User:Akako/legend

=The legend of Akako= Akako is the god of angst, especially teenage angst. He came into existence many generations later than most Greek legends. Born from the tears of those who could not take the troubles of life, his presence is now especially strong in the US, and he has the most impact on those who decended from the greeks.

History
Akako was initially a servant of Hades, the god of the underworld, and thus was largely ignored by the populous until he was summoned back to his original calling during the twentieth century. At first, he was just something created by the humans in some way unknown to the gods. The major gods did not know what to do with him, but since mother earth would not let them kill the godling, they gave him a place in the palace of Hades. As more people, especially men, began committing suicide for the sole reason of seeing their loved ones again, Hades showed mercy upon them and gave them their own special place in the underworld. Although in the beginning this place was but a wing of the palace, it soon proved far too small an area, and so Akako was granted a plot of land to rule over. After several instances in his realm in which Hades was forced to personally intervene, Akako was given specific powers.

Now, although he is seldom recognized, he is generally accepted as the god of teenage depression and suicide, or, less drastically, the god of angst. He is also referred to as the god of love and sorrow, although less commonly. This is not to confuse him with Eros 1, the god of love, or Dionysus, the god of tragedy 2. He was called this because suicides in the ancient world happened most often when a lover died and the other did not have the will to live on alone.

Influence/Origin of Name
Proof of Akako’s influence is the word itself, angst, which bears a slight resemblance to the minor god’s given name, or the one he is sometimes known by, Akito 3. After many generations of oral tradition, it is believed that the tale arrived in Japan, where the name was changed to make it more Japanese. The original name presumably had enough similarity to the one the Japanese had given him that when tales of the godling spread once more, he became known as Akako. His Greek name is unknown, but it is speculated that it could derive from Aengus, which bears an even stronger resemblance to agnst.

Aengus was a minor protagonist in Irish mythology and was a god of love, youth, and beauty. The son of one of the people of Danu 4, he fell in love with Caer, a girl who turned into a swan. After passing a test, the girl’s father allowed her to marry Aengus, but their happiness was short-lived. One day, when the girl was a swan, a hunter shot her. Aengus could not even quell his grief by laying her to rest in the proper way, as the hunter had taken her home and eaten her and put up her beautiful feathers as decoration. Aengus’ grief was inconsolable and after a year of mourning, he killed himself to be with his wife in the afterlife.

Role and Powers
Akako’s role is to guide souls who have separated themselves from their body for reasons that are now commonly associated with depression. He is often ordered by Zeus 5 to turn those with a great destiny away from his path, however because Akako is not god-born, Zeus does not have as much power over him as he does all other gods. Occasionally, Akako will lure one who is to be a great hero to his path of darkness or whisper into the ear of some widely loved king and thus bring devastation to the mortal world. In this way he is unpredictable, but everything he does to turn people to his path is done for some ulterior motive, but whom it benefits, only he knows.

As more and more souls choose the path to which Akako is the guide, he is given more power by Hades. He has the power to banish those he rules, either to Hades’ kingdom or to the world of the living, although he seldom does the latter. Perhaps the reason for this is because he does not want to anger the sons and daughters of Cronus 5. He also has the power to commune with humans outside of dreams and symbolic signs, and although he cannot change his shape, he looks much like a common person and so is adequately disguised. He ascends to the mortal world much more often than any other god.

Celestial Relations
The most powerful of the gods, Zeus, has a particular dislike for Akako as he is not a descendent of Zeus and feels no need to obey the King of Gods. Zeus’s resentment grew to haltered after Akako drew Ersa, the daughter of Zeus by Selene, onto his shadowy path. Zeus was forced to use his power as the king of gods to punish Akako for this transgression by freezing him in the body he had, that of a tall and awkward youth, so that he would never reach manhood.

Subjects of Akako
The dead that Akako presides over lead a privileged death, closer to the one the living live than any other bodiless souls. They can eat and drink when they please, but since they are insubstantial to the world of the living, they are never hungry. They are never tired, and never have to work. However, since there is no end to death as there is to life, all the souls there are there for eternity unless allowed to come back to life by Akako or reborn at the request of the higher gods.

Personal Apperance and Attributes
Akako is tall and lanky with straight black hair that partially covers his face. Drawings of him usually depict him without eyes, and it is said the only ones to see his eyes are his privileged dead and those who are about to join them. He is generally dressed in tight-fitting clothing that covers nearly the whole of his body, and either his feet are not shown or he is barefoot. He is often depicted walking or guiding someone down a gently winding black path. Symbols that frequently appear with him are a thorny rose, a black path, a starless night, and wisps of souls that cling to him like white fog. Akako stands alone. He is like no other god, for he was the child of tears from those who took their own life and a stone soaked in their blood and longing.

Akako vs. Akito
Akito from Fruits Basket plays a different role than Akako did in Greek mythology. Akito is the head of household and would be much closer to Zeus in this way. Akako and Akito both tend to drive those they choose to influence to suicide (although Akito has never actually done so), but the reasons that they do so and the way they do so are very different. Akito strives to break the will of those around him, while Akito cradles the souls of the broken as he guides them gently to the happiest place they can find—death. In this way, Akako is more of a gentle, kind character, although with a scheming mind, and Akito is unwaveringly malicious and cruel.