Amatsu-Mikaboshi

Originally a malevolent Shinto god

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In Japanese mythology, Ama-tsu-mika-boshi (天津甕星^[1], interpretable as either "Dread Star of Heaven"^[2] or "August Star of Heaven"^[3]) (あまつみかぼし), also called Ame-no-kagase-o (天香香背男^[1], interpretable as either "Scarecrow Male of Heaven"^[2] or "Brilliant Male"^[3]) (あめのかがせお), Hoshigami Kagaseo (星神香香背男, ほしがみかがせお), Kagaseo (香香背男, かがせお), Amenoseo (天背男, あめのせお), or Ame no Murakumo no Mikoto (天村雲命, あめのむらくものみこと), was originally a rebellious Shinto god, possibly malevolent, who would not submit to the will of the other Ama-tsu-kami.^[2]^[4]

Under Chinese Buddhist influence,^[4] the god was identified with Myōken^[4] either as the pole star or Venus,^[1] before being combined with the god of all stars, Ama-no-mi-naka-nushi (天之御中主神, "Divine Lord of the middle heavens").^[4]^[3]

In some versions he was born from Kagutsuchi's blood.^[5] He is mentioned in passing in the Nihon Shoki as being subdued by Takemikazuchi during the latter's conquest of the land of Izumo.

In popular culture

Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the Chaos King, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a supervillain and demonic god of evil who is best known as an enemy of Hercules and Thor. He is based on the Mikaboshi of Japanese mythology.

Amatsu-Mikaboshi first appeared in Thor: Blood Oath #6 (February 2006), and was adapted from mythology by Michael Oeming and Scott Kolins.

The character subsequently appears in Ares #1-5 (March–July 2006), and The Incredible Hercules #117-120 (May–August 2008).

Amatsumikaboshi is the God of Stars who have gifted two stellar-demon swords of light and shadow, Zanseiken and Bakuseiken, to Earth in Nara Japan, later the two swords wielded by qilin daiyōkai Kirinmaru, who rules in the Eastern Lands, and his daughter Rion, in episode "The Girl Named Rion" of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon. He is also known as the God of Chaos that he's loyal to the Grim Comet and its true form: the Grim Butterfly. In episode "The Collapse of the Windmill of Time", Sesshōmaru's mother mentioned that the Zanseiken is the Sword of Amatsumikaboshi that her granddaughter Towa is wielding while they fighting Meidomaru. In episode "Father and Daughter", after Setsuna severed the red thread of fate between Rion and Kirinmaru the second time for their death, the two swords have been merged to become the Sword of Amatsumikaboshi as their souls are being sent inside as it sent back to heaven as the Grim Butterfly is destroyed.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c 長崎大学教育学部人文科学研究報告 (Nagasaki Daigaku Kyōiku-bu Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyū Hōkoku) [Nagasaki University Education Department Report on Humanities Research]. Issues 37-45 (in Japanese). Nagasaki: Nagasaki University. 1988. Retrieved 2013-06-06. ...願染みの度合い、等の様々な観点から判定して、この金星が、やはり、天津甕星(天香香背男)として、一番相応しいのではないかと考える。 - ...so judging from degree of familiarity, and various other perspectives, this Venus indeed looks to be the most appropriate match for Ama tsu Mikaboshi (Ame no Kagaseo).
^ ^a ^b ^c William George Aston: Shinto, the Way of the Gods. Longmans, Green, And Co., 1905, p. 142, available at Google Books here
^ ^a ^b ^c Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities by Charles Russell Coulter and Patricia Turner, Routledge, 4 Jul 2013, p.96
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d New Larousse encyclopedia of mythology, by Félix Guirand and Robert Graves, Hamlyn, 1968, p.415
^ worldhistory.org