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Yami (常闇ノ皇?; Tokoyami no Sumeragi; Emperor of Everlasting Darkness) is the main antagonist of Ōkami, and considered Amaterasu's archenemy. Found on the Ark of Yamato, it is the final boss of the game.
At first glance, Yami appears to be a mechanical sphere covered in arcane, Moon Tribe-like markings. As shown when Amaterasu fights the Lord of Darkness in the Ark of Yamato, the sphere is capable of altering itself into different forms, including disc-shaped platforms, a slot machine, a humanoid figure with whip-like arms and a giant clawed hand.
Yami's true form is that of a small fish contained in a glass ball full of water, with markings similar to Amaterasu's adorning its body, only that the markings are blue. Its true form is rarely seen, however, as it is usually hidden within the larger mechanical sphere.
Yami's origins are unclear, as very little is said about it until the very end of the game, and its very existence is only revealed after Amaterasu confronts Ninetails at the peak of Oni Island.
It is believed that Yami and its demonic legion were being contained within the Ark of Yamato, though Waka was unaware of this when he brought the Ark to the Celestial Plain, fleeing an unknown catastrophe that wiped out the Moon Tribe, which also seems to be caused by Yami. When True Orochi later attacked the Celestial Plain, Waka evacuated the Celestials into the Ark and departed for safety. After they fled, Yami's endless legion of demons attacked, caused the event of the Ark of Yamato genocide and the ark crashed into the mortal world.
Two hundred years later, after Amaterasu and Oki vanquished Lechku and Nechku atop Wawku Shrine, the dark spirits of the twin demonic owls merged with the essence of the previously defeated demons (Spider Queen, Crimson Helm, Orochi, Blight and Ninetails) and moved toward the Ark of Yamato. Later, Oki returned Kutone to its pedestal beside Laochi Lake. The moment the sword returned to its place, a golden light shot forth from it, melting the perpetual ice of Laochi Lake. Then the ark emerged and opened a rainbow path down to the pedestal. Amaterasu can board the ark, but Issun can't. Within the Ark, after engaging in rematches against Spider Queen, Crimson Helm, Orochi, Blight and Ninetails, Amaterasu moves on to battle Yami. It is revealed that Waka has been trying to battle Yami, but to no avail, as his attacks left barely a scratch. As the eclipse of the Day of Darkness completes itself, Yami awakened, and drained Amaterasu of all her Celestial Brush techniques, then blasted Waka off the arena, seemingly to his death. Nonetheless, Amaterasu engaged in a long battle, regaining her powers as the fight progresses. Finally, Amaterasu seemingly defeated Yami, but then an illusion of Issun appeared, distracting the Sun Goddess from the recovered Yami. It grabbed Amaterasu, drained her of her Celestial Brush techniques, again, but this time, Yami destroyed the techniques' respective constellations. All hopes seemed lost, but then Issun, who had realized his destiny as a Celestial Envoy, spread the words of Amaterasu's deeds to the people of Nippon, thus restoring their faith in her. With her powers restored by people's faith, Amaterasu regained her full strength, and annihilated Yami for seemingly an eternity[Citation needed]. Then, Waka emerged from the depths of the Ark of Yamato, alive. He and Amaterasu returned to the Celestial Plain, restoring peace and harmony to the world.
Nine months after the events of Ōkami, darkness had suddenly returned to curse Nippon with its dark grip, and Amaterasu's son, Chibiterasu, came to dispel the darkness. Later, during the climax of his journey in the finale, it is revealed that upon Yami's destruction, it had splitted into five dark entities (Master Anura, Bullhead, Renjishi, King Fury and Akuro), with Akuro being the strongest entity. It was then its turn to recollect the other four essences and complete itself with a vessel of light[2]. Also, Akuro's plan all along is revealed, as whenever Chibiterasu kills an entity, Akuro would come and absorb the remnants.
Spoilers end here.
Bestiary entries
First form
"This horrifying entity has been called 'Empty Death'. It seeks complete destruction. For eons, it has been locked in a struggle with the sun god. This fight has been described thusly: Yami's destruction was countered by the sun god's Rejuvenation."
Second form
"Round, cold, and desolate as the moon, Yami has never been depicted as a human or animal in any drawing. It is simply too inorganic in appearances to warrant such portrayals. Yami took on a ring form when attacked, rendering blows useless. The beast was bathed in moonlight, the light acting as a blade."
Third form
"In most legends, gods are portrayed as good or evil; as representations of specific animals. This is not the case of the dreaded Yami. Yami belched fire and ice, but the god deflected the onslaught. The beast attacked violently, with speed and unpredictability. Only by slowing the flow of time could the sun god defend itself."
Fourth form
"Its inorganic nature resembles machinery, leading one gadgetry expert to speculate that is is likely the source of all machines. When the god attacked with thunder, the machine coughed forth a seed. When the beast drew it back in, the god knew it must be the core. The beast tried to seal away its core with an icy blast."
Fifth form
"In all these tales, there is no record of a decisive victor. Has no one emerged victorious? Or was the event simply not recorded? As the darkness tries to cover all, forget not the warmth of purifying light. Prayer is power. Power is prayer"
Strategy
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First phase
Yami begins by stealing the power of the Celestial Brush from Amaterasu, which removes much of her power and leaves her unable to wield her Divine Instruments. Yami will attempt to smash Amaterasu with either a hammer or his own body, and will often leave giant holes in the ground when he misses. Amaterasu must strike Yami a certain number of times in order to stun him.
After the Lord of Darkness has taken enough damage, Amaterasu will regain the stolen Rejuvenation technique, as well as her Divine Instruments. Any holes in the floor can now be repaired, though Yami is still capable of creating more. After dealing more damage, Amaterasu regains the use of Power Slash, and soon after she recovers the Greensprout techniques. At this point, stunning Yami will bring up a prompt to use Bloom, which open his shell and reveals his core. Amaterasu can attack Yami for as long as possible before Blooming Yami to maximize the damage dealt.
Second phase
Yami will separate into platforms, with one covered in flames and attacking Amaterasu. His core rests on one of the platforms and is vulnerable to attack. Occasionally he will bring the platforms back together, which can crush Amaterasu if she doesn't jump off quickly enough (if she was on the platforms).
The next technique recovered is Cherry Bomb. When Yami becomes stunned in this phase, Cherry Bomb can be used to blow apart his shell and expose his core. Soon the Waterspout technique is recovered, which can be used to extinguish the flaming platform (or when Yami engulfes himself in flame) and stun the boss.
Crescent is the final technique recovered in this part of the battle. After stunning Yami again, using Crescent will summon an apparition of Nagi, who cuts Yami's shell in half to expose his core.
Third phase
Yami takes the form of a slot machine in this phase. To stop the reels, Amaterasu must Power Slash them. When the reels stop, Yami will assault Amaterasu with a barrage of attacks, with the attacks being determined by the symbols displayed on the slots: a snowflake for icicles, a flame for fireballs, a lightning bolt for lightning-imbued orbs, and a Lockjaw for cursed fruits, used by Cursed Trees and Bud Ogres. The attacks can be deflected back at Yami with Power Slash in order to damage him slightly. Also, there are different slots that can be dealt with by differen means: a bomb will make Yami ejects a bomb, which can be ignited with Inferno, an Ink Pot will make Yami releases Ink Pots, and a Spirit Globe will make Yami releases Spirit Globes.
After taking enough damage from deflected attacks, Yami's slots will display a light blue sphere when Power Slashed; this causes him to collapse and relinquish another of Amaterasu's Brush techniques. The first technique recovered in this phase is Galestorm, which allows Amaterasu to put out the fires left by the fireballs. Next is Inferno; while it can't damage Yami, it can be used to melt any ice that has been left by his icicles or detonating his bombs. Finally, Amaterasu regains Veil of Mist, which can help make lining up the reel symbols easier. Using Veil of Mist also causes the spirit of Queen Himiko to appear, who will drop several Spirit Globes for Amaterasu to heal herself with, though she will only provide Spirit Globes a limited number of times through the fight.
Once Veil of Mist is recovered, lining up three blue spheres will expose Yami's core, rendering him vulnerable to attack.
Fourth phase
Yami sprouts a pair of short legs and two tentacle-like arms, and attacks both with his arms and with missiles, which can be deflected back toward him with Power Slash. A small hatch will occasionally open in the front of the sphere, revealing Yami's core and allowing Amaterasu to attack it.
Catwalk is the first Brush technique recovered in this phase, though its only purpose is to allow Amaterasu to reach the top of a few pillars at the edge of the arena, where chests containing Exorcism Slips and Holy Bones can be found. After sustaining more damage, Yami will lose the Thunderstorm technique; following this, whenever Yami turns his arms into Ninestrikes or open the hatch to reveal his core, Amaterasu can stun him with Thunderstorm to make his core drop out. Using Thunderstorm on the core will conjure an apparition of the real Rao, who will attack the core.
After taking enough damage, Yami will relinquish the Blizzard technique, which can be used both to attack the core when the hatch is open, and to summon Oki to attack the core when Yami is stunned.
When this form is defeated, Yami appears to have been beaten completely. Amaterasu sees an illusion of Issun, which distracts her from noticing that her foe isn't truly defeated. Yami attacks the goddess, destroying the constellations of the Celestial Brush gods and making it impossible for Amaterasu to recover the techniques.
Amaterasu's revival
Issun, despite having stayed behind when Amaterasu went aboard the Ark of Yamato, senses that the goddess has been defeated. He makes the decision to accept his role as the Celestial Envoy, and tells the people of Nippon that the "white wolf" that has been helping them is really the sun goddess in physical form. Issun convinces them to pray for Amaterasu, and the power of their prayers revives her to full power, causing her to take on the form of Shiranui and granting her the Sunrise technique once again.
Final phase
Yami's form changes to that of a massive clawed hand emerging from the sphere, with the core situated in the center of the hand's palm. A small flap alters between covering and revealing the core, though it will automatically close whenever the Celestial Brush screen is brought up, making it impossible to attack the core with Brush techniques without stunning Yami first.
At the start of this phase, the battlefield is cloaked in darkness, greatly increasing Yami's power; Amaterasu must use Sunrise to dispel the darkness and stun Yami, making him drop his core. He will attack Amaterasu with his hand, as well as volleys of missiles and a laser fired from the core. Additionally, he will occasionally cloak the field in darkness, which depletes Amaterasu's ink; as before, Sunrise will eliminate the darkness and stun Yami. After taking enough damage, Yami will finally be defeated.
Yami (闇) literally means darkness, dark, gloom and disorder.
When Yami enters its last form, the solar eclipse on the Day of Darkness completes itself and the sun is covered by the moon. This may symbolize Yami defeating Amaterasu. Additionally, Amaterasu seems weakest at this time, whereas Yami is strongest.
Despite Yami's links to the Moon, Crescent is very effective against it because it summons Nagi who slices Yami with his sword, possibly because it gives moonlight, rather than block the sun as an eclipse does.
During the first, fourth and fifth phases of Yami's battle, the missiles that it launches are actually oversized clay figures.
In the Ark of Yamato, there are markings of Yami's final form. Also, in the concept art for the Ark, more of these markings are present.
Yami was the first woman in Vedic beliefs. She was a child of the Sun god and had a second nYami in Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All-Starsame, YāmīnĪ, which means "night".
In Tibetian beliefs, Yami is the goddess of death and rules the female spirits of the underworld[3].
Like Amaterasu, Yami is not able to speak. However, it appears to be capable of expressing rage.
Yami appears as the primary antagonist in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars as the one responsible to merge the universes of Capcom and Tatsunoko with the real world.
References
↑"Yami is the absolute ruler of all evil beings. He is the ultimate symbol of darkness. And he is nothing like those false gods of your fairytales!"—Ninetails (Ōkami)
