Yamata no Orochi (八岐の大蛇 Yamata no Orochi?, lit. Big Snake Of Eight Branches), previously known as Tsukoyomi, of the Heisei era is an eight-headed serpent god or kaiju from Japanese mythology. It made its first appearance in the 1994 Toho film, Yamato Takeru.
Design[]
Appearance[]
As opposed to its version from The Three Treasures, Orochi is an eight-headed dragon-like creature with red scales. It has horns on each of its heads. It also has one large tail, with small spikes sticking out from the sides.
History[]
Heisei era[]
Yamato Takeru[]
Orochi was the god Tsukuyomi, lord of the underworld and God of the Moon, who transformed into this monstrous form ten thousand years ago and used it to attack the Earth. All of this was done in jealousy of his sister Amaterasu, goddess of heaven and the sun. He destroyed cities and mountains until he was stopped by his brother Susano, god of storms and the sea. His father then banished him from Earth in a prison of ice. Thousands of years later, Tsukuyomi returned to Earth and was revived thanks to his servant, a transformed sentient broken fang who died soon after. After breaking free on the moon, he raised his castle but was bested by Yamato Takeru and Oto, who held the 'spirits' of his two siblings. Angered, he transformed into Orochi to kill the Yamato Takeru and Oto, but they were saved by Amano Shiratori, the servant of the Sun goddess. However, Orochi threw the two into space via a blast, but Takeru fused with Oto and two sacred treasure to become Utsuno Ikusagami. Utsuno Ikusagami fought Orochi, and won. Tsukuyomi was trapped on the moon and sealed into Takeru's pendant and cast into space on the orders of Susano who said that upon his return Tsukuyomi would be reformed.
Abilities[]
Orochi[]
- Orochi can swim through space.
- Orochi can cause natural disasters.
- Orochi can spray fire from his mouths.
- Orochi can fire lightning lasers (覇帝紅雷撃) from his eyes in the Heisei series.
- Orochi can attack with all eight heads at the same time (覇帝紅嵐舞).
- Orochi can withstand a great deal of punishment and the severing of most of his heads. Despite being overpowered, Orochi lasted a fairly long time.
Tsukuyomi[]
Godhood[]
Tsukuyomi is a god, and presumably has various supernatural abilities stemmed to that fact. Before he was only defeated by his brother, a fellow god and by Takeru, who was given a power to counter his.
Immortality[]
As a god, Tsukuyomi is immune to the withering effects of time. He also survived trapped in ice for millenia and both of his defeats.
Calm Spirit[]
The counterforce to Takeru's 'Wild Spirit', it manifests as beams from his eyes. Its power is unknown, but Susanno said it was impossible to defeat him without the Wild Spirit to defeat his calm Spirit. Presumably only his siblings could match his power and only his father and older gods surpassed his.
Materialization[]
Tsukuyomi manifested his armor and raised a castle of complex architecture from the Earth through nothing but his will. These creations were not illusion and real to the point they could survive his absence.
Teleportation[]
Tsukuyomi teleported from the Moon to Earth, he also teleported out of his armor when he transformed into Orochi.
Transformation[]
Tsukuyomi can shapeshift, he used this power to become Orochi and given that his servants powers stemmed from him, he can presumably take on the appearance of others.
Trivia[]
- In Japanese mythology, Orochi was the eight-headed serpent slain by the ocean god Susanoo. This incarnation of the entity is a combination of the serpent and the Shinto god of the moon Tsukoyomi, the brother of the god Susanoo.
