Who Are The Four Heavenly Kings: SMT Lore

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0:00 Intro
1:07 Background
1:42 Bishamonten (North)
3:50 Jikokuten (East)
5:57 Zouchouten (South)
7:47 Koumokuten (West)
9:48 Taishakuten (Center)
11:42 Four Celestial Beasts (Chinese Myth)
13:20 Outro

The four heavenly kings are some of the most unassuming demons in the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona franchises. Despite being major bosses in a great many games or at the very least very recognizable demon partners or personas in many, they are not very well known in the wider audience. Not quite as popular as the Abrahamic demons or as powerful as the outer gods of myth, they stand as a middle ground protector or mid level players and give us a great stepping stone to the very gods. In Myth, these celestial beings are anything but unassuming, with the power to make humans see the truth and provide untold riches of the mind, they are worthy of our admiration. The four heavenly kings and their Chinese mythology counterparts, the four celestial beasts, represent all there is to strive for as a human and protect us from all manner of evil. Spanning in mythology across all of Asia, there is a lot to learn. In a great number of mythologies and religions the cardinal directions are of paramount importance. The direction of the sun, where the wind blows, the migration patterns of the animals, it has been and always will be important to humanity regardless of time. That being said, in the simpler times before modern science came in and spoiled everyone’s spiritual fun, there were gods and demons representing everything you could think of. Within the Buddhist religion exists the four heavenly kings. Throughout all of Asia these gods or Devas stand as guardians of the four cardinal directions and protectors of the world. Measuring each 1/4th the height from the earth to heaven they serve to protect humanity from all manner of evil influence and protect the Buddha’s teachings. The Kings each have different roles, colors, weapons of choice, and do so much more than just cleave demons all day. Let’s dive a little deeper into the great protectors of humanity.