The Four Gods: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

These gods were (Chinese, then Japanese names):

 

 

Also of note is the fact that many people confuse [[The Phoenix]] with Zhūquè. While they seem similar, they are entirely different entities; in fact the [[wikipedia:Fenghuang|Fènghuáng]] (Hōō) is a closer representation of [[The Phoenix]] in comparison.

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', as noted above, is one of the most well-known examples.

* ''[[Tokyo Majin]]'' averted this, with the Yellow Dragon indeed represents Void/Destruction.

* Author Ken Akamatsu has noted that the Four Gods appear in ''[[Love Hina]]'' in the form of various pets: Genbu is Onsen Tamago, the hot springs turtle; Byakko is Kuro, Kanako's cat; Suzaku is Shippu, the mysterious bird owned by Tsuruko (Motoko's elder sister); and Seiryū is Leon, the chameleon owned by Ema Maeda (a manga-only [[Last-Episode New Character|last-episode character]]).

* The [[The Grim Reaper|shinigami]] in ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]'' could summon "shikigami", helpful minor gods. Only two appeared in the anime, based off of Suzaku and Byakko. The manga, however, features the four of them.

* The four gods also appear in the anime ''[[Karasu Tengu Kabuto]]''.

* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' includes mecha named after the Four Gods, each belonging to the General roughly corresponding with the God's element: Byakou (Thymilph), Sayrune (Adiane), Gember (Guame), and Shuzack (Cytomander).

* The Four Gods appear as antagonists for an arc in ''[[Angel Tales]]''.

* The anime version of ''[[Dokyusei]]'' (English title, ''[[End Of Summer]]'') is more subtle. In this case, they pared the list of girls (from the game) down to four. The follow-on OAV set (not released in the US) has the school nurse reminding Wataru that he can't keep all four of them forever.

* One of ''[[Code Geass]]''' central characters is named Suzaku; his late father's name was Genbu. The characters were designed by [[CLAMP]], who are known for making references such as this.

* Seiryū, Suzaku, Byakko and Genbu are the names of Nekoyashiki's spiritual cat companions in ''[[Rental Magica]]''. They're useful for everything from shields to attacking to creating a gust of wind.

** They also face off against a group like this in the last movie, though those guys were all actually powerful.

* The Four Elemental Kings in ''[[Berserk]].''

* In ''[[The Slayers]]'', the good dragon-gods of the world, as opposed to the evil chaos-demon-gods, are based on this pattern: four gods, each representing an element, and the supreme (actually, penultimate) god Ceipheed. The evil demon gods are based on Goetic demonology.

* Each of the girls in ''[[Hyakko]]'''s [[Four-Girl Ensemble]] corresponds to one of the four gods. A broader [[Theme Naming]] based on the twelve animals of the Zodiac is present in the rest of the cast.

** The Beyblades are named after design (Dranzer, Drigger etc.) While the bit-beasts (aka. sacred spirits) are named Suzaku, Byakko etc.

* {{spoiler|Hacchi}} has a technique named after them in the latest ''[[Bleach]]'' spoilers.

** And Tsuchimikado gets rid of it by {{spoiler|using accordingly-colored paper figurines placed in certain directions<ref>essentially magical feng shui</ref> to directly invoke the Gods and fire a magical [[Wave Motion Gun]] at the house}}.

* ''[[Saint Beast]]'' happens to feature...well, yeah.

* The Four Spirit Kings Yamatohime, Genbu, Byakko and Seiryū in ''[[Kurohime]]''.

* The four royals who appear in ''[[Yes! Pretty Cure 5]]'' Gogo are a dragon, a red/pink bird, a tiger and a turtle.

* The Mythical Beast Knights of ''[[The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer]]''.

 

* The four incredibly destructive water volcanoes in ''[[Embers]]'' are modeled off of this concept, but with different names given: Shirotora (the White Tiger), Asiagatatsu (the Blue Dragon), Akitori (the Vermilion Bird), and Kurokame (the Black Turtle). Of these, Shirotora and Asiagatatsu are important in the story- Zuko's mother's home domain of Byakko has retained a measure of autonomy from the Fire Lord by being the only people who can reliably keep the volcano nicely dormant, while the lack of anyone doing something similar about Asiagatatsu (whose last two eruptions killed Avatars and made life difficult worldwide for years afterwards) is a major plot point.

 

* In ''[[Gamera]] 3: Awakening of Iris'', Gamera (as a monster turtle) is equated with Genbu, whereas Suzaku is equated with the film's titular villain.

** In fact the film even points out the similarties between Genbu's rivalry with Suzaku and Irys's desire to kill Gamera.

* Loosely referenced in the ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' movie, where Asian character Subotai mentions he prays to the Four Winds.

 

* Yet another [[Humongous Mecha]] example. Though colors are switched for the Tiger and the Dragon, together these four make up the [[Combining Mecha]] of ''[[Chou Sei Shin Series|Justiriser]]''.

* The Shigenshou in ''[[Juken Sentai Gekiranger]]'' and Phantom Beast Generals of ''[[Power Rangers Jungle Fury]]'' are based on this trope (though ''Jungle Fury'' downplays it):

** Speaking of ''[[Power Rangers]]'', one should mention that by a string of coincidences Tommy has had [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|a green (Western) dragon, a white tiger]], [[Power Rangers Zeo|a red phoenix]], and[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder|a black, er, sauropod]] (hey, considering some of the depictions of Genbu, it's not that farfetched).

* While the colors are off, four of the Mythical Chi Beasts from ''[[Gosei Sentai Dairanger]]'' are meant to invoke the Four Gods: the Red Dragon, the Pink Hōō, the White Tiger, and Daimugen, their ally.

 

 

== Toys ==

** Ryufu Tallgeese comes banded with the [http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10069166b/30/1 Tengyokugai] weapons platform, able to turn into four forms for each of the faction leaders to use. While the four forms are modelled after the companion mecha for the Gundams that Ryūbi, Sonken and Sousou are based on (Sonken/GP03 with the Tengyokugai Tiger form/Dendrobium Orchis is a fan favourite), they are officially named for the Four Gods, with little golden heads on each of them depicting the corresponding god for good measure.

** The toyline would later introduce the Tenkaisyo weapon system, based on the Four Gods (a dragon head, tiger claws, phoenix wings and a turtle shell shield), but these are all in gold rather than the usual colors.

** On an added note, the defunct Kishū faction led by Enshō Bawoo has no animal symbol assigned to it, though Ganryō Galus-L and Bunshu Galus-R are themed after a bull and a horse.

 

* The ''[[Lunar]]'' series references this. In addition to the Goddess Althena whom gave life to Lunar (and, despite not being a dragon herself, could be seen as The Ōryū as she holds the same power and [[Depending on the Writer|can also be controlled like them depending on the game]]), there are four dragons, each with a color matching one of the four gods and a similar appearance to the appropriate god to boot. The similarities are strongest in ''Dragon Song'': The Red Dragon is covered in feathers and has a hooked muzzle resembling a bird's beak. The White Dragon strongly resembles a large cat with wings and has stripes along its body. The Black Dragon is more or less a giant tortoise with a more dragon-like face and build. The Blue Dragon resembles a giant serpent.

* Video games that are heavily based on this include the ''[[Last Blade]]'' series (which featured four characters that each represent one of the Gods. [[The Hero|Kaede]] = Seiryū, [[Omnicidal Maniac|Kag]][[The Atoner|ami]] = Suzaku, [[Old Master|Okina]] = Genbu, and [[Gentle Giant|Shigen]] = Byakko.

* The set of [[Perfect Run Final Boss]] songs in ''[[Beatmania]] IIDX 13 DistorteD,'' collectively called "Cardinal Gate", were themed around the Four Gods; each of the four songs unlockable from the start were written by artists that took their names as pseudonyms. A fifth song, by an invented 5th entity, "Kinjishi", was available after doing well on the first four. 3 of the artists (Suzaku, Genbu, and Seiryū) have released songs after DistorteD.

* One level of ''[[Killer7]]'' requires Smith to [[Solve the Soup Cans|slide four screens together]] to lower a bridge. Each screen represents one of the four gods, and is located at the proper compass point.

** Kirin is notably of the Earth element and like the original center dragon god, is the powerful of the five.

** Ōryū is also in the game as an [[Dishing Out Dirt|earth-based]] [[Our Dragons Are Different|Wyrm]]. His fights are completely unrelated to the gods in [[Floating Continent|Tu'Lia]].

* The four gods appear as the bosses of each major world in ''[[Makai Toushi SaGa]]'' (''Final Fantasy Legend''), each guarding a sphere that allows you to continue climbing the tower, and Kōryū (called "Ko-run" in the English version) is also present as both a random encounter monster type and a form that Monster player characters can turn into. They reappear in [[SaGa 2|its sequel]] as forms that Monster player characters can turn into. In a slight variation, each one also represents one of the [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|four western elements]], with Genbu as Earth, Seiryū as Water, Byakko as Air, and Suzaku as Fire.

** The four elemental schools of magic in ''[[Romancing SaGa 3]]'' are named after the Four Gods.

** On top of that, in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, there are serveral locked doors that grant access to hidden areas, and the four keys are named (and colored) after the four gods. [[Anachronism Stew|Not something you'd expect in a vampire castle in 12th century Europe...]]

* In Altus' ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]: Devil Children'' series (known simply as DemiKids outside of Japan) the Four Gods can be obtained by fusing through the Relic System. You have to get their Soul to resurrect them, otherwise they will simply be zombies (Byakkozom, Suzakzom, Seiryuzom, Gembuzom).

* Occasionally a [[Dating Sim]] or anime based off one will have a set of four love interests each aligned with a direction and/or season (directly or by personality). Generally this involves the [[Tenchi Solution]] (they've decided to share, or at least not compete). This situation is inspired by ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]''.

* In ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Alpha'', its sequels, and ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Original Generation 2'', RyuOhKi (Seiryū) and KoOhKi (Byakko) are ancient guardian [[Golem]]-gods which absorb a pair of [[Humongous Mecha]] and gain the ability to [[Combining Mecha|combine]] into [[Glass Cannon|RyuKoOh]] or [[Fragile Speedster|KoRyuOh]] (they can [[Transforming Mecha|switch forms at will]]).

** ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Alpha 3'' introduces equivalents for Genbu and Suzaku, which merge with the other two to form the [[Game Breaker|devastatingly powerful]] Shin RyuKoOh/Shin KoRyuOh.

** The Four Gods and Huáng​lóng are also in ''[[Strange Journey]]'', where they have their Chinese names. The Four Heavenly Kings also return.

** In ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]'', the Four Gods and Huánglóng return. The first four are simple extra bosses who appear after killing Ananta; Huánglóng appears after killing the four others as a brutally vicious [[Bonus Boss]].

* ''[[Mega Man Zero]] 4'' contains the boss "Heat Genblem." Three guesses what it's supposed to be.

* In ''[[Gotcha Force]]'', there are 4 Robots that can merge together to total 4 different combinations, each one named after a different one of the four gods.

** The Dragon-God also happens to have Yin and Yang sides (Dark Dragon and White Dragon), the former controlled by the [[Dark Magical Girl]]. To further complicate the matter, there's also the Black Kirin, apparently under the [[Big Bad]]'s control.

* In ''[[Seiken Densetsu]] 3'', Kevin's has a technique (and associated gear) corresponding to one of the Four Gods for each possible final class.

* The Lords of the Burning Dawn of ''[[Tenchu]] 2'' are named after the Four Gods.

* One of the "secret skills" in the first ''[[Star Ocean 1|Star Ocean]]'' allowed the unlocking of super techniques which augmented existing techniques with the power of the Four Gods.

* The bosses of ''Sega Golden Gun'' are historical characters posessing the Four Gods. Zhang Jiao is Genbu and Da Ji is Byakko, but the hosts of the other two gods aren't mentioned by name aside from the untranslated [[Boss Subtitles]].

 

* The Four Gods in ''[[Arcana Magi]]'' are known as The Sentinels of the Four Elements, while in ''[[Arcana Magi Zero]]'' they are known as The Four Mythic Elements.

** The Four Gods are a staple in ''[[Arcana Magi Universe]]''.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Religion Tropes]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/Japan]]