Shiva

Shiva originates from Indian mythology, where he is traditionally the god of destruction and creation.

In Record of Ragnarok, he is reimagined as the absolute god of the Indian pantheon, standing at the top of 1,117 Indian gods.

He fights barehanded, similar to Zeus, relying solely on his own body instead of weapons.

He is referred to with the catchphrase “God of Destruction of the Universe” and is treated as the final apex of Indian divine strength.

Shiva’s skin is depicted as pale purple, and he has four arms and three eyes, with one on his forehead and two below.

Despite his “destructive” title, he is shown to be passionate, prideful, loyal to his friends, and deeply respectful toward worthy opponents such as Raiden Tameemon.

Name: Shiva

Gender: Male

Origin / Mythological Source: Indian mythology

Region: India

Role in Record of Ragnarok: Gods’ fighter in the fifth round of Ragnarok

Title / Epithet: God of Destruction of the Universe

Pantheon Position: Absolute god at the summit of 1,117 Indian gods

Fighting Style: Unarmed combat using his own body

Voice Actor (CV): Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Shiva has pale purple skin, four arms, and three eyes, emphasizing his otherworldly and divine nature.

His third eye on the forehead, combined with the two beneath it, contributes to his intimidating yet charismatic design.

He is energetic, fiery, and playful, treating battles almost like a dance or game.

At the same time, he deeply values bonds and promises, especially those with his best friend Rudra and his fellow Indian gods.

Although he is called the “God of Destruction,” he is not portrayed as mindlessly cruel.

He admires strong spirits, respects warriors who fight without regret, and is capable of genuine gratitude and emotional depth.

Shiva is renowned for fighting without weapons, using only his body to inflict damage.

His combat style is fluid and rhythmic, merging divine martial arts with dance-like movement.

He possesses a secret technique known as “Samsara Dance (Tandava)”, described as the “treasure of the Indian gods.”

This is a unique, unpredictable lethal dance that uses a distinctive rhythm, making his movements almost impossible to read or predict.

In the battle against Raiden Tameemon, Shiva unveils a further evolution of this ability.

He activates a technique he had never used even on himself before: “Samsara Dance: Ashes (Tandava Karma)”, also translated in context as “Samsara Dance of Ashes” or “Reincarnation Dance: Ashes of Annihilation.”

By directly stimulating his own heart with his hand, he forcibly raises his heart rate and burns his own life as fuel.

This causes his body to be enveloped in ultra-high-temperature flames that instantly carbonize his muscles, massively increasing his destructive output despite the extreme self-damage.

In the original mythology, Indian gods are often described with hyperbolic power, such as “moving a single little finger lightly destroys 1,000 galaxies.”

Record of Ragnarok tones this down and treats such statements as metaphors rather than literal feats, giving Shiva a more grounded but still overwhelming power level.

Shiva participates as the gods’ representative in the fifth round of Ragnarok, facing Raiden Tameemon, the strongest sumo wrestler in history.

He is introduced as a major powerhouse after being deferred from earlier rounds due to behind-the-scenes circumstances among the gods.

Planned Appearances and Scheduling

Originally, Shiva was supposed to fight in the second round.

However, Zeus demanded to fight instead and threw a fit over it.

As Shiva is Zeus’s senior among the gods, he decided to “do him a favor” and gave up his spot, effectively creating a debt Zeus owed him.

Narratively, this is also tied to the fact that Shiva is the one who originally proposed the annihilation of humankind, with Zeus later acting to return a favor to him.

Shiva next tried to enter in the fourth round.

Yet Zeus and the other Greek gods insisted that “Greek debts should be repaid by Greeks,” so Shiva withdrew again to let another Greek god fight.

Because of these decisions, Shiva finally enters in the fifth round, making it a highly anticipated appearance.

By that point, his status and drama have been built up as the long-delayed “main event” for the Indian pantheon.

Battle Against Raiden Tameemon

Shiva’s fifth-round match is against Raiden Tameemon, a legendary human sumo wrestler with monstrous, sealed-away strength.

The fight becomes one of mutual respect and shared resolve rather than simple divine cruelty.

During the fight, Raiden releases the full power of his sumo, breaking past the limits that had constrained him throughout his life.

Shiva recognizes that Raiden carries heavy expectations and responsibilities as a rikishi and calls what Raiden is bearing “something good.”

As the fight intensifies, Shiva notices Rudra and other former rivals from the Indian divine realm watching from the passageway.

He also senses the hopes and prayers of the Indian gods who believe in him, just as people believe in Raiden.

Realizing that he is being trusted in the same way, Shiva declares that he cannot afford to lose for the sake of those who have placed their faith in him.

To push beyond his limits, he activates the previously unused “Samsara Dance: Ashes”, burning his life to match Raiden’s unleashed sumo.

The battle reaches a climax in a final clash of ultimate techniques, with both pushing their bodies beyond endurance.

In the end, Shiva’s last strike proves superior, and he defeats Raiden.

After Raiden thanks Shiva, saying that thanks to him he could fight sumo without any regrets, Shiva acknowledges him as a “truly great man.”

He then carries out the duty of the gods’ fighter and severs Raiden’s head, but he also expresses gratitude, saying that Raiden allowed him to create the best match.

Aftermath and Later Appearances

After defeating Raiden, Shiva reunites with Rudra.

He undergoes treatment for the arms he lost during the battle, and by the time of the tenth round, his arms have fully recovered.

When he sees Buddha declare that he will fight on the side of humanity in the sixth round, Shiva reacts with a smile, just like Thor.

This reaction hints at his complex attitude toward conflict, loyalty, and those who challenge the divine order.

In the past, Shiva was almost unknown within the Indian divine realm.

At that time, his dream was to become the “Lord of Dance” (Nataraja) rather than the supreme god of destruction.

His friend Rudra had a different dream: “to stand at the very top of the Indian divine realm.”

Rudra invited Shiva to join him in that ambition, and Shiva decided to accompany him, turning from dancer to warrior.

From then on, Shiva and Rudra spent their days constantly fighting.

Together, they defeated all 1,115 strong gods of the Indian pantheon.

Eventually, only Shiva and Rudra remained at the summit.

Rudra then proposed that the two of them should fight to determine the single absolute god of the Indian pantheon.

At first, the battle was evenly matched.

As it went on, Shiva gradually began to gain the upper hand, but Rudra refused to give in.

Wanting to protect Rudra’s wish, Shiva considered surrendering to let Rudra stand at the very top.

However, Rudra hated the idea of an opponent holding back in a serious fight for his sake.

Instead, Rudra surrendered first, entrusting his dream to Shiva.

Through this, Shiva became the absolute god of the Indian divine realm, standing at the apex of its 1,117 gods.

Because of their shared struggle and Shiva’s attitude in that decisive fight, the gods of the Indian pantheon place overwhelming trust in him.

He is not only feared for his power but genuinely respected for his loyalty and sense of honor.

Shiva’s introduction in Record of Ragnarok paints him as a wild, unpredictable cosmic force.

He is described as someone who creates worlds for fun and destroys them on a whim, treating the universe as his playground.

The narrative asks rhetorically whether he even has any aim, or whether he simply creates, destroys, and rebuilds as part of his nature.

The implication is that question-and-answer, reasoning, and compromise are meaningless to him when he decides something must be broken.

His battle tagline emphasizes that he is beyond argument or negotiation.

“Questions are pointless, consideration is unnecessary; if he dislikes something, he will break it, break it, and keep breaking it.”

He is introduced with the emphatic title: “God of Destruction of the Universe (Bhairava), Shiva!”

This title underlines his status as a cosmic-level destroyer with a fierce, almost chaotic temperament.

Within the story’s setting, Shiva is actually the original cause of the whole Record of Ragnarok conflict.

He is the one who proposed the annihilation of humanity in the first place.

However, this is somewhat overshadowed in the narrative by Aphrodite, who becomes an enthusiastic supporter of the idea, and Odin, whose mysterious, suspicious behavior draws a lot of attention.

Because of their presence, Shiva’s role as the “root cause” tends to be somewhat disguised or downplayed in the reader’s perception.

In the spin-off Record of Ragnarok: Forbidden Apocalypse of the Gods, Shiva’s friend Indra, the thunder god, participates.

This further explores the Indian pantheon and Shiva’s connections with other deities beyond Rudra.