Seventeen-year-old Ayano is a skilled and the successor to the Kannagi family's head. She is arrogant and impetuous, usually taking action by herself even while going against orders. Though she seems undisciplined, she believes deeply in her heritage, and more than once served as the voice of reason and drawn Kazuma back to action or sanity. Though cocky and thoughtless on the surface, she is self-conscious and sometimes unsure. She looks to others for guidance and simultaneously feels that she should not, responding yearningly to approval and affection. Though she finds his arrogance and teasing abrasive, Ayano develops a crush on him but is easily flustered when he flirts with her, irritated due to his habit of taunting her immediately afterward, and is prone to unjustified indignance when he gets close to another woman. She later comes to realize that she is actually in love with him. Kazuma is also the only person she sees as stronger in power and presence than even her own father.

Ayano's power is the Crimson Flame called , but she is not yet able to consciously control it. She also holds Enraiha, the Kannagi's sacred sword, which she won by defeating Kazuma at the successor ceremony four years before the start of the story. The sword has fire properties and can be summoned by Ayano at any time. During combat, Ayano tends to fight recklessly and normally her anger and pride gets the better of her. Kazuma beats her in almost every encounter and points out the deficiencies in her fighting style. During their penultimate fight, she berates him furiously for falling for tricks that he taught her.

Kannagi family

Kazuma's younger brother. He looks up to Ayano and practically worships Kazuma, stating that one day he hopes to be as strong as him so he can protect everyone. Ren has the appearance of a bishōnen

Bishonen

is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth ". The equivalent English concept is a "pretty boy".The term describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man whose beauty transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation...

, which sometimes earns him the contempt of some of his male classmates. Even so, Ren appears to be very popular at his school, excelling in his studies and in his athletic abilities. His biggest admirers include Suzuhara Kannon and Serizawa Tatsuya.

Ren later falls in love with a girl named Ayumi, only to find out that she is just a clone created to be sacrificed at a ritual. Even after saving her from the ritual, she still dies due to having a short life span, but not before she can tell him that she also loves him. Despite Ren's feelings of inadequacy early on in the series, Ayumi's death inspires Ren to become stronger so he can protect the ones he loves. Ren's power is the Golden Flame, said to have the largest purification effect.

Ren and Kazuma's strict father. Though he is responsible for banishing Kazuma from the Kannagi family, he only wanted his son to find his own path in life. Like Kazuma, Genma has trouble expressing his feelings in front of others; in fact, the both of them are so headstrong that every time they meet, they immediately break out into a destructive battle. Though Kazuma defeats him in their first battle in years, Genma is the strongest En-Jutsushi of the Kannagi's, and wields the blue Divine Flame, Sōen, which only eleven others have wielded since the founding of the clan.

Despite their similarities, neither Genma nor Kazuma are willing to admit the similarities they have with each other.

Like many members of the Kannagi, Genma looks down on the Fūga Clan and wind users in general. When Kazuma goes berserk at the beginning of the series, Genma is the first to volunteer to assassinate his disinherited son.

Ayano's father and Genma's cousin. He is the current head of the Kannagi family. Jūgo worries about his headstrong daughter. Contrary to the Kannagi doctrine that is based solely on strength, Jūgo has been trying to stop discrimination against the Fūga Clan. He also regrets not being able to stop Kazuma's expulsion from the family. Believing that Kazuma is essential to the Kannagis, he constantly creates situations in which Ayano can form a relationship with Kazuma. There appears to exist mutual respect between Jūgo and Kazuma. As the head of the Kannagi family, Jūgo is responsible for directing the other members of the head family and branch families as well as the Fūga Clan. Jūgo is never seen in the series leaving the Kannagi compound, and rarely even leaves his meeting room.

He is actually considered to be the strongest Enjutsushi of the Kannagi and wields the purple flame but because of what happened to his leg during a car accident, Genma is considered to be the strongest.

Tsuwabuki Family

Older daughter of the Tsuwabuki family, who are skilled . During her father's absence due to 'illness', she becomes the head of the Tsuwabuki family. Zenon, the behemoth of Mt. Fuji, stripped her powers as a Chijutsushi. Like Kazuma, she was ostracized for her lack of power by her family. She is later killed by Zenon in a fit of rage. It is notable that once Zenon's restriction was lifted from her, Kureha's power was of an extremely high level as seen in her fight with Zenon.

Younger daughter of the Tsuwabuki family. Her clone, Ayumi, is used as the sacrifice in Taisai, the ritual of taming the behemoth within Mt. Fuji every 30 years preventing the volcano from erupting. The ritual involves claiming the life of a Chijutsushi, who is usually a member of the Tsuwabuki family, since 300 years ago. Due to Kureha's influence, she is a cold, heartless woman, from her portrayal and behavior towards her clone. She later feels remorse after Ayumi's sacrifice.

The clone of Mayumi Tsuwabuki. Although she has the appearance of a twelve year old, she is only a month old. According to Mayumi, she had been implanted with random memories from Mayumi and has a lifespan of about two months. Using the treasure of the Pixies, which is an egg that will hatch into the tribal leader of the Pixies, Ayumi's growth is accelerated, so that within one month, she grew twelve years. She falls in love with Ren. She sacrifices her life to weaken Zenon, so that Kazuma, Ren, and Ayano could destroy Zenon.

Supporting characters

A detective working for the Tokyo MPD

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department serves as the police force for the entire Tokyo metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a superintendent general, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission and approved by the prime minister.The Metropolitan Police, with a staff of more...

's Special Investigation Unit, in charge of investigating crimes related to jutsu

Jutsu

—meaning technique, method, spell, skill or trick—is a bound morpheme of the Sino-Japanese lexical stratum of the Japanese language.* Jutsu * Martial arts * Bajutsu...

. She occasionally works together with Kazuma. Her department aims to become the new partner of the Kannagi family, filling the gap made by the Fūga Clan's betrayal. To that end, they assist the Ōgamis by investigating and tracking other users of jutsu. She is later revealed to be an Onmyōji

Onmyodo

is a traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology, a mixture of natural science and occultism. It is based on the Chinese philosophies of Wu Xing and Yin and yang, introduced into Japan at the turn of the 6th century, and accepted as a practical system of divination...

, a practitioner of the Yin Yang arts who can cast spells through chants and charms. It is revealed that she had met Kazuma two years prior and that after he left, she had wished that she would never see him again.

One of Ayano's best friends and classmates. Yukari, along with Nanase, often teases Ayano about her apparent crush on Kazuma. She is well-connected to the information network of the student body and often knows what is happening around the school. Yukari's information extends beyond the school and into many areas of the Tokyo metropolis. She also carries a taser of unexplained origin with her.

One of Ayano's best friends and classmates. She and Yukari know about the existence of jutsushi. Nanase is also a very athletic student, who is part of many of their school's athletic clubs, and is admired by many of the female students. While she is not as well connected as Yukari, Nanase is just as caring and carries much sway with the students.

A member of the Kannagi, Takeya is part of the party initially sent to bring in Kazuma for questioning. He is killed in the first episode by Ryūya after being knocked down by Kazuma. He was considered to be a powerful fire user by the family, but he was unprepared for Kazuma. Takeya always acts with a calm and level head.

Sister of Takeya, who was the only person kind to her. Although a kind person at heart, having saved Kazuma from bullying ten years ago, Misao blames Kazuma for her brother's death and attempts to kill him. Her attempts fail, and she becomes a pawn in Michael's plan to take Kazuma down. In the end, Kazuma convinces her to atone for her sins by living on, and she is later instructed by Jūgo to retire to a convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

.

The girl Kazuma could not protect. She was sacrificed by the head member of the Armagest Erwin Leszaar to summon a demon. Rhodes used a spell to gather her remaining essence into a being called Lapis. Before her sacrifice, she and Kazuma worked in a restaurant, and were in love. According to Lapis in the last episode, her last thoughts were "Kazuma, I want to kill you." Whether this is true or lies meant to cause Kazuma pain is unknown (Kazuma notes that she may have said this out of spite towards his inability to save her). As Lapis, she is trained in anti-mage fighting.

A member of an American family of Enjutsushi, specially skilled in creating and controlling spirit beasts to harness flames. She manipulates myriads of spirits into a single virtual persona to grasp tremendous power. While seemingly capable of creating different spirit beasts, her favorite is Metatron, an angel-like statue equipped with a sword. Kazuma has observed and mentioned that her fighting style is similar to Ayano's, referring to their simplistic and direct attacks, which lack any strategy or tactics. A rival against Ayano in both Enjutsushi and Kazuma's "love".

Despite the fact that he appears to be a bishōnen of similar age to Ren, and his self-acclaim of being a Taoist-in-training, he is, in reality, a Taoist immortal whose age is measured in centuries. Lonyue came to Japan to retrieve artifacts stolen from his master, befriending Ren along the way. After recovering the lost artifacts, he opted to stay in Japan because he was bored. Lonyue, like Kazuma, teases and manipulates others in order to accomplish his goals.

Lonyue has the ability to control and manipulate his surroundings at will due his mastery of the way of Tao

Tao

Dao or Tao is a Chinese word meaning 'way', 'path', 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle'...

. His true powers are never shown, but Kazuma is revealed to have a genuine fear of fighting Lonyue again, as Lonyue was the first one Kazuma lost to in a fight since his training; even after becoming a Contractor, Kazuma is not confident in winning against him.

Lonyue has only appeared in the Kaze no Stigma: Ignition side stories.

Kanon is Ren's classmate who has a crush on him. Despite having quite a pushy and bratty attitude at times, Kanon is shown to have a very caring personality as well.

Antagonists

Son of Hyoue Kazamaki, leader of the Fūga Clan, which served the Kannagi for the last 300 years. In an elaborate plot to release the Fūga Clan's ancient master and take revenge on the Kannagi for the humiliation received since then, Ryūya's body becomes the host for a powerful yoma. Later on, he is killed in a joint attack by Kazuma and Ayano.

A young boy from the Stars of Sagacity, an organization related to Kazuma's past and Tsui-Ling's death. He uses Misao's anger at Kazuma and promised to grant her wishes. In truth, he only uses her as a medium, in order to obtain enough yoki, or life energy, to kill Kazuma. He is killed by Ayano's Shinen-empowered Enraiha.

The chairman of Armagest, a powerful organization of modern magic users. He holds a grudge against Kazuma for killing his master. Is also the man who sacrificed Tsui-Ling.

The entity that was made in Tsui-Ling's image by Bernhardt. Lapis carries a crystal broad sword, but wields it with ease, and is able to match Ayano in a sword duel. It is revealed in episode 21 of the anime that Lapis has a heart, so she can feel the joy in hurting others, among other emotions.

Terminology

The spirit arts are split into elements such as fire

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....

, wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

, earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, and water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

.

The fire arts are most effective for combat. Users of Enjutsu are known as and can draw upon flame spirits. The Kannagi and McDonald clans are two famous Enjutsu user families from Japan and America, respectively. Common powers include emitting fireballs.

:A sacred sword with fire properties, given to the successor of the Kannagi family. It was supposedly given to the Kannagi by the . Ayano won the right to carry it when she defeated Kazuma at the succession ceremony four years ago and is able to summon the sword whenever she pleases. Should it be flung from her hand, it can materialize there again. Later in the series, Kazuma is shown to be able to use his Contractor powers on Enraiha to temporarily allow the sword to possess the blue Divine Flame,

:The founder of the Kannagi clan originally entered into a contract with him a thousand years ago, and the Kannagi family derives their strength from his power

:The fire of purification has the power to exorcise yōma from their hosts or environment. The Kannagi clan is in charge of purifying and eradicating evil yōma in Japan, due to their contract with the Flame Spirit Lord. Ren Kannagi, who uses the , is said to have the largest purification effect

The wind arts are most effective for reconnaissance, but as Kazuma has shown, it is also quite effective for combat. Unlike Enjutsu users, wind users have a much faster summoning ability. Users of Fūjutsu are known as and can draw upon the wind spirits. Fūjutsushi are able to conceal their own presence and are better at detecting elemental users. The Fūga clan of Fūjutsushi served the Kannagi for 300 years, but was eliminated in the course of plotting revenge for their subjugation.

:The Wind Spirit Lord, whom Kazuma has entered into a contract with

:The wind of purification, just like the fire of purification, has the power to exorcise yōma from their hosts or environment. The only person who can use the winds of purification in the series is Kazuma who had made a contract with the Wind Spirit Lord. Though not in the same league in terms of power of the fire of purification, the wind of purification has greater area effect than of that to fire

:A jingi given by the Wind Spirit King, Kokūsen is a spear-shaped weapon that can amplify one's ability in Fūjutsu. Where Enraiha is the great elemental weapon for fire, Kokūsen is the great elemental weapon for wind. It first appeared in volume 6 of the novel, where it refused its current wielder after Kazuma, who is a Wind Contractor, wielded it

Users of Chijutsu are called . The Tsuwabuki clan is known as the most powerful of Chijutsushi. Common attacks are making spikes rise from the ground, and creating earthquakes.

The water arts, known as Suijutsu, are said to be strong against Enjutsu; however, it is completely erased when up against a higher-level Enjutsu user.

A Spirit Familiar is a large number of spirits who have been coalesced into a physical form.

A Contractor is a person who enters into a contract with a Spirit Lord. That contract grants the user the power to call upon all the spirits (of a certain element, depending on the element of the Spirit Lord) in the atmosphere or even tap into the power of the Spirit Lord itself. Contractors are said to have the most power, but their use of it is very limited, as that great power would put a strain on their body. In most cases, a portion of the powers of the Contractor would last through their lineage to future generations.

An item given by a Spirit King. It can amplify one's power to the extent of a contractor.

An extremely rare substance which is said to be the ultimate product of alchemy. It heals any injury inflicted upon a person, as well as clear the body of all supernatural afflictions. Kazuma was only able to obtain a small amount of elixir, which he used to save Ayano.

Youma are demons that appear throughout the story. They can possess people and give them power while devouring their souls. They are considered to be evil spirits and are used in evil ways by some Jutsushi. Most youma do not have names as they are not of great importance.

:Youma in the form of a slime. They cover people and absorb their life energ

:The strongest of all Youma. Its hand was summoned for a few seconds by Bernhardt via Lapis from the sacrifice of the seeds in order to destroy Tokyo and bring Kazuma despair. However, it was prevented from doing so by the combined powers of Kazuma's Contractor attack, Ayano's God Flame, and Ren's Flame of Purification

Light novel

Manga

Anime

Role-playing game

External links

• Official Website from Funimation
• Official website
• Official website at Gonzo
• ANN review part 1
• ANN review part 2