, also known as , is a

fictional character In fiction, a character is a person or being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction o ...

from

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

's video game ''

Ōkami is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan and North America, and in 2007 in Europe and Australia. After the closure of Clover Studio a few months afte ...

''. She is a white wolf based on the Japanese goddess, , in

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

. Amaterasu also appears in the ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' series. Since debuting in ''Ōkami'', Amaterasu has garnered mostly positive reception from both video game publications and fans, citing her striking character design, positive influence on rejuvenating the world around her with life and assisting others, and her endearing behavior despite her lack of speech. Her depiction as a deity and use of the mystical Celestial Brush were noted as helping to inform players about aspects of

Shintoism , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes ...

and

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

Concept and creation

Amaterasu was created for the video game ''

''. She appears as a typical white wolf to outside observers, but her true form, visible to the player and those with strong spiritual beliefs, depicts her with red markings and fur

curlicue A curlicue, or alternatively curlycue, in the visual arts, is a fancy twist, or curl, composed usually from a series of concentric circles. It is a recurring motif in architecture (as decoration to the lintel or architrave above a door), in calli ...

s, as well as her weapon, typically depicted as the Divine Retribution Reflector, one of a class of weapons based on ancient

bronze mirror Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today. This type of mirror, sometimes termed a copper mirror, has been found by archaeologists among elite assemblages from various cultures, from Etruscan Italy to Japan. Typically they are round a ...

s. The designers were originally going to give ''Ōkami'' a realistic style until they drew Amaterasu in a Japanese style. The nature of Amaterasu as a wolf is based on the

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

of the word ''Ōkami'', which means "great god" when rendered in

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

, but can also mean "wolf" when rendered differently. However, it is otherwise entirely fictionalized, as there is no mention of a wolf in any legends or stories involving Amaterasu, nor any story of the deity being commissioned to save the world from a nature-draining evil force. Amaterasu was originally intended to be the protagonist of ''

Ōkamiden ''Ōkamiden'', known in Japan as is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Game Studio (company), Mobile & Game Studio, Inc. and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS. It is a spiritual successor, rather than a sequel, to ''Ōkami'', a game ...

'', but they found it difficult to see her when the screen was very zoomed in or out, so they replaced her with the character Chibiterasu, Amaterasu's offspring.

Appearances

''Ōkami''

According to the character's backstory, Amaterasu originally existed in the Celestial Plains, ruling over the Celestials and the mortal world as a protector deity. Alongside Waka, she battled

Orochi Yamata no Orochi (ヤマタノオロチ, also written as 八岐大蛇, 八俣遠呂智 or 八俣遠呂知) is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed serpent that appears in Japanese mythology. Both the ''Kojiki'' and ''Nihon Shoki'' record the ...

, the eight-headed serpent who attacked and wreaked havoc upon the Celestial Plain. Waka told Amaterasu that Orochi could only be defeated by the Chosen One, a human named Nagi. Hearing this, she dragged Orochi down to the human world to wait for Nagi's birth. Meanwhile, Waka and the remaining Celestials fled into the Ark of Yamato, where all except Waka perished to an ambush of demons led by Yami, the Emperor of Eternal Darkness. With each passing year, Orochi dined on another maiden from Kamiki Village on the annual festival. Before every festival, Amaterasu appeared around the village in the form of a white wolf. The villagers assumed her to be Orochi's familiar, naming her

Shiranui is an atmospheric ghost lights, atmospheric ghost light told about in Kyushu. They are said to appear on days of the noon moon such as the (29th or 30th day) of the seventh month of the lunisolar Japanese calendar when the wind is weak, in t ...

. Eventually, Nagi fought Orochi, and through his combined efforts with Shiranui, he was able to seal Orochi away. Shiranui, however, died from both poisoned wounds inflicted during the battle and protecting Nagi from a falling rock. Taken back to the village, she was hailed as a hero, and a statue was built in her honor. After her death, her Celestial Brush powers had scattered, leaving her drastically weakened, with only her original ability, Sunrise. Furthermore, the peoples' faith in the gods had dwindled, leaving her even weaker. The main story of the ''Ōkami'' begins one hundred years after Shiranui's death. When Nagi's descendant, Susano, removes the sword

Tsukuyomi , or simply or , is the moon kami in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the Old Japanese words and . The ''Nihon Shoki'' mentions this name spelled as , but this ''yumi'' is likely a variation ...

that had sealed Orochi away, Orochi wastes no time in taking over Nippon (Japan) once again. Sakuya, the wood sprite, revived Amaterasu within the statue of Shiranui, giving her the Reflector Divine Retribution. Together with Issun, a loudmouth Poncle found within Sakuya's robe, Amaterasu sets off to revive the Guardian Saplings scattered across Nippon and restore the lands to their original beauty and rid them from evil's hold. Throughout her journey, Amaterasu is reunited with many of her powers, and regains people's faith in the form of Praise. Eventually, Amaterasu, with the help of Susano, manages to destroy Orochi. She then continues her journey through Nippon, regaining more of her brush techniques, and further restoring people's faith and the lands. Finally, she finds herself in Kamui at the Ark of Yamato. Boarding it with Waka, she finds herself fighting previously defeated demons, including Orochi. Having vanquished them all once again, she finally faces off against Yami. During the battle, Yami manages to strip Amaterasu of all of her powers, but she gradually regains her techniques back, until Yami destroys the Celestial Gods themselves, which destroys her powers, leaving her severely weakened and hovering towards death. With the aid of Issun, who takes up his role as the Celestial Envoy, and all the people she met, who send her praise and prayers, her power is fully restored and she is able to vanquish the evil demon once and for all. She and Waka then return to the Celestial Plain to restore it, and finally bring peace and harmony back to the world.

Creation and design

''Ōkami'' was originally planned to be rendered in a more photorealistic 3D style, but Clover Studio determined that the more colorful sumi-e style allowed them to better convey Amaterasu's association with nature and the task of restoring it. Amaterasu's initial designs were aimed to avoid having the character look like "your pet wearing clothing". The developers had considered having Amaterasu change into a dolphin when in the water and a

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

when jumping off a cliff, but dropped these ideas.

Reception

The character was very well received by fans and critics alike. In 2010, readers of the Japanese magazine ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' voted Amaterasu into eighth place in a poll for the best video game character of all time. In the same year, in a ''

Dengeki , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing headquartered in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It originally formed on April 1, 2008, as a result of a merger between ASCII Corporation and MediaWorks ...

'' poll, she was voted fourth as a character readers wanted to befriend. In a review, ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'''s Cam Shea wrote that the game deals with traditional Japanese culture playfully, giving Amaterasu a "delightful duality". While she is a powerful goddess, capable of making vast changes to the world, she is also prone to digging for treasure in the manner of a typical wolf pup. Brittany Vincent of '' Syfy Wire'' expressed a similar opinion, explaining that while Amaterasu is "the embodiment of grace and wisdom", she is "still very much a hound that we love to watch do her thing". ''

GamesRadar+ ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and '' Compute ...

'' noted that Amaterasu gained a dedicated following despite ''Ōkami'''s low sales, saying that her average appearance to most humans played into the game's theme of finding beauty in the mundane. They elaborated that it was "hard not to be taken by her regal, fiery design, as well as her ability to draw over reality". Louise Grann of ''100 Greatest Video Game Characters'' compared Amaterasu to "a benevolent heroine of an epic

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

", noting she helped subtly educate players about the

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

religion's beliefs and rituals. She stated that Amaterasu's Divine Interventions, in which the player takes on the role of a worshiped deity, made ''Ōkami'' a "digital praxis game", or a game resembling devotional practice. Further, Amaterasu's use of the Celestial Brush references

's connection to spirituality. She called Amaterasu a truly unique character due to her integration of both meditative tradition and honoring nature, though noted that similar characters included Asura from ''

Asura's Wrath is a 2012 Action game, action video game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Taking elements from Hindu and Buddhist mythologies and blending them with science fiction, the game follows the titula ...

'' and Kratos from ''

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in polytheism, polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been portrayed in their ...

'', as well as the

arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small species of fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Tundra#Arctic tundra, Arctic tundra biome. I ...

from '' Never Alone''. In a retrospective, Jeffrey Matulef of ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

'' stated that playing as Amaterasu "made you feel like an all powerful, rejuvenating goddess", praising Amaterasu's speed compared to Wolf Link in '' The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess''. Stating that it was crucial for the player and NPCs to perceive Amaterasu differently in order to make her actions appear spontaneous to outside observers, he noted that "by casting the player as an animal", the game "wisely circumvents the

silent protagonist In video games, a silent protagonist is a player character who lacks any dialogue for the entire duration of a game, with the possible exception of occasional interjections or short phrases. In some games, especially visual novels, this may extend ...

conundrum", saying that Amaterasu's "one-sided conversations" nevertheless felt natural due to her non-human nature. Her later inclusion in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' was also received positively by fans and critics.

Concept and creation

Appearances

''Ōkami''

Other video games

Creation and design

Reception

Notes

References

Further reading