Kutone (「クトネシリカ」?; Kutoneshirika) is the sacred sword of the Oina tribe. Throughout the story of Ōkami, it is wielded by Oki.
Story
Ōkami
Before the events of Ōkami, the twin demons Lechku & Nechku returned to life and attacked the Oina tribes people. To fight them, the Oina warrior Oki stole Kutone and planned to use it to slay the demons, placing his faith in an old saying, "The wall of ice shall shatter and open the way to the heavens, when Kutone, the guardian sword, glows silver." Oki believed that the sword would glow when it had killed a powerful demon.
When Amaterasu and Issun encountered Oki, he attacked them with the sword. Later he follows them through the Spirit Gate to use it on True Orochi, but is knocked away and doesn't get the opportunity to use the sword. Later he interrupted Amaterasu and Shiranui's battle with Lechku & Nechku to try and use the blade again, but the demons froze time and took the opportunity to attack him. Shiranui sacrificed himself to save Oki, but was gravely wounded and nearly knocked over the edge of the arena. Oki was forced to choose between pursuing Lechku & Nechku or saving Shiranui and eventually chose to save Shiranui. This decision turned out to be the key to triggering Kutone's silver glow: it was triggered not be the blood of demons, but by the user's heart being free of selfish desires and willing to help others.
After the defeat of Lechku & Nechku, Oki placed the sword back in its pedestal. Fulfilling the prophecy, the sword caused the Ark of Yamato, the literal way to the heavens, to emerge from the frozen lake. It remains in its pedestal for the remainder of the game.
Trivia
- Kutone's "silver glow" is actually more of a blue color.
- The sword's abilities, if any, are unknown; it is only said to be very powerful and sacred to the Oina. However, when Oki tried to use it on powerful demons (True Orochi and Lechku & Nechku), he was defeated easily. This suggests that the sword doesn't actually have any special powers on its own, aside from its silver glow. It is also possible that Oki was taken by surprise and didn't get a chance to use the sword to its full potential.
- In Ōkamiden's History Scrolls, in the Protector of the Frozen Land scroll, Kutone's name is misspelled as "Kuton".