In episode 8 of the third season of That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, Hinata Sakaguchi and a few of the other Great Saints have traveled to Tempest for an encounter with Rimuru. While the leaders fought each other, their generals paired off and had their own battles, most of which were off-screened; however, Shion's fight was a little different because she took on two Great Saints (and their various unnamed underlings) at once.

During the battle, Shion reveals to her astonished foes that she isn't an Oni like Benimaru, Shuna, Hakuro, Kurobe or Soei; referring to herself as a "Wicked Oni". What is that, and what does it mean for Shion's evolutionary trajectory?

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Evolution in That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

The First Step in Ogre Evolution

In the TenSura universe, ogres are a demi-human race descended from fairies. They can be very powerful, but they suffer from a lack of numbers. For a time, ogres were one of the strongest races one could encounter in the Jura Forest, with an average rank of B. At some point in history, the Ogre Village that Tempest's six Oni are originally from housed around 300 ogres; however, after being attacked by a horde of orcs, they were the only survivors. Kijin/Kishin is a term derived from "Kijin/Kishin", a term describing a fierce or wrathful spirit or god that is normally written with the characters for "oni" 鬼 (often understood as ogres or trolls from Japanese folklore), followed by the character for "god"; however, in That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, the word is written with oni followed by the character for "person".

This is the first step in the evolutionary path of ogres; however, Kijin were once a race of sprites descended from Fire Elementals with a decent population, but are now on the verge of extinction, with one generally emerging from an ogre population every few centuries or so. At this point, they have a lifespan of around a thousand years. It is also possible for an ogre to become a Kijin by being named by a powerful enough individual, which is what happened with Shion and the others when Rimuru named them.

Shion, The Wicked Oni

A Different Evolutionary Path

After becoming Kijin, the next step in the ogre evolutionary trajectory is to become oni; however, in That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, oni isn't just written with the character that it normally would, instead, the root kanji in the word for fairy (妖) is followed by the usual character for oni, which altogether translates to "Bewitching Oni". They are Kijin who have returned to their Elemental roots, thus making them demi-spiritual lifeforms. Oni possess power comparable to that of a Demon Lord.

According to Shion's opponent in season 3, episode 8, Paladin of Light Leonard, Hinata Sakaguchi's second-in-command, Shion is at the level where she'd normally be a local deity, which calls back to the idea that Kijin have Elemental roots. She tells them that she evolved differently to her comrades, who became the "Bewitching Oni" variant, while she became something quite different: a "Wicked Oni".

Written with the character for "evil" or "malice" 悪, followed by oni, Wicked Oni are also known as Evil Oni (as a direct translation of the written form of the name). Unlike their Bewitching (or "Fair") counterparts, who have leaned into their spiritual roots and become more like Elementals, the Wicked variant is more like a Daemon in essence (which explains Shion's propensity for overkill). They are demi-spiritual lifeforms that, like their counter, can be compared to Demon Lords when it comes to strength.

The Skills that Shion possesses as a result of this distinction include Perfect Memory, which enables her to write her memories to her astral body; Ultraspeed Regeneration, and the Ogre Berserker or Battle Oni Skill. The reason for Shion's alternate evolutionary path lies in her death and subsequent revival alongside the Yomigaeri, the hundred citizens of Tempest killed during the invasion of the Kingdom of Falmuth. Also, the division of the Oni classification into two different types is reminiscent of the distinction between red ogres and blue ogres in various interpretations of Japanese folktale codified into a trope where red ogres are passionate and emotional while blue ogres are more analytical.

That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Based on Fuse's novel and light novel series, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is an isekai anime that follows Rimuru, a guy who reincarnates in a fantasy world as its weakest monster. However, that soon changes.