Sources record a folkloric/hagiographic variant in which Diting is the transformed form of a white dog that accompanied Kṣitigarbha in the bodhisattva's human/prior-life biography (the Silla/ Kim Gyo-gak legend). According to that legend, when Kṣitigarbha became enlightened the dog became Diting and thereafter served as a guardian of hell; this account is presented as a legendary variant rather than as a doctrinal canonical origin.
Descriptions in the available sources portray Diting as a composite creature combining features of multiple auspicious beasts: the head of a tiger, the body of a dragon, the tail of a lion, a single horn, ears like a dog, and feet like a qilin. Modern fictional depictions vary, but the primary assembled descriptions emphasize this hybrid morphology; some traditions and retellings identify a prior form as a white dog that was transformed.
Source accounts attribute to Diting exceptional auditory and perceptual faculties — its single horn is interpreted in some sources as capable of receiving information across the universe and its hound-like ears are metaphorically described as transmitting the ability to distinguish good from bad. Diting is said to be able to distinguish truth from falsehood and to identify creatures; it is also described as capable of using its horn defensively or offensively. Narratively, Diting functions as the attendant guardian of Kṣitigarbha and in legends (including a Journey to the West episode) demonstrates practical moral judgment and deference to higher authority when deciding whether to act on its discernment.
A'ra
No reliable sources in the supplied material establish A'ra as a distinct supernatural entity. The token "A'ra" appears in the dataset as (a) part of general references to pre-Islamic Arabian deities, (b) a modern Korean female given name (A-ra/아라), and (c) an Arabic toponym (A'ra, one village merged into Ar'ara).
Acala
Acala (Sanskrit: अचल, 'The Immovable') is a wrathful protective deity (dharmapala) in Vajrayāna and East Asian esoteric Buddhism, classed among the Wisdom Kings (Vidyārāja). He functions as a ritual focus for visualization and mantra practice intended to remove obstacles and bind or destroy hostile forces.
Acalanātha (Acala / Achala)
Acalanātha (also Acala or Achala) is a wrathful deity and dharmapāla — a protector of the Dharma — prominent in Vajrayana and East Asian Mahayana Buddhist contexts. Presented as a fierce, non‑human or semi‑divine protector-figure, Acalanātha functions to defend the teaching and practitioners by removing obstacles and confronting threats to the transmission and practice of Buddhism.
Agni
Agni is the Vedic personification of fire in Hindu tradition: a sacred, mediating principle that manifests as terrestrial fire, atmospheric lightning, and celestial sun, and that receives and conveys sacrificial offerings. Prominent in the Rigvedic corpus, Agni functions as sanctifier, witness of rites of passage, and a transformational inner principle in later Upanishadic literature.
Aizen Myō-ō (Rāgarāja)
Aizen Myō-ō corresponds to the deity Rāgarāja, a wrathful/transformation-oriented figure venerated in Esoteric and Vajrayāna Buddhist traditions. The figure is especially revered in Chinese Esoteric Buddhism in Chinese communities and in the Japanese Esoteric schools Shingon and Tendai.
Akhu Tönpa
A Tibetan trickster figure, sent by Chenrezig to teach the art of being shrewd and witty, while championing the common man against social hierarchies. (Note: - Power tier should be Lesser or Minor Spirit, not Ancient, as it's more aligned with local spirit level of trickster figures. - The ability to outwit those in positions of power suggests Greater or P)
Akshobhya
Akshobhya is a transcendent buddha of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism, one of the Five Wisdom (Dhyāni) Buddhas. He personifies 'mirror knowledge' (ādarśa-jñāna), is conventionally placed in the East, and is lord of the eastern Pure Land Abhirati; in esoteric texts he is associated with the eastern Vajra division and invoked in mantra/mandala ritual contexts.
Akuma
Akuma (悪魔／あくま) in Japanese sources is an evil spirit, devil, or demon associated with misfortune and mental disturbance. The term appears in Buddhist texts and Heian-period literature and was later used to translate the Christian figure of Satan, as well as the Buddhist Mara.
Amanojaku
Amanojaku (天邪鬼 / あまのじゃく) is a Japanese yōkai-type being portrayed as a contrarian, heart-reading trickster. Treated in different contexts as a small ogre (ko-oni), a wicked demon (jaki) in Buddhist iconography, and a folkloric spirit that provokes human vice, it appears across regional tales with variable roles from malicious kidnapper to household oddity.
Amida Nyorai
Amida Nyorai (Amitābha / Amitāyus) is a principal Mahayana Buddha venerated across East Asia as the embodiment of Infinite Light and Infinite Life who presides over a Western Pure Land and is invoked as the savior who receives the dying into rebirth there.
Amitābha
Amitābha is a central celestial Buddha of Mahayana Buddhism who presides over the western Pure Land called Sukhāvatī. Devotional practices invoking his 'measureless' light and life (nianfo/nembutsu) are presented in Pure Land traditions as a path by which beings may be reborn in his buddhafield and quickly attain Buddhahood.
Amitābha Buddha
Amitābha is a principal Mahayana Buddha who presides over the Western Pure Land (the Land of Ultimate Bliss). Devotional practices—most centrally recitation of his name and chanting of Pure Land sutras—are presented in sources as the means by which Amitābha welcomes practitioners for rebirth in his hindrance-free realm.
Community Record
- [1]Diting. Wikipedia, entry 'Diting'wiki
- [2]Diting (Wikidata). Wikidata item Q10527263other
- [3]Diting | Public Domain Super Heroes | Fandom. Fandom mirror summarizing legends and modern depictionsfolk