Although Tenchi is supposedly a high-school student, it is a rare sight indeed to see him actually at school (with the exception of in "Tenchi in Tokyo"). His role as protagonist and reluctant love-interest for several of the female leads has remained largely unchanged across the various series.

It is rumoured that Tenchi's surname, Masaki, was inspired by the name of the animation director, Masaki Kajishima, who is also the character designer and co-writer for the series. It should be noted that Masaki Kajishima's name is written with different kanji (Japanese characters) to the series' Masaki surname (there are in fact more than 100 different ways to write "Masaki"). Although there may be some element of truth to this story, it is more likely that, like many of the names in the Tenchi series, the Masaki surname came from a place in Okayama, Japan (specifically, Mount Masaki, which is written the same as Tenchi's surname).

Masami Kikuchi, provider of Tenchi's Japanese voice, has also played another ordinary student surrounded by admiring otherworldly girls as the voice of Keiichi Morisato in "Oh My Goddess!" (AKA "Ah! My Goddess" or "Aa! Megami-sama").