Yamata-no-Orochi

* "Splinter"
* Tōtsuka Sword
* Ancient

In *Mutant Ninja Turtles Gaiden*, the **Yamata-no-Orochi** is an ancient Shintō demon, and the primary antagonist of the story. Its background is explained in Chapter 21: *The Curse of "Yamata-no-Orochi"* and Chapter 22: *The Witch-Hunt of a Bloodline*, and largely explained through Karai's words. The curse of Yamata-no-Orochi is an important plot device in the story.

## Appearance

The demon was mythically described as "an eight-headed snake with eight tails and a constantly bloody and inflamed body that extended over eight valleys and eight hills." The Kusanagi Sword was formed from the remains of this ancient body. For millennia, the demon's soul is housed in the Tōtsuka Sword until its destruction by Splinter and Leonardo Hamato 17 years ago. In modern times, the demon's new vessel is the skeleton of a failed clone of Splinter, but with one large head and several smaller heads growing out of its neck.

## History

According to the myth, Yamata-no-Orochi reigned terror on the earth. But it was defeated by the god of sea and storms, Susano-o, who wielded the Tōtsuka Sword. Susano-o put the demon's eight heads to sleep with sake, and cut off every one.

After Susano-o severed the Yamata-no-Orochi's fourth tail, the demon's flesh caused the Tōtsuka Sword to become notched. When Susano-o tried to find out why the sword became notched, he discovered the Kusanagi Sword, which formed from the remains of Yamata-no-Orochi's body. With the Tōtsuka Sword damaged, Susano-o gave the Kusanagi Sword to his sister the sun goddess Amaterasu. She was the ancestor of the Japanese imperial family, and the Kusanagi became one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan along with the Yata-no-Kagami and the Yasakani-no-Magatama. The Tōtsuka Sword became forgotten, and this made the sword angry, allowing the demon's life force to join and become part of it and to imbue it with the curse of Yamata-no-Orochi.

The first person to touch the cursed Tōtsuka Sword was Morinaga, who had an eternal protection that Yamata-no-Orochi couldn't corrupt. Morinaga tried and failed to exorcise the demon from the sword, with the unintended result that the demon's soul blended with Morinaga's soul, and gaining a share of Morinaga's protection.

In the Prologue, the Tōtsuka Sword is destroyed by the coordinated actions of Hamato Splinter and his son Leonardo, with Splinter dying by Leonardo's own hand in the process. The moment Yamata-no-Orochi's sword vessel is lost, the Kusanagi Sword in Japan turns to dust and blows away, with its essence returning to the demon to prepare it for reawakening.

Meanwhile, the demon's life force is protected by the continuing existence of the Morinaga Bloodline—every living descendant of the original Morinaga. Karai's Foot Clan has tasked itself with exterminating every last Morinaga to prevent the demon's return and rampage.

According to Chapter 19: *Fragments of Truth Inside His Mind*, soon after the Tōtsuka Sword was destroyed, the newly cursed Donatello Hamato lost his grip on reality, and Yamata-no-Orochi started communicating telepathically directly into Donnie's mind, posing as the voice of Splinter. Through this, Donnie has become an unknowing servant of the demon, who has convinced the turtle that he is living in a false reality stolen from him by his brother Leonardo. **"Splinter"** instructs Donnie to clone and revive his body, but is actually being directed into reawakening Yamata-no-Orochi itself. Over 17 years, Donnie has been trying to perfect his cloning technology in secret. Meanwhile, the demon inhabits the skeleton of a failed Splinter clone which Donnie stores in a giant tube in his secret cloning lab.

In Chapter 17: *Between Cops and Ninjas* when Leonardo returns to his family after a 17 year absence, the demon strongly warns Donatello to keep away from him.