Yamata no Orochi

Yamata-no-Orochi (八岐の大蛇, "big snake of eight branches"; often called Orochi or the Eight-Forked Serpent in English), is a dragon- or serpent-like creature in Japanese mythology. In the ancient Japanese scripture, the Kojiki, after Susa-no-Ō is expelled from Heaven, he encounters two Kuni-tsu-Kami ("earthly deities") near the head of the Hi-i-gawa ("Hi'i river") in Izumo Province. They are weeping because they have had to give the Orochi one of their daughters once every year, and now they must sacrifice their eighth and last, whose name is Kushi-inada-hime.

The monster is described as having eight heads and eight tails and eyes as red as winter-cherries. It is so long its body extends over eight valleys and eight hills, its belly is always bloody and inflamed, and its back is covered with hikage (clubmoss), hinoki (Japanese cypress), and sugi (Japanese cedar).

Susa-no-Ō asks for Kushi-inada-hime's hand in marriage, and then transforms her into a comb (kushi) which he places in his hair. He then asks her parents to brew some sake that has been refined eight times, and then build a round enclosure with eight gates, each with a platform and a sake vat. They fill the sake vats and wait, and sure enough the Orochi appears. It dips a head into each vat, and is soon intoxicated, allowing Susa-no-Ō to cut it into pieces. When he cuts the middle tail, his sword is chipped, and there he finds the legendary sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.

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In the CCG Legend of the Five Rings, 'Orochi' is the name of a race of serpent creatures.
In both "The Three Treasures" and "Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon", Susanoo fights and kills Orochi.
The 'Grasscutter' story arc of the Usagi Yojimbo comic tells a version of the story of Susanoo and the Orochi in a flashback to explain the origin of the sword Kusanagi.
In The Eight-Headed Giant Serpent Strikes Back, a biomechanical version of the Orochi is sent by aliens to destroy the Earth.
The Orochi is a boss monster in the role-playing game Dragon Quest III. It terrorizes the city of 'Jipang,' and when killed yields a unique and powerful sword.
The Orochi was inspiration for Orochimon from Digimon, an eight-headed, dragon-like Digimon.
In Shaman King, Tokagero's Giant Oversoul form is called Yamata no Orochi.
In the animated series Blue Seed, Orochi is the first of the Aragami, a race of plant-based demon-beings, to appear.
The Orochi is a character in King of Fighters, and his storyline spans the first few games.
In the action game Otogi, the main character Raikoh must escape from the Yamata no Orochi.
In the anime series Kannazuki no Miko, the Orochi is the name of the god of darkness. His servants are the "Eight Necks".
In Samurai Warriors, Nobunaga Oda's fifth weapon is called "Orochi." (In Samurai Warriors 2 his fourth weapon is called Orochi no Aramasa [蛇之麁正] in the Japanese version.)
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks introduces Orochi Hellbeast, a towering, demonic creature from the Netherrealm.
In Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls, the Yamatano Orochi is a multi-headed enemy fought in random encounters.
In Golden Sun: The Lost Age, the Orochi (in the Japanese vesion in the English it is called serpent) is portrayed as a Chinese dragon that has to be weakened by light orbs before it can be killed.
In the game Mega Man Zero, there is a mechaniloid boss called Orochi-Arm Metalcore.
In the manga and anime Ranma ½, the character Orochi is similar to its mythological counterpart with the exception that one of the heads actually makes up its main body.
In Yu-Gi-Oh! there is a monster card called the Yamata Dragon.
In the manga and anime Naruto, there is a character named Orochimaru who uses a number of snake-oriented ninja techniques and who wields the Kusanagi.
Orochi is a minor boss in Metal Saga.
In the Kamigawa expansion for the CCG Magic: The Gathering, Orochi is a term for a four-armed snake-person who dwells in the forests. An eight-headed serpent spirit named O-Kagachi is also based on the Orochi.
An Orochi is featured in the first season of Akazukin Chacha.
Within the original .Hack video game series, the beastiary includes a snake species called Orochi.
In the video game Ōkami by Capcom, Orochi is the main antagonist during the first half of the game. Orochi terrorizes a small village that must sacrifice their most beautiful maiden to the eight-headed snake-like demon each year at the time of the full-moon festival. The main character is featured as Amaterasu (traditionally known as the goddess of the sun) in wolf-form, whose main purpose is to destroy Orochi and all of his servants (or masters) of darkness and restore light unto the world.
In Final Fantasy XII, there is a ninja sword named Orochi.
In the Kamen Rider Hibiki movie Kamen Rider Hibiki & The Seven War Demons, the Kamen Riders, or "Oni", face off against a fearsome Makamō demon named Orochi, to whom the people of a certain village are forced to sacrifice their daughters.
In Koei's crossover video game of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi, the main villain and antagonist is an evil demon called Orochi who disrupts both time and space. Accidentally, he puts the warriors from the Three Kingdoms period of China and the Sengoku period of Japan, they must unite to defeat Orochi. Orochi is also a playable character.
In the game Dragon Warrior Monsters, there is a monster obtainable named Orochi that resembles a green dragon or hydra with 5 heads.
It also appears in Dragon Warrior III, as a monster that demands a female sacrifice to appease it, also as a green dragon or hydra with 5 heads.
There is a prog rock band called Orochi, in which their songs are all based around Yamata no Orochi arising after being dead for 2000 years. (Their album "Orochi" is described as a Rock Opera, about the 8 headed dragon)
The Yamato no Orochi is in InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler when Kagome's grandfather tells Sota a legend of where the Sounga comes from.
In Final Fantasy XI, there's a necklace called, "Orochi Nodawa."
In the Phantasy Star Online series, there is a Katana called "Orochi Agito".

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References

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