Orochi 八岐大蛇 [Heisei]

Son of the gods Izanagi and Izanami, Tsukuyomi ruled over the underworld, while his sister Amaterasu ruled over the heavens and the Earth. Jealous of his sister’s position of power over all things on the Earth, Tsukuyomi transformed into a huge and murderous hydra, Orochi, dead-set on bringing about the end of the world. However, his brother Susanoo, the war god and lord of the seas, challenged the mighty behemoth and brought an end to the serpent’s reign of terror. He pulled the Sword of Dark Clouds from the snake’s body, the source of Tsukuyomi’s power. Izanagi, the father of the gods, feared the evil mind of his own flesh and blood, and thus casted him off into the deepest reaches of space, hoping he would never return.

Over the course of many uncounted centuries, destiny brought Tsukuyomi back to Earth. Slowly but surely, he returned to the very solar system he had once been banished from. Thanks in part to his loyal servant Tsukinowa, a piece of himself, all was to be prepared for his inevitable arrival… An inexplicable solar eclipse occurred, blanketing the world in darkness. The closer Tsukuyomi came to Earth, the more his destructive presence began influencing shrines by leaking evil air into the holy grounds. Though such things could be repelled by sanctified flints or feathers blessed by the flames of Amaterasu, the evil air became stronger by the passing hour, eventually overwhelming those that tried to exorcise the evil influence they sought to contain. Once the dark lord’s crystal prison shattered on the lunar surface, he was at last free. The first voice he had heard came from the distant Earth, from that of his faithful servant Tsukinowa. Nevertheless, content having returned to the world his father had banished him from, he materialized refurbished armor to proclaim his return and vengeance against Izanagi and Amaterasu, demanding his most valuable blade. With his servant’s dying breath, the Sword of Dark Clouds returned to his hands, a weapon that rightfully belonged to him.

Pulling it out of its serpentine embroidered sheath, Tsukuyomi channeled powerful dark magic through the sword, pulsating with fearsome electric prowess. He gazed upon it in wonder and splendor, his power returning to him after so long. Raising it high, Tsukuyomi struck an asteroid with his lightning and brought about the beginning of the end of the world. Volcanic geysers spewed forth, mountains torn asunder from fierce earthquakes, meteor fragments rocked the land of Yamato, and sinkholes collapsed into themselves. Using his awesome power, Tsukuyomi sculpted and chiseled the Great Temple of Tsukuyomi and brought it forth from beneath the lunar surface. Tsukuyomi’s time was nigh.

Yet before he could initiate his next wave, Yamato Takeru and Oto Tachibana stood to oppose his tyranny. Takeru and he clashed blades in a spectacle lightshow intermixed with quiet moments of preparation, the two ready to kill the other for the fate of the world. They slashed at each other, their energies recoiled and blasted them away. Oto interceded with the use of her makeshift boomerang and fire spells to distract Tsukuyomi, allowing Takeru to slash the moon god’s abdominal plating. The evil god was done playing and began firing destructive laser beams at them, with Takeru taking the brunt of the attacks. Using his crystal gem, Takeru tapped into his Wild Spirit and locked beams with Tsukuyomi, having a contest of strength and will. Ultimately, Tsukuyomi overpowered Takeru, forcing him back. With a steady stride, Tsukuyomi approached them to put an end to his father’s miserable feud.

From his vest, Takeru pulled out the White Bird Mirror and channeled his power into it, outputting a radiant light that halted Tsukuyomi’s progress. Infusing the power of two Lights, Takeru placed the Sword of Snake Karasai over it and began overwhelming the dark lord. Unable to withstand Yamato Takeru’s power, Tsukuyomi dissipated with only his armor left behind. This, however, was not the end, for the forged castle began to crumble, paving the way for Tsukuyomi’s true form: the eight-headed dragon, Orochi.

As the dragon, he nearly overwhelmed the heroes of destiny with blitzing flames, even with them being aided by Amano Shiratori. No matter how much they harmed him or what they did, Orochi came out on top, blasting them to the reaches of space. However, it was when Yamato Takeru unlocked the power of the Three Lights that trouble rose in the form of Utsuno Ikusagami. Though Tsukuyomi’s draconic state was indeed powerful, Takeru’s warrior proved to be much more of a challenge. Quickly brought to an end, Utsuno Ikusagami was victorious in their bout, leaving only the battle-scarred body of Tsukuyomi where the dragon had perished.

Unable to move, the once great moon god had been dethroned. Takeru reclaimed the Sword of Dark Clouds, then by Susanoo’s orders sealed Tsukuyomi away within Takeru’s crystal magatama and tossed him into the endless wilderness of space. When questioned, Susanoo responded that if Tsukuyomi were to ever return, he could reform and bring happiness to the world. Now with the threat of evil purged, the solar eclipse faded away, returning light to the Earth.

• Portrayed by actor Hiroshi Abe.
• The Japanese book Toho Special Effects: All Kaiju Illustrated Encyclopedia makes mention of Tsukuyomi's "pale" or "bluish-white destruction lasers" (青白い破壊光線 - Aojiroi hakai kosen).
• His name appears in katakana (ツクヨミ - Tsukuyomi).
  
  

Envy pried on Tsukuyomi’s ego, who was jealous of the power Amaterasu held over the Earth. In order to deprive her of the world she was set to oversee, it had to be destroyed. Transmogrifying into an enormous eight-headed serpent, Orochi set out to bring utmost destruction in its wake. Its mere presence brought discourse: the seas were devastated, powerful hurricane winds tore trees out from the ground, and volcanic eruptions were abundant, all in tandem with Orochi’s fearsome lightning blasts that set forests ablaze. Yet when it seemed all was lost to despair, a hero rose to the challenge. The war god Susanoo fought the apocalyptic beast in a fierce clash for the fate of the world, with the Sword of Snake Karasai in hand. In the end, Susanoo heralded victory over the great and mighty snake, and found the Sword of Dark Clouds within its body. The father of the gods, Izanagi, was quick to seal Tsukuyomi in an icy prison and expelled him into the stars, hoping he’d never come back.

By a sliver of chance, a tooth of Orochi broke off during its grand fight against Susanoo, leading to the birth of the magnus Tsukinowa, who went into hiding for an untold amount of time until he infiltrated the ranks of the Yamato Kingdom, preparing for Tsukuyomi’s destined return.

Many long and arduous centuries after his epic conflict with Susanoo, Tsukuyomi returned to Earth. He crashed on the Earth’s moon and retrieved his mighty Sword of the Dark Clouds in thanks to the ever-so loyal piece of Orochi. He brought about destruction on the world and constructed a palace on the moon. However, due to the intervention of the chosen warriors Yamato Takeru and Oto Tachibana, he had been bested in combat. But it was far from over, for Tsukuyomi initiated a transformation that brought the entire structure crumbling down, a testament to his true power.

Tsukuyomi evolved into a more frightening form, one he had employed once before. Tens of thousands of tons of sculpted bone and muscle, sheathed over in a crimson wash of scales, the incarnated evil arose from the ruined temple. Superheated gouts spewed from its many mouths, casting vile glares upon the destined heroes who dared challenge it. Orochi crawled along the lunate surface, displaying its true enormity. With bursting flames, Orochi assailed the pests that stood before it, who could only run from its path and take refuge behind moon rocks. They stood no chance, at least not until the intervention of the divine bird, Amano Shiratori. Teleporting the two heroes onto its back, they could at last fight against the multi-headed basilisk.

Powerful torrents of high-temperature flames gushed forth, in an attempt to scorch the smaller flying target. The heavenly bird maneuvered through the fire and flames, allowing Yamato Takeru to graze the tyrant with his mighty sword. Yet to the monster’s advantage, it struck the white bird of heaven and sent its rider careening to the moon’s crust. Before it could trample the downed hero, Oto interceded with an immaculate blast from the White Bird Mirror, halting Orochi's progress. Takeru was able to pick himself back up and lunged his blade at the dragon by leaping high into the air. The Sword of Snake Karasai pierced one of the creature’s scaly heads, spurting liters of blood as the Yamato warrior pressed his assault. Unfortunately for Takeru, he lost his footing and slipped off the serpent’s head, only to be saved by Amano Shiratori.

However, Orochi would not let them escape as it continued to spew hellfire, eventually striking down the divine bird of heaven. With a holy blast of light, the bird seemingly vanished as the heroic pawns were flung into the depths of space, leaving nothing to stop Orochi’s rampage. It wasn’t until the void of space shone in a holy light, and with it the warrior that could stand toe to toe with Orochi’s eternal power: Utsuno Ikusagami.

Orochi’s power proved mighty, even barreling through the knight’s defenses, but Utsuno Ikusagami was far more of a foe than it could have ever anticipated. Helming magnificent power by the godly abilities bestowed upon it, Utsuno Ikusagami brought their epic clash to a sudden end, utterly obliterating Orochi's body with the Devil-Crushing Amaterasu Light. Orochi could not prevail, and its reign of terror was brought to a close, with Tsukuyomi left at the mercy of the warriors of Yamato.

• The monster seldom has its name listed in English. The 2014 publication All Toho Monsters Pictorial Book [1st Edition] (ISBN: 4800303621) is an exception, though, and lists "Yamata No Orochi" as the name. However, Toho Kingdom was given the opportunity in 2005 to check on the preferred English names for several of Toho's properties. During these discussions, it was mentioned that the preferred name is "Orochi" for the monster. Its name in the book is also spelled in katakana (ヤマタノオロチ - Yamata no Orochi), with the literal translation being “Giant Eight-Branched Serpent.”
• The eight-headed dragon was portrayed by suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma. In an interview conducted by David Milner in December 1995, Satsuma described how he required a walkie-talkie to communicate with the third assistant special effects director while in the giant costume. When asked what it was like playing Orochi, he admitted to not enjoying the part, as he “couldn’t give a performance. Anybody could have done the job.”
• Its decided concept artwork design was created by Minoru Yoshida.
• Its height and weight stats can be found in Yamato Takeru Super Complete Works (ISBN: 4091010229), with its neck length being listed as 22 meters long. The book also names its "Supreme Emperor Red Lightning" (覇帝紅雷撃 / ハテイコウライゲキ - Hateikouraigeki) and "Supreme Emperor Red Storm Dance" (覇帝紅嵐舞 / ハテイコウランブ - Hateikouranbu) techniques.
  
  Additionally, Orochi's anatomy chart includes some other noteworthy features:
  - Tactile horn (触覚角 - Shokkaku-kaku): Referring to the horns surrounding its heads, they are connected directly to the brain and quickly assess the surrounding situation.
  - Thinking brain (思考脳 - Shiko no): Located in each head, a brain that is capable of individual thought. Tsukuyomi’s mind dwells within each one of them.
  - Behavioral brain (行動脳 - Kodo no): Controls the movements of Orochi’s body, and is located near the upper back.
  - Energy storage bags (エネルギー貯蔵袋 - Enerugi chozo-bukuro): There are many bags in the segmented areas of Orochi’s tail, and it is not known for their power reserves to ever run out.
  - Orochi digestive tract (オロチ消化器 - Orochi shokaki): Converts anything that enters Orochi’s mouth into energy. Located near the chest by its hearts.
  - Orochi heart (オロチ心臓 - Orochi shinzo): There are two in order to circulate blood in its huge body. The blood is as hot as lava, and the area around the chest is bright red as a result.
  - Orochi flame furnace (オロチ火炎炉 - Orochi kaen-ro): Part of digested material is stored to be used as flame material, stockpiled above the digestive tract.
• Being 10 meters long, weighing over 500 kilograms, and requiring nearly 20 people to operate, Orochi was and is the largest suit ever made in the history of Toho’s special effects movies. It took roughly 3 months to build, with a total production cost of 30 million yen. Additionally, a 1:1 scale 6-meter-tall model of Orochi's head was built for use in the final battle sequence. Because the area near the top of the neck was not very stable, actor Masahiro Takashima had to be hung from a wire to safely execute his parts as the titular hero. These details can be found in the 2012 Japanese publication, Toho Special Effects Movies: Complete Works (ISBN: 9784864910132).
  
  In the same book, special effects director Koichi Kawakita touched upon the movie's first "special newsletter" teaser trailer. A CG-processed image using just the neck of the Showa-era King Ghidorah's model was made (see right image), as the final design for Orochi had yet to be decided. Japanese-styled dragons also appear on the earliest posters for the movie. However, so not to confuse the image of Orochi as it appeared in The Three Treasures (1959), the heads of this newer Orochi were made after the style of Western-style dragons, it was granted arms and legs, and its whole body was made visible.
• Since the 1:1 scale Orochi head had to be strong enough to support the weight of the actors, its frame was made of steel. As for the actual suit, it was incorporated with a special built-in mechanic, a "Guignol head" (ギニョールヘッド - Ginyoruheddo) that allowed for more detailed movements, with the mechanism being manufactured by Up R. These behind-the-scenes details can be found in Yamato Takeru Super Complete Works (ISBN: 4091010229).
• In Toho Special Effects: All Kaiju Illustrated Encyclopedia, Orochi's mouth lightning is merely referred to as a "red lightning attack" (赤い電撃 - Akai dengeki), while its flamethrowers are referred to as "scorching flames" (灼熱の火炎 - Shakunetsu no kaen).