Tengen Uzui

Tengen Uzui
Kanji	宇髄 天元
Rōmaji	'Uzui Tengen'
Characteristics
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Age	23
Height	198 cm (6'6")
Weight	95 kg (209 lbs)
Birthday	October 31st
Hair Color	White
Eye Color	Fuchsia
Affiliation
Affiliation	Demon Slayer Corps
Occupation	Shinobi Demon Slayer Sound Pillar
Combat Style	Breath of Sound
Personal Status
Status	Retired
Relative(s)	Makio (Wife) Suma (Wife) Hinatsuru (Wife) Unnamed Father Eight unnamed siblings (Seven Deceased)
Debuts
Manga Debut	Chapter 44
Anime Debut	Episode 21
Portrayal
Japanese VA	Katsuyuki Konishi

Tengen Uzui (宇 (う) 髄 (ずい) 天 (てん) 元 (げん) , Uzui Tengen^?) is a Demon Slayer, and the Sound Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Appearance

Tengen is a very tall, wide-set man of a bulky, muscular build with lightly-tanned skin. His hair is white and of 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.

During his days serving 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 where his hakama pants tuck in, and white-strapped sandals. He also wears two thick, golden rings around his upper arms and what appear to be a pair of fingerless 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 his sustained during his fight with one of the Upper Moon Six Demons, Gyutaro, Tengen changes his appearance to coordinate the loss of his left eye and hand. He now wears a long, patterned yukata and a black 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

Tengen, after the events at the Entertainment District.

Personality

Tengen is a very eccentric person, always wanting to complete actions "flamboyantly." Although he has displayed an uncaring and forceful attitude towards some people—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—he also has a caring side that is mainly only shown towards his most treasured ones, most notably his three wives, Makio, Suma, and Hinatsuru. He also shows a somewhat nicer side towards Tanjiro after their mission, and starts to accept him more and more as the series goes 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. Now, 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.

History

Tengen was one of nine children from a surviving line of shinobi. However, seven of his siblings died by the time he was 15, leaving only him and the second-youngest brother. The harsh, abusive training their father made them endure made his brother become just like their father: uncaring towards life and using people as tools.

Disgusted by this worldview, Tengen chose to rebel with the values that were instilled in him during his youth. He instructed his wives to value their own lives first, innocent civilians second, and his own last, even though it completely defied their training.

Some time later, they were taken in by Kagaya Ubuyashiki and Tengen joined the Demon Slayers. He became a Pillar some time before Sanemi Shinazugawa, as he was present at Sanemi's first Pillar meeting and expressed annoyance when the new Pillar confronted their leader.

Synopsis

Natagumo Mountain Arc

Tengen was present with his fellow Pillars when Tanjiro Kamado awoke.

Functional Recovery Training Arc

Shinobu Kocho notes that Tanjiro is on trial, but Tengen simply states that he would cut Nezuko Kamado's head off "flamboyantly", agreeing with and repeating this latter word when Gyomei Himejima suggests they kill her. When Tanjiro reiterates his belief that Nezuko will not harm any humans, the Sound Pillar tells him not to give them lip service, but rather a more complete explanation. He then remains silent when Mitsuri Kanroji asks if they should be dealing with their subordinate's trial without Oyakata-sama's input. After Tanjiro headbutts Sanemi Shinazugawa, Tengen looks at Mitsuri when she laughs with a neutral expression.

Demon Train Arc

Tengen receives news of Kyojuro Rengoku's death at the hands of Upper Moon Three from a Kasugaigarasu.

Entertainment District Arc

Tengen enters the arc by kidnapping several girls from the Butterfly Estate to assist him on his mission. Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke confronts him and volunteers to go on the mission in the girls' stead. The Sound Pillar agrees and reveals that his mission is to investigate the Red Light District and re-establish contact with his three wives that he sent in to spy on the location, but had recently lost contact with. After having the three boys cross-dress as girls and selling them to individual brothels, Tengen Uzui plays a more background role for a few chapters as the boys gather information on the possible demon lurking within the district. After it's revealed that most of his wives had been captured and missing, he immediately goes to rescue the nearest one, therefore not being present to aid Tanjiro in his fight against Upper Moon Six, Daki. Tengen arrives back on the scene just in time to apparently finish off Daki with a single attack, but this is quickly proven false when Daki reveals she cannot be killed because of her Demon blood connection to her brother, Gyutaro, the true Upper Moon Six. In the fierce ensuing battle, Uzui is immediately weakened by Gyutaro's poison, and by the end of the fight had lost a hand. As he lay dying from the poison, he lamented on his inability to say some flamboyant last words, until he was saved by the timely intervention of Nezuko Kamado using her Blood Demon Art to burn the poison out of his system. After this, Tengen informs the freshly arrived Serpent Pillar, Obanai Iguro that he's officially retiring from the Demon Slayer Corps.

Pillar Training Arc

Despite officially retiring, Tengen assists in Pillar Training along with his wives. He oversees the first level, which is basic stamina training.

Dimensional Infinity Fortress Arc

Tengen and Shinjuro Rengoku were located in another section of the Ubuyashiki estate when it was taken into Muzan Kibutsuji's Dimensional Infinity Fortress. They stand guard outside of the room Kiriya, Kanata, and Kuina Ubuyashiki are located in as the surviving Ubuyashikis map out the fortress and give instructions to the Demon Slayers.

Abilities and Powers

As a Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen is a very powerful swordsman. He has displayed numerous abilities that allow him to easily overpower Demons in a fight and even allow him to battle on par against the Upper Moons of the Twelve Demon Moons. During his fight against Gyutaro, he was able to fight evenly with the Upper Moon Six while protecting others at the same time, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that he also had to fight off Daki as well during one point in the fight.

Natural Abilities

• Master Swordsman: Being a Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen is one of the most powerful and skilled swordsmen in the entire organization.

• Echolocation: Tengen has shown to possess superhuman hearing similar to that of Zenitsu Agatsuma, just far more advanced. This ability allows him to easily hear noises deep underground, and he uses it to immediately figure out that there are underground tunnels and caves directly beneath him when he's looking for Tanjiro and Daki. He does this by analyzing 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.

• Immense Strength: Tengen possesses great physical strength, as shown during his fight with Gyutaro and Daki. One example of this is his ability to use his blades with great proficiency while only holding them at the tip and with only two fingers, as well as being able to fight Gyutaro with only one hand after his left hand was cut off. In an arm-wrestling contest between pillars, Tengen is ranked second, with only Gyomei surpassing him. He was also able to knock out Inosuke and Zenitsu with a single strike each, though it was in a comical manner.

• Enhanced Speed: Tengen possesses great speed, as stated by Inosuke Hashibira. He is able to cut off Daki's head before she can even register his movements.
• Poison Resistance: As a 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 should have killed him instantly.

Swordsmanship

• Unique Weapon: Befitting Tengen’s flamboyant personality, he carries an equally flamboyant set of weaponry. As his main weapons, he uses two larger-than-normal Nichirin Blades, which each have a notch in the sharp ends of their blades and are held together at the hilt by a metal chain. His swords are said to have large amounts of explosive power, and it is stated that, until Tengen's fight with Upper Moon Six, no one had ever survived a blow from them. He also carries bombs with him, and uses his sound abilities to make sure there is no collateral damage on humans when throwing them out of his line of sight.

Breath of Sound (音 (おと) の呼 (こ) 吸 (きゅう) , Oto no kokyū^?): A breath style unique only to Tengen. The Breath of Sound is branched off from the Breath of Thunder. Tengen has developed a unique battle formula called the "Score," which involves him reading his opponents movements and deconstructing them into sound. He can then analyze the rhythm of their movements, allowing him to take advantage of their openings to a much greater effect. In conjunction with this, he uses small but powerful anti-Demon bombs, made with a special gunpowder, which proved capable of overpowering even an Upper Moon Demon briefly.

• First Style: Thunder (壱 (いち) ノ型 (かた) 轟 (とどろき) , Ichi no kata: Todoroki^?): Tengen lifts his twin swords above his head and slams them down with great force creating an explosion with his bombs, causing a loud sound resembling thunder.

• Second Style:

• Third Style:

• Fourth Style: Death Knells of Avīci (肆 (し) ノ型 (かた) 響 (きょう) 斬 (ざん) 無 (む) 間 (けん) , Shi no kata: Kyōzan Muken ^?): Tengen holds his swords apart and spins them rapidly in conjunction with releasing his bombs, making this technique a combination of offense and defense.

• Fifth Style: Symphony of Shrill Strings (伍 (ご) ノ型 (かた) 鳴 (めい) 弦 (げん) 奏 (そう) 々 (そう) , Go no kata: Meigen Sōsō^?): Tengen holds one of his swords with a reverse grip, and spins the other using the chain that connects them. He couples this by also releasing numerous bombs to detonate. This technique was able to overpower an Upper Moon Demon.

Tengen Uzui Battles

Entertainment District Arc

• Tanjiro Kamado and Tengen Uzui vs Gyutaro

Trivia

• Before Tengen became a Demon Slayer and then a Pillar, he was originally a Shinobi, as stated by Gyutaro.

File:F6.png

Tengen's initial design.

• In his initial design, Tengen:
  • Was less muscular with a far thinner build.
  • Had 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 the only known Demon Slayer and Pillar to retire due to being permanently disabled instead of death or age.
• He and Inosuke Hashibira are the only known Demon Slayers who use two Nichirin Blades instead of one.
• His blades are engraved with the phrase "Destroyer of Demons"
• Tengen's astrological zodiac sign is a Scorpio.