- For Ryoko Balta from Tenchi Muyo! GXP, see Ryoko Balta.
Ryoko Hakubi (白眉 魎呼, Hakubi Ryōko) is a main character in the Tenchi Muyo! metaseries.
Ryoko is a semi-reformed space pirate who is madly in love with Tenchi Masaki, the main protagonist. She is always shown to have a very competitive relationship with Princess Ayeka, who also has a very strong romantic interest in Tenchi. Ryoko has differing abilities between the different continuities (the OVA, Tenchi Universe and so on), but her aggressive, emotional personality tends to remain the same.
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki
Ryoko is the product of combining a powerful creature known as Masu, with the ova of Washu Hakubi, the greatest scientific genius in the universe, making Washu her mother. Ryoko was
Ryoko as an infant, with Ryo-Ohki next to her. A result of Washu's bioengineering.
created to be an entity capable of wielding the power of Washu's three mysterious gems. Washu, who is one of the Chousin -- three deities who created the universe -- descended to the third dimension and placed her power into the three gems. Washu also created a living spacecraft, the powerful Ryo-Ohki, to be Ryoko's companion and ship.
However, Washu was sealed away on her powerful battleship, Soja, by her assistant Kagato. Kagato then enslaved Ryoko and claimed her as his own, using her for his own personal gain. Ryoko, under Kagato's control, decimated 28 planets and 69 colonies.
In order to capture the power of the goddess Tsunami, Kagato had Ryoko singlehandedly attack the planet Jurai, whose royal family are the only ones to hold the secret of Tsunami. Ryoko, along with Ryo-Ohki, nearly decimated Jurai, as their power was mysteriously equal to that of their extremely powerful Royal Treeships. In order to defeat her, Jurai's Prince Yōshō chased her all the way to the planet Earth, where he managed to subdue her and trap her in a cave near the Masaki Shrine by stealing the three gems.
Seven centuries later, Yosho's grandson, Tenchi Masaki, incidentally frees her from her imprisonment. For seven hundred years, Ryoko felt trapped within the cold, damp loneliness of the cave and wanted to have a little "fun" at Tenchi's expense by attacking him, which she considered play time, destroying his high school in the process. Fortunately, Yosho's Master Key, Sword Tenchi, (which doubles as a light sword) was also in the cave, and it helped Tenchi disable a gem fueling Ryoko's abilities.
Afterwards, Ryoko begged Tenchi to relinquish one of her gems which Yosho embedded to the palm of his Master Key so she could re-awaken Ryo-Ohki. This happened to be just in time, for she had sensed Yosho's sister, Jurai's Princess Ayeka, approaching Earth in search of her lost brother. Ayeka indeed proved threatening in her own search for vengeance. After a battle, both Ryo-Ohki and Ayeka's Royal Treeship, Ryu-Oh, crashed on Earth near Tenchi's home - leading to Ryoko becoming a permanent house guest alongside Ayeka and her little sister Sasami.
Also, fortunately, her ship managed to regenerate in a way - a reincarnated Ryo-Ohki entered the scene, with just as strong a bond with Ryoko as the former.
As for Ryoko herself, her feelings for Tenchi emerged themselves, and thus she and Ayeka opened a new chapter in their long rivalry - since Ayeka believed Yosho to be dead and was stranded on Earth, she was forced into proximity with Tenchi and Ryoko. She developed her own feelings for Tenchi - leading to a legendary feud between the princess and the space pirate.
Technically, Ryoko is a free woman. Her criminal files have been erased due to statute of limitations. Ironically,
Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki
being imprisoned for so long helped lead to her overall freedom, since she can no longer be charged, which was all apart of Yosho's plan. Just as well; Ryoko is a free spirit who hates responsibilities or other restraints. When it comes to her relationship with Ayeka, the two of them are polar opposites in personality, as well as archrivals for Tenchi's affections. In regards to prominent character traits, Ryoko is very emotional. She easily gets upset, and is incredibly short tempered. She is also very raunchy and sexual, especially when it comes to Tenchi.
Due to her former life of being used purely for destruction, as well as her long imprisonment, both cutting her off from traditional interactions, Ryoko has little concept of what is and isn't "socially acceptable". This would explain why she has no problems with sexual displays, is persistently either highly volatile when criticized or passive-aggressive when someone tries to impose authority, and shows few signs of any impulse control. Typically, Ryoko is very mercurial - she's very carefree and laid-back most of the time, but is easily identified by her dangerous temper. However, when Ryoko encounters something that truly scares or saddens her, ranging from insults about her age to seeing someone important to her in danger, Ryoko can be very prone to tears.
Ryoko is also sometimes rather childlike, and can be a bit gullible. Since most of her life was spent either working under Kagato or sealed inside a cave, she does not have much experience in "normal" situations. Overall, it seems that many of Ryoko's negative traits - like her unabashed sexual behavior and impulsive, aggressive actions - might not be from actual malice, but perhaps from a lack of social interaction. In the True Tenchi novel "Yosho," it is revealed that while under the control of Kagato, he tried to squash all emotion out of her, and she attempted to receive some sort of emotional interaction from wherever she could get it from; even sex and masturbation didn't cut it for her. Attacking people and the things they cared about was the only way she knew how. Ryoko is also extremely sensitive about her age, being brought to tears when Ayeka called her a mummy - although it should be remembered that Ryoko was quite drunk at the time, her age still seems to be a sore spot.
Ryoko desires to be with a grieving Tenchi.
Ryoko is 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 shrine, she was able to create an astral body (a ghostly body piloted by her consciousness) 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. In fact, it was Yosho's plan all along for Ryoko to come in contact with Tenchi while sealed away; by experiencing childhood through him, it would change her for the better. 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 feels about Tenchi and says that Ryoko wants to do "this and that" with him.
Ryoko 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. Their mother-daughter relationship is played upon several times as Washu shows equal or greater sadism than her daughter such as making degrading comments about Ryoko's physical appearance.
Ryoko was not able to control her true emotions after assimilating with Zero
The most extreme example of this mother-daughter sadism as well as Washu trying to get Ryoko in touch with her own emotions is when Washu, knowing Ryoko has a fear of being trapped in cold and dark places, leaves Ryoko bound in her lab. After a single night, Ryoko breaks down and begins crying, calling for her "Mommy" over and over while Washu records the incident, commenting on how cute Ryoko is and the "pleasures of motherhood." Despite this, the two do share more parental moments such as when Washu states that she will not force Ryoko to assimilate with Dr. Clay's robot Zero who became Ryoko's complete copy and does not limit her show of the emotions that she incidentally duplicated from Ryoko, but possibly because of a grudging respect for Washu or simply because she wants to, Ryoko agrees and now is more in tune with her feelings and acts more human. Not to mention, her knowledge has been enhanced after fusing with Zero.
Perhaps the most telling sign of a deeper connection is the simple fact they have a mother-daughter relationship. Even though Ryoko is essentially not Washu's daughter by birth, Washu still refuses to consider Ryoko a mere creation for personal uses; always her daughter. This can also be seen in Washu's conversation with Juraian empress Funaho, where she declares she would never create another Ryoko who will always be her only daughter. It remains rather clear that, despite Washu's on and off antagonization of Ryoko, she still loves and respects her as a daughter in the end.
Ryoko, decades older with her daughter and Ryo-Ohki's offspring.
In Masaki Kajishima's doujinshi "Tenchi Sokuhou," that decades after OVA 3, Ryoko will have a daughter whom resembles her and seems to have similar eyes and facial structure to Tenchi. The American fandom has named the girl "Tenko," as a portmanteau of their names.
Powers and Abilities
Ryoko is one of the most powerful beings in the universe due to being the daughter of one of its superior goddesses and her possession of the three gems created by Washu.
Physically, Ryoko has no taste buds, and has no need to eat; she can draw all the energy she needs from the gems; one embedded in her right wrist, one in the left, and one in her throat. When Yosho defeated her, he removed the gems and attached them to the pommel of his Master Key, Tenchi-ken (Sword Tenchi) in order to feed power to his Royal Tree, Funaho, and to also keep her sealed in the cave. When she was resurrected, Tenchi initially returned one of the three gems so as to placate her, providing her with her powers for self-defense in the process. With the power of the gems attached to her, as her nomenclature suggests (Ryoko means "bringer of demons", and is translated as "The Devil Caller" in Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki), Ryoko has the ability to summon malicious spirits with the gem in her left wrist but she needs the gem in her right wrist to control the spirits. As well, her gems, in addition to bestowing abilities, give a significant boost to her strength and endurance. Additionally, Ryoko is able to form inferior gems on her own to replace missing gems - such as her earring. While these inferior gems are exactly that - paling in comparison to the real thing - they are useful for balancing Ryoko's abilities.
Future Ryoko at full power with all three gems, generating Light Hawk Wings.
Royal Trees which were created by Washu's sister Tsunami, Ryoko, if possessing all three gems, would be able to generate Light Hawk Wings; the most potent sources of energy in our dimension. Though Ryoko's body cannot handle the complete power of the gems because she is still in the middle stages of development, when her body is completely matured, both she and Ryo-Ohki together can handle the true power of the gems, which is what their initial purpose was. At this time of maturation, the pair would be able to conjure 10 Light Hawk Wings, the same amount as Tsunami.
Even though she doesn't need food, Ryoko eats to be social - however, she's said that she has a "taste" for sake. This is very prevalent for her, as numerous scenes where she is not fighting, Ryoko can be seen to near-constantly have at least one flask of sake to drink from. Although she can get drunk like normal humans, Ryoko has the ability to nullify the effects of alcohol, which comes in handy if she has to go into battle. This is quite useful, as it seems she spends a large portion of her time intoxicated or nearing such a state from her alcoholism. She can also instantly nullify any other toxic chemicals within her body.
In addition, Ryoko does not need to breathe, and can survive unaided in the vacuum of space and underwater. Ryoko has a vast amount of powers but the ones she's displayed are the ability to fire energy blasts from her hands as well as form simple energy swords, fly quite quickly and expertly, summon the aforementioned spirits of varying strengths, teleport an unspecified distance (it seems she can teleport within several meters, perhaps over a hundred; however, an exact distance is never given, and she seems to rarely use it for actual transportation), duplicate herself, shape matter on the molecular level (allowing her to easily fix technology like Mihoshi's watch), has some form of telekinesis that can be focused into powerful bursts, the ability to regenerate lost limbs (regrowing a severed hand within several seconds), along with telepathy shared with Ryo-Ohki and Washu. However, Ryoko is not limited to just these abilities and has a wide range of other supernatural powers.
Tenchi Universe
In the Tenchi Universe continuity, Ryoko's background and storyline is different from her OVA counterpart. In this series, Ryoko is once again a space pirate, but she isn't and never has been a slave and isn't the one sealed away in the cave (although another is). She was introduced to Tenchi by crash-landing on Earth and claiming to be sought after by a space pirate. It is revealed that the "space pirate" is actually Galaxy Police officer Mihoshi. The two alien women become trapped at Tenchi's home after a dogfight. Upon meeting Tenchi, it was almost love at first sight (for her, of course). Information is never given on the identities of her parents or where she comes from.
Ryoko is much more limited than in the original series. The three gems are occasionally seen, but are no longer presented as the source of her power. Ryoko can still fire energy blasts, form swords, fly, teleport, phase through solid matter, and make copies of herself, but she can no longer summon demons; this is a bit odd, considering the meaning of her name. Ryoko is generally less powerful than in the OVA, as her arch-rival, the bounty hunter Nagi, who has no superhuman powers at all, is able to fight her on at least equal terms.
Again, she is very emotional and brash, but not as much as in the OVA. She retains her enjoyment in 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 is willing to and nearly does die for him.
In this series, Ryoko still has Ryo-Ohki, her pet (or partner-in-crime) cabbit (cat/rabbit animal), which can transform into a well-armed spaceship. Her arch-rival, Nagi, has her own cabbit/spaceship; a male named Ken-Ohki. Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki are smitten with each other, which complicates the lives of their mistresses.
Ryoko and Ayeka's rivalry doesn't stem from an attack on Jurai; in fact their relationship has been a tense one for nearly their entire lives. Beginning when they were children, Ryoko and Ayeka always seem to run into each other and have altercations. Throughout the series, the two (usually during their constant bickering) will break into flashback with each of them telling a different story, making themselves look like the victim while the other appears to be a monster.
By series end, Tenchi is seen heading off for school and daydreaming about the missing Ryoko; thought to have sacrificed herself. Then, to his surprise and delight, the real Ryoko returns alive and well.
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." However, unlike the original series, it seems she was in an actual jail; seeing as she wasn't sealed in the cave in this series. This statement could've possibly inferred that Ryoko was sentenced to 700 years but never completed her sentence by escaping or something.
In contrast to the OVA continuity where Tenchi is indecisive about which girl he truly wants to be with romantically, it is obvious that Ryoko holds a special place in Tenchi's heart and that if he had to choose he would most certainly choose her, though this isn't verbally stated during the series. This is hinted at during their various intimate conversations throughout the series and the fact that in the final movie, Tenchi Forever!, even with his memory gone, Tenchi constantly draws rough sketches of Ryoko and Ryoko only. Upon returning to Earth after Tenchi's battle with Kagato, Ryoko tells him that she plans on fighting fair and square with Ayeka in the battle for his heart.
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 Lightstone, which consequently brings everybody to Tenchi's planet all at once as the other girls were in pursuit of them. She pilots a ship which looks identical to OVA Kagato's Sōja, except for its color was red and it was much smaller in size. Ryoko falls in love with Tenchi after a major battle between her and everybody else
Ryoko on her date with Tenchi.
when they all crash-landed on Earth. 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.
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, as it's one of the only characteristics that remains consistent throughout every series (another being her rivalry with Ayeka). However, it develops to a greater extent in this series after she goes on a date with Tenchi, and later sees him with his girlfriend, Sakuya Kumashiro. Her hurt feelings over Tenchi made her even abandon the group and briefly return to space piracy alongside Hotsuma after she sees him and Sakuya kiss.
She still retains the ability to summon an energy sword and fire energy blasts, but Ryo-Ohki belongs to Sasami rather than her. Also she cannot survive without oxygen unlike the previous series.
Pretty Sammy
Ryoko appears in both Pretty Sammy series in very different roles.
Pretty Sammy OVA
In the OVA series, Ryoko appears as a schoolgirl, Ryoko Orikasa (折笠 魎呼, Orikasa Ryōko) (she was given the last name of her Japanese seiyū, Ai Orikasa), 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'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. Even after this Ryoko's demeanor hadn't changed.
Magical Project S
In the Pretty Sammy TV series (Magical Project S), Ryoko appears in the last few episodes starting with episode 23 as Oryo, or '"Overly Splendid" Oryo (素晴らしすぎるお魎, Subarashi Sugiru Oryō), bodyguard to Queen Tsunami 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 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 series) and easily destroyed Love-Me Eimi's Lovely Monsters Right and Left, after Pretty Sammy had destroyed the antenna that Romio was using to control Eimi.
Trivia
- The tails Ryoko is seen having in many episodes are accessories attached to many of her various dresses. Some fans incorrectly assume that the tail is attached to her and get confused when it doesn't show up when she's wearing an outfit that lacks a tail, when she's naked, or when she wears a dress with a different colored tail.
- She is the only girl to wear shoes in the house while the others either wear socks or go barefoot, probably to emphasize her "rogue" personality, considering that it's very rude to keep your shoes on inside of a home in Japan.
- However there are a few times in the tokyo season where Ryoko is seen without her shoes in the house.