Hello. My name is Richmond Lee Chaisiri. I am a professional game artist who grew up in a Buddhist household in Thailand, the most Buddhist nation on earth. I will be your tour guide through the wild, wonderful and very very well researched world of Asura’s Wrath. So what’s Buddhist about Asura’s Wrath?
Everything!
The Characters, the environments, the ultra violence, the cosmic scope, the super powers, the anime hair … All of it! Let’s begin the tour!
Illustration by my good buddy Weigy, http://blog.weigy.com/
Exhibit 1 – The Story
Asura’s Wrath tells the tale of a bellicose god who is betrayed by his fellow deities, stripped of his powers and cast down from the heaven and swears bloody revenge. Does this sound like the plot of God of War 2? Sure! But it’s also the age old story of the Asura (also commonly spelled “Ashura”). According to Buddhist tradition, Asuras once lived alongside the Devas (their more benevolent cousins) in a city called Trayastrimsa on the peak of Sumeru, a holy mountain at the center of the universe where the earth joins with the heavens.
The Asuras were quarrelsome beings who loved to pick fights. They finally crossed the line when they went on a drunken rampage after drinking a forbidden supernatural liquor called gandapāna, which Sakra (known in Hinduism as Indra), leader of the heavens, warned them not to imbibe.
The closest human approximation to Gandapana.
This angered Sakra so much that once the Asuras passed out from their bender, he gathered them up and threw them off of the edge of Trayastrimsa (which you will recall is the highest point in the world). Upon waking at the foot of Mt Sumeru, the Asuras realised their sudden eviction and vowed revenge. Thus the Asuras took up arms and began their war with the Devas that would last thousands of years.
Exhibit 2 – Our Hero Asura 
In Buddhism, ‘Asura’ (阿修羅) does not denote a specific god, it’s the name of a race of warlike beings that embody wrath, pride and a thirst for power. Asuras first appeared in the ancient Indian epic The Rigveda which lead to their incorporation into Hinduism and later Buddhism. Asuras are often called the Asian god of war (which is what this game is often referred to as haha), but that’s something of a misnomer. Asuras epitomize the warlike state of mind, but they are not patron gods of war. It’s important to note that Asuras are not necessarily evil, they just tend to care about material gain over spiritual gain. Just like people, they have a capacity for good or evil and everything in between. Although they’re more powerful than humans, it’s considered unfortunate to be reborn as an Asura as they live in constant strife.
Exhibit 2.1 – Six Arms: 
Asuras are almost always classically depicted as young men with 6 arms and 3 faces (never any more). 
In Asura’s Wrath, our hero starts with a regular number of limbs, but sprouts extra arms when his anger reaches a boiling point. Extra heads and appendages are common in Buddhist and Hindu art and have great symbolic value. Multiple faces represent heightened consciousness (the ability to see in multiple directions at once) and multiple arms represent heightened power and reach. 
In general, more appendages denote more power. Asuras are fairly low ranking in the cosmic scheme so they’re never depicted with more than 3 pairs of arms. In comparison, Kannon (観音) the goddess of mercy is often depicted with 1000 arms (symbolic of her ability to reach out and relieve the suffering of any living thing in the universe).
More arms mean more power.
Exhibit 2.2 – Orange complexion
Long before the first member of Jersey Shore or ganguro donned the first spray tan, Asuras have been sporting a healthy orange glow. The most famous example of this is the Asura at Kofuku-ji temple in Nara, Japan’s first capital. Like the Kofuku-ji Asura, our protagonist has orange skin.
- Left to Right: The original Kofuku-ji Asura, our hero, a modern recreation of the Kofuku-ji Asura. Notice that Asura’s skin color is almost identical to the original faded statue (more on this ahead).
The designers of Asura’s Wrath take many cues from the Kofuku-ji Asura. How do I figure? It’s easily the most famous depiction of an Asura in art history; it’s a protected national treasure of Japan; plus they totally used its silhouette for the production company’s logo.
Exhibit 2.3 – Manga Face and Dragonball Hair
Although Asura sports a very modern manga face that looks like Guts (from Berserk) gone Super Saiyan, this isn’t really anachronistic as Asuras are typically depicted as handsome young men. Besides, spikey glowing Super Saiyan hair has long been a characteristic of Buddhist Deities.
In her fantastic book, Reading Buddhist Art, Meher McArthur describes Asuras as “wrathful beings with wild spiky hair.” It's worth noting that in Dragonball, in order for a character to go 'Super Saiyan' they must first experience a state of supreme rage.
Exhibit 2.4 – Laquer Skin
The characters in Asura’s Wrath have a unique look fashioned after Buddhist statuary. As they take damage, their skin begins to peel away in layers like a lacquer statue. The amount of thought, research and effort that went into conveying this process makes me smile from ear to ear.
When Asura’s at full capacity, he has the beautiful clean sheen of a gilt (gold covered) lacquer statue. 
As he takes damage the gold chips away in a manner that recalls gold leaf (which is often ritually affixed to statues in Buddhist traditions around the world).
When Asura is seriously wounded, he cracks and peels just like a real centuries old Buddhist statue that has endured the test of time.
A master artist hollowing out the clay from a Dakkatsu Kanshitsu (Hollow Dry Lacquer) statue
It’s a very cool way to imbue the characters with a sense of mythology and high technology, making them feel like Buddhist cyborgs. It’s simply awesome.
For more information on Buddhist lacquer sculptures, here’s a fantastic video that gives an in depth look at the creation of a traditional Japanese Buddhist lacquer statue:
Exhibit 3 – Flaming Auras, Halos and Mandorlas
Augus (Asura’s mentor, to the right) sports a plain and regal style of halo that was popular during the Kamakura Period (1185–1333) in Japan, a time of great strife where Buddhism flourished. It compliments his weapon of choice, the Kitana, a specifically Japanese weapon that’s not traditionally used by Buddhist deities.
As the characters in Asura’s Wrath engage in battle, they emit so much power that their auras flare up like flames. This is a staple of Japanese fighting comics, but it’s also a convention in Buddhist art that’s trickled down into both modern media and traditional religious imagery the world over.
left: A Tibetan painting of Vajrapani, right: Goku goes Super Saiyan
Halos have been employed in Buddhist art for thousands of years. Typically a circular pattern around the head denotes enlightenment, while a flame pattern around the upper body or entire body denotes power. These conventions also exist in Christian art in the form of aureoles (radiant burst of light emitted from a holy figure) and mandorlas (the shape of 2 overlapping circles named after the Italian word for “almond”–but it sounds quite a bit like “mandala” doesn’t it?).
Exhibit 4 – Super Powered Kung Fu Fighting
Asura’s Wrath draws easy comparisons to Dragonball and other Anime–and for good reason, many contemporary conventions in anime, comics and games have deep roots in Buddhism. Buddhist and Hindu lore is full of violent clashes between super powered beings powering up and utilizing secret special moves.
The crazy over the top fighting in Asura’s Wrath is perfectly in line with Buddhist tradition. If that sounds strange to you just remember: BUDDHISTS INVENTED KUNG FU!
That’s all for today. Join in next week as we explore the rest of the cast of Asura’s Wrath and where they fit into the Buddhist pantheon!
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Cheers!
PaperDoll
Scholar Strategies
The Pause Button
Weigy
The building in the second picture seem like Ankor Wat also his name Asura like Cambodia Asura angle .
Yes! I think the developers must have looked at Ankor Wat for inspiration. I dream of visiting Ankor Wat myself one day. I wrote a school report about Ankor Wat when I was in 6th grade and I’ve wanted to go there ever since.
another awesome entry
this article was awsome. thanks
This is a fascinating article- I have found Asura’s Wrath to be visually appealing,
particularly to my tastes, from the earliest images, and it is nice to see some of the mythical background to this explained.
You are very knowledgeable about depictions of Buddhist concepts in art, so I was
wondering if you could help with something that has puzzled me for a while: Do you know the name and significance of the floating ribbon/material that surrounds many Buddhist figures, e.g:
http://www.noe-v.com/images/articles/nio_gouki02.jpg
I have seen it in depictions of nio, and a number of other places. Does it have the same
function as a halo, or a distinct meaning? I would be very grateful if you could provide me with any information on this.
Glad you enjoyed the article!
I assume you are referring to the cloth that you see in figures, such as the Nio Guardians that stand guard at many East Asian temples (who have inspired awesome characters like Akuma/Gouki from Street Fighter!):
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/assets/images/NIO-estore-products-TN.jpg
The floating ribbon you are describing denotes that the person is a celestial being. It makes the figure seem heavenly, as if they were floating, or like there’s a mystical wind emanating from them. I believe it’s a convention from Chinese art, not specifically Buddhist. You see it in a lot of Daoist depictions of gods and immortals (people who were once human but achieved immortality through personal cultivation–like Akuma from Street Fighter! The Chinese character on his back means “sky” or “heaven” and is the mark of an immortal):
http://images.deities.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300×300/RsbLDAoKCrEAAB5w-Sw1/5.jpg?et=RKNOWGCeIEdmcCWDGKHWuQ
Oh wow, thanks for replying!!
I should’ve added earlier that yes, Buddhists invented kung-fu.
But more than anything, it’s the INDIANS that first founded both Buddhism and martial arts, as well as invented the number 0. You should check out the recent Tamil sci-fi movie called 7am Arivu which is about the founder of Kung-Fu, the Bodhidharma.
Back to Zoroastrianism, why is there such a flip-side? Why is the Devas considered evil in that religion, and vice-versa on the Hindu side? Same goes to the Ahura or Asuras.
So far, I came across the only explanation why this happens on this website:
http://19000years.blogspot.com/2009/10/zoroasters-conflict-with-indian-gods.html
There are hints of conflicts between the Persians & the Indians that actually happened before the events of the Mahabharata. That the Deva-Asura wars, known as the Devasur Sangram, may actually be a real event.
The Deva-Asura conflicts also rumored to inspire other mythologies like the Titan-Olympian wars in Greek myths, the Aesir(huh, sounds familiar ;) )-Vanir wars in Norse myth, and also, quite possibly, the war between Angels & Devils (?) in Abrahamic holy books ala Paradise Lost. Notice the pattern?
Hope you can address this issue next the post.
Thanks for the info! It seems that most of the major religions in the world (“Eastern” and “Western”) can trace their roots back to India. I’m covering that in the next post (which I’ve been writing all week!–thanks for your patience!).
Awesome. You already know how much I enjoyed reading this. I’m so glad that other people are learning as well! Good work!
What about Zoroastrianism? That religion sorta flip moral alignments with the Devas (Daevas) being the bad guy while Asura (Ahura Mazda) being the good guy.
Ooo a fellow scholar! I’ll be covering the Zorastrianism connection in my next post (Asura’s daughter is named Mithra after all!)
Replies like these rejuvenate my faith in the internet.
Please, post the part 2 soon !! This one was pure gold and teached me a lot… I really hope the next will feed even more my thirst for knowledge !!
Merci beaucoup! Part two should be done next week. In the meantime please check out my other posts and let me know what you think. Stay thirsty my friend!
This reminds me Muramasa especially last bosses. But also makes me understand the background of this particular character. But it’s so obvious you must figure it out already :)
http://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters3/shenwoo-burst.gif
http://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters3/shenwoo-break.gif
I love that powering up animation! Sometimes I’m so blinded by the glory of KOF XIII that I forget how great all the older entries looked.
Very glad to see your article reach the masses. I can’t wait to see more people learning more about the roots and influences of Buddhist art that has long been in various visual industries but never really recognized nor understood.
Again, was a pleasure to provide the cover to such a great article.
Yeah, exciting times bro! Both Capcom and CyberConnect2 posted this article on their website and Facebook, I’m so super stoked! Thanks for providing such an awesome illustration on such short notice too!
Note to readers: Weigy drew the intro illustration to this article. He banged it out in like two hours! If you like my writing (or the stuff I write about) you’ll love his art:
http://blog.weigy.com/
Hahaha, thanks for the shout-out. Always a pleasure to collaborate, brother.
Very interesting, thanks
well written article! can’t wait for the next entry and the game’s release
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This seems like the old “Capcom.” The Capcom that cared about their product and not out to make a quick buck cough cough Street Fighter 4 and cough cough again Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. Very informative article. I’m downloading the demo as we speak. Should be a cult hit like God Hand was.
Yeah, it warms my heart that they’re still publishing bravely original games like Asura’s Wrath.
I enjoyed your article so much that it made me re-download the demo and play through it again, with more of an eye for the details of the design, and I’ve got to say that my opinion is turning about this game! Thanks for writing this and inspiring me to delve a little deeper!
I noticed a few things here and there that I thought were worth noting– when you’re giving a QTE button prompt, when you succeed at it, the button icon is ringed by a chakra pattern. To my eye, shape-wise it appears to be the Vishuddha or throat chakra, which is associated with purification, but try as I might, I couldn’t make it out for sure, and the color appears to change depending on your level of success (good, great, excellent). Prior to reading your article, I had assumed it was just a convenient motif, but given the attention to detail elsewhere, I’m not so sure anymore! Anyway, I thought the idea at least was pretty interesting.
Hehe I’m glad I could convince you to take another look at the game. Great catch on the Chakras! I totally missed that! I’ll have to incorporate that into the next post. Thanks!
Awesome article! Definitely looking forward to next week’s! Now if only the game wasn’t as bad as I heard…(still going to buy it though, most likely)
Thanks GPA! I personally had fun with the Asura’s Wrath demo. Was it mostly QTEs? Yup! But, did I have fun? HELL YEAH.
BTW are you the author of Gremlin World? If so, bravo! Great comic!
Cool as usual, also referencing the Ashura Buster gains immediate approval from me.
You know… Kinnikuman does have Ultraman’s Buddha fin on his head. So perhaps he’s a kind of Deva of sorts?
:3