| Main | Profiles | Fun Facts | Fan Culture | Music | Books |
|---|
Main Profile[]
Keiki Haniyasushin (埴安神 袿姫 Haniyasushin Keiki) is a god summoned by human spirits and acts as the main antagonist of Wily Beast and Weakest Creature.
Character Design[]
Origin[]
Keiki seems to be based on Haniyasu (ハニヤス), a Shinto god of soil, agriculture, and pottery. According to the Kojiki, when Izanami died after giving birth to the fire kami Kagu-tsuchi, multiple gods emerged from her bodily remains. Two gods of soil were born from her feces: a god named Haniyasubiko no Kami (波邇夜須毘古神), and a goddess named Haniyasuhime no Kami (波邇夜須毘売神). Both of these gods are often conflated into a singular entity known as Haniyasu. In the Nihon Shoki, only one deity is born this way instead, a goddess called Haniyamahime.
Many Haniyasu shrines are located in the Fukuoka prefecture, which is also known for its unique, elaborately decorated burial mounds (装飾古墳). Some of the painted decorations found in them resemble the patterns on the edge of Keiki's dress and sleeves.
Keiki's outfit is based on a variety of so-called "priestess haniwa," thought to represent clergywomen or mediums, and usually used as the basis of reconstructions of Kofun era women's clothing. Both the asymmetrical outerwear and the headkerchief Keiki wears are common features of this type of haniwa.
Her necklace consists out of magatama, comma-shaped beads produced between the Jomon and Kofun periods, initially worn as ordinary jewelry, but viewed exclusively as ritual objects and symbols of divinity in later times.
Name[]
Her full name is Haniyasushin Keiki (埴安神 袿姫). Her surname is Haniyasushin (埴安神). Haniyasu (埴安) is taken from the name of the kami on which she is based, and comprises the characters for "clay" and "ease". The last character, shin (神), loosely means "god", and is present in the names of various kami throughout Shinto mythology.
Her given name is Keiki (袿姫). The kei (袿) refers to uchigi, a colorful robe that was often worn in several layers as part of a jūnihitoe, a formal dress worn by ladies-in-waiting at the Japanese Imperial Court during the Heian period and are also worn at important ceremonial functions such as weddings and enthronements. The character ki (姫) means "princess" or any lady of noble birth. Thus, Keiki (袿姫) roughly means "uchigi princess".
Design[]
Keiki's design seems to be based on reconstructions of Kofun period clothing. She wears a green headkerchief, similar to these commonly seen on the so-called "priestess" haniwa, and a yellow dress and green apron likely also based on haniwa outfits. The spiral decorations on her dress are similar to paintings from some of the ornamented kofun from the Fukuoka prefecture. Her necklace consists out of a number of multicolored magatama, comma-shaped beads often used as a symbol of divinity, and described as a frequent offering for the gods in early Japanese chronicles. She also holds a variety of contemporary sculpting tools in her hands and has more in pockets at waist height.
Story[]
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature[]
The final boss of the game. She immediately recognizes the animal spirit that took possession of the protagonist, but wonders why it has the form of a human. After seeing that she is facing a human under the influence of an animal spirit, she sees through the animal spirits' plan, mocks it, and tries to convince the protagonist to side with her. After the latter doesn't give in (or, as in Youmu's case, thinks back and forth for too long), Keiki attacks them.
Unbeknownst to both the Protagonist and the animal spirit that took control of the protagonist, the entire conversation with Keiki was merely used to stall time so Keiki could charge up her sculpturing arts, by which every single beast spirit was defeated. Upon realizing this, the animal spirit that took control over the protagonist panics and urges them to flee, which causes Keiki to start chasing them out of the Primate Spirit Garden, the ensuing battle occurs throughout the escape through said garden, until they make it back to the city of the Animal Realm, where Keiki is then only defeated after an overwhelming force of animal spirits come to the protagonists' aid.