Rakshasa (fiction)
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The term Rakshasa, originally referring to a demon in Hindu mythology, has been used in western literature and culture. The following are some examples:
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[edit] In Lord of Light
In Roger Zelazny's novel Lord of Light the Rakshasa, there spelled "Rakasha", are a type of extraterrestrial beings consisting of "stable fields of energy". They were present before the arrival of humans on the planet of the novel, and apparently native to it.
The Rakasha were supposedly once material beings, but long ago used unspecified technology to move their atman into energy fields. This gave them immortality, but "born of matter they do ever lust after the flesh" (p. 32). Although it might seem rather foolish of the Rakasha to use highly advanced technology to abandon bodies and then find that they preferred having flesh after all, they have the power to sometimes possess human bodies. Because a mortal who inhabits a body dies with it, unless he transfers his atman into an unused body, while a Rakasha can survive the destruction of its resident body, the Rakasha's choice does give them advantages that not making it would have lacked.
Their natural shape is that of a glowing flame, although they can briefly take nearly any shape they choose to. In their normal shape they are capable of flying, seeing in all directions and surviving most attacks by material weapons (although some compounds can repel them). When inhabiting a human body, they lose the power to fly for unlimited distances and (presumably, as they never do so) to change shape, but gain the ability to enjoy alcohol, good food, and sex.
They seem more amoral than intentionally evil, normally lacking consciences. One of their preferred pastimes is gambling, and gambling debts are the only promises that they can be relied upon to keep. Gambling with Rakasha can lead either to death or great power, as the Rakasha can give powerful gifts but have little desire for other material things than the body of their fellow gambler.
The Rakasha seem to have no clear hierarchy, although they are led by a very old and powerful Rakasha called Taraka. They also control several kinds of lesser energy beings, the only kind explicitly named being the "fire elementals" (note that these resemble mobile thunderbolts more than classical, western fire elementals).
[edit] In other fiction
[edit] Books and comics
- In Journey to the West, a famous Chinese novel, one of the antagonists is named 'Lady Raksha'
- In the manga Berserk , Rakshas is name of one of Griffith's apostle lieutenants in the new Band of the Hawk. He always wears a cloak and a three-eyed mask.
- In the manga Fist of the North Star, the character Shachi is referred to as "Rakshasa, the Asura-devouring beast".
- In the Fantasy novel Song in the Silence, by Elizabeth Kerner, the demons are referred to as rakshasa by their dragon enemies.
- In the Children of the Lamp novels by P.B. Kerr, the elder djinn of the Marid tribe is named Mr. Rakshasas.
- In the Gold Digger comic series, the character Genn is a member of the Rakshasa race, which is a genderless race of shapeshifters who feed on the ethereal energy of other beings for sustenance.
- In F. Paul Wilson's novel The Tomb, hero Repairman Jack confronts a Bhagavad Gita-studying foe who commands a pack of demonic Rakosh (Rakoshi, plural). While the name of the creatures is not an exact match for Rakshasa, the correspondence of origin, name, and demonic character is clear.
- A group of rakshasas makes a brief appearance in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.
- A Rakshasa turns out to be the primary villain in The Iron Ring, a fantasy book by Lloyd Alexander.
- In Chaos Comics, Rakshasa is the girliefriend of gorgeous lesbian vampiress, Purgatori. Rak was the child of demon rape, when her English missionary mother was attacked by a Rakshasa demon.
[edit] Video games
- In the Exile and Avernum series of games, Rakshasas are magic-casting tiger lookalikes; they're one of the nastier adversaries in the later stages of the game.
- In Linley's Dungeon Crawl roguelike game, the Rakshasa is a type of monster found in the main dungeon levels, and able to create illusionary copies of itself.
- In the video game FreeSpace 2 the Rakshasa is a class of nemy Shivan cruiser.
- In the MMORPG Tantra Online, Rakshasa is a character class resembling a female assassin.
- In the game Final Fantasy (packaged with Final Fantasy II and released as Final Fantasy Origins by Squaresoft for PlayStation), there is a tiger-headed creature called a Rakshasa which is a tough spellcaster. This name has been retained in the Game Boy Advance (Dawn of Souls) and PlayStation Portable (20th Anniversary) releases. In the original Final Fantasy for the Nintendo Entertainment System, this was shortened to "Mancat" due to the constraints of the 8-bit machine.
- In Final Fantasy XII, many inhabitants of the sky-city Bhujerba call the monsters from the nearby mines Rakshas.
- Rakhasas are also creatures of the Haunt class in the RPG Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne by Atlus.
- In the turn-based strategy game Heroes of Might and Magic V, the Rakshasa Rani is a powerful melee unit in the Academy faction. It is humanoid in appearance, but has the head of a tiger and blue skin, with glowing lower arms and legs. One of the upgraded units, the Rakshasa Raja, has the head of a lion and four arms. The Rakshasa are supposed to be vengeful spirits whom the wizards have learned to control.
[edit] Role-playing games
- Rakshasa have long been a race of villains in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. They appear as animal-headed humanoids (generally with tiger or monkey heads) who are masters of necromancy, enchantment, and illusion (which they mostly use to disguise themselves) and are very hard to kill.
- The Palladium RPG has Rakshasas as a race of Demons, but here, it is spelled "Raksasha".
- In the White Wolf game Exalted, the raksha is the name by which the Fair Folk refer to themselves as a race.
[edit] Movies and television
- Although not particularly common in Western fiction, the short-lived 1974 television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (which influenced The X-Files) has an episode (Horror in the Heights) featuring a Rakshasa which - like its Dungeons & Dragons counterpart - is vulnerable to blessed crossbow bolts.
- Was referenced in the Outer Limits episode, "Under the Bed" an episode about child stealing myths(boogeymen). Also mentioned were Babba Yaga, Norse Trolls, Jinn, and the American Boogeyman.
- A Rakshasa was featured in the Supernatural episode "Everybody Loves a Clown."
- In the Doctor Who Virgin New Adventures novel All-Consuming Fire, an alien menace turns its slaves into monstrous beings, which are referred to as Rakshasas.
