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Tarant Shank is one of the main villains from the series Tenchi Muyo! GXP. He is first introduced as a humanoid pirate and is later turned into a cyborg.

Never-Ending Vendetta

Tenchi (3)

Tarant's original appearance

Tarant was the heir of The Shank Pirate Guild, whose history runs for over 20,000 years, but has greatly diminished in the past few hundred and was eventually left in the shadow of the dominant Daluma Guild. But the menace of the larger organization, in general, is nothing compared to the terror brought by Tarant Shank-himself, in particular.

He is bloodthirsty and cruel, feared by both the Galaxy Police and his peers, even killing members of his own family and guild for the perceived dishonour of being captured alive by the Jurian fleet, after having been inadvertantly lured by Seina Yamada in his first spaceflight. Tarant Shank is captain of the Daidalos, and no prisoner brought aboard his ship tends to live very long. Though sadistic enough to pass up an easy kill to instil more terror in his prey, Tarant is a survivalist and cowardly at heart, using others (even his own subordinates) as a shield when plans go awry and he has to escape.

Tarant has a grudge against Seina for capturing the "incompetent old man," tarnishing his family name. He attacks a destroyer transporting Seina and amuses himself by stalking the boy while killing GP officers. Before Shank can decide what torture to visit upon him, Kiriko steps in to save him, allowing Seina the chance to stab Shank in the arm and escape. The pirate backs down for now, vowing to hunt down and kill Seina for the shame he's brought him.

Tarant later plans to take Seina's family hostage fail after Tenchi and the others get involved, after-which he resorts to blackmailing Ryoko to kill him proves fruitless when she cares too much for the boy to act as an assassin (and the hostages he had captured, her crew's family, escaped). The Daidalos then leads a small fleet into a direct confrontation with Seina while on route to Jurai, but Shank is forced to retreat after coming under fire from Ryo-Ohki.

Shank has all passengers aboard a commuter ship killed, planting a bio-droid in the wreckage to pose as a sole "survivor" to be recovered by Seina's Kamidake II. The infiltration seemingly succeeds and the ship's crew is captured, with the K2 being swallowed whole by the whale-like Daidalos. Shank taunts Kiriko and Seina, gloating before "returning" the boy's knife to him... through the chest. However, the setup itself was a ruse by the GP, with the supposed prisoners-themselves being dupes created by Washu. Off-balance, the Daidalos is mortally crippled when K2 opens fire from within the docking bay, and explodes as its captives break their way out of its hull. Tarant survives the attack, though the upper left portion of his torso and face (including his eye) are irreparably damaged. Scarred now with numerous metal accoutrements, he falls further from grace after a loss in a duel to Seiryo, upending his chances of commanding the newest flagship of the Daluma fleet.

Striking Out on His Own

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Tarant's cyborg appearance.

Shank was not present when the The Great Daruma fell to an attack by Seina and Daluma Guild fell apart, instead forming an alliance with a rogue faction within the Galaxy Army. They abduct Fuku and the Kamidake II in order to learn the ship's secrets, with Tarant growing ever impatient that his scientists can't simply dissect the cabbit, instead of just producing imperfect (powerless) clones. He's eager to fight Seina again when the boy storms his lab to take Fuku back, but Tarant is ill-prepared for the young man's rage, fleeing as he's nearly crushed by Zinv, Yamada's newly-found mecha.

Bruised but not yet beaten, Shank boards the rebuilt Daidalos, commanding his and the rogue GA fleet to concentrate all firepower towards Seina, conspiring to kill him and obliterate the planet to cover their tracks. The mecha is not destroyed, however, instead teleporting in front of the two fleets and continuing its own attack. Terrified now, he sacrifices his own ships and men to buy time, ordering his crew to jump into hyperspace to escape. The ship successfully warps away just as Seina's mech comes within arm's reach, but as Shank curses the young officer for robbing him of whatever accomplishments and ambitions he might have had, the pirate is horrified to see the mecha's hand (aided with the power of the Light Hawk Wings from the Juraian tree seed powering it) reach into hyperspace to draw the Daidalos back out. The ship is crushed and dissolved to nothingness, seemingly taking its captain along with it.

However, Shank survived, and makes a final attempt on Seina's life on the boy's wedding day, masquerading as a butler to catch him unawares. Half-mad from further modification, Shank is fixated only on revenge and moves to slash the GP officer with his knife, promising to kill Kiriko next. However, his attack damages the floor and activates sealant gel that holds him in place, and a kick from Seina causes his trapped metallic leg to snap off. The automated devices on board detect the sparks coming from Tarant's damaged leg and seep the pirate in sealant, and no amount of curses or screams of reprisal can keep him from being fully immobilized and captured.

Trivia

  • The Shank pirate guild (localized as "Shiunk") made their first animated appearance in Spaceship Agga Ruter, a light hentai directed by Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki creator Masaki Kajishima.
  • Shank pirates also feature occasionally in Volume 1 and Volume 3 of the True Tenchi Muyo! Novels.
    • 20,000 years in the past when they try to capture or kill the 18 year old Washu, first create the Daidalos ship design, and find a way to penetrate Light Hawk Wings and destroy a Royal Treeship (the source of the "Original J" seed that Seina had to guard and bring to Jurai).
    • As Pirates kidnapping people from Funaho's village for the slave trade, at the end of the Shōka era- causing the young Azusa to step in.
  • Dird Shank is one of the female leads in the Paradise War novels. She is also featured briefly in one of the GXP novels, as a young girl witnessing Seiryo Tennan defeat Tarant in the contest to see who will command the Good Luck Fleet. Seiryo sees her concerned face and decides to be merciful to Tarant for her sake.
  • When Tarant first saw Kiriko, while trying to save Seina, she was at her most deadly, her whole body splattered with the blood of pirates she personally killed. He decided she was someone like him and was greatly aroused.
  • In the novels, when Tarant murdered his father and older brother for being captured, his pirates also murdered every living person on the station where they were temporarily being held, including, what they believed to be, Miki Steinbeck. But what he did not know was that she was secretly an AI in an artificial body. When he "killed" her, she was actually freed from her body and ended up inhabiting his ship and secret base's computers. She discretely helped to sabotage his plans, aiding escapes, smuggling the Original J seed out of his base, and ultimately helping to bring his downfall when Seina came to save Fuku.

Gallery

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