Ōkami

Long ago, in The Time of Myths, the eight-headed serpent Orochi lorded over the village of Kamiki, demanding a sacrifice to himself every year on the night of the full moon. During the weeks before the day which the sacrifice would be chosen, a large white wolf - dubbed Shiranui by the villagers - would be spotted roaming the outskirts of the village. Many of the villagers suspected that Shiranui was Orochi's Familiar. One warrior, Nagi, made it his mission to slay the wolf, but every time they would meet Shiranui would manage to get away.

On the night of the 100th sacrifice, a maiden by the name of Nami - whom Nagi harbored strong feelings for - was selected to be offered to Orochi. Refusing to accept this, Nagi traveled to Orochi's cave to destroy the monster. However, Orochi proved to be far too strong for Nagi, and it appeared that he would kill the man.

But when Orochi was about to deal the final blow, a howl was heard. Shiranui appeared and fought Orochi in Nagi's place, matching the serpent blow by blow. In the end, the wolf gave his life so that Nagi could deal the final blow. In Shiranui's honor, a shrine was constructed in Kamiki village and the sword that slew Orochi, dubbed Tsukuyomi, was sealed away in the snake's cave in order to prevent his revival. All the while, the villagers never realized that, in reality, the wolf was sun goddess Amaterasu in physical form.

100 years after these events an unnamed man, acting on his own curiosity, removes Tsukuyomi from Orochi's cave, allowing Orochi to revive himself and spread his influence over most of Nippon.

Sakuya, wood sprite and guardian of Kamiki village, realized that something needed to be done and revived Amaterasu's body so that she may defeat Orochi once more. However, both her death and Nippon's loss of faith in the gods has left Amaterasu greatly weakened. Adding the fact that Nagi's descendant, Susano, appears to be useless, it looks like it will be a severely uphill battle for Amaterasu to defeat Orochi...

... And that's just the intro of the game.

Made by Clover Studios, this is an action/adventure game in the vein of The Legend of Zelda series, except using classic Japanese Mythology and folklore as the basis of its setting. Players take on the role of Amaterasu, a Physical Goddess who takes on the form of a white wolf to battle the forces of darkness that are sweeping across ancient Japan. She wields a magic paintbrush that can be used to alter reality and is accompanied by a tiny loudmouth named Issun. Amaterasu and Issun travel across Japan fighting evil, gaining new magical powers, meeting a cast of odd and eccentric characters, and living out the "true stories" behind many of Japan's most famous myths.

A sequel was released for Nintendo DS by the name of Ōkamiden, starring Amaterasu's son Chibiterasu.

In 2010, Amaterasu joined the playable roster of Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

In August 9, 2018, Ōkami was release on the PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and eventually the Switch.

Tropes used in Ōkami include:
  • Acclaimed Flop: It's hard to think that the most beloved work of Clover Studios is also the one that led to their dissolution... (for a little while).
  • A God Am I: A downplayed heroic example. Nagi declares himself the guardian deity of Kamiki Village. Fits only partially, since in Shinto local heroes are pretty much expected to become kami after death.
    • The Japanese kami is usually identified with the English deity, if only because it is a genderless word and applies to both Male and Female "celestial beings". Kami literally means top or above, and only figuratively does it apply to "celestial beings". Technically speaking, there is no such thing as god(s) in Shinto.
  • A God Is You: Type A.
  • Abnormal Ammo: The only way to defeat the twin clockwork owls is to dizzy them and then shoot Oki at them.
  • Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Onigiri-sensei Averts this trope.
  • Absolute Cleavage: Sakuya and Rao.
  • Allergic to Evil: The whole world. Since evil is portrayed as contamination or pollution, everyone suffers. The most obvious example is the Blight which prostrates Sei-an City.
  • All Your Powers Combined: Of a sort. Part of the goal is to collect the powers of all the other brush gods that you lost from sleeping for 100 years. After that, you get to use them all yourself at any time.
  • Already Done for You: Waka restores the guardian sapling in N. Ryoshima Coast.
  • Anachronism Stew: "Ammy's a wolf, not a Speedboat!"
    • The whole game is riddled with it, since it meshes Shinto mythology with actual historical records, and then scrambles them out of chronology. Nagi, Nami, Sakuya, Amaterasu and Susano are kami (deities) related to the birth of the world; Queen Himiko is based on a semi-legendary shaman queen from the Yayoi Period from 3rd century BC; the Kaguya subplot is taken from the 10th century Tale of the Bamboo Cutter; Waka (who speaks with a French accent) and Benkei are historical warriors from the late Heian Period (ca. 12th century) and the characters Issun, Rao, Urashima and Momotarō are taken from latter Muromachi and Edo Period folk tales.
  • Ancient Astronauts: The Japanese folk tale of Kaguya, a child found inside a bamboo shoot by a bamboo cutter, turns out to be the tale of an alien princess whose spaceship resembles a giant stalk of bamboo --as well as her suit, which comes complete with a clear glass helmet. Also, the Celestials and the forces of darkness also arrived on Nippon from another physical world, using the Ark of Yamato as a spaceship.
  • Androcles' Lion: A species-inverted version of this drives the entire plot -- the strange white "wolf" who helps everyone succeed is in turn rescued by their prayers and praise.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: The New Game+ gives you the 'Karmic Transformers', which change Amaterasu into various dogs and wolves - including Shiranui.
  • Anime Theme Song: Ayaka Hirahara on "Reset" during the ending credits.
  • Anticlimax: Yami's death. To be fair, it's kinda hard to top Issun's Crowning Moment of Awesome / Heart Warming, but still, when you beat it for a second it starts rumbling and making like it's about to explode and then just randomly vanishes in a puff of smoke.
  • Art Attacker: Amaterasu uses her tail as a brush to cast spells.
  • Art Initiates Life: Literally.
  • Artifact of Doom: The fox rods.
  • Ascended Extra: Yami is the final boss in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and the given explanation why all the characters in that game meet up together.
  • Award Bait Song: "Reset"
  • Barrier Maiden: Sakuya, whose trees ward off evil, has been turned into Sealed Good in a Can. Only by rejuvenating the trees can the area's cursed zone be lifted. Later, the priestess in the Gale Shrine kept the area safe, but when an Oni nearly possessed her it was quickly becoming a cursed zone.
  • Badass Adorable: Issun; also Amaterasu, when she's not busy being a Big Badass Wolf.
  • Bamboo Technology: Kaguya came to earth in a giant bamboo spaceship.
  • Bathos: Done intentionally in the second (of three) battle with Orochi. Nagi tries to look awesome, but it's hard to take him seriously when he's dressed in women's clothing... and even harder when he falls flat on his face jumping into battle.
  • Batman Gambit: Queen Himiko lets Rao/Ninetails regain the Fox Rods, and thus ultimate power, in order to use that power to find Oni Island.
    • And Shiranui's plot to get Kutone glowing again to open the way to the Ark of Yamato and thus to Yami and the Celestial Plain (which involves a Stable Time Loop). And you have to admit that Orochi seemed Crazy Prepared, too, waiting for one of Nagi's descendants to unwittingly pull Tsukuyomi out of Orochi's seal so he would curse the world, not to mention tempt said descendant so he could complete the blood pact and give the giant snake "dark powers beyond comprehension". And if that failed, well, he'd die and then subsequently release the souls of the four other major baddies to take over the world... AND Waka seemed to know exactly what was going on and was trying to set Amaterasu up to get her to the Celestial Plain, too. Really, when you think about it, this game's plot is a Gambit Pileup.
  • Benevolent Architecture: And how! The vine flowers that the player uses to jump around tend to be particularly egregious.
  • Berserk Button: Don't call Issun a bug. He's a wandering artist.
  • BFS:
    • The Glaives.
    • Susano's sword and the Tsukuyomi also count.
  • Big Badass Wolf: Aside from Amaterasu, there is also the entire Oina tribe. Oki is especially badass, but also incredibly selfish.
  • Big Friendly Dog: Amaterasu again. She jumps up on Waka and licks his face at the end of the game.
  • Big Heroic Run: Anytime "Giving Kushinada a Ride" plays, it'll always be during these moments.
  • Bishounen: Waka, even if he doesn't have a mouth.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Again, Waka. All the freaking time.
  • The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: Whenever you disarm Blight. Possibly justified since the blade itself is the actual adversary.
  • Bleak Level: Sei-an City under Blight, the sunken ship, Yoshpet Forest, and most of the dungeons.
  • Body Horror:
    • Evil Rao.
    • Blight, to an extent.
    • What you do to the Water Dragon while inside him.
  • Booze-Based Buff: Magical sake plays the role of the game's signature power-up, and is available from every vendor in the game.
  • Boss Arena Idiocy: Very frequently, the Boss Room will contain exactly what you need to defeat said boss, even − especially! − if there is no reason for it to be here whatsoever. Against Orochi, there are finely disposed basins to pour the booze. Against Kyūbi, the Twin Demons and Yami, there will be torches, waterfalls or thunderous clouds at your disposal all around the room. Let's admit it makes sense to have thunderous clouds above Oni Island or Iriwaku temple, but inside a ship?!
    • As to Orochi, if I remember my legends right, he loved two things; booze and babes. The sacrificial maiden in the game was probably accompanied by a bottle (or keg, more likely) of sake. The basins might have been where the Sake was traditionally placed. As for Yami, that fight actually takes place on the deck (the top) of the Ark of Yamato. I believe the main instance of Boss Arena Idiocy is the fact that there are Konohana Blossoms in the Spider Queen's boss chamber...as well as the various Bandit Spiders throughout the game. Which also have torches. At the bottom of random cavernous holes in the ground. What.
  • Boss Rush: Almost every (non-Visual Novel) Capcom game in existence has a boss rush at the end. It's what they do.
  • Boss Subtitles: Scrolls, actually, and for every enemy the first time they're fought in addition to bosses.
  • Bragging Rights Reward: See Infinity+1 Sword below.
  • Brick Joke:
    • PlayStation 2 version only -- A Poncle will offer to design a seal for you. If you accept, you don't see your seal design again until a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene after the credits. (This does not appear in the Wii version because the original credits and that scene were cut out.)
    • An earlier one also appears, when you try to get into Orochi's lair you need to find a paper mask. After finding it, you can put any symbol you want on the mask. Once you reach Sei-an City and defeat Blight you'll see a little girl putting various drawings on the floors and walls. The first picture she does? The same symbol you put on your mask.
  • Broken Bridge: Real broken bridges, cursed zones, a huge rock blocking a path, a raised drawbridge...
  • Bullet Time: The Mist brush technique.
    • Lampshaded by the sheep when you learn the technique. He gets pummeled by every attack.
  • But Thou Must!: Frequently Lampshaded.
  • By the Eyes of the Blind: Only people with some spiritual sensitivity can see Amaterasu's Facial Markings. In addition, only Poncles still hold the ability to understand gods, which is how Issun is able to speak with her despite her apparent muteness.
  • Call a Hit Point a Smeerp: Solar Discs and Ink serve the function of Hit Points and Skill Points.
  • The Cameo: Not in the game, but Ammy herself in fellow Capcom published game Asura's Wrath. Considering both of these games are based on Asian Mythology, it makes sense.
  • Camera Abuse: Hasugami accidentally hits the "camera" and makes cracks appear on the screen before giving you his brush technique.
  • Canis Major: Ninetails, an enormous fox.
  • The Cape (trope): Susano, after his level-up. And it is glorious.
  • Cape Wings: Waka's hat.
  • Carnivore Confusion: Averted. Amaterasu, though a wolf, never eats anything but Holy Bones, fruits and vegetables, or prepared foods. She doesn't even eat the fish from the various fishing games. And the wild critters of the woods have no fear of her.
  • The Catfish: Whopper, who ate the reflection of the moon, a "living sword" (i.e. swordfish), and the Legendary Marlin.
  • Cats Are Mean:
    • Amaterasu bonds with Kabegami by batting Issun around like a toy mouse.
    • Gekigami, a tiger, is a bigger offender in this department, briefly firing off his arrows at Amaterasu. Both cats, however, prove to be just as friendly and respectful as the other brush gods once all's said and done.
    • Annoy the tigers and they'll take a swipe at you.
  • Charged Attack: The glaives, primary and secondary versions.
  • Cherry Tapping: Killing enemies with the Golden Fury or Brown Rage techniques.
  • Chest Monster: On the sunken ship.
  • The Chessmaster:
    • Ninetails. While Orochi's confined to the Moon Cave and Yami seems to be happy acting as a vague monster-spawning Ultimate Evil, Ninetails does everything in her power to make sure she and her stronghold are completely unassailable. It almost worked, too, as Amaterasu breached Oni Island with only minutes left to spare.
    • Speaking of that sublplot, Himiko, whose Thanatos Gambit beats out Ninetails in the end.
  • Chiaroscuro
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Issun. Heavy on the perv, light on the chivalry.
  • City Guards
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe: How the main character gets more powerful. Clapping gives Praise and with Praise the character can be upgraded. This is also how Ammy gets her second wind against the True Final Boss.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Amaterasu herself doesn't seem totally in touch with events most of the time, and acts more like a dog than a goddess. Usually she's in the habit of taking naps or trying to play fetch with ancient and priceless artifacts during long conversation.
  • Collapsing Lair: The Moon Cave and the Water Dragon's body.
  • Combined Energy Attack: The collective power of prayer all over Nippon restores Amaterasu to full godhood.
  • Compressed Hair: Waka.
  • Cool Gate: The Spirit Gate, Devil Gates, and Golden Gates.
  • Cool Old Guy: Onigiri Sensei, whose head turns upside down when he goes Badass.
    • Also Mr. Orange, who has some mean dance moves.
  • Cosmic Plaything: Susano becomes convinced he's one. He's not really far off.
  • Crossover: Amaterasu is a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Yami is the final boss in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Susano. Eventually.
  • Cryptic Conversation: Every single one of Waka's prophecies, and most of his regular conversation too.
    • Subverted, in a way, since the important parts of his dialogue are highlighted in red font.
  • Cue the Sun: Not only can Amaterasu invoke this at will, it's how she defeats the Big Bad.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: After defeating the first forms of Yami, it grabs Amaterasu during her victory howl, draining her power. When that fails, it opts to instead block itself every time Amaterasu uses her Celestial Brush.
  • Darkest Hour: The Day of Darkness, in every sense of the word.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Technology, it seems. Ultimate Evil Yami is heavily implied to be the originator of technology and Lechku and Nechku are mechanical beings, but Waka's Tao Warriors use Magitek computers and helping a Mechanist with his invention strengthens Amaterasu with the Power of Lightning.
  • Dead All Along: Shortly after handing the Fox Rods over to Rao, Amaterasu and Issun see a vision in which she's being pursued by some powerful, evil force. Naturally they go rushing to aid her at her temple, where an apparition leads them through a secret tunnel to the palace - at which point "Rao" reveals that she's actually Ninetails. Issun realizes that the vision you saw was from when the real Rao was killed (well before the game began), making the identity of a certain desiccated corpse you passed in the tunnel all too clear.
  • Degraded Boss: The Bandit Spiders, which are optional minibosses found in holes scattered throughout the land. They are all upgrades of the first (main) boss.
  • Demon Slaying: This is Amaterasu's mission, along with restoring Nippon to its former beauty.
  • De-Power: Only natural after nearly dying and being Sealed Good in a Can for a hundred years. The sequel Ret Cons this as actually dying and being reincarnated/the daughter of Shiranui (which is not really clear).
  • Despair Event Horizon: Amaterasu comes perilously close to crossing it during the final Yami battle.
  • Developers' Foresight: Near the beginning of the game, you are to pick up Susano from his hut, and carry him a short distance to destroy a boulder. However, all of the villagers in the city have something to comment (usually of how Susano should be training instead of messing around with a dog), and even dragging him to the Shrine of Nagi nets you a special comment.
    • For that matter, you can do lots of random things with your brush before you get certain brushstrokes (usually limited to creating flowers or such, but it also changes the more previous brushstrokes you have).
    • If you try to call the sun before you reach the high point of the village, Issun will ask what you're trying to accomplish by drawing a circle in the sky. Later after you've 'learned' the technique he'll reference your earlier attempt and ask if you're witholding any other techniques.
  • Diagonal Cut
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:
    • Inverted; you may be a god, but quite a few mortals manage to give you quite a thrashing.
    • Played straight with the last boss, though--few things are as satisfying as punching out some kind of unholy creature of pure darkness a fish-shaped... thing.. in a giant mecha.
  • Difficulty Spike: Ninetails is quite a bit more troublesome than any boss in the game so far. The trend continues afterward with Kamui and its much more ferocious enemies.
  • Disc One Final Dungeon: Moon Cave.
  • Disney Death: Waka - averted at the end.
  • Doomed by Canon: In-universe example -- Amaterasu and Issun wind up reenacting the battle with Orochi 100 years in the past. Issun, remembering that this one ended with Amaterasu dying, is very nervous. They defeat Orochi without incident but Shiranui appears in time to save Nagi from a falling boulder -- and Shiranui, as we find out later, is already dying from a mortal wound inflicted elsewhere.
  • Double Jump
  • The Dragon: All the big climactic bosses, but most notably Orochi and Ninetails.
  • Dronejam: Himiko's palace guards block your way if you try to get in; you can only get past them by using Veil of Mist.
  • Drunken Master: Mr. Orange, though Susano and even Amaterasu get a fighting edge by drinking special sake.
  • Dub Name Change: An odd example… the names in the US version were not exactly changed but those who had four syllables or more (except Amaterasu) were shortened. Izanagi becomes Nagi, Kushinada becomes Kushi, Ushiwaka becomes Waka, Tsuzurao becomes Rao, Okikurumi becomes Oki, etc. Also, the Koropokkuru became the Poncles and Ponkotan became Ponctan (this is more debatable though since the Ainu words are a rather complex issue).
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: And how. You do 99% of the work needed to slay Orochi, destroy Oni island, take down thousands of demons, restore beauty to Nippon, and master the powers of explosions, fire, wind and water. And most people will still call you demeaning nicknames until the finale.
    • They'll also take credit for your work.
  • Dual-Wielding: Waka will occasionally use his normal bladed sword in reverse grip style in conjunction with Pillow Talk.
  • Dung Fu: The upgrade to the Golden Fury, "Brown Rage", which involves Amaterasu taking a dog-doo, followed by it, er... exploding on the enemy.
  • Eastern Zodiac: The brush techniques are taught by the various members of said zodiac, with Amaterasu herself taking the role of the Dog. It also includes the Cat, and references the story about it being left out--see the entry on the Eastern Zodiac in Just-So Story.
  • Eldritch Abomination: Yami is explicitly described as being so alien it is never represented in human or animal shape.
  • Elemental Powers: Earth! Wind! Fire! Water! And most definitely Heart!. Several enemies are susceptible to the opposite element.
  • Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Combined with Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Rao, if Amaterasu's rapt attention is anything to go by.
    • Technically Amateratsu as a god is genderless, she was just assigned female pronouns in translation for simplicity since the English gender neutral, "it" doesn't work well. Note that her previous incarnation, Shiranui, is referred to with male pronouns, reflecting the translation confusion.
    • While Amaterasu is clearly a female goddess, the wolf body she inhabits is arguably male if you consider that 1) so was Shiranui, 2) the reaction towards Rao and 3) the Golden Fury technique, which has the wolf raise a leg to pee rather than sit down, which is how male canines do it.
    • Anyone who's ever had a female dog before knows that sometimes they will raise a leg to pee as well.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Played straight with Waka with his Tao Troopers, who all adore him. Averted with Issun, who can't stand him.
  • Evil Old Folks: Mr. and Mrs. Cutter.
  • Everything Trying to Kill You: A mild example: the Yoshpet Forest.
  • Evil Counterpart: Ninetails, evil fox that also can use Celestial Brush.
  • Exposition Fairy: Issun Boshi.
  • Extra Eyes: A feature of some monsters.
  • Eye Scream:
    • In this game, locks are sentient. The keyhole in in their eye. You open them by shoving a key in the eye. However, there's the small matter of how they happen to be demonic monsters. So it's totally okay. Even nastier, the locks don't just sit there when you're running about. They watch you as long as you're in line of sight, stick their tongues out at you, and laugh uproariously when you try to open the door without the key. When you approach them with a key, however, their attitude changes dramatically. Watching them futilely sweat and struggle to get away despite being locked in place is quite pathetic.
    • Amaterasu also defeats the Spider Queen by destroying her eight eyes.
  • Facial Markings: Amaterasu, though they're Invisible to Normals.
  • Fake Ultimate Hero:
    • Susano, though he ends up being a Real Ultimate Hero by flipping out and killing Orochi to save his Love Interest turned Damsel in Distress.
    • Nagi himself also serves this role, as when you first meet him in person, he's every bit as lazy and cowardly as Susano. And like Susano, he ends up being a Real Ultimate Hero when it's all over.
  • Famous Ancestor: Nagi to Susano.
    • Shiranui to Amaterasu?
  • Fan Service: This game really likes breasts, for better or for worse. Sakuya's outfit and dialogue, as well as Rao's, are incredibly suggestive. Although, aside from those characters, almost everyone is flat-chested.
    • Somewhat subverted, though, when you consider that Sakuya's final form was originally going to be completely naked.
  • Fantastic Voyage: Twice, once when Amaterasu is shrunk and defeats the Blight inside the Emperor of Sei-An and when Amaterasu has to recover the Dragon Orb from inside the Water Dragon.
  • Fast Forward Mechanic: There are brush techniques to bring day and night. The technique to call the sun is learned in the first hour of gameplay, the one to call the moon is learned only after about a dozen hours of gameplay.
  • Fastball Special:
    • Amaterasu gets to shoot Oki at the Twin Owls as a projectile weapon. There is also a late-game accessory which allows you to throw Issun at enemies for items.
    • During the gameplay segments when the player controls a miniaturized Amaterasu, Issun teaches her how to command him to fly out and attack targets. The aforementioned accessory enables this skill outside of those areas.
  • Fertile Paws:
    • Amaterasu. Bonus: after you get the "Bloom" ability, the flowers that grow behind you get "upgraded." And if you get the Water Tablet, you trail lilypads when you Walking on Water.
    • Sakuya also seems to generate cherry blossoms wherever she manifests.
  • Final Exam Boss: Yami. Be prepared to draw brush techniques that you probably haven't touched since the first dungeon.
  • Finishing Move: After you drain an enemy of its health, you can earn Demon Fangs by finishing them with a proper brush technique.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: Amaterasu eventually learns to control all three. Also, the three ultimate weapons are perpetually lit up with their corresponding elements so you never have to look for a source to draw them from.
  • Fishing Minigame: A very lucrative one, and one made easier in the Wii version due to waggle replacing timed button presses.
  • Fisticuffs Boss: The battle with Yami begins with Amaterasu's divine power being drained completely, reducing her to her basic wolf form with no special powers. The remainder of the battle consists of you slowly beating your own power out of the God of Darkness.
  • Fog of Doom: The curse that is slowly killing the inhabitants of Sei-an City, caused by a demon inside the Emperor.
  • Follow the Leader: Come on, you don't see it? Silent protagonist, occasionally annoying sidekick, fish catching game, Barrier Maiden, fragments of extra life, Time Travel. If it wasn't for the importance of sake and Rao, people would mistake this for a Nintendo game. Amaterasu even has the same repertoire of equipment as Link. (Word of God is that the game was directly inspired by the Legend of Zelda series.).
  • Foreshadowing: During every encounter with Waka, the "half-baked prophet" will dish out vague predictions of events to come. There are also many clues given by the game itself, such as Orochi's spirit flying off after his defeat, and even minor ones like the Cutter house not being frozen by the cursed zone in Taka pass.
  • Fractured Fairy Tale: Much of the game subverts and references famous Japanese Mythology, folklore, and fairy tales - implying that parts were exaggerated, downplayed, or Lost in Imitation over the centuries.
    • Mythological Susano was a powerful warrior. Ōkami's Susano, not so much (until he slays Orochi).
    • The game's presentation of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, on the other hand, is almost entirely accurate...except for the fact that the "shining bamboo stalk" she was found in turned out to be an enormous spaceship shaped like a bamboo shoot.
  • Free Sample Plot Coupon: One of the earliest sidequests triggers this: in Shinshu Field, a priest asks Amaterasu to hunt down five criminal demons, each marked with a sacred arrow. As soon as the titular wolf exits the priest's house to start the search, night falls and the first criminal demon challenges her to a fight.
  • Friend to All Living Things: She is a benevolent goddess of the sun and addressed several times as "Mother to us all", so it should be expected.
  • Fungus Humongous: The mushrooms start at a normal size, but with a bit of sunlight they become enormous.
  • Furry Fandom: A lot of furries seem to like this game.
  • Gambit Pileup: Go on, look at the spoiler under The Plan. I dare you.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation/Cutscene Power to the Max: Amaterasu can do several moves in cutscenes that aren't possible in actual gameplay.
  • Generation Xerox: You see that this is the case when you travel back to Kamiki Village 100 years ago.
  • Genre Blind:
    • Issun. "Flowers like this always have treasure inside!"
    • There's also the bit when you see a girl locked up and crying, facing away from our heroes. Issun, by this point, fully expects her to be a monster when she turns around. She's actually the very attractive and innocent Kaguya.
    • When you travel to Kamiki 100 years ago, Issun doesn't catch on until the sacrifical arrow appears. Despite a younger Sakuya (because of her undeveloped voice, she says Shakuya), a sprout where Konohana is supposed to be, everyone attacking Amaterasu and calling her Orochi's familiar Shiranui, and the local warrior calling himself Nagi.
  • Genre Shift: So, you're running about feudal Japan during the Age of Myths, hunting down the Man Behind the Man, and then... you end up fighting in a spaceship.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar:
    • During the night of the Moon Festival, if you talk to Mr. Orange he'll note the suspicious absence of Kushi and Susano and hope that Kushi hasn't been possessed. Issun follows: "I don't think it's an evil spirit that's possessing her right now..."
    • One of the techniques you can buy from the dojo is "Golden Fury," which coaxes extra Demon Fangs out of enemies by... peeing on them.
      • The upgrade is exploding dog turds.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Yami.
  • Go Back to the Source: The end had Amaterasu confront the ultimate darkness at the Ark of Yamato, the vessel from which all monsters arrived from the Celestial Realm.
  • God Is Good: No problem is too big or small to be tackled by Amaterasu, though she is far from an enabler. A big part of the game is helping other people to recognize their own hidden potential. Oh yeah, and she kills the ultimate evil in the universe, so there's that.
  • God Test: Occurs repeatedly, since faith in the gods is at a low ebb. Amaterasu sometimes displays a wicked sense of humor in answering them.
  • God Was My Co-Pilot: A rare protagonist example: Amaterasu is a sun goddess in the from of a white wolf. The player knows this from the beginning, however, most of the people she runs into don't and mistake her for a dog or normal wolf, as they can't see the flaming shield or the unusual red markings.
  • Go for the Eye: The Spider Queen's only vulnerability. And there are eight of them.
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: Amaterasu uses Mr. Orange as a weapon against a trio of imps, and she later learns the technique to shoot Oki and Issun at enemies for damage.
  • Gods Need Prayer Badly: In addition to earning Praise with which she buys upgrades, Amaterasu becomes a full-fledged god again at the end of the game when Issun convinces the entire world to pray for her.
  • God Save Us From the Queen: Queen Himiko, subverted, as she's actually praying for the safety of all Nippon and sacrifices herself to reveal the location of Oni Island.
  • Gondor Calls for Aid: See Crowning Moment of Heartwarming above.
  • Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: You have to steal Nami's robe while she bathes in order to disguise Nagi as the sacrificial maiden.
  • Go Out with a Smile: Tobi becomes a little flower for Amaterasu.
  • Gotta Catch Them All:
    • The Celestial Brush techniques, some of which need to be found before moving on to certain parts of the story.
    • Not mentioning treasures, animals to feed, fishes to catch, martial arts to learn, bestiary to complete, traveler scrolls to find-- even if these are all optional, they're still things to catch for the poor completionist attempting them.
  • Gratuitous French: Waka in the US version, ma chérie.
  • Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: Gravitational Cognizance occurs in one cutscene.
  • Green Aesop: Being at one with nature means harmony for all.
  • Grim Up North: Kamui.
  • Guide Dang It:
    • Several of the Stray Beads can only be found after completing the second-to-last area, but before entering The Very Definitely Final Dungeon, which is beyond the point of no return. Also, good luck finding all 100 without a guide.
    • Also, The last cherry tree is the one on Mr. Cherry's head.
    • The game (Wii version at least) never tells you how to use rapid fire beads properly when they're equipped as sub weapons (tapping Z only lets you fire one shot every few seconds). You'll be forgiven if you spend the game only equipping shotgun beads if you could help it. Glaives equipped in the secondary slot can be charged as well, but holding Z does nothing.
    • The only hint that the Ice Storm brush technique is gained along with Blizzard is in the fight with Ninetails, who would occasionally use it when the player pulls up the brush screen. You can paint a "snowflake" (an X with a horizontal line through the middle) which causes ice shards to rain down and freeze multiple targets. The size of the drawing determines the strength of the attack and how many ink pots are consumed.
  • Hailfire Peaks: Gang Plank Galleon + Big Boo's Haunt = The cursed ship.
  • Hair of Gold: Kaguya and Waka. It's actually a trait of the Moon Tribe.
  • Half Human Hybrids: Oki and the rest of the Oina tribe are part animal. This is never explained.
  • Hammerspace: Where Amaterasu and her friends seem to keep their weapons (and other supplies) when not using them.
  • Harmless Freezing: It costs a little health, but being frozen solid doesn't hurt Amaterasu or other creatures all that much.
    • Fight Oki and say that again when he uses ice spears to combo you to death, seriously, fail to dodge one ice spear and you get hit by at least three of em.
  • Henohenomoheji: Distant NPCs have the henohenomoheji face in their thought bubbles.
  • Heroic Mime: Amaterasu, being a wolf, doesn't talk; she makes various wolfish noises and finds other ways to express her emotions instead.
    • Issune, Waka, and certain others can understand what she says. It's implied that she speaks telepatically, as she didn't bark or anything when Issune mentions that she said "Resolve". It's also implied that she says what you choose with yes/no choices.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Shiranui.
  • Have You Seen My God?
  • Head Pet: Issun spends most of his time bouncing on Amaterasu's forehead or nose.
  • Heart Container: The Solar Fragments.
  • The Heartless: Subverted with Tobi, who just wants a good race. Actually, most of the oni (The imps, at least) are just a bunch of goofy guys. They may be serving up poor Kushi, but to them, it's just how they live. And imp merchants are always happy to do battle.. er, business.. with Amaterasu.
  • He Knows About Timed Hits: Issun.
  • Heroic Lineage: Susano.
  • Hidden Elf Village: Subverted. The Poncles, who otherwise fit most of the trope, are probably the only ones who seem to care about, or even notice, the decline of the gods.
  • Holy Hand Grenade: The exorcism slips produce increasingly large hemispheres of destruction. On a more literal note, the Cherry Bomb technique, especially Shiranui's
  • Holy Halo: The Flame Tablet, and later Amaterasu's fully powered form seems a lot like a sun's corona.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Zig-zagged with Issun, who is completely deceived by Ninetails and is suspicious of several sympathetic and noble characters (until he sees that they are beautiful women, that is). On the other hand, he was the first besides Sakuya to join Amaterasu.
    • To be fair, he was starting to get suspicious of the latter spoiler until Ammy took a good look at her and handed over the item in question.
    • Also out of all these people he mistakenly trusts, he never trusted Waka.
  • Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Orochi demands his sacrifice on Kamiki Village's annual Full Moon Festival; Yami attacks Amaterasu on the centennial solar eclipse. Justified in the latter case since a) she's the sun goddess and b) it's implied Yami has the power to bring this about.
  • Human Aliens: The Bamboo Princess, who even rides a bamboo rocket back home.
  • Humble Hero: Ammy. The office of Celestial Envoy exists so that someone will tell the world what she has done for them, since she won't do it herself.
  • 100% Completion: Oh dear. (See entry for Gotta Catch Them All.)
  • Hyperspace Arsenal: Amaterasu can carry all of her weapons, consumable items, treasures, fish, scrolls, etc....in her inventory, despite not having pockets. (Then again, she is a goddess.)
  • I Have the High Ground: Waka. Constantly.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Susano admits to removing Tsukuyomi in order to disprove the legend of Nagi because he doesn't want to deal with all the "Descendant of Nagi" stuff. It didn't work.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Amaterasu can basically slay demons with mirrors and holy beads. Not by reflecting holy light or anything, just by whacking them senseless.
  • In a Single Bound: Waka again. (How else would he get the high ground?) Borders on Not Quite Flight.
  • Incendiary Exponent: The most powerful mirror, perpetually on fire and very useful to draw fire from if you don't have the Inferno attack.
  • Incredible Shrinking Man: Amaterasu must use the Magic Mallet from the original tale of Issun Boshi to shrink down and infiltrate the Imperial Palace. While shrunk, she is the same size as Issun himself!
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Averted in Okamiden. They call Chibiterasu "Child of the Sun" just to avoid "Son of the Sun."
  • Inescapable Ambush: Some battles, particularly boss fights and ones introducing you to new enemies, are impossible to get out of.
  • Inexplicable Treasure Chests
  • Infinite Ammo: After getting the Bead String technique, the secondary beads will always reload faster than you can shoot them so there's no pausing while they regenerate.
    • Inkfinity stones give you infinite ink for a while. The Bead Necklace gives your permenant infinite ink when equipped.
  • Infinity+1 Sword: Collecting all the beads gives you an item that increases your attack power by a factor of ten, and gives you infinite ink and health- but since one bead is obtained by beating the Final Boss, you can't use it until the New Game+.
  • Innocent Fanservice Girl: Played straight with Sakuya. Subverted with the priestess Rao, who seems oblivious to her effect on men and is baffled by Issun's comments about "melons" and being "stacked to the ceiling". Ostensibly it's because she is a holy woman and too innocent to understand. In reality it is because she is the demon Ninetails in disguise.
  • Instrument of Murder: Waka's flute turns into an energy sword, aptly named "Pillow Talk".
  • Intellectual Animal: Amaterasu. That being said, she's one of the few who can't talk. At least not to Muggles, anyway.
  • Interface Spoiler: You'll be surprised when you fight what seems to be the end boss and you're still on the first weapons.
  • In the End You Are on Your Own: Played with gleefully at the climax -- Amaterasu loses Issun's company, then Waka, then all of the brush gods before she confronts Yami. After she has it apparently beaten, Issun reappears -- but it's just a vision, and then Yami shows its true form, destroying all of Amaterasu's powers a second time and leaving her shivering and alone. But Issun has been telling the whole world what Amaterasu has done for them, and their gratitude restores her to full power and then some.
  • In-Universe Game Clock: Even moreso than usual, as you can turn the day to night and vice versa, though you can also extend the length of any day or night by continually drawing the corresponding brush techniques. You can even mess with the villager's heads by changing it.
  • Invisible to Normals: Amaterasu's red markings and spectacular flames are completely unseen by most humans--she's just a strangely intelligent white wolf/dog to them.
  • Invulnerable Civilians:
    • No one else will be attacked by a demon scroll. No one. (But some of them will get possessed/harassed by demons.)
    • They also never stay hurt if you screw around with your brush techniques. Even after getting blown up by a Cherry Bomb, they just get knocked out and respawn shortly afterwards.
  • Irrelevant Sidequest: And how!
  • It's Easy, So It Sucks: How is this not justified, seeing as you role-play a god? Amaterasu starts with three Solar Energy units, and can gain up to twenty by collecting Sun Fragments (three fragments per energy unit) or coughing up accumulated Praise. Astral Pouches act as 1-Ups, of which you can carry up to four and are easily refilled with food. Many people complained about how easy it was for the main character to not die, without heeding the awesomeness of the game itself.
  • It's Up to You: Nothing gets done without Amaterasu, not even the laundry.
  • Jerkass Facade: Waka may seem a jerk, but in the end he is really Amaterasu's sincere helper.
  • Jiggle Physics: Rao and Sakuya. Gainax could take lessons.
  • Justified Save Point: The Celestial Mirrors.
  • King of All Cosmos: Amaterasu.
  • Kleptomaniac Hero: Swipe food, money, and treasure from people's pots, fields, and dresser drawers, but beware of Mushi's mother, who will defend her turnip field from hole-diggers like Amaterasu. By using Inferno, you can steal stuff faster and become a Pyromaniac Hero.
  • Laser Blade: Waka's flute/laser sword, Pillow Talk.
  • Last Lousy Point:
    • Stray Beads.
    • To unlock every Karmic Tranformer, you have to get 4500+ praise. Good luck. However, you can do it in more than one playthrough on the Wii version. It gets very easy to keep track of once you don't have to spend it on everything.
      • Although to max out all attributes you can, you need 6020 praise which is actually pretty easy to get.
      • This is made all the harder by the beehive. The goddamn beehive. You have to push it up the hill on the other side of the forest to the sleeping bear. It's all but impossible because the thing will jerk randomly around whenever you try to push it, and will always ALWAYS try and go off the cliff when you're like three feet away from the bear. It will haunt your nightmares.
      • The Beehive requires use of an inkfinity stone or the Bead Neckless and Galestorm to keep it away from the edge.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
    • Done exactly once during the entire game. One of the bonus bosses is "The Kusa Five," although you actually fight all of The Eight Canine Warriors. When Issun mentions this, Fuse says it's because even when they are separated, they fight as one. Then Issun says something to the effect of, "Then how come they didn't help us fight that Crimson Helm guy?" Fuse can't come up with anything to explain this save "Um..." before quickly moving to another topic.
    • In case you don't get the joke, the developer wanted to give the player an awesome boss battle, despite the fact that this didn't make much sense in the context of the story. So instead they explicitly pointed out how little this made sense.
  • Leitmotif
  • Le Parkour: Amasterasu starts off having a Wall Jump, and then gets a Double Jump, and a clinging to walls ability.
  • Lethal Chef: Ajimi the demon cook.

"Introducing my grand masterpiece, Dungheap Slimeball Goulash. This will make the main course taste 1000 times better!"

  • Let's Get Dangerous: Most of Susano's character arc casts him in a comic relief role, and his cowardice is often played for laughs. When monsters threaten Kushi, however, all bets are off. The greatest example of this is when he's seen cowering outside Orochi's lair while Amaterasu goes in, but when Orochi is about to devour Kushi, he says without fear or hesitation: "Hold it right there, vile serpent." He then goes on to state that he requires help from nobody, and that all he needs to slay Orochi is his trusty wooden sword. Right before he uses said wooden sword to slice the last Orochi head in half lengthwise, unaided by Amaterasu.
  • Light'Em Up: Ammy, as befits the sun goddess.
  • Living Statue: Amaterasu.
    • One of her Karmic Transformers is a statue skin.
  • Loads and Loads of Loading: But at least the mini-games do help pass the time a bit faster. This was fixed in the Wii version, though they took out the minigames.
  • Long Speech Tea Time: Ammy does it to Waka and a few others, mostly in accordance with the Rule of Funny. (No important Exposition is ever missed, of course, since Issun stays awake to hear it all and ask all the right questions.)
  • Lost Forever:
    • Anything in the Moon Cave or Oni Island. That dog and the crapload of clovers in ancient Kamiki Village.
    • For those who want to fill their bestiary, one or two enemy types only show up in one area of the game (they're in the Doom Mirror family from when Amaterasu is shrunken in the Emperor's palace), and are absent from the arena-type locales where other seemingly limited-time-only enemies can appear.
  • MacGuffin Delivery Service: After going into the bowels of the Water Dragon, and retrieving the precious Fox Rods, Rao appears and... convinces Amaterasu to give them to her.
  • Magical Gesture: Amaterasu seems to control the Celestial Brush with precise movements of her tailtip.
  • Male Gaze: Take a shot every time there's a lingering closeup of Rao's bust.
  • Mechanical Lifeform: The Final Boss.
  • Mega Neko: Kabegami is pretty big for a cat - almost as large as Amaterasu. The tigers and Gekigami also count (see Panthera Awesome below).
  • The Messiah: Amaterasu. Makes sense, seeing as she's the main goddess and all.
  • Mind Screw: Amaterasu is saved, twice, mind you, by her past incarnation Shiranui who comes directly from the past to help her future self since she lost most of her power after being sealed in a statue. There are two versions of the same god in one place.
  • Moe Anthropomorphism: A ton of Amaterasu fan art personifies her as a cute girl with white hair and dog ears.
  • The Mole: Rao, who turns out to be the Dark Lord Kyubi/Ninetails.
  • Monster Compendium
  • Mook Debut Cutscene: Only a few late mooks (usually variants of previously encountered ones) don't have one.
  • Moon Rabbit: To no Asian's surprise, the Rabbit zodiac gives moon related powers.
  • Most Definitely Not a Villain: Tsuzurao seems genuinely good at first. When she lets you get eaten by the sea dragon while she escapes easily, it leaves you a little suspicious, if amused. You get a bit more suspicious when you notice she is the only character to ever mention the Fox Rods as a means to defeat the demons. Then you learn the Fox Rods are an Artifact of Doom that belongs to the Evil Overlord and that all the demons are actively trying to get it back. And just after that, Tsuzurao appears totally out of nowhere in a place supposedly inaccessible to humans, trembles with anticipation when you say you found the object, and gazes upon it before leaving. But hey, she says she will use it to fight the demons and banish evil, so What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
  • Ms. Fanservice:
    • Rao, natch, but Sakuya also --her personal motif is peaches, and her dress is both very low-cut and has an opening at the derriere so as to show how much she resembles a peach, herself. And that's just her weakened form. The form you'll see the most has her wearing a bra that shouldn't even be able to hold up those melons, and what looks like a belt with two tapestries hanging from it. Combine that with the fact that Sakuya's the only girl who retains importance throughout all 3 arcs (you'll want to get the free prizes from her tree), and Sakuya's the real Ms. Fanservice.
    • They planned on a third, even more revealing costume but nixed it.
    • Rao's theme deserves mention too, consisting primarally of a women sighing suggestively and some rather erotic sounding music. Bonus points for it playing every time you talk to her, even in non-scripted conversations.
    • And the Draconian dancers, who wear skirts and seashells on their boobs.
      • Note, they're not so much a Seashell Bra as much as they are seashell pasties.
  • Mundangerous: Amaterasu is a deity that can call the Sun, instantly repair broken objects, make withered plants live and much much more, and yet it is almost impossible for her to roll a sphere up a slight hill.
  • Mundane Utility: Phenomenal cosmic powers can be used for anything from saving the world to drying laundry. The Celestial Brush seems to work as an ordinary writing implement, too.
  • My Greatest Failure: Waka accidentally brought oni to Earth when he was trying to help the Celestials flee from them.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: People forgetting or messing up Amaterasu's name is something of a Running Gag. While Issun's kind enough to think up a relatively cute, inoffensive nickname (Ammy, though he doesn't always use it), most people just end up calling her Furball or Snowy.
  • Narrator All Along: Issun in the role of Celestial Envoy.
  • Nay Theist: Susano, who at one point yells at the gods to stop "dogging his footsteps." The irony is that he says that in the presence of Amaterasu after she has saved his bacon yet again.
  • New Game+
  • Nice Hat: Waka. Pity it's destroyed.
    • Most in the game, really. From fruits to animals to bits of buildings. Queen Himiko gets bonus points for a hat that's on fire.
  • The Nicknamer: Issun hardly ever calls anyone by his/her real name.
    • Then again, nobody calls Okami Amaterasu by her real name. Most of the people she comes across, unaware of her divinity, give her a common dog name. Fido, Snowy, etc.
  • No Body Left Behind: Enemies turn into flowers; justified as they're all monsters representing either literal or spiritual pollution, and Amaterasu purifies them.
  • Not Quite Flight: Waka can leap to great heights and glide/hover on the "wings" of his Nice Hat.
  • Now Where Was I Going Again?: Averted, the Journal keeps track of major things you should remember.
  • Nobody Poops: ...Except Amaterasu and some of the Eight Canine Warriors.
  • No-Gear Level: Anytime you can't use ink.
  • No Mouth: Every human and Poncle character and some of the monsters. It kinda explains why the "voice acting" sounds like it does.
  • Noob Cave: The River of the Heavens and Cave of Nagi function as this, featuring many tutorial obstacles and the first battle in the game.
  • Nostalgic Narrator: Slightly subverted. While it may seem like there is an outside party telling the story, it turns out that the narrator is actually Issun as the Celestial Envoy.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: If talked to at the Cave of Nagi during the festival, Susano lets slip he is aware of Amaterasu's divinity and seems to have been the entire time. How much else he is faking is left to interpretation.
    • At times, Ammy seems to use this to fool enemies, like Ninetails.
  • Obake: What with using the trappings of Japanese folklore.
  • Offscreen Teleportation:
    • All of the recurring travelers. How does a cute girl with a weird hat and her little sister reach Sei-an City before a physical god?
    • There's also the time a character says she wants to go someplace halfway across the continent, starts running, and has completely vanished by the time gameplay resumes in the same location.
    • Onigiri-sensei takes this trope Up to Eleven by managing to be virtually in three places at the same time. Go to Shinshū? He's here! Teleport to Ryōshima? Oh, he's here again! Teleport to Kamui? Good to see you!
    • Not to mention Komuso, who shows up at Kamiki, Kusa and Sei-an, but even more impressively, at Sasa Sanctuary, which is supposedly an unreachable destination in-game but for those rare few who are favored by its inhabitants.
  • Orochi
  • One-Time Dungeon: The Moon Cave dungeon cannot be accessed again once your defeat Orochi and leave it. There is also Oni Island, the whole "miniature" sequence, the Sea Dragon's body and Past Kamiki. This is not frustrating though since these areas will only contain Vendor Trash, but no important secret item.
    • Actually, Past Kamiki has a dog for Ammy to feed. Forget to do so and the Bestiary tome will remain incomplete, denying the player 100% Completion.
  • One Wolf Army: Amaterasu may be cute and fluffy to humans, but she mows down scores of demons over the course of the game, all by herself.
  • Only Idiots May Pass: You have to accept a scenario, Rao's deception in order to get the shrinking mallet. You have to kill the Water Dragon to get the Dragon Orb. This may or may not be justified, depending on if you interpret things as Ammy knowing the future and choosing the hard but correct path, or Ammy being foolish.
  • Only Six Faces: Or rather only 8 character types − little boy, little girl, man, woman, fat man, fat woman, old man and old woman. And dogs. Each character of the same type has the exact same animations and reactions.
  • Our Angels Are Different: The extinct Celestials were very angelic, they had halos, yellow wings on their head, and lived a perfect life in a utopia. Four of them are seen in the game as ghosts.
  • Our Mermaids Are Different: Turns out they're an underwater-dwelling people whose leader turns into a giant dragon.
  • Out-Gambitted: Himiko to Ninetails, by way of Thanatos Gambit.
  • Owl Be Damned: Lechku and Nechku. The two Clockwork Twin owls with Hammerspace Nice Hats that control time and wear High-Class Glass. Seriously, these guys approach Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot territory.
    • Lechku is currently the image for this trope.around. These guys are trumped by Gekigami, the brush god of thunder - a huge and somewhat irritable tiger wielding a bow and arrows lightning bolts.
  • Painting the Fourth Wall: Red text in dialogue is used to convey important information.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Literally. You even get to draw your own symbol on it. Amaterasu seems rather nonplussed that they actually fell for this, mere moments after they shooed her away. In fairness, the imps wear such masks themselves, but that doesn't excuse them failing to look at who/what is wearing the mask.
    • Given the wide variety of imps, it's possible that they simply mistake Ammy with the mask as a different imp type. Imps are not particulary bright in the first place, though...
  • The Paragon: Amaterasu.
  • Pause Scumming: Since Blockhead Grande has eight weak points to remember, which must be struck precisely and in order (and change randomly after each try), many players consider the best way to do it is to pause and write them down as each one is revealed (or record it on a camera).
  • Peek-a-Bangs: Rao. Justified because she's Ninetails in disguise, and the hair hides her missing eye. The real Rao has both eyes showing.
  • Physical God: Shiranui, Amaterasu's past self (or father, if the sequel is to be believed). Amaterasu is... actually slightly less of one, at least not until the New Game+, and only in the sense that a bonus item grants you unlimited resources. You never get the same powers as Shiranui as seen in the actual gameplay.
  • Platforming Pocket Pal: Issun.
  • Playing with Fire: The Inferno series of brush powers. Also, the ultimate Reflector weapon is always on fire.
  • Plot Induced Stupidity: Amaterasu can sense evil but fails to recognize Rao as the evil Ninetails fox and hands over the Fox Rods without question. Although this may actually not have been stupid based on something Waka says later. He notes that Himiko was resigned to her fate, as Amaterasu already knew, implying that the only way for her to successfully spy out the location of Oni Island was for her to die in that manner, which in turn implies that Amaterasu actually knew what Rao was when she handed over the Fox Rods.
  • Plot Lock: You can't fix the Broken Bridge between Agata Forest and Taka Pass, even though Amaterasu can paint them good as new everywhere else. Possibly justified. The original bridge is set so close to the now raging river that it will probably be washed away as soon as it's restored anyway.
  • Plucky Girl: Kushi. She actually runs off to face Orochi herself, armed with nothing but her faith in Susano and her best sake.
  • Point of No Return: Boarding the Ark of Yamato. Issun will also squeak up just before a boss battle, asking Ammy (and the player) if she's ready to go on.
  • Portal Pool: Mermaid Springs
  • Portal to the Past
  • Power-Up Letdown: Some of the bonus brush techniques you can get in sidequests turn out to be pretty useless in combat. The upgrades of Light Blade only serve to uncover clovers; those of the Bombs get you a stray bead if you show them to Tamaya, as well as the rain technique to the travelling girls, but that's all. The tornado technique is nice to make kittens fly.
    • Actually, most of those techniques are useful in enemy fights. Some are floral finishers. Others deal severe damage. The Cherry bombs will make quick work of Great Tengu, Oni, and the Drummer-style enemies. Power Slash is devistating to wheel-type enemies when they're stunned. Deluge will cause Great Tengu to calm down and remove his invicibility phase. Whirlwind will pick enemies up and slam them against the barriers of the arena, damagaing them repeatedly. You just have to know what enemies to use them agaisnt.
  • Power-Up Magnet: The Golden Lucky Cat.
  • Preorder Bonus
  • Press X to Not Die: While there's no penalty for failing them though other than starting over, a few cut scenes require you use brush techniques during them.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: Oki.
  • Public Domain Artifact: Amaterasu's weapons are based on the Imperial Regalia of Japan, aka the "Treasures of Amaterasu".
  • Punny Name:
    • Okami can mean either "wolf" or "great god". Not to mention that the title can be used as part of an alternate spelling for Amaterasu in Japanese, as well as referencing the kind of paper used in woodcut artwork, which is basically what the game is built on.
    • A lot of character names, too. Some of them got translated (Mr. Orange, for instance), some didn't (Kiba the Demon Fang merchant, say).
  • Puzzle Boss: All of them. Well, maybe not Ninetails, but every other boss. Hint: Your most recently obtained brush technique is likely to be important. (For instance, if you're not a pro at the brush technique Veil of Mist by the time you beat Blight, you had someone else do it for you).
    • Not true, this troper beat Blight without Veil of Mist... because I forgot about it... it made for a tough battle.
      • Exactly. To beat Blight, you just have to power slash his swords when he throws them.
  • Puzzle Pan
  • Rainbow Speak: People occasionally talk in bright red to let you know which things are important.
  • Rapunzel Hair: Waka. How he manages to keep it hidden under his hat is a mystery.
  • Reality Is Unrealistic: When Amaterasu uses Golden Fury, she hikes her leg up in a way that most people associate with male dogs. This confuses some people and is used as evidence to support the theory that Amaterasu is using a male wolf vessel, not transforming into a wolf. In real life, whether a wolf hikes its leg or not is dependent on whether they are trying to show dominance. Some female dogs hike their leg, too.
  • Reality Warper: Amaterasu. Not many people can control day and night, cause flowers to bloom, trees to sprout, or the skies to rain or burn on command.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni:
    • Literally as a mini-boss. The red one uses fire, has a pair of spiked clubs and is the less popular. The blue one uses ice, a pair of hook-swords and has a "more-beautiful" mask.
    • Also, note the colors of Evil Rao's prayer beads and the real Rao's.
  • Recurring Riff: Amaterasu's leitmotif, encountered in various forms throughout the game as The Sun Rises, Reset, the Ida Race theme and Cherry Blossom Storm.
  • Recurring Traveller: Several characters over the course of Ammy's journey. The wandering priest Komuso, the quarreling sisters, the little fisher boy, the frightened archer...
  • Refusal of the Call:
    • Susano is revealed to have removed Tsukiyomi from the cave in order to prove that what happened 100 years ago wasn't really true so that he didn't have to carry Nagi's title.
    • Issun. Issun ran away from his village so that he wouldn't have to become a celestial envoy.
    • A recurring theme in the game is people discovering (often after a few unsubtle divine hints) their true calling in life.
  • Restart At Level One: Amaterasu.
  • Reverse Grip: Waka holds his normal sword this way.
  • Revive Kills Zombie: Bloom, a brush technique to which most friendly characters respond positively, harms or kills certain enemies, including Yami.
  • Rousing Speech: Several. But the most unforgettable and some of the most heartwarming in any video game are the final speeches given by everyone, especially Issun, when they help Amaterasu restore her powers to their prime by praying for her.
  • Rule of Cool: All the bloody time. Take, for example, Kasugami the drunken Bullet Time kung-fu sheep who grants you Veil of Mist.
    • Actually, that was Rule of Funny. Rule of Cool is more like being able to create 3 bombs at once, summon lightinging bolts, create burning infinity symbols, and blanket the area with Ice Storm.
  • Sadly Mythtaken: Averted. Hard. All the time. And it was good.
  • Scenery Porn: The Game, brought to you by Clover!
  • Seashell Bra: The pretty Draconian dancers have seashell stick-ons.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Orochi. Also Yami. Lechku and Nechku too.
    • The owls are actually statues that Lechku and Nechku are trapped in, so they could be considered sealed evil in a weaponized can.
  • Sealed Good in a Can: Amaterasu starts as one before being released by Sakuya... who herself becomes one shortly afterwards.
  • Secret AI Moves: Shiranui is capable of using upgraded version of Ammy's Celestial Brush Techniques, as well as an attack that turns Shiranui into a blazing fireball that tears enemies to shreds. You never get these techniques, not even when Ammy returns to full godhood.
  • Sequel Hook

Old!Issun: I'll tell you the rest of the story some other time.

    • The fact that Clover Studios no longer exists unfortunately reduces the likelihood of a sequel substantially.
    • And then there was Okamiden.
  • Serious Business: Some people (Ida, Hayate and Tobi) like footraces. They like them so much, they are willing to give up a family heirloom, their career, or even their life in order to race.
    • Late in the game, Kai even challenges you to a race through Yoshpet because she's obsessed with finding out whether or not Ammy is faster than her.
  • He's a Woman in Japan: Amaterasu is clearly defined as being female in-game. She's referred to as a goddess, a mother, and, when she encounters a blind man able to perceive the true form of those he "sees," a beautiful maiden. The American box and documentation carefully skirt the issue of Amaterasu's gender, remaining neutral or calling her a god, even though she remains female in the game itself. It doesn't help that Susanoo refers to Ammy as his "brother".
  • Shock and Awe: The most powerful glaive, from which you can draw lightning if you don't want to do That One Sidequest.
  • Shout-Out: To other Clover games, Viewtiful Joe and God Hand. Amaterasu's ink-less kicks are just like John Talbain's. Also, when Amaterasu is shrunk by the Magic Mallet, the Imperial Palace guards are identical to Colossi from Shadow of the Colossus, down to the ominous shining eyes.
      • And the way Mrs. Orange makes her Cherry Cakes looks like the Shun Goku Satsu.
        • With a Marvel vs Capcom 3 lampshading years later:

Issun: Hey, that demon guy's attack looked just like Mrs. Orange making cherry cakes! That's crazy!

  • Shown Their Work: To an extent, most of the elements of this game come from Japanese Mythology, and there are several moments in the main plot line alluding to it, up to and including Orochi's weakness for sake. While there are moments in the game where they don't seem to do their research, they still at least tried to emulate the entirety of Japanese Mythology.
  • Sincerest Form of Flattery: The director admitted that the Zelda series is the inspiration for this game.
    • Looped back around in Twilight Princess which clearly shows that some people at Nintendo were taking notes. [1]
  • Some Dexterity Required:
    • Many of the more advanced technique upgrades like Fireburst and Icestorm are very hard to pull off. Drawing the girl's designs in Seian City is also quite frustrating. (It helps to know a thing or two about Calligraphy.) The game is also kinda picky about what counts as a 5 pointed star... Like real picky.
    • This is also subverted with some of the brushstrokes. If it requires several straight lines (i.e. Veil of Mist and Deluge), then you can draw them wherever you want. In other words, you can just move your brush in a straight line while releasing the paint button to create gaps. It's much easier to invoke Veil of Mist by painting "- -" instead of "=".
      • The game seems to recognize straight brush lines better if you hold the Z button while painting, which forces you to draw straight lines.
  • Speaking Simlish: Even with the Heroic Mime Amaterasu, everyone speaks nonsense. But it's cute nonsense.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Shinshuu or Shinshu.
    • The name of the Twin Demons is also uncertain. The US version has Lechku and Nechku, the European version has Rechiku and Nechiku; but if you can read Japanese, you can go to the artwork bonus section and see that their image writes them as Moshirechiku and Kotanechiku. But again, since the Ainu language has no formal writing of its own, there can probably be several orthographs.
  • Sphere of Power: Dragon Orb, Satomi Power Orbs, Queen Himiko's Crystal Ball, those stray beads. And Yami.
  • Spinning Piledriver: Deflecting certain attacks with a reflector equipped as a sub-weapon results in this. It works against wheels and tengu.
  • Spontaneous Generation: According to his backstory, sub-boss Crimson Helm spontaneously sprung from the spilled blood of Orochi, a bigger bad.
  • Stable Time Loop:
    • Shiranui travels forward in time to save Amaterasu and friends from a spell that held her motionless at the cost of a mortal wound. This leads to her dying when she returns to her own time, and being sealed. When awakened as Amateresu, her powers are much weaker than before, which is why she needed to be saved in the first place.
    • Also, Amaterasu traveling back in time to handle the deeds attributed to Shiranui's doing while Shiranui was away in a different point in the future saving Amaterasu from aforementioned spell.
  • Stealth Pun: May be intentional or not. Moegami, the God of Fire that gives Okami her Inferno ability, is the rooster in the chinese zodiac. It's quite literally a flaming cock.
  • Sticks to the Back: All of Amaterasu's weapons float above her back or around her neck. Susano doesn't appear to have anything holding that BFS to his back, either.
  • Stock Animal Diet: Amaterasu loves (holy) bones. Cats will eat only fish; dogs will eat only red meat.
  • Story to Gameplay Ratio: This game has more cutscenes than Metal Gear Solid 4, but fortunately, they're all skippable in the New Game+.
  • Stupid Sexy Flanders: Rao. Even the mother goddess, the origin of all, from whom all that is good arose, is stunned by her...beauty.
  • Stupidity Is the Only Option: In the second half of the game, each time you have to rush back to some place before it's too late, the most simple solution is to use Mermaid's pools or Mirrors to teleport directly to that place and waste no time. If you try to do that however, Issun will be all "what the hell are you doing?" and tell you to hurry up… by forcing you to take the longer route.
  • Sudden Humility: Invoked when Amaterasu is shrunk to the same minuscule size as Issun. When a human foot nearly stomps on both of them, Issun doesn't fail to drop "Do you understand how I feel now?" We don't get to know how she felt about the "experience" though...
  • Surprise Creepy: Several locations, particularly the Sunken Ship. Brrr..
  • Suspiciously Cracked Wall: They even glow. It's your clue to bomb them. Though a few bombable walls don't do this, mostly ones concealing Stray Beads.
  • Take Your Time: Played straight except in one location. Oni Island before the next day arrives and it moves to a new location. Wait too long, and you'll have to start over.
  • Tastes Like Friendship: You earn Praise from animals by feeding them the food they like.
  • Ted Baxter: Issun, who is convinced he is far more talented and attractive than he actually is.
  • Tennis Boss: The first Waka battle and several later enemies -- Ammy can send their projectiles flying back at them with Power Slash.
  • Thanatos Gambit: How Himiko deals with Ninetails.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: And how?! The Final Boss battle is between Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun, and Yami, the Lord of Darkness. Guess what the theme is called, "The Sun Rises".
  • The Thing That Goes Doink: Found mostly in Sasa Sanctuary and used in puzzles involving the Waterspout technique.
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: At least, Waka, Blight, Evil Rao and Nagi think so.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Susano.
  • Too Dumb to Live: "Giant flowers like this always have treasures!" Said while ignoring the fact that said giant flower had eight giant eyeballs. Yeah, way to go, Issun...
  • Training Dummy: In the dojo.
  • Tron Lines: The Ark of Yamato.
  • True Sight: Several characters (mostly those with great spiritual power) are able to see Amaterasu's true form.
  • Unwinnable by Design: Averted. While the tutorial message on a Save Point tells you to keep multiple saves in-case you get stuck (implying a Sierra title), it's actually impossible to become "stuck" anywhere. But you might want to use a separate save file after the clearly-noted Point of No Return anyway.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: You'd think people would worry more at the sight of a giant white wolf. Then again, a good number of them think that Amaterasu's some kind of dog. Which carries money and is out shopping.
  • Urine Trouble: "Golden Fury." It makes enemies drop Demon Fangs.
  • Use Your Head: There's a reason she's called hard-headed Ammy...
  • Vendor Trash: Well over half of the treasures that you find.
  • The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: But you run into so many Disc One Final Dungeons that you despair of ever finishing the game. Then you have the real Very Definitely Final Dungeon the Ark of Yamato, a spaceship bedecked with Tron Lines. In Ancient Japan. Not to mention you are warned by the only speech bubble painted entirely red in the whole game before entering it that you are right before the point of no return. If the Boss Rush doesn't clue you in, that should.
  • Victory Fakeout: Happens after defeating Yami's fourth form.
  • Video Game Caring Potential: Feeding kittens? Adorable.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: Setting them on fire? Priceless. This game excels in both tropes. You can watch Amaterasu feed bunnies and kittens, help someone find their rabbit, or grow clovers to make things pretty. Also, you can tackle, blow up, douse, cut, freeze, turn into snowmen, blow away, shock and bite anyone from the cute dancers to main heroes.
  • Violation of Common Sense: As Issun will regularly tell you: when in doubt, jump off an apparently endless cliff leap before you think.
  • Warp Whistle: Multiple. The Mermaid Pools allow you to warp between them with coins or a certain brush technique, and you can get another brush technique allowing you to warp between certain overworld save points.
  • Walking on Water: Made possible by the Water Tablet. Otherwise Amaterasu has Super Drowning Skills.
  • Wall Jump
  • "Wake-Up Call" Boss: Waka.
  • Water Is Air: The underwater Dragon Palace retains all of your above ground movement mechanics, including a few pools that you can swim around and drown in, as well as a chest that requires you to jump around a few pillars instead of just swimming up.
  • Weak but Skilled: Waka.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Orochi's vulnerability to sake (or rather, being drunk), Yami's vulnerability to certain brush techniques Bloom, in Stage 1, and Sunlight, in the last stage. Other minor minions have similarly weaksauce weaknesses.
  • Weaponized Animal:
    • Amaterasu can wield various weapons which hover over her back. She starts out with a flaming shield, but can also use other shields, swords, or rosaries (which are used like a whip or shot like bullets.)
    • Oki also wields a sword, which hovers over his back when he is in wolf form, like Amaterasu.
  • Weird Moon: When Amaterasu and Issun go through a Portal to the Past, the first sign that things are different is that the moon is full again. Amaterasu can also invoke this at will once she gets the Crescent technique, which baffles and confuses any bystanders.
  • When Trees Attack: Certain trees lob pollen spheres at Ammy. Not terribly dangerous, but certainly distracting (and a little scary the first time it happens).
  • White Shirt of Death: Shiranui's white fur.
  • Wild Card: It's really hard to tell whose side Waka is on for most of the game. Subverted when it turns out he's been running a big ol' Batman Gambit for Team Good all along.
  • World-Healing Wave: Blooming a Guardian Sapling. Scenery Porn ensues.
  • World-Wrecking Wave: What happens to Nippon when Orochi is released.
  • Xanatos Speed Chess: Ninetails has to do some quick thinking when her initial plan of getting Amaterasu devoured by the Water Dragon doesn't quite pan out.
  • X Meets Y: One could very well say that this game is "Hayao Miyazaki meets Zelda".
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Kushi and Nami, though most of the female characters have at least a touch of this.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: Issun ends up becoming a celestial envoy, despite his resistance.
  • You Can't Go Home Again: Issun doesn't want to, at least. The celestials killed by Yami also apparently have no chance of ever returning to the celestial realm.
  • Your Costume Needs Work: Mr. Orange's first response to Amaterasu was along the lines of, "Hey, you look kinda like Shiranui -- only not as smart."
  • Your Princess Is in Another Castle: A lot, but notably three times. To the point that after finally beating the final boss you will probably suspect (and hope?) there is more. It's not that surprising at the end of the firt chapter since your inventory is still suspiciously empty and you know there is still a big drawbridge to cross. Much more at the end of the second chapter where the HSQ has already gone through the roof, you have all the brush techniques but one and fight what definitely looks like a final boss. And at the end of the third… "Lol wut? A spaceship?!" These are even more effective when you think the first two chapters are both nearly big enough to be entire games on their own (it can take a good ten hours for each the first time, not counting the sidequests).
  • You Shouldn't Know This Already: Justified with the Celestial Brush techniques. You need to find the correct god and release/rejuvenate it before you can use its technique. (Which means if you start a New Game+, you have to redo all of those subquests again.)
  1. ↑ Note, Okami released 7 months before TP, and even assuming 2 months for finalization and manufacturing, that still left Nintendo with a few months to tweak the game to resemble Okami, which it does to significant extent
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