Yamata no Orochi
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Yamata no Orochi (
Name
Yamata no Orochi's name literally translates from Japanese as "Giant Eight Branched Snake," though by convention the English translation is typically given as "Big Snake of Eight Branches." While the creature's name is typically spelled in kanji characters, in Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon it includes a furigana katakana spelling above the kanji, as is the case for most of the characters in the film. While the most common kanji spelling for the creature's name is 八岐大蛇, which is the spelling used in both The Three Treasures and Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon, it is also sometimes spelled as 八俣遠呂智 or 八俣遠呂知, both of which are also read Yamata no Orochi. The creature is often referred to as just Orochi (大蛇 for short, an archaic reading of the two kanji which together mean "giant snake" and are typically otherwise read as daija. Orochi)
In the English dub and subtitles for Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Yamata no Orochi's name is translated as the "Eight-Headed Dragon."
Design
In The Three Treasures, Orochi looks like a giant snake with eight heads, with eight small tails extending from the main one. Its scales are gray in color. In Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon, Orochi is now red with horns on its heads, legs, and a single large tail, with small spikes sticking out from the sides.
History
Showa Series
The Three Treasures
Orochi in the Showa era shares the same story as the Orochi from mythology, with his role in the movie being a description of that event. Every year he would arise from a lake to consume a child of the earthian deities. After consuming eight vats of sake set out for him, Susano was able to trap Orochi's heads in a tree, forcing the serpent to attack with his tails. After Susanoo stabbed his sword into Orochi's tail twice the monster died, allowing the storm god to retrieve the sword Murakumo.
Heisei Series
Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon
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 from Earth in a prison of ice. Thousands of years later, Tsukuyomi returned to Earth and was revived thanks to his servant, a trasnformed 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, Tsukuyomi 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 Takery 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.
Millennium Series
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
- Main article: King Ghidorah/GMK.
According to Teruaki Takeda, King Ghidorah was known in ancient times as Yamata no Orochi. He fought Godzilla in an underdeveloped form, sporting only three heads out of eight.
MonsterVerse
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Residing at Monarch Outpost 91 at Mount Fuji in Japan, Yamata no Orochi was one of the many Titans who began to attack humanity under the direction of King Ghidorah. It was later pacified when Madison Russell activated the ORCA at Fenway Park.
Abilities
Orochi
- Orochi can spray fire from his mouths.
- Orochi can fire lasers from his eyes in the Heisei series.
- 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. It's 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.
Filmography
- The Three Treasures (1959)
- Cheers, Mr. Awamori! (1961) [prop]
- Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994)
- Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) [mentioned]
- Shin Godzilla (2016) [mentioned]
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) [computer screen]
Comics
- Godzilla: Rage Across Time #1 (2016)
The Godzilla Comic Raids Again
In this comic by a series of illustrators including Hurricane Ryu Hariken, Orochi appears as an opponent of Godzilla.
Godzilla: Rage Across Time
To be added.
Gallery
- Main article: Yamata no Orochi/Gallery.
Trivia
- Operation Yashiori, the Japanese government's final plan to defeat Godzilla in Shin Godzilla, is named after the type of sake Susanoo used to put Yamata no Orochi to sleep in Japanese mythology.
- Standing at 300 meters tall when upright, the Orochi who appeared in The Three Treasures is one of the tallest monsters ever to appear in a film produced by Toho.
- In early trailers for Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon, Orochi sported heads similar to those of the Showa King Ghidorah.[5]
References
This is a list of references for Yamata no Orochi. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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