| Tenma Taro |
Image Gallery |
| Tenma Taro |
| Hissssssss! Better watch out little girl, or I'll snatch you away! |
Tenma Taro is a tengu-like monster that features in the legends of Nine-Tails Vale. According to said legends, it was defeated in a battle with the Nine-tailed Fox and sealed away in the Forbidden Chamber.
Origin[]
| Jinxie Tenma |
| They say you must not gaze upon Tenma Taro. But in the event that you do look... ...and then tell anyone what you saw, Tenma Taro will claim your soul. |
A scroll depicting Tenma Taro and the Nine-Tailed Fox in battle.
The original "Tenma Taro" was, in reality, a large gold ingot that was given to Nine-Tails Vale in exchange for the land that would become Tenma Town. However, this fortune fueled the villagers' greed and threatened to bring ruin upon Nine-Tails Vale, and so the gold ingot was sealed within the Forbidden Chamber in Kyubi Manor and the legend of the yokai Tenma Taro, a bird-like creature, was created to scare the villagers away from the Forbidden Chamber. Additionally, several superstitons were written down, telling the villagers not to gaze upon Tenma Taro or, in the event that they did, not to tell anyone. A large statue of the yokai was built inside the Forbidden Chamber.
Afterwards, the villagers of Nine-Tails Vale began to perform an annual celebration in which Tenma Taro was "released" from his prison to be banished by the village's guardian yokai, the Nine-Tailed Fox. Among the few who knew the truth about the gold ingot were the village alderman, Rex Kyubi, and the thief Azuki Kozo, who eventually managed to infiltrate the Forbidden Chamber and steal the ingot.
Exorcism[]
- Main article: The Monstrous Turnabout
A Tenma Taro-costumed Phineas Filch and Jinxie Tenma acting in the special event.
In the spring of 2027, the role of Tenma Taro in the annual festival was played by the Kyubi Manor caretaker, Phineas Filch, at the alderman's request, with the wrestler known as the Amazing Nine-Tails playing the role of the Nine-Tailed Fox. About an hour after the special event, Kyubi and the mayor of Tenma Town, Damian Tenma, held a meeting at the manor. During the meeting, Tenma's aide Florent L'Belle drugged both Tenma and Kyubi and proceeded to murder the alderman with a spear, planning to steal the ingot which he did not know was already gone. L'Belle then framed Tenma for the crime.
While investigating the case, Tenma's defense attorney Apollo Justice discovered that Azuki Kozo had stolen the gold ingot. Upon learning of this, and knowing that the fortune could no longer bring harm to Nine-Tails Vale, Tenma revealed the truth about "Tenma Taro", allowing Justice to expose L'Belle as the killer and bringing an end to the village superstitions. Despite this, the yokai seemed to have remained a popular figure in Nine-Tails Vale culture, as the villagers were heard not long afterwards asking for him to appear in the wrestling ring against the Amazing Nine-Tails.
Name[]
- The character's name comes from the Japanese "Tenma" (天魔), meaning "demon" or "evil spirit" (and consisting of the kanji "天" (sky/heaven) and 魔 (demon/evil spirit)) and "Taro" (太郎), which is a generic male name analogous to an English name like "Joe".
Development[]
- Tenma Taro is based upon the tengu of Japanese mythology.