What do you think of Rao
Playing through the game again for the 100th time, and I've just reached the end of the Sei-An-City arc. As much as I adore Okami and think the storytelling is absolultely spot-on for nearly the entire game, Rao's part in the story always annoyed me, and I wanted to see if others felt the same.
Spoilers for a 20 year old game ahead, you know what's coming.
As we know, sometime before Amaterasu arrives in Sei-An, Ninetails corners and kills Rao, taking up the guise of the priestess to infiltrate Himiko's palace and search for the Fox Rods, an unholy artefact that was lost during his assault on the Dragon Palace.
So at this point, Ninetails is not at full power, and disguises himself as Rao. And Amaterasu just doesn't notice. The God of Gods, creator of all that is good and mother to us all - completely falls for Ninetails deception for what is effectively an entire story arc.
I feel like the goal behind this is to show that Amaterasu isn't infalliable, and is capable of misjudging character or making mistakes. But the end result to me is that on subsequent playthroughs, every interaction with Rao feels fake, and it becomes more frustrating to watch over rather than satisfying to spot ahead of time.
A couple other angles I would have liked to see would be Rao being cornered and killed by Ninetails after Amaterasu gives her the Fox Rods - this preserves the idea that Amaterasu makes a critical mistake that gets people killed by overestimating Rao's strength, resulting in her death. It also lets us get to know the real Rao rather than interacting with a decoy for the entire story arc.
Or, alternatively I think a really neat thing to do would be to have Rao ambushed by Ninetails on the way back to Himiko, and Ninetails offer her the option to join him; the exact same offer Orochi made Susano - except Rao accepts. Himiko still dies, we still fight Evil Rao, and Ninetails remains the final chapter boss. Except we now get to see a glimpse of what may have happened if Susano had accepted Orochi's offer, as well as a glimpse into the nature of mankind and their weakness to temptation. I feel this would be a good way to set up Ninetails further as well, as he abandons Rao to die as soon as he gets the Fox Rods, showing just how disposable humans are to greater evils once they've served their purpose.
What are your thoughts on Rao's deception and her characterisation during the second arc? I don't know if I'm alone in my sentiments for this character, but I'd love to hear what others think of her.