Tengen Uzui
Kanji
宇髄 天元
Rōmaji
Uzui Tengen
Characteristics
Race
Human
Gender
Male
Age
23
Affiliation
Affiliation
Demon Slayer Corps
Occupation
Shinobi (Formerly)
Demon Slayer (Formerly)
Sound Hashira (Formerly)
Combat Style
Sound Breathing
Debuts
Anime Debut
Episode 21
Manga Debut
Chapter 44
Portrayal
Japanese VA
Katsuyuki Konishi
English VA
Ray Chase
"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?"
-Tengen Uzui to Gyutaro and Daki in Gathering
Shinjuro Rengoku (宇髄 天元 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 (音柱 Oto Bashira).
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 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 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 his 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, aqua colored 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.
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. As a result of his exuberant and flamboyant personality, Tengen is very demanding of others, treating the Demon Slayers very harshly during the Hashira Training Arc and insulting them for having no substance when they couldn't survive his stamina training. Furthermore, he also abhors the idea of unflashy things, as shown when the Hashira openly expresses his hate for plainness.
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. 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.
However, Tengen also has 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 and assuring Hinatsuru that she has completed her mission and telling her to get out of harm's way. Furthermore, Tengen also declares that they must value their lives above all others as they are precious to him. After the events in the Entertainment District Arc, Tengen also becomes more friendly towards Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke.
Tengen looks up to people like Kyojuro Rengoku, and is seen to compare himself to his fellow Hashira, implying that he has some sort of inferiority complex. This is further proven by the fact that he completely denies the possibility that he was blessed with talent and that he tells himself that he will 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 that he faced forward and fought to protect human lives despite carrying all of his conflicts and contradictions he hides behind his loud and confident façade, which made Tengen respect Kagaya too.
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. 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.
Abilities
Overall Abilities: As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen is a very powerful and skilled combatant. He has displayed incredible physical feats of strength and speed, being the second physically strongest Hashira in the current generation as well as being the fastest runner out of all the Hashira. In terms of skill, 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. Tengen was also able to effortlessly decapitate Daki without her realising it, to the point that he didn't see her as an Upper Rank demon at all. Impressively, he was able to fend off the combined efforts of Daki and Gyutaro while being infected by a poison that would kill someone instantly under normal circumstances, even managing to protect bystanders in the process. 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, especially 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 the 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. But due to the poison circulating in his body, he was unable to attempt a finishing blow.
Enhanced Hearing: Tengen has a heightened sense of hearing similar to that of 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's looking for Tanjiro Kamado and Daki. He also uses his superhuman hearing the monitor all the activity in the Entertainment District in an attempt to find the location of the demons dwelling in the area. Tengen also used his hearing to discern whether people are still present on a floor in a building.
Immense Speed & Reflexes: Tengen is the fastest runner out of all the Hashira, and thus possesses tremendous levels of raw speed and reflexes, often shown when he moves so fast he appears to teleport. His speed also far surpasses that of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke, who were unable to keep up, 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. 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 instantly under normal circumstances.
Immense Stamina & Endurance: Due to his upbringing being raised to become a ninja 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 powerful 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. 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, and managed to ignore the pain of such injuries as well.
Immense Strength: Tengen possesses tremendous physical strength that is greater than that of his Hashira brethren. In fact, Tengen was ranked second in an arm-wrestling contest among all the Hashira, with only Gyomei Himejima surpassing him. Tengen displayed his strength numerous times, as he was shown effortlessly carrying Aoi and Naho, and soon after knocked Zenitsu and Inosuke unconscious with a single punch to the stomach. 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. Furthermore, Tengen was able to match Gyutaro in strength with only one arm after his left hand was cut off.
Indomitable Will: Tengen possesses an undaunted spirit and immense willpower, never faltering even when faced disadvantages and difficult circumstances. 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.
Muscle Control: Tengen can control his own muscles to an extent. During his battle with Gyutaro, Tengen used his muscles to stop his heart to temporarily prevent the poison from circulating, which let him get the drop on Gyutaro who believed he was dead.
Shinobi Training: Before joining the Demon Slayer Corps and becoming a Hashira, Tengen was a ninja from a family of shinobi. Tengen received extremely harsh training that killed all his siblings except for his younger brother who became cold and heartless. 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.
Tactical Intellect: Due to accumulating years of experience as both a ninja 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. 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
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. 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 against Gyutaro, managing to adapt to the Upper Rank'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 anti-demon bombs with great synergy, making him all the more dangerous. He also showed the ability to wield his Nichirin Cleavers with only one arm. 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 (音の呼吸 Oto no kokyū: A Breathing Style that Tengen created himself. Sound Breathing seemingly combines Tengen's heightened sense of hearing, his Musical Score technique, his shinobi expertise as well as his dual Nichirin cleavers and his anti-demon bombs.
Techniques
Equipment
Dual Nichirin Cleavers: Befitting Tengen's flamboyant personality, he carries an equally flamboyant set of weaponry. As his main weapons, he uses two gigantic Nichirin cleavers that are amber in color, which each have a notch in the sharp ends of their blades and are held together at the hilt by a metal chain,[43] making it very reminiscent to nunchucks. His swords are said to have large amounts of explosive power, and it is stated that, until Tengen's fight with Upper Rank 6, no one had ever survived a blow from them.[44] His hilt is circular shaped with 4 slight indentations and gold in color, there's a maroon ring that connects to the center; it has an outer green border. His blades are engraved with the phrase Destroyer of Demons (惡鬼滅殺 Akki Messatsu). Due to his sword's huge size, Tengen doesn't use a sword sheath and instead carries them on his back, having them wrapped in cloth.