Fakoli
Mandinka / Maninka · demigod · Mandinka / Maninka traditional religion; continuing · demigod
Fakoli, surnamed Koroma or Doumbia, is one of the most vivid of the epic's warriors, remembered for a head so large that it holds a formidable concentration of occult power. Nephew and chief general of the sorcerer-king Soumaoro of Sosso, he is bound to his uncle until Soumaoro seizes his wife, the celebrated cook Keleya, whose single pot could feed an army; the outrage drives Fakoli to desert Sosso and throw his strength behind Sunjata. His defection is a turning point in the war, and his war-sorcery contributes to Soumaoro's defeat at Kirina. The Koroma, Doumbia, and Kourouma clans claim descent from him, and he figures widely in hunters' songs as a paragon of occult martial power.
Domains
- warfare
- sorcery
Powers
- carries the occult power gathered in his great head
Epithets
- Fakoli kunba
Relations
- ally: Sunjata Keita
- enemy: Soumaoro Kanté