Name:  Tenchi Masaki Name Translation:  Heaven and Earth Age: 17 Height: 5'3'' Eyes:   Brown Hair:   Black

The main character of "Tenchi Muyo," Tenchi was a normal boy who lived his life very peacefully (and boring :b) as a typical Japanese kid. He meets up with a group of alien women, and from there his life takes a turn into chaos. While in each series it is slightly different how he meets the girls, in the OVA (aka the "true" Tenchi Muyo series) it all starts when he finally gets the keys to unlock the Masaki shrine. He takes out the Tenchiken, or sword (seen being held in picture under the very top one) and releases Ryoko. Ryoko goes on a rampage, Tenchi gets abducted...etc. It all goes nuts ^_^.

As a character Tenchi is rather...dull. He really doesn't aspire to be anything more than a normal boy. He would be perfectly with plowing his grandfather's fields for the rest of his life. It's a darn good thing that Ryoko and the rest of the alien women showed up or we'd have a pretty drab anime >_<. But despite this he has very good morals and no matter which series you see, he has a special and fearsome power bent up in his body. Tenchi doesn't even realize this, nor does he really need to use it. In the OVA, he could create three "Lighthawk Wings" in moments where he (or the others) were in danger. Each Lighthawk wing can be used to convert normally harmful energy (like an energy blast) into harmless energy. On top of that, the Lighthawk Wings can be converted into matter. Depending on the user, this changes. For Tenchi one wing becomes a sword, the other a piece of armor, and the last one a shield.

In nearly ever spare moment Tenchi's grandfather Katsuhito would put Tenchi to work with chores or train him in the art of Jurain sword play. Tenchi never knew why his grandfather did this, and neither do we. It can be assumed that Katsuhito simply wanted Tenchi to eventually ascend the throne...and maybe a Jurain needs to be able to handle a sword to do that? Or maybe he sensed the power inside of Tenchi and decided to help bring it out. Tenchi does have Jurain blood in him, so that can account for why he can use such power AND use the Tenchiken to control a Jurain ship.

Perhaps Tenchi's greatest flaw is his indecision around women. Most of his life's problems revolve around the girls, and if only he'd choose one of them his life might regain some stability. However, that is the humor in Tenchi Muyo. In the Third OVA coming up it is said that he will choose one of the women, so we'll just have to see. Of all the characters he is the only "victim," besides maybe Kiyone. But if you're going by the OVA alone, then he is really and truly by himself :p. He is very level headed and would rather put his own life to death than to see any one of his friends hurt.

Tenchi's father is Noboyuki, and he was raised almost entirely by him. His mother, Achika, died not too long after giving birth to Tenchi. Throughout every series he has a "sword" of some kind. In the OVA he receives the Tenchiken when he frees Ryoko. Yosho (aka Katsuhito) thought the sword was damaged and forged a new iron blade on it. 700 years later, Tenchi finds the sword as a rusty piece of junk. The power is still intact, and even after he breaks the rusted iron blade of the sword the "energy" in the sword remained. Like a Light saber if you will (look again at the picture below the top one, can you say "Obi Wan?"). The sword was also used as a means of subduing Ryoko by sucking out her gems and placing them in the hilt. They really don't do anything there, the sword is self-sufficient. However thanks to the gems' powers Funaho did not die after it took root in Earth soil. So that's a 'plus' I guess. Besides being a sword, the OVA Tenchiken acted like a master key that would allow the user to control any Jurain ship.

In Tenchi Universe the sword is nearly identical, minus Ryoko's gems. Plus the hilt is smaller. However the result is the same and the same "light saber" look is there. The Tenchiken in Universe did not act like a Master Key like it did in the OVA.

 

Japanese Voice Actor:	English Voice Actor:
Masami Kikuchi	Matt K. Miller