The Demon Sorcerers are demons that terrorized the ancient world, each with his or her own brand of magic that represents or is derived from a different element which their powers are based on.
The nine demons shown in the series were evil and malevolent, their utmost desire is to rule the world and enslave the humans
History
Background
According to Uncle in Day of the Dragon,eight demons were mentioned, each demon represented a different element from which their powers are based: Fire, Sky, Moon, Thunder, Earth, Mountain, Wind, and Water.
Seven of the Demon Sorcerers were banished to the Netherworld by the Eight Immortals, the legendary heroes of ancient China. Shendu was also banished with the rest of his brethren, though he surfaced on Earth 900 years prior to the events of Season 1. After stripping each of Shendu's powers, the warrior Lo Pei was able to turn him into a statue by extracting them in the form of 12 Talismans.
Present
The Demon Sorcerers are the main focus of Season 2 as each is a main character in a different episode. They first appeared in The Stronger Evil, where Dai Gui, Xiao Fung, Bai Tza, Hsi Wu, Tso Lan, Tchang Zu, and Po Kong confront Shendu's spirit and scold him for not freeing them from the Netherworld while he was still free. While Shendu explains his predicament of becoming a statue the others are uninterested in his excuses, promising only that they will spend eternity causing Shendu "eternal torment". Hoping to be spared their wrath he requests a trip to the human world in hopes of possessing a suitable host and freeing his brethren. The Demon Sorcerers agree to his plan and cast a spell on Shendu so that the body he inhabits will be his host until all of the Demon Sorcerers are free.
Shendu attempted to possess Jackie Chan only to accidentally possess Valmont. Using Valmont's body, Shendu leads the Enforcers with the Pan'ku Box in hand into searching for each of the Demon Portals. One by one, Shendu ended up freeing them only to be sent back by Jackie Chan and a Chi Spell cast by Uncle that sealed the Demon's respective portal.
When it came to the final Demon Sorcerer, Bai Tza, Shendu is denied to have the spell that binds him to Valmont lifted due to the other Demon Sorcerers being permanently trapped in the Netherworld, despite Shendu pointing out that he had technically completed his task which was only to release the Demons. After Jackie and Uncle thwarted Bai Tza's plan to flood California, she tried to flood another location only to be banished back to the Netherworld by Uncle with Jade Chan also in tow after she got in the way of the spell. Upon Bai Tza ending up back in the Netherworld, the Demon Sorcerers gathered and contacted Shendu telling him that they will deal with him for what Jackie Chan did to thwart their plans. Shendu tells them that he has another plan which ends up involving his Demon Portal and claims that he knows of a spell to let all of them pass. Jade hears this and is contacted by Uncle, she tells him of the conversation and he tells her Shendu lied about all the Demon Sorcerers being able to leave. Jade kept hidden until her Moose Camera attracted the attention of Hsi Wu. Jade ends up captured and was shown to the other Demon Sorcerers. Using the info that Uncle told her, Jade tells them that Shendu deceived them about the spell and that only one of them can get through. The Demon Sorcerers conversed, deciding which one of them will go through. When Jackie finds the portal at Hong Kong Moose World, he uses the sword combined with Uncle's Chi Spell to exorcise Shendu's spirit from Valmont sending him back to the Netherworld. The Demon Sorcerers scrambled to beat each other to the portal only for Jade to get out just as it seemed that Hsi Wu had won. Shendu was told that they are now fresh out of portals. While being tortured by the other Demon Sorcerers, Shendu comes up with another way to get the Demon Sorcerers free: by seeking out the Book of Ages. The Demon Sorcerers considered this a ludicrous idea, stating that not even they had dared to tamper with that, and that he would be altering the very fabric of reality. Shendu points out that the present reality isn't pleasing, and they acknowledge that desperate times call for desperate measures. They allowed Shendu to cross over and possess a body. Shendu successfully possessed Jackie and headed to Ayers Rock where the Book of Ages was located. Shendu manages to rewrite the book, causing the Earth to end up being ruled by the Demon Sorcerers with Shendu still ruling China. Under his rule, all forms of martial arts and magic are outlawed and punishable by death. However, it is unknown if religions and public worships are also forbidden. Unfortunately for the demons, however, Jade tore a crucial part of her story out of the book before Shendu rewrote it, preserving her memories of the former reality. Jade gained the assistance of Jackie and Uncle (who are respectively slave and librarian of Shendu in this reality) and used a potion to steal six talismans (Ox, Dog, Rabbit, Rooster, Snake, Dragon) from within Shendu before escaping.
They first arrived in Japan where Po Kong has Tohru and the others mining salt. Jackie ended up fighting Po Kong until Jade had Tohru bang the drum as Uncle cast a Chi Spell that banished Po Kong to the Netherworld.
Then, they arrived in Mexico where Xiao Fung had El Toro Fuerte and a wrestler battle to the finish. The leaf that Paco was fanning Xiao Fung with combined with Uncle's Chi Spell banished Xiao Fung to the Netherworld.
When it came to New York, Hsi Wu was taking a bath with Viper as his caged prisoner when flute-playing combined with Uncle's Chi Spell banished Hsi Wu to the Netherworld. Tchang Zu arrived shortly for a meeting with Hsi Wu and attacked the group until Paco uses his castanets combined with Uncle's Chi Spell to banish Tchang Zu to the Netherworld.
However, in the fight the Ox Talisman was dropped and recovered by Shendu;He was then contacted by the remaining Tso Lan, Dai Gui and Bai Tza that sensed something was amiss, much to their displeasure. Bai Tza even revealed that they are even "Almost" beginning to like Shendu. It was then that Shendu found Jade's Super Moose watch and realized she had escaped the rewriting witch means Jackie now knows of the book.
The J-Team then headed to the Book of Ages' location in Australia (which is considered a forbidden land) while Shendu, who is riding a dragon, Dai Gui, Tso Lan, and Bai Tza converge there. When the Shadowkhan guards were disposed of, the remaining Demon Sorcerers arrived with Shendu destroying the bag containing the items needed to send them to the Netherworld. While Jade, Paco, and Uncle look for where the Book of Ages is, the others fight the Demon Sorcerers and are defeated one by one, losing the talismans.
When Jade, Paco, and Uncle find the Book of Ages, Shendu and the other Demon Sorcerers confront them with Jackie, Tohru, El Toro Fuerte, and Viper as their prisoners. Jade writes in the book which enables Jackie, Tohru, El Toro Fuerte, and Viper to gain abilities to fight the Demon Sorcerers. When Jade is told to write in the Book of Ages where Uncle banishes the Demon Sorcerers, she does so and Uncle conjures the items enabling Jackie, Tohru, El Toro Fuerte, and Viper to send Shendu and the other Demon Sorcerers to the Netherworld. Jade then places her part in history back into the Book of Ages restoring history to it's right course.
Chi of the Demon Sorcerers
In Season 5, their Chi was found in the items that symbolize the Eight Immortals that banished the respective demon and that the Chi of the Demon Sorcerers were targeted by Drago. Anyone who absorbs the Demon Sorcerer's chi starts to gain the powers and appearance of that Demon Sorcerer. Drago finally succeeds in gaining all the powers (save that of Shendu) and opens up a portal to release Demons into the World, for which Uncle restores Shendu. Shendu is being beaten, until Jade orders the talismans to be thrown to him, allowing him to fight Drago more successfully. Unable to remove Drago's Chi Uncle and Tohru cast a spell to banish him from earth by using his own portal against him in a big reversal spell. His father agrees to prevent this but Drago betrays him and throws him into the demon world. However, Shendu grabs his tail in the last minute and pulls him with. They are left arguing and fighting each other.
Powers and Abilities
The Demon Sorcerers can cast spells and possess great knowledge of dark magic.
The Demon Sorcerers surprisingly capable of using modern technology, and are easily adapted to the modern surroundings. In Shanghai Moon, Shendu switches off the communication system of the International Space Station for "utmost privacy". In Demon World (Part 1), in Australia, Shendu in Jackie's body was capable of driving a bus. Hsi Wu used Jade's Super Moose camcorder and mockingly told Jade and later the banished Shendu to "say chi spell". Xiao Fung knew that demons can easily attract unwanted attention in the modern world and assumed human appearance.
The Demon Sorcerers' own magic powers are based on the elements they were born with and derived from, giving them manipulation and control to the element. The only two exceptions are Hsi Wu and Po Kong who were not seen manipulating anything.
Xiao Fung and Hsi Wu demonstrated an ability to shapeshift into a human form, so it's most likely that the others can do that too. They can also conjure simple objects such as clothing and even a school bag for their guise.
The Demon Sorcerers are immortal and invulnerable to non-magical forces. It's unknown if Drago is also immortal.
Shendu's siblings were once annoyed by his abilities. Dai Gui angrily muttered, "Shendu and his accursed talismans!"
As demonstrated by Drago, the combine might of all the demons were capable of engulfing the world in total chaos.
List of Demon Sorcerers
| Demon | Element | Banisher | Item | Trigram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Lü Dongbin | Sword | ☲ | |
| Mountain | Zhang Guo Lao | Drum | ☶ | |
| Wind | Zhongli Quan | Fan | ☴ | |
| Thunder | Cao Guojiu | Castanets | ☳ | |
| Moon | He Xiangu | Lotus | ☵ | |
| Earth | Lan Caihe | Flower | ☷ | |
| Sky | Han Xiangzi | Flute | ☰ | |
| Water | Li Tieguai | Gourd | ☱ | |
  |
Original Fire Acquired Mountain Wind Thunder Moon Earth Sky Water |
Uncle and Tohru | N/A | N/A |
Trivia
- In The J-Team, it is shown that He Xiangu banished Hsi Wu, however she should have been Tso Lan's banisher as her symbol is the lotus.
- Drago is the only Demon Sorcerer that has irises in his eyes, and doesn't have a pure red glow in them, typical of his demonic family. His name also is not of Chinese origin.
- However, when Drago absorbs the chi of at least one of the other demons, and thus, including his own fire chi, has more than one type of demon chi in his body long enough that it physically changes his appearance (with the exception of the time when he absorbed Tso Lan's chi and gained his clothing, having both moon and fire power), his eyes do turn completely red, like the rest of his family.
- Besides the items that are associated with the respective Immortals that banished each demons, certain ingredients and potions are also required. The beam emitted by the items must hit the demons in order for them to be send back to the netherworld. However, in Demon World, only the items were sufficient to banish them without any additional ingredients or potions. The items also automatically conjure the portals and suck the demons in.
- The names of the Demon Sorcerers have meanings related to their attributes:
- Shendu (神都): 神 god, 都 all. His name can be translated as "God of All".
- Po Kong (坡恐): 坡 slope, 恐 to fear. Her name can be translated as "Feared Cliff".
- Xiao Fung (小风): 小 small, 风 wind. His name can be translated as "Little Wind".
- Tchang Zu (猖卒): 猖 wild or mad, 卒 soldier. His name can be translated as "Soldier of Madness".
- Tso Lan (作滥): 作 make or rise, 滥 to flood. His name can be translated as "Floodmaker".
- Dai Gui (大鬼): 大 big/great, 鬼 demon/orge. His name can be translated as "Great Ogre".
- Hsi Wu (蜥恶): 蜥 from 蜥蜴 lizard, 恶 evil. His name can be translated as "Evil Lizard".
- Bai Tza (败拶): 败 to defeat, 拶 to force. Her name can be translated as "Force of Defeat".
- The powers of the Demon Sorcerers and their elements are derived from the "Bagua", also known as the Taoist Eight Trigrams with Moon replacing Lake/Marsh.