Yamata No Orochi - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

• Orochi appears in the 1959 Japanese film The Birth of Japan. This is one of the first depictions to give Orochi a variety of elemental powers, mostly associated with individual heads.
• Orochi appears in the 1963 animated film The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon.
• The character Rio in the manga and anime series Shaman King harnessed the power of Yamata no Orochi through his guardian ghost Tokagero several times throughout the series.
• In Kannazuki no Miko, Orochi is the name of an evil god where eight different people represent it's different necks.
• Orochi is also referenced in Naruto as one of the series' main antagonists Orochimaru. This allusion is further expanded on when Orochimaru (transformed into an 8-headed and 8-tailed snake) is slain by Itachi Uchiha in his Susanoo form.
• Orochi figures prominently in the 2011 movie Legend of the Millennium Dragon.
• In the video game Okami, a game based around ancient Japanese mythology, Orochi is the main villain in the first and third section of the game. Orochi also appears in the past in Okami's sequel Okamiden.
• Orochi is one of the main villains in The King of Fighters series, and serves as the final boss for The King of Fighters '97.
• In the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, Orochi appears as a Monster Card named Yamata Dragon.
• In the 2001 tokatsu film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the monster King Ghidorah is said to be an under-developed Orochi, as he has only three heads instead of eight.
• Orochi appears in Koei's Warriors Orochi series of video games in humanoid form. He is the primary antagonist in the game, being responsible for merging the Three Kingdoms period of China and the Warring States period of Japan, leading to various factions fighting against him.
• In the video games Persona 3, Persona 3 FES and Persona 4, Yamata no Orochi is one of the personas of the Moon Arcana. It is also a recurring demon in the Megami Tensei series.
• A small story arc in Ranma 1/2, has Akane, Ranma and Ryoga, along with a quasi-amnesiac fighter called Shinnosuke, face a version of Yamata no Orochi which secretes a special kind of moss that can revitalize living beings. This moss is stated to be the only cure for a life-threatening injury sustained by Shinnosuke since childhood, when he saved Akane from being attacked by a platypus that was made giant by the waters of the woods where he lives, made mossy by the Yamata no Orochi, that usually dwells in them. Much like in the legend, this Yamata no Orochi is easily attracted by women and alcoholic drinks; however, its main head is on one side of the body, whereas the seven others, although sentient, seem to comprise its tail.
• On the Facebook game Ninja Saga, Yamata no Orochi appears before the player during Jonin Exam,accompanied by its attempted captors. It was sealed until Kojima, the villain stole the scroll containing the sealed body.
• In Pokémon Black and White, the Pokémon 'Deino' and its evolved forms 'Zweilous' and 'Hydreigon' are meant to resemble Yamata no Orochi.