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Big Four of the Mountain

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In the Touhou Project, the Big Four of the Mountain (山の四天王 yama no shitennou) is a now-defunct group consisting of Suika Ibuki, Yuugi Hoshiguma, Kasen Ibaraki and one unknown character (presumably a fellow oni).

Origin

Shitenno (四天王 lit. "Four Heavenly Kings" or "Four Deva Kings") refers literally to a set of Buddhist deities, and metaphorically to any group of four extremely loyal or useful subordinates. In modern times, especially in video games and anime/manga, the term is used to denote any group of four with a high status.

In Japanese oni mythology, the Four Heavenly Kings served the oni bandit Shuten-dōji, and was composed of the oni Torakuma-dōji, Hoshikuma-dōji, Kanaguma-dōji and Ibaraki-dōji. In some stories Ibaraki-dōji was instead Shuten-dōji's lieutenant or even wife, with their position in the group taken by an oni named Kuma-dōji.

Touhou's Big Four does not match up exactly with the source material, as their Shuten-dōji equivalent (Suika Ibuki) is a member of the group herself rather than being its leader.

Characters in this Group

Touhou Project

Gallery

Fandom

  • Some fans add Konngara to round out the group, despite it being unclear whether Konngara is an oni or if she even still exists in the modern canon.

See Also