Amaterasu (Ōkami)

Amaterasu (Japanese: アマテラス), also known as Ōkami Amaterasu (大神天照), is a fictional character from Capcom's video game Ōkami. She[note 1] is a white wolf based on the Japanese goddess, Amaterasu (天照大御神, Amaterasu-ōmikami), in Japanese mythology. 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, often included among the top Capcom characters, best canine characters in games, and one of the best video game protagonists overall.

Amaterasu
Ōkami character
Amaterasu as she appears in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
First appearanceŌkami (2006)
Last appearanceUltimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011)
Created byHideki Kamiya
Designed byHideki Kamiya
In-universe information
SpeciesWolf
GenderFemale

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, 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. 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. However, 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 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.

Other video games

Outside of Ōkami, Amaterasu appears as a playable character in the fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and its update Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.[3]

A Palico costume for Capcom's Monster Hunter Generations based on Amaterasu was offered as part of the game's downloadable content.[4]

To coincide with the PC release of Ōkami HD, Capcom created and got approval for an Amaterasu "courier" for Valve's Dota 2, given free to those who had pre-ordered Ōkami HD on Steam.[5]

In 2020, Amaterasu was announced as a playable hero in Teppen who would be added on October of the same year.[6]

Other media

Amaterasu also appears in Archie Comics' Worlds Unite crossover between its Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog titles, where she is one of many Capcom and Sega heroes recruited by Wood Man and Princess Sally Acorn to battle Sigma.

Creation and design

Ōkami was originally planned to be rendered in a more photorealistic 3D style.[7] However, 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.[8] Amaterasu's initial designs were aimed to avoid having the character look like "your pet wearing clothing".[9] The developers had considered having Amaterasu change into a dolphin when in the water and a falcon when jumping off a cliff, but dropped these ideas.[10]

Reception

The character was very well received by fans and critics alike. IGN's Cam Shea said Amaterasu "has a delightful duality. At once a powerful goddess, capable of making sweeping changes to the world, she's also in turn a wolf pup, digging into the earth in search of treasure."[11] Opposing her to the game cliché of "The Animal with Attitude", GamesRadar stated she "doesn't need 'attitude.' She has majesty, wisdom and grace instead."[12] In 2010, readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu voted Amaterasu into eighth place in a poll for the best video game character of all time.[13] In the same year, in a Dengeki poll, she was voted fourth as a character readers wanted to befriend.[14] In 2012, GamesRadar ranked her as the 49th "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games.[15]

Amaterasu ranked as the fifth best PlayStation dog according to PlayStation Official Magazine in 2012, as "rarely has a dog been as beautiful as the glorious work of art;"[16] a similar list by Joystick Division in 2011 declared her "the most brilliant canine protagonist of any video game";[17] the same happened in UGO Networks' "Top 10 Video Game Dogs".[18] Complex placed Amaterasu and Issun at 21st spot on a list of "most a**-kicking" game duos in 2012,[19] and included Amaterasu alone in its 2013 lists of "most badass" video game characters of all time (ranked 32nd),[20] greatest heroines in video game history (ranked 17th),[21] and top canines in video games (ranked third).[22] Patrick Lindsey of Paste ranked her as the second best video game wolf in 2014.[23]

GameDaily listed her as the 15th top Capcom character of all time.[24] She appeared on IGN list of characters they wanted in a possible Marvel vs. Capcom 3, where they commented Amaterasu "would add a nice dash of variety in addition to visual spectacle," adding she "is unique and violent enough to warrant more attention than is currently given."[25] Her inclusion in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 were received positively both for fans and critics.[3][26] Including her among the 30 best characters in the three decades of Capcom's history, GamesRadar staff noted that "Okami launched to lower than expected sales, but that didn’t stop the game and its protagonist from gaining a very dedicated following."[27]

Notes
  1. Amaterasu is described in the Japanese and European versions of the game as a female; in the North American version, the character is genderless.[1][2]

References
  1. Capcom Entertainment, Inc., ed. (2006). Ōkami instruction manual. Capcom. p. 6.
  2. Mielke, James (17 August 2006). "The Wolf Whisperer (retrieved from Wayback Machine)". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  3. Varanini, Giancarlo (July 23, 2010). "Amaterasu, Thor blaze trail for Marvel vs. Capcom 3". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  4. Devore, Jordan (22 April 2016). "Nice Okami nod, Monster Hunter Generations". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  5. O'Conner, James (December 5, 2017). "Capcom has submitted an Okami Amaterasu courier mod for Dota 2". VG247. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  6. "[Special Update] 天都ノ國絵巻 The Tale of Amatsu no Kuni | TEPPEN -Official Site-". teppenthegame.com. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  7. "Ōkami old/new comparison". Gamevideos.com. 14 August 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
  8. Mielke, James (16 August 2006). "All the King's Men". 1up. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
  9. Ōkami: Official Complete Works. Udon. 2008. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-897376-02-7.
  10. Ōkami: Official Complete Works. Udon. 2008. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-897376-02-7.
  11. Shea, Cam (October 30, 2012). "Utterly Compelling and Staggeringly Prett". IGN. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  12. Barratt, Charlie (July 21, 2008). "The Top 7... Lazy Character Clichés". GamesRadar. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  13. Gifford, Kevin (October 2, 2010). "Snake Beats Mario, Is Coolest Video Game Character Ever". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  14. "What Game Characters Does Japan Want To Befriend?". Kotaku. September 6, 2010. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  15. "100 best heroes in video games". GamesRadar. November 9, 2012. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  16. Parry, Michael (April 3, 2012). "The top five PlayStation Dogs". PlayStation Official Magazine. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  17. Hawkins, James (July 7, 2011). "The Top Ten Video Game Dogs Of All Time". Joystick Division. Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  18. Mackey, Bob. "Top 10 Video Game Dogs". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  19. Brittany Vincent, The 25 Most A**-Kicking Video Game Duos Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, Complex.com, October 1, 2012.
  20. Avellan, Drea (February 1, 2013). "The 50 Most Badass Video Game Characters Of All Time". Complex. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  21. Rougeau, Michael (March 4, 2013). "The 50 Greatest Heroines In Video Game History". Complex. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  22. Brittany Vincent, Video Game Canines That Would Make the Dog From "Call of Duty: Ghosts" Look Like a Little Puppy Archived 2013-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, Complex.com, July 12, 2013.
  23. Lindsey, Patrick. "10 Best Videogame Wolves :: Games :: Lists :: Paste". Pastemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  24. "Top 25 Capcom Characters of All Time". GameDaily. Archived from the original on April 8, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  25. Schedeen, Jesse (April 20, 2009). "Player's Wanted: Marvel vs. Capcom 3". IGN. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  26. "Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate Of Two Worlds review". PlayStation Official Magazine. September 14, 2011. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  27. "The 30 best Capcom characters of the last 30 years". GamesRadar. 2013-06-25. Archived from the original on 2014-05-04. Retrieved 2014-04-12.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.