Tokoroth

_“ A tokoroth is a child raised alone and in darkness, as a host for a demon. A tokoroth knows no good or evil. No right or wrong. It is utterly without mercy, for it has been taught to hate the world. It obeys no-one but its creator. It is one of the most feared creatures in the Forest.
—Saeunn to Renn, Spirit Walker, chapter 12

A tokoroth on the Korean cover of Spirit Walker

A tokoroth is child inhabited by a demon that is used by the Soul-Eaters to carry out tasks.

Appearance

They have the stature of a child, but generally have long, dirty yellow claws, a thin frame, matted hair and are infested with lice, and thing, boney limbs, and sharp brown teeth. Tokoroth are incredibly athletic, able to leap long distances. They act savagely without respect for the World Spirit, and their eyes glitter with malice.

Creation

A young child is first stolen from their parents by and is kept isolated in terrible conditions until it forgets how to be human. Once it is an empty husk, its creator summons a demon to trap it in the child's body. It was thought that the demons were trapped inside the child forever, though Wolf managed to chase them away from two tokoroths. Renn freed their souls by granting them Death Marks before they died.

In Vipers Daughter it was revealed that, despite it never happened before, its possible for Tokoroth to reach adulthood. Adult Tokoroths are able pose as ordinary humans meanwhile child Tokoroths appears to have more primitive and animalistic intelligence. Whether Tokoroths will be able to harness powers which the host body inhabits, such as Magecraft or Spirit Walking is unknown. Despite Naiginn's mother being a powerful Mage he didn't have any magical powers. It could be that he never inherited the ability to begin with, due to it being unclear whether magecraft is inherited or not.

Known tokoroths

• Two tokoroths, a boy and a girl less than eight or nine summers old, appear in Spirit Walker, having been created by Tenris to poison juniper berries in the Forest. Wolf chases them off the Crag and they fall to their deaths, claiming that he chased the demons away. Renn places Death Marks as they die in hopes of sending them on a peaceful death.
• Seshru planned to have her children, Hord and Renn, turned into tokoroths. However, Hord was too old and Saeunn took Renn away.
• Numerous children, including Gaup's daughter, are kidnapped by Thiazzi to be turned into tokoroths. Wolf and Darkfur find them hidden in the Sacred grove, and five are able to be rescued. They were thin, their minds blank, and their teeth filed into fangs, but Renn was able to cure most of them, except for Gaup's daughter, who remained mute. One of the children turned into a tokoroth.
• Eostra creates an army of tokoroths to stalk the Forest, including Torak and Renn as they travel to the Mountain of Ghosts. Wolf manages to chase one away. After Eostra's defeat, Renn helps the Mountain Mages chase the demons away and performs a rite for the tokoroth children.