Garaiya Ogata
Garaiya Ogata o̞ɡ̃a̠ta̠ ɡa̠ɾ̠a̠ija̠ | |
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Garaiya in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle | |
Character Titles | |
Hero of the Masses | |
Information | |
Species | Human |
Abilities | Employing illusions to do work, etc. |
Occupation | Member of the Youkai Alliance; Leader of the Dragonfly Army |
Location | Dragonfly Castle |
Music Themes | |
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Appearances | |
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Garaiya Ogata (尾形 我来也 Ogata Garaiya) is the leader of the Dragonfly Army. They're also the master of Kaisen Azuma and Kujiru Kesa. Nearly all of the Dragonfly Army's soldiers are their shikigami.
General Information[edit | edit source]
Personality[edit | edit source]
Garaiya is soft-spoken and polite. They're kind to both humans and youkai, and most of them respect their strength. They're mild-mannered and have never been seen to be overly angry, even when scolding their pets. Garaiya is also hopelessly idealistic and wants to find a ruler that would be a hero for Mugenri.
Abilities[edit | edit source]
- Employing illusions to do work
Garaiya is able to form shiki with many youkai, employing multiple shikigami to work for them at once.
- Taoist magic & martial arts
Garaiya is a master of both Taoist magic and martial arts. It is implied that this is how they are able to control Kaisen and Kujiru. However, if they focus too much power on the two of them, their own skills are impaired.
Backstory[edit | edit source]
Since long ago, Garaiya wanted to find a suitable ruler for Mugenri, a hero. At first, they supported Taira no Fumikado with their plans to become the True Emperor, but after they became a rogue fugitive, they gave up on their plans. Shortly after, Fumikado's deceased servant, Taira no Chouki, wanted revenge on Fumikado so they trained under Garaiya's tutelage to become stronger.
Background Information[edit | edit source]
Origin[edit | edit source]
Garaiya is based on several characters in history and folklore, the Chinese bandit Wo Lai Ye (我來也), the Japanese folklore hero Jiraiya (自来也) and his future iteration who was also named Jiraiya (児雷也), but with different kanji. In addition, they were also based on the Toad Immortal (蝦蟇仙人 Gamasennin).
Wo Lai Ye (我來也) was a historical Chinese bandit from the Song Dynasty who would always write "I have come" on the walls of their victim's houses, and who was the basis of Jiraiya's character.
Wo Lai Ye then inspired the creation of the fictional novel titled The Tale of Jiraiya (自来也説話 Jiraiya Monogatari), published in 1806. The story features the titular Jiraiya (自来也), originally named Ogata Shumo Hiroyuki (尾形周馬寛行). In the story, Jiraiya was a gentleman thief who was known for riding and shapeshifting into toads, and the story revolves around his quest for vengeance against his father's murderer. This iteration of the character retained the quirk of writing "I have come" on the walls of their victim's houses. "The Tale of Jiraiya" then inspired the Japanese folktale The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya (児雷也豪傑物語 Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari), which Garaiya was most heavily based on. This iteration added the romance between Jiraiya and slug magic-wielding Tsunade (綱手) and their fight against the snake magic-wielding Orochimaru (大蛇丸), but forewent the thief aspect of his character. These two tales combined explains why Garaiya's shikigami are a toad and a slug respectively, while he is also searching for a snake shikigami.
The Toad Immortal (蝦蟇仙人 Gamasennin) was based on the Chinese Daoist Ge Xuan and Daoist immortal Liu Haichan, famous for being able to summon the Seia-jin (青蛙神), the basis for Kaisen Azuma, to perform magic. Which may explain the relationship between Kaisen and Garaiya. The Toad Immortal was also said to have taught sorcery to the legendary warrior and youkai Taira no Yoshikado (平良門), who is said to be Taira no Masakado's eldest son. A similar character shows up in the 17th century yomihon novel series "The Tale of Utou Yasutaka's Loyalty" (善知安方忠義伝) by Santō Kyōden, a 3000-year old toad spirit known as Nikushi-sen (肉芝仙) who teaches his magic to both Yoshikado and Takiyasha-hime (滝夜叉姫), the latter whom Taira no Chouki is based on. This may explain Garaiya's position as a mentor to Chouki.
Name[edit | edit source]
Their full name is Garaiya Ogata (尾形 我来也). Their given name, Garaiya, is based on the Chinese reading of Wo Lai Ye (我來也), while their family name, Ogata, is based on Jiraiya's original name, Ogata Shumo Hiroyuki (尾形周馬弘行).
According to JynX, "Garaiya" is written as "我來也 (simplified: 我来也)" in Chinese[1], which was Jiraiya's original inspiration.
Design[edit | edit source]
They appear of short stature, with short, pale-brown hair and very light hazel eyes. A brass necklace with a red orb hangs around their neck. Their attire is similar to that of a kamishimo (裃), typically worn by samurai in the Edo period. They wear a forest-green, sleeveless robe with a brown and black obi, tied with a red rope. They wear a white shawl that also acts as a cape. Two curling branches extend from behind their shoulders, which are apparently from a sacred tree in a shrine somewhere, with paper streamers and what appear to be orange crystals. They wear red shoes that resemble wooden clogs, with dark grey garments underneath. They wield a kama-juumonji spear (鎌十文字槍) but with one of the blades turned around.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle[edit | edit source]
While Chouki was training under the tutelage of Garaiya, the Dragonfly Castle appeared before Chouki, which Garaiya took as an omen acknowledging them as the New Emperor. The idealistic Garaiya wanted for the emperor to be a “hero figure” to Mugenri, but unknown to them, Chouki actually had no interest in ruling. Knowing that Fumikado would eventually come to the castle and fight for the emperor’s title, Chouki waited for them inside the castle, with the intention to kill and have revenge on Fumikado.
In all routes, after Kujiru and Kaisen are defeated, they go back to Garaiya and tell them what happened. Garaiya and their pets (in animal forms) fight against the heroes in order to prevent them from reaching Chouki and the Dragonfly Castle, but are defeated easily, since Garaiya was weakened due to using most of their power to enhance Kujiru and Kaisen, along with powering the majority of the Dragonfly Army.
Relationships[edit | edit source]
- Kujiru Kesa & Kaisen Azuma
Kujiru Kesa and Kaisen Azuma are both Garaiya's pets and shikigami.
- Taira no Chouki
After being discarded by Fumikado, Chouki trained under Garaiya and their shikigami, learning youkai arts and sword fighting. When the Dragonfly Castle welcomed Chouki, Garaiya resolved to serve them. Although Garaiya is the stronger one, they see promising qualities in Chouki.[2]
- Clause
They adopted Clause after finding them and saved them from being homeless. Garaiya still finds Clause annoying like everyone else, despite having them work under them.[3]
Additional Information[edit | edit source]
- According to Kaisen and Kujiru, Garaiya is actually younger than them, but the shikigami respect them nonetheless.
- The kanji for "Garaiya" had not been revealed until 30 April 2021, where a teaser image from a FANBOX article for playable Garaiya in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle -Golden Chapter- showed that it is written in kanji as 我来也. Prior to this reveal, the name was written in katakana as ガライヤ in the original Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
A teaser image for playable Garaiya in BPoHC -GC-.
Spell Cards[edit | edit source]
Name | Translated | Comments | Games | Stage | ||
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Total: 10 | ||||||
「追尾蛞蝓」 | "Tracking Slugs" | BPoHC |
St. 4: E/N | |||
式神「クジル」 | Shikigami "Kujiru" | BPoHC | St. 4: H/U | |||
「跳ねる蛙」 | "Leaping Frogs" | BPoHC | St. 4: E/N | |||
式神「海仙」 | Shikigami "Kaisen" | BPoHC | St. 4: H/U | |||
投槍「鎌十文字」 | Throwing Spear "Kama-Juumonji"[a] | BPoHC | St. 4: E/N | |||
廻槍「巻竜連鱗」 | Spinning Spear "Winding Dragon's Linked Scales"[b] | BPoHC | St. 4: H/U | |||
使牌「三位一体」 | Servant Card "Trinitarian" | BPoHC | St. 4: E/N | |||
式牌「至聖三者」 | Shikigami Card "Holy Trinity" | BPoHC | St. 4: H | |||
「トリニティパワー」 | "Trinity Power" | BPoHC | St. 4: U | |||
影の式 | Shadow Shikigami | BPoHC | Upgrade |
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Kama-juumonji (鎌十文字, lit. "scythe cross"): a type of cross-shaped spear with two scythe-shaped protrusions perpendicular to the blade.
- ↑ Possibly a reference to the juumonji (十文字) moves "winding spear" (巻槍) and "scales" (鱗) from the Hōzōin-ryū school of martial arts, which was founded specifically to teach the use of the juumonji spear.
Official Profiles[edit | edit source]
一叢の英雄 尾形 ガライヤ |
Hero of the Masses Garaiya Ogata |
Official Sources[edit | edit source]
- 2016/12/01 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle - Official Profiles, Haze Stage 4 Boss
References[edit | edit source]
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