Sura

three sura kings and a primeval god (Ep.36)

nastikas and astikas (Ep.99)

Suras are one of the three races in the Kubera universe. They are divided into eight clans, each of which is named after the first king of each clan. Suras once lived in both the human and sura realms, but in the timeline of the story they reside exclusively in the sura realm. Nastikas, the highest-level suras, are the most powerful beings in the universe along with the 5th-zen gods, and they are the gods' natural enemies.

Overview

Gandharva's various forms
Gandharva's preferred human form, with blue skin full human form

partial sura form full sura form, planet-sized

Suras are non-aging creatures that originally take the form of animal-like beings, while more developed suras have the ability to take on human form. Suras believe that they do not have an afterlife; however, the complete truth about the sura afterlife is only known to and is hidden by the 5th-zen gods. They are divided into eight clans, each of which has distinct biological characteristics even in human form, allowing both the gods and the humans to distinguish between different sura clans. The king of each clan is usually the strongest nastika of that clan. The name of each clan is derived from the first king of the clan.

Most suras hunt for the purpose of restoring their vigor, which is needed in order to use their transcendental skills. However, with the exception of Yuta, they can still survive without eating. The only ranks that do not require any food to restore vigor are nastikas and 5th-stage rakshasas.

The lower a sura's rank, the more sura body parts it has that cannot transform into human form.

There are no suras that look the same unless they are twins.

Sura ranks

Each sura has a distinct ranking from birth based on the number of generations that separate them from their nearest nastika ancestor. Most are quite mindful of their status, and as such, children with parents belonging to different ranks are rare. In particular, mixing with "such an inferior race" as humans is considered to be a total disgrace and a loss of pride; only the Vritra clan seems to be exempt from this mentality due the circumstances it has been forced to face.

The higher a sura's rank, the more naturally beautiful they are. Their beauty also increases as they develop to a higher stage (except for nastikas, who do not develop), yet their beauty still does not exceed their rank.

nastikas > rakshasas > upanis > maras

Nastikas

Main article: Nastika

Nastikas are the most powerful type of suras and have existed since the creation of the universe. They do not age, which is a trait they share with their enemies, the gods. Each nastika has a clan attribute, plus an origin attribute of their own. Nastikas can eat and drink; however, as stated by Taksaka, it is more of a bother for them since they neither require food nor obtain vigor from it. Still, it appears to be a common practice in celebrations. Nastikas do not require sleep, but some—particularly dragons—enjoy it nonetheless.

Nastikas are stronger than the gods but do not regenerate infinitely. Gods cannot use insight to see into the mind of a nastika; however, a god can use insight to see a nastika's non-transformable body part, which glows, such as when Agni sees Gandharva as a shadow with a glowing eye.

Nastikas are the only sura class that can change their gender at will. Most are stronger in male form, but there have been notable exceptions such as Shuri and Vritra. Nastikas are also the only sura class that can change the age of appearance of their human form, which usually matches the individual's personality; for example, Yaksha originally looked like an old man, but later decided to change his appearance to that of a 12-year-old boy.

In the year N0, when Visnu separated the races into three realms, nastikas could no longer take sura form in the human realm, which greatly reduced their power there; their physical capabilities in human form were weakened as well.

Rakshasas

Main article: Rakshasa

Rakshasas are the children of nastikas. However, there are some cases where a rakshasa is born from a nastika and a rakshasa. A rakshasa's gender is determined by the amount of time each parent has spent as each gender, which has resulted in more males than females. They are ageless and are born in their human form, but can change into sura form during any of their five stages of growth. These stages mimic a human's growth; for example, a sura's 3rd stage is roughly equivalent to adolescence for humans, as they develop an interest in the opposite sex; they can be even more impulsive than humans during puberty. They inherit two heritage attributes from their parents' origin attributes. The oldest rakshasas (such as Shess) are, like nastikas, immune to the insight of the gods.

Sagara's Ananta clan rakshasa team in sura form

the same team in human (chibi) form

4th stage rakshasas in sura form

Upanis

suras (primarily upanis and maras) near Rindhallow

Upanis are the children of the rakshasas. As with their parents, they undergo five stages of growth. They are born in sura form and can only transform to their human form after reaching 3rd stage, at which point they are superior suras. Developed upanis are considered extremely dangerous to most magicians. They can reach fifth stage in less than five thousand years and are considered old at that point.

Maras

Maras are the children of the upanis, and the weakest suras of a clan. As such, they are often attacked by higher-ranked suras of other clans and devoured. They can only take human form in their 5th stage. Higher-developed maras are considered dangerous to the average human. 5th-stage maras count as superior suras, and are able to use transcendental skills, but they are so rare that most dismiss them.

Halfs

Main article: Half

A half is commonly the child of a sura and a human. To be considered as such, at least 50% of their blood must be sura, which means it is not strictly necessary for a parent to be a sura- in fact, most halfs are born between two halfs. Halfs have clan attributes and origin attributes from the sura side of their parents, but their power is based on the percentage of sura blood in their body. Their bodies have animal characteristics related to the parent/ancestor's sura clan, and they age about four times slower than humans.

Halfs exist in a gray area between suras and humans, though they are capable of entering the afterlife like pure-bloods and quarters. Due to events in the year N0, Halfs are required to be sponsored by magicians to be able to live in cities with humans, since they are detected at checkpoints. Some cities recognize Half rights, while others refuse to recognize them as humans, e.g. they can be freely hunted for body parts to sell, and killing a Half is not considered illegal; however, it can be considered loss of property if there is a sponsor.

Quarters

Main article: Quarter

Quarters are generally considered humans, not suras, even though they have at least one sura ancestor. A quarter can be the child of a half and a human, or of two quarter parents, but they must have at least 25% but less than 50% sura blood. They physically resemble pure-bloods but age twice as slow. Unlike halfs, they do not have clan or origin attributes, but their attributes are set at birth like humans, which allows them to use magic and move freely through checkpoints.

Superior suras

Superior suras (or upper-class suras) include all nastikas, all rakshasas, upanis 3rd stage or higher, and extremely rare 5th stage maras. With a few exceptions, all superior suras were confined to the sura realm by Visnu after the N0 Cataclysm.

Inferior suras

Inferior suras (or lower-class suras) include 1st and 2nd stage upanis, and 1st- through 4th-stage maras. All inferior suras were left in the human realm after the Cataclysm, with the younger upanis having a greater difficulty surviving without the care of their parents.

Garuda Clan, Rakshasa, D916, Willarv - Near Eloth

Development Stages

Children born between suras grow up in so-called development stages. There are differences in their physical appearance in the respective stages between superior and inferor suras. The further away the generation is from the Nastika parent, the later in their development do suras gain a human form. Additionally, the expression of sura traits even in human form is more severe the lower the class the sura belongs to.

Stage	Apparent age (if human form)	Rakshasas	Upanis	Maras	Notes
1st	Newborn to Toddler	Human form	Sura form	Sura form	Continuous growth in this stage
2nd	Young Child	Human form	Sura form	Sura form	Reached automatically with conclusion of stage 1
3rd	Teen/Late Teen	Human form	Human form	Sura form	Sexual maturity
4th	Young Adult	Human form	Human form	Sura form	Voice is matured
5th	Adult	Human form +reduced sura traits	Human form	Human form	Rakshasas in this stage can recover vigor over time as Nastikas do. They also come close to resembling Nastikas physically with their unchangeable sura traits being reduced.

Development Mechanism

From second stage onwards, the accumulation of "experience" as well as a "key" is needed to reach the next stage.

See the page for Rakshasas for more details.

Division during Cataclysm

Division of suras after the Cataclysm.

All superior suras were confined into the sura realm after the Cataclysm. This includes sura offspring that reached a stage allowing human form at the time of the division.

Clans/Tribes

A clan's power depends on the strength and the mood of its king, since inferior suras can get caught up in emotional resonance. For example, if the king becomes angry or agitated they may accidentally attack friends and foes alike. When a king dies, renounces the throne, or is unable to rule, the next strongest nastika usually ascends the throne; one exception is Sagara.

Clan Name	Animal Characteristics	Clan Attribute
Ananta clan	snake	Earth (地)
Asura clan	insects	Darkness (暗)
Gandharva clan	sea creatures	Water (水)
Garuda clan	birds	Sky (天)
Kinnara clan	hooved mammals	Wind (風)
Vritra clan	dragons	Fire (火)
Yaksha clan	mammals without hooves	Light (光)
Taraka clan	unspecific	Chaos (混)

Aside from the wars between the suras and the gods, the suras were afflicted by inner turmoil due the differences between clans, which caused a fallout between four major factions based on the nature of their animal characteristics.

The Garuda clan is allied with the Gandharva and Yaksha clans, because of the close friendship between the kings Garuda, Gandharva, and Shuri.

The Asuras are allied with the Anantas, because Garudas are natural predators to both (as birds prey on snakes and insects). The Gandharvas also prey on the Asuras (as fish eat insects).

The Kinnara clan and the Vritra clan used to be allied since their kings were once lovers; however, the alliance ended along with the relationship and both clans are now neutral, although many of the suras of these clans maintain a friendship with nastikas of the warring clans.

Tarakas are hated by all other clans, because they prey on suras from all other clans.

Among the eight clans, all but two are strictly carnivorous; most carnivorous suras will spit out any vegetables they happen to eat. Garudas can generally tolerate vegetables but they do not enjoy eating them. Shess is from the Kinnara clan and is strictly vegetarian.

Blood

The color of sura blood varies among each race. Asura and Ananta suras have purple blood, Garudas—and others not specified—have red blood like humans, Gandharvas have blue blood, and Kinnaras have green blood. Tarakas are known to have black blood. The half-dragon Kasak Rajof has yellow blood, but it has not been confirmed if all Vritras have yellow blood. Nastikas of all clans in human form have been shown to have red blood.

Skills and Abilities

Like the gods, suras have high enough transcendental values and vigor to perform transcendental skills. However, unlike the gods, suras use combinations of their clan attribute and origin/heritage attribute to perform their transcendental skills. The power and the number of transcendental skills differ by the rank a sura is born into; rakshasas can learn more transcendental skills as they will have higher transcendental values than upanis or maras.

Nastikas use both normal transcendental skills as well as their own unique transcendental skills. Some nastikas, such as Vritra, have unique transcendentals that require special conditions to activate. Some rakshasas, such as Maruna, are born with unique transcendental skills as well, but it is very rare.

Suras have much larger bodies than humans or gods, therefore turning into their sura form, even partially, gives them above-human abilities and strength. Also, transcendental skills become more powerful and effective in this form. In fact, many transcendental skills can only be used when completely transformed. However, Maruna can only use his unique transcendental Crimson Sunshine of Dawn in human form.

Sura speech

Sura speech is a non-verbal language that suras can use to converse over short distances, even in outer space. Suras can increase and decrease the range in which their speech may be heard.

Gods can also understand it, as well as a few rare halfs such as Elwin Rakan. Vritra halfs, unlike most other halfs, can both understand and use it. There are some circumstances in which humans can hear sura speech; see Notes section for specific cases.

Additionally, a sura's "voice" has a different pitch depending on their stage of development. In the males' case, it changes after reaching the 4th stage.

Family dynamics

Suras have a different approach to family than humans. For example, there is a rivalry between fathers and sons for the mother's affection. That means fathers can and will hurt their children if they grow too close to the mother or hurt her (making her angry or sad). On the contrary, daughters are loved and spoiled by their fathers, particularly if they resemble their mother. In comparison with female humans, sura mothers are not as affectionate with their children.

Rakshasa children commonly do not receive much care from their nastika parents and often get raised by other guardians, most commonly older siblings. Naturally, there are exceptions. Lower ranked suras get taught to always prioritize those of higher rank and sacrifice for them.

List of Sura Kings

Clan Name	King(s)
Ananta clan	Ananta (1st) → Manasvin (2nd) → Sagara (3rd)
Asura clan	Asura (1st)
Gandharva clan	Gandharva (1st)
Garuda clan	Garuda (1st)
Kinnara clan	Kinnara (1st) → ?
Vritra clan	Vritra (1st)
Yaksha clan	Yaksha (1st) → Shuri (2nd) → Hanuman (3rd)
Taraka clan	'Kali' (1st) → "Yuta" (2nd), Taraka (puppet-king)

The first kings of the clans were ranked by the gods as follows, in order of descending strength:

1. Ananta
2. Vritra
3. Yaksha
4. Asura
5. Gandharva
6. ?
7. ?
8. Taraka

Currygom has since stated that this ranking is pretty much meaningless except for the #1 spot for Ananta.

Notes

---

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

---

simulated suras in a magic test

• As the series proceeds, the suras are often portrayed as victims, too, thanks to the gods' commonplace foul play.
• Vegetarian suras (such as Shess) need to eat more than carnivorous suras in order to regain the same amount of vigor.
• Simulated suras are used for the team portion of magic exams.
• The Three Great Beauties of the Suras are Shuri, Airavata, and Urvasi. They once had a discussion over who was the most beautiful and chose Vritra (the most emotionless sura) to decide. However, he chased them away and only failed to kill them due to the insomnia he had been experiencing and the fact that the three of them worked together. Later, the three asked Taksaka instead, who told them none of them was beautiful.
• To date, there have been no rebellions among suras to overthrow any king. The Ananta clan members (with a few exceptions) have grudgingly allowed Sagara to be king, but refuse to actively follow her and are simply waiting for her to give up the throne or die.
• The Vritra and Taraka clans have special circumstances of their own.
• Humans who have been shown to be able to hear sura speech:
  • Ran Sairofe seemed to be able to hear Yuta yell "Watch out!". In Season 3, it is revealed that Ran can hear sura speech spoken loudly.
  • Leez Haias develops the ability to hear Yuta speak, but no other suras, for an as of yet unexplained reason.
• During pregancy, the mother of a sura has to stay in the form the child is born in or the child will be lost. For example, a Nastika stays in human form to give birth to a Rakshasa. A Rakshasa stays in sura form to give birth to an Upani. But a Rakshasa mother would stay in human form to give birth to a Nastika's child, etc.

History

Visnu names Shuri

The first suras were the nastikas, who were born without parents at the beginning of the universe. They were created by Brahma and named by Visnu. From the time of their birth, the suras and the (non-primeval) gods were enemies. While nastikas were more powerful, they were not blessed with the ability to resurrect indefinitely like the gods were.

At the beginning of the universe, nastikas reproduced frequently to produce rakshasas and expand their circle of influence; Shess is one of the few rakshasas surviving since the Beginning. Only the Vritra clan could not have rakshasa children, as they perished when they loved each other. The cause lied in an error regarding the power of their unique clan transcendental "Breath". The king of the clan, Vritra, made a deal with Brahma to enhance the clan's "emotionless" characteristic to suppress the ability to love each other. To mitigate the risk of them falling in love with each other further, all Vritra nastikas were locked into male form. The decision for male form was made based on the fact that the Nastikas were, on average, stronger in male than in female form. Even the King himself sacrificed his own stronger female form for the sake of the overall power level of the clan.

In exchange for not being able to reproduce among Nastikas, their offspring with humans were granted the power of a 5th-stage rakshasa after 100 years despite being halfs.

Before the Cataclysm, suras could travel freely between the sura and human realms. In fact, humans were once able to borrow power from the nastikas in the form of fiendish magic. However, suras would often kill humans as well, causing fear and animosity towards them. As a result, fiendish magic was renounced by the King of humans a thousand years before the Cataclysm, year D0. After severe persecution, only a few villages of "heretics" survived until recent times. In some cases, the misfiring of fiendish magic could cause the self-destruction of the magician, as well as the killing allies and enemies alike. Most humans pledged to serve only the gods and were granted protection by Brahma in form of defense barriers that protected human cities when the suras retaliated for the renouncement of fiendish magic. However, because of Brahma's neutrality on the matter, the barriers were created with flaws that allowed nastikas to eventually break them, unless they were powered by gods rather than humans, effectively making the cities safe places.

Halfs caught in emotional resonance in N0

During the Cataclsym, the strongest case of a emotional resonance in history took place, resulting in the destruction of many planets. Most inferior suras and halfs went berserk and attacked pure-bloods and quarters, and even superior suras were agitated. After the Cataclysm, all superior suras were segregated and confined to the sura realm by one of the primeval gods, Visnu. The nastikas also lost their ability to transform into sura form when in the human realm, greatly limiting the nastikas' power against humans and other suras.

Currently, no sura clan overpowers another in a largely advantageous way.