Koyanskaya isn’t Tamamo-no-Mae or Daji. I think she’s Dakiniten (longggg poast)
REGARDING NOT BEING TAMAMO-NO-MAE:
I mean she’s pretty up-front about it herself in her materials. Even to the original Tamamo herself.
It’s more accurate to say Koyanskaya originated from a divine spirit related to/similar to Tamamo no Mae, or rather, Amaterasu perhaps. So she’s more like a cousin-divinity of Tamamo no Mae. She did not originate from Amaterasu.
Tunguska Sanctuary event confirms this also AND confirms she’s not Daji either. I don’t really want to grab screencaps right now but like half of the event hinges on Jiang Ziya attempting to defeat her by saying she’s Daji and all of his anti-Daji spells failing because she’s literally not Daji & then later all of them confirming when reconvening that she’s not Daji nor is she Tamamo no Mae.
SO! Then we have to look into what she actually might be. So we look at things that are referenced in her materials. In particular this stands out to me:
Now with the reference of the Izumo Shrine done out of spite in her materials, it’s safe to say she’s a spirit who is “somebody who is Against what the Izumo shrine represents”.
The god Ookuninushi. So then we look at “who could possibly dislike Ookuninushi” (enemies of Ookuninushi, then) and while we don’t find any directly, Nasuverse lore is hugemassive on syncretization and grudges/powers/etc. carrying onward after syncretization (see: the entirety of Tamamo-no-Mae having relation to Daji at all, or her capability to use Dakini magic either)
So then we look into who Ookuninushi/Daikokuten/Mahakala has defeated who might be related to Koyanskaya, even a little bit - we’re looking for somebody who matches the description of her character.
This was the first one I saw but now that I know that Tamamo no Mae literally was stated in Extra/CCC to have Dakini magic this is the one obviously I had to look into. And so as we read on:
Literally that’s why Tamamo no Mae was related to Dakiniten in the first place - because of that fox iconography - but it’s important to remember that Tamamo no Mae is not Inari. Now Koyanskaya, who has stated time and time again that she’s Not Tamamo, but is something similar or “like a Tamamo who got isekai’d” this is why I think she’s definitely Dakiniten.
And then there’s some other stuff as to why, and it’s related to Koyanskaya’s overall narrative.
Koyanskaya hates humanity. When she talks about humanity she talks of them as being disgusting and all-destructive, but also in the Tunguska event mentions that they hunt by gaining your trust and then betraying you. She runs a private military service as well.
It turns out that Dakiniten was heavily worshipped by military figures and political figures seeking prominence. When Dakiniten was syncretized into Japanese Buddhism, she was a essentially Goddess of good luck, but quite a few of those who prayed to her were primarily political/military figures seeking power.
The fate of Kiyomori’s rise and fall from power being both famously attributed to Dakiniten fits with Koyanskaya’s desire to raise up the Chaldean Master & also drag them into the depths of hell.
However, because of this aspect of her cult as a whole, it’s easy to assume she has likely been treated more like a tool for power this entire time, rather than worshipped as a proper Goddess as Dakiniten within her cult. Especially given the favor she holds within the military, and her subsequent obvious, spoken and metaphorically visible distaste for humans mindlessly killing each other with guns.
(note: only thing relevant in this above blurb is her referring to herself as “koyanskaya weapon” but I wanted to include it for this point anyways; the ‘and yet… sigh’ isn’t related to that thought)
Over time the sheer act of worshipping Dakiniten became associated with black magic/curses. So there was no chance for her to be treated like a proper goddess even if she was a true Goddess of good fortune (even after being syncretized into a goddess from a flesh-eating demon anyhow), because she wasn’t being used as such anyways by humanity.
And then this is just my pet theory but the fact that she looks like what could be called an ‘amalgamation’ in the first place (and that she’s described as an ‘amalgamation’ is also a reference to her being Dakiniten, who is a sort of amalgamation of several aspects - the fox goddess Inari, and the evil Dakini spirits from long ago.
Given her entire appearance as a goddess related to military fortune, who has been used by humanity and never worshipped as a kind goddess of good fortune despite literally becoming one when syncretized, being a female fox deity who isn’t Inari but also isn’t Tamamo or Amaterasu but is related enough, as well as being somebody with a direct relation to the Izumo Taisha (or rather, a palpable motive for spite towards it and what it represents) and everything else…….. this is why I can’t not see Koyanskaya as Dakiniten. Like there’s just too much here for me.
