Susanoo
Susanoo was a trouble maker as soon as he was born. He pestered his father so much that Izanagi shooed him away. His bad behaviour caused his sister, Amaterasu (the sun goddess), to hide in a cave, and he was driven away from the Plain of Heaven by irate gods.
He came down to earth and made a nuisance of himself by making noise and upsetting people. His pranks caused disasters, although no malice was meant.
Once he found a couple with a young girl. He discovered that the girl had had seven sisters eaten by a serpent on seven successive summers. He said that he would save the girl if he could have her as his wife and changed her into a comb which he wove into his hair. He then laid out eight bowls of rice wine and waited.
The serpent came along and each of it's eight heads drank from one of the eight bowls. When the serpent became drowsy Susanoo sliced it into many chunks. He found a beautiful sword in it's tail and sent it to hios sister to make up for the trouble he had caused and changed his wife back to her original form. They later had a son named O-Kuni-Nushi.
Susanoo later moved down into hell where he lived with his daughter 'Suseri-Hime', O-Kuni-Nushi's half sister and future wife.
Adapted from 'A guide to the Gods' by Richard Carlyon
