Ryoko (Tenchi Muyo!)
Encyclopedia
is a key character in the various Tenchi Muyo!
Tenchi Muyo!
, is a Japanese anime, light novel, and manga series created by Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi.The generally accepted translation of the title is No Need for Tenchi or Useless Tenchi, though at the time of its appearance it was also translated variably as No Heaven and Earth and This Way Up...

anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series by AIC
AIC (company)
, often abbreviated as AIC, is a Japanese anime studio with headquarters in Nerima, Tokyo.The company was founded on July 15, 1982. In addition to producing anime for domestic consumption in Japan, AIC has provided animation assistance on other animated series such as Inspector Gadget...

. While details of her character differ between the various series, Ryoko is typically shown as an attractive, semi-reformed powerful space pirate
Space pirate
Space pirates are a type of stock characters from science fiction. They operate as pirates in outer space and travel by spacecraft; as opposed to the more traditional pirates on the high seas of Earth, who travel by boat...

 who is madly in love with the series main character, Tenchi Masaki
Tenchi Masaki
is the main protagonist of the Tenchi Muyo! series. Tenchi's name means 'Heaven and Earth'. It is the same as 'Tenchi' in the Shinto Kojiki which contains some of Japan's oldest myths and legends.-Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki:...

. In the various series, Ryoko is portrayed as being impulsive, hedonistic (with a penchant for sake), poor-mannered, often immodest, recklessly violent, and hot-tempered although she sometimes reveals her more emotional and vulnerable side.

In the anime, Ryoko universally holds an intense rivalry with the character Ayeka
Ayeka Masaki Jurai
is a key character in the various Tenchi Muyo! anime series by AIC. While details of her character differ between the various series, Ayeka is typically shown as the beautiful first princess of the planet Jurai who has fallen in love with the title character, Tenchi Masaki...

, who also fights for Tenchi's affections. Often the conflict between the two comes out of their decidedly different personalities, with Ryoko being the tomboyish troublemaker and Ayeka being the well-mannered, but often snooty aristocrat. The level of the rivalry can vary between being equitable to a pair of bickering siblings to an all-out feud.

While the name Ryoko is a common feminine given name in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, in this instance it is written with very uncommon kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

. Ryoko's name can be translated as "bringer of demons" and is stated as meaning "The Devil Caller" in the OVA
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

 series.

OVA

She was created by Washu
Washu Hakubi
, the self-proclaimed greatest scientific genius in the universe, is a fictional character in the anime and manga Tenchi Muyo!. Her character differs depending on the continuity, though she sometimes displays a number of innate powers which she rarely uses, preferring to solve problems with reason...

, using one of her egg cells
Ovum
An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...

 as a base, so she is indirectly (raised in a tube with no contact with Washu) Washu's daughter. Washu's DNA was combined with that of amorphous creatures called the Masu to create Ryoko. She has three red gems that are the source of her full energy, which also came from Washu when she imbued them with her godly powers in her early life.

As a character, Ryoko is very emotional. She easily gets upset, and is short tempered, especially around Ayeka
Ayeka Masaki Jurai
is a key character in the various Tenchi Muyo! anime series by AIC. While details of her character differ between the various series, Ayeka is typically shown as the beautiful first princess of the planet Jurai who has fallen in love with the title character, Tenchi Masaki...

. But she's deeply in love with Tenchi, though not fully admitting how deeply until Episodes 5 & 6, when she tells Ayeka how she first met Tenchi, and later when she offers up her own life in place of his. While she was trapped in the cave, she was able to create an astral body
Astral body
The astral body is a subtle body posited by many religious philosophers, intermediate between the intelligent soul and the physical body, composed of a subtle material. The concept ultimately derives from the philosophy of Plato: it is related to an astral plane, which consists of the planetary...

 and venture to the entrance of the cave. She watched Tenchi grow up over the years, and she wished more than anything to be with him. However, the way she introduced herself to him was terribly frightening to Tenchi, so he distanced himself from her for a long time. Also, when Washu is first introduced she tells Ryoko that she knows how she (Ryoko) feels about Tenchi and says that Ryoko wants to do "this and that" with Tenchi.

Ryoko also has a bit of an ambiguous relation with Washu, her mother. When Washu first appears, she critiques her daughter's sex appeal and asks Ryoko to refer to her as "mommy". As the series progresses, she starts to fear Washu, especially when Washu starts doing some of her experiments on an unwilling Ryoko. In fact, Ryoko becomes slightly cautious whenever Washu is looking at her with a mischievous smile and intimidating eyes.

Ryoko, when captured and electrocuted by Ayeka in Episode 2, seems to enjoy it until the point when Ayeka uses excruciating force when Ryoko was clearly in pain. Ayeka calls her a masochist, and Ryoko says that she was more of a sadist
Sadism and masochism as medical terms
In psychiatry, the terms sadism and masochism describe a personality type characterized by the actor or actrix deriving pleasure and gratification from inflicting physical pain and humiliation ; and from suffering pain and humiliation upon the self ; such pleasure often is sexual, but not...

. Judging by the fact that her ship Ryo-Ohki destroyed twenty-eight planets and sixty-nine colonies when in Kagato's service, and by some of her taunts in the fight with Tenchi, she might not have been joking. Ryoko is also sometimes rather childlike, and can be a bit gullible. Since most of her life was spent either enslaved by Kagato, or sealed inside a cave, she does not have much of a range of experiences. She is also extremely sensitive about her age, being brought to tears when Ayeka called her a "mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...

".

Power and abilities

True to the meaning of her nomenclature, the gem on the inside of Ryoko's left wrist allows her to summon powerful, ferocious "demon" spirits, which let physical attacks pass right through them, while the gem on the inside of her right wrist allows her to control the summoned spirits, and the last gem, which goes on her throat, gives her full power.

She also has the ability to create false gems; one of which she keeps hidden in plain sight on her left ear as an earring. This false gem is not as potent as the originals, but allow her to balance her power and abilities. False gems also last for only a limited time, while the originals have an inexhaustible supply of energy. In OVA 3, it was revealed that the true gems contain the powers and godhead of Washu-kami-sama (who is one of the three Chōshin goddesses). It is debatable just how much of her mother's power she is borrowing and how much she is capable of using on her own, but her relatively young age (she appears about nineteen years old) prevents her from drawing upon their full power. It has been stated that when reaching full maturity and in possession of all 3 gems, Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki will be able to generate up to 10 lighthawk wings, which has been described as the greatest amount that 3-dimensional reality can support without collapsing.

Physically, Ryoko has no taste buds, and has no need to eat; all the energy she gets comes from the gem inherited by Washu on her wrist. Ryoko eats to be social, but has a "taste" for sake. Although she enjoys allowing herself to become drunk like normal humans, Ryoko's level of healing has the ability to instantly nullify the effects of alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

, or any other toxic chemicals within her body, which comes in handy if she has to go into battle. In addition, Ryoko does not need to breathe, and can survive unaided in the vacuum of space.

Other powers Ryoko possesses include:
  • Flight
  • Relatively low levels of superhuman strength
    Superhuman strength
    Superhuman strength, also called superstrength, super-strength, or super strength, is an ability commonly employed in fiction. It is the ability for a character to be stronger than humanly possible...

     and superhuman speed, but the former can essentially be greatly amplified by merging with giant golem
    Golem
    In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....

    s of her own creation.
  • Teleportation
    Teleportation
    Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...

  • Intangibility, but not necessarily to energy-attacks.
  • Creating energy swords and energy blasts of varying yields and destructive power (All regularly used)
  • Instant regeneration
    Regeneration (biology)
    In biology, regeneration is the process of renewal, restoration, and growth that makes genomes, cells, organs, organisms, and ecosystems resilient to natural fluctuations or events that cause disturbance or damage. Every species is capable of regeneration, from bacteria to humans. At its most...

     of missing limbs (Episode 1).
  • Creating doppelgänger
    Doppelgänger
    In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...

    s (Episode 7)
  • Telekinesis
    Psychokinesis
    The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...

  • Creating forcefields
  • Matter formation (manipulating matter and merging with it, as with a stone pillar in Episode 6)
  • Complex molecular restructuring (repairing Mihoshi's GXP scanner in Episode 4)
  • Hair needles that she can fire from her head (Episode 11)
  • Telepathy
    Telepathy
    Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...

     with Washu and Ryo-Ohki
    Ryo-Ohki
    , is a fictional character in the Japanese anime series Tenchi Muyo! and its spinoffs. Ryo-Ohki's appearance is similar to a cross between a cat and a rabbit, and for this reason Ryo-Ohki is commonly referred to as a cabbit...

    .
  • In addition Ryoko can access an advanced internal database, as a group-mind shared with Ryo-Ohki (Episode 14) to constantly overview her exact universal coordinates.
  • She can also use this to access information and construction specifics for advanced technology, which combined with her ability of molecular reconstruction, allows her to create some of them out of available surrounding matter, such as the flying onsen that Washuu designed prior to imprisonment, and then became available to Ryoko prior to actually being aware of her mother's existence.
  • Ryoko likely gained shapeshifting
    Shapeshifting
    Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...

     abilities from merging with Zero
    Zero (Tenchi Muyo!)
    is a fictional character in the Tenchi Muyo! anime series.Zero is a creation of Dr. Clay, and possesses the ability to mimic another being, including that individual's memories. Using this talent, she abducts and temporarily replaces Ryoko....

     (Episode 12), especially in combination with her amorphous masu heritage.


Some of these abilities are known to have been inherited from Washu, while others are likely the result of her Masu genes, or intended design.

Tenchi Universe

In this series, Ryoko is once again a space pirate, but she isn't a slave to anybody. She was introduced to Tenchi by crash-landing on Earth during a dogfight with Mihoshi. Tenchi found her and it was almost love at first sight (for her, of course). We have no idea who her parents are or what her origins are; those are never revealed.

Ryoko can still summon an energy sword and shoot ki blasts, she can also fly, teleport, and make copies of herself, but she can no longer summon demons. Gems can still be glimpsed on her wrists, however, there is no mention of them being her power source. Ryoko is generally less powerful than in the OVA, as the bounty hunter Nagi (who has no superhuman powers at all) is able to fight her on at least equal terms.

Again, she's very emotional and brash, but not as much as in the OVA
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

, and enjoys doing things to make Ayeka mad, which includes flirting with Tenchi. By the end of the series, however, her love for Tenchi has become very powerful — to the point that she nearly dies for him.

In this series, Ryoko still has Ryo-Ohki, her pet (or partner-in-crime) cabbit
Cabbit
A cabbit is a fictional hybrid between a cat and a rabbit. They have appeared in fiction and fantasy stories, and have also been dubiously purported to have been observed in the wild. Most if not all observations are attributable to either mis-identified Manx cats or outright hoaxes...

 (cat/rabbit animal), which can transform into a well-armed spaceship. She also has an arch-rival, Nagi, who has her own cabbit, a male named Ken-Ohki. Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki love each other, which complicates the lives of their mistresses.

In the end, Tenchi is seen heading off for school and daydreaming about the missing Ryoko; then, to his surprise and delight, the real Ryoko returns.

On a side note it is inferred that Ryoko was also imprisoned for 700 years in this series during a scene between Ryoko and Ayeka where Ayeka exclaims to Ryoko "Well if your case goes to trial you won't get away with a mere 700 years of imprisonment this time."

Tenchi in Tokyo

Once again, Ryoko is a space pirate in this series. She and Washu were in the process of running away with the Jurai
Jurai
is a planet in the AIC anime Tenchi Muyo!, and also the name of its royal family. The planet and royal family of Jurai appear mostly in the Ryo-Ohki OVA and Tenchi Universe series and briefly in Tenchi in Tokyo...

 Lightstone, which consequently brings everybody to Tenchi's planet all at once. She pilots a pink Sōja, which looks identical to OVA Kagato's ship, except for its color.

Her physical appearance is considerably different in comparison with the other series due to the artwork, which made her look more tomboyish than she used to be. Her attitude is also very different: she's more violent and screams a lot more, so many things get blown up around her.

Ryoko's obsession over Tenchi is still there, but that's basically the only characteristic that remains consistent throughout every series. However, it develops to a greater extent in this series after she goes on a date with Tenchi, and later sees him with Sakuya. Her hurt feelings for Tenchi made her even abandon the group after she sees him and Sakuya kiss.

She still retains the ability to summon an energy sword and fire energy blasts, but Ryo-Ohki doesn't belong to her. Also she cannot survive without oxygen unlike the previous series.

Ryoko falls in love with Tenchi after a major battle between her and everybody else. Unfortunately, she was severely injured, but Tenchi remained by her bedside, taking care of her, and because nobody had done that for her before, it sparked her love for him there.

Pretty Sammy

Ryoko appears in both Pretty Sammy
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy
is an anime based on the magically transformed version of the Sasami character from the various Tenchi Muyo! series. The Pretty Sammy OVAs have been dubbed into English by Pioneer USA , while the television series is only available subtitled...

series in very different roles. In the OVA series, Ryoko appears as a schoolgirl, (she was given the last name of her Japanese seiyū
Seiyu
Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...

, Ai Orikasa
Ai Orikasa
is a popular Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo. She works for Production Baobab. Orikasa is also the Japanese dub voice for Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Her debut work was Shoukoushi Cedie in 1988...

), a yankii (a Japanese term for a juvenile delinquent). She and Ayeka constantly bicker over Tenchi Kawai's affections. Ryoko is obsessed with Tenchi, to the point where she even hides out inside his bedroom for one night, and even kidnaps him and carries him off against his will. Ryoko was briefly transformed with Ayeka into one of Pixy Misa
Pixy Misa
is a fictional character in the anime Pretty Sammy , a spinoff of Tenchi Muyo!. An evil magical girl, she is the rival and dramatic foil of the series' protagonist, magical girl Pretty Sammy...

's Love-Love Monsters in the first episode and became more obsessive over Tenchi, until Tenchi was able to get through to Ryoko, enabling Pretty Sammy to return her to normal. But even after that Ryoko hadn't changed.

In the Pretty Sammy TV series (Magical Project S
Magical Project S
Magical Project S, known in Japan as , is a 26-episode anime series produced by AIC and Pioneer LDC. It is based on the Pretty Sammy character and the OVA series....

), Ryoko appears in the last few episodes starting with episode 23 as Oryo... or , bodyguard to Queen Tsunami
Tsunami (Tenchi Muyo!)
is a fictional character in the Tenchi Muyo! universe.Tsunami appears in the OVA version of the anime series Tenchi Muyo!, as its novels and the manga series written by Hitoshi Okuda. In Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki and related works she is one of the Chousin, three Goddess-sisters and powerful beings in...

 of Juraihelm. In contrast to Ryoko's usual characterization, Oryo is a dignified and honorable warrior, ready to lay down her life for Tsunami. Her appearance and powers remain roughly the same, except that Oryo has normal human ears. She fights alongside Pretty Sammy and Pixy Misa
Pixy Misa
is a fictional character in the anime Pretty Sammy , a spinoff of Tenchi Muyo!. An evil magical girl, she is the rival and dramatic foil of the series' protagonist, magical girl Pretty Sammy...

 against Romio, the would-be usurper. Fittingly, the name Oryo can be read "most honorable demon." In her first appearance, she disguised herself as "Cool Red", a character from the series Blue Sky Cool Rangers (a spoof of Japan's live-action Super Sentai
Super Sentai
The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...

 series) and easily destroyed Love-Me Eimy's Lovely Monsters Right and Left, after Pretty Sammy had destroyed the antenna that Romio was using to control Eimi.

Outside References

Ryoko (and Ayeka) appear in the manga Futaba Kun Change briefly early in the series.

External links

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