Question: A bit off-topic but nonetheless related to the Titans release, who do you have in mind for the over-arching Titanic adversary of the Japanese pantheon? Apep seems like a natural fit for the Egyptians, as is Cronus for the Olympians and Surtr for the Aesir, but is there anyone who takes on that role for the Japanese? The only candidates that came to mind for me were either not mentioned much or seems too much of a border-case (Izanami).
Unfortunately, the Japanese gods are really up in the air at the moment in all dimensions; we haven't even done the full overhaul on their playable gods and PSP, let alone done a full cosmological research trek, so while we have some ideas and possibilities we don't have a good, solid final decision yet. Izanami at the helm of a Titanrealm of Death is certainly a possibility, as would be Raijin and Fujin at the helm of a Titanrealm of the Sky; the Kotoamatsukami, particularly Takamimusubi, are also major contenders, being ancient, primordial Titans with a vested interest in meddling in the affairs of their much younger offspring.
We're not making any firm choices at the moment. We prefer to have a Titanrealm really embody a concept that the pantheon and its culture oppose, so that takes a lot of theological reading and consideration. But we'd love to hear suggestions if you have them, and don't worry - they'll get their big bad one day. The Land of the Rising Sun isn't exactly free of all problems and cosmological interference.
While the Amatsukami are a pantheon without, as yet, a clear-cut Titanrealm, what about Titanrealms with no clear-cut pantheon? I admire your dedication to making Titanrealms as symbolically and culturally opposed to their pantheons as possible (Fire for the Norse, the night sky for the Aztecs etc. are perfect fits), but is there really any culture that has been historically opposed to Light, or Order? And yet, from a purely cosmological point of view, these Titans need to exist.
ReplyDeleteThe only culture I can think of that isn't very fond of light, at least in the form of the sun, would be some of the Arab tribes; when you live in the middle of a gigantic, unforgiving desert, the sun isn't as much a friend to you as it is to everyone else. And I guess you could make a case for the Persians, whose sun-myth involves the gods beating the shit out of it and subjugating it so it would stop being a jerk, but it's clearly not their major problem.
DeleteThose realms do indeed need to exist, but there will probably inevitably be some that either don't have homes or are attached to cultures that aren't (yet? ever?) playable in Scion. But they gotta be there, so be there they will eventually be, we hope.
Gonna once again throw in my vote for Kegare, titanrealm of taboo things.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if taboo things is quite the universal idea a Titanrealm needs to be, but kegare in the sense of disease/corruption is definitely one of the bigger bogies of the Japanese. It's a good possibility.
DeleteI'd go with Corruption as the big bad of Shintoism, since all wickedness is seen as an externally corrupting thing, and things such as diseases and corruptions are seen as wickedness.
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely a strong horror of disease/death/corruption stuff in Japanese myth - I would agree that it's a strong possibility. :)
DeleteOf course that kind of takes the Tuatha Titan, but then I never really thought it fit all that well anyway.
DeleteCrom Cruach is a terrible mess in the books - it doesn't really make any sense, nor is it an entirely appropriate antagonist for them. Crom Cruach himself could be an antagonist if you run with the Christian accounts of his bloodthirsty sacrifical worship, but he's associated with fertility, not, like, maggots.
DeleteThe Tuatha, I suspect, will end up with something more water/stormy as their major problem, but of course we don't have firm choices yet.