Japanese mythology includes a vast number of gods, goddesses, and spirits. Most of the stories concern the creation of the world, the foundation of the islands of Japan, and the activities of deities, humans, animals, spirits, and magical creatures...
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Tengu are a kind of yokai that appear in several forms in Japanese folklore. In Okami, we also have a few different kinds of tengu: the Crow Tengu and the Great Tengu. Waka’s design is also heavily based on tengu.
Tengu originated from the Chinese tiangou, a deity depicted as either a black dog or a meteor that ate the sun during an eclipse. Even though tengu have nothing to do with dogs, the name still means “sky dog” or “heavenly dog”. How these changes occurred is unknown, but their image continued to change once they appeared in Japanese folklore. Tengu did used to be seen as destructive, but their image weakened over time. They were still considered powerful and dangerous, but sometimes even comic.
In appearance, tengu are a mix of human and avian. They typically have wings, and may have either a bird-like beaked face or a goblin-like face with a long nose. The former used to be more common, but it transitioned to the latter over time. (Smaller beaked tengu are often called karasu tengu, or crow tengu, which are still popular. Karasu tengu now typically resemble crows or ravens.) Now the tengu’s nose has become iconic, and is an important part of some stories. They often lord over mountains. In some stories, tengu are angered when humans trespass on their mountains. Mount Kurama is a mountain northwest of Kyoto that is famous for its tengu; it is said to be the birthplace of Sōjōbō, the king of the tengu, and the mentor of swordsmanship to Minamoto no Yoshitsune (i.e. Ushiwaka).
Eventually, tengu came to be associated with yamabushi, Buddhist hermits who lived in the mountains, and now tengu are usually seen wearing clothing like a Buddhist priest’s. They also wield feathered fans which have the power to create great winds; infamously they may also have the power to change the length of one’s nose.
In Okami, the Great Tengu most closely resembles the tengu you find in art and tales. It has monk’s clothes, a red face, long nose, and even longer mask-nose that doubles as its feathered fan, bushy hair, wings, and bird feet. This is the kind of powerful tengu that would rule over mountain domains. Interestingly, the bestiary describes that the Great Tengu used to be a human who cloistered himself in the mountains, and trained until he achieved great powers. This is somewhat ironic considering that tengu usually disliked humans, it but gives reason to the monk’s clothes. The Great Tengu’s giant mask is based on actual tengu masks, which might be worn for a play or a festival.
The Crow Tengu also has fans and monk’s clothes, but is considerably more demonic, being a combination of a crow and a dead swordsman. With a bird’s face, four eyes, and wings, its only human characteristics are its swordfighting and its clothes. The white robe with red is typical of Shinto rather than Buddhist priests, though the hat and beads are Buddhist.
