Ryuzoku

Ryuzoku (Japanese: 竜族, dragon race) are a fictional race of dragons in the Slayers anime, manga and light novel series. Their counterparts are the Mazoku.

Background

The Ryūzoku are a race of dragons who act as the servants and worshipers of the shinzoku (another race of superior god-like dragons, though they are not related they do look similar). The ryuzoku wield great intelligence, an ability to use white magic spells, and can take the form of humans.

Species of Ryuzoku

There are five species of Ryuzoku in total as listed below:

• Golden dragons
• Black dragons
• Dimos dragons
• White dragons
• Ancient dragons

Shinzoku

Unlike the mazoku, and ryuzoku, shinzoku are few in the Slayers world. Instead of sacrificing a portion of their power to create underlings, they opted to act through their servants, the ryūzoku most of the time. The ryūzoku and the shinzoku are not directly related, although the similarity in form is undeniable.

Shinzoku are worshiped by the temples of the four dragon kings, and Shinzoku can gain power from the positive emotions of others, which allows them to benefit from their worshipers directly, similar to the mazoku, who feed upon negative emotions. On the other hand, the loss of temples, priests and/or worshipers can weaken them. The mazoku exploited this vulnerability during the Kōma War.