Tenjo Amanohokosaka

""Even I must become no more than a puppet that births 'death.'""

Tenjo Amanohokosaka (天ノ矛坂テンジョウ), commonly referred to as Lord Tenjo, is one of the previous Imperator's of the Novus Orbis Librarium, the leader of the Ikaruga Federation, and a member of the Amanohokosaka Clan. She is the mentor of Bang Shishigami and Kagura Mutsuki, and the mother of Homura Amanohokosaka. She was assassinated during the Ikaruga Civil War by Jin Kisaragi.

Tenjo was revealed for BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War on the 8th of July, 2021.

Appearance
Tenjo has large, deep red eyes, and long purple hair. White skin, pale lips, and eyelashes the same colour as her hair - her eyelids look as if they could fall at any moment, and most would think she was beautiful. To Jin Kisaragi, she looks exactly like his sister, Saya.

Towards the end of her life, Tenjo wears long white robes with red patterned lines running across it. On top of this she wears a purple robe, the same colour as her hair - both of these robes run down past her feet. On her head, she wears a small purple beret with multiple ornaments adorning it. She is last seen wearing a white mask with a red emblem near the eyes and nose; it covers her entire face.

As a child, Tenjo wore this same beret, and much smaller versions of the robes she would wear in adulthood. They seemed too big for her as a child.

Personality
Tenjo is a gracious and dignified leader who wishes for nothing more than peace and tranquillity for not just her citizens, but also those that she meets. She loves Ikaruga and her people. Tenjo cares greatly for Bang and Kagura and deeply loves Homura. Her general demeanour betrays her motherhood as she is outwardly maternal with those she spends time with. Her kindness and leadership qualities inspired her citizens and the loyalties of Bang, Kagura, and Meifang Lapislazuli even years after her death - a death she showed no fear of facing.

Despite her positions as the former Imperator of the NOL and leader of the Ikaruga Federation, Tenjo despises violence. The Ikaruga Civil War weighed heavily on her conscience as she felt powerless to stop it and ultimately blamed herself for its start. True conflict makes her heart ache, but she enjoys sparring and the cultivation of technique.

In her spare time, Tenjo likes looking at flowers and practicing her calligraphy; she wishes to have someone she can talk with about the latter. Her speech pattern is full archaic language and phrases.

Powers and Techniques
An Arts user who practices in the use of Ying-Yang Magic. Tenjo uses charms to fight and is able to use them to combat opponents. She can turn these charms into knives, cause them to conjure pillars of fire or raise spiked earth from the ground. Tenjo can further use these talismans to conjure lightning or even lift herself up into the air, forming a barrier beneath her feet which keeps her levitated above the ground. As well as this, Tenjo is a strong user of Ars Magus as she has the ability to use both the Deus Machina: Nirvana and Phoenix: Rettenjo, two Nox Nyctores level weapons.

Tenjo has a weak body, and uses her mask as a filter for seithr. Despite her physical fragility, she has a remarkably strong soul, remaining inside both the Rettenjo and then Kushinada's Lynchpin, and is able to activate the latter. As her dreams were taken from her by Ragna, it is possible that even after death, she was still marked as one of the chosen.

BlazBlue: Central Fiction Library Entry
The Lord who oversaw the Ikaruga Federation's 8th Hierarchical City, Wadatsumi.
 * Tenjo

''She moves for the Ikaruga Federation to secede, but is met with opposition from other members on the committee who want to expand the Federation further using their advantageous position. As a result of their aggression, however, Sector Seven withdraws their support from the Federation, taking a neutral stance against them.''

''After the destruction of the 5th Hierarchical City of Ibukido, the Federation make a valiant effort to hold their ground, but is eventually defeated by Jin Kisaragi's forces. Lord Tenjo's body is collected by Yuuki Terumi.''

''Tenjo had acquired Kushinada's Lynchpin, and was attempting to nullify all the seithr in the vicinity. But realizing the nullification of seithr may increase the casualties of the war, she reconsiders this option.''

Its core, the Rettenjo, is currently in Bang's possession.

BlazBlue 10th Anniversary Official Site Profile
''Former head of both the Ikaruga Federation and the 8th Hierarchical City “Wadatsumi.” Tenjo's assassination by Jin ended the civil war. Her true identity is...''

BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War Official Profile
''She is the Sovereign of the six Hierarchical Cities known as the Ikaruga Federation, but she is also the Imperator of the NOL. Her sole wish is lasting peace for her people and country, and she acts for this cause with her tender heart and gentle demeanor.''

As fitting of one bearing the name Amanohokosaka, she is a master of Yin-Yang magic.

Trivia

 * In the BlazBlue 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Tenjo placed 70th out of the 84 candidates, tying with Hinata Himezuru. She scored one place above Yuki Himezuru and Akane Teruhiko, and one place below Seven. She had 15 votes.
 * In the Japanese versions of all games, Tenjo's gender was never disclosed, and in English localisation, she was considered male before the release of BlazBlue: Spiral Shift – Hero of the Frozen Blade confirmed that Tenjo was a woman.
 * As a result of this, Tenjo's Library Entry in localization uses male pronouns. In Japanese, it is gender neutral.
 * Tenjo shares her voice actress, MINASE Inori, with Homura Amanohokosaka and Mei Amanohokosaka.
 * Since BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Tenjo has been referenced to, mainly by Bang Shishigami. She made her first physical appearance during sequences in BlazBlue: Variable Heart. The time between her being mentioned and making her first appearance was 8 years.
 * Tenjo is one of a handful of characters who are stated to use magic after the Dark War.
 * She shares her magic preference, Ying-Yang magic, with Mei Amanohokosaka.
 * The Reifu (a type of talisman used for divination and protection) that the Amanohokosaka clan, particularly Tenjo, uses has a design with the "Ghost" constellation stylized on the top, representing the aspect of fire and the Vermilion Phoenix, Suzaku. The central portion below it has a sigil depicting Phoenix:Rettenjo and the lowest section of the vertical talisman has the Azure Shrine Maiden's sigil. When activated by a user of the Yin-Yang arts, the Japanese script for "Amanohokosaka" is written vertically over the first two sections, and a sigil of crossed nails, similar to Bang's crest, is drawn in red ink over the Azure Shrine Maiden's.


 * Tenjo is illustrated in the following Grimoires for BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War:
 * 氷刃の英雄 (Hero of the Frozen Blade).
 * 帝の面影 (Imperator's Visage).
 * 奔流する光焔 (Cascading Incandescence)