Tengen Uzui (2024)

Tengen Uzui (宇 (う) 髄 (ずい) 天 (てん) 元 (げん) Uzui Tengen^?) is a major supporting character of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and a major character in the Entertainment District Arc. He was a former member of the Demon Slayer Corps, standing as the previous Sound Hashira (音 (おと) 柱 (ばしら) Oto Bashira^?).^[6]

Appearance[]

Tengen is a very tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular man with lightly-tanned skin and white hair. His hair is of an uneven length, the longest strands reaching his shoulders, and is styled with three more notable, shorter clumps arching up to fall as bangs between his eyes and on either side of his face. He has quite thin, maroon eyes that appear to slant inwards, each with one long eyelash flowing to the far side of his face. He is considered very attractive as noted by many women and even by Zenitsu; this has led him to use his looks as a tool for his missions whenever persuasion is necessary.

During his days serving the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen wears a sleeveless and dark turquoise version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform, along with a wrap of burgundy cloth around his calves with his tattsuke-bakama pants tuck in, and white-strapped Zōri. He also wears two thick, golden rings around his upper arms and what appear to be a pair of finger-less blue gloves, secured around his middle finger with a band of white and his wrists with another set of thinner gold rings, this time with two on each side.

As well as this, Tengen sports a white head-wrap that covers his hair, leaving only a thin ponytail visible to fall behind his head from between its layers, which is adorned with a large headband of pale gray that's decorated by six light pink gemstones, three large and arranged in a line, and three small and arranged in a triangle to the far left. A chain of smaller, pale blue gemstones hangs from each side of this headdress, framing his face, and he also wears what looks to be red eye make-up around his left eye, consisting of alternating large and small dots that run inwards, towards his eye.

After his retirement from the Demon Slayer Corps due to the injuries he has sustained during his fight with Gyutaro, Tengen changes his appearance to coordinate the loss of his left eye and hand. He now wears a long, burgundy colored yukata and a blue haori, and replaces his old head-wrap with a dark eyepatch adorned with what look to be the remaining gemstones left over from his old headdress, leaving his hair to fall loosely past his shoulders.

Gallery[]

Personality[]

Tengen is an eccentric and flashy individual, always wanting to be "flamboyant", possessing a need for everything to be flashy and outstanding, even proclaiming that he is the god of flashiness and festivals. This is shown when he gets excited imagining how "flamboyant" it would be if Tanjiro Kamado's blood vessels exploded, and tries to forcefully haul Aoi Kanzaki off to the Entertainment District with him so she can unwillingly help him with a dangerous mission, even spanking her.^[7] As a result of his exuberant and flamboyant personality, Tengen is very demanding of others, treating the Demon Slayers very harshly during Hashira Training and insulting them for having no substance when they couldn't survive his stamina training.^[8] Furthermore, he also abhors the idea of unflashy things, as shown when the Hashira openly expresses his hate for plainness.^[9]

He is usually seen talking boastfully, proclaiming that he is "god" in front of Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke, even calling them trash and declaring that if he tells them to become dogs, they must become dogs, and if he tells them to become monkeys, they must become monkeys. Tengen even demands for the trio to always humor and stoop down to him, imploring him for favours and always doing their best to flatter him.^[10] This was also shown in his initial encounter with Upper Rank Six, Gyutaro, proclaiming that he was in tip-top shape despite being severely poisoned.^[11]

However, Tengen does possess a caring side that is masked under his flamboyant façade, one he only shows to those that are extremely close to him, most notably his three wives, Makio, Suma, and Hinatsuru, who Tengen is shown to truly care for, praising and encouraging Makio and Suma after their undercover mission^[12] and assuring Hinatsuru that she has completed her mission and telling her to get out of harm's way.^[13] Furthermore, Tengen also declares that they must value their lives above all others as they are precious to him. This is especially shown when Gyutaro gags Hinatsuru with his hand, Tengen panics and furiously yells at the demon to leave his wife alone. After the events in Yoshiwara, Tengen also becomes more friendly towards Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke.

Although he can be very boastful and expressive, Tengen also shows a side of modesty and humility. He openly denied Gyutaro's statement that he was blessed with any talent, comparing himself to the other Hashira and especially Kyojuro Rengoku. This implicates a sort of inferiority complex, further proven by the fact that he told himself that he could never become someone as great as Kyojuro. Tengen is also shown to harbor regret over the fact that he has let so many lives slip through his fingers over the years. Kagaya Ubuyashiki praised Tengen for the hard path he chose and for facing forward and fought to protect human lives despite carrying all of his conflicts and contradictions he hides behind his loud and confident façade, which caused Tengen to deeply respect Kagaya from that moment on.

Despite being a shinobi that has traditionally valued completing the mission over all else, Tengen has rejected that ideology after seeing its effect on his family.^[4] He believes that his subordinates, whether they be his wives or the Demon Slayers under his command, should value their lives, and the lives of innocents, over their missions or his own.^[14][15] Tengen especially hated becoming like his brother or father who were apathetic towards human lives and wanted to desperately abandon what he was taught by them.

Following his retirement, Tengen was brought in by the active Hashira to assess fitness and stamina during Hashira Training. Tengen would prove to be a strict teacher, frequently yelling and berating the trainees for their weaknesses and exhaustion, whilst also amusing himself by intimidating them. Despite this, he does genuinely care for his pupils, as Makio mentioned that he did not eat until the last trainee returned, even going so far as to search the mountain to find them should they get lost. In addition, according to his wives, Tengen still has a desire to fight and that he calls out in his sleep, blaming himself for relinquishing his position in the Corps. Despite this, Tengen remained retired and dutifully served as a bodyguard to Nezuko and Kiriya Ubuyashiki alongside Shinjuro Rengoku, where he would go on to give his compliments to the son of his late mentor and friend Kagaya.

Abilities[]

Overall Abilities[]

As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen is a very powerful and skilled combatant.^[16] He has displayed incredible physical feats of strength and speed, being seen as the second physically strongest and the fastest runner out of the Taisho era's Hashira.^[3] He could match the combat proficiency of both Daki and Gyutaro, both Upper Rank demons that have fought and killed numerous Hashira in the past.^[17] Tengen was also able to effortlessly decapitate Daki without her realizing it, to the point that he didn't see her as an Upper Rank demon at all.^[18] Impressively, he was able to fend off the combined efforts of Daki and Gyutaro while being infected by a poison that would kill someone quickly under normal circ*mstances, even managing to protect bystanders in the process.^[19]

Tengen has also showcased great skill and precision in using explosives, minimizing damage dealt to the surroundings and maximizing the damage dealt to his opponents. Due to his shinobi training, Tengen has greater tactical skills and sharper senses,^[20] most notably his sense of hearing, which helped him greatly during the course of his battle. Even after losing his left hand to Gyutaro, Tengen was able to fight the Upper Rank on even terms due to completing his Musical Score, allowing him to deflect Gyutaro's attacks, cut off his arm and pin him down at the cost of losing his left eye. Nonetheless, due to the poison circulating in his body, he was unable to attempt a finishing blow and needed Tanjiro to do so.^[21]

Indomitable Will: Tengen possesses an undaunted spirit and immense willpower, never faltering even when faced disadvantages and difficult circ*mstances. Despite being poisoned in the beginning by Gyutaro, he boldly proclaimed he could fight just fine, even attacking both Daki and Gyutaro at the same time, deflecting multiple poison blood blades with a missing hand. Even when his left eye gets slashed out, he pushed through all the damage until the demons were defeated.^[22]

Shinobi Training: Before joining the Demon Slayer Corps and becoming a Hashira, Tengen descended from a family of shinobi.^[23][24] Tengen received extremely harsh training that killed all his siblings except for his younger brother who became cold and heartless.^[25] However, as a result of his intensive shinobi training, Tengen possesses great technical skill in weaponry such as kunai and explosives. His training also made him extremely pain tolerant and poison resistant, which saved him from Gyutaro's poison and allowed him to fight despite suffering numerous injuries and losing his hand.

• Enhanced Stealth: Tengen is extremely stealthy, moving so silently that he doesn't make a single sound nor disturb the air.^[26] His stealth allowed him to evade the senses of both Tanjiro and Inosuke, both of which possessesing a heightened sense of smell and touch respectively. Later, Tengen was able to sneak up on and decapitate Daki, an Upper Rank demon, without her noticing.^[18]
• Poison Resistance: As a former shinobi, Tengen has been shown to possess high resistance to poison to the point where he could continue fighting while under the effects of a poison from Gyutaro that would have killed someone instantly under normal circ*mstances.^[24]

Tactical Intellect: Due to accumulating years of experience as both a shinobi and Demon Slayer, Tengen has incredible judgement, making decisions on the fly while in battle with Upper Rank demons to protect bystanders and minimize the damage dealt to the surroundings.^[19][27] Even when he was held back by Gyutaro's poison, Tengen was able to properly determine the most efficient strategy to fight off the Upper Rank demons and even fooled Gyutaro into thinking he was dead by stopping his own heart to prevent himself from dying from his poison, which managed to give Tengen an edge against him.^[28]

Demon Slayer Abilities[]

Muscle Control: Tengen can control the physiology of muscles to a great extent. During his battle with Gyutaro, Tengen used his muscles to stop his heart and temporarily prevent the poison from circulating, which also allowed him get the drop on Gyutaro, who did not pay him heed until he unexpectedly attacked the demon.^[29]

Physical Abilities[]

Immense Speed & Reflexes: Tengen is said to be the fastest runner out of all the Hashira,^[3] and possesses tremendous levels of raw speed and reflexes, often shown when he moves so fast he appears to teleport.^[30] His speed also far surpasses that of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke, who were unable to keep up to, let alone perceive, the Hashira's blisteringly quick movements. Most notably, Tengen was fast enough to behead Daki, an Upper Rank demon, before she could even register what had happened.^[18] Moreover, he could fend off both Daki and the true Upper Rank Six, Gyutaro, despite being held back by a deadly poison that would've killed someone quickly under normal circ*mstances.

Even after relinquishing his position as the Sound Hashira, Tengen's tremendous speed remained apparent. During a training exercise where he played the role of a demon stalking the trainees, his speed and reflexes gave him a handy advantage as he downed the Demon Slayers one by one without any one of them even able to see him; only Tanjiro, who has previous experience with fighting Upper Ranks, could see him moving and read his attacks to retaliate, leading to a short skirmish between them.^[31]

Immense Stamina & Endurance: Due to his upbringing being raised to become a shinobi and his own father's increased attempts to revive their clan by forcing Tengen and his siblings to train even more harshly and painfully then necessary, Tengen developed inhuman resistance to pain, as seen where he bared little to no reaction at having being caught up in a hail of Kunai knives and being pierced by them without even flinching or showing any form of discomfort or pain, continuing to attack Gyutaro as if nothing had happened.^[20] Later, Tengen was also noted to have suffered other severe injuries during the battle, such as getting his eye and hand slashed off by Gyutaro,^[32][33] and managed to ignore the pain of such injuries as well.

Immense Strength: Tengen possesses tremendous physical strength even amongst the Hashira, the strongest Demon Slayers of the Corps. He was ranked second in an arm-wrestling contest among all the Hashira, with only the hulking Gyomei Himejima surpassing him. Tengen displayed his strength numerous times, as he was shown effortlessly carrying Aoi and Naho,^[34] and soon after knocked Zenitsu and Inosuke unconscious with a single punch to the stomach.^[35] Moreover, Tengen is able to fight at blistering speeds while carrying around his giant Nichirin cleavers, swinging them incessantly to fend off his opponents without much trouble and being able to hold both his enormous cleavers at their tip with only two fingers.^[36] Furthermore, Tengen was able to match Gyutaro in strength with only one arm after his left hand was cut off.^[37]

In his role in overseeing the first stage of Hashira Training, Tengen once stopped a trainee from moving by just holding his wooden blade outstretched, despite the Demon Slayer attempting to budge with all his might. He was also able to initiate an intense spar with Tanjiro, who had undergone considerable development between his mission in Yoshiwara and Hashira Training.^[31]

Supernatural Abilities[]

Enhanced Hearing: Tengen has a heightened sense of hearing similar to Zenitsu Agatsuma. This ability allows him to easily hear noises deep underground, and he uses it to immediately discern that there are channels of underground tunnels and caves directly beneath him when he was looking for Tanjiro Kamado and Daki. He also uses his superhuman hearing the monitor all the activity in Yoshiwara in an attempt to find the location of the demons dwelling in the area.^[38] Tengen also used his hearing to discern whether people are still present on a floor in a building.^[27]

• Echolocation: As an advanced application of his hearing, Tengen also possesses echolocation. When trying to find the location of a battle underground, he analyzed the sounds reflected and resonated through the air by the walls of the caverns, and accurately locates and is even able to guess the number of people inside the tunnels by listening to the sound bouncing from their physical bodies.^[39]

• Musical Score (譜 (ふ) 面 (めん) Fumen^?):^[21] A technique Tengen developed using his heightened sense of hearing to work in conjunction with his Sound Breathing, where he analyzes combat maneuvers and deconstructs the rhythm of his enemies' attacks into sound, reading them like sheet music to the point every fight becomes like a song. This allows Tengen to gain an understanding of his opponent's habits and tactics, as well as their blind spots, giving him the edge against them. While it takes a long time for Tengen to construct the score, once completed, Tengen was able to fight Gyutaro on even terms despite having lost his left hand, but due to the poison he was pushed to the limit and was unable to strike at the Upper Rank's neck.^[21]

Fighting Style[]

Master Swordsman: As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen is one of the most powerful and skilled swordsman in the entire organization.^[40] Unlike most Demon Slayers, Tengen chooses to utilize a dual-wielding swordsmanship style with his Nichirin Cleavers, making use of a nunchucks-esque sword wielding style. Tengen displays his unique and extraordinary swordsmanship skills during his battle with Daki and Gyutaro, able to adapt to the former's incessant obi slashes and the latter's "mantis-like" fighting style, and go toe-to-toe with him for an extended period of time despite the Upper Rank having over a century of combat experience. Tengen can also use his sword wielding expertise in conjunction with his explosive beads with great synergy, making him all the more effective at fighting demons. He also showed the ability to wield his Nichirin Cleavers with only one arm.^[33] In addition to traditional slashes and swings, Tengen has also been shown to spin his blades by their chain; the whirling motion allowing him to block blows and quickly attack in retaliation, with the blades in constant rapid motion.

Breathing Style[]

Sound Breathing (音 (おと) の呼 (こ) 吸 (きゅう) Oto no kokyū^?): A Breathing Style that Tengen created himself. Sound Breathing seemingly combines Tengen's heightened sense of hearing, his Musical Score (譜 (ふ) 面 (めん) Fumen^?) technique, his shinobi expertise as well as his dual Nichirin cleavers and his anti-demon bombs.

Techniques[]

• First Form: Roar (壱 (いち) ノ型 (かた) 　轟 (とどろき) Ichi no kata: Todoroki^?)^[41] - The user lifts their twin swords above their head and slams them down with great force, causing a loud sound resembling thunder as a result.

• Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes (肆 (し) ノ型 (かた) 　響 (きょう) 斬 (ざん) 無 (む) 間 (けん) Shi no kata: Kyōzan Muken^?)^[42] - The user holds their twin swords apart and spins them rapidly around themselves, enabling the blades to destroy anything it makes contact with for powerful defensive capabilities around the user.

• Fifth Form: String Performance (伍 (ご) ノ型 (かた) 　鳴 (めい) 弦 (げん) 奏 (そう) 々 (そう) Go no kata: Meigen Sōsō^?)^[43] - The user holds the chain of their twin swords and rotates the blades at high speed while charging forward. The spin of the blades without changing grip allows for continual slashes while still being in motion.

Game Exclusive Techniques[]

• Fifth Form: String Performance, Bursting Bloom (伍 (ご) ノ型 (かた) 　鳴 (めい) 弦 (げん) 奏 (そう) 々 (そう) ・爆 (ばっ) 華 (か) Go no kata: Meigen Sōsō - Bakka^?)^[44] - The user engages at their opponent unleashing a flurry of rotating slashes and chops with their swords. The final hit launches the opponent high in the air, making the user toss a plethora of explosive beads while throwing their chained swords in a boomerang-like style cutting all the beads to detonate them.

• Rising Kick (打 (う) ち上 (あ) げ蹴 (げ) り Uchiage Geri^?)^[44] - The user takes a forward front-step followed by a high-rising side-kick launching their opponent into the air.

Equipment[]

Dual Nichirin Cleavers: Befitting Tengen's flamboyant personality, he carries an equally flamboyant set of weaponry, wielding two gigantic Nichirin cleavers that are amber in color. The blades each have a notch in the cutting edge and are held together by a metal chain,^[45] making it very reminiscent to nunchucks. The weight of his blades enables them to generate immense explosive force, as seen when they create a blast upon making contact with Gyutaro's blood blades or when Tengen struck them on the ground to propel himself. It is stated that, until Tengen's fight with Upper Rank Six, no demon had ever survived a blow from them.^[46] The cleavers' tsubas are round with four slight indentations. They are gold in color and decorated with a maroon ring that connects to the center; it has an outer green border. The handles are dark green, wrapped with red cord and capped with an engraved gold kashira; this is also where the chains connect to the cleavers. The blades are engraved with the phrase Destroyer of Demons (惡 (あっ) 鬼 (き) 滅 (めっ) 殺 (さつ) Akki Messatsu^?). Due to his cleavers' large size, Tengen doesn't use a sword sheath and instead carries them on his back, having them wrapped in cloth.

Explosive Beads: Tengen carries dozens of small black beads that create large explosions and detonate with the slightest amount of friction, capable of harming the bodies of Upper Rank demons.^[27][47]

Kunai: Like his three wives, Tengen carries around dozens of standard black kunai, which he used to threaten Omitsu's husband to reveal information about Zenko's and Hinatsuru's disappearance and to destroy the Obi sash that captured Hinatsuru.^[48]

Gallery[]

Relatives[]

*The story does not indicate which child of Tengen carries on the lineage nor the quantity of generations that follow prior to Tenma.

Battles[]

Trivia[]

• Tengen's clan name contains the Man'yōgana for the kana for "U" (宇 (う) ^?) with the Kan'yō-on'yomi reading of the kanji for "marrow, pith" (髄 (ずい) zui^?). His given name contains the Kan-on'yomi reading for both "heaven" (天 (てん) ten^?) and "beginning, origin" (元 (げん) gen^?). The full term "Tengen" can mean the central black dot on a "Go board" (圍 (い) 碁 (ご) 盤 (ばん) Igoban^?).
• Tengen's rankings in the popularity polls are as follows:
  • Tengen ranked 37th in the first popularity poll with 14 votes.
  • Tengen ranked 13th in the second popularity poll with 3436 votes.

• In his initial design, Tengen:^[49]
  • Was less muscular, with a much thinner build.
  • Had half of his face covered in bandages, making it hard for others to see what he looks like.
  • Wore sleeves due to him "not wanting his arms sunburned," according to the author.
• Tengen is one of the only known Demon Slayer and Hashira to retire due to being permanently disabled instead of death or age, the other being Jigoro Kuwajima.
• He and Inosuke Hashibira are the only known Demon Slayers who use two Nichirin Swords instead of one.
• In a Weekly Shonen Jump spoof 4-koma, Tengen plays the harmonica the band "Chic-N-Scruffy Democracy," the other members being Zenitsu (shamisen), Inosuke (taiko), and Tanjiro (vocals). "Melancholy of Explosive Sound Skin and Modern Sense of Smell" is their debut single, and it reportedly made everyone who heard it feel dizzy and nauseous.^[49]
• Tengen's family practices polygamy, so when someone turns 15, they must have 3 wives. The clan head is the one who chooses the wives, but they always try to take chemistry into consideration when picking.^[50]
• Tengen had eight siblings, making 9 children in total. Three of his siblings died due to their father's overzealous training. The remaining six was then placed on death battles against each other while being masked. Tengen only realized this fact after killing two of his brothers, which enraged him and caused him to have an argument about his father's foolish ideals. Tengen's remaining brother then killed two more of their siblings, leaving him and Tengen as the survivors. Tengen turned his blade away and left the clan with his wives.^[3]
  • For some time, it became Tengen's habit to say that he was going to hell. This stopped after seeing his wives' reaction: with Makio getting angry with him, Hinatsuru crying for him, and Suma biting him.^[3]
  • He would occasionally think of exterminating his entire clan, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his father and brother.^[3]
• Tengen viewed the other Hashira as follows:^[3]
  • "She's serious And a tad flashy. With good hips for giving birth." - Insect Hashira
  • "He's always spacing out. He's young. And definitely not flashy." - Mist Hashira
  • "He's got flashy eyes! Are different-colored eyes possible?! I'm jealous! But he's too fastidious and serious." - Serpent Hashira
  • "He's the first guy I ever met who's bigger than me. And he's freakishly strong." - Stone Hashira
  • "He's somber. He always looks like he's at a funeral and it bugs me." - Water Hashira
  • "He's a great guy – and flashy! He stands out more than me!" - Flame Hashira
  • "She's weird. And her flashiness aggravates me. Good hips for giving birth though." - Love Hashira
  • "He's dangerous. With a bratty side." - Wind Hashira
• Tengen's level of openness was ranked at 88%.^[3]
• In Kimetsu Academy, Tengen is an art teacher. The students call him "Gangsta Sensei," and he's known for yelling that "art is an explosion" before then blowing up the classroom with dynamite. It's rumored he was spotted in a fight during his high school years, and that he's probably good at fighting since he was once a gang leader.^[51]
• Tengen's English voice actor, Ray Chase, also voices Rokuro.

Quotes[]

• (To Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Inosuke Hashibira) "I am a god! You three are trash! That's the first thing you need to pound into your heads! Drive it in! You're to turn into dogs if I tell you to! Turn into monkeys if I say so! Hunch over and rub your hands together, constantly pander to my every whim and suck up to me with every fiber of your being! And let me repeat! I am a god!"^[52]
• (To Makio, Suma and Hinatsuru) "I want you three to only think about your lives. Above all else, your top priority is to come back to me. Life over accomplishing your mission! What I'm saying is at odds with this occupation, but it doesn't matter. I'm allowing it! The order that lives should go is flashy and clear-cut in my mind. First, you three. Second, law-abiding citizens. And finally, me. As a Demon Slayer, it goes without saying that I'll also protect that public leading their nonchalant, drab lives... but to be blunt in my flashy way, you three are more important to me. So don't die on me."^[53]
• (To Gyutaro and Daki) "Do I look like someone with any talent? [...] See, this country is vast. It's teeming with people who'd blow your mind. Some are complete enigmas. Some can take up a sword and become a Hashira in two months. Me, chosen? Don't give me that crap! Just how many lives do you think I've let slip through my fingers until now?"^[54]
• (To Kagaya Ubuyashiki) "I'm the one who should be grateful. Master, for your sake, I'd never think twice about laying down my life. I can surely accomplish everything. Those who have baggage like conflict or quandaries are spineless fools. That's always been the story of my life."^[55]

References[]

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