Demon Blade

• Real Name:   Tetsu Harper Yushi
  (Translation note: Tetsu means both Iron and Peace, Yushi  means reasoning/explanation)
• Nicknames:   Tetra Yushi (upon changing to female as Tetra),
  Tetsu-chan (given to him from a childhood friend in Japan), Tigerfish (Stock market Handle)
• Sex:                 Male / Female (When in the form of Tetra)
• Age:                 17
• Birthday:        June 30th
• Sign:               Cancer
• Blood Type:   0
• IQ Score          164
• Breast Size      42 C when he is changed to Tetra
• Hair Color       Dark Brown
• Eyes                  Blue
• Height              5′ 5″
• Home town     Wintchell, Oregon, USA
• Race                  Human, Asian, Ainu Tribe member (Ainu are a native tribe to Japan and are mixed Japanese and Russian in Heritage)

Family (In Order of Appearance) 

• Grandpa Toshi Yushi
• Grandma Hana Yushi
• Mother Karen Yushi
• Father Hiroshi Yushi
• Aunt Nozumi Okanewamu
• Uncle Daisuke Okanewamu

Romantic Interests (Based on the old series info at this time)

• Kyle Dago
• Maiyuki Springfrost

Likes

• Money
• Crossdressing (in his past)
• Math
• Science

Dislikes

• Chicken
• Bullies
• Drama Class
• Playing Sports

Fears

• Bees/Wasps/Hornets (He was attacked as a child by an Asian Giant hornet one year in Japan causing him to fear them)
• His past becoming public knowledge
• The Leggless Man

Back story From the start 

Born the only child to members of the Yushi Family Chicken Ranch Company based in Shiroai, Japan. Set to become the sole heir of the 17 based farms,  that supply instant Ramen companies with their chicken flavoring.  Tetsu, is set to gain a small fortune at age 18. But also the responsibility of running the family farm and leaving his birth country of the US behind.  While the Yushi family is set as a company worth ten million,  Tetsu in his own right is worth more from his hobbies of profiting
from playing the stock market and his management skills along with odd jobs he takes.

At the age of eight, his life took a turn causing him to change his actions of cross-dressing, dubbed the darkest day of his life. It caused him to give up on dreaming for himself and resolving his life to the one his family has set him to carry on as the lone heir. He comes to Shiroai at age 17 to both prepare for his move to come at the end of his high school life. He keeps the exact details from his friends as to what has been planned and not everything is known to him fully either.

Things change however when he takes his friends (Hugh, Sarah, and Roland) with him on his last summer and in a trip away from farm chores the four explore the massive national forest behind the family farm. Tetsu is separated from his friends when a cliffside comes out from under him dropping him in the hidden ruins of an old hut buried from both time and nature. In the ruins, Tetsu finds the Demon Blade. But in his effort of trying to take the blade, he is stabbed by the blade into his own chest. The wound unleashed the curse and woke the demon girl Maiyuki whose soul is trapped within. The action created a contract for the two to agree upon and saved Tetsu’s life at the time. But as Mai explained to him should he lose, give away or destroy the blade, his wound will reopen and he will die. But the blade’s power is far more as it will call out to others of both the human and spirit worlds. Causing the two to have to work together to break the curse or die in the process.

Personality:
While Tetsu is quick to react to things, he prefers the non-aggressive way to a fight. Bearing scars from a previous bullying attack on his chin and neck where he was nearly beaten to death at the age of 8. Tetsu is quite reserved in speaking about himself and his feelings. Often keeping things about himself kept internally. But some things are clear. Tetsu is a character of reason and logic, a master tactician, and a lover of science and math.

Powers:
Blade master can summon and use the demon blade and the spirits connected to the blade. Tetsu also is a skilled Tactician often coming up with plans of attack for the group in fights and finding a way to resolve and turn around trouble situations.

Currently Known Blade Summons under his control (based on the original series) 

• Maiyuki Springfrost
• Hachi
• Mino
• Lori

Creator Notes:

“Tetsu”
When people ask me, who is my most drawn character, its hands down Tetsu. From the earliest comics I did Tetsu was often the character I drew. And given through life Tetsu is very much the most reflective of my own life and personalities. In a sense… However, as the series began to be created in 2013 and later 2015, I didn’t know how much I wanted Tetsu’s gender issues to be part of the story. But as I dived deeper in the harsh and tragic life of the series main character, I knew that Tetsu being trans would be more important to not only give growth to Tetsu, but growth to be seen in the series.

I base each of the main four on story characters of Fiction, Mai is very much a more bad ass version of both Snow White and the Ice Queen. Ino is based on Thumbelina and The Littles. Kyle on many of Shakespeare’s young male roles, ie Romeo, Hamlet, and Bottom (from a mid-summer nights dream). Tetsu/Tetra is my take on Victoria Wolf’s Orlando. While she fits other roles, such as Juliet to Kyle’s Romeo, and such. I feel the genderbending sword wielding bad ass that is Orlando is what fits her best. Only she kicks a bit more butt as the series goes on. She is also limitally mimic’s Osamu Tezuka’s “Princess Knight” Sapphire only in the reverse order as a child boy a boy with a girls heart set to fight to save the ones she loves. 

Tetsu was one character that I kind of ignored much of her back story even in the 2013 version just sort of making her the blank slate till the end of the run where more of her developed both in the comic and in future scripts. When it came time to write the new release in 2015 I wanted to make Tetsu more human. She shrunk in her design becoming shorter than Mai and her actions and dress opposed Mai’s where Mai is more tomboyish and brash Tetsu was more effeminate and kinder.  

I work to get Tetsu not to be very happy even when she smiles. This is partly I want to show while she is accepting what she tossed aside for a decade that she isn’t there yet and its up to the others to help bring joy and happiness back to her life. Where she can be who her heart tells her to be.

When I draw or write past moments in Tetsu’s life I get really emotional about it. Given I blacked out a bit of this cards info which brings Tetsu to her quote darkest day. Which in full I wrote as the longest script in the series. To fully flesh out Tetsu’s past life. To sum up a few things I am not touching up on in this or the Tetra card info.

At age 3 Tetsu showed both a high intelligence scores 167 IQ but also her desire to be a girl. Her parents reluctantly accepted and let Tetsu explore this side of her despite being born a boy. But this troubled her grandfather who only accepted Tetra’s fathers wishes to study abroad if he would take over the family chicken farm. But at age 5 Tetsu’s dad refused to take over the business as his wife Karen was already far more successful as a business annalist. So, it was decided by Tetsu’s grandfather that it was time Tetsu was raised as a boy and learned to take over the farm as its only heir. Hiro didn’t like that his father tried to take Tetsu away from him and Karen and ended up fighting his own father. Filled with regret after the fight and seeing Tetsu asking about what a hero was. Hiroshi returned the next day and agreed to raise Tetsu to take over the family farm… but with him and Karen, and during summer Tetsu would live with her grandparents and learn the farms ways. During those summers Tetsu met a old teenage next door named Ryushi. Ryushi played with Tetsu thinking Tetsu was indeed fully a girl and this was never corrected to him so to this day, which Ryushi is a full-grown man and the farm’s resident vet, Ryushi still thinks Tetsu is female and even after Tetsu and Mai left offered to be Tetsu’s fiancée. It didn’t help that Tetsu’s grandmother Hana showed Ryushi pictures of Tetsu in the outfits Mai changed her in.  This matter however was in the hand that Tetsu’s Aunt was in charge of. While the older sibling to her brother Nozumi left the family and married into power and wealth with her husband Daisake who is a member of Japan’s Diet (Central Government) but when the events of Tokyo played out Daisake had to hurt his political career to protect the family embrassement that is Tetsu. As revenge Nozumi is hand selecting Tetsu’s fiancée for when she returns to Japan the next summer.

Tetsu’s Grandmother is a full-blooded Ainu. And she teaches lessons on the culture and ways of the Ainu to both her only grandchild and others. She is said by Mai to have a strong connection to the spiritual world… one she has passed down on to Tetsu. (Ainu are the native indigenous people of Japan and Western Russa known for their striking blue eyes)  

“Tetra”

 

With the development of Tetra in the story, came to note that the series really did have a character that was unique in many comics. It had a Trans lead in a story that really isn’t focused on trans issues… too much. Given with magic in the story many things can and will come into play. Examples of the previous version of the story are like Tetra’s battle against Sadie where only a female could avoid her control. And later issues to come when Tetra is sought as a bride, in a future script. But just because Tetra appears doesn’t mean Tetsu is gone… no Tetsu will be around for a while. But when there are issues focused on the tv show the group is a part of, or dates with Kyle are involved, then Tetra is likely to be seen more often. Because just because Tetsu can change back and forth, she isn’t fully willing to make that full leap due to her PTSD. It will take time for her to take that leap even if she does, she will still know she has a lot of baggage and scars to carry with her because the past cant die, it is one’s shadow and will always be something one must carry with them.