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Our Asuras Are Different

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Our Asuras Are Different (trope)
Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kinnikuman, Shin Megami Tensei

Asuras (alternatively transliterated as Ashuras) are a class of supernatural beings that originate from Indian mythology, mainly Hinduism and later Buddhism. Myths in both religions often portray them as being enemies of the devas, a type of god, with Hindu Mythology portraying them as Evil Counterparts, while Buddhism portrays them as being a lesser form of deva, with some English translations even referring to Asuras as demigods or titans.

Behavior-wise, they are typically portrayed as possessing several vices such as greed, wrathfulness, pride, hedonism, and envy. Because of their enmity with the devas and their negative characteristics, they are often equated with demons of the Abrahamic faiths, and some works even have Asuras be a type of demon. However, unlike demons, who are typically seen as universally evil, Asuras are Not Always Evil, with some being benevolent and even sometimes being genuinely devoted practitioners of religion.

Appearance-wise, Asuras in popular culture are often portrayed as being large humanoid beings with unusual skin colors, four or six arms, and three or four faces or heads (which are usually just Peripheral Heads but cases of the faces/heads having separate minds aren't unheard of). While this does have basis in mythology, said myths portray Asuras as having a wide range of appearances, with some looking like monsters, others resembling animals, and still others being indistinguishable from humans. In some works, it's not unknown for characters to have transformations in which they transform into forms resembling the popular portrayal of Asuras.

See also Our Gods Are Different, Our Titans Are Different, and The Anti-God.

Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • Bakugan Battle Brawlers: The Bakugan Fourtress resembles a giant Asura with four arms and faces. Its primary ability changes depending on which face is currently turned towards the opponent.
  • Digimon Frontier: Asuramon is one of the Digimon inside of Sephirotmon. He is depicted as a dark-skinned ogre with four arms and three faces which rotate to display his emotions.
  • Kinnikuman: One of the Devil Chojin is Ashuraman, an Asura-themed demon who has the characteristic three faces and six arms as well as blue skin. One of his notable abilities is that he can replace his lost limbs with those of others.
  • Mazinkaiser: in the finale, The Dragon Baron Ashura is fused with his master's largest and most powerful Metal Beast. While this Metal Beast is named "Hell King Gordon" and not "Metal Beast Ashura"note , it has two sets of arms and two extra faces on the left and right of its head, thus being more "Ashura" than any other mech Baron Ashura got to control across the franchise.
  • Mobile Fighter G Gundam: Neo Singapore's representative pilots the Ashura Gundam, a Mobile Fighter with six detachable arms.
  • Naruto:
    • Nagato's Six Paths technique allows him to control six bodies themed after the six realms of Buddhism. The Asura Path is a six-armed, three-faced Cyborg equipped with various weapons such as missiles, rocket fists, and a powerful laser beam.
    • Asura, the younger son of the Sage of the Six Paths and progenitor of the Senju Clan, possessed remarkable life force and vitality, and eventually awakened immensely powerful senjutsu. When he duelled his older brother Indra, he manifested a gigantic avatar with three faces and six arms — a clear nod to his namesake — to counter Indra's Susanoo.
  • One Piece: Roronoa Zoro has a combat technique called "Deadly Nine-Sword Style: Asura" that creates a kind of physical illusion that gives him six arms and three faces, multiplying his sword count from three to nine.
  • Ranma ½: Rouge fell into the Spring of the Cursed Asura, which causes her to transform into a three-headed, six-armed Asura when she's splashed with cold water and turns back into a human when she's splashed with hot water. Unlike most victims of cursed springs who retain the same personality in both forms, Rouge is a sweet and mostly pacifistic girl in her human form but a violent and destructive Blood Knight in her Asura form.

    Fan Works 
  • In the Hellaverse fanfic The Spider and the Owl, Asuras are portrayed as being a race of gods native to Hell, being more powerful than even Lucifer. Unlike demons, who need to steal angelic weapons in order to even harm the Exorcists, Asuras are capable of killing them with their bare hands.

    Literature 
  • The Beginning After the End: The asuras are the Physical Gods of the setting, being a race of formerly mortal beings who transcended their bodies to become one with mana. There are multiple species of asuras due to Goal-Oriented Evolution, and each are capable of shifting from roughly humanoid forms into more monstrous true forms. They are the ones responsible for the Divine Conflict that drives the plot of the series.
    • Interestingly enough, the asuras' behavior and characterization mirrors that of their mythical namesakes. Though they may live superior lives to that of mortals, they are enthralled to and thus exhibit several vices, especially those of wrath, pride, envy, and insincerity. It goes to the point that most asuras are Jerkass Gods who could not care any less about the mortals beneath them, bringing them into conflict with Arthur as the true antagonists of the series. However, the asuras are Not Always Evil, as a few among their number are genuinely benevolent and willing to ally with him.
    • The many differing races of asuras is a nod to their Hindu portrayal of having a wide variety of forms. Of the eight races of asuras, the pantheons bear the closest resemblance to their Buddhist portrayal as the resident Proud Warrior Race among the asuras whose true forms are that of Monstrous Humanoids with multiple arms and eyes.
  • The One Who Eats Monsters: Apart from the name, asura share little in common with their mythological counterparts; they're disembodied spirits who can possess humans (after damaging their soul) and have a general dislike for the deva (who are implied to be behind every polytheistic religion in history). Both races are considered immortal and share a few powers like control of their own perception of time, though deva are more powerful and have bodies of their own, while asura seem to trade power for near-invincibility; while they feel the pain of their host, they can only actually be killed by each other. Ryn's methods (Hellfire and Really Sharp Claws) are extremely rare to the point that most asura do not even believe in them. It's unclear where deva come from, but asura are born from extreme emotion; one especially powerful and cruel one was created in Auschwitz.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Ultraman Leo: One Monster of the Week was Ashuran, a Two-Faced Asura-based kaiju from outer space. Able to breathe fire and shoot Eye Beams from both of its faces, Ashuran attacks Earth during an eclipse, as its strength is enhanced by darkness. Fortunately, Leo is able to defeat the monster with the help of Ultraman Jack and the Humongous Mecha Sevenger.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Pathfinder: Asuras are portrayed as being a class of fiends who are the result of mistakes made by the gods. Asuras have a strong hatred of the gods because of this, and seek to spite them by desecrating holy places, turning mortals away from the gods, and destroying the universe. Their leaders are the fiendish demigods known as Asura Ranas, who are capable of granting spells to mortals who worship them.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: The card game has a few monsters whose artwork is based on portrayals of Asuras, such as ASHLAN U1000, Asura Priest, and ZW - Asura Strike. Befitting the mythological Asuras' warlike nature, they typically possess offense-oriented effects such as piercing and attacking multiple times.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel:
    • Asura Dice is a trap card that depicts a miniature Asura holding a dice.
    • Metarion Ashurastar is a Cyborg-type monster visually based on an Asura, having four additional mechanical arms and one humanlike face with two masks on the side of its head instead of faces.

    Video Games 
  • Age of Mythology: The asura is a Japanese myth unit available to worshippers of Takemikazuchi. It takes the form of a red-skinned giant with three heads and six arms, making it resemble the god Kojin. In-game, it is an imposing late-game melee unit that sets the ground on fire when it attacks and has the passive ability to launch fireballs at enemy units, an ability aptly named Blazing Jealousy (or Burning Malevolence when upgraded) as a nod to the mythical asuras' personality traits.
  • Asura's Wrath: While the protagonist (aptly named Asura) and his former allies are referred to as Guardian Generals and/or Deities, it's clear that they draw much of their visual and narrative inspiration from the Asuras of myth, with multiple arms, incredible powers, and the fact that their Mantra is fueled by vices, including five of the Seven Deadly Sins. Asura in particular is powered by wrath and spends the whole game waging a one-man war against the Seven Deities, but he's an Anti-Hero whose anger comes from them kidnapping his daughter.
  • Digimon: Asuramon is a Digimon whose appearance is based on typical portrayals of Asuras as having four arms and three faces as a result of being created by a computer studying Hindu texts. Despite its frightening appearance, it actually has a strong sense of justice and will mercilessly oppose any injustice it sees.
  • Dominions: One of the Pretender choices is the Asura, an ancient demon god that was imprisoned after a failed war against the Devas, only to break free after the Pantokrator that sealed him vanished. Having three heads and four arms allows him to carry much more equipment than usual.
  • Final Fantasy:
    • Asura is a recurring creature in the series, usually appearing either as a boss, summon, or both. It typically possesses multiple sets of arms and sometimes three faces.
    • Final Fantasy XIV: During the Endwalker Hildibrand questline, the Warrior of Light battles Primal Asura, a creature based on the war goddess of the Manusya. In Thavnarian culture, she is The Friend No One Likes, as other Manusya are peace-loving deities compared to her. So much so that the villain of the quest line had to clone himself just to gain the prayer needed to give birth to her.
  • In the H-Game Monster Girl Quest! Paradox RPG, Ashura appears as one of the game's mons, being both an enemy and a recruitable companion. They are portrayed as beautiful goddesses with six arms, which they are skilled at using both on the battlefield and in the bedroom.
  • Monster Sanctuary: Asuras are humanoid demons with red, green, or purple skin and 6 arms. They are said to be lesser relatives of true gods and seek to elevate themselves to godhood, but their innate nature drives them to be selfish, ambitious and hot-headed, and only a small number of them are able to defy their nature and live lives of piety, restraint and good deeds in order to join the ranks of the true gods.
  • Onigiri (2014): Some of the heroes possess a Divine Form that has them being possessed by a divine entity and gaining their powers. Momotarou's form is six-armed Asura named Asura who possesses fire powers and a strong sense of justice.
  • A recurring boss in the SaGa (RPG) series:
    • In The Final Fantasy Legend, Ashura leads the forces of evil that beset the game's world. But is only a servant of the Creator, who decided to amuse himself by seeing mortals suffer.
    • Final Fantasy Legend II: Ashura is a goblin who grew extra heads and arms after getting hopped up on relics of the Goddess, and styled himself a god.
  • Morningstar: Book of the Fallen: Narisa is a powerful asura. She looks human with red skin and fangs, has powerful fire magic, and is one of the deadliest characters in the game. She's also Katie's mother.
  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: A "Shura" (derived from the Japanese word for Asura) is a warrior who has fallen so far into bloodlust and hatred that they no longer have a motive for killing, simply slaying all in their path indiscriminately. They are said to be demons who have ceased to be human. The concept hangs over much of the game:
    • Emma, the soft-spoken doctor, learned swordsmanship under the Master Swordsman Isshin Ashina for the sole purpose of slaying a demon if she ever crossed paths with one. She doesn't consider it a violation of her pacifism, because it would be a Mercy Kill of something no longer human.
    • The one-armed Sculptor is a Retired Badass who spends his seclusion endlessly carving statues of the Buddha in an attempt to quell the hatred in his heart, since he can feel himself teetering on the edge of becoming a Shura. It's implied that the demon Emma trained to kill is him, specifically. At the end of the game, the Sculptor succumbs and becomes the Demon of Hatred, a gigantic, rampaging monster wreathed in flames — but this is said to be the result of him failing to become a Shura, implying the real thing is unimaginably worse.
    • If given Monkey Booze, Isshin Ashina will reminisce about a time he killed a Shura, or "something very much like it", years ago. This near-Shura is implied to be the Sculptor, whose transformation was deferred when Isshin took off his arm. He'll warn Sekiro that he can see "the shadow of Shura" in his eyes and hints that he'll kill him if it comes to pass.
    • Sekiro himself becomes a Shura in the Shura ending, when he forsakes his friend and Protectorate Kuro for power. After killing Emma, Isshin, and his Archnemesis Dad, Sekiro is consumed by bloodlust and turns into a Shura. The epilogue states that Ashina proceeded to become the site of the most tragic massacre of the Sengoku era, and that a demon was said to haunt the land long afterward.
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Asura appears as a recurring demon in the series, typically being of the Chaos-alignment. Gameplay-wise, Asura tends to specialize in physical skills and fire magic and is typically a middle to endgame level demon. His role in the story varies from being a boss to simply being another demon the player can acquire.
  • Skyblazer: The primary villain and penultimate boss of the game is Ashura, a giant green-skinned Asura with four arms and dragon-like wings.
  • Summoners War: Sky Arena: Asuras appear as a four-star monster of the Attack Type. Appearance-wise, they resemble humans with four arms and unusual skin colors. There are five different Asuras for each of the five elements, each with different stats and a different set of abilities.
  • Tales of Zestiria: One of the bosses in the game is Asura, a Fallen Shepard whose obsession with destroying malevolence caused him to become corrupted by it and become a hellion. He takes the form of a large, six-armed demon wielding multiple weapons, and his obsession with destroying malevolence is so great that he would Kill All Humans to do it.
  • Yo-kai Watch: Asura appears in this series as a Legendary Yo-kai of the Brave Tribe, resembling a cuter version of its namesake. Its biography describes it as always angry and hungry for battle, which are common traits ascribed to Asuras in mythology.

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