Pai Ayanokoji (アヤノコジパイ) is the main female protagonist of the 3x3 Eyes series.
The last surviving Sanjiyan Unkara who was discovered by Yakumo Fujii's father in Tibet. Yuzo Takada sometimes calls her the three-eyed elf girl from China, but she wears traditional Tibetan clothes. As is typical with members of her race, she developed a split personality as she grew older to cope with the problems of an exceptionally long life. However, Pai is the only Sanjiyan ever shown that has true multiple personality disorder. Her first personality, called Pai in the series, has the appearance of a normal human and is that of a cheerful and naive girl. The second personality, that of Parvati IV (パールバティー四世 Pārubatī Yonsei), usually arises when Pai is defenseless, endangered, or emotionally overcome.
The presence of the Sanjiyan in Pai is distinguishable because the normally invisible third eye in her forehead opens when Parvati awakens. Most characters refer to her as Sanjiyan when she's in that state. Sanjiyan is more rigid and stoic than Pai and is able to use powerful magic, unlike her first personality. However, using those powers is draining to the Sanjiyan and requires them to rest, leaving them exposed to danger. Her split personality is a possible reference to the Hindu goddess Parvati, who had many identities, each with their own personalities. Volume 32 introduces a clone of hers, named Kali. In Hindu mythology, Kali was an immensely powerful and bloodthirsty battle goddess and one of Parvati's many identities.
Pai can absorb a human soul to do her bidding, transforming the person affected into a nearly invulnerable servant. She has other mystical powers usually manifested along with the appearance of her third eye, and used by her Parvati identity. Older Sanjiyans often become evil, decadent and uncaring; younger ones tend to have split personalities. Three-hundred-year-old Pai is an example of a younger Sanjiyan: her Pai personality is somewhat flaky, caring, and cheerful, while her Parvati personality is more arrogant and ruthless. The two personae are aware of one another and sometimes talk between themselves.
Believing herself to be the last of her kind, Pai seeks to become human through the use of the Ningen no Zō, the Statue of Humanity, which reputably has the power to turn a Sanjiyan into a mortal, by transferring the powers of two of the race into a third member. The Ningen, incidentally, is how the other members of her kind reputedly became human and thus died out. Pai has been shown to have feelings for Yakumo.