Tenchi Muyo! Main Characters

Main Characters | OVA | TV1 | TV2 | Movies

Tenchi Muyo!
Main Characters

Why do some of the character's names have several different spellings?

Why do the characters have their blood type listed in their profile?

Tenchi Masaki is the unlikely hero of the series. A typical, fairly nondescript teenage student, his life takes a bizarre twist when he meets ancient demons, alien princesses and interplanetary police officers, who are all too willing to live with him when they become stranded on Earth. As matters become ever more complicated, he begins to find out that he is far from ordinary, and indeed, not entirely human. Tenchi's role in the series is as a pivotal character to many of the story arcs, not to mention the love-interest for some of his extraterrestrial lodgers, and a mediator in the constant bickering this tends to cause between them. Although he is something of a coward in matters of romance, he is protective of his extended family, and very courageous in combat.

Depending on whether you watch the OVAs or the TV series, Ryoko is either a 5,000-year-old "demon" and wanted criminal resurrected by Tenchi, or a space pirate who crashed on Earth when being chased by the Galaxy Police. Either way, Ryoko is a powerful being with the capability of flight, teleportation and use of energy weapons, who now lives at Tenchi's house. Although much of the time she can be loud, brash and unscrupulous, she is a deeply sensitive character with a real affection for Tenchi.

Ayeka is, outwardly, the very opposite of Ryoko. As the crown princess of Jurai, she carries herself with dignity and a genteel manner. However, Ayeka does occasionally show a darker, more severe side, and under her placid exterior lies a core of steel-hard will. Forced to live on Earth when, in pursuit of Ryoko, her spaceship is destroyed, she too has grown fond of Tenchi, and is forever fighting with Ryoko over his affections.

Sasami is Ayeka's sweet-natured younger sister, also stranded on Earth and living with Tenchi. Despite her young age, she is a skilled cook, and keeps a level head in situations where her older sister is losing hers. Much to Ryoko and Ayeka's dislike, she shows great affection towards Tenchi, though she actually thinks of him as more of a big brother. She also adores Ryo-Ohki, and the cabbit can often be found perched atop her head.

Many believe that Mihoshi is simply the 'comedy relief' to the Tenchi series. True, she is clumsy, accident-prone, easily distracted and often an embarrassment to the Galaxy Police. However, she is cheerful, hardworking, brave in a crisis and can be a perfectly competent police officer at times, particularly thanks to her almost superhuman good fortune. She carries a huge array of fascinating GP-issue gadgets, from her all-purpose control-cube to her wristband radar.

Kiyone is a detective in the Galaxy Police, and Mihoshi's long-suffering partner. In service of the Galaxy Police, her performance is exemplary, as she is level-headed, quick-witted and dedicated to her job. Her personality is quite the opposite of Mihoshi's, and this makes her a tough character to discern - she rarely expresses her emotions outwardly (beyond regular exasperation and anger directed towards Mihoshi).

Washu is one of the more inscrutable characters in the Tenchi series; flipping from cackling mad scientist to sharp-witted genius in an instant. In the OVA series, she is a 20,000-year-old scientist, and the creator of Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki, among many other things. We later learn she is one of three extremely powerful goddesses, but sealed her power away as part of an experiment to discover a being even more powerful than her. In the first TV series (Tenchi Universe), she is a professor of a science academy, expelled 700 years ago and trapped in a cave on Earth, and in the second (Tenchi in Tokyo), a renegade mad scientist hired by Ryoko. Her genius with all things scientific means that she can be very useful when it comes to repairing spaceships or getting the others out of tight spots, but some of her inventions and experiments can be extremely dangerous. Her relationship with Tenchi is an odd one; she admires him for his incredible powers, and enjoys experimenting on him to find out what causes them, but she also has something of a soft spot for him.

Ryo-Ohki is far more than your customary cute anime mascot; she can take on six different forms, the most common of which is as a half-cat, half-rabbit creature (a 'cabbit') as shown here. The first time we see her is in the form of Ryoko's huge, crystalline spaceship. After the spaceship crashed, an egg was found in the wreckage, from which her cabbit form hatched. She can transform back into the spaceship at will. The ship is populated with control crystals, another form she can take (often multiple crystals at once). In the second OVA series, Ryo-Ohki merges with a creature made of a polymorphic material (the Mass) and can take on a half-human form, firstly as an adult female, then later as a child. Her half-human form is unstable, however, and a sudden shock or fall will revert her to a cabbit again. In the second TV series, she can transform into a pink mechanoid piloted by Sasami. Ryo-Ohki also has the capability for flight and dematerialization, and she absolutely adores carrots.

	Katsuhito Masaki 柾木　勝仁 Katsuhito is Tenchi's grandfather, and the master of the Masaki family shrine. As a skilled martial artist, he trains his grandson in the skills of swordplay, as well as keeping Tenchi and his house guests busy helping with chores. Although Katsuhito initially appears to be an ordinary human, as the story develops we begin to discover that he may not be quite who he appears to be.

	Japanese Voice:	Takeshi Aono

	English Voice:	Jay Hopper (1994-1998) Bob Papenbrook (1998-present)

	Nobuyuki Masaki 柾木　信幸 Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki, is often depicted in the series as being a bit of a lech, and a peeping tom into the bargain. He is initially disappointed at his son's lack of success with women, but all too happy to let Tenchi's lodgers stay in the house. In the first Tenchi movie ("Tenchi Muyo in Love") we see Nobuyuki as a high-school student courting Tenchi's mother, and his love for drawing houses (as an adult, he is an architect).

	Japanese Voice:	Takeshi Aono

	English Voice:	Jay Hopper (1994-1998) Bob Papenbrook (1998-present)

	Azaka & Kamidake 阿座化　火美猛 Azaka and Kamidake are guardians of Jurai, and serve princess Ayeka. Resembling large floating logs, they acts as bodyguards and advisors to Ayeka, and possess limited Jurai-type powers. In the OVA series, they remain stranded on Earth with Ayeka and now serve as gateposts outside Tenchi's house. In the first TV series (Tenchi Universe), they use their life energy to revive the spirits of two ancient Juraian warriors after whom they are named.

	Japanese Voices:	Azaka - Kenichi Ogata Kamidake - Wataru Takagi

	English Voices:	Azaka - Phil Fox Kamidake - Mark Tracy

Main Characters | OVA | TV1 | TV2 | Movies

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	Why do some of the character's names have several different spellings?
	Why do the characters have their blood type listed in their profile?