Four Heavenly Kings may refer to: *Shitennou or Shitennō (四天王) meaning "the four divine kings" in Japanese, is originally the name of the Four Heavenly Kings, four Buddhist deities who protect the four quarters of the world.
The name has also been used for various characters in Japanese anime and video games. * Shitennou is also: ** the Japanese name for Pokémon's Elite Four. ** In the Japanese metaseriesSailor Moon, the Shitennou are also the name of the guardians and best friends of Master Endymion, and the proper term for the male servants of Queen Beryl who are commonly referred to in fandom as "Generals". ** In the Japanese manga and animeKonjiki no Gash Bell
(Zatch Bell in the U.S.), the "Shitennou" are used to refer to the four strongest mamodo from the battle a thousand years ago. (The term in English is unknown, though it may be the "Big Four".) ** In Sakigake
Cromartie High School (Anime - episode 26, Manga - volume 2), It is revealed that the 2nd year students are lead by a gang of FIVE people who call themselves the Shitennou (translated in both formats as the 'Four Great Ones'). ** The manga/animeBobobo-bo Bo-bobo uses this term twice for the four strongest generals of the leader of the main villain. The first team of "Shitennou" work under Tsuru Tsurulina the 4th and are known in the dub as the "Baldy-Bald Big Four". Another "Shitennou" work for the Reverse Maruhage Empire under the villain Hydrate. (but these four are both below the leader and two others that are his "right and left hand men") *In addition, Japanese video games sometimes refer to enemy bosses as Shitennou. **Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, for the Famicom (known as River City Ransom in America) had four separate bosses bearing the title (they were referred to as "Zombies" in the translated version). **In Mega Man Zero, Shi Tennou refers to the four guardian reploids who serve under Master X. These guardians are: Harpuia, Fafnir, Leviathan and Phantom. **In the game Zoids Saga for the Game Boy Advance, there were again four warriors known as the Shitennou. * The Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop are Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai, and Aaron Kwok, while Hacken Lee was later called the "Unnamed Fifth King". In the early 1990s, they were the most popular Hong Kong male artists, ranked in terms of record sales and popularity. The Four Young Heavenly Kings of Mandopop are Jay Chou, Wang Leehom, David Tao and JJ Lin. In 2006, a documentary titled Four Heavenly Kings directed by Daniel Wu is about the Cantopop Industry that debuted at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. * The Four Heavenly Kings of puroresu are Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada, legendary in 1990's All Japan Pro Wrestling. Also, there have been references to a New Four Heavenly Kings consisting of KENTA, Naomichi Marufuji, Takeshi Morishima and Takeshi Rikio. * The Four Heavenly Kings of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party are Annette Lu (Taiwan's Vice President), Su Tseng-chang( Premier of Taiwan), Frank Hsieh (Former Premier of Taiwan and currently DPP's candidate for the Taipei Mayoral election in 2006), and Yu Shyi-kun (Chairman of the DPP Party), a term commonly used by the Taiwanese media.
