History Main / TheFourGods

* In ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'', the Imperial Palace is guarded by extremely powerful enemies based off the Four Gods, but the story takes liberties with their respective elements, having them represent fire, water, earth and wind (Suzaku represents Fire, Genbu represents Earth, Seiryu represents Water and Byakko represents Wind). All four of them possess deadly abilities that, combined with the ability to essentially spawn-camp their defeated foes until they're driven off of Brain Burst in an "Unlimited EK", make them nearly impossible to defeat alone. Worse still, all of them have to be engaged simultaneously, or else they'll regenerate health too quickly to be killed. [[spoiler:Nega Nebulus broke apart as a result of a failed attempt to defeat the Four Gods by attacking them with the Burst Linkers of the same element, thus resulting in some of the members being trapped in the Unlimited Neural Field, unable to enter lest they be killed repeatedly.]]

* The anime version of ''VideoGame/{{Dokyusei}}'' (English title, ''VideoGame/EndOfSummer'') is more subtle. In this case, they pared the list of girls (from the game) down to four. The follow-on OAV set (not released in the US) has the school nurse reminding Wataru that he can't keep all four of them forever.

* ''Anime/KarasuTenguKabuto'': The four gods appear.

||Zhūquè||Suzaku||Jujak||Chu Tước||[[GiantFlyer The Vermilion Bird]]||

||Xuánwǔ||Genbu||Hyeonmu||Huyền Vũ||[[TurtlePower The Black Tortoise (lit. Occult Martial)]]||

* The [[Myth/NativeAmericanMythology Navajo]] Four Winds are remarkably similar in many respects, with Okaga representing the South and Fire, Yata the North and Water, Eya the West and Lightning (in Wu Xing, lightning is part of the Metal element), and Yampa the East and Air. [[ArtisticLicenseReligion Modern syncretic neopagan circles tend to screw this up and assign Okaga/"Red" to Water, Yata/"White" to Air, Eya/"Black" to Earth and Yampa/"Yellow" to Fire.]]

* The heads of the main guilds in ''LightNovel/BofuriIDontWantToGetHurtSoIllMaxOutMyDefense'' fit the theme. The Genbu equivalent is Maple, whose main armor is black and has a monster companion in the turtle Syrup. Mii, with her red attire, fire abilities and [[spoiler: her phoenix companion, Ignis,]] is Suzaku, while Payne's blue color scheme and [[spoiler: dragon companion, Ray]] makes him Seiryu. Byakko is represented by [[spoiler: Velvet, who dresses in white, uses lightning based attacks and has the ability to turn herself into a white tiger]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise has the [[DubNameChange Digimon Sovereign (Four Holy Beasts in Japan)]], a set of OlympusMons based on the Four Gods. ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' marked their anime introduction with Azulongmon (Qinglongmon), based on Seiryū, being important to the plot. ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' introduced the remaining three; Zhuqiaomon based on Suzaku was initially an antagonist, and Baihumon based on Byakko and Ebonwumon (Xuanwumon) based on Genbu, play relatively minor roles. The fifth god, Huanglongmon based on Kōryū, existed in supporting material for years but didn't make his anime debut until a decade later in ''Anime/DigimonFusion'', but was only a MonsterOfTheWeek in it. ''Anime/DigimonAdventureTri'' revealed [[spoiler: four of the ''original'' Chosen Children's Digimon evolved into the Holy Beasts, at the cost of the ''fifth'' Chosen Child's Digimon.]]

* Very subtle in ''Manga/OnePiece'' but the original Four Emperors fit this scheme. Kaido the Azure Dragon, literally as he ate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a giant blue eastern dragon, [[spoiler: The name of the fruit is eventually revealed to be the ''Uo Uo no mii, Model: Seiryu'' (''Fish Fish Fruit Model: Azure Dragon''). The name of the Fruit being ''Uo'' (Fish) instead of ''Ryu'' (Dragon) is most likely a reference to the famous legend of the carp that swam up a waterfall and became a dragon.]] Shanks the Vermillion Bird, associated with the color red and is also the most mobile of the emperors. Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard has a tiger theme and is associated with the color white. That leaves Charlotte Linlin, Big Mom as the Black Turtle, contrasting Shanks' mobility, as she primarily stays in her main territory, Totto Land. [[spoiler: After Luffy clashes with Big Mon at Totto Land, the news declares him the ''fifth'' emperor, and because he's the strongest contender to succeed Gol D. Roger's legacy and the reveal that his devil fruit is actually the ''Hito Hito no mii, Model: Nika'', this puts him as filling the role of the Yellow Dragon.]]

* [[{{Theatre/Tsukiuta}} Tsukino Empire - Unleash your mind -]] is about soldiers in a SpaceOpera setting, fighting aliens with BondCreatures, the most powerful of which are based on these. Hajime and Prince Shun are the only ones who can bond with Genbu and Byakko, respectively, and that's only because [[spoiler: they aren't human either]].

* In the ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden: Kagami no Miko'' game, it turns out that [[spoiler: a cult from the ''Legend of the Four Gods'' world wants to establish a religion and new nation centered around Kōryū aka Huanglong, [[TopGod The Yellow Water Dragon]]. So when the ChildhoodFriends Mariko Kobayashi and Takumi Mochizuki are accidentally spirited into the Book, the group captures Takumi and brainwashes him into a FaceHeelTurn, then sets out to force Mariko to become the Kouryuu no Miko.]]

** The final boss of ''Last Blade 2'' [[spoiler: and the master of Kaede, Moriya and Yuki]], Kōryū (Japanese for Huáng​lóng​, making a rare Japanese appearance).

** Genbu is represented by a large turtle with a shrine on its back and a serpent in lieu of his tail, and is the guardian spirit of Tenkai Nankobo, aka [[spoiler: UsefulNotes/AkechiMitsuhide ]]. In the first game has the element of Earth, changed to Water in the second game.

* ''[[VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial Tokimeki Memorial 2]]'' has the local {{Delinquents}} gang, the Four Heaven Kings, using the Four Gods themes, each of them wearing on their coats' back a symbol of the respective god they represent : [[KnightTemplarBigBrother Sou-Banchou]], the leader, is Seiryū ; [[GiantMook Kinniku-Banchou]] is Genbu ; [[HotBlooded Hi no Tama-Banchou]] is Suzaku ; and [[TheDragon Kogarashi-Banchou]] is Byakko. Baito-Banchou, on the other hand, being the SixthRanger in the gang [[spoiler: and the only one of the Four Heaven Kings you don't have to win against, [[HopelessBossFight just survive until she goes for her next part-time job]], as she's NighInvulnerable]], doesn't have a Four Gods theme.

* Very subtle in ''Manga/OnePiece'' but the original Four Emperors fit this scheme. Kaido the Azure Dragon, literally as he ate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a giant blue eastern dragon, [[spoiler: The name of the fruit is eventually revealed to be the ''Uo Uo no mii, Model: Seiryu'' (''Fish Fish Fruit Model: Azure Dragon''). The name of the Fruit being ''Uo'' (Fish) instead of ''Ryu'' (Dragon) is most likely a reference to the famous legend of the carp that swam up a waterfall and became a dragon.]] Shanks the Vermillion Bird, associated with the color red and is also the most mobile of the emperors. Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard has a tiger theme and is associated with the color white. That leaves Charlotte Linlin, Big Mom as the Black Turtle, contrasting Shanks' mobility, as she primarily stays in her main territory, Totto Land. [[spoiler: After Luffy clashes with Big Mon at Totto Land, the news declares him the ''fifth'' emperor, fitting into and because he's the strongest contender to succeed Gol D. Roger's legacy and the reveal that his devil fruit is actually the ''Hito Hito no mii, Model: Nika'', this puts him as filling the role of the Yellow Dragon.]]

* Very subtle in ''Manga/OnePiece'' but the original Four Emperors fit this scheme. Kaido the Azure Dragon, literally as he ate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a giant blue eastern dragon, [[spoiler: The name of the fruit is eventually revealed to be the ''Uo Uo no mii, Model: Seiryu'' (''Fish Fish Fruit Model: Azure Dragon''). The name of the Fruit being ''Uo'' (Fish) instead of ''Ryu'' (Dragon) is most likely a reference to the famous legend of the carp that swam up a waterfall and became a dragon.]] Shanks the Vermillion Bird, associated with the color red and is also the most mobile of the emperors. Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard has a tiger theme and is associated with the color white. That leaves Charlotte Linlin, Big Mom as the Black Turtle, contrasting Shanks' mobility, as she primarily stays in her main territory, Totto Land.

* 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, [[TigerVersusDragon 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.

* The [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dreadgods]] of the Literature/CradleSeries; four ''immense'' {{Kaiju}} that periodically take turns terrorising the world (with a fifth heavily implied to be [[SealedEvilInACan slumbering in]] [[BeastInTheMaze the Labyrinth beneath the continent]]); the Bleeding Phoenix (a miles-tall bird seemingly made of blood), the Weeping Dragon (a serpentine dragon described as "kilometers-long" and "travelling on thunderstorms"), the Wandering Titan (resembling a stone warrior with the shell of a tortoise), and the Silent King (a white tiger with a halo of light).

* ''VideoGame/Shinobi2002'' has the four Hellspawn Lords as demonic parodies of the original Four Gods, each with an elemental power and vague nod to the original. They are [[DishingOutDirt Shiragumo]] (a white GiantSpider with the head of a tiger), [[PlayingWithFire Benisuzume]] (a crimson giant moth woman), [[AnIcePerson Kurokuda]] (a {{kitsune}} like humanoid with a giant black snake for tail) and [[ShockAndAwe Aomizuchi]] (a humanoid green-skinned dragon).

*** You can summon and fight four incredibly powerful powerful monsters based upon these deities, sharing their names and likenesses (well, ''FFXI'' equivalents -- Seiryū is a differently-colored version of a smallish dragon, and so on). Most players refer to these as "Sky Gods". (Although older players sometimes still refer to them as "Shijin".) There is a center god as well but it's a Kirin rather than a dragon.

*** Ōryū is also in the game as an [[DishingOutDirt earth-based]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Wyrm]]. His fights are completely unrelated to the gods in [[FloatingContinent Tu'Lia]].

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* The [[Myth/NativeAmericanMythology Native American]] Four Winds are remarkably similar in many respects, with Okaga representing the South and Fire, Yata the North and Water, Eya the West and Lightning (in Wu Xing, lightning is part of the Metal element), and Yampa the East and Air. [[ArtisticLicenseReligion Modern syncretic neopagan circles tend to screw this up and assign Okaga/"Red" to Water, Yata/"White" to Air, Eya/"Black" to Earth and Yampa/"Yellow" to Fire.]]

** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 4'' contains the boss "Heat Genblem." Three guesses what it's supposed to be.

*** Kazuma Kiryu is Seiryu, better known in the Japanese underworld as the [[RedBaron Dragon of Dojima]] who's known as a friendly neighbourhood gangster at his best and a face wrecking, vengeful beast at his most wrathful.

** The four gods appear as the bosses of each major world in ''VideoGame/TheFinalFantasyLegend, 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.

Over the course of the years, a number of anime, manga and video games have drawn upon the imagery of the Four Gods. Some works may forgo the four Chinese elements in favor of the standard FourElementEnsemble. In other cases, it is used as a stock name for a QuirkyMiniBossSquad in an evil organization; see EliteFour.

Over the course of the years, several anime, manga and video games have drawn upon the imagery of the Four Gods. Some works may forgo the four Chinese elements in favor of the standard FourElementEnsemble. In other cases, it is used as a stock name for a QuirkyMiniBossSquad in an evil organization; see EliteFour.

** "[[https://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Vermillion_Sparrow Vermillion Sparrow]]"
** "[[https://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/ZW_- ZW -]]" cards:

** "[[https://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Summoner Summoner]]" and "[[https://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Empower Empower]]" cards:

** "[[https://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Crystron Crystron]]" cards:

** They also face off against a group like this in the last movie, though those guys were all actually powerful.

From the concept's earlier stages, a few variations have emerged. Before there were four and before they were associated with the sky, there were three: the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent long]], the [[ThePhoenix fenghuang]], and the [[{{kirin}} qilin/kirin]]. The fenghuang and the kirin got replaced by the bird and the tiger respectively. Because of the similarity between the fenghuang and the bird, if not related development, the latter is sometimes depicted as the former. Meanwhile, the kirin is still regularly used instead of the tiger in religion and fiction, but also sometimes replaces the yellow dragon in fiction to bring together five distinct beasts.

From the concept's earlier stages, a few variations have emerged. Before there were four and before they were associated with the sky, there were three: the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent long]], the [[ThePhoenix fenghuang]], and the [[{{kirin}} qilin/kirin]]. The fenghuang and the kirin got replaced by respectively the bird and the tiger. Because of the similarity between the fenghuang and the bird, if not related development, the latter is sometimes depicted as the former. Meanwhile, the kirin is still regularly used instead of the tiger in religion and fiction, but also sometimes replaces the yellow dragon in fiction to bring together five distinct beasts.

* In ''Film/Gamera3AwakeningOfIrys'', Gamera (as a monster turtle) is equated with Genbu, whereas Suzaku is equated with the film's titular villain. In fact, the film even points out the similarities between Genbu's rivalry with Suzaku and Irys's desire to kill Gamera.

* In ''Fanfic/GodzillaNewEra'', An old {{Miko}} from Odo Island identifies the current Godzilla, the grown up "Junior" from the [[Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzillaII Heisei series]], as an incarnation of the Azure Dragon, Seiryū. It's [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane not confirmed]], but given this Godzilla is a GentleGiant who protects humans, hatched from his egg in Kyoto, and is azure both in respect to the color of his energy attacks being blue and originally being [[UsefulNotes/GreenIsBlue green as a youth]]; she might be onto something.