Shuriki

"I have spent years making this the cleanest, quietest, most orderly kingdom in the world. Nothing is out of place, everyone does what they're told. No unruliness... no irritating jingle-jangle of bells or music, just simple peace and quiet."

- Shuriki about her rule of Avalor

Shuriki is an evil, power-hungry sorceress from the Northern Islands and the main antagonist in both Elena and the Secret of Avalor and the second season of Elena of Avalor.

Background
Forty-one years in the past, Shuriki sought to rule the jovial Kingdom of Avalor. She allied herself with the nephew of the kingdom's monarch, Esteban and the Royal Treasurer's son Victor Delgado and offered them power in exchange for helping her seize the throne. Shuriki agreed to keep Esteban's family safe from harm during her invasion, but she unabashedly broke her promise and murdered the incumbent rulers, King Raul and Queen Lucia, without a qualm. Shuriki was confronted by their eldest daughter Elena, but her efforts were futile as Shuriki blasted her with magic, apparently killing her as well. Unbeknownst to Shuriki, Elena's magical amulet protected the princess by trapping her inside. It was recovered by Avalor's Royal Sorcerer, Alacazar, who left the kingdom in search of a way to free Elena and save the kingdom. Before he did so, Alacazar cast a spell to protect the remaining members of the Royal Family of Avalor by placing them inside an enchanted painting which even Shuriki's magic could not harm.

With the Royal Family eliminated, Shuriki assumed the throne. Fearing he would turn on her, Shuriki had Victor and his family banished forever. Esteban became her chancellor, she forced the royal guard to wear black, and the citizens of Avalor were left to suffer her tyranny. Shuriki stripped away many of Avalor's cultural traditions and heritage, particularly music, and also banned the use and practice of magic excluding herself, likely to ensure that no-one could learn it and pose a threat to her. Shuriki's actions were not documented outside of the kingdom's perimeter, however, as neighboring kingdoms such as Enchancia fully believed Shuriki to be the rightful ruler of Avalor, and had no idea of the true circumstances of how she assumed power.

Physical appearance
Shuriki appears as a slender woman with angular, almost narrow, body features. She has green eyes, fair skin, and long black hair with the upper portion tied back into a bun, similar to a ponytail. There is also a mole on the upper left corner of her mouth. Shuriki has makeup that gives her bright red cheeks, and lips, and gray eyeshadow. She wears a long dark green dress with gold buttons down the middle and green diamond-shaped earrings.

However, Shuriki's true appearance, masked by the magic of her wand, is that of a frail, elderly woman with streaked gray hair and heavy wrinkles. Prior to absorbing the magic from Marimonda's crystal, Shuriki had to rely on her wand to keep her youthful appearance in check, where subtle signs of her true age would show up if she was not careful.

Elena and the Secret of Avalor
Decades after her hostile takeover, Shuriki agreed to a meeting with the rulers of the Kingdom of Enchancia to discuss trade relations. During their visit, Shuriki makes an effort to keep her status as a sorceress under wraps. Though her aggression nearly exposes her for the tyrant she is on a number of occasions, Esteban is always there to prevent such a thing. However, the trade visit is actually a cover-up for the ulterior motive of King Roland II and Queen Miranda's daughter, Princess Sofia. She had been visited by Alacazar prior to the trip, who instructed Sofia to find the spirit Zuzo, who will guide her in freeing Elena from the amulet (which fell into Sofia's possession over time). To do so, Shuriki's wand is needed, and through careful cunning, Sofia manages to steal it.

This went over Shuriki's head as she instead focuses on her diplomatic duties. As she was signing Roland's trade agreement, Elena suddenly arrives in the castle. Elena exposes Shuriki's corruption to Roland and Miranda, who are captured and imprisoned by Shuriki's guards along with their other children, Princess Amber and Prince James. Elena (now in control of Shuriki's wand) tries to fight back, but to no avail. She escapes though Sofia's family remained in peril; having heard of all the wonderful material and cultural riches Enchancia had to offer from Roland during the trade talks, Shuriki also plans to invade it and invoke her tyrannical rule on Enchancia's people as well. Shuriki furiously ordered her guards to find and capture Elena and Sofia, but as time went on without word of her whereabouts, the sorceress quickly began losing her patience, going so far as to threaten Esteban for showing concern towards his cousin.

Meanwhile, Elena and Sofia managed to free Sofia's family, as well as Elena's. They left the castle and gathered the citizens of Avalor to ignite a revolution against Shuriki's wrath. As they invade the castle, Shuriki plunges the kingdom into darkness and aims to kill Elena, but her wand was stolen by Esteban in an act of heroism, who gives it to Elena. Shuriki initially showed no fear knowing Elena's lack of control over her wand's magic, but instead of using it to strike Shuriki, Elena snapped it in half. Having invested so much of her power into her wand, Shuriki rapidly began to age to her true form, becoming shriveled and weak. She fell into a panic, causing herself to fall over the castle bridge and down a waterfall, a fall that Shuriki survived from.

Elena of Avalor
Shuriki appears in the prologue of "First Day of Rule". She and her rule of Avalor are referenced by many of the characters in the series. In the first episode, it is mentioned that she forced some noblins to work for her and forced them to turn items into gold.

In the special, "Realm of the Jaquins", she returns, revealing that she has been living in a small shack deep in the jungle, with Victor Delgado doing her bidding, in return for teaching him and his daughter Carla magic. She drains the magic from a jewel they stole that was used to imprison the forest sprite Marimonda in the Jaquin realm of Vallestrella to become young again. It appears that Victor’s been working with her for some time, but Carla is surprised to see her. Shuriki explains that she doesn’t have her full powers back yet, but once she does, she will make them both malvagos and they will take over Avalor together.

In "The Jewel of Maru", Victor and Carla have been recovering gems for Shuriki to use to craft a new wand, but grows impatient with the little magic the gems they bring her have, and dispatches them to recover the powerful Jewel of Maru from the capital Tepet Muul, of the fallen Kingdom of Maru. They managed to gain possession of it, but ultimately lose it thanks to Elena, forcing them to give up and return to Shuriki without it, while Elena seals it away permanently.

In "Royal Rivalry", Shuriki and the Delgados are heading south in a carriage and narrowly evade discovery from the Jaquins by hiding it in a bush. Shuriki then vows to get rid of the Jaquins after she gets rid of Elena and makes Avalor hers once more. Carla interrupts Shuriki's rant to complain about how she is not as prominent on the Delgados' wanted posters despite being as wanted as her father is. Shuriki face palms and Victor rolls his eyes, muttering "Kids today." Shuriki reminds the Delgados that because they failed to get her the Jewel of Maru they must enter the Kingdom of Paraíso to find a jewel with enough magic for her to make a new wand for herself. The trio then set out for Paraíso.

Later, Shuriki and the Delgados are on the road to the Kingdom of Paraíso. However, they go too fast, causing their coach to crash. The trio then continue their trek on horses.

Shuriki and the Delgados finally arrive at the border between Avalor and Paraíso, only to they find guards on the lookout for them, forcing Shuriki to change her plans. Carla sees a wanted poster of the Delgados, which she likes, as her part of the picture is more noticeable, to which Victor and Shuriki both groan and roll their eyes in annoyance.

In "A Spy in the Palace", as Avalor is preparing for the Jaquin Festival, Shuriki brews up a Shape-shifting Potion for Carla to drink, allowing her to disguise herself as "Rita Perez", a distant cousin of Armando, so she can sneak into the Royal Treasury and steal Queen Lucia's Carnaval Tiara as Shuriki can use the jewel in it to craft a new wand for herself. Though the plan works and Carla is able to mingle among the Avalor citizens without suspicion, even getting close to Elena and Naomi, she is unable to retrieve the Tiara as of yet, and Victor warns her upon finding her during the festival that the potion won't last forever, so Carla needs to get the Tiara as soon as possible so Shuriki can take her revenge on Elena and the Jaquins and usurp the throne again.

In "Science Unfair", after failing twice to sneak into the Royal Treasury and steal the Queen Lucia's Carnaval Tiara, Carla later returned to Shuriki's hut. Shuriki is not pleased that Carla still hasn't gotten the tiara, but Carla tells her about a powerful malvago named Fiero who is frozen like a statue in the palace's garden and Mateo's Reversal Potion. She then explains how she plans to use the potion to restore Fiero so he can help them steal the tiara. Shuriki approves of this plan, knowing that with Fiero's help, retaking Avalor from Elena will be much easier with his support.

In "Rise of the Sorceress", Carla soon returns to Shuriki with bad news. Her Shape-shifting Potion is finally wearing off, but Shuriki refuses to give her more due to her failure to either retrieve Lucia's tiara or get Mateo's Reversal Potion. When Carla reveals that Elena is preparing for the Sunflower Festival, Shuriki decides to use it to her advantage to break into the palace, revive Fiero, and then break into the Royal Treasury to get the tiara. While Carla manages to steal the key to Mateo's lab from Mateo and get the Reversal Potion, her giving it to Shuriki is witnessed by Naomi Turner, allowing her to realize the severity of the situation. Shuriki uses the potion to revive Fiero, who is still angry with Shuriki for banishing him like she did the Delgados after she took over Avalor, and only agrees to help her if she helps him get the Codex Maru from Mateo. Fiero and Shuriki reach an agreement, and break into the Royal Treasury, get Lucia's tiara, and Shuriki uses the jewel in it to craft a new wand for herself. Fiero fails to get the Codex Maru, only escaping with a few blank pages thanks to Mateo, but they soon run into Elena and Naomi. Elena is horrified to see Shuriki is still alive, and allied with the Delgados and Fiero, but before Shuriki can use her new wand to strike down Elena, taunting Elena that she no longer has the Amulet of Avalor to protect her like before, Mateo arms her with the Scepter of Light, which Elena uses to destroy Shuriki's new wand. Having lost her new wand so soon after getting it, Shuriki is forced to retreat again. However, Fiero restores the pages he managed to steal from the Codex Maru, revealing a way for Shuriki to defeat Elena, but only if she makes him Royal Malvago when she takes over again, which she agrees to. Elena has Gabe summon the Royal Guards to pursue Shuriki and her party while she realizes this is the test forewarned about by Quita Moz: To defeat Shuriki, once and for all.

In the following episode, "Shapeshifters", the pages Fiero stole are discovered to be the lead to the pieces of the Scepter of Light's dark counterpart, the Scepter of Night, which Alacazar broke up and hid, while concealing the information written in the Codex Maru with a spell to render the pages blank. Elena, Mateo, and Gabe realize the Scepter of Night must be what Shuriki is after now in order to be on even ground with the Scepter of Light, and realize they have to get the pieces first before Shuriki does.

With the information provided by the pages Fiero stole from the Codex Maru, in the episode "The Scepter of Night", Shuriki, Fiero, and the Delgados head for Tepet Muul, as the riddle Fiero read from the pages indicate that the first piece of the Scepter of Night is located in one of the pyramids there. Shuriki grows frustrated by Victor and Carla when they get into an argument with Fiero due to Shuriki naming Fiero her Royal Malvago while they will only be regular Malvagos when she takes over Avalor again, but once they find the pyramid the piece is in, they encounter Elena with Naomi, Gabe, Mateo, Migs, Luna, Skylar, and Dulce. In an attempt to lure them away from the pyramid so they can get the scepter piece, Shuriki and Carla retreat in Shuriki's carriage as a decoy, while Fiero and Victor, who tagged along without Fiero knowing it, tail Elena and Mateo to the room where the scepter piece was hidden. However, by the time Fiero and Victor return to where Shuriki and Carla are, they reveal Elena has the first piece, but they know the riddle Alacazar left behind that leads to the next one. An idea that Carla comes up with impresses Shuriki, thinking there's hope for Carla yet, and after Victor and Fiero climb into the carriage while still bickering and struggling with each other, Shuriki's crew set off to find the second piece, unaware that Elena and her friends would be right behind them to stop them from getting the second piece as well.

In the follow-up episode, "The Race for the Realm", Shuriki learns that the second piece of the Scepter of Night is in the Jaquin homeworld of Vallaestrella, but disgusted by the thought of needing a Jaquin to get into Vallaestrella, let alone ride one, learns that she can speak to Troyo to find one that will help her. When her group sees Mateo and Gabe returning to the palace with Migs and Dulce, Shuriki and Fiero decide to go after Elena and Naomi while having the Delgados go after the boys, with Shuriki having Fiero make the Delgados malvagos immediately so they can catch up to Mateo and Gabe. Afterwards, Shuriki and Fiero meet up with Troyo, who agrees to take them to Jaquins who will help them, the Jaquins being Cruz, and his sister Vestia, who busted him out of his imprisonment just recently. With their help, Shuriki and Fiero enter Vallaestrella, and soon learn from the Flaringos that Elena and Naomi are on their way to the location of the Jewel to the Scepter of Night. When they find Elena and Naomi, blinded by her vengeance, Elena goes after Shuriki and Cruz, only for Shuriki and Cruz to force Elena to exhuast herself by overuse of the Scepter of Light, allowing them to rejoin Fiero, who had acquire the Jewel, and the Mount, which Naomi had been holding onto, allowing them to retreat back to Avalor, where the Delgados succeeded with getting the Staff back from Mateo and Gabe. With all three pieces in her possession, Shuriki reforms the Scepter of Night, and then is told by Fiero that he needs to teach her on how to use it properly before launching her second takeover of Avalor. Shuriki is quick to have Fiero get to work tutoring her on using the Scepter of Night properly, unaware that Elena has been taken by Quita Moz to be trained on unlocking the full powers of the Scepter of Light as well.

However, in "A Tale of Two Scepters", Shuriki is having difficulty mastering even the basic of spells with the Scepter of Night, such as its power of Destruction, using some totems as target practice, putting the rest of her allies at risk. However, when Troyo reports that Elena just passed their hideout with Skylar, probably heading for Vallaestrella to train with the Scepter of Light, Shuriki sends Cruz to follow her and report back on her activities. By the time Cruz returns with news of Elena's training with the Sun Bird Elders, Shuriki has managed to master the Destruction spell, but wanting to face Elena now, she demands Fiero to teach her the stronger spells the Scepter of Night possesses. Though reluctant to do so, Fiero concedes, and teaches Shuriki the Dark Fire spell, only for Shuriki to find herself fatigued afterwards, realizing that, like with Elena and her Scepter of Light, the Scepter of Night drains the user's energy with constant use, exhausting them. Despite that, Shuriki sets off on Cruz to cause some trouble in Avalor, luring Elena and Skylar back from Vallaestrella in the process, and as Elena chases Shuriki down, it results in them returning to the royal palace. Despite being very fatigued from using the Scepter of Night against Elena, Shuriki spots Isabel heading to her tower to practice, and decides to use that to her advantage by providing a distraction for Elena to deal with so Shuriki and Cruz can escape. Using the Dark Fire spell, Shuriki engulfs Isabel's tower in the sinister purple flames, forcing Elena to rescue her little sister while Shuriki and Cruz escape. Back at the hideout, Troyo takes his leave, while Fiero decides it might be best to find another place to hide in the jungle if Elena knows where they are now. Shuriki agrees, and she and Fiero are last seen flying into the jungle on Cruz and Vestia as Elena watches them through the Scepter of Light's Farsight spell.

Trivia

 * Her name is a reference to the kanji in the phrase "Power to end everything" (すべてを終わる力), hence her goal to kill the King and Queen of Avalor.
 * Shuriki's shares noticeable similarities with Mother Gothel from Tangled. Not only with elements of magic and aging, but also animation. Shuriki's movements when she reveals the enchanted painting to Elena are identical to Gothel's movements during her scene in which she strikes a deal with the Stabbington Brothers. Both also lose their power and looks when the magical source of them, Shuriki's wand and Rapunzel's hair respectively, are destroyed and fall from great heights afterwards.
 * Shuriki's spell, the one she used to murder Elena's parents and which she also tried to use on her, appears to be based on the Killing Curse from Harry Potter. Both are green and both have an instantly fatal effect on living beings unless said beings are protected by an immensely powerful magic (the Amulet of Avalor in Elena's case, and his mother's loving sacrificial protection in Harry's case).
 * She is the only wizard in Elena of Avalor who never used a tamborita