History VideoGame / Okami

* MacGuffinDeliveryService: After going into [[spoiler:the bowels of the Water Dragon, and retrieving the precious Fox Rods, Rao appears and... convinces Amaterasu to give them to her with her GagBoobs]].

* ObliviouslyBeautiful: Priestess Rao seems oblivious to her effect on men and is baffled by Issun's comments about "melons" and being [[GagBoobs "stacked to the ceiling"]]. Ostensibly it's because she is a holy woman and too innocent to understand. [[spoiler:In reality, it is because she is the demon Ninetails in disguise.]]

* StupidSexyFlanders: Rao. Even the mother goddess, the origin of all, from whom all that is good arose, is stunned by her... [[GagBoobs beauty]].

* LetsGetDangerous: Most of Susano's character arc casts him in a comic relief role, and his cowardice is often played for laughs. When monsters [[BerserkButton threaten Kushi]], however, all bets are off. The greatest example of this is when [[spoiler: 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.'']]

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** If you retrieve Abe's Tao Mask by defeating Hayazo in his fourth and final race (which requires learning a brush technique from Oni Island), he'll tell you that [[spoiler;Waka is the only recorded founder of the Tao Troopers in the last 200 years, foreshadowing that he's been alive for far longer than it seemed]]. This foreshadowing is twofold, because Issun then remarks that such a period of time is "nothing for [him]", but unusually long for a living human; though at this time it seems like Issun is being sarcastic, it turns out [[spoiler:Issun is from a species of Poncles that can live for ''very'' long as well]].

* DoomedByCanon: In-universe example -- when Amaterasu and Issun wind up in Kamiki Village 100 years ago, they find themselves having to re-enact the very battle with Orochi as told in legend. Issun, remembering how this one ended with "Shiranui" dying, is ''very'' nervous about it. [[spoiler: 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.]]

** Orochi's spirit flies away after he is defeated. [[spoiler: It is returning to the Ark of Yamato, which releases more evils upon the land, which the rest of the game focuses on defeating.]]

* FramingDevice: The overarching narrative is told by a mysterious narrator, beginning with the legend of {{Orochi}} and [[PhysicalGod Shiranui]] one hundred years ago. By the end of the game, if you haven't figured out the narrator's identity, he'll berate you and switch to more familiar speech patterns that make it easier to recognize him.

* GameplayGrading: The game rates the player's performance after each battle, based on time spent and damage received. The ratings are icons of plants; seeds represent the lowest rank and blossoming cherry trees the highest. The higher rating you get, the more money you obtain as a bonus. Even the {{Final Boss}}es have one, which pops up immediately before the EndGameResultsScreen.

** Finding all of the cherry trees to bloom in the Sei-an City Commoner's Quarter can be difficult because one of them is [[spoiler: inside Mr. Flower's house]], and one of them is [[spoiler: the tiny one on his head]].

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Vertically done to Orochi, ''twice.''

* HardHead: Amaterasu can hit boulders, vases, and jars with her head. A late-game ability learned in Kamui allows her to gradually strengthen her head as she keeps hitting objects.

* {{Magitek}}: The Moon Tribe, such as Waka, seems to have access to some sort of Magitek (the lightsaber flute suggests as much, at least), but it suggests that ScienceIsBad in that [[spoiler:The God of Darkness is suggested to be the source of all technology]].

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.

[[NatureSpirit 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 weakening powers 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 [[DiscOneFinalDungeon intro of the game]].

* AbnormalLimbRotationRange: Onigiri-sensei flips his head upside-down like a topsy-turvy image to assume a more intimidating aura.

** Princess Fuse and the Satomi Warriors are from Kyokutei Bakin's 106 volume novel ''Literature/NansouSatomiHakkenden'' (19th century).

* {{Gainaxing}}: The priestess Rao jiggles wildly every time you meet her, [[spoiler:including after she's [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by the demon Ninetails]]. [[ChivalrousPervert Issun]] rarely refers to her as anything but "busty babe", even to her face. It's mentioned in the game's official art book that one of the programmers created a "bounce and sway program" with "great attention to detail" to get Rao's breasts to jiggle just right.

** And Mrs. Orange makes her Cherry Cakes using the [[StreetFighter Shun Goku Satsu]]. With a Marvel vs Capcom 3 lampshading years later:

** [[spoiler:Ninetails.]] While Orochi's confined to the Moon Cave and Yami seems to be happy [[spoiler:acting as a vague monster-spawning UltimateEvil, Ninetails]] does everything in his power to make sure he and his stronghold are completely unassailable. It almost worked, too, as Amaterasu breached Oni Island with only minutes to spare.

* Mystical108: The extremely difficult to obtain [[InfinityPlusOneSword string of beads]] is made up of 100 [[GottaCatchEmAll stray beads]] and 8 power orbs. Given the large amounts of Japanese symbolism in the game, this is unsurprising. Also, the bell on Orochi's back is said to ring 108 times, once for each desire (temptation?) of that year's human sacrifice.

* MysticalCave: When you arrive at Sei-An City, you find the citizens all seriously ill from a disease that seems to be originating from a thick green mist covering the city. Worse, the queen seems to be doing absolutely nothing to help. [[spoiler:It's caused by a demon who has possessed the emperor, infecting him with some sort of illness and leaving him bedridden as he exhales the infectious mist.]]

* WrestlerInAllOfUs:

* GreenThumb: The Hanagami are a trifecta of [[PhysicalGod plant-based Brush Gods]], Sakigami, Tsutagami, and Hasugami. When you get their power, drawing a circle around a dead tree, scribbling over a miniature cursed zone, or painting a dot on fertile ground yields Bloom, drawing a line connecting a Konohana Blossom to something makes a Vine.

* TheLostWoods:
** Agata Forest is a misty forest with a murky lake where, according to legend, the moonlight cannot be reflected because it was literally eaten by a big fish known as the Whopper. The forest is also home to the game's first dungeon, Tsuta Ruins, an ancient temple full of flora and toxic water.
** The forest of Yoshpet in Kamui was very magic even before the dark forces moved in. The forest expels any outlier after a time limit, so Amaterasu will need the guidance of Kai (and later Issun) when heading to a destination that can only be reached through this forest.

* MadeOfEvil: Every villain disperses into a dark, malevolent cloud (with glowing evil eyes) once beaten, and flows back to the FinalBoss. Which is pretty fitting, considering [[spoiler: Yami ''is'' the source of all Evil/Darkness in the setting.]] Interestingly, one sub-boss, Red Helm, has it in his [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]] as having [[SpontaneousGeneration spontaneously sprung]] from the spilled blood of Orochi, a bigger bad.

* FoxyVixen: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. [[spoiler:The Dark Lord Ninetails]] isn't really a looker themselves, being "just" [[spoiler:a nine-tailed fox]], but their disguise as [[spoiler:the priestess Rao]] ''is'' considerably busty, with AbsoluteCleavage abound; [[spoiler:Ninetails's "Evil Rao" guise]] also retains the fanservicey design, plus the addition of [[spoiler:a fox mask]].

** Onigiri-sensei takes this trope UpToEleven 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!

* NiceHat:
** Issun and the rest of the Poncles have beetle-like helmets. Issun even feigns that returning to his home of Ponc'tan will end up damaging his hat in its environment, though he really just doesn't want to face his grandfather again.
** Waka wears a long wing-like cloth headdress.
** Orochi wears a helmet on each of his eight heads, each with a symbol and ''kanji'' of its element.
** Queen Himiko has a hat that's on [[IncendiaryExponent fire]].

* NotQuiteFlight: Waka can leap to great heights and glide/hover on the "wings" of his NiceHat.

* OminousOwl: ''Lechku'' and ''Nechku''. The two ''[[ClockworkCreature Clockwork]]'' [[CreepyTwins Twin]] owls with {{Hammerspace}} [[NiceHat Nice Hats]] that ''[[TimeStandsStill control]] [[SuperSpeed time]]'' and wear HighClassGlass.

* MilesGlorious: The 'great swordsman' Susano is actually an incompetent coward. The main character, a magical wolf-goddess named Amaterasu, sometimes hangs around and helps him fight, although he never seems to notice that his techniques only work when the 'annoying wolf' is around. Interestingly, by the time you fight Orochi, this trope has been largely [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]]. [[spoiler:Susano doesn't ''want'' the reputation he's been bragging about, to the point that he started the whole incident by trying to prove the legend of his ancestor false to free himself from the burden of living up to it. Issun mocks him for quivering in fear in his sleep, unaware that his dreams contain things worth being afraid of. And he catches on to the fact that his heroic feats are not truly his own, embittering him to the idea that the gods expect him to save the world... and even then, Susano's Amaterasu-assisted slices ''are'' more effective than when Ammy does them on her own.]]