Line #27 Film/Daimajin


1	[[quoteright:183:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daimajin.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:183:Behind a Mask of Stone, the Fires of Vengeance Burn!]]
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4	'''''Daimajin''''' is a 1966 {{Japanese\|Films}} DarkFantasy {{horror film\|s}} produced by Creator/{{Daiei}}.
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6	The daimyo of a peaceful village is slain in a coup d'etat, with his children being forced to flee. Years later, the usurper has proven to be a brutal and cruel ruler, prompting the people to rally around the returning children for salvation. However, with the daimyo's forces being far better armed than the people, they must awaken the statue of vengeful god Daimajin to save the day. However, Daimajin's wrath is not easily sated...
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8	The film received two sequels the same year, ''Return of Daimajin'' and ''Wrath of Daimajin'', a television remake, ''Series/DaimajinKanon'', and the title character made an appearance in Creator/TakashiMiike's 2021 film ''Film/TheGreatYokaiWar: Guardians''. It has received a Blu-ray release via Creator/MillCreekEntertainment and Arrow Video.
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10	!!This film contains examples of:
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12	* AntagonistTitle: Averted. Despite his fearsome presence and rampage at the climax of the film, Daimajin isn't the antagonist of the story. That would be Odate Samanosuke, the usurper responsible for the plot.
13	* AntiHero: Daimajin is the one who saves the people from those who would do them harm, but that doesn't necessarily make him a hero. In fact, Daimajin has actually taken out his anger on both the villain and heroes alike, only stopping until his wrath is sated by witnessing an act of kindness from someone with a pure heart. Downplayed in the sequels, as Daimajin ceases his rampage after killing the BigBad.
14	* BigBad: Odate Samanosuke, TheUsurper of the village's lordship.
15	* TheCoup: The first fifteen minutes of the film depict Odate's coup against his lord and the ensuing massacre of the loyalists.
16	* DramaticThunder; Daimajin's awakening causes a thunderstorm to start out of nowhere.
17	* EvilVersusEvil: A wrathful KnightTemplar of a god vs. A ruthless usurper.
18	* FriendToAllChildren: Daimajin is shown in the third film to have a soft spot for children in particular. He goes out of his way to have his hawk save the boys multiple times and after being awoken takes time to rescue them in a rare [[PetTheDog moment of kindness.]]
19	* FromNobodyToNightmare: Odate Samonosuke started off as a poor vagrant, and ends up as a cruel daimyo.
20	* GameFace: Daimajin's face is usually covered by a gray, expressionless mask, but when he awakens for some vengeance, with a wave of his hand his true face appears instead, green and scowling.
21	* GreaterScopeParagon: Shino, the GodOfGood who kept Daimajin trapped in the mountains for centuries before the film.
22	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Subverted in ''Strikes Again'', [[spoiler:where Kinta is swept away by rapids and drowns]].
23	* TheJuggernaut: Once Daimajin is awakened, nothing can stop him and he'll pursue the main antagonist of the film until he's killed them.
24	* {{Kaiju}}: Daimajin, the giant animated statue of a vengeful god.
25	* KarmicDeath: Any main antagonist of the film usually ends up dying the way he intended to kill the heroes.
26	* KnightTemplar: Daimajin awakens when there's great strife and cruelty to destroy whomever causes it. However, he sees ''any'' kind of discord as a killing offense, and typically ends up attacking everybody around. [[spoiler:He can be sated by an altruistic sacrifice.]] Justified, as Daimajin is a God of ''Vengeance'', not ''Justice''. Downplayed in the sequels, where while still destructive and violent, he tends to limit his rampages to the villains.
27	* LivingStatue: Daimajin's earthly form is a giant samurai statue. Despite its stony exterior, it appears to be biological, since chiseling it makes it bleed.
28	* NobleDemon: Daimajin is by no means a benevolent figure. He's a violent and vengeful demon who could easily kill everyone around him. However, he mostly seems to target those who bring great suffering onto others, and seems to show some level of pity to the villagers.
29	* PhysicalGod: Daimajin is a god. While alluded to in the first film, the sequels really play it up more, with Daimajin {{No Sell}}ing everything thrown his way and doing things like splitting an entire lake, summoning storms, and pyrokinesis.
30	* RightfulKingReturns: The two children of a deposed lord summon a vengeful god to get their throne back.
31	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: A god is summoned to slaughter the usurpers of a daimyo's throne. This is one reason Daimajin is kept sealed by Shino most of the time. Daimajin has two states of being: sleeping, and this trope.
32	* TheUsurper: The main antagonists are a group of samurai who overthrew their daimyo and now have a cruel reign.

Context Film / Daimajin