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This website was created for informational purposes only.
Last Updated:11.27.06
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Susa-no-o (or Susano-wo or Susano, depending on the source) is Amaterasu's younger and rather petulant brother. F. Hadland Davis mentions that "Susa-no-o had a very bad temper [...and] he had a habit of continually weeping and wailing. Where a child in a tantrum would crush a toy to pieces, [Susa-no-o], when in a towering rage, and without a moment's warning, would wither the once fair greenery of mountains, and in addition bring many people to an untimely end" (25). His name can be translated several different ways, the most common of which is the "Impetuous Male."
Susa-no-o is quite impetuous, indeed. He also shows up in Okami, though as a non-playable character.
Susa-no-o isn't afraid to brag (Okami, np). Known as "Susano" within the context of the game, he lives up to his namesake at every possible moment--often the player finds him sleeping, drinking, or bragging at various points in the story. He also tends to act on impulse and is very moody and angers easily, much like the way Davis describes the god from which he's derived (Okami, np). Interestingly enough, the game also refers to the fact that Susa-no-o the god is the offspring of Izanagi and Izanami, the male and female creators of the world. In Okami, Izanagi and Izanami's names are shortened to simply "Nagi" and "Nami," but their relationship as husband and wife is alluded to in the game's prologue (np). Moreover, Susa-no-o, or "Susano," is aware of his lineage and actually complains about it in the game. 
Susa-no-o is not a happy camper (Okami, np). A major difference between the game and myth, however, is that the game makes no mention of the idea that Susa-no-o and Amaterasu are brother and sister. Susano and Amaterasu, as they appear in Okami, are simply a pair of unrelated characters that happen to run into each other from time to time. Susano, however, does live up to the rest of Davis's description, particularly the part concerning how Susa-no-o the god was able to "wither the once fair greenery of mountains, and in addition bring many people to an untimely end" (25). The crux of Okami's story involves restoring green to a land that's been darkened and withered by a mysterious, evil force. At first, it seems unlikely that Susano within the context of the game would be able to do this to the world. He seems harmless--even comical. But press deeper into the plot and it becomes evident just how much Susano is to blame for the pain and suffering of the game's people and wilderness. 
(Okami, np) Indeed, Orochi the eight-headed demon plays a particularly important role within the game, as he is the real cause for the withering of Okami's landscape. Nevertheless, it is Susano who releases him in the first place, and thus he fits the mythical description of Susa-no-o being a negative, impulsive force that is capable of draining life from the land.
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