Peyote Diaz

Peyote Diaz is one of Hao Asakura’s followers and a villain from Shaman King.

Past
Peyote was born in Oaxaca, Mexico in 1970 and was the son of a Spanish exorcist and an Aztec priest. At one point, he joined a mariachi band that was considered the best in the country, as well as infamous for constantly getting in fights. Peyote and all the other members, Carlos, Juan, Antonio, Pancho, Miguel and Zapata were best friends, always acting like true men. But Carlos and Juan were gunned down by an angry customer at the saloon they owned and the others were killed in fights. Eventually, Peyote came across Hao Asakura (a child at the time) in a bar, who he was surprised to see. He decided to follow Hao, at first, thinking he was just curious about Hao’s incredible power. However Peyote was actually drawn to the darkness in Hao’s heart, feeling determined to get rid of it. At one point, Peyote and Hao were in Spain, attending the fire festival of Valencia, when one of the huge “falla” dolls, made to be burned in the festival, fell over. It fell on and killed numerous people and Peyote, having taken a liking to the doll’s design, used the people killed to create his Grande Phantasma Oversoul.

Shaman Tournament
Peyote took part in the shaman Tournament along with the rest of Hao’s followers and in the second round, was teamed up with the BoZ Brothers. They were matched against Tao Ren’s team and in the fight, Ren and Horohoro decided to fight Peyote while Chocolove dealt with the BoZ Brothers. Chocolove easily managed to deal with the assault of their Chimimoryo spirits and knocked them out with his own attack. However Peyote kicked them, apparently making them get back to their feet and attack, except they started using their instruments as blunt weapons. Ren realized that the BoZ Brothers were unconscious and that Peyote was controlling their bodies, which he admitted to and revealed the spirits of Carlos and Juan were controlling them. Chocolove tried to angrily attack him, but one of Peyote’s calavera dolls popped out from under his clothing. It punched him away and Peyote explained that he put the spirits of his former mariachi band into calavera dolls as the rest of them emerged from his clothing. However Chocolove used his Gag Wing Oversoul, making all of Peyote’s spirits laugh hysterically. This left Peyote defenseless and as he told them to stop laughing, Ren took the opportunity to attack, defeating him. He was sent to the Patch Medical Center to recover with Mohamed Tabarsi and after he was healed, Peyote attacked Ren’s team with Hang Zang-Ching and Mohammed. In the fight, Peyote revealed that Nichrom, who had been assigned to keep an eye on Peyote, Zang-Ching, and Mohammed, was the younger brother of Chrom, the Patch Official Ren killed in his entry test. Ren was left stunned by this information and Peyote used the opportunity to have his Grand Phantasma Oversoul deal him a fatal blow. However Yoh Asakura soon arrived and he managed to defeat Peyote and his cohorts with one strike

Turning on Hao
With his defeats, Peyote started to lose faith in Hao’s mission and became increasingly mentally unstable. When Hao’s followers were commanded to take care of a group of human warships, they started wondering if they were really doing the right thing. Matilda Matisse stated that Hao was creating a better world, Peyote replied they couldn’t be sure and noted that they had constantly failed in their missions. But they were not to be blamed for this, it was Hao’s fault and Peyote wondered if Hao was really worth serving anymore. Mohamed revealed that he’d been thinking the same thing and the two faced off with Mohamed warning Peyote to think carefully about what he said next. Peyote said he only wanted to speak his mind and he wasn’t trying to cause a fight. Zang-Ching told them to stop arguing because they were scaring him when suddenly Peyote’s Grande Phantasma Oversoul showed up and killed him. Peyote told the rest of Hao’s followers to clam down since he was going to kill them and make them stronger. He made his Oversoul stab Bill Burton, saying that he was joking. After Mohammed was killed by Tamurazaki Midori, Peyote made Brocken Meyer his next victim and Matilda, Kanna Bismarch, and Marion Phauna tried to kill him with a curse. Tamurazaki shot them with a railgun, but survived and attacked Midori, only for Peyote to stand in their way. He revealed that Hao had the ability to read minds and he understood all of them. Peyote cried that he cared about Hao most, which was why he was also the one who hated him the most. He proceeded to kill himself, along with Kanna, Matilda, and Marion, using his Oversoul to crush all of them.

Anime Differences
In the anime, Peyote remained on Hao’s side throughout the whole series and didn’t fight Ren’s team in the tournament. Instead he and the BoZ Brothers attacked Yoh and his friends before they reached the Patch Village. Peyote then accompanied Hao and the rest of his followers on his quest to reach the Great Spirit. He was then defeated by Lyserg.

Personality
On the surface, Peyote is curel and emotionless, who would follow any order that Hao gives im and do anything for his master. He believes one should have a reason why they fight, otherwise, they will die a loser and that’s all they’ll be known as. But towards the end, Peyote started to question Hao’s goals and his devotion to Hao is so great that he actually hates him.

Abilities
Peyote is a capable shaman, starting off the series at a furyoku level of 3000, which eventually rose to 32,000. He controls his various Oversouls using his guitar, saying that he can play for the dead, and can vibrate spirits to his music. Like all shamans, Peyote has a Guardian Ghost, in his case, the ghosts of his former mariachi band. His most basic Oversoul is placing the spirits of Jose, Zapata, Antonio, Miguel, and Pancho in calavera dolls, while Carlos and Juan possess other people. The calavera dolls can fight for him while Carlos and Juan mostly serve as defense, making it a useful strategic combination. Peyote can even have Carlos and Juan form cactus clubs on their arms. Peyote’s second Oversoul is Grande Phantasma, which uses a large falla doll as a medium. His spirits form a gigantic falla doll wielding a knife, which has great strength and is quite stealthy, despite its size. However the number of spirits used and the large medium makes this Oversoul take up a lot of furyoku and the medium is very hard to transport.

Trivia

 * Peyote is named after a small spineless cactus found in Mexico and South America. It is used to create a hallucinogenic drug that is often used in traditional ceremonies and shaman rituals.


 * Peyote’s last name is Spanish for “son of Diego”.


 * In the English dub of the anime, Peyote is named Ramiro.