• Name: Amaterasu
  • Religion: Shinto
  • Celebrity Inspo: Florence Henderson, Kate Bush

Amaterasu is a goddess of the sun and universe, as well as being a major deity of the Shinto religion. The first mention of her is found in a text from 680 CE. The myth says that she and her two brothers, Susanoo and Tsukuyomi, painted the landscape to create ancient Japan. Her relationship with her brothers, however, has never been easy: she created night and day by splitting from Tsukuyomi (the moon and her husband) when he killed the goddess Uke Mochi. When her brother Susanoo, the god of the sea and storms, destroyed her rice fields and killed one of her attendants in a fit of rage, she hid from him in a cave, depriving the world of light. She was only lured out again by the sight of her own reflection and the crowing of a rooster. According to legend, Amaterasu bequeathed to her descendant Ninigi: a mirror, a jewel, and a sword. All three collectively became the Imperial Regalia of Japan. In the comic, Amaterasu is the most benevolent of the pantheon so far. She responds calmly to criticism from Cassandra and inspires a sort of euphoria during her stage performance.

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