Hiruko (Deity)

Hiruko
Affiliation(s)	Kunitsukami Amatsukami Masakado
Race(s)	OniDevil Children White Book

Hiruko is a character and Demon in the Megami Tensei franchise.

Profile

Origin

Hiruko is the first child of Izanagi and Izanami who was born either without limbs or without bones, and thus Hiruko was put on a small boat and cast out into the sea by his parents. He is often identified with Ebisu, a deity of fishing and one of the Seven Lucky Gods.

Game Appearances

Shin Megami Tensei II

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

Prior to the events of the story, Hiruko and the Kunitsukami had become restless and unhappy with the superiority the Amatsukami had over them, and so when the Great Cataclysm occurred, they viewed it as the perfect opportunity to ally with foreign demons and overthrow the heavenly gods, sealing them in the earth to take back the authority they felt rightly belonged to them.

The demons belonging to the forces of Law and Chaos were manipulating the Kunitsukami the entire time however, and when the Amatsukami had been taken care of, they tore Masakado's body into 6 pieces and then betrayed the Kunitsukami, with the forces of Law then sealing them away in shrines around Tokyo so that no one could get in the way of constructing their Millennium Kingdom. Realizing their mistake, the Kunitsukami secretly collected pieces of Masakado's body in the hope of one day being freed and redeeming themselves.

When Aleph visits the Underground, he is asked by Hiruko, who had managed to escape the Center's grasp, to retrieve the six pieces so that Masakado may be revived. After visiting each shrine and collecting the pieces from the freed Kunitsukami, the pieces are taken to the Cathedral of Shadows to fuse the pieces together, and then the fused but soulless body is taken to Hiruko, who then infuses Masakado's soul into the body, fully resurrecting him. Masakado thanks Aleph and heads towards Sealed Iwato along with Hiruko, to which then Masakado opens the entrance, allowing Aleph passage inside so that he may free the Amatsukami from their imprisonment. After freeing the Amatsukami, Amaterasu reconciles with Hiruko and takes him to the Diamond Realm so that they can heal their wounded bodies.

After beating the game, Hiruko can be found in the Diamond Realm, where he once again thanks Aleph for his help.

Visionaries

Hiruko is featured in two Visionary cutscenes in the Game Boy Advance and iOS versions of the game.

In "Yasakani no Magatama", while not physically present, he is mentioned by the Metatron that is leading the incursion on the Yamato shrine, saying that they used his familiarity with the shrine as guidance for their invasion, to which Amaterasu sadly repeats Hiruko's name before she is sealed by the angel.

In "Reed Leaf Boat", Hiruko is fleeing from the Center in the aftermath of their betrayal. He hopelessly tells himself it is only a matter of time until he is found, to which right after he is, but by Mutants instead of the Center. Discovering he is being chased, they take him to their leader, who allows him to live amongst them so that he can remain hidden from the Center.

End of spoilers.

Trivia

• The Kunitsukami are said to have been manipulated solely by the forces of Law in Aeon Genesis's English translation patch of Shin Megami Tensei II, but this is not accurate to the game's original script; both the forces of Law and Chaos are blamed for leading the Kunitsukami astray, Aeon Genesis simply excluded the latter's involvement to make them look better.

Nomenclature

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ヒルコ	Hiruko

Gallery

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  Hiruko's sprite in Shin Megami Tensei II (Playstation)