ShinKen

ShinKen is the slash ship between Shinou and Daikenja from the Kyou Kara Maou! fandom.

Canon
Anime: Daikenja, the "Double-black Great Wise Man," was believed to be a bad omen due to his black hair and eyes. Shinou was fascinated by his coloring on sight and invited him to join his army. Shinou was fighting against the originators and Daikenja's strategies were invaluable in the war. Together with their men they were able to defeat the originators; however, in doing so, Shinou was infected with their evil influence. Slowly the originators poisoned his body and soul until he was forced to "die" to keep himself from going on a rampage. Daikenja was the only one aware of what was happening and helped Shinou through this process, eventually being entrusted with Shinou's soul. Daikenja swore that he would stay by Shinou's side until they defeated the originators once and for all.

For the next 4000 years he reincarnated many times, all the while waiting for the day when a new, more powerful demon king would be born. Shinou meanwhile crafted the soul of this new powerful demon king from his position as near-god of demon kingdom, a position obtained through his own incredible magical power remaining with his soul even after death.

Ken Murata, Daikenja's reincarnation at the time the anime takes place, returns to the demon kingdom and finishes what they started with Yuuri's help: Yuuri purifies Shinou's soul of the originator's stain and Murata/Daikenja declares his duty fulfilled. Shinou says that they'll meet again in one of his next lives, and they both look forward to it.

Despite this moving goodbye, Shinou remains the local god and Murata spends much of his time in demon kingdom in the temple where Shinou can generally be found, presumably talking with his old friend rather often.

In the manga, Shinou eventually runs out of power and fades away.

Fanon
Due to the multiple versions of canon and the reincarnation element of this ship, fanon interpretation of it is quite varied. The two most common forms are Shinou/Daikenja set in the distant past before Shinou "died" and Shinou/Ken Murata, Daikenja's most recent reincarnation. This is an obvious ship to anime-only fans as Daikenja is extremely devoted and works for 4000 years just to try to save Shinou's soul. In the third season of the anime yet ANOTHER version of Daikenja, Janus, is introduced. This version is shipped with Shinou less, likely due to the less than positive reception he received from Shinou himself, though Janus is arguably more devoted to Shinou than the original Daikenja. Light novel readers who get more of Shinou's dark side may be less (or more) interested in the ship for its alternate dynamic. Manga readers have even more on their plate as this is the only form of media where Shinou is said to be Daikenja's older half-brother (it should be noted that the manga came out last and is not by the original author, thus its canonicity is in questionable).

Quotes
"Shinou is the darkness, and the Daikenja is the light. They yearn for each other, love each other, and are born bearing each other’s colors in body. In short, darkness is light, and light is darkness!" - A quote from chapter 3 of the first novel.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION
 * Shinou/Ken Murata tag on Fanfiction.net
 * Shinou/Ken Murata tag on Fanfiction.net
 * Shinou/Ken Murata tag on Fanfiction.net


 * FAN ART
 * ShinKen on Pixiv

Trivia
Despite having recurring roles in all KKM media, neither Shinou nor Daikenja are true "names." Shinou (眞王) only means "true king" and Daikenja (大賢者) means "great sage." No actual names have ever been provided.