12]. The same image of the snake finds its parallel with the image of the greatest enemy of humanity in its Christian understanding^[1]. During the period of the spread of mass culture, this image was reflected in the collective consciousness of people as the image of the dark lord, e.g. Sauron J. R. R. Tolkien^[10]. An integrated approach to the definition of the character's image leads the researcher to the need to consider the images of both the demon lord and the hero.

The main partThe term mao: ^[15] (yap. ? - evil spirit; ? - king, king) was originally a tracing paper of the Buddhist designation of the lord of evil spirits-tempters of the sixth world Mara ^{[5, p. 45]}.

This image is found in classical literature, for example, in the person of several eponymous characters from "Journey to the West" or Fan Rui from "River Backwaters". Subsequently, the term was used when translating into Japanese such concepts as Goethe's "forest king" (German: Erlk?nig), as well as other "dark lords" of Western literature. In addition, Mao: was dedicated to a play of the Noh Theater by an unknown author called "Dairokuten" ^[16].

Mao: As a demon lord who tries to lead a person astray from the path of Buddhism, is perceived by Japanese researchers in several interpretations. On the one hand, it is an image of an external threat, which is interpreted in the context of Japanese xenophobia with the Mongol invasion ^{[4, pp. 29-30]}. This is a formidable image, which was used, in particular, by Oda Nobunaga ^{[8, p. 87]}. On the other hand, Mao: - a comic image of the Noh theater, quite far from the Christian incarnation of evil. He opposes the beneficent God, according to whom the demon lord is doomed to a miserable failure in his attempt to tempt a holy man who has discarded everything perishable ^{[5, p. 48]}.

            In the XX century. with the spread of mass culture, the term Mao: found application in various media sources and acquired certain and quite recognizable qualities. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mao: called the characters of various manga. In the works of authors such as Yokoyama Mitsuteru and Nagai Go, this term denoted either a large green robot left by alien civilizations, or a demonic being of an esoteric nature. In the 1980s, Mao: were antagonists of the popular computer games lines Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. This gives reason to judge that by the end of the 1980s, Mao: consolidated as a mass popular image. He expressed himself at the same time through a plot frame: 1) the king asks the hero-Yu:xia to subdue Mao:; 2) the hero goes to the cave, where he finds instructions on how to get to the castle to the demon lord; 3) the hero travels and gets into the castle; 4) the hero overthrows the demon lord ^{[9, p. 258]}. With the appearance of Ranobe in the 1990s, the image of Mao: firmly entered the fantasy literature of Japan. The trend of using mao: in various copyright inventories continues at the present time.

During the study, 390 annotations of fantasy novels were analyzed using a mining algorithm. According to the established algorithm, 77 thousand collocations were identified^[6], which were reduced to 492 most used. Of these, 12 collocations corresponded to the theme of the demon lord (Table 1).

Table 1

Mao Collocations: in Annotations of Modern Japanese Fantasy¹

The content analysis data given in Table 1 allows you to establish the following central elements of the image:

1) The personification of power - Mao: is the strongest being, about whom legends are made up in the fantasy world.

2) The personification of evil - Mao: is an opponent of humanity and a negative character. Therefore, there is a need for its neutralization (pacification).

3) The fate of the villain - Mao: doomed to be defeated by the hero in his lair (castle).

            Considering that novels of the 2010s were used for the research, it becomes obvious that the scenario associated with the concept of Mao:, formed in the 1980s, has practically not undergone major changes in its core. At the same time, it should be noted a characteristic feature of the literature of a number of recent years - isekai (yap. - parallel world). The formation of Japanese reincarnation fantasy has opened the possibility for the emergence of a new scenario, which is expressed by the phrase: "I became a demon lord" or "Mao: ni natte simau". The term "with imau" in this case does not appear in its verbal meaning, but within the grammatical form of na -te simau, which indicates the irrevocability of what happened and/or that what happened is an unfortunate omission/ accident. In other words, in recent years there has been the emergence of a separate reincarnation story convention, according to which the main character after death is reborn in the image of a demon lord, while preserving the memory of his human life.

            In general, the analysis of the works makes it possible to assume that Mao: acts as an image of a negative character. Meanwhile, historically, there is a tradition to present his image in a comedic light. As a result, a dual image is gradually being formed in literature. On the one hand, he is the personification of a threat, on the other - this threat is ridiculed, which can be explained by the peculiarities of human psychology, which seeks to counter threat and fear - irony and humor.

The range of works telling about Mao: from the first person, according to the criterion of involvement of this image, can be divided into three categories:

1)      Narrators on behalf of Mao:;

a) Mao: - the demon lord of the fantasy world;

b) The main character is reincarnated into a demon lord (including in the context of a computer game);

c) The main character becomes the demon lord in the course of the narrative;

2)      The narration is conducted on behalf of the hero who opposes Mao:;

3)      The narrative is not related to the theme of Mao: or Mao: is a minor plot element.

So, in the work authored by Fuse "The Tale of how I was reborn into a slimy monster", the main character of the work, gradually gaining strength, built a city in which intelligent monsters settled. In the status of the ruler of the city, the hero is forced to get and accept the status of the demon lord. This happens within the framework of the main storyline, due to the fact that in the fantasy world of Fuse there is a constant struggle for power between various kinds of "demon lords" who share spheres of interest or simply try to protect their mystical life of the comedy version of the "eternal boy" or "eternal girl".

In Abe Masayuki's work "The Strong New Saga"^[11], the demon lord is a mysterious and merciless opponent who pursues the goal of committing genocide of the human race. To match him is the main character of the novel swordsman Kyle, who has fallen into the past. He mercilessly deals with demons, despite the fact that his friends, who are not yet familiar with the horrors of the war with the demon lord, are trying to find peaceful ways to solve the problems that arise.

            In the works there is a rather limited number of variations of the image of the demon lord. Traditionally, the idea of him borders between the poles of horror and laughter. In modern Japanese fantasy, another facet of this image is manifested - indulging the base passions of the target audience.

Fuse's novel "The Tale of How I was Reborn into a slimy Monster" has the following passage expressing one of the common variants of the image:

"A beautiful girl. Silver hair tied in two pigtails, a black Gothic dress.

 The girl was cute as a doll. At the same time, her aura was the exact opposite of the cute image. And this is the focus of great magical power, I mean, this beautiful girl, r-time! And she stopped dead in front of me.

 And what's scary is that there was no blast wave from this anywhere around.

 It both flies at super speeds and is perfectly controlled with speed.

 Or maybe it controls the laws of inertia themselves.

 I didn't have time to think about the phenomenon that just happened in front of me.

— Let me introduce myself! My name is the demon Lord Milim Na:wa! Since you looked the strongest in this town, I came to say hello!

 The beautiful demon lord announced, turning in my direction.

 What-oh, demon lord!

 Why, I wonder, did the demon lord come to us?

 And in general, when the demon lord comes, does he not send a messenger from among his servants or one of his four generals beforehand!

 As much as I wanted to correct her, I restrained myself.

 However… How to answer like that." ^[17]

            So, the demon lord may appear in the form of a demonic girl who is trying to seduce the hero. He often resists this for one reason or another. However, when the demon lord himself becomes the main character, the love component can take the most unexpected forms:

"In front of the hero's house, one woman was sweeping the yard.

— Excuse me, is this the hero's house? I brought her since she lost consciousness in the demon lands.

— Oh, what a concern. Thank you very much!

 The cleaning woman raised her face.

 At the same moment, it was as if I was struck by thunder magic.

 She looks very much like my deceased spouse!

 The same, slightly lowered, corners of the eyes, calm manner of speech.

 And most of all, her aura.

— Excuse me, please, aren't you the hero's older sister?

— No, what a flatterer you are. I am her mother."^[13]

In other words, we can conclude that Mao: is equally an image of a character and a kind of plot convention. This comes from the fact that around this element of the composition of the work, various inventory ideas are often played out, suggesting the existence of Mao:, as an immutable fact of the existence of Japanese fantasy.

            Conclusion In the general context of modern Japanese fantasy, the role of the demon lord seems to be key.

Despite the fact that the modern image of Mao: is, in essence, the image of a typical fantasy dark lord, he often returns to his Buddhist origins. A similar parallel can be traced in the tendency to represent the demon lord not as the personification of some Evil, enemy, external threat, but as a moral-undermining seductress who excites the imagination of young Japanese. The existence of the Japanese "demon lord" as an original image of "Mao:" is determined by its adaptation by the Otaku subculture into the popular culture of Japan and subordination to the principles of formulaic literature.

Mao: serves as a standard element of Japanese fantasy. The authors of the novels, relying on the common idea of the demon lord for all, get space for creativity, beating the conflict of Mao: and the hero-yu:from different angles, they put the actors in different life situations and social situations. Among the plots related to the demon lords, the plot of reincarnation fantasy, which is gaining more and more popularity, stands out. Within its framework, the reader, experienced in the standards of Japanese fantasy, can experience in absentia: what it feels like to be omnipotent and terrible, while having the opportunity to embody his ideas about goodness and justice in an easy, relaxed comedic manner.

This transformation of the artistic image reflects the common features of the modern man of science and progress with the historical man of myths and fantasies in terms of life motivation. The motive of rebirth as a demon lord is similar in nature to the motive of the dragon being defeated by a hero. Only in this case, the monster that needs to be defeated is inside a person. As a result of this struggle, everyone can either succumb to the temptation of manic consumption and satisfaction of their feelings, or be reborn in a new quality, gaining power over the terrible demons of modern everyday life of an ordinary person.