KihachiKihachi, the Savage God of Aso's Frost

Kihachi

Oni / Giant

🏞️ The area encompassing Mount Ojo, Matoishi, and Shimo Shrine in Aso. His legends also extend to Takachiho in Hyuga Province.

Detailed Description

Kihachi was a savage deity who served as an arrow retriever for Takeiwatatsu-no-Mikoto, the pioneer god of Aso. Exhausted from his duties, he kicked an arrow back with his foot, enraging the god, who chased him to Takachiho and struck him down. Yet his severed body attempted to knit itself back together to revive, and even when buried in three separate pieces, he laid a curse, swearing to "make frost fall upon the Aso Valley." Left with no choice, Takeiwatatsu-no-Mikoto enshrined Kihachi as a deity at Shimo Shrine, where every year for fifty-nine days, a young maiden keeps a sacred fire burning day and night to warm his cold, severed body—a ritual that continues to this very day. A demon that brings the chill of frost to Aso, the Mountain of Fire. Slain only to become a god, he is the embodiment of the deep, complex layers of mythology woven into this land.

Personality

Originally a remarkably swift and powerful man who served as a retainer to the gods. However, after feeling slighted and drawing the god's wrath, he was slain, transforming into a violent deity who curses the land with frost and cold damage. He only calms when enshrined and warmed by the sacred fire—a divine aspect born of anger and freezing cold.

Compatibility

He shares a relationship of both master-and-servant and mortal enemies with Takeiwatatsu-no-Mikoto, the pioneer god of Aso. He is appeased when warmed by fire and sacred flames, but becomes violent and unruly when subjected to cold and neglect.

Abilities & Skills

⚡ Brings devastating early frost and cold damage to the Aso Valley

⚡ Possesses an immortal nature where his body attempts to reconnect and revive even when severed

⚡ Possesses the divine running speed of a Skanda

Weaknesses

His curse can only be appeased by being warmed with a sacred fire and worshipped as a deity. His revival can be sealed by chopping his body into three pieces and burying them separately.