'T E N K O T H O M P S O N'
'T E N K O T H O M P S O N'
A g e: 20 | R a n k: Kinoto
P e r s o n a l i t y :Tenko is a bright and cheerful girl who loves cute things such as plushies. As such, her natural disposition did not fit the role of a demon slayer; however, through Neuro-Linguistic Programming, she habituated herself with the anchoring action of shifting her ribbon headband to enter a more focused and ‘cold’ state of mind, capable of making rational and composed decisions as a demon slayer, tapping into the strategic approach she cultivated from playing chess against her father. Nevertheless, rather than being driven by hate for the demons, she strives to do her job with love for her fellow men and women whom she protects from the demons, as well as for the demons themselves, seeing the act of slaying them as freeing them from their cursed and miserable existence as a rite of purification, reciting the Fatima Prayer upon slaying a demon for the salvation of their souls. Still, though the use of anchoring action alleviated her issues, it still affects Tenko once she returned to ‘Normal Mode’ more than she lets on.
S h o w a S e c r e t :A third-year psychology student at Wasegawa University by day, Demon Slayer by Night. Tenko Maria Thompson was born in Chicago, United States, on 23rd of July, 1964, to an American Chess Grandmaster, Daniel Thompson and an Okinawa-born Japanese woman by the name of Amaya Rengoku. Her mother died a few years after Tenko was born, at the young age of 25, leaving Daniel alone to raise Tenko on his own. Being a Chess Grandmaster who dedicated his whole life to chess meant that it was hard for Daniel to relate to a young child. For a few years after the death of Amaya, he had difficulty connecting to Tenko, but fortunately, he had passed on his passion for chess, and the two managed to connect by playing chess with each other. Though small, chess became a springboard for the two as they finally made genuine connections, eventually allowing them to indulge in other interests and hobbies. This includes Tenko ended up sharing Daniel’s hobby of firearms—an unconventional hobby for a girl—and Daniel’s faith in Catholicism. On Tenko’s end, she managed to get her father to enjoy pop culture after having him watch ‘cute shows’ with her.
Having only scarce memories of her mother, Tenko wanted to know more about Japan, where her mother came from. Thus, when she was fifteen, Tenko asked Daniel if it was possible for her to attend High School in Japan. Her father was reluctant, as he didn’t know who could take care of Tenko in Japan, as Amaya had been vague about her life before meeting Daniel. After wagering—and losing due to months of preparation from Tenko—the issue in a chess match, Daniel acquiesced to Tenko’s request and contacted the only one of Amaya’s family he knew, a bar/cafe owner in Tokyo by the name of Nobuo Rengoku, who was supposedly Amaya’s cousin, who attended her funeral. Nobuo agreed to take Tenko in, and thus, Tenko ended up attending High School in Tokyo.
It was during her first year that she came into contact with a demon. She was coming home late from her Home Ec club activity when she felt an unpleasant feeling, before a man barred her way and started attacking her with strength and agility surpassing that of a human, all the while screaming about taking revenge on Amaya. Fortunately, she was saved by a member of the Demon Slayer Corps before she was hurt.
Tenko was eventually told that the man who attacked her was a demon, whom once barely managed to escape from her mother. The truth of Amaya Rengoku was that she was a member of the Demon Slayer Corps belonging to the Rengoku Clan, a high-ranking one at that, someone known as the Flame Hashira. Unfortunately, she was also a ‘marked one’, someone who awakened the Demon Slayer Mark, which bestowed them great power, but also caused them to die young. When Amaya met Daniel, at 21, she was already retired due to the mark taking its toll on her body. The reason only Nobuo remained in contact was to maintain the secrets of demons and demon slayers, as she had wanted to keep Daniel and Tenko away from demons.
Given Amaya’s journal to read, however, Tenko was inspired to join the Demon Slayers instead, as she now knew that her mother was a great woman, who, out of love for the innocent people, protected them from demons, even if it eventually cost her life. To Tenko, it was as if her mother had stood as a bright, illuminating light that kept the darkness at bay. Though there were some objections initially from members of the Rengoku Clan who had wanted to respect Amaya’s wishes, they ended up relenting after Tenko showed promise in learning the Flame Style. Tenko formally joined the Demon Slayer Corps a year later, at 17, and has remained a member of the Demon Slayer Corps ever since, even developing her own breathing style derived from the Flame Style.
_________________________________________________________________________F l a m b o y a n c e :
Catharsis Breathing (Senrei no Kokyū | 洗礼の呼吸 - lit. Baptism Breathing)
A breathing style derived from the Flame Style, tailored to be used in conjunction with a handgun developed by Tenko. The powerful strikes of the Flame Style are complemented by gunplay, typically used as a distraction to create openings for a decisive strike from the blade. Or the reverse, in which powerful strikes from the blade force enemies to focus their defences against it, leaving themselves open for bullets from the semi-automatic pistol. As with the Flame Style, the user of Catharsis Style visualises flames when executing its forms; however, the state of mind somewhat differs. If the Flame Style sees flame as an element that burns the enemies of mankind and keeps them at bay, just as the ancestors of humanity learned the secret of fire to ward off beasts, then Catharsis interprets flame in a more spiritual manner, through the lens of Tenko’s Catholic faith. Flames are not merely things that burn, but purify and cleanse one’s soul. The Holy Spirit came in the form of fire, and John the Baptist prophesied that Christ would baptise in the Holy Spirit and Fire. Finally, in Catholicism, Purgatory is a place where souls go after death to be purified from their sins in flames, this process of purging being referred to as κάθαρσις, the Greek word for Catharsis. Thus, in Catharsis Breathing, the slaying of demons is a rite of purification to prepare their souls for purgatory, resulting in white flames.
✧
First Form, Ignis Purgans: A series of movements by chaining sword slashes and gunshots. The user begins by unleashing a sword strike, followed by a gunshot, before alternating back to a sword strike, then another gunshot, and so on. If the gun lacks bullets, the gun itself is used as a blunt instrument to strike instead of a gunshot.
✧
Second Form, Flamma Purgatorius: The user fires shots at the enemy before closing in with great speed to decapitate the target with a horizontal slash while they block or dodge.
✧
Third Form, Ardor Santificans: A powerful arcing downward sword strike delivered from above, if avoided or blocked, gunshots are unleashed at point-blank range.
✧
Fourth Form, Terra Sacra: The user unleashes an arcing horizontal slash, cutting away at enemies surrounding them and creating a trail of flaming circles around them. The circle of flames allows the user a brief period to quickly fire their gun and reload it, their movements greatly enhanced for the small period through total concentration, enough that everything would appear in slow motion.
✧
Fifth Form, Lux Splendens: The most powerful attack of Catharsis Breathing. The user closes the distance, before unleashing gunshots at point-blank range, the bullets coated in white flames. At the same time, with superhuman speed, the bullets' points of entry are struck by burning blades, making them explode in fiery explosions inside the target’s body.
_________________________________________________________________________'N i c h i r i n'
'N i c h i r i n'
Tenko’s Nichirin Sword turned into silvery white, symbolising its impurities having been cleansed. It also harkens to a passage from Malachi 3:2-3, of God being a refiner’s fire that refines and purifies silver. Its silver luster also represents the light she saw her mother had embodied and she strive to be.
Tenko’s gun is a modified Colt M1911, capable of firing 7 rounds of .45 ACP with a Nichirin tip made of Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand polymer before reloading. The gun is also coated with Scarlet Ore used to make Nichirin swords, making blunt strikes from the gun also effective against demons. The words ‘Et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebræ eam non comprehenderunt’ are engraved on the gun, a Latin passage from John 1:5, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’
_________________________________________________________________________U n i q u e T r a i t s : Tenko is able to sense the presence of demons nearby, a feeling she describes as a ‘unique unpleasant sensation of needles piercing her skin’. If she focuses, she is able to pinpoint the location of the demon in a radius of 100 meters. The Demon Slayer Corps said it must be innate intuition due to being born to a former Hashira who was also a marked one; Tenko prefers to think of it as a gift from the Holy Spirit.
