Now, I know what you're thinking
"Winter, did you really redesign the guardians from LMK?"
And for once, the answer is no.
I worked on this checks date over a year ago because me and Eliana have an RP and way before season 4 even started, we introduced the Four Auspicious Beasts (or Four Guardians, or Four Symbols, whatever you wanna call them) into our RP.
These were much simpler in design at first, but because I am a sucher and love a good design, I went a lot more complex with them.
But hey, at least the only OC of the bunch (Deng) is rather simple, right?
Raise your hand if you've heard of the 4 Guardian Beasts before. Anyone? If you don't, it's cool. That's what learning is for!
Now, anime fans like myself may be more than a little familiar with these guys as they've shown up in more than a few properties (ex. Fushigi Yuugi) but the concept, like many things in Asian culture, was originally Chinese. Also called the 4 Symbols, the 4 Gods, and the 4 Cardinal Creatures in English, the 4 Guardian Beasts are very popular in East Asia. We'll be calling them by their Chinese name, the Sixiang, because it's much shorter than any of their English titles because it's shorter. Do excuse me if I call the beasts themselves by their Japanese names, as it's what I know them best by.
The Sixiang are an astrological concept, with each one governing a portion of the sky. Each of these 4 sections had 7 constellations consisting of parts of the beast that when looked at together shows the beast as a whole. Pretty different from Greek constellations, huh? Anyways, these 28 total constellations were very important to Chinese cosmology as each one was seen as housing a different part of the Heavens, where the gods did their business. Let's take a closer look, shall we?
Azure Dragon/Canglong/Seiryuu, Guardian of the East
Fun fact: back in ye olden days azure was used to describe a shade of green, so while there are many depictions of Seiryuu as a blue dragon a lot of really ancient art paints him green. Surprisingly, he's associates with the element of wood rather than water. His constellations house the Heavenly Gates and several parts of the Jade Emperor's palace (including the stables where a certain naughty monkey did a stint). He's generally seen as the most important member of the group as a result.
White Tiger/Baihu/Byakko, Guardian of the West
As the name suggests, Byakko is a massive white tiger that rules over all other beasts with a terrifying roar. He's said to be in tune with all 5 elements (water, fire, earth, wood, metal) but is most associated with metal. He carries the 'essence of heroes' and means business. His constellations mostly have to do with the Heavenly army, with the prison, garrison, and granary all falling under his purview.
Vermillion Bird/Zhuque/Duzaku, Guardian of the South
Often confused with a Phoenix, Suzaku is actually a distinct creature. The fact that Eastern and Western Phoenix's are very different in concept doesn't help matters, especially since cultural osmosis has led to the Eastern Phoenix becoming more and more similar to it's Western counterpart. Suzaku himself is very similar to a Western Phoenix, being associated with fire and elixirs of immortality. His constellations are very functional, housing heavenly the wells, wardrobes, kitchens, and other such things.
Black Turtle/Xuanwu/Genbu, Guardian of the North
Now I say turtle, but Genbu is a bit more of a dual creature. Sometimes they're 2 animals, a turtle with a serpent on it's back, and others it's a turtle with a long snake-like neck. Sometimes it goes full chimera and is a turtle with a snake for a tail, head included. No matter which way you slice it though, Genbu is some mix of snake and turtle. Naturally, it gets associated with the element of water. Sometimes it's even credited as once having been the turtle that carried the floating city of Penglai (which I'll get to eventually). Genbu's constellations seem to be wealth-based, as it presides over the temples, treasury, and non-military granary.
Okay, so I know I said 4 beasts, but the Sixiang are sometimes shown with a 5th member that takes it's place in the center of the group. Occasionally it's a yellow dragon to represent the Yellow Emperor, but personally I prefer when it's the qilin/kirin, the Chinese Unicorn. Now it's called a unicorn, but like many Chinese creatures it's a bit of a chimera. With the head of a ram, the hooves of a horse, legs of a wolf, body of a deer, scales of a snake, tail of an ox, and horns of a dragon. Calm and intelligent, it is often seen as a symbol of nobility and scholars. Another fun fact: the Japanese word for giraffe is kirin because of their remarkable resemblance to the mythical beast.
This was a bit of a long one, but I had fun! What about you guys?
I'm going to be missing for a while... I'm doing too many drawings and my work is killing me (I want to take some time for myself) I think my last post will be a gift for a friend of mine uwu... but in the meantime I I want to show how my Lan is looking (I love pixel art)
Any clue on how Zhuque’s old SMT II design got attached to Feng Huang? They got his design right in Raidou.
This confusing story seems to get its start in Persona 4, never mind the localization foible of "Phoenix." In Japanese:
ホウオウ (Hou-ou) = Fenghuang. How or why did this happen? I cannot even begin to venture a guess. It just did. 🥴 The model just seems to be an edit of Raidou Fenghuang to begin with.
SMT1's Fenghuang and SMT2's Zhuque are seemingly both based on birds with long tailfeathers (just in art? or real? I don't know! peacock, apparently!) and I'd wager that likely plays into this. Soul Hackers Zhuque is the same kind. Not really an answer but that's all I've got!
When I first started playing and I saw this dragon I made it my goal to get over there and fight it. Then when I did he told me I had to defeat his buddies first.
And then I died and decided to come back later.
And then later came. I did it. I killed the four gods. Time to report back to Huang Long. It's time to fight. The two gods that were my level (45) went down pretty easy. I am confident.
