Otori Takeo

Lord Otori Takeo, born Tomasu ("Thomas"), is the adoptive son of Shigeru, a member of the Otori Clan, and the most frequent point-of-view character in the Tales of the Otori series. He was raised by his mother and step-father in the Eastern Country village of Mino, until it's destruction; he was then adopted and raised by Otori Shigeru until the Tribe came to claim him. Takeo's heritage spans multiple social castes; his mother Sara was a peasant and a member of the Hidden, and raised him as such, while his father Isamu (who died before he was born) was a member of the Kikuta family of the Tribe, and possessed many hereditary powers such as invisibility, enhanced hearing, the second self and the Kikuta sleep. Takeo also possesses these gifts. However, Takeo is also a legitimate claimant to the Otori Clan. Not only was he adopted by Shigeru (the legal heir to the clan) but his father was of half Otori heritage: Takeo's Kikuta grandmother had a secret affair with Shigeru's father Otori Shigemori, which resulted in Isamu's conception. Over the course of Tales of the Otori, Takeo learns both the ways of the warrior class and the Tribe, but is increasingly driven to take up his Otori inheritance after his mentor and adoptive father Shigeru dies. He falls deeply in love with the young noblewoman Shirakawa Kaede, whom he eventually marries and has four children with: daughters Shigeko, Maya and Miki, and an unnamed son. During his time in exile with the Tribe he also has a relationship with Muto Yuki that produces a son, Kikuta Hisao, who Takeo only meets moments before his own death.

Takeo ultimately establishes himself as head of the Otori clan and the peaceful overlord of the Three Countries, through the events of a prophecy that predicted "Your lands will stretch from Sea to Sea, but peace comes at the price of bloodshed. Five battles will buy you peace, four to win and one to lose. Many must die, but you yourself are safe from death- except at the hands of your own son." This prophecy is mostly fulfilled in Brilliance of the Moon, and concluded in The Harsh Cry of the Heron, when Takeo kills himself while holding the knife in the hands of his illegitimate son Hisao. He is succeeded as Lord of the Otori by his daughter and heir, Shigeko.

Conception
Takeo's father, Kikuta Isamu, was an extremely powerful member of the Tribe and a master assassin; it seemed likely that he would one day be Master of the Kikuta family. However, he came to despise the cruelty and ruthlessness of the Tribe and eventually deserted them, for which the Tribe declared that his life was forfeit to them. After visiting Mino (a secret village largely populated by the Hidden, in the mountains of the Eastern Country) Isamu was exposed to the beliefs of the Hidden and converted, taking a vow never to kill again. Soon after he married Sara, a peasant woman he had fallen in love with.

Barely two years after his desertion, Isamu was tracked down by his first cousin and former friend Kikuta Kotaro, who had been assigned by the Tribe to kill him. At first attempting to escape- or perhaps simply to draw Kotaro away from Sara and keep her safe- Isamu eventually faced his cousin, refusing to fight against him (even though his skills were more powerful than Kotaro's) and forgiving him for his sins, in accordance with his new beliefs. Kotaro then killed him with a knife to the heart.

Birth, Early Life and Discovery
Unknown to either Isamu or the Tribe, Sara had conceived a son by Isamu before his death. On his birth, she named him Tomasu ("Thomas") and raised him with her second husband; she eventually bore two daughters as well, Tomasu's half-sisters. Tomasu grew up as a somewhat mischievous but goodhearted boy, fully adopting the views of the Hidden yet frequently disobeying his parents to go wandering the forests around the village of Mino. His mother and stepfather were exasperated and angry, yet loved him dearly, especially after he saved his younger sister Madaren from drowning in a flood.

Tomasu became somewhat handsome in his adolescence and was considered a desirable match by some of the village girls; he eventually had sexual encounters with some of the boys at Mino and with girls at the brothel. His stepfather began making considerations to arrange a good marriage for him.

Tomasu was noticed by a certain traveling merchant from the Middle Country who visited Mino. Despite being a member of the Hidden, who are forbidden to kill, he had brought along a sword that he had collected from a battlefield and was trying to sell. Tomasu was intrigued by the sword, and tried to handle it correctly despite his beliefs. The merchant noticed this, but more importantly he noticed Tomasu's appearance: he resembled the brother of Lord Otori Shigeru, the rightful (but retired) heir to the Otori noble clan. He also noticed the horizontal lines across Tomasu's palms, which marked him as a descendant of the Kikuta family. The merchant's hasty departure left Tomau's stepfather uneasy, and he suggested to Sara that perhaps they should send Tomasu away to a different village.

Unknown to them, the merchant had gone to tell Shigeru that he had located a descendant of the Tribe who might also be a descendant of the Otori, and in fact he was right: Isamu's mother had had an affair with Shigeru's father Shigemori, making Shigeru Tomasu's uncle by blood. Shigeru had been seeking someone with Tribe abilities, yet outside the Tribe itself, for the purpose of revenging himself on Iida Sadamu, the head of the Tohan Clan. Shigeru set out at once to find Tomasu.

Escaping Sadamu and Meeting Shigeru
The Hidden were frequently persecuted by the warrior class for their nonviolent beliefs (especially in the Eastern Country, where the Tohan frequently had them tortured and killed publicly when they were discovered) and even the farming and merchant classes frequently viewed them as suspicious and superstitious.

Not long after the merchant's departure, Mino was attacked by the cruel Tohan overlord, Iida Sadamu. Tomasu, who had been gathering mushrooms in the forest, returned to find his village burning and most of the people massacred; he was horrified to see the body of his stepfather. Tomasu was then noticed by Sadamu himself, who charged at him on his warhorse. However, despite his terror and his peaceful upbringing, Tomasu suddenly became determined to escape and seek revenge on Sadamu. He unintentionally "split" himself (created a second illusion of himself, an ability of some of the Tribe) and dodged past Sadamu's horse, singeing it with an incense holder and causing it to buck Sadamu off its' back.

As Tomasu fled into the woods, he was pursued by Sadamu's retaineer Ando and two of his soldiers. However, he ran directly into Shigeru, who had come to Mino in disguise to rescue him. Shigeru defended him from the Tohan men, cutting off Ando's arm and decapitating another man with his sword, Jato. The two of them fled across the mountains; Tomasu pledged his loyalty and service to Shigeru for saving his life, while Shigeru was amused to learn that he had unhorsed Sadamu. He re-named Tomasu, Takeo, encouraging him to forget his old name and life (Tomasu was a common name among the Hidden) and forbade him to pray in the manner of the Hidden, as it would result in both their deaths if such prayers were seen. They stayed at an inn in the village of Hinode; that night, Takeo wept for his mother, stepfather and sisters. Shigeru sympathized with him (having only recently lost his beloved brother Takeshi, also murdered by the Tohan) but instructed him "Death comes suddenly, and life is fragile and brief. No one can alter this, either by prayer or spells. Children cry about it, but men and women do not cry. They have to endure."

As they traveled, Takeo noticed that his voice seemed to have disappeared; he simply could not form words. By contrast, his hearing suddenly became supernaturally acute, and he could identify and distinguish virtually every sound in a building or even a given area. He and Shigeru turned south and traveled largely through the wilderness until they reached a town near the coast that had once been Otori territory. There they encountered and shared tea with Lady Maruyama Naomi, an old friend and ally of Shigeru's- and also, as Takeo soon discovered through his enhanced hearing, she and Shigeru were secretly lovers. Takeo was astonished to discover that Naomi was not only familiar with, but to some degree secretly practiced the rituals of the Hidden.

They then turned northwest, stopping briefly near the plain of Yagaehara, where Shigeru explained to Takeo some of the Otori's history and their terrible defeat in the battle there against the Tohan, where his father Shigemori had been killed. As they continued Shigeru continued to explain the current politics of the Middle Country to Takeo, as well as pointing out various aspects of agriculture that he had studied. When they stopped an inn at Tsuwano, within the Otori fief, Takeo was astonished at how beloved Shigeru was out of disguise, and assumed he was the head of the Clan.

Three days later the two of them reached the great castle-port of Hagi, the Otori capital. Takeo was brought to Shigeru's house, where he met Shigeru's housekeepers Ichiro and Chiyo; they were amazed by his appearance, as he closely resembled Shigeru's deceased brother Takeshi. Shigeru announced his intention to adopt Takeo, feeling obliged to give him full protection and claiming that he was fond of the boy. Despite Ichiro's frequent protests and bewilderment at Takeo's lack of speech, he was gradually accepted into the household.

Initially, Takeo's education was a challenge; he had been brought up illiterate, and he struggled to write basic characters, exasperating Ichiro further, even to the point of beating him once. After learning of Shigeru's status as the former heir of the clan, Takeo began to feel he was letting Shigeru down, and began to contemplate leaving, despite Shigeru's continued patience with him. However, the night he thought to act on it he noticed that he could not hear the guards, then faintly heard an intruder climbing up the side of the house. Suddenly regaining his power of speech, he quietly alerted Shigeru to the threat, and they caught the assassin just as he was coming through the window. In the struggle, all three fell into the garden, with the killer (later identified as Kuroda Shintaro of the Tribe) poisoning himself before he could be interrogated. With Takeo having saved his life and his speech restored, Shigeru and Ichiro's affection for Takeo grew, and his education as a warrior began to progress more smoothly.

Death
After Takeo's official abdication in favor of Shigeko, he traveled incognito across the Middle Country with Miyoshi Gemba. On arriving at Yamagata and finding that Kaede had already surrendered it to Zenko's forces, Takeo entered the castle-town by invisibility and located Kaede. On speaking with her, he immediately understood how she had been turned against him. She had finally learned the secret he had kept from her for over fifteen years: the part of the prophecy concerning his death, and the existence of his son Hisao by Yuki. Takeo fruitlessly tried to explain that he had not wanted to hurt her (his affair with Yuki had happened long before their marriage, when he had believed Kaede was lost to him forever). He pointed out that their separation would destroy the unity of the Three Countries and inflict suffering on the people, but Kaede was unmoved, saying she hated him for his deceptive nature and accusing him of having wanted their son dead, or having arranged it himself. She declared that, as he was not a proper member of the warrior class and never had been, she would not forgive him unless he committed seppuku. When Takeo declined and tried to explain about his abdication in favor of Shigeko, Kaede called the guards. Unbalanced by his grief at losing her, Takeo was nearly hit by several arrows as he and Gemba fled Yamagata via the river.

Remembering Matsuda Shingen's words, "Come back to us when it is all over", Takeo decided to go to the temple at Terayama for the final time, arriving at the start of the eighth month. The first thing he did on arriving was remove the Otori sword Jato from his belt and give it to Makoto, to keep for Shigeko when she came to claim it. He then made a vow never to kill or take up weapons again, devoting the rest of his days to the Way of the Huou. Makoto, unnerved by Takeo's newfound calm and fearing his death was coming, begged him to return to leadership and destroy his enemies, but Takeo refused. From time to time he grieved, both for the death of his infant son and the rift with Kaede, but most of his time at Terayama was spent in a state of spiritual renewal and healing. He meditated and did a great deal of painting and sketching, finishing several screens and painting birds so realistically that a cat tried to pounce on them.

Takeo's other source of happiness was the reappearance of his youngest daughter, Miki. Having fled Hagi just before its' sacking, she was rendered temporarily mute, partly by her ordeals and partly by her Kikuta ancestry (which often caused temporary loss of voice around puberty). Father and daughter were a great comfort to each other.

Two weeks after Takeo arrived, he, Makoto and Miki were in the temple gardens when he heard footsteps on the mountain path below, recognizing the sounds as those of the Tribe. He ordered Makoto to have the monks take Miki away as Kikuta Akio and another man entered the garden, but Miki refused to leave. Takeo immediately recognized the younger man as his son, Hisao, despite the fact that they had never met; when Hisao questioned him about this, Takeo confirmed it, asking forgiveness both of him and of Muto Yuki. As Hisao pointed a handmade pistol at him, Takeo did not try to flee or defend himself; indeed, he ordered the monks to neither stop nor harm the young man. Yet, as Akio screamed at Hisao to kill his father, Hisao hesitated. Akio seized the pistol away and tried to shoot Takeo himself, but a large cat that had followed Hisao (actually Maya, trapped in her spirit form) latched onto his face, causing the gun to misfire and explode. Hisao was stunned, while Akio and Maya were both mortally wounded. Miki used her spiritual powers to return her dying sister to human form and save her soul, but was unable to revive her.

Grieving for the death of yet another of his children, Takeo embraced the twins one final time, then approached Hisao and pulled a knife from his son's belt. Placing it in Hisao's hands, he locked eyes with him as he drove the knife into his own abdomen. Hisao fell into the Kikuta sleep as Takeo began to bleed out. Seeking to end Takeo's agony, Makoto brought Jato and used it to behead him with one swing. The monks then buried him as he had wished, alongside his adoptive father and mentor Shigeru.

Makoto later reflected that the conspiracy between Zenko, Hana and the Kikuta to turn Kaede against Takeo had been designed to make him flee to Terayama, where he would have been unable to defend himself against attack. Nonetheless, despite his grief at the death of his friend and former lover, Makoto found solace in the fact that Takeo "died as he lived: fearlessly, and with compassion... like Shigeru, he will never be forgotten."

Takeo's Succession and Aftermath:
Hisao and Miki were both taken in by Makoto and the monks at Terayama.

Takeo's eldest daughter Shigeko succeeded him as head of the Otori clan; she was recognized not only by the Three Countries, but by the rest of the clans of the Eight Islands and even by the Emperor himself. After being offered a marriage-alliance with Lord Saga Hideki, she accepted on the condition that she remain equal co-ruler of the Three Countries, and that her parents' reforms would not be reversed. Saga's children from his previous marriages could not inherit the Three Countries, and if he and Shigeko had no daughters, Maruyama would be inherited by Shigeko's sister Miki; the same would apply to the Otori and Shirakawa lands, if Shikego had no children at all. The Eight Islands would thus be nominally re-unified under the authority of the Emperor and the Saga and Otori Clans.

Hideki agreed to Shigeko's terms, though he did alter one of Takeo's policies: the Portuguese traders and their religious missionaries were to be expelled, and their faith forbidden, as it was seen as too subversive and dangerous to Hideki's and the Emperor's authority. The Hidden were therefore forced to either leave the Eight Islands, renounce their faith, or live in hiding again; it is unknown which of these choices was taken by Takeo's younger sister Madaren.

Alongside the Saga armies, the Otori forces under Shigeko and Miyoshi Kahei encircled and decisively defeated the Arai forces at Yamagata. Zenko and his wife Hana were forced to commit seppuku; Hana also killed their youngest son Hiromasa, but Kaede and Shigeko convinced Saga to spare Zenko's other two sons (Sunaomi and Chikara) as long as they renounced the Arai name and lands. Kaede took them with her to Terayama.

Having recovered somewhat from her shock-induced mental instability, Kaede no longer bore hatred towards Takeo; indeed, she was filled with sorrow and remorse when she finally learned that he was dead. When she arrived at Terayama, about three months after Takeo's death, she was given sanctuary by Makoto, who showed her his written account of Takeo's last days. Upon seeing his grave, Kaede was overcome with grief. She drew a knife and prepared to kill herself to join him, but was stopped by the appearance of Miki. Unwilling to leave her daughter an orphan, Kaede resolved to live on for all of Takeo's children, even Hisao.

Personality:
Takeo is an occasionally temperamental person; in his youth, he is easily goaded to anger by insults to his pride or those he is loyal to. However, after his time spent training with the Tribe (and later at Terayama temple) he learns how to restrain his emotions. His stubborn, occasionally reckless and impulsive nature is inherited largely from his father, who is half-Otori and half Kikuta; Takeo has been told on multiple occasions that he has "the Kikuta gift of fearlessness" as well as the "pigheadedness" of the Otori. In his later years, however, he is careful to listen to various advisors and allies before making his decision.

In contrast to many of the warlords and warrior class of the Three Countries, Takeo often shows mercy and kindness, and generally avoids cruelty. His gentle nature comes from his mother Sara, whom he describes as having taught him compassion, as well as his upbringing among the non-violent Hidden. He can be ruthless when needed, or when his patience has been sufficiently tried, but all the same he avoids violence unless absolutely necessary. While he has killed personally and ordered deaths on many occasions, Takeo ultimately refuses to harm children (whom he often forms strong bonds with). While Takeo's open-mindedness, compassion and strong sense of justice earn him deep loyalty from many people, his unwillingness to harm children proves to be his greatest political weakness in the feudal society of the Eight Islands; his rivals do not need to fear for the lives of their children if they are Takeo's hostages. Both Arai Daiichi and later his son Arai Zenko successfully called Takeo's bluff on this.

Abilities:
Being a descendant of the Tribe through his father, Kikuta Isamu, Takeo has inherited many of the Tribe's most unusual abilities. He first gained access to these abilities as a young teenager, during his escape from Iida Sadamu at Mino, when his life was in danger; without meaning to, he was able to "split" himself, creating a second image of himself to confuse his enemies. Shortly after this, Takeo experienced a total loss of speech for several months, during which his hearing became greatly augmented, enabling him to overhear sounds throughout a given area, filter and distinguish them. While his speech eventually returned, the enhanced hearing remained. On meeting Muto Kenji and learning of his Kikuta heritage (further confirmed by the unusual horizontal lines across his palms) Takeo further developed these skills for stealth and combat. Under Kenji's rigorous training, he learned how to briefly turn himself invisible; overtime, he was able to maintain this for longer and longer periods through concentration. He also developed two further Tribal skills, which he largely kept to himself and Shigeru: the ability to move in complete silence, to the point that he could cross the nightingale floor without making it "sing", and the ability to induce sleep through direct eye contact. The latter ability (unique to the Kikuta family) Takeo only used on dogs, until he accidentally put Shirakawa Kaede asleep just before his departure with the Tribe. Although he was initially vulnerable to the Kikuta sleep himself, he later successfully resisted Kotaro's gaze on two occasions.

During his time in exile with the Tribe in Matsue, Takeo further honed his abilities, and was trained in other Tribal skills under Kikuta Akio. His natural agility and quick reflexes were expanded by juggling practice, leaping exercises and hand-to-hand combat training; he was also trained how to kill with shurikens, a garrote and a knife, as well as how to maintain his body temperature through sheer will and controlled breathing. Although he was disgusted and disillusioned by it, he performed successfully as an assassin on two occasions against individuals who owed a debt to the Tribe. Yet, it was still the abilities which he was born with that made him stand out within the Tribe, and they ultimately enabled him to escape it and elude many attempts to assassinate him.

As far as talents, Takeo was skilled at mimicking writing and sketches, but he eventually became a highly talented artist in his own right, even after his right (dominant) hand was maimed. He was particularly fond of drawing and painting birds, which both he and Kaede associated with freedom. Although initially he had little talent with a sword and was less muscular than most warriors, Takeo used his Tribal abilities to give himself an edge in combat. After training with Matsuda Shingen, however, he became an extremely talented swordsman in his own right, using his fast reflexes, agility and enhanced hearing to predict an opponents' moves and get past their blade. He easily overwhelmed Iida Nariaki during their duel at the Battle of Asagawa without even resorting to his Tribal abilities. Takeo's reflexes with a blade weakened after his duel with Kotaro (which resulted in him losing several fingers on his right hand) but he remained a highly skilled swordsman.

Family and Descendants:
Kikuta Isamu: Father

Sara: Mother

Madaren: Sister

Otori Shigemori: Biological Grandfather

Kubo Makoto: Lover

Muto Yuki: Lover

Shirakawa Kaede: Wife

Kikuta Isamu: Son, by Muto Yuki

Otori Shigeko: Daughter, by Shirakawa Kaede

Otori Maya: Daughter, by Shirakawa Kaede

Otori Miki: Daughter, by Shirakawa Kaede

Unnamed Son by Shirakawa Kaede

Otori Shigeru: Adoptive father, biological uncle.