Jikininki

"- Ara: Hahaha! And now, ladies and gentlemen! I bring my most new creation--and your greatest enemy so far! Now Maria Arzonia, go and crush your enemies... "Maria" is a bit idiot for such amazing transformation. Hey! You! What's your name? - Maria???: PAINLASH OVERLORD!!! - Ara: Okay, Painlash Overlord! I'll watch you crush everyone you hates!! Fufufu, not me of course! Right? - Painlash: I hate you! I'll kill you later after I deal with those incompetents over there! - ''Ara: So badass... See how everyone on my side takes a Took a Level in Badass? "

- Ara Astaroth with Maria's Painlash Overlord

Jikininki, also known as Ara's Espadas or simply Espadas are the highest demons in the Black Demons' hierarchy, being in the class of Overlords and Tyrants of Qliphoth. Before the birth of Ara Astaroth, there were no traces of the existence of those demons but billion years later when the Blackness was under the control of Ara, these demons started to appear in the ranks of the Revelation of Qliphoth and were mysterious beings by most of Ara's group until the day that Mana Takamiya was corrupted during the Invasion of Brazil in the events of The Will of Qliphoth and was shown to the entire world.

A Jikininki is also a mortal or human that was corrupted by Ara's Blackness and became Black Demons. Despite those beings were once mortals, in other words, non-humans, genuine Black Demons cannot be Jikininki as they are already demons and only Ara can create this new species of demons of Qliphoth.

Currently, there are 5 classes of Espadas, each one according to the will and determination of each person.

Overview
Jikininki are a group of mortals that gained similar powers to that of a Black Demons by being removed from their humanity, memories, persona and by addition, their very souls. The individuals that Ara turned into Espadas using the Blackness, generally possess powers far beyond those of previous Black Demons.

Creation
The number that the Jikininki (with numbers 11 and above) have are not the order of their strength, but rather the order of their birth. First, via the Blackness, they are reborn from humans into Black Demons. Then, according to the order in which they are born, they were assigned a number, starting with eleven. Despite Ara can turn mortals in Black Demons at any time, it depends on her decide if they are going to be Jikininki or normal Black Demons.

To create a Jikininki, Ara has to extract a small fragment of her soul and merge it the Blackness she will use to corrupt the human in front of her to turn him or her in a Jikininki, forming a direct soul contact with Ara and giving them 5 or 10% of her power for unlimited time.

Personality Traits & Mindsets
While most of the Jikininki either develop or retain their own personality traits, the majority of Black Demons appear to be similarly cold, cruel, ambitious, impatient, selfish, overconfident, ruthless, arrogant, impulsive, brutal, relentless, battle-hungry, overbearing, short-tempered, indifferent, and/or egotistical. Not all Black Demons and Jikininki residing in Nibiru Planet are loyal to Ara, but they prefer not to interfere with her plans. People like Black Raven are an example. However, many naturally evolved Black Demons felt it necessary to align themselves with her to obtain more power. While there are Black Demons who choose to follow Ara in the hopes she will deliver them salvation, others ally with her purely out of respect. Most of the Espadas, however, are forced to serve her and have some memories of their past when she took everything from them and forced them to become Black Demons against their will.

As Leohart the Prince of Hell put it, Ara is someone who is fearless, which creatures born out of fear and pain, such as Black Demons, find admirable. Although Jikininki are humans who have gained Black Demon-like powers, most still refer to themselves as humans, refusing to be called as Black Demons as they humanity continue inside of them. On the other hand, Evelynn Astaroth (Mana Takamiya's Black Demon) abandoned her identity as a human and she entered services to the Leohart's Cult.

Overlords and Tyrants
The Overlords and Tyrants are the strongest species of Black Demons in existence as they receive 10% of Ara's power, making them in par with Pure-Blooded Devils. Their immense amount of power and leadership status among the Black Demons also grants each Tyrant the authority to exert command over Ara's other forces within Qliphoth. Similar to the power gap between Gods and Arch-Angels in the Paradise, the strength of the Tyrants far surpasses that of the average High-Level Demons from Triggers Hell. Ara herself is confident enough in her Espada's abilities to send them out on potentially hazardous missions.

Natural Abilities
Like Black Demons Arrancar have a multitude of combat skills and abilities, some of which are similar to Angels and Gods, and some of which are variations on ordinary Black Demons powers.
 * Bala (Spanish for "Bullet" or "Black Bullet"): A technique that fires hardened spiritual pressure. Less powerful than a Qlipha, but can be successively fired at 20 times the rate.
 * Cero (Spanish for "Zero"): A powerful spiritual light fired by Menos Grande and Arrancar.
 * Descorrer (Spanish for "Drawing Back/Opening"):  A technique used by Espada-level Arrancar, and sometimes others, to open a Garganta between the living world and Hueco Mundo.
 * Hierro (Spanish for "Iron"): An Jikininki's outer skin with high spiritual hardness that serves as armor.
 * High-Speed Regeneration is an ability which allows Jikininki to heal most injuries very quickly, with the exception of the destruction of the head or vital organs. Ara states most Jikininki gave up this ability for far greater strength.
 * Pesquisa (Spanish for "Inquiry"): An Arrancar's ability to measure and locate Divine energy.
 * Resurrección (Spanish for "Resurrection"): Releasing the core of an Jikininki's ability sealed in their Qlipha Crystals to regain the original powers of their Black Demon form. They often take on a form closer to a Black Demon than a Human after performing Resurrección.
 * Sonído (Spanish for "Sound"): An ability that allows the demon travel in the speed of light for 5 seconds.

Trivia

 * Jikininki.jpg name "Jikinink" appear in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904) as corpse-eating spirits. In Japanese Buddhism, jikininki ("human-eating ghosts"; pronounced shokujinki in modern Japanese), are the spirits of greedy, selfish or impious individuals who are cursed after death to seek out and eat human corpses. They do this at night, scavenging for newly dead bodies and food offerings left for the dead. They sometimes also loot the corpses they eat for valuables, which they use to bribe local officials to leave them in peace. Nevertheless, jikininki lament their condition and hate their repugnant cravings for dead human flesh.
 * Often, jikininki are said to look like decomposing cadavers, perhaps with a few inhuman features such as sharp claws or glowing eyes. They are a horrifying sight, and any mortal who views one finds himself or herself frozen in fear. However, several stories give them the ability to magically disguise themselves as normal human beings and even to lead normal “lives” by day. Jikininki are preta of the 26th class in Japanese Buddhism. They are also sometimes considered a form of rakshasa or gaki (“hungry ghosts”). In the latter case, they may be freed from their deplorable existence through remembrances and offerings or through the prayers of a holy and/or righteous man that has a truly holy spirit and has done nothing to dishonor his or her family.