Tenkai Zuifeng

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瑞風ずいふぉん 天堺てんかい
Tenkai Zuifeng
zɯᵝiɸõ̞n tẽ̞ŋka̠i
Tenkai Zuifon
Tenkai Zuifeng in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, wearing their everyday outfit
Character Titles
One of the Old Dictators
Flying Melon of Terror (As Tenkai [Melon])
Information
Species Human
Abilities Producing barriers
Music Themes
  • 顕界オーバーホール (RMI)
  • 決壊オーバーフロー (BPoHC)
Appearances

Tenkai Zuifeng (瑞風 天堺, Zuifon Tenkai) is an apprentice barrier builder at the barrier shop, "Azumaterasu". They're also Tsurubami Senri's ally and the Extra Stage boss of Reactivate Majestical Imperial, as well as a playable character (and possible final boss) of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle.

General Information[edit | edit source]

Tenkai is a descendant of a particularly famous barrier builder, and has a lot of acquaintances, both human and otherwise, across all Mugenri, including the Senri Shrine. Despite their lack of experience and notable achievements, they're known as a prodigy.[1] Tenkai is the right hand person of Tsurubami Senri and, similarly to them, are feared across Mugenri as an iron-fisted dictator.

Personality[edit | edit source]

Tenkai is a straightforward, often snarky person. They are quick to point out someone else's flaws to make jokes at their expense. They're very knowledgeable about the state of Mugenri and have been shown to research previous incidents thoroughly. As they were Tsurubami's second-in-command, they're rather stern and believe that Mugenri's balance was easier to keep in check through force.[2] Despite this, they've been shown to be willing to forgive wrongdoings, such as letting the Dragonfly Army off without pursuing it if they were to withdraw.[3]

Abilities[edit | edit source]

Manipulating barriers

Tenkai has the versatile ability to build barriers, which are typically shown in-game as inverted areas in space. They've shown various uses of it, such as teleporting bullets in their attacks, setting a barrier within speech[4] or making one synchronized with their memories in a futile attempt to overcome Suzumi Kuzu's ability.[5] They're also capable of repairing barriers to some extent, as shown in Reactivate Majestical Imperial's Extra Stage. However, they're not nearly as good at repairing as they are at building barriers, especially when it comes to those made by other people.[1]

Background Information[edit | edit source]

Origin[edit | edit source]

Tenkai is loosely based on the Buddhist monk "Tenkai" (天海), who was famously an advisor to the shogun "Tokugawa Ieyasu" (徳川家康), as well as the two shogun that came after. This relationship with Ieyasu is referenced in Tenkai's relationship with Tsurubami Senri, the former dictator of Mugenri, as well as Yabusame Houlen and Tsubakura Enraku, Tsurubami's successors. Other than this, the relationship between Tenkai and the monk is mostly in name.

Name[edit | edit source]

Their full name is Tenkai Zuifeng (瑞風 天堺, Zuifon Tenkai). The kanji in their given name contains ten () that means "heaven" and kai (), an old-fashioned way to say "border". Their name might be based on "Tenkai" (天海), a Japanese Tendai Buddhist monk of the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods, whose first Buddhist name was "Zuifū" (随風).

The kanji in their surname Zuifeng (瑞風) literally means "rising wind". The spelling that ends in "feng" is pronounced the Mandarin Chinese way, whereas in Japanese it would be pronounced as "Zuifon". The reason for this is because Tenkai is related to the Chinese Ideology of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements (陰陽五行思想).[6] A possible connection is that "Wind" () is considered to be a part of "Wood" () in the Feng Shui (風水) and Chinese Medicine (中醫) branches of the ideology, as well as in some older iterations of it. Another possible connection is that barriers (結界) in Feng Shui utilises the ideology of the Five Elements to set up.

Tenkai is often nicknamed "Melon" (メロン) due to their general appearance, especially by Sukune Katano and Sese Kitsugai. Despite it being their favourite food, this generally annoys them.

Design[edit | edit source]

Tenkai has bright orange hair and eyes. They have separate outfits for work and daily life.[7] The former, seen in their boss appearances, has them in a short, plain green robe with white edges, a yellow mantle with various glyphs on its long sleeves, light brown shorts, red leg wraps and yellow and green shoes. They also wear a long, blue scarf with white ends and a black hairband (a red and black one in Reactivate Majestical Imperial), which is seemingly based on traditional Japanese rounded roof tiles (丸瓦, marugawara), possibly the nokimarugawara (軒丸瓦) specifically[8], commonly found on roofs at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine. Their casual outfit is rather similar in design, albeit with some differences - Tenkai's robe has a more elaborate design and goes down to their knees, their mantle has frills and is tied in the front with a red ribbon, they wear zori instead of their usual shoes and ditch the blue scarf.

Their clothing often leads to being likened to a Yubari King melon in-universe (which, perhaps not so coincidentally, is also Tenkai's favorite food). Hilariously, Tenkai's Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle boss art shows the kanji for yubari (夕張) inscribed on their left sleeve, as seen here.

Appearances[edit | edit source]

Reactivate Majestical Imperial
Tenkai in RMI

After a berserk Lumen Celeritas absorbed moonlight by accident during Earthen Miraculous Sword and weakened the Mugenri Barrier, Tenkai was tasked to repair it by Jinbei shortly after the incident. However, they neglected to do so, indirectly leading to this game's events as the soul-eating flower Harujion sprouted in Mugenri and started to absorb spirits from the Outside World that came from the hole in the barrier. This resulted in the birth of the chimera soul Shion and a long winter in Mugenri.

Despite Shion's defeat, the warmth didn't return to Mugenri. Jinbei recognized that the cause is the hole in the barrier, so the protagonists go to chastise Tenkai, who's currently repairing it at their masters' request. By the time the heroes arrive, the barrier builder's work is almost done. Tenkai challenges the substitute priests to a fight in order to test their strength and is eventually defeated.

Tenkai in BPoHC as a Boss, wearing their work uniform
Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle

Tenkai is worried about the upcoming war between the Dragonfly Army and the Imperials. They go to warn Yabusame and Tsubakura about it, but the two were already gone. On the way to the shrine, Tenkai encounters Sukune Katano and Sese Kitsugai, who were plotting revenge on Yabusame and Tsubakura, and now they want Tenkai to help them. The barrier builder finds themself dragged by the two youkai around Mugenri, as they find out more about the war and what caused it.

In all routes, it's revealed that Tsurubami and Tenkai were either feared, hated or respected due to being the dictators of Mugenri and their immense power. Tenkai starts to realize how much Tsurubami's decision to leave for the Outside World has affected Mugenri. At the end of the Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle routes, Tenkai is asked to be the new ruler, but Tenkai declines, saying that their loyalty lies with Tsurubami. In the end, they meet Suzumi Kuzu, the one responsible for the words about the "The mirror of Heaven shall split" in order to lure Tsubakura. Suzumi reveals their intention to make Tsubakura's life a living hell and after a hard fight, Suzumi erases their memories again (with Tenkai being the only one who vaguely remembers).

Relationships[edit | edit source]

Tsurubami Senri

Tenkai already knew Tsurubami before the start of their conquest of Mugenri. They helped each other on multiple occasions[9], including resolving incidents together,[7] and they bonded as fellow outside-worlders.[2] In addition, Tenkai's family has ties with the Senri Shrine, which could be the reason for them becoming acquainted.[1] As Tenkai knew Tsurubami for a long time and was close enough to them to be considered their right-hand person, they were similarly feared across Mugenri. They hold Tsurubami in extremely high esteem and miss the adventures they departed on together.[10] Tenkai believes Tsurubami's approach of using force to unify the people had merit[2], and that Mugenri has gotten lonelier without them around.

It's unknown what exactly Tsurubami thinks of Tenkai, but they call them by their last name, Zuifeng, as a sign of their special relationship and because they like the sound of it.[11] In addition, they both have the ability to turn monochrome based on the same principle[7] and have similar spell cards with a crane motif. It appears that Tenkai is also the only one who knows the real reason why Tsurubami left Mugenri.[5]

Their superiors

Tenkai appears to not get along particularly well with their superiors, as they often put Tenkai to work on barrier upkeep not just in order to train them, but to damage their reputation as well. As they've given them the task of fixing the Mugenri Barrier, Tenkai is fed up with them and ended up altering the barrier in a small way in order to get back at them. The results of this have yet to be revealed.[1]

Jinbei

The Zuifeng clan and the Senri Shrine had known each other for generations, which includes being acquainted with Jinbei. However, thanks to their relationship with Tsurubami, Tenkai knows Jinbei personally. Jinbei asked Tenkai to repair the Mugenri Barrier in person shortly after Lumen damaged it.[12] They chide Tenkai as soon as they meet in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle's prologue, but Tenkai doesn't seem to particularly mind it.[13]

Sukune Katano & Sese Kitsugai

Sukune and Sese rope Tenkai into their treasure hunt in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle. Unlike most others, they don't fear Tenkai - Sukune knows of Tenkai's lineage[14], while Sese simply doesn't know much about them.[7]. Tenkai considers the two a nuisance, but still expresses concern for them[2][5] and goes along with their whims because it reminds them of their adventures with Tsurubami.[10]

Adagumo no Saragimaru

Tenkai taught Saragimaru the sealing ritual for the Tasouken. Saragimaru dislikes Tenkai due to their slyness and because Tenkai scammed them into paying a high amount of money for the ritual.[15]

Tsubakura Enraku & Yabusame Houlen

Tenkai is stern with the substitute priests, as they believe the two can't maintain peace as well as Tsurubami could. However, they're still keeping an eye on their growth, as Tsurubami also had difficulties starting out[2], and they share small gifts with them.[13]

Haiji Senri

Haiji is Tsurubami's biggest fan. Tenkai considers them a hindrance.[16]

Yago Amestsukana

It is implied that Tenkai and Yago know each other,[17] but the details of their relationship remain unclear. Tenkai considers Yago only "technically" an important God, due to Yago's casual demenor. Even so, they appear to be shocked when Yago says they want to retire.

Clause?

While not confirmed, when asked about Tenkai's relationship with Clause, JynX dodged the question much more strongly than usual, implying that there's a link between the two.[18] There are a scant few subtle connections between the two lending credence to theories about the subject:

  • Clause cuts in while the Preschool Team's discussing Tenkai's origins in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle and Tenkai appears surprised for an unknown reason.[2]
  • Clause believes that words hold an innate power, while Tenkai has been shown to use barriers to exert influence through speech.
  • The color schemes of the two's outfits are close to being inversions of each other, which is also carried over to Rei's YouTube account - the colors in the videos with their themes are likewise inversions of each other, and the two are the only characters to have unique patterns on their silhouettes instead of solid colors.
  • The intro to "Present World Overhaul" sounds similar to a phrase from "Empire Power ~ Big Star" (starting at around 28 seconds). JynX dodged a question regarding the similarity.[19]

Additional Information[edit | edit source]

One of Tenkai's options from BPoHC.
  • Tenkai's shot options are identical to the "guri pattern" found on the inverted pillar of the Yomeimon Gate at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū. The same pattern is also referenced in the spell name Inverted Pillar "Guri Carving".
  • JynX made a reference to the "Trumpet Boy" meme with Tenkai's theme "Present World Overhaul".[20] Coincidentally, Tenkai's theme was already a big meme in the fan community.

Gallery[edit | edit source]

Official Profiles[edit | edit source]

Official profiles
 ○EX面ボス 古き独裁者の片割れ

  瑞風 天堺(ずいふぉん てんかい)
  Zuifeng Tenkai

  種族:ヒト
  能力:結界を造る的な能力

  結界屋「アズマテラス」の見習い結界師。

  高名な結界師の血をひいているらしく、
  まだ未熟ながらも数々の業績を残し、その才華を証明している。
  仕事柄、顔が広く様々な種族に知り合いがいるのだが、
  その中でも先代神主とは因縁があるらしく、
  闡裡神社代々の式神であるジンベイとも良く知った仲らしい。

  結界を造るのが得意である一方、結界を直すのはてんで苦手で、
  特に他人が造った結界にはほとんど歯が立たないという。
  そのためか、師匠や先輩から弱点克服の修行(という面目の嫌がらせ)
  の為にと、よく結界修繕の仕事をまわされる。

  今回はどっかの馬鹿な偉人がぶっ壊しかけた
  "内側"の結界の一部を直す、っという大仕事を
  何故か単独で任され、いい加減に嫌気が差してきている。
  だが、破壊されかけた結界の一部は丁度自分が担っていた
  ものでもあるので、繕い直すのは容易いものであったが、
  今回はその結界にちょっとした悪戯を仕組んでみた。

  生兵法は大怪我の基・・・
  それは天堺なりの小さな反抗であったのであろうが、
  それが後に大事となり、
  師匠にこっぴどく怒られるのであるのだが・・・

  それはまた別の話。

◯ Extra Stage Boss — One of the Old Dictators

Tenkai Zuifeng

Species: Human
Ability: Something like producing barriers

They are a apprentice barrier builder at the barrier shop "Azumaterasu".

It is said that their blood descends from a particularly famous barrier builder,
and despite being inexperienced, they have a number of notable achievements, proving their talent.
Thanks to their job, they have a large circle of acquaintances from various races,
but seemed to be particularly close with the last Senri Priest,
They are also familiar with Jinbei, who has been the Senri Shrine's shikigami for many generations.

While building barriers is their strong point, they are extremely bad at repairing them,
to the point where repairing those made by another person is almost completely beyond them.
Because of that, their teachers and superiors often give them barrier repairing jobs
"as training to overcome this weakness," they claim. (When it is in reality to attack their prestige.)

For some reason, they left Tenkai a great job to be done by themself this time.
The job was to fix a part of the "inner" barrier that a certain idiot hero from somewhere broke.
This made Tenkai fed up with their superiors.
However, the broken section of the barrier happened to be
within the area they were in charge of, so it would be an easy fix,
but they had the idea of arranging a very small prank on the barrier this time.

A little learning can be a dangerous thing...
Will this be considered slight insubordination on Tenkai's part?
Or will it become something much greater
and cause their teachers to become severely mad with them...?

That is another story.

古き独裁者の片割れ

瑞風 天堺
Zuifeng Tenkai
●種族
ヒト
●能力
結界を造る
    的な能力

結界屋「アズマテラス」の見習い結界師。

以前は前・闡裡神社神主の闡裡鶴喰と共に无現里を支配し、
独裁者の片腕として活躍していた。

一部の者にとっては恐怖の象徴であり、
また一部の者からはその功績を評価されている。

今回は休暇中だったので、
現・闡裡神社神主達の様子を見に神社に寄ったのだが、
そこで今回の戦乱に巻き込まれることになった。

One of the Old Dictators

Tenkai Zuifeng
●Species:
Human
●Abilities:
Something like producing barriers

An apprentice barrier builder at the barrier shop "Azumaterasu".

They used to rule over Mugenri alongside the old Senri Shrine priest,
Tsurubami Senri, acting as the dictator's right-hand person.

To some people, they are a symbol of fear, whereas
others hold their achievements in great esteem.

Since today was their day off, they decided to go to the
Senri Shrine to see how the current priests were doing,
but then they got dragged into the ongoing war.

Spell Cards[edit | edit source]

Spell Cards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 11
陽明「日暮ノ門」 Youmei "Higurashi-no-mon"[a] RMI St. Ex
「龍頭牌」 "Dragon Head Tiles"[b] RMI St. Ex
「弾幕結界【不堪】」 "Danmaku Barrier [Incompetent]" RMI
BPoHC
St. Ex
St. 6: H/U
逆柱「グリ紋」 Inverted Pillar "Guri Carving"[c] RMI
BPoHC
St. Ex
St. 6: H/U
境斬「三池の刀」 Border Slash "Blade of Miike"[d] RMI St. Ex
元牌「次元削除」 Origin Card "Dimensional Deletion" Flash bomb RMI
BPoHC
St. Ex
Use
閉目「眠り猫」 Closed Eyes "Nemuri-Neko"[e] The Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle upgrade is simply titled Nemuri-Neko (眠り猫). RMI
BPoHC
BPoHC
St. Ex
St. 6: E/N
Upgrade
三猿「世は穢れ、全てを閉ざせ」 Three Monkeys "The World is Impure; Shut Everything Out"[f] RMI St. Ex
「黒衣の宰相」 "Prime Minister in Black Robes"[g] Bomb RMI
BPoHC
BPoHC
St. Ex
St. 6: E/N/H/U
Use
「番いの鶴」 "The Twin Cranes" RMI
BPoHC
St. Ex
St. 6: E/N/H/U
「十二の柱の二本の逆柱」 "Reversed Second Pillar Among the Twelve"[c] BPoHC St. 6: E/N
平穏「東西廻廊の雀」 Calm "Sparrow in the East-West Corridor"[h] BPoHC St. 6: H/U
「弾幕結界【古拙】」 "Danmaku Barrier [Quaint Artlessness]" BPoHC St. 6: E/N
飛間「スライドバリア」 Flight Space "Slide Barrier" BPoHC St. 6: E/N
叩界「断裂ハンマー」 Border Strike "Rupturing Hammer" BPoHC St. 6: H/U
四神断界 Four Gods' Interstice BPoHC Upgrade
強化決死結界 Strengthened Desperation Barrier BPoHC Upgrade
夕張「メロンバリア」 Yubari "Melon Barrier"[i] As Tenkai [Melon] BotC Use
甜瓜「メーロペポーン」 Oriental Melon "Melopepon"[j] 〃; Bomb (BotC) BotC Use
マスクド・メロン Masked Melon[k] 〃; Flash bomb (BotC) BotC Use
メロンはおいしい Melons are Tasty! BotC Inherent Trait

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. A reference to Yōmeimon, a famous gate at Nikkō Tōshō-gū. Its nickname "higurashi-no-mon" means "gate of a day's rest"; e.g. a gate that one could spend an entire day admiring.
  2. Likely a reference to the decorative carvings of dragons' heads at Nikkō Tōshō-gū.
  3. 3.0 3.1 A reference to the practice of sakabashira (逆柱, Lit. "reverse pillar"), in which a pillar is erected inverse to the original growth direction of the tree. The second pillar from the left among the four at the back of Yōmeimon, a famous gate at Nikkō Tōshō-gū, is one such inverted pillar. This is known as the pillars are carved with a spiral pattern called "guri design" (グリ紋) and one of them has the carvings upside-down. This was done on purpose in order to counteract the superstition at the time that "buildings start breaking once completed", thus the pillar is left inverted to leave the gate "incomplete".
  4. A reference to the bladesmith Mitsuyo (光世), who lived in Miike and was sometimes refered to as Miike Tenda (三池典太) and was famous for forging several blades for Tokugawa Ieyasu, including the blade Ieyasu was buried with at Nikkō Tōshō-gū, which is what the "Blade of Miike" may be referring to.
  5. A reference to the famous nemuri-neko (眠り猫, "sleeping cat") carving at Nikkō Tōshō-gū.
  6. A reference to the three wise monkeys, specifically a carving of them at Nikkō Tōshō-gū.
  7. Refers to a Buddhist priest serving in a political position, and originally referred to the very historical figure that Tenkai is loosely based on, the Buddhist monk Tenkai who worked in a political position as an advisor to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
  8. A reference to Yōmeimon, a famous gate at Nikkō Tōshō-gū. At which the east and west corridors of the gate houses the largest carving of flowers and birds in Japan. It may also make reference to the sparrow carvings found behind the Nemuri-neko carving.
  9. A reference to the Yubari King cantaloupe cultivar, one of Tenkai Zuifeng's favourites.
  10. "Melopepon" (μηλοπέπων) is the Greek word for melon.
  11. A reference to a fictional wrestler of the same name from the Japanese comic series Dr. Slump.

Official Sources[edit | edit source]

Official sources

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Reactivate Majestical Imperial: Official Profiles - Tenkai Zuifeng
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Preschool Team's Neutral Scenario
  3. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Preschool Team's Haze Scenario - Taira no Chouki
  4. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Neutral Scenario - Tenkai Zuifeng
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Preschool Team's Extra Scenario - Neutral Route
  6. Peing: 14 February 2019
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Len'en Wiki:Interview with JynX (2017)
  8. JynX's Twitter: "I still can’t remember what those things on Zuifeng’s head are based on, though knowing me it’s related to whatever I based them on! [..."]
    Twitter User @Singular_Yike: "Is it perhaps nokimarugawara tiles?"
    JynX's Twitter: "Ohh! I kinda feel like that was it but it also doesn't quite click in my mind… But it doesn't seem like I'm closer to remembering it, so let’s just say that’s correct. (Abandoning the topic)"
  9. Reactivate Majestical Imperial: Shrine Team's Extra Scenario
  10. 10.0 10.1 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Preschool Team's Haze Ending
  11. Peing: February 8th, 2019
  12. Reactivate Majestical Imperial: Extra Story
  13. 13.0 13.1 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Prologue
  14. Reactivate Majestical Imperial: Bottle Opener Team's Extra Scenario
  15. Reactivate Majestical Imperial: Slaver Team's Extra Scenario
  16. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Preschool Team's Extra Scenario - Brilliant Route
  17. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Preschool Team's Extra Scenario - Haze Route
  18. Peing: February 3rd, 2019
  19. Peing: February 21st, 2019
  20. Rei's Twitter: "It seems really fun so I made one too, god knows how many people have done this already. Super ultra vomitously noisy melon."