KAGUTSUCHIKAGUTSUCHI
Real Name: Kagutsuchi-no-kami
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Ama) god
Occupation: God of Fire
Group Membership: Amatsu-Kami (Japanese/Shinto gods)
Affiliations: Largely formerly worshipped by the Japanese people
Known Relatives: Oho-tomahiko (paternal great grandfather), Oho-tomahe (paternal great grandmother);
Awo-kashiki (paternal grandfather), Aya-kashiki (paternal grandmother);
Izanagi (father), Izanami (as aspect of Gaea; mother);
Marisha-Ten (aunt, step-mother), Ryujin (paternal uncle);
Ebisu, Takamimusubi, Susanoo, Tsukuyomi, Shinatsuhiko, Emma-O
(brothers);
Amaterasu, Uke Mochi (sisters);
eight warrior gods (including Takemikazuchi-no-kami and
Futsunushi-no-kami), eight mountain gods, Kuraokami-no-kami, other (children)
Aliases: Hi-no-Kagutsuchi, Homusubi, Kagu Zuchi
Base of Operations: Ama, an extradimensional realm the Bridge of Heaven (Ama-No-Hashidate)
First Appearance: Unknown (to me! If you know, let me know);
(Marvel) All-New
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#3 (January, 2007)
Powers/Abilities: Kagutsuchi possesses superhuman strength, durability, endurance, agility, and reflexes. He can likely lift at least 20 tons.
Like the rest of the Amatsu-Kami, Kagutsuchi ages at an extremely slow rate, and he cannot die by conventional means. He is resistant to conventional diseases and injury, and he has superhuman healing. Only dispersal of a major portion of his bodily molecules would cause death, and even then resurrection via other gods may be possible.
Kagutsuchi is known for the manipulation of destructive fire.
Height: Unrevealed (likely 6' or tall)
Weight: Unrevealed (it is unrevealed whether his body is truly
more dense and massive than mortal tissue, or whether his tissue is
more durable by its own nature without being more massive)
Eyes: Unrevealed (likely dark)
Hair: Unrevealed (covered with and/or consisting of yellow flames)
History:
(All-New
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#3: Amatsu-Kami /
Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica) - Izanagi,
the progenitor and leader of the Amatsu-Kami and his wife, Izanami (an
aspect of the Elder Earth Goddess Gaea), parented numerous naturalistic
deities of the wind, sea and land. Izanami was severely burnt and then
vanished after giving birth to Kagutsuchi, a fire spirit. In anger
(believing Izanami to have perished), Izanagi split the child in two
and dozens of new Amatsu-kami sprang from the child’s form before it
regenerated itself.
Izanagi descended into the Shinto underworld, Yomi, in search of Izanami.
(Myth history) - Kagutsuchi-no-kami, to give his full name, was born from Izanami, but such was his fierce heat that he seemingly killed his mother in
the process. His father Izanagi was not best pleased with this result and so
lopped off Kagutsuchi's head with his great sword, the Ame-no-o-habari-no-kami.
From the blood which gushed out over the surrounding rocks and dripped from the
sword's blade and hilt another eight gods were born, all of them powerful
swordsmen kami.
The two most important of these martial gods are Takemikazuchi-no-kami and
Futsunushi-no-kami, with the former being also a thunder god and patron of the
martial arts who famously subdued Namazu the giant catfish that
lives beneath the earth and causes earthquakes by flipping his tail.
Another god born from
Kagutsuchi's blood were Kuraokami-no-kami, a dragon and rain god.
After Kagutsuchi's
decapitation the story continues and from just about every body part of the
fire god, from his left foot to his genitals, eight more gods were born. These
were mountain gods which represented different types of mountains such as
forested ones, those with moors, those far away, those possessing iron, those
which provided passes to adjoining valleys and, of course, volcanoes. The
stories of Kagutsuchi which include the creation of iron and swords may well be
a mythological explanation for the arrival of iron and superior metal goods via
immigrants arriving in Japan from mainland Asia at the beginning of the Yayoi Period (c. 300 B.C. or
earlier to c. 250 A.D.), many of whom may well have been warriors.
Izanami hid away and gave birth to three more gods: the water kami Mizuhame-no-mikoto, the clay princess, the gourd, and the water reed. All four are instructed by their dying mother to watch out for Kagutsuchi and, if necessary, act to pacify him if he ever gets out of hand.
(Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica: Amatsu-Kami) - Predecessors to the Japanese people living in what would become Japan worshipped at least some of the Amatsu-Kami as early as 10,000 B.C.
(All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#3: Council of Godheads entry) - The Amatsu-Kami were worshipped by the Japanese from 660 B.C. to 1946 A.D.
Comments: Created by unknown people as part of Japanese mythology;
adapted to the Marvel Universe by Anthony Flamini, Jeff Christiansen, and the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
Courtesy of worldhistory.org
Kagutsuchi (aka
Hi-no-Kagutsuchi) is the Shinto god
or kami of fire and is also
known as Homusubi. The son of Izanami and Izanagi, the fire god is
the father of eight warrior gods and eight mountain gods, amongst others. Such
a destructive force as fire in a culture where buildings were
typically made of wood and paper resulted in Kagutsuchi becoming an important
object of Shinto ritual and a frequent receiver of appeasing offerings.
According to the 8th-century AD Kojiki ('Record of Ancient
Things') and Nikon
Shoki ('Chronicle of Japan' and also known as the Nihongi),
Kagutsuchi-no-kami, to give his full name, was born from Izanami, one of the
Shinto creator gods, but such was his fierce heat that he killed his mother in
the process. His father Izanagi was not best pleased with this result and so
lopped off Kagutsuchi's head with his great sword, the Ame-no-o-habari-no-kami.
From the blood which gushed out over the surrounding rocks and dripped from the
sword's blade and hilt another eight gods were born, all of them powerful
swordsmen kami.
The two most important of these martial gods are Takemikazuchi-no-kami and
Futsunushi-no-kami, with the former being also a thunder god and patron of the
martial arts who famously subdued Namazu the giant catfish that
lives beneath the earth and causes earthquakes by flipping his tail.
Two other gods born from
Kagutsuchi's blood were Kuraokami-no-kami, who is mentioned in the Manyoshu poem anthology
(compiled c. 759 CE) as being a dragon and rain god. Another is
Amatsumikaboshi, the kami of Venus, the Evening Star. Her
alternative name is Amenokagasewo.
After Kagutsuchi's
decapitation the story continues and from just about every body part of the
fire god, from his left foot to his genitals, eight more gods were born. These
were mountain gods which represented different types of mountains such as
forested ones, those with moors, those far away, those possessing iron, those
which provided passes to adjoining valleys and, of course, volcanoes. The
stories of Kagutsuchi which include the creation of iron and swords may well be
a mythological explanation for the arrival of iron and superior metal goods via
immigrants arriving in Japan from mainland Asia at the beginning of the Yayoi Period (c. 300 B.C. or
earlier to c. 250 A.D.), many of whom may well have been warriors.
In an alternative version, or
rather an added segment, recorded in the 10th-century AD Engishiki,
before she dies Izanami hides away and gives birth to three more gods: the
water kami Mizuhame-no-mikoto,
the clay princess, the gourd, and the water reed. All four are instructed by
their dying mother to watch out for Kagutsuchi and, if necessary, act to pacify
him if he ever gets out of hand. The traditional fire-fighting equipment of the
ancient Japanese was water, carried in a gourd, to pour on the fire while water
reeds and clay were often used to smother it. Even today in some parts of
Japan, there is a midwinter ritual where reed bundles are placed in the eaves
of roofs so that they are handy if a fire should break out.
The Japanese have long since
had a great fear of fire and the devastation it can cause, not least because
Japanese buildings were traditionally made from highly combustible wood and
paper walls with wood shale or grass roofs. Fires have destroyed almost every
major ancient building and temple in
the ancient cities of Japan over the
centuries, and during the Edo period (1603-1868 CE), fires were so frequent at
the capital Edo (modern Tokyo) that they were known as 'the flowers of Edo'.
It
is not surprising then that ceremonies to appease and ward off Kagutsuchi were
a common feature of Shinto ritual. In such rituals and prayers, Kagutsuchi is
usually referred to as Homusubi, which translates as "he who starts fires." The
ancient Japanese even dedicated a twice yearly ceremony to Kagutsuchi,
the Ho-shizume-no-matsuri, which was sponsored by the imperial
court whose sprawling palace complexes were frequently
victim to fires. The ceremony was designed to please the god and ensure he
would withhold his terrible flames for another six months. The destructive fire
of Kagutsuchi is in contrast to the purifying fire of Shinto rituals, known
as kiri-bi, which was traditionally made by rubbing together two
pieces of hinoki wood, a type of cypress.
Kagutsuchi
is sometimes equated with Atago Gongen, another kami of fire
and considered an avatar of the Buddhist figure
Jizo. Strictly speaking, though, Atago Gongen is a more positive figure in
Japanese mythology and acts as a protector
from fire or a preserver of it.
Kagutsuchi is a popular character in anime and manga
This profile was completed 09/05/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Kagutsuchi should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
All-New
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#3: Council of Godheads
entry (March, 2006) - Jeff Christiansen (head writer), Sean
McQuaid, Mark O'English, Ronald Byrd, Michael Hoskin, Eric J. Moreels,
Stuart Vandal, Bill Lentz, Richard Green, Anthony Flamini, Barry Reese,
Mike Fichera & Chris Biggs (writers), Michael Short (assistant editor), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald
(editors)
All-New
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#3: Amatsu-Kami (January, 2007) - Jeff Christiansen (head writer), Sean
McQuaid, Stuart Vandal, Ronald Byrd, Mark O'English,
Mike Fichera, Anthony Flamini, Eric J. Moreels,
Michael Hoskin, Chris Biggs, Madison Carter, Richard Green, & Al Sjoerdsma (writers), Michael Short (assistant editor), Mark D. Beazley (associate editor), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald
(editors)
Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica: Amatsu-Kami (2009) - Anthony Flamini
(head writer, coordinator), Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Paul Cornell
(consulting writers), Mario Gully (Amatsu-Kami artist), Jeff Youngquist
(editor)
First posted: 09/12/2021
Last updated: 09/05/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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