Lore[]
Alighting onto earth atop a massive thunderbolt, the beast wanders the land, seeking the quarry it could never find amongst the clouds. Once sated, it will return to the heavens.
Name Origin[]
Thunder beast is another name for Raijū a legendary creature from Japanese mythology. Its body is composed of lightning and may be in the shape of a dog, cat, fox, leopard, rabbit, white or black panther, marten, ferret, beaver, tiger, bear, weasel, squirrel, rat, porcupine, pangolin, badger, mongoose, monkey, lynx, tanuki, civet, shrew, gymnure, mole, tapir, bull, wild boar, deer, rhinoceros, buffalo, serrow, lemur, sea creature (usually a marine mammal such as a dolphin or seal, but sometimes fish such as shark, coelacanth, coral reef fish, stingray, seahorse, swordfish, barracuda or eel or crustacean such as a crab), insect, qilin, komainu, dragon, or wolf. The form of a white and blue wolf or dog (or even a wolf or a dog wrapped in lightning) is the most common. It may also fly about as a ball of lightning (in fact, the creature may be an attempt to explain the phenomenon of lightning). Its cry sounds like thunder.
Raiju is the companion of Raijin, the Shinto god of lightning. While the beast is generally calm and harmless, during thunderstorms, it becomes agitated and leaps about in trees, fields, and even buildings (trees that have been struck by lightning are said to have been scratched by Raiju's claws).
Another of Raiju's peculiar behaviors is sleeping in human navels. This prompts Raiden to shoot lightning arrows at Raiju to wake the creature up, and thus harms the person in whose belly the demon is resting. Superstitious people therefore often sleep on their stomachs during bad weather, but other legends say that Raiju will only hide in the navels of people who sleep outdoors.
Quests[]
2-4, 3-1, 3-3, 4-3, 5-4, 6-1, 10-1