African mythology is such underrated and under utilized in general. You have a whole continent to explore its legacy and mysticism, and yet we barely see that in most media. That is why I found always interesting see mentions and cameos in games, movies, books or shows. Great video, Tony man! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As a Zambian tonga I remember visibly and audibly pogging when I saw nyami nyami on the list of new demons in SMT VV and being like "THATS THE KARIBA DAM GUYY!!"
Once you srarted tellding the Anansi story, I remember3d there was a Static Shock episode with an african hero with power and enemies like this tale. Finally I understand that reference
Let's go! Africa number 1. Did you know that every 60 seconds a minute passes in SMT: Africa Now that you mentioned it, we NEED a SMT: Russia. And a cool thing is, SEGA wouldn't even need to change that much 😂
Funny you say that, in some versions of Marvel canons, he is the first Spider-man. There's even a comic of him testing some Spider-men, including Peter, Miles, and a few more.
Nyankopon and Anansi left an incredible impression on me when I played SMT5. I had a magic build and when I faced Nyankopon he basically got me trapped in an unwinnable situation because I had no demons or skills that could out damage his heals. I had to reset and lose a bunch of progress. On the flip side, Anansi is very cool aesthetically and when researching him and heard about the spider stories I got a huge wave of nostalgia and remembered I was read a book of spider stories when I was a little kid. And you showed the cover of that very book I was read in this video too! Underrated folk hero, I hope he shows up in future games.
Thanks for presenting this as an educational piece Tony, because I fear that without prior knowledge I'd have thought Onyankopon is a name for a cute Japanese regional mascot like Chiitan or Nyangostar
I think I learned the most about African mythology from Neil gaiman and American gods. Bizarrely enough between that and the follow-up book. Anansi boys. I really do enjoy the character of Mr. Nancy and the story of the spider stealing the Tiger's balls.
That Anansi story made the guy seem like a Loony Toons character. The fake argument to trick the snake sounds like how Bugs would trick the hunter And the sticky doll with delicious food feels like something Wily Coyote would try to catch the Roadrunner
Not shocking. Anansi stories got partially transformed into Briar Rabbit when people were forced into the American Slave trade, and Briar Rabbit himself was a direct inspiration of some aspects of Bugs Bunny.
I was very happy to see SMT 5: Vengeance introducing more African spirituality. Also, I heard a Metaphor: ReFantazio track in your video, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on that!
If any of these deities were portrayed by Ubisoft or Hollywood or some other hack frauds, they'd have rap music accompanying their appearance and I would heave a great big sigh.
oh!!! you just brought back a core memory!! i know the anansi the spider book you showed and i remember reading it a lot when i was really young :) i might still have it somewhere
Yeah i was very happy when onyankopon and anansi made it into Smt V, seeing a deity from my country was truly interesting but i was sad that we did not get the trickster god showdown between Anansi and loki as a side quests.
I'm not sure how many people are going to see this comment, but when I saw it just a small amount of African lore in this game i screamed, my family is Caribbean but my name is South African in origin, it was cool as fuck to see those characters in this game n this lore video made me happy to see
Awesome video Tony! I’ve been a fan of you’re for a while and I’ve always loved your break downs of different gods and spiritual lore. I am a practitioner of Vodou myself so I was very excited when I saw your upload. Although if I could give one slight critique and it’s only in reference to the Loa you mentioned names “Guedhe”. His name is actually pronounced “Geh-Deh”. It’s not one syllable. It’s two. That’s my only critique! Other than that wonderful video! ❤
I lost my mind when Atlus announced the 3 new African demons for SMTV V. Anansi has been in all of my favorite shows (gargoyles and statics shock) so to see him in my favorite game series made me happy
Surprised that someone like Baron Samedi hasn’t been made into a recurring SMT demon yet. Seems like a perfect fit for the series. I hope that Atlus utilizes more African/Carribean deities in the future. They’ve got plenty to choose from!
From what I've seen Papa "G" AKA Baron Samedi, is kind of like Charon. He quires a coin in order to take a soul into the afterlife, although not an "angel" with vices like drinking run and smoking cigars. I always though there was some sort of pimp implications based on how he's dress, but never found one.
