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Ashura Name Origin

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by qwertysonic, Oct 4, 2020.

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  1. qwertysonic

    qwertysonic

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    Does anyone know where the name Ashura for the Sonic 2 pallet glitch comes from? Most of the the old fan sites from the early 2000's all quoted the same thing "It was named after a Hindu god who was green with black spots on his head." I don't know anything about Hinduism and there are about a million Hindu gods so it could be the case, but googling doesn't come up with any.

    But in the Bible we see names like Asherah, or Ashteroth, or Asherim (pluril) which is an ancient Semitic goddess associated with life (primarily trees and flora life). She was supposedly married to Baal (another common idol found in the Old Testament). The hebrew word for Asherah can also be translated as "grove" or "tree". Maybe this is where the "green with black spots" come from? Asherah looked like a tree?

    I'm just curious if anyone here knows the original meaning of the name. I found Kushami's post in this old thread, but it doesn't answer the question of where the name came from. https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/ashura.11007/page-2#post-203476 I've also heard that Ashura means demon in Japanese, but that doesn't answer the question of the Hindu god who was green with black spots on his head.
     
  2. raphael_fc

    raphael_fc

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    I don't know for sure. It does exist a god or godlike being called Asura (and I believe the s sounds like sh) in Buddhism/Hinduism. I know that because of Saint Seiya, the name of the Capricorn Gold Saint (or Knight, in America) is Shura after Asura.

    But I don't know anything about this deity being green.
     
  3. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox

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    Yeah it's Asura, it's spelled あしゅら = Ashura in Japanese.
     
  4. qwertysonic

    qwertysonic

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    Is there an original source for this?
     
  5. Ashura96

    Ashura96

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  6. qwertysonic

    qwertysonic

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    No, I mean a source that says that this what [whoever coined the term for the Sonic 2 glitch] had in mind, and where the "green with black spots" quote came from.
     
  7. I distinctly remember the first time I ever saw the name ashura was on Gamewinners.com.

    https://web.archive.org/web/20001017194601/http://www.gamewinners.com:80/GEN/SonicTheHedgehog2.htm

    This snapshot is from October 17th 2000. The "Ashura code" was submitted by a user named Cody Scholberg.

    Hope that helps.

    Edit: I looked at the html and his actual username was faqdude. looks like it's got a hotmail account... ([email protected]) Doing a quick google search shows he's made guides on GameFAQs for sonic games before https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/saturn/198698-sonic-r/faqs/7620 I took a peek and...

    If you have any questions,
    find typos, or anything you find wrong with this FAQ please email me at
    [email protected] or [email protected].

    :V Guess you could email him?
     
    Last edited: Oct 5, 2020
  8. Rosiero

    Rosiero

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    I remember reading a long time ago that Ashura was named for the protagonist of the manga RG Veda, although their hair seems to be black, not green.
     
  9. Scarred Sun

    Scarred Sun

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    Welp, this.
    I mean, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Kushami's post tracks for the late-90s Sonic internet and that it probably came down to "Kiken thought it sounded cool in their late 90s brain" without much else behind it. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and not something with grand lore.
     
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  10. qwertysonic

    qwertysonic

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    And that would be a perfectly fine explanation. It's just that we are a Sonic research community and we like to have to primary sources and "that's just what I grew up hearing" isn't good information documentation.
     
  11. Vaiz

    Vaiz

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    I think it's inherently kind of hard to properly research and document something that was entirely fan created in the 90s, as far as the naming convention goes. It's like trying to track down who started the rumor that you can find Mew under a fuckin' truck in Pokemon.
     
  12. I thought I read somehere once that it was someone saying they named him after a friends username or something? I dunno where I read that though.
     
  13. Xilla

    Xilla

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    I searched around Google Groups and the earliest reference to "Ashura" to refer to the Sonic 2 glitch, as far as I can see, is from July 1997. However the last poster also wonders where the name actually came from :V

    In April 1996 there was a user frequenting several newsgroups signing off posts with "Ashura the Hedgehog". Maybe they inspired or named it?
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2020
  14. raphael_fc

    raphael_fc

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    Maybe some guy liked to create original characters and created a green/black hedgehog based on the glitch and named it Ashura because he thought it would sound cool. Who knows.
     
  15. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    I'm kinda confused here.

    In this topic we already have the answer as to who named him.
     
  16. qwertysonic

    qwertysonic

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    Yeah we know who named him, but we don’t know why the specific name, Ashura, was chosen. The oldest reason I’ve heard is that it was named after a Hindu god with green and black markings, but I’ve never heard and actual source for that reason given, and I don’t know of any specifically green and black Hindu gods.
     
  17. Sid Starkiller

    Sid Starkiller

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    Yeah, chances are good he remembered hearing the name somewhere, thought it sounded cool, and spread it around. Especially if he told people "It's named Ashura" instead of "I've been calling it Ashura". Subtle distinction, but makes it sound more official.
     
  18. Dissent

    Dissent

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    They were also wondering on the origin a year later, too;

    Oh, how history truly repeats.
     
  19. RDNexus

    RDNexus

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    Keep going, you guys. You may finally be onto something...
     
  20. Chillbro Swaggins

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    Others in this thread have basically identified the trick with what you're looking for. It's entirely possible that the guy who chose the name "Ashura" did so because he thought there was a green Hindu god with black spots on his head by that name, even if he was mistaken about the existence of such a god.

    Just yesterday I was telling someone about the old "shoot the Cyberdemon until it dies" magazine protip only to discover it was fake. Sometimes the truth turns out to be the lamest possible option.
     
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