Just a sketch I did for practice today of a new character I came up with. I don't entirely like how this came out, so I may try to redraw it before I do a digital version. I also realize now that I look at it that I totally forgot his bracers. That will also be corrected before I do a digital version. But I felt like sharing this much as I don't know how much time I'll have to draw with how busy things are getting at work. So, you'll have to be satisfied with this for now.

Umakao was a mid-level torturer of the pits of Jigokudo, working under the chief torturer, Mezu, overseeing punishments in Kyokan Jigoku. He was very good at his job. One day, he was sent to retrieve a soul that had escaped from hell and fled to the realm of the living. Instead of doing so, he chose to forsake his responsibilities and make a new home in the realm of the living. Taking up residence with an onmyoji as a servant in exchange for being hidden from Celestrial Bureaucracy when they came to find him, Umakao spent half a century serving the mystic, secretly learning a few of his secret techniques. One day, when he felt he had learned all he needed and the mystic had grown careless, he slaughtered his master and went out to become a warlord.

Adopting the title of Dai-Maoh (Great Dark Lord), he began conquering swaths of territory and enslaving the inhabitants. With his knowledge of traversing the realms, he was able to bargain with the ever-hungry gaki and the war-like asuras to gain supernatural soldiers to aid him in his cause, causing a minor upset in the balance of the six realms. While this has annoyed the Celestial Bureaucracy to no end, he has so far evaded attempts to capture him and return him to Jigokudo. No doubt a better plan to retrieve him is being worked out in committee, but until it has been worked out, he is currently wreaking havoc in the world.

A full twenty years of success as a warlord have made him grow somewhat complacent and good living is starting to take it’s toll on him. Although he is still relatively fit, his gut is starting to hang over his belt, but only a fool would let his increasing rotundness lull them into thinking he’s any less dangerous than he ever was. His naginata is sharp enough to cut through stone and his assortment of spell-like abilities make him one of the most dangerous foes a warrior could face.