Kojin

The Kojin is a race of tortoise-like beastmen in Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood. They live around the Ruby Sea area, mostly in underwater settlements or areas only accessible by traveling underwater.
All Kojin believe in many gods, also known as kami. Above all of them are the amatsukami, with the three greater deities amongst them: Susano, the Lord of the Revel, Tsukuyomi, the Lady of the Moon, and Amaterasu, the God of the Sun. The first two were summoned as primals, though Susano's first summoning was accidental while Tsukuyomi's summoning was unrelated to the Kojin.
==Notable members==
* Soroban - a Blue Kojin merchant who travels to Kugane in search of trading partners; he ends up befriending the Warrior of Light and their companions, providing much assistance to them through the course of the main story.
==Profile==
The Kojin are skilled traders who welcome dealings with other races. They are most comfortable in the water, having settlements under the sea. They believe that unique gods (kami) reside in all things, and collect and hoard rare items that house powerful Kami to bring power and prosperity to themselves and their kin.
After the Garlean Empire invaded, the Kojin split into two factions: the pacifist Kojin of the Blue, and the mercenary Kojin of the Red. The Red Kojin allied with the Empire as mercenaries, concealing their faith and practicing it in secret. The Blue Kojin would rather be peaceful traders, and so minimize their involvement in Imperial affairs. The Blue Kojin see the Red practicing their faith in secret to be a mockery that the Kami would not approve of. Those who do not regularly interact with the Kojin, such as people in Kugane, do not recognize the difference between the Blue and Red factions and therefore view all Kojin with scorn for siding with the Imperials. This greatly hinders the Blue Kojin's efforts at establishing trade relations outise the Ruby Sea.
The Blue Kojin are green, while the Red Kojin are red. In-universe, this is speculated to be because the Kojin may be incapable of seeing the difference between green and blue, or it may simply be a matter of translation from the Kojin's native language being somewhat inaccurate. However, in the real world, only in recent history have blue and green been considered separate shades in Japanese; before then, green was considered a shade of blue. To this day, "ao" (blue in Japanese) is still commonly used to refer to various green objects. In Japanese culture, colors used to be classified as shades of either red, blue, white, or black. The Blue Kojin being green is thus likely a cultural element, the Kojin being based on old Japanese aesthetics, and reflective of the word still used today for the green sea turtle species. It also naturally pairs against red, the diametrically opposite color on the spectrum.
==History==
After the Garlean Empire occupied Doma, they began enforcing strict borders and hired Kojin mercenaries to enforce borders and help the Garleans travel between Othard and Kugane. This divided the Kojin into the mercenary Red Kojin and the entrepreneurial Blue Kojin.
When the Warrior of Light and some of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn traveled to Kugane, a Blue Kojin, Soroban, comes to their aid after they've drew the ire of the local law enforcement, assisting them in evading capture. Soroban reveals the reason for his assistance was to secure an audience with Hancock, the East Aldernald Trading Company's representative in Kugane, and negotiate a trade agreement. Soroban also assisted the travelers in getting passage to the Ruby Sea.
In the Ruby Sea, the Scions make their way to the Blue Kojin village in Tamamizu. Needing a way to break the Imperial blockade, the Scions request the help of the Confederate Pirates and the Kojin. The Kojin agree, but in return, ask the Scions to retrieve and return a holy relic to the Red Kojin's treasure vault as part of the plan. The infiltration of the Red Kojin's vault helps create a diversion, drawing the Red Kojin away from their duties as imperial mercenaries to defend their vault. However, this has the unintended side effect of summoning the Kojin god Susanoo, though his defeat furthers the panic among the Red Kojin. Following this, the blockade was broken.
Later, Soroban and the a contingent of Blue Kojin joined the Doman Resistance in their assault on the Doman Castle, successfully flooding the lower levels and driving the Imperials out, liberating Doma.
After liberating Ala Mhigo, the Warrior of Light returns to Kugane after receiving reports of increased imperial activity. Soroban was also present in Kugane at that time, relaying a business proposal that required someone of the Warrior of Light's strength. The requestor was Genbu of the Four Lords, who needed the Warrior of Light's aid in quelling an ancient auspice before it could break free of its prison and wreak havoc on the Ruby Sea. The elder auspice identified the Kojin Soroban as having the potential to become a powerful auspice himself, and following re-sealing Koryu, Soroban left the Blue Kojin to continue his training as one of the Four Lords.
Some time after the liberation of Doma, the Blue Kojin Kabuto came into possession of a seemingly sentient doll known as Tsukomo. The doll told Kabuto that he would be the leader of a sect of worshippers known as the Divine Circle and it was their duty to collect more treasures to appease the Kami. As Tsukomo does so, he begins establishing trade relations with the various people of Doma and the Azim Steppe on behalf of the Blue Kojin.
==Etymology==
Kōjin is the Japanese god of fire, the hearth, and the kitchen. He is sometimes called Kamado-gami, literally the god of the stove. He represents violent forces that are turned toward the good of humankind.
Category:Beastmen in Final Fantasy XIV