modern black outfit instead of his usual military attire. In the cinematic adaptations, Katō is portrayed quite differently from his literary counterpart, generally as a more monstrous and vicious character. He is middle-aged instead of a young man. Whereas the literary character was quite verbose and could carry on long conversations with the other characters, the cinematic version's discourses are more limited, consisting mainly of threats or boasts. Whereas the original character supported his allies and defended them from harm, the cinematic version is more indifferent to suffering and works by himself more often. Probably inspired by the invincible monsters of classic horror films, the cinematic versions of the character are incredibly durable and almost immune to pain. Across the films, he survives being dismembered, run through with a sword, having a hole blown through his body by magic, scorched by lightning, being impaled in the head, shot with a revolver several times in succession, and even having his entire face blown apart. In all these cases, he seems relatively unfazed and recovers extremely quickly. He is also rarely shown wielding a katana, except briefly in both Teito Monogatari Gaiden and The Great Yokai War. In popular culture After his literary and film debut, Yasunori Kato went on to become a frequently referenced figure in Japanese popular culture, inspiring a slew of imitators and homages. General Washizaki from the manga/anime Riki-Oh is believed to have taken a visual cue from Kyūsaku Shimada's portrayal of Yasunori Katō. General Washizaki appeared in the series only a couple months after the live-action adaptation of Teito Monogatari was released in theaters. Kato himself makes a humorous cameo appearance at the beginning of the manga Tokyo Babylon. Beyond that, Subaru Sumeragi and Seishirō Sakurazuka, the protagonists of Tokyo Babylon and X are onmyoji with designs that contain subtle nods to Kato. The cinematic version of Katō is widely considered one of the primary inspirations for M. Bison, the final boss in the video game Street Fighter II: The World Warrior and its iterations, both antagonists are evil militants with supernatural powers, and world domination schemes. The protagonist of the video game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, Raidou Kuzunoha, is an homage to Katō wearing an early 20th-century style military outfit and possessing similar powers. His surname Kuzunoha is derived from the folklore mother of Abe no Seimei, whom Katō claims to be a descendant of.