Hinokagutsuchi (demon)

Hinokagutsuchi is a demon in the series.
==History==
, also known as Kagutsuchi and Homusubi, is the god of fire in Japanese mythology. His mother Izanami was so badly burned when she gave birth to him that she died. His father, Izanagi, beheaded Kagutsuchi with his sword, Ame no Ohabari, and cut his body into eight pieces which then became eight volcanoes. Kagutsuchi's corpse created many deities, including Take-Mikazuchi, Futsunushi, Amatsu Mikaboshi, and Ouyamatsumi. Kagutsuchi is the patron deity of blacksmiths and ceramic workers.
The name Kagutsuchi was originally a compound phrase, consisting of kagu, an Old Japanese root verb meaning "to shine"; tsu, the Old Japanese possessive particle; and chi, an Old Japanese root meaning "force, power."
==Appearances==
*Shin Megami Tensei: Kishin Race, as Kagutsuchi
*Shin Megami Tensei II: Amatsu Race
*Shin Megami Tensei: if...: Amatsu Race
*Shin Megami Tensei NINE: Amatsu Race
*Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE: Heavenly God Race
*Last Bible III
*Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon: Pyro Order
**Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Lone Marebito
*Persona 2: Innocent Sin: Fusion Spell
*Persona 2: Eternal Punishment: Fusion Spell
*Persona 4 Arena / Manga: as Malevolent Entity
*Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Final Boss
*Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2: Kishin Race
==Profile==
===Shin Megami Tensei===
===Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE===
Hinokagutsuchi was implemented during the 2015 Halloween event and his plug-in was obtainable through it. He can be fused in a special triple fusion of Suzaku, Ifrit, and Flaemis.
===Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon===
Homusubi Crystal can be obtained from Kagutsuchi through fusion gifts or leveling up. It is needed to create the Kagutsuchi Sword.
===Persona 2===
Hinokagutsuchi is a Fusion Spell in both Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment, summoned by using Freila and Summon Spirits in the former and Ultra Freila and Summon Spirits in the latter.
===Persona 4 Arena / Ultimax===
Hi-no-Kagutsuchi is the main antagonist of the Persona 4 Arena duology and the instigator of all of its events. In Arena, he was known as the Malevolent Entity. Initially a formless incarnation, it had allied itself with a human in an attempt to re-create his own body, with the final goal being complete world destruction. This human, identified only as the Eerie Voice, is implied to have a connection to the Kirijo Group, as he shows himself capable of utilizing Kirijo Group protocols and taking control of Kirijo Group technology such as Labrys at will. Despite this, Hi-no-Kagutsuchi cannot operate within the TV world by himself due to lacking a form or a Persona. As a result, he has to momentarily take the form of certain characters in order to physically intervene.
His first plan is to use his accomplice to hijack a carriage that contains Labrys and throw her into the TV World. Before Labrys is thrown into the TV, he manipulates her into thinking that she wanted to become human, meet her mother and enroll in Yasogami High School, showing her scenes of Yasogami High and the hospital to justify his point. He then claims that if she forgot that she is in fact, an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon created by the Kirijo Group, he will grant her humanity accordingly. He then instigates the P-1 Grand Prix using Shadow Labrys, which takes the form of Yasogami High and is manifested from Shadow Labrys' desire for others to share the same pain as her. In reality, the Malevolent Entity only wanted to break the spirits of the Persona users so their Personas revert into Shadow Selves and he can absorb them to create a destructive form of himself. At the ending of the Shadow Operative story modes, after defeating a Labrys hijacked by his accomplice, the Malevolent Entity steps in himself, takes the form of the player character and fights them. However, he is defeated and is forced to retreat.
In Ultimax, his role remains the same, although as the P-1 Grand Prix taught him, the will of the Persona users are too powerful, so absorbing them would cause him to become unstable due to the obedience of their hosts. Instead, he now creates fake copies of Persona users from Shadows, alongside a red fog enshrouding Inaba and the tower standing atop Yasogami High. He then claims that the world will end in an hour and forces the Persona users to fight their Shadow clones with the intent of making the Persona users fight without hesitation, so their Persona Fragments can be carved out as soon as they fight the fakes. The shards act as a stabilizer for his form as they were built from the strength of heart, effectively making him closer to his plan every fight and allowing him to achieve his plan without any potential backlashes.
He takes the unstable form of "General Teddie" and works together with Sho Minazuki, as he promised that Minazuki will be able to take revenge of Shuji Ikutsuki's mistreatment of him by destroying everything so he could forever remain at peace in solitude, free from all suffering he had in the past. This was a lie however, as Kagutsuchi had intended to betray Sho and Minazuki; he was merely using them for his true motive, to create a body of his own fit for world destruction. He then drops his "General Teddie" guise and mannerisms, goes for the back of Minazuki's head and uses his body as a vessel. Kagutsuchi then manifests the body he has created from the Shadows he gathered, taking the form of a flaming serpent. Depending on the route the player takes, he is defeated by either Yu Narukami and Tohru Adachi or Labrys. He was born from the desire of eternal solitude when the fog appeared in Inaba. In the P3 Story Mode, he is also described as being born from the dissatisfaction of people. In both cases, Elizabeth states that he is born from people who desire death.
The Malevolent Entity exhibits a wide range of powers throughout the Arena duology; It is capable of appearing out of and disappearing into thin air at will, creating fakes of people, telepathy and even outright possessing people to do its bidding. Despite being an embodiment of pure destruction, it is also surprisingly manipulative and is in no means, a mindless, destructive avatar.
In the Japanese versions, he is voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki, while being voiced in English by Patrick Seitz (the same voice actors used for the series' announcer).
====Persona 4 Arena Manga====
The Malevolent Entity appears in the final chapter of the manga, where it possesses Labrys after she gains her Persona. It does not take the form of any character's Shadow, and tries to crush Aigis' neck only for Akihiko and Mitsuru to intervene. After failing to attempt to destroy Aigis, he attempts to crush Labrys' own neck until she gains the willpower to fight back against its possession. Both Fuuka Yamagishi and Rise Kujikawa use their Personas to expel it from her body, where it disappears afterwards.
==Stats==
===Shin Megami Tensei===
===Shin Megami Tensei II===
===Shin Megami Tensei: if...===
===Shin Megami Tensei NINE===
===Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE===
===Last Bible III===
===Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon===
===Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2===
==Gallery==
;Main
LB3 Hinokagutsuchi.gif|Hinokagutsuchi's sprite in Last Bible III
Hi no Kagutsuchi.png|Hi no Kagutsuchi as it appears in Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Lone Marebito
Kagutsuchi fusion IS.png|The Kagutsuchi Fusion Spell in Persona 2: Innocent Sin
;Persona 4 Arena / Arena Ultimax
Aigis P4U Implied Nyarly.png|The Malevolent Entity posing as Aigis
Shadow Mitsuru.png|The Malevolent Entity posing as Mitsuru
Shadow Akihiko.png|The Malevolent Entity posing as Akihiko
Malevolent Entity P4AM.png|The Malevolent Entity as he appears in the Arena Manga.
LabrysHacked.png|Labrys being hacked by the Malevolent Entity in the Arena Manga.
LabrysHacked2.png|Malevolent Entity exposing his plan in Labrys' body in the Arena Manga.
LabrysHacked3.png|Malevolent Entity making Labrys commit suicide in the Arena Manga.
P4U Fake Teddie Render.png|The Malevolent Entity posing as General Teddie
P4AU (P3 Mode, General Teddie mock the Shadow Operatives).png|General Teddie mocks the Shadow Operatives with an firework image of himself
Hinokagutsuchi appear in P4AU anime cutscene.jpg|Hinokagutsuchi appears in an anime cutscene of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Hi_no_Kagutsuchi_P4_Arena_Ultimax.png|Hi no Kagutsuchi as it appears in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Kagutsuchi_P4U_Concept_Art.jpg|Concept art
==Trivia==
* Before Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Hi-no-Kagutsuchi was often mistaken and speculated as Nyarlathotep due to his ability to voluntarily shapeshift, manifest fake Shadow Selves, his tendencies to manipulate and betray his surrogates Sho Minazuki and Labrys for his own goals; both him and Nyarlathotep share the same goal to induce mindless world destruction. A further coincidence is having them share the same English voice actor before the reveal of differing Japanese voice actors.
**Another coincidental tie to Nyarlathotep is Shadow-Mode/Fake Aigis in Ultimax using a similar black butterfly emblem as him.
Category:Japanese Mythology
Category:Fusion Spells
Category:Shin Megami Tensei NINE Demons
Category:Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE Demons
Category:Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Lone Marebito Demons
Category:Law Demons in Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE
Category:Final Bosses
Category:Persona 4 Arena Characters