Jiraiya
Jiraiya (児雷也 - literally "young thunder"), the title character of the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語, "The tale of the gallant Jiraiya"), is a ninja who uses shapeshifting magic to morph into a gigantic toad. The heir of a powerful clan in Kyūshū of the same name, Jiraiya fell in love with Tsunade, a beautiful young princess who masters snail magic. His arch-enemy was his one-time follower, Orochimaru, who mastered snake magic.
Influences on Fiction
- In the first game of the Tengai Makyou series, Tengai Makyō: Ziria for the PC-Engine console, Jiraiya's name is spelled Ziria. He's a ninja from the Fire Clan who fights with a kodachi sword and has a pet frog which grown several times its size when Ziria summons it in combat. Tsunade is a ninja girl from the Roots Clan (the archenemies 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 naginata and snake magic. These characters all returned in a spin-off fighting game called Kabuki Klash for the Neo-Geo.
- Akimitsu Takagi's detective novel The Tattoo Murder Case uses the character representations in tattoos 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 Naruto, a popular manga and anime television series, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru appear as three legendary ninjas known as the Sannin. Naruto's Jiraiya can transform into a toad, also summon toads into battle, up to and including Kaiju-sized monsters. This summoning ability is predicated on Jiraiya having established a blood-contract with all species of toad-kind. Tsunade and Orochimaru in the Anime can also summon slugs and snakes, and Orochimaru is also capable of transforming into a snake.
- In the tokusatsu movie The Magic Serpent, Jiraiya (also known as Ikazuchi-Maru) was the protagonist. He and his arch-nemesis Orochimaru transform into two daikaiju, a toad and Oriental dragon, respectively, and have a duel to the death.
- In the tokusatsu superhero series Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya, Jiraiya is the protagonist of the series. A Japanese professional wrestler uses the Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya character appearance as his gimmick.
- One of the five characters in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger is named Jiraiya / NinjaBlack.
- In the video game Persona 4, Yousuke Hanamura is able to summon a cartoony Jiraiya in a disco costume.