The Thunder God

Katamari Damacy, released in 2004 in the U.S., is a rather quirky game in which the player is tasked to roll up all the world's objects into a giant ball. The premise sounds strange, but it makes for some of the most unique gameplay the industry has seen in years. Since the whole point of the title is to simply roll up objects, that means there are certainly a lot of them, and since the game was developed in Japan there's no doubt a wealth of cultural influence to be found within. Indeed, one of the objects the player must roll up is none other than a thunder deity.

(Katamari Damacy, np)

Though there are a number of different thunder deities, Michael Ashkenazi mentions that one in particular is "represented as a demon-headed being playing upon a series of drums floating in the air around him" (236). The above image of the Thunder God portrayed in Katamari also depicts him as "demon-headed" (he has odd green hair and horns on his head) and surrounded by floating drums. Ashkenazi goes on to say that "playing his drums [produces] rolling thunder" (275). Likewise, the description of Katamari's Thunder God is very similar, as seen in the above screenshot.

Statue of a thunder deity (Ashkenazi, 275)

Though the top photo of the Thunder God is made of polygons, and the one beneath it made of real, tangible materials, the similarities abound. The floating drums are depicted in each, as well as the demonic head. The thunder deity in the bottom photo seems to be standing on clouds, too, and interestingly enough, when players first encounter the Thunder God in Katamari he's hanging around on a cloud as well.