Changes
|Type=Ice
|Japanese Name=ベンケイ, Benkei
|Yokai Watch 1=019|Yokai Watch 2=??031
|Time=Present
|Evolution=
Benkei is based on/directly named after on Musashibō Benkei, a famous warrior of the late Heian period. Tall, strong and fearsome already at the young age of 17, he was trained in a monastery in wielding the <i>naginata</i>, but left it to become a wandering <i>Sōhei</i> ("warrior monk"). He took residence by a bridge in Kyoto, where he would challenge passing swordsmen to a duel, defeat them, and take their weapon. By the time he'd collected his 999th blade, he was challenged and trounced by the then even-younger Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who decided to take him in as his retainer. From there on, together they fought and won many battles against Yoshitsune's enemy, the Taira clan, but when they finally achieved victory Yoshitsune's older brother turned against him and forced him to escape.
Through the following two years Benkei, ever loyal to Yoshitsune, stood by his side even as an outlaw, until they were finally cornered in the Koromogawa castle. While Yoshitsune retired to the inner keep, Benkei stood at the gate and held off any enemy soldier trying to get through. He defeated over 300 of them, and in the end his wounded, arrow-riddled body refused to keel over even when life abandoned it. This came to be known as "Benkei's standing death"<span style="font-weight: normal"> (<span style="color:#000;">Japanese: <span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja"><span style="color:#a48ec6;"><b>弁慶の立往生</b><span class="t_nihongo_comma" style="display:none">, <i><span class="t_nihongo_romaji">Benkei no Tachiōjō</i>), and became a symbol of strength, loyalty and unbreakable warrior's spirit.
===Name Origin===
