Hinokagutsuchi, also known as Kagutsuchi and Homusubi, is the god of fire in Japanese mythology. His mother Izanami was so badly burned when she gave birth to him that she died. His father, Izanagi, beheaded Kagutsuchi with his sword, Ame no Ohabari, and cut his body into eight pieces which then became eight volcanoes. Kagutsuchi's corpse created many deities, including Take-Mikazuchi, Futsunushi, Amatsu Mikaboshi, and Ouyamatsumi. Kagutsuchi is the patron deity of blacksmiths and ceramic workers.
The name Kagutsuchi was originally a compound phrase, consisting of kagu, an Old Japanese root verb meaning "to shine"; tsu, the Old Japanese possessive particle; and chi, an Old Japanese root meaning "force, power."
"Origin: Japan. The final child born to Izanagi and Izanami. Because he was on fire from the moment of his birth, he burned Izanami to death. Infuriated, Izanagi struck him down with his sword, Totsuka no Tsurugi. Many gods were born from the blood that then spurted from Kagutsuchi. Many others, such as Take-Mikazuchi, were born from Izanagi."
—Shin Megami Tensei A-Mode DDS Dictionary
Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE[]
Hinokagutsuchi was implemented during the 2015 Halloween event and his plug-in was obtainable through it. He can be fused in a special triple fusion of Suzaku, Ifrit, and Flaemis.
Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon[]
"A fire god that burned his mother Izanami upon childbirth. His full name is Hi-no-kagutsuchi. His father, furious with grief, slew Kagutsuchi with the sword Totsuka. Many gods were born from his corpse."
Hi-no-Kagutsuchi is the main antagonist of the Persona 4 Arena duology and the instigator of all of its events. In Arena, he was known as the Malevolent Entity. Initially a formless incarnation, it had allied itself with a human in an attempt to re-create his own body, with the final goal being complete world destruction. This human, identified only as the Eerie Voice, is implied to have a connection to the Kirijo Group, as he shows himself capable of utilizing Kirijo Group protocols and taking control of Kirijo Group technology such as Labrys at will. Despite this, Hi-no-Kagutsuchi cannot operate within the TV world by himself due to lacking a form or a Persona. As a result, he has to momentarily take the form of certain characters in order to physically intervene.
His first plan is to use his accomplice to hijack a carriage that contains Labrys and throw her into the TV World. Before Labrys is thrown into the TV, he manipulates her into thinking that she wanted to become human, meet her mother and enroll in Yasogami High School, showing her scenes of Yasogami High and the hospital to justify his point. He then claims that if she forgot that she is in fact, an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon created by the Kirijo Group, he will grant her humanity accordingly. He then instigates the P-1 Grand Prix using Shadow Labrys, which takes the form of Yasogami High and is manifested from Shadow Labrys' desire for others to share the same pain as her. In reality, the Malevolent Entity only wanted to break the spirits of the Persona users so their Personas revert into Shadow Selves and he can absorb them to create a destructive form of himself. At the ending of the Shadow Operative story modes, after defeating a Labrys hijacked by his accomplice, the Malevolent Entity steps in himself, takes the form of the player character and fights them. However, he is defeated and is forced to retreat.
In Ultimax, his role remains the same, although as the P-1 Grand Prix taught him, the will of the Persona users are too powerful, so absorbing them would cause him to become unstable due to the obedience of their hosts. Instead, he now creates fake copies of Persona users from Shadows, alongside a red fog enshrouding Inaba and the tower standing atop Yasogami High. He then claims that the world will end in an hour and forces the Persona users to fight their Shadow clones with the intent of making the Persona users fight without hesitation, so their Persona Fragments can be carved out as soon as they fight the fakes. The shards act as a stabilizer for his form as they were built from the strength of heart, effectively making him closer to his plan every fight and allowing him to achieve his plan without any potential backlashes.
He takes the unstable form of "General Teddie" and works together with Sho Minazuki, as he promised that Minazuki will be able to take revenge of Shuji Ikutsuki's mistreatment of him by destroying everything so he could forever remain at peace in solitude, free from all suffering he had in the past. This was a lie however, as Kagutsuchi had intended to betray Sho and Minazuki; he was merely using them for his true motive, to create a body of his own fit for world destruction. He then drops his "General Teddie" guise and mannerisms, goes for the back of Minazuki's head and uses his body as a vessel. Kagutsuchi then manifests the body he has created from the Shadows he gathered, taking the form of a flaming serpent. Depending on the route the player takes, he is defeated by either Yu Narukami and Tohru Adachi or Labrys. He was born from the desire of eternal solitude when the fog appeared in Inaba. In the P3 Story Mode, he is also described as being born from the dissatisfaction of people. In both cases, Elizabeth states that he is born from people who desire death.
The Malevolent Entity exhibits a wide range of powers throughout the Arena duology; It is capable of appearing out of and disappearing into thin air at will, creating fakes of people, telepathy and even outright possessing people to do its bidding. Despite being an embodiment of pure destruction, it is also surprisingly manipulative and is in no means, a mindless, destructive avatar.
In the Japanese versions, he is voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki, while being voiced in English by Patrick Seitz (the same voice actors used for the series' announcer).
Persona 4 Arena Manga[]
The Malevolent Entity appears in the final chapter of the manga, where it possesses Labrys after she gains her Persona. It does not take the form of any character's Shadow, and tries to crush Aigis' neck only for Akihiko and Mitsuru to intervene. After failing to attempt to destroy Aigis, he attempts to crush Labrys' own neck until she gains the willpower to fight back against its possession. Both Fuuka Yamagishi and Rise Kujikawa use their Personas to expel it from her body, where it disappears afterwards.
Adds Fire Pierce. +50% to Max HP. -60% to all damage taken except if a weak point is hit.
When a party member takes Phys damage, or at the end of the enemy turn: Inflict Gloom on all enemies for 1 turn. If the attack is successful, inflict Fire damage (Power: 70) to all enemies.
Innate
Scarlet Chop
5 MP
Inflicts Fire (Physical) damage (Power: 150) with a 80% critical hit rate on a single enemy. Damage inflicted by this skill (Chain Effect included) will ignore Counter effects and all death prevention skills.
If attack is successful: Inflicts Fire damage (Power: 150) with a 80% critical hit rate on a single enemy.
Innate
Rending Fire
6 MP
Inflicts Fire (Physical) damage (Power: 90) with 30% crit rate on all enemies.
Aragami (Awaken)
Fire Amp
Auto
+25% to Fire damage
Aragami (Gacha)
Lunar Downfall
Auto
Activates the following Chain Effect at the beginning of battle:
If enemy attacks first: Reduces all enemy ATK and EV/AC by 20%. (1 turn)
Protector (Awaken)
Zealous Rebel
Auto
+20% to max HP.
When receiving a physical attack: 100% chance to counter dealing Phys (Physical) damage (Power: 80).
Protector (Gacha)
Intimidating Stance
Auto
Reduces 1 enemy Press Turn at the beginning of a battle if the enemy attacks first. Only up to 2 Press Turn Icons can be reduced by skills or effects.
Psychic (Awaken)
Fire Slowda
Auto
+15% to Fire damage. -20% to own affect on Battle Speed.
Psychic (Gacha)
Null Phys
Auto
Adds Phys Null.
Elementalist (Awaken)
Epitome of Endurance
Auto
-25% to this demon's affect on Battle Speed. +20% to max HP.
Elementalist (Gacha)
Gallery[]
Main
Hinokagutsuchi's sprite in Last Bible III
Hi no Kagutsuchi as it appears in Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Lone Marebito
The Kagutsuchi Fusion Spell in Persona 2: Innocent Sin
The Malevolent Entity as he appears in the Arena Manga.
Labrys being hacked by the Malevolent Entity in the Arena Manga.
Malevolent Entity exposing his plan in Labrys' body in the Arena Manga.
Malevolent Entity making Labrys commit suicide in the Arena Manga.
The Malevolent Entity posing as General Teddie
General Teddie mocks the Shadow Operatives with an firework image of himself
Hinokagutsuchi appears in an anime cutscene of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Hi no Kagutsuchi as it appears in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Concept art
Trivia[]
Before Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Hi-no-Kagutsuchi was often mistaken and speculated as Nyarlathotep due to his ability to voluntarily shapeshift, manifest fake Shadow Selves, his tendencies to manipulate and betray his surrogates Sho Minazuki and Labrys for his own goals; both him and Nyarlathotep share the same goal to induce mindless world destruction. A further coincidence is having them share the same English voice actor before the reveal of differing Japanese voice actors.
Another coincidental tie to Nyarlathotep is Shadow-Mode/Fake Aigis in Ultimax using a similar black butterfly emblem as him.
.png "P4AU (P3 Mode, General Teddie mock the Shadow Operatives).png (1.96 MB)")
