Shisuku Masuyo

Masuyo (しすくマスヨ, Shisuku Masuyo) is one of the main characters in the series. He is a Dark User who descended from a line of Dark Users called the Shisuku. He trains at Council headquarters while searching for answers about his past, which is shrouded in mystery. He is said by many to be the Boy of Destiny, one who would bring peace to the world during times of strife.

Background
Masuyo was born on September 7, 16 years before the series begins. He lived with his father, stepmother, and his younger sister Fay, as recently revealed. His father was hardly around. Later, it is divulged that his father, Shisuku Fuuin, was a key player in the First Great War, which could explain why he wasn't around much. His stepmother, who was emotionally abusive toward Masuyo, was the main parental figure for a while, until she finally kicked him out to live on the streets. Growing up fending for himself, Masuyo developed a cold exterior as well as many useful skills, such as navigation of cities. As a child, Masuyo encountered Kiyoshi and helped him dig up his mother's belongings. Curiously, nothing of Masuyo's biological mother is mentioned during any scenes. He seemed to have a strong connection with his younger sister Fay, but her whereabouts are unknown.

Appearance
Masuyo is calmer and more mature looking than Kiyoshi. He is a blonde-haired teenager with dark blue eyes. He wears a black jacket and a gray sweater at times earlier in the manga before he is given a better shirt to fight in. During the Alclay arc, he wears a dark blue shirt with a neckband, baggy pants, and a white undershirt. When he arrives at Council and is given his battle outfit, he wears a purple neckband with gold trim, and a similar dark blue shirt and white undershirt, with baggy pants. His outfit features gold trim similar to Kiyoshi's. He also briefly wears a blindfold while training with Black.

Personality
Masuyo is a calm and collected character with great confidence in his own ability. He displays great passion in what he does, although he appears relatively indifferent in normal everyday life. He is full of pride, and as Akio says, hates losing. Rather than fighting for his friends, Masuyo seems to fight whenever the situation calls for it. During Masuyo's fights, his personality is further developed through his adaptation and his skillful fighting style. He is considerate of others, unlike a lot of antihero manga characters, and is appreciative of his rival relationship with Kiyoshi, and his roller coaster relationship with Asuna.

Masuyo is extremely self-driven, a direct foil to Kiyoshi early on, who is driven by his passion for others. Masuyo is extraordinarily introspective compared to the other characters, and is for that reason one of the most difficult characters to mesh out. He is always measuring himself against others and testing the extents of his abilities. He explores his powers with great interest, and has always shown interest in the Elemental situation: first when he overhears Baku Sen'nin talking to Takashi, and second when he suggests that Elementals should integrate into society. A common theme of the earlier part of the series is Masuyo losing to opponents stronger than he is. He is outmatched by Kataki, Takashi, and Shouri, in that order. His growth can be seen when he later defeats a stronger Kataki in a single blow.

Despite his many redeeming qualities, Masuyo makes judgments that many people disagree with, and has a few oddities about him. He breaks off his relationship with Asuna merely for the sake of 'focus' and self-exploration. He also remarks to Kiyoshi rudely at times, perhaps to make sure the rivalry is healthy. Masuyo has a strangely flirtatious relationship with Black, though his feelings for her are unknown. He also has an affinity for cute animals.

Abilities
In the manga, Masuyo is considered to be highly skilled. With his ability to think fast and on his feet, he becomes a deadly opponent who uses a dark and beautiful art.

Physical
Masuyo shows evidence of having polished taijutsu skills. He often uses physical techniques instead of his ele, often in self defense. He has large amounts of both power and speed behind his skills, and it is hinted that he is almost as fast as Kiyoshi. Masuyo demonstrates large aptitude in fighting, possibly because of his background of growing up on the streets. He, like many elementals, can use his ele to fuel his muscle capacity, speed, and jump height. He seems less resilient than a lot of characters, because he has actually lost more fights than he has won thus far.

Dark Powers
Masuyo was blessed with the power of Darkness, which exists to counterbalance the powers of Light. As such, the Dark ele type is almost perfectly identical to the Light ele type, aside from its appearance. He can summon raw negative energy and condense it so that it can slice through objects. He has been shown, like Kiyoshi, to cut through metal with his eleweapons. His fighting is derived from his creative moves and approaches, also mirroring Kiyoshi's.

Dark Scythe
After standing up to battle with SYSTEM Bot A, Masuyo forges his first eleweapon, the Dark Scythe. His level 1 eleweapon is frighteningly similar to the Light Pole that Kiyoshi uses, although Masuyo's has a blade at the end of it. The Dark Scythe also features a jagged design complete with disharmonious rings of ele, which represent a lack of finesse and skill. Later, the scythe becomes more streamlined. Masuyo primarily used this weapon to swing around and cause cutting blows. He also used it to hook into things. He even hooks two Scythes together to fling them at the opponent like a buzz saw.

Masuyo also has the ability, like Kiyoshi, to extend the length of the Dark Scythe further. He has used it to pole vault over the Council Wall and has used it to reach far away opponents. Masuyo has several times used a giant version of the Dark Scythe. This gargantuan eleweapon has been seen to cut through mountainside rocks and plateaus. This raw power is later put to better use.

Triscythe
The Triple Scythe, or Triscythe, is Masuyo's primary eleweapon. At level 2, his eleweapon features all the abilities of the level 1 Dark Scythe condensed into a more stable and streamlined form. The sword has no handles, floating freely around Masuyo's hand. He has been seen wielding the Triscythe in both his right and left hand. For such a large weapon, Masuyo has been shown to swing it at incredible speeds. He has also used two of them at once to complete his Full Moon Slash. The weapon is tougher than his previous one. It has been shown to block high speed icicle bullets and other objects. His style may be based on Kendo, but with a larger sword and more circular swinging motions.

Masuyo uses the weight of his eleweapon to help him somersault through the air, contributing to the development of his Moon themed slicing attacks. He used Crescent Moon Slash on Seijaku, and it soon becomes a staple move for him, similar to Kiyoshi's Light Tornado and Light Cutter. The main weakness of Masuyo's large eleweapon is that it takes more ele to forge it. It may also be hard to manuever it around, as the Triscythe's blade lengthe is almost as tall as Masuyo himself. Nonetheless, he has used it to form a crisp and powerful fighting style, and has even teamed up with Kiyoshi to create the first Team Ougi, the Yin Yang Gear.

Pillars of Darkness
Masuyo, being a Shisuku, has access to the Pillars of Darkness, a power which Black says was once Fuuin's. Each pillar unlocks a new ability when accessed by Masuyo. It is unknown how to access each pillar, but they appear in times of peril, similar to how Kiyoshi's Archangel powers work. He discovered the pillars with his fight against Kataki, when they appeared and seemingly saved his life. Then, he used them again against Seijaku. He has thus far unlocked the Pillar of Sadness, which gave him the ability to ascend to his level 2 eleweapon. He can also summon pillars individually, and makes use of their physical presence.

Reikari Kiyoshi
Masuyo is the person Kiyoshi has chosen to be rivals with. His relationship with Masuyo is competitive at most times, but also very friendly and respectful. Kiyoshi has protected Masuyo from certain death, and Masuyo has saved Kiyoshi's life several times. The two respect the growth of both friendship and rivalry. Kiyoshi recently has shown to be annoyed at how deep Masuyo is, and Masuyo gets annoyed at how obnoxious Kiyoshi can be. They are similar in that both have had a rough past, and both are trying to unlock the mysteries of their respective pasts.

Baku Sen'nin
Baku Sen'nin witnessed Masuyo's Awakening, like he did Kiyoshi's. Baku Sen'nin has always expressed interest in Masuyo, perhaps because of his ele type, or because of his bloodline. Baku was the one who decided to bring Masuyo on the Alclay mission. He has had the most conversational time with Masuyo, and Masuyo has confided in him more than a lot of other characters. Baku Sen'nin is the one who sends Masuyo to see Seijaku because of the apparent hallucinations Masuyo was having. Baku Sen'nin also is the first to reveal Masuyo as the Boy of Destiny, a role which has yet to be clearly defined.

Hatomi Asuna
Asuna and Masuyo met one day at the beach and started dating. At the start of the series, they are involved in a relationship. However, Masuyo's interaction with Asuna is of mixed natures. He certainly cares for her, as he protects her from many dangers throughout the series, but at the same time brushes her aside. He expresses frustration when she calls him helpless on the roof of Jaimon High School during the battle with SYSTEM Bot A. When he arrives at Council, he is happy to see her, but she is much happier to see him. He later breaks off the romantic aspect of their relationship when he begins training with Black, his reason being that his life was becoming too cluttered and that it wasn't fair to her. Currently, the hold a mutual caring that is still more than ordinary friendship.

Itamichi Takashi
The relationship between Masuyo and Takashi is very prominent in ELEMENT. The two are contenders for the most talented of Baku Sen'nin's pupils. They both hold an antihero role in regard to Kiyoshi, both of them play the role of a friend, a rival, and an obstacle to Kiyoshi and to each other. Their development begins as early as their meeting on the roof of Jaimon High School, followed by Takashi commenting that he would never want to fight Masuyo. Ironically, they end up fighting after the Alclay mission with Takashi winning narrowly. Takashi then gives Masuyo the advice to be a true genius. Masuyo later passes this advice on to Kataki, showing that he highly values Takashi's opinion of him. The two currently hold a mutual respect for each other, and it is still unclear as to who the superior fighter is.

Akako Akio
Akio and Masuyo seem to have a mutual respect. In episodes of EleTalk, Akio and Masuyo often share opinions. In one episode, it is revealed that Akio thinks that Masuyo will ultimately surpass Takashi, indicating his respect. His on-screen interaction with Masuyo is more limited, to the point where they hardly share scenes.

Trivia

 * The name Masuyo means "benefit the world". Whether Masuyo will live up to this is ambiguous.
 * Masuyo has a soft spot for cute animals.
 * Although being portrayed as one of the most powerful characters in the series, Masuyo has thus far lost more matches than he's won.
 * Masuyo is the only character to truly defeat a Sensei 9 thus far, but it should be noted that Seijaku mistook him for a stronger Shisuku, presumably Fuuin, and may have given up.