A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

SAJI - (Chinese) Apparently some kind of magician hermit from the late Han period. He appeared before the king of Wei, Tsao Tsao, and showed him some magic. Tsao Tsao tried to have him killed out of fear, but Saji somehow disappeared.

SALOME - (Judeo-Christian) The niece of King Herod in the New Testament. Her mother, Herodea, was angry at John the Baptist, so she asked her daughter to dance for King Herod and gain a favor from him. She danced the famous "Dance of the Seven Veils" for Herod, and so charmed her uncle (uhh....) that he agreed to give her anything she wanted. She asked for John the Baptist's head, and got it. This story is the basis for the opera "Salome."

SARASHINA-HIME - (Japanese) From the famous Kabuki play "Momiji-gari." A famous general is traveling through the woods when he meets the beautiful Sarashina-hime and her handmaidens, who invite him to stay with them for a party. Parties, of course, involve a lot of drinking, and Sarashina-hime is really a demoness who eats human flesh, so she's basically waiting for him to pass out so she can eat him. Of course, the general triumphs and chases away the demon, etc etc.

SARASWATI - (Hindu) The Hindu goddess of wisdom, learning, music, and speech. She is the wife of the Creator, Brahma, and can be identified by the veena (stringed instrument) that she plays. Her vehicle is the swan. In Buddhism, she is the goddess of eloquence, music, and wisdom, guards the treasure of Luck and Virtue, and is counted among the Seven Lucky Gods.

SARUTOBI SASUKE - (Japanese) A legendary ninja and member of the Koga Clan in the time of Ieyasu Tokugawa. Most of the stories surrounding his life were probably created in the Tachikawa literature at the end of the Meiji period. He is credited as the founder of the Kumogakure Ryu Ninjutsu. There are many legends told about his life, especially his childhood, but one of his most famous adult exploits was the infiltration of Edo Castle with Kirigakure Saizo at the order of the general Sanada Yukimura. The information they gathered about the defenses and layout of Edo Castle became Sanada's famous Secret Book of Tactics.

SATAN - (Judeo-Christian) An angel whose name means "he who opposes" or "the accuser". Although he is generally identified with Lucifer, and sometimes the two names are used interchangeably, some sources define him specifically as the king of the demons in hell. Some sources even have him working for God; he acts as an angel sent to test humans, such as the snake in Eden or the temptation of Christ. During the Last Judgement, Satan is the one who prosecutes human beings for their sins.

SATI - (Hindu) A form of Parvati, Sati was once the wife of the god of destruction, Siva. Her father didn't care much for Siva, so he and his daughter got into a big fight over Siva, which ended with Sati killing herself in a sacrificial fire rather than listen to her father insult her husband anymore. When Siva heard the news, naturally he was Not Pleased, and when the god of destruction's isn't happy, NOBODY'S happy. The other gods had to quickly promise to reincarnate Sati before Siva got out of hand, and she was reborn as Parvati. (Well, not before Siva chopped off his father-in-law's head and replaced it with that of a goat.) She gives her name to an unfortunate (but rare, and now illegal) practice in India called "suttee," in which a widow is forced to burn herself on the funeral pyre of her dead husband. Suttee was never very common in the first place, and the British outlawed it in the last century.

SATYROS - (Greek) The followers of the god of wine, Dionysos. Satyrs have the upper half of a man and the legs of goats. Basically, they spend their entire day being drunk, playing the pipes, and chasing women or nymphs.

SCATHACH - (Celtic) The warrior-goddess of the Isle of Skye. She trained warriors brave and strong enough to reach her heavily-guarded island. One of her students was Cu Chulainn. Her name means "the shadowy one."

SECRET SERVICE - (original) From Megami Ibunroku Persona. The Secret Service was the special guard group assigned to protect and hide of the DEVA SYSTEM being developed by the Mikage branch of SEBEC.

SEIMEN-KONGOU - (Japanese) The god of Buddhism that combined the beliefs of Shintoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The three monkeys Hear-No-Evil, See-No-Evil, and Speak-No-Evil were followers of Seimen-Kongou.

SEIOUBO - (Chinese) The Queen Mother of the West, Seioubo lives beyond the edge of death on Kunlun mountain. Originally she was drawn as a fearful hag who administed the five punishments to the wicked, later on she became a beautiful woman who possessed the elixir of immortality.

SEIRYUU - (Chinese) One of the four occult Chinese gods. Seiryuu takes the form of a blue dragon. Seiryuu rules over the element of metal or water, the season spring, and the direction east.

SEITEN TAISEI - (Chinese) A famous monkey king from Chinese mythology. He is also known as Son Gokuu. Born of the earth, he ruled over the monkeys and caused so much trouble that he was summoned to heaven, where he trashed Heaven and beat all the people that the Buddha sent after him. Finally the Buddha's nephew was able to subdue him, and Gokuu was given a circlet to wear around his head. He was told to help the monk Genjou Sanzou go to India. Sanzou knew a sutra that would keep Gokuu well-behaved (by constricting the headband Gokuu wore).

SEKER - (Egyptian) The falcon-headed god of the Necropolis, Seker ruled over the dead before the coming of Osiris. His cult was based in Memphis, where he was worshipped as Ptah-Seker, a falcon-headed mummy.

SELKET - (Egyptian) The goddess of scorpions, who guards one of the canopic jars of a mummified pharaoh.

SET - (Egyptian) The god of desert storms, Set stood at the prow of Amun-Ra's boat and killed the demonic serpent Apep every night. He was the only god strong enough to do this. His brother Osiris was the king of the world, so he killed Osiris out of jealousy and scattered his body all over the world. Osiris was brought back to life as the king of the underworld, and Osiris' son, Horus the falcon-god, defeated Set in a long battle (well, there was a lot of questionable what-not; read source texts if you're interested. At any rate, during the battle, Set ripped out Horus' eye - the wedjet symbol you see in art - and Horus, um, castrated Set. So in the "who's the biggest man NOW" sense, Horus defeated Set.)

SHADOW - In psychological terms, the primitive side that sleeps within every person. So to speak, it is the portion of the psyche that is usually oppressed by reason, and the opposite of the self that one usually shows to the world.

SHAKA - (Buddhism, Hindu) Shaka refers specifically to the historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha (as opposed to all the other Boddhisatvas). He was born a prince in Northern India, but renounced the world and achieved enlightenment. He is known as Sakyamuni (Sage Sakya) in India.

SHARFSCHUETZE - (original) A sniper in the Last Battalion.

SHAX - (Judeo-Christian) A djinn, one of the 72 pillars of Solomon. It has the power of taking away eyesight and hearing, and that of finding hidden treasure. If summoned incorrectly, Shax will say nothing but lies.

SHIYU - (Chinese) Some kind of half-cow, half-human god-demon, the inventor of weapons, that was defeated by Huang-Ti. Entei Shinnou wrote about the Shiyu. It had 72 or 81 siblings.

SHOGGOTH - (Lovecraft) Another Lovecraft monster; it basically looks like its game sprite -- a column of shifting bubbles and eyes.

SHOKUIN - (Chinese) A god that regulates the seasons and day and night by the opening and closing of its eyes.

SHOUKI - (Chinese) A Taoist god that protects people against evil spirits. In Japan, it is the warrior doll in the Boys' Festival.

SHUB-NIGGURATH - (Lovecraft) The dark fertility goddess of Lovecraftian mythology, Shubby was a dark amorphous blob that constantly spawned more dark blobby things just like it. @_@ It was also known as "the goat of the woods with a thousand young" or the "black goat". Ia Ia Shub-Niggurath! ^_~

SIF - (Norse) The wife of Thor, the god of thunder. Sif doesn't really play much of a role in Norse mythology except for one myth that involves Loki. Sif had long shining golden hair, but one night, Loki shaved her bald just to annoy Thor. Thor, of course, threatened to kill Loki if he didn't fix the problem immediately, so Loki got the dwarves to make hair for Sif that was made of real gold and grew like living hair.

SIREN - (Greek) A half-bird, half-woman creature with a hypnotically beautiful voice. The sirens would stand on a clifftop and sing so beautifully that passing ships would run aground trying to get closer to them, or sailors would jump overboard and drown trying to swim to them. When the Argo passed their cliff, the musician Orpheus played so loudly that he drowned out their song, and when Odysseus passed by, he ordered his crew to stop up their ears with hot wax. He then tied himself to the mast of his ship, because he wanted to hear their song without jumping overboard.

SIVA - (Hindu) The Hindu god who brings about the end of the world so that a new world can be created. Time is cyclical in Hinduism, and Siva brings each universe to its close. He is usually depicted as a pale-skinned or blue-skinned man with long flowing hair, a tiger-skin around his waist, and the crescent moon in his hair. The holy river Ganges is supposed to originate from his hair, where it was trapped when it flowed down from the heavens. Siva carries a trident, a flame, and a small drum to keep time when he performs his Dance of Destruction. Siva is also the god of the wild animals, dance, and fertility; another one of his forms is the phallic lingam. Siva has a third eye in the center of his forehead that he keeps closed; were he to open it for too long, the world would be set afire (His two eyes are the sun and the moon, and so his third eye is pure Fire). As it is, he opens it when he gets pissed off at someone, and turns them into ashes.

SKANDA - (Hindu) Also known as Kartikkeya and Muruga, Skanda was a warrior god, the son of Siva and Parvati. He sometimes has six faces and twelve arms, since he was born as six separate babies. The babies were brought up by the Krittika sisters (the Pleiades), hence the name Kartikkeya. Parvati merged them into one god later on in life. He rides a peacock, and uses the holy spear Vel to kill demons.

SKULD - (Norse) One of the three Norns, the Norse Fates. Her name means "that which will be", and she stands for the future.

SKYLLA - (Greek) An unfortunate monster who lives at the Stretto di Messina. She was once a nymph who attracted the attention of a minor sea god, Glaucus, when she came to bathe daily in the ocean. He wooed her, and she shunned him. Glaucus went to the sorceress Circe to ask for a love potion, and Circe fell in love with Glaucus. She asked him to forget Skylla, and he refused. Jealous and angry, Circe made up a potion and dumped it into the waters where Skylla came to bathe. When Skylla entered the water, she was transformed from the waist down into twelve ravening hounds, and her top was transformed into a monster with twelve legs and six heads, each with three rows of teeth. Unable to move, Skylla became a monster that terrorized ships that passed through that strait; in her anger and misery she hated everything and destroyed any ship she could grab.

SLIME - (original) An evil jelly-like demon.

STURMSOLDAT - (original) The lowest-rank soldier in the Last Battalion.

STYMPHALIDES - (Greek) Ferocious birds from Greek mythology. They were a set of bloodthirsty cranes that lived in the Stymphalides swamp. They had long feathers made of bronze, as sharp as swords. When disturbed, they'd take off and fly over the swamp, dropping deadly feathers like missiles, killing all living things below. One of the Twelve Labors of Herakles (Hercules) was to rid the swamp of these nuisances. He did this by carrying a huge brass rattle/noisemaker that he'd received from a god; he shook it and the noise scared the birds into flight. He was protected from their feathers by the hide of the Nemean Lion that he wore; it was impervious to weapons. When the birds tried to land, he'd scare them up into the air with more noise. The birds couldn't land, and finally they died of exhaustion in the air.

SUCCUBUS - (German) A female demon that seduces men in their sleep; the 'cause' of wet dreams. Succubi particularly like to corrupt the dreams of clergymen.

SUMIZOME - (Japanese) The spirit of the Cherry Tree, Sumizome was actually the spirit of a murdered courtesan.

SUOU TATSUNOSHIN - (original) A subordinate of the feudal lord Kiyotada Sumaru, who governed Sumaru City in the Age of Civil Wars. Kiyotada was a cruel and corrupt ruler, so Tatsunoshin, with the help of Amano Maihime and Kuroda Junnosuke, killed Kiyotada Sumaru. Tatsunoshin is now a mummy that protects Sumaru City. He is thought to be the ancestor of the Suou brothers, Katsuya and Tatsuya.

SURT - (Norse) A fire demon from Norse Mythology. He is the king of Muspelheim, the world of flames, and he wields a flaming sword. At Ragnarok, the downfall of the gods, he will kill the fertility god Freyr, and set all the worlds on fire with his sword.

SURYA - (Hindu) The Hindu god of the sun.

SUSANO-O - (Japanese) The god of storms and the sea, born from Izanagi's nose as he escaped from Izanami. Susano-o was a constant troublemaker, getting banished by his father and sending his sister Amaterasu into a cave in a sulk when he trashed her lands. While wandering by a river, he found that a nine-headed snake, Orochi, was devouring maidens in the area. He promised to kill the monster if he could have the current sacrifice, the Princess Kushinada, as a reward. He got nine barrels of sake and left them outside Orochi's lair. The monster came out, got drunk, and Susano-o killed it while it was sleeping. A sword came out of its tail, and he presented it to his sister Amaterasu, whereupon it became known as the Kusanagi, one of the three symbols of sovereignity (along with the Orb and the Mirror). Susano-o's son is Okotonushi, the god of thunder.

SUZAKU - (Chinese) One of the four occult Chinese gods. Suzaku takes the form of a red phoenix. Suzaku rules over the element fire, the season summer, and the direction south.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z