History Main / TheFourGods

* Huánglóng -- Kōryū or Ōry&#363 -- Huanglong; ([[TopGod The Yellow Dragon]], representing the Changing Seasons and Earth) to the Center

* Qīnglóng -- Seiry&#363 -- Cheonglong; ([[OurDragonsAreDifferent The Azure Dragon]], representing Spring and Wood) to the East

These gods were (Chinese, then Japanese names):
* Qīnglóng -- Seiryū ([[OurDragonsAreDifferent The Azure Dragon]], representing Spring and Wood) to the East
* Zhūquè -- Suzaku ([[GiantFlyer The Vermillion Sparrow]], representing Summer and Fire) to the South
* Báihǔ -- Byakko ([[PantheraAwesome The White Tiger]], representing Autumn and Metal) to the West
* Xuánwǔ -- Genbu ([[TurtlePower The Black Tortoise]], representing Winter and Water) to the North
* Huánglóng -- Kōryū or Ōryū ([[TopGod The Yellow Dragon]], representing the Changing Seasons and Earth) to the Center

* The four gods appear as the bosses of each major world in ''MakaiToshiSaGa'' (''Final Fantasy Legend''), each guarding a sphere that allows you to continue climbing the tower, and Kōryū (called "Ko-run" in the English version) is also present as both a random encounter monster type and a form that Monster player characters can turn into. They reappear in [[SaGa2 its sequel]] as forms that Monster player characters can turn into. In a slight variation, each one also represents one of the [[ElementalRockPaperScissors four western elements]], with Genbu as Earth, Seiryū as Water, Byakko as Air, and Suzaku as Fire.
** The four elemental schools of magic in ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa3'' are named after the Four Gods.

** The four elemental schools of magic in ''RomancingSaGa3'' are named after the Four Gods.
* Four of Maria's subweapons in the ''{{Castlevania}}'' series are based on these four -- an overhead fire attack with birds, a running lightning cat that hits repeatedly, a flying dragon that hits for ice, and a turtle shell shield. The Item Crashes for these, where applicable, summon the actual Gods, and she also uses their power to revive Richter and grant him invincibility if he's defeated at the start of ''Symphony of the Night''.
** On top of that, in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, there are serveral locked doors that grant access to hidden areas, and the four keys are named (and colored) after the four gods. [[AnachronismStew Not something you'd expect in a vampire castle in 12th century Europe...]]

* The four incredibly destructive water volcanoes in ''FanFic/{{Embers}}'' are modeled off of this concept, but with different names given: Shirotora (the White Tiger), Asagitatsu (the Blue Dragon), Akitori (the Vermilion Bird), and Kurokame (the Black Turtle). Of these, Shirotora and Asagitatsu are important in the story- Zuko's mother's home domain of Byakko has retained a measure of autonomy from the Fire Lord by being the only people who can reliably keep the volcano nicely dormant, while the lack of anyone doing something similar about Asagitatsu (whose last two eruptions killed Avatars and made life difficult worldwide for years afterwards) is a major plot point.

* Zhūquè -- Suzaku ([[GiantFlyer The Vermillion Bird]], representing Summer and Fire) to the South

* Xuánwǔ -- Genbu ([[TurtlePower The Black Turtle]], representing Winter and Water) to the North

* In ''Anime/ToAruMajutsuNoIndex'', the global spell that swapped everyone's appearance was [[spoiler:accidentally set in to motion by Touma's father collecting supposedly mystical figurines that represented TheFourGods and placing them in each of their associated directions.]]
** And Tsuchimikado gets rid of it by [[spoiler:using accordingly-colored paper figurines placed in certain directions[[note]]essentially magical feng shui[[/note]] to directly invoke the Gods and fire a magical WaveMotionGun at the house]].

* The Mythical Beast Knights of ''TheLuciferAndBiscuitHammer''.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft: Mists of Pandaria'' introduces the August Celestials. Yu'lon the Jade Serpent in the east, Niuzao the Black Ox in the west, Xuen the White Tiger in the north, and Chi-ji the Red Crane in the south. They (or at least Yu'lon) go through a reincarnation cycle where they infuse their life into giant statues before they die, and the statues then come alive and become their next life.

* ''VideoGame/BloodyRoar'' played with this a little throughout the series. The tiger came first in ''Beastorizer'' ([[MarketBasedTitle later renamed Bloody Roar 1]]) through [[BareFistedMonk Long]] (who is a [[VoluntaryShapeshifting zoanthrope]] of a tiger), whom later had an evil clone in the form of [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Shenlong]] ([[EvilAlbino who is an albino tiger]]) with a [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil yin-yang theme between the two]] (before [[DracoInLeatherPants Shenlong eventually grown more compassionate and less evil]]). Next came Primal Fury (Technically Bloody Roar 4 and the same as [[UpdatedRerelease Extreme]]) which had Cronos, who, [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins besides being a penguin]], [[ThePhoenix is also a flame-covered phoenix]]. Then comes [[FourIsDeath Bloody Roar 4]] (which is actually 5) there was [[TheDragon Ryoho]] who was a water dragon of Gaia that was [[GameBreaker so]] [[GodModders powerful]] his dragon form had to be sealed off every so often. Finally, in the [[NoExportForYou rediculously rare manga Bloody Roar The Fang]] (which takes place along Primal Fury's time), the trope is played straight with powerful zoanthropes representing the four gods, among the prominent ones being a tortoise zoanthrope with a snake for a tail. Out of them, only Long and Shenlong aren't considered as godly in status.

* ''VideoGame/BloodyRoar'' played with this a little throughout the series. The tiger came first in ''Beastorizer'' ([[MarketBasedTitle later renamed Bloody Roar 1]]) through [[BareFistedMonk Long]] (who is a [[VoluntaryShapeshifting zoanthrope]] of a tiger), whom later had an evil clone in the form of [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Shenlong]] ([[EvilAlbino who is an albino tiger]]) with a [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil yin-yang theme between the two]] (before [[DracoInLeatherPants Shenlong eventually grown more compassionate and less evil]]). Next came Primal Fury (Technically Bloody Roar 4 and the same as [[UpdatedRerelease Extreme]]) which had [[WhiteHairedPrettyBoy Cronos]], who, [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins besides being a penguin]], [[ThePhoenix is also a flame-covered phoenix]]. Then comes [[FourIsDeath Bloody Roar 4]] (which is actually 5) there was [[TheDragon Ryoho]] who was a water dragon of Gaia that was [[GameBreaker so]] [[GodModders powerful]] his dragon form had to be sealed off every so often. Finally, in the [[NoExportForYou rediculously rare manga Bloody Roar The Fang]] (which takes place along Primal Fury's time), the trope is played straight with powerful zoanthropes representing the four gods, among the prominent ones being a tortoise zoanthrope with a snake for a tail. Out of them, only Long and Shenlong aren't considered as godly in status.

** And Tsuchimikado gets rid of it by [[spoiler:using accordingly-colored paper figurines placed in certain directions[[hottip:*:essentially magical feng shui]] to directly invoke the Gods and fire a magical WaveMotionGun at the house]].

** Seiryū, defeated [[{{Understatement}} rather quickly]] by Hiei (17 slashes in a split second!)

In recent years, several anime, manga and video games have drawn upon the imagery of the Four Gods. The most prominent of these is ''FushigiYuugi'', in which they are active deities overseeing a land found inside a magic book called "The Universe of the Four Gods". When she falls into the book, the heroine finds herself thrust into the position of priestess to Suzaku, with the power to summon the god.

* In ''VideoGame/SeikenDensetsu3'', Kevin's has a technique (and associated gear) corresponding to one of the Four Gods for each possible final class.

* The Shigenshou in ''JukenSentaiGekiranger'' and Phantom Beast Generals of ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' are based on this trope (though ''Jungle Fury'' downplays it): Sanyo the Basilisk/Snapper the Snapping Turtle (Genbu), Sūgu the Chimera/Whiger the White Tiger (Byakko), Mele/Camille the Phoenix (Suzaku), Long/Scorch the Dragon (Seiryū), and Rio/Dai Shi the Griffin (Huáng​lóng​). Lampshaded with Sūgu, as his prior identity had white tiger powers and he was nicknamed "Byakko" because of it.

** While the colors are off, four of the Mythical Chi Beasts from ''GoseiSentaiDairanger'' are meant to invoke the Four Gods: the Red Dragon, the Pink Hōō, the White Tiger, and Daimugen, their ally.

* The bosses of ''Sega Golden Gun'' are historical characters posessing the Four Gods. Zhang Jiao is Genbu and Da Ji is Byakko, but the hosts of the other two gods aren't mentioned by name aside from the untranslated BossSubtitles.

* Huánglóng -- Kōryū or Ōryū (The Yellow Dragon, representing the Changing Seasons and Earth) to the Center

* {{Webcomic/Flow}}: In a modern world where everyone is born with a mythological gods and creatures who can grant them powers and a single wish, people with powerful gods gain extra education and special privileges, and those who wait to make their wish wind up having their gods disguised as animals following them around. Leerang is followed by the cat god, the most boring and useless of the gods, guaranteeing him an average life at best. However, when tragedy strikes and the cat god offers to turn back time by one day in order to undo the accident, it turns out that his cat god may have been the White Tiger, one of the most powerful gods ever known in disguise.

*** And as Dairanger drew on Chinese mythology fairly heavily, Huanglong/Koryu shows up in the form of the giant dragon Daijinryuu.

*** Huanglong/Koryu shows up in the form of the giant dragon Daijinryuu.

* ''BujingaiSwordmaster'' has one level set in a temple hidden inside a mountain and dedicated to the four gods. You have to activate the altars of Seiryū, Genbu and Suzaku in order to reach the inner sanctum of Byakko.

* Occasionally a DatingSim or anime based off one will have a set of four love interests each aligned with a direction and/or season (directly or by personality). Generally this involves the TenchiSolution (they've decided to share, or at least not compete). This situation is inspired by ''Literature/TaleOfGenji''.