IZANAGI

Real Name: Izanagi

Occupation: Ruler of Japanese gods, god of the sun and sky

Legal Status: Citizen of Ama

Identity: The general populace of earth is unaware of Izanagi except as a mythological character.

Other Aliases: None known

Place of Birth: Kyushu (now part of modern Japan)

Marital Status: Separated

Known Relatives: Inn (father), Gaea (mother, alias Yo), Izanami (sister/estranged wife), Maricia-ten (second wife), Uhjini, Tunokui, Ontonoji, Omadaru (brothers), Suhjini, Ikugui, Ootonobe, Kashikone, (sisters), Amaterasu, Uke Mochi, Kawanokami, Shinatobe, Kawanokami, Kuraokami (daughters), Takamimusubi, Susanowo, Takamikusubi, Oowadatsumi, Kagutsuchi, Tsukiyomi, Shinatsuhiko, Emma-O, Hiruko, Minatatonomi, Ooyamatsumi, Wakahirume, Takaokami (sons)

Group Affiliation: The Gods of Japan, Council of Godheads

Base of Operations: Ama

First Appearance: (unidentified) Thor I#300, (identified) Marvel Universe: The End II #2

History: Izanagi is one of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Kami who were worshipped as gods by the Ancient Japanese. Not much is known about his origins, but he was historically born on the island now known as Kyushu in modern-day Japan to obscure primal deities known as Inn and Yo, who are described as the male and female principals of the universe, respectively. (According to one account, Yo might actually be the Japanese name of Gaea, one of the Elder Gods who admitted to being the primal ancestor of all the gods of earth.)

Izanagi may have been one of the first Emperors of Japan before ascending into godhood. According to myth, he created the eight islands of Japan by standing upon Amanohashidate, the floating bridge of heaven, and then stirring the ocean with a jeweled spear in order to stir the islands up from the bottom of the sea. He claimed all the islands as his own and built a house on the island of Onokoro. He took his sister, the moon-goddess Izanami, to be his wife and they had several children. His first son, Hiruko, did not please him and he set him adrift in a boat of reeds upon the ocean. Among his favored children were Amaterasu the sun-goddess, Tsukiyomi the moon-god and Susanowo the storm-god. However, when Kagutsuchi the fire-god was born, Izanami was set afire by his birth and so badly burned that she died. Izanagi was so furious that he cut Kagutsuchi up into three pieces and cast his remains to the wind.

Izanami, meanwhile, departed earth with her children for the underworld of Yomi, the Land of Gloom. Izanagi departed looking for her and calling her name. Without seeing her, Izanagi heard her voice calling to him and warning him that she had already eaten from the table of the dead and could not return with him. She admitted she wanted to return to earth, but she would have to ask the spirits of the dead if she could be allowed to return with him. Eventually, Izanagi grew tired of waiting for him and descended down into Yomi to look for her and his children. When he found her, Izanagi discovered that she had become a rotting corpse covered in maggots devouring her flesh and recoiled from her horrible appearance. Collecting his children, he fled from Yomi, but Izanami was so upset that he had peeked upon her undead body that she sent the forces of the underworld upon Izanagi. To escape these demonic forces, Izanagi tossed away his headdress, transforming it into grapes that the demons stopped to eat. As they caught back up to him, Izanagi tossed away the comb from his hair, transforming it into bamboo shoots that the demons once more stopped to eat. When Izanami caught up to him, Izanagi reached the boundary of Yomi that entered into the land of the living and erected a great barrier to forever separate the land of the living from the land of the dead. Izanami cursed at him claiming that she would take a thousand people a year from earth for revenge, but he promised to cause one thousand and five hundred people to be born a year so that there would always be people on earth.

After escaping the underworld, Izanagi and his children eventually rested at the mouth of a stream surrounded by orange trees and bushes and clovers near modern-day Hyuga. With the waters, he washed the filth of the underworld from himself and his children and imparted portions of godhood from himself to his children from his eyes and face. (In later myths, it was claimed he actually created his children from his eyes by wiping them from his face.) One of his children, Emma-O, however, remained behind in Yomi and became god of the dead.  

Izanagi had baptized his children from the springs to make them gods. Among his children, he was most pleased with Amaterasu the sun-goddess, Tsukiyomi the moon-god and Susanowo the storm-god among all of them that he divided the world up between them. He gave Amaterasu complete rule of heaven and the other gods, he gave Tsukiyomi realm over the night and he gave Susanowo dominion over the ocean and all that was within it. Susanowo, however, preferred to have gained control over Yomi, but the underworld had become the domain of Izanami and Emma-O. Susanowo, meanwhile, wandered heaven and earth causing trouble for the other gods. Takamimusubi, the husband of Amaterasu, only had a certain amount of power due to his marriage, but he had no real power over the pantheon under Izanagi.

Izanagi and Amaterasu ruled the Japanese gods from the Court of Jade on Onokoro in the dimension of Ama. They became the most powerful deities in the Shinto Religion, one of the oldest religions of Japan, although it actually had no name until the 6th Century AD in order to separate it from Buddhism and Confucianism, which had arrived from China to the west. Around 1000 AD, Odin of the Asgardian gods and Zeus of the gods of Olympus asked Izanagi to meet with the heads of the other races of gods who were once worshipped by mortals to discuss the threat of the Third Host of the Celestials. They had to pledge not to interfere with the plans the Celestials had with humanity after the Celestials threatened to seal off the gods’ interdimensional passageways connecting the gods’ dimensions with earth. As a result of this pledge, the Japanese gods had to lessen their trafficking with earth. The Fourth Host of the Celestials would decide to spare earth from destruction. The life forces of the Asgardians were used to animate the Destroyer to confront the Celestials, but were lost after the destruction of the Destroyer. Izanagi had made a vow to Odin to volunteer the required life energies to revive the Asgardians and Thor who was not present on Asgard when the Asgardians volunteered their life-energies visited Ama to obtain the required energies.

Izanagi would meet with the other godheads several more times as part of the Council Elite to share wisdom and knowledge and debate over various threats to earth, such as Akhenaton, Thanos and the Egyptian death-god Seth. After Odin was slain in battle, Izanagi and the council met again to debate Thor’s worthiness to replace his father in the council.

In recent years, the Japanese rice-god Inari sought the compliance of the Kami in helping to defend Olympus, the home of the Olympian gods, from Mikaboshi, a demon who had escaped Yomi. His favor was strengthened by the gift of water given him by one of the Olympians, and Izanagi joined the Kami joined together to side in an alliance with the Olympians against Mikaboshi who they ousted from Olympus.

Height: 7' 2"
Weight: 375 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

Strength Level: Izanagi possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) at least 85 tons under optimal conditions under optimal conditions. In his youth, his strength was far greater, perhaps in the Class 100 level range.

Known Superhuman Powers: Izanagi possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Kami or Japanese gods. Like all Kami, he is virtually immortal: he has aged at at an exceptionally slow rate since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. He is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If he were somehow wounded, his godly life force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Zeus, Odin and Ammon-Ra or for a number of Japanese gods of equal power working together to revive him. Izanagi also possesses superhuman strength and his Kami metabolism provides him with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Kami flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the superhuman strength and weight of the Japanese gods.)

Izanagi also has several powers to tap into and manipulate mystical energies for feats of magic. His exact level of power is unrevealed but it is believed he is equal to such gods as Zeus and Odin, the Elders of the Universe and quasi-entities such as the In-Betweener and the Living Tribunal. He can create and generate beams of force, alter matter, generate force fields, control the weather, create earthquakes and travel between different dimensions and levels of existence. He was able to generate the required life-forces to Thor to restore the Asgardians and engage the demon Mikaboshi in battle with countless spells. His exact level of power is unrevealed.

Weaponry/Paraphernalia: Izanagi carries a staff of supremacy named Amenonuhoko which represents his sovereignty over the Japanese gods. Constructed out of undefined mystical ore, the staff is strong enough to channel his power and reach through dimensional barriers to stir volcanoes and create islands out of the earth's crust.

Comments: This bio largely describes Izanagi in the Marvel Universe. Izanagi also appeared with Izanami in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #28-29 (Archie Comics, part of Image Comics). Izanami has appeared in DC Comics Man of Steel #125.

Clarifications: Izanagi is not to be confused with:

Last updated: 05/30/07

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