Question: Even though Shiva ripped him apart, do you think Andhaka, the demon child who tried to rape his mother, would be part of a greater titan? After all, its seems to be a similar story to that of Kagutsuchi.
I think he certainly could be! The great thing about Scion is that someone being dead isn't really a huge deterrent to using them in a story in the future - death is a slippery thing for beings like gods and Titans. Andhaka is certainly an antagonist worthy of pissing off various gods in a fatal way; how fit he is for the story depends on which myth about him you want to pursue, as there are several that conflict. The myth in which he is brought up by Shiva and Parvati and torn apart for attempting to rape his mother is indeed very similar to Ganesha's story, and makes a great background for some greater Titan picking him up and restoring him to become part of it; the version in which he is fostered out and accidentally tries to rape Parvati, not realizing she's his mother, has more dramatic potential for him to feel wronged about the situation (though it's also harder to imagine him surviving - not only did Shiva stab him to death repeatedly in that version, but he had made a pact with Brahma that stated he would only die if he attempted to sleep with his mother - it's all very Oedipal!). You could even have him rejoin the gods, as in a third variant Shiva and Surya burn away all the evil from Andhaka's soul and allow him to return to the Overworld to serve his parents.
The big sticking point is which greater Titan Andhaka would be an avatar of, because he's not especially related to any of them at first glance. If you want to use him as a Titan, I'd suggest either Soku-no-Kumi, playing off the idea that Andhaka was born blind and "unable to recognize sin" because of it, or possibly (and more appropriately) Vritra, as unrequited lust could be viewed as a sort of drought of the soul. He's a difficult one to place.
You could also just run him as a god who happens to be working evil against the Devas without being a Titan Avatar. Sometimes gods are just dicks that way.
perhaps make him an eater of filth like Tlaz. A god of moral redemption that can help a person perform the right austerity's to cleanse themselves of unnatural desires and energies.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really cool, creative idea! Would you keep him on the side of the gods, then, or would he be one of those Titans that thinks they're "helping"?
DeleteI would probably make him a god. I thought he had to be a titan because he was alot like kagatsuchi, a young god who was killed by his father for threatening his mother. But if he has ultimate stamina, then being ripped apart would only be a semi-harsh punishment. Once he picked himself up Shiva would probably chase him away where he was only welcomed back after he performed his austerity's and purified himself becoming a demon-god of moral redemption. I say demon god because I get the impression that the Indian religion has a few holy demons who are granted the same accord as the gods.
ReplyDeleteThose are usually asuras of some form. But no worries - I don't see why you can't have misbehaving Devas as well. You don't have to be a non-god to be a jerk who makes terrible mistakes, after all.
Deleteyeah and those gods are usually the ones who are the most empathetic toward human mistakes and try to help them get back in the other gods good graces.
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