She is a white wolf based on the Japanese goddess, Amaterasu (天照大御神, Amaterasu-ōmikami), in Japanese mythology. ...

What animal is associated with Amaterasu?

Another tradition of the Heavenly Cave story depicts Amaterasu as a "dragon-fox" (shinko or tatsugitsune) during her descent to the famed cave because it is a type of animal/kami that emits light from its entire body.

What is Amaterasu's gender?

However, Amaterasu is technically genderless (as well as the other incarnations of Goddess Amaterasu), with the developers stating that “(…) it's good to remember that all incarnations of Amaterasu in the Okami world are gender neutral.