Jiraiya
Encyclopedia
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese folktale Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語, "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"), is a ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
who uses shapeshifting
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
to morph into a gigantic toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
. The heir of a powerful clan in Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
of the same name, Jiraiya fell in love with Tsunade
Tsunade
Tsunade , featured in the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari , was the wife of the ninja Jiraiya...
, a beautiful young princess who masters snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
magic. His arch-enemy was his one-time follower, Orochimaru
Orochimaru
Orochimaru , featured in the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari, is the arch-enemy of the ninja Jiraiya. He was once named Yashagorō and was one of Jiraiya's followers, but he was overtaken by serpent magic. Having changed his name to "Orochimaru", he gained the ability to turn himself...
, who mastered snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
magic.
In popular culture
- Jiraiya (also known as Ikazuchi-Maru) is the protagonist in the tokusatsu movie Kairyū Daikessen (The Magic SerpentThe Magic Serpentis a 1966 tokusatsu kaiju/ninja fantasy film produced by Toei Company Ltd. This film is a loose retelling of the famous Japanese folktale, Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari ....
). He and his arch-nemesis Orochimaru transform into two daikaijuKaijuis a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
, a toad and dragon, respectively, and have a duel to the death. - In NarutoNarutois an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
, a popular mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series, JiraiyaJiraiya (Naruto)is a fictional character in the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto. Introduced in the first half of the manga, Jiraiya appears as a perverted old man who the lead character, Naruto Uzumaki, refers to as "Ero-Sennin"...
appears in the series as a ninja with the ability to summon giant toads. Along with the series' versions of Tsunade and OrochimaruOrochimaru (Naruto)is a fictional character from the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles...
, he is part of a trio of legendary ninja known as the Densetsu no Sannin (Translates as Legendary Three Ninja). The anime episode depicting his demise is also called "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya." - In Gin Tama, a popular mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series, Jiraia is the strongest ninja of the Oniwanbanshu. - In the tokusatsuTokusatsuis a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
superhero series Sekai Ninja Sen JiraiyaSekai Ninja Sen Jiraiyais a Japanese television series that aired on TV Asahi and its affiliates from January 25, 1988 to January 23, 1989, lasting 50 episodes. It was the seventh installment in Toei's Metal Hero Series franchise of live-action superhero shows...
, the protagonists’s hero identity is named after Jiraiya. - In the first game of the Tengai MakyōTengai Makyōis a widely popular series of traditional console RPGs that are available in Japan and Taiwan.Though originally intended to be only three games, it has grown to encompass a number of remakes, gaidens and genre spin-offs across a variety of platforms...
series, T'engai Makyō: Ziria, Jiraiya's name is spelled Ziria. He's a ninja from the Fire Clan who fights with a kodachiKodachiA , literally translating into "small or short tachi ", is a Japanese sword that is too long to be considered a dagger but too short to be a long sword...
sword and has a pet frog which grows several times its size when Ziria summons it in combat. Tsunade is a ninja girl from the Roots Clan (the arch-enemies of the Fire Clan) who uses snails and a huge axe in her attacks and is in love with Orochimaru, a wandering warrior and poet who wields a naginataNaginataThe naginata is one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades in the form of a pole weapon. Naginata were originally used by the samurai class in feudal Japan, and naginata were also used by ashigaru and sōhei .-Description:A naginata consists of a wooden shaft with a curved...
and snake magic. These characters all returned in a spin-off fighting game Kabuki KlashKabuki Klashis a fighting game developed by Racdym and published by Hudson Soft for the arcades and Neo-Geo in 1995. It is based on the popular Japanese console RPG series Tengai Makyō.-Gameplay:...
. - In Final Fantasy XIFinal Fantasy XI, also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a MMORPG developed and published by Square as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in November 2002...
, players can unlock a visual emote for their character(s) through a quest which requires the in-game job Ninja to be leveled to thirty. With it unlocked (and accessed by typing /jobemote nin), the player's character [regardless of current job] abruptly makes a gigantic toad appear (which clearly pays tribute to Jiraiya due to the Ninja requirement) below them as they stand on top of it, with each in-game race making a specific pose during the emote's duration. - Jiraiya the Ninja Boy is the title of a manga by Shigeru SugiuraShigeru Sugiurawas a Japanese manga artist famous for his surreal, nonsense gag manga. After initially studying painting, Sugiura became an assistant to the manga artist Suihō Tagawa. He soon began drawing his own manga in 1933 and came to fame after World War II with a series of comedic manga for children based...
. - One of the five characters in the Super SentaiSuper SentaiThe is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...
series Ninja Sentai KakurangerNinja Sentai Kakurangerwas TOEI Company Limited's eighteenth production of the Super Sentai television series. The name given to this series by Toei for international distribution is Ninja Rangers....
is named Jiraiya. Fittingly, as each KakurangerKakurangersThe are a group of fictional characters who are the protagonists of the Super Sentai series, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.-Kakurangers:Each member is named after a legendary ninja and master of the Hidden Style Ninjutsu...
is associated with an animal, Jiraiya uses toad-based mechaMechaA mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
. - Akimitsu TakagiAkimitsu Takagi, was the pen-name of a popular Japanese crime fiction writer active during the Showa period of Japan. His real name was Takagi Seiichi.-Biography:...
's detective novel The Tattoo Murder Case uses the character representations in tattooTattooA tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s worn by three of the main characters: Kinue Nomura (Orochimaru, the snake), her brother Tsunetaro (Jiraiya, the frog) and sister Tamae (Tsunade, the slug; translated as Tsunade-hime), all set within a series of murders that takes all three's lives. - In the video game Persona 4, Yōsuke Hanamura's Persona is a cartoony Jiraiya in a disco costume.
- Jiraiya Byakko is a character in the manga and anime series Karasu Tengu Kabuto.
- Australian horror and fantasy author Shane Jiraiya CummingsShane Jiraiya CummingsShane Jiraiya Cummings is an Australian horror short story writer and editor. He lives in Perth, Western Australia with his partner Angela Challis...
is named after Jiraiya. - There are also films Jiraiya (1914), Nidaime Jiraiya (1917), Jiraiya Gōketsu Tan (1918), Gōketsu Jiraiya (Jiraiya the HeroJiraiya the HeroJiraiya the Hero is a 1921 Japanese silent short film directed by Shōzō Makino. The film is also known as Gōketsu Jiraiya .- Cast :*Matsunosuke Onoe as Jiraiya*Suminojo Ichikawa as Orochimaru...
, 1921), Jiraiya (also known as Ninjutsu Sanyō Den, 1937), Hibari Torimonochō: Jiraiya Koban (1958), and Kunoichi Ninpō Chō: Jiraiya Hishō (1995).