Shamino (manga)



A ranger named Shamino [ツァミノ] appears in Yoko Tanaka's 1989 Ultima-inspired manga, Ultima: The Quest of the Avatar, although he bears little relation to the character featured in the game series.

Description
A flamboyant and jocular youth, Shamino initially appeared in the company of Geoffrey, in the midst questing to attain Avatarhood for themselves. Streetwise and savvy, Shamino knew a number of important contacts which assisted the party throughout their adventures - going so far in one episode as to endure the advances of an amorous gay Trinsician barkeep to help Deane retrieve information about his brother, Shiva.

Not actually interested in the company of men, Shamino appeared to carry a long-standing crush on the humorless Mariah - whom he recruited during the heroes' journey to heal the badly wounded Kati after a run in with a hydra. Roguish and somewhat mercenary, the young ranger's actions often clashed with Mariah's cool dedication to Honesty - as he wantonly attempted to cheat a local herbalist and lied about the origins of a ship he secured. Still, Shamino, for all his faults, remained loyal to those whose company he keeps, and he proved reluctant to part from Deane in the novel's closing - not wishing to leave his friend to die.

Trivia

 * The manga's dust jacket has a list of character statistics which lists Shamino as being twenty-one, although he claims to be nineteen in the comic itself.
 * Shamino, as portrayed in the manga, flies into a maddened frenzy whenever confronted by the sight of his own blood.