Horkos

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Horkos
オーカスOrcus
SMT1 SFCSMTSJ

SFC artwork from Shin Megami Tensei

Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

Other Name(s) OrcusShin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei if...
Devil Survivor
Devil Survivor: Overclocked
Devil Survivor 2
Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker
Origin Roman culture[1]
Race(s) TyrantShin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2

VileShin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Requiem
Majin Tensei
Majin Tensei: Blind Thinker
Devil Survivor
Devil Survivor: Overclocked
Devil Survivor 2
Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker
Alignment(s) Dark-LawShin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Requiem

Dark-ChaosShin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

ChaosShin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Voice Actor(s) Taisuke NishimuraShin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

Horkos, also known as Orcus, is a Demon in the Megami Tensei franchise.

Profile

Origin

Main section: Orcus § Origin

While named Horkos in several localizations and some localizations altering his profile to claim Greek origin, this demon is an interpretation of the Roman god Orcus according to Japanese official profiles.[1]

Design

The scepter, crown, and mantle are meant to show his status as king of the underworld.[2]

The pig-headed design is likely based on a spurious claim found in Barbara Walker's book The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, citing Robert Graves, that another form of his name is Porcus (Latin for pig), that Orcus was a sacrificial boar, and that Orcus was portrayed as a pig-headed demon in the Middle Ages;[3] several things in the Megami Tensei franchise are influenced by Walker's book.

Gameplay

For complete gameplay information, see Gameplay:Horkos.

Compendium

Compendium Entries
Shin Megami Tensei
(A-Mode DDS)

Origin: Italy
A malevolent Roman god. He is one of the gods of the underworld, and has a pig's head and bat wings. He's daring but violent, and will massacre enemy troops in order to eat them. He sometimes appears as a giant dragon with fangs of iron.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

A god of death originating in Greek lore.

During medieval times, he was depicted as a demon with the head of a pig who ravaged corpses, most likely because sacrifices to him used pigs. Horkos was thought to be the king of the Orcs.

Shin Megami Tensei IV

A god of death originating in Greco-Roman lore.

In those days, he was depicted as a demon with the head of a pig, most likely because sacrifices to him commonly used pigs.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

A god of death originating in Greco-Roman lore.
In those days, he was depicted as a demon with the head of a pig, most likely because sacrifices to him commonly used pigs.

Devil Survivor: Overclocked

A god of death originating in Greco-Roman lore. In those days, he was depicted as a demon with the head of a pig, most likely because sacrifices to him commonly used pigs.

Devil Survivor 2

A god of death originating in Greco-Roman lore.

In those days, he was depicted as a demon with the head of a pig, most likely because sacrifices to him commonly used pigs.

Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker

Game Appearances

Shin Megami Tensei if...

Orcus is the ruler of the World of Gluttony, and can be found on the lowest floor continually eating giant plates of food and demanding more from cooks. It is revealed that he is not the true ruler of the area and is actually the Principal, who was transformed into Orcus by Hazama as punishment for his gluttonous ways.[4] The true ruler is a Parasite planted inside of him that keeps him transformed, so the protagonists use micro plasm to shrink themselves and enter his body and kill the parasite, turning Orcus back into the Principal.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

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Trivia

Nomenclature

The name Horkos is a Greek deity said by Hesiod to punish oathbreakers, and the name is used in localizations to distinguish from the other Orcus, probably chosen due to phonetic similarity.

The Japanese spelling is based on the English pronunciation of Orcus rather than the Latin pronunciation.[6]

Names in Other Languages
Language Name Meaning
English OrcusShin Megami Tensei
Devil Survivor
Devil Survivor: Overclocked
Devil Survivor 2
Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker
HorkosShin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2
Japanese オーカス Ōkasu Orcus
Korean 오카스 Okaseu Orcus

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Eirikr, Orcus/Horkos Infodump. Published May 28, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2024. Tumblr.
  2. ↑ "王錫と王冠、マントは、オーカスが冥府の王であることを示すためのもの。" Translation: "The scepter, crown, and mantle are for the sake of showing that Orcus is the king of the underworld." Kazuma Kaneko Works I (2004). Published by Shinkigensha. Japanese. p. 24. ISBN-13: 978-4-7753-0315-3.
  3. ↑ "Greco-Roman death god, also known as Phorcys or Porcus, a sacrificial boar.1 In the Middle Ages he was made a demon with a human body and a pig's head.
    1. Graves, G.M. 2, 107." The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (1983), Barbara G. Walker. Published by Harper & Row. p. 742. ISBN-13: 978-0-06-250925-3.
  4. ↑ "Expanse Resident: By order of the Demon Emperor, Jaki Orcus rules the Domain of Gluttony. Some people are saying that Orcus is actually a human that got transformed, though. Like, there was a really gluttonous, ugly human that got the Symbol of Greed planted in him, and that changed him. So Orcus keeps eating and eating without ever stopping, doing what the symbol inside him commands...." Shin Megami Tensei if... (Super Famicom). Developed by Atlus. Translation by Aeon Genesis.
  5. ↑ Page description: A table of bosses and where they would be encountered. MegaTen Maniacs (2017), Nobuyuki Shioda and Masashi Uchida. Japanese. p. 133.
  6. ↑ "オーカスは英語読み。ラテン語読みではオルクス。" Translation: "Ōkasu is the English reading. In the Latin reading, it is Orukusu." Kazuma Kaneko Works I (2004). Published by Shinkigensha. Japanese. p. 24. ISBN-13: 978-4775303153.
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