Yamata no Orochi

Orochi (大蛇) or Yamata no Orochi (八岐大蛇) is a monster in Japanese mythology.

Orochi is an eight-headed snake, and one of the most well-known monsters in Japanese myth. It was slain by the god Susanoo after he was cast out of Heaven.

Stories told about Orochi all seem to agree that it was truly magnificent and terrible, and that it had multiple heads and a gigantic body that was said to stretch across eight hills and valleys. Some sources offer that the number eight may be indicative of simply an indiscriminate large number, and that Orochi might be much more massive than some may think. Some also believe that it may have possessed only seven heads and may have been smaller.

The sinister Orochi is said to have dominated the Izumo province in Japan, and to have demanded virgin sacrifices. When Susanoo came upon this area, he met an old couple. They told him that their daughter was to be sacrificed to Orochi. Some versions of this story say that they had already sacrificed seven other girls to the creature. The daughter in question here was named Kushinada, and Susanoo told the couple that he would rescue her if he was allowed to marry her. The couple agreed at once.

Susanoo turned Kushinada into a comb and put her in his hair. He then put out eight barrels of either pears or sake (depending on the version) which the dragon drank with relish, making it fall asleep, and Susanoo proceeded to cut off all of Orochi's heads. He found the sword, Ame-no-Murakumo (later named Kusanagi), in one of the serpent's many tails. In some versions, Kusanagi is called Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, 'The Grass-Cutting Sword', and this sword was given to Amaterasu, Susanoo's sister, the Sun Goddess, as a gift of reconciliation. She then gave it to her descendant on Earth, Ninigi-no-Mikoto; from that point on it is said that it has been kept as one of the Three Sacred Treasures of Yamato.

Orochi in popular culture

The demon Orochi makes frequent appearances in tokusatsu and anime, especially Japanese console role-playing games and other video games. There are variations on the original legend: 8-headed snake, rampaging swordsman, etc. (Yasakani, Hasshaku, Yagami, Yata, and some other names are SNK's spin on their adaption to the legend.)

The Three Treasures

In the 1959 tokusatsu film The Three Treasures, produced by Toho Company Ltd., Susanoo (played by Toshiro Mifune) fought and killed the Orochi.

The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon

In the 1963 anime film Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon, produced by Toei Animation, Susanoo (a young boy in this film) fights with the Orochi, which had attacked a village seven times past. Using the Three Treasures (a mirror, a dagger, and a magatama), Susanoo slays the Orochi.

The Eight-Headed Giant Serpent Strikes Back

In the 1985 tokusatsu kaiju fan film The Eight-Headed Giant Serpent Strikes Back, produced by Daicon Films (now Gainax), a biomechanical version of the Orochi was sent by aliens to destroy modern-day Earth starting with Japan (they have tried and failed at this 2000 years earlier).

Dragon Quest

The Orochi is a boss monster in the role-playing game Dragon Quest III (known as Dragon Warrior III in the US), originally for the NES, later re-released on the GameBoy Color. In the game, Orochi is a five-headed fire-breathing dragon, who was terrorizing the island of Zipangu. The player character, the hero of the game, had to defeat him in order to save the village and proceed in the game.

This same Orochi is also found as a breedable, tameable, and playable monster in the monster-raising GameBoy Color games Dragon Quest Monsters 1 and 2 (Dragon Warrior Monsters in the West).

Digimon Tamers

The orochi was inspiration for Orochimon, an eight-headed, dragon-like Digimon that was enslaving a village of Gekomon and captured Jeri to make him an endless amount of sake (in the English dub, it was milkshakes). One of the Digimon effected by Orochimon's presence was Andromon. At the end of the episode, Andromon regressed to Guardromon and became Hirokazu's partner. Orochimon was killed by Leomon when Jeri modified him with a LadyDevimon card.

Yamato Takeru

In the 1994 tokusatsu fantasy film Yamato Takeru (Western name: Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon), the title hero becomes a giant robot-like armored god called Utsu no Ikusugami in order to fight with the evil Tsukuyomi, who becomes the ravaging Yamata no Orochi.

Blue Seed

In the animated series Blue Seed, Orochi is the head of the Aragami, a race of plant-based demon-beings. The series has brief references to the Kusanagi legend and the legend of Susanoo.

King of the Fighters

The Orochi in The King of Fighters is a version of the Kusanagi legend. He is the final boss of The King of Fighters '97. His voice is provided by Rio Ogata. He has white hair, white pants, and a tattoo across his chest.

In the version presented in KOF, Orochi, a being that could cause incredible amounts of destruction and death, was originally defeated 1800 years ago by the members of the Kusanagi, Yasakani, and Yata clans. The Yasakani held Orochi in place, the Kusanagi dealt the final blow, and the Yata sealed it off.

However, some 250 years later, when the Kusanagi clan was considered to be the strongest of the three clans and the Yasakani the weakest of the three, the Yasakani clan made a blood pact that allowed the Yasakani to use the power of Orochi. Such power came at a cost: the Yasakani, now Yagami, wielded purple flames and were doomed to live very short lives. This action led to a violent feud between the Kusanagi and the Yagami, and many members of both clans lost their lives.

The murder of the leader of the Yata clan in the present day released the seal that had sealed Orochi away. Hearing of this, the heiress to the Yata, Chizuru Kagura, organized the 1996 King of Fighters tournament in order to unite the two warring clans, represented by Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami. Together, they manage to seal off Orochi once again.

Shermie, one of Orochi's sacred warriors, can manipulate the element of lightning. Other related characters include Chris, Goenitz, Leona Heidern, Mature, Ryuji Yamazaki, Vice, and Yashiro Nanakase.

Magic: the Gathering

The Orochi are also a tribe of snake-people in the Kamigawa block in the Magic: the Gathering trading card game. They do not seem to have any connection with the mythological Orochi other than their name.

The mythological representation in the game is most likely O-Kagachi, the "Great Old Serpent", represented as a nine-headed snake.

Otogi: Myth of Demons

In the action game for the Xbox Otogi, the Yamata no Orochi was a demon that the main character Raikoh had to escape from when he was exiting the Underworld.

Naruto

In the anime series Naruto, Orochimaru (大蛇丸) is one of the villains. He masters many kind of jutsu (techniques) related to snakes.

Kannazuki no Miko

In the anime series Kannazuki no Miko, the god of darkness is named Orochi, and has seven servants each described as being one of its 'heads' or 'necks' (later on in the series, one of the main characters becomes the eighth 'head'). Other than the name reference, it bares little similarity to the original legend.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yamata Dragon is a powerful Level 7 Spirit Monster. It has eight heads, much like an orochi. When Yamata Dragon inflicts damage to your opponent's Life Points, the card's owner may draw cards until he or she has five cards in their hand.