Tenchi Misaki

Tenchi is a slender young man, with an average, though somewhat athletic frame. His hair is probably the only noticeable thing about him physically; he keeps it cut short on top and on the sides, while, in the back, he keeps it in a short, yet tight, pigtail. He also seems relaxed, though a few stress lines run through his face.

Eight hundred years ago, an event happened which would forever change the life of all people on Earth… at least, in the small scale that consisted of one specific village.  In the distant space empire of Jurai, an evil man calling himself Kagato and the creature he controlled, a woman named, simply, Ryoko, were terrorizing all who passed through it, even going so far as to attack the royal palace itself.  The crown prince himself, Yosho, charged forth in his own ship, and fought her throughout the known galaxy, never seeming to gain an edge on either her or her powerful spaceship, the Ryo-Ohki.  Finally, through both skill and luck, he managed to bring this creature down… right outside this small village.   

In their minds, they saw this man as a great Samurai, riding a dragon of fire, and wielding a sword of great spiritual energy… battling a demon sent to destroy their peaceful lives.  He banished the demon away from this place, and then, after taking twenty years of pilgrimage to the sacred holy places, his descendant returned to walk among them, and to form the shrine known, simply, as the Misaki Shrine. 

The truth… was not quite so simple. 

Yosho had managed to down the Ryo-Ohki just outside of this village, where it seemed buried beneath the ground, in the center of a crater of its own creation.  After an intense and nearly fatal sword battle, Yosho managed to finally run her through with his own blade… the Master Key… and began to take the gems of power from her.  However, after the first was taken, she seemed to go insane, and blasted him with a burst of intense energy.  When he awoke, she was gone, and he spent the next twenty years searching for her… finally ending up back at the village he had first been near.  The crater had become a great lake, and, saying he was his own son, formed a shrine beside that lake… in case Ryoko ever returned. 

Fifty years later, this did happen… but, for reasons only he knows, Yosho never went after her.   

Instead, he remained on this world for centuries past, taking new guises every generation or so, and finally was married.  His daughter, a young woman named Kiyone (yes, in the OVA, his mother is NOT Achika, but is referred to as Kiyone… who is completely unrelated to the Galaxy Police Officer Mabi Kiyone), married a man named Nobuyuki… and the two of them brought forth a son into this world.

Tenchi Misaki.

Tenchi was born 24 April 1975, the son of Nobuyuki and Kiyone Misaki, and the grandson of Katsuhito (secretly, Prince Yosho), the keeper of the Misaki Shinto Shrine.  At the age of 10 (roughly), his mother passed away, leaving only Nobuyuki and Katsuhito to raise the young boy.  He was trained by his grandfather in the ways of the Shinto Priests, as well as an unusual style of swordfighting, during school breaks, and after school/on weekends during the school year.  And, until his 17th year, Tenchi lived a relatively normal life.

Tenchi had been trying to get into this cave for as long as he could remember, but it had a locked gate on the front, and could only be opened by a key which Katsuhito carried.  And getting this key, as the young man had learned, was no small task.  But one day, he did manage to get these keys, and snuck into the forbidden cave… where he found a sword hilt, stuck into a mound of solid rock!  Pulling it out, he found the blade to be completely rusted… and as he struck the rock, testing the tale he’d been told of this great sword, a sword that could cut through solid rock… the blade shattered.  However, the rock did split in half, perfectly, opening a secret door in the back… one with a sudden drop off at the end, as Tenchi found out, rather abruptly.  At the bottom of this tunnel, he found a cave… an empty cave.  Only, it was not so empty. 

Within it, Tenchi found the journals that his ancestors… in truth, his grandfather… had kept over the centuries, carefully preserved.  He read everything about what had happened, and about how their lives had been molded, and in turn molded, the village around them.  About the great demon his first ancestor fought, about the power… though that was only mentioned vaguely… within the sword, and how only its true master could bring it out.  Day after day during the summer, Tenchi returned to the cave, reading and reading until he had gone through every book.  Unbeknownst to him, Katsuhito watched him, carefully, knowing that the day would very soon come.  

Returning to school, Tenchi was much surprised to see that his father was beginning a contract for a new person… Katsuhito himself.  The project had an exact replica of Tenchi’s home built next to the shrine, so that he could live near his grandfather, train with him, and still be perfectly at home.  When asked how he paid for it, Katsuhito simply said “Oh, I’ve been saving my money for something like this for a long time, Tenchi.”  And so, the school year went on, classes and shrine training, as well as the sword training he’d known since he was old enough to hold a practice sword.  And never once did he lose track of the sword hilt he had found in the cave… though he never understood what it could possibly do for him.  Until, one day, everything was turned up on its ear. 

Kagato, the ancient enemy of Jurai… and the commander of Ryoko… came to Earth to take both the ancient power of Jurai for himself… and revenge for his defeat at Yosho’s hand.  But someone stepped in to fight… Misaki Katsuhito.  He held Kagato to a standstill, but was finally pushed back… where Tenchi stood, watching.  Without hesitation, Kagato attacked, and Tenchi acted instinctively, throwing up his schoolbag, as if it could deflect the energy blade. 

It did. 

The bag split apart, and revealed the sword of Yosho inside.  The Master Key.  This sword floated up in front of Tenchi, who quickly grabbed it… and quickly ignited it.  The two men, Tenchi and Kagato, locked in combat… the sword moving as if by its own violition… until Tenchi finally took Kagato’s hand.  He regenerated the hand, but left, saying he would return when he was stronger, and when he knew more properly how to defeat these two.  Katsuhito explained things as best he could to his grandson, and then told him that he, too, would have to train if he wished to survive. 

Years before, Katsuhito had discovered that he had within him the power to use, to even SEE, Realm Gates… something no one else could seem to do.  Until the battle with Kagato, that is… when Tenchi somehow discovered within himself the power to see them as well.  Perhaps a side effect of gaining spiritual control of the Master Key.  But with that, Katsuhito told his grandson what they were, and that he would use these Gates to train himself.