Yato

About Yato

Yato is a minor god of calamity with no shrine, no followers and no money, who takes any wish-granting job for five yen while dreaming of fame. He is goofy, lazy and dramatic, and, when he picks up a sword, terrifyingly skilled. Yato's cheerful delivery-god act hides a violent past he is desperate to outgrow without being forgotten by the humans he loves.

Appearance

Yato is a lean young-looking god with messy dark hair and striking blue eyes, usually in a worn tracksuit with a white scarf, his 'fluffy fluff', around his neck, and boots. He looks like a broke delivery boy, which is the point: nothing about him suggests shrines or worshippers until a weapon is in his hand and his expression turns cold and focused.

Personality

Yato is loud, lazy, dramatic and obsessed with becoming a famous god with a shrine and millions of worshippers. He is also generous with the little he has, terrible with money and money-making schemes, and completely serious about the people who believe in him, a god exists only while humans remember him, and Yato's fear of being forgotten sits under every joke. In a fight, the clown vanishes: his past as a god of calamity made him one of the most dangerous blades among gods.

Background & Story

Yato is a god who was once worshipped as a god of calamity, a wish-granting killer of humans, and who now wants, desperately, to be something better: a god of fortune with a shrine of his own. With no temple and almost no believers, he writes his phone number in public places and takes any job for a five-yen coin, the traditional offering. His life changes when schoolgirl Hiyori Iki saves him from a bus and gains the ability to slip out of her body into the world of gods and spirits. With Hiyori as his first real believer in years and a new shinki, Yukine, as his weapon, Yato takes jobs, fights phantoms and tries to outrun a past that people like the stray Nora keep dragging back toward him.

Powers & Abilities

• God of calamity's swordsmanship: With a shinki in weapon form, Yato is an elite swordsman able to cut down phantoms and fight war gods on equal terms.
• Severance: Yato can cut bonds and ties, including the ties between people and their memories of others, with a named blade.
• Teleportation: As a god, Yato can instantly travel to anyone who calls his number or wishes for him.

Key Relationships

• Hiyori Iki: The human girl who saved him and became his most loyal believer, his reason to keep trying to be a better god.
• Yukine: His shinki and partner; their bond grows from resentment into real family.
• Nora: A stray shinki from his darkest past, who keeps pulling him back toward it.
• Kofuku: The poverty goddess who shelters him, feeds him and treats his disasters as entertainment.
• Bishamon: The war god who hunts him over an old tragedy between them.

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