Characters that appear in Tengai Makyou Ziria, the first game of the series.
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The Fire Clan
Ziria (pronounced as Jiraiya)
Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata
The main hero of the game and descendant of the Toad tribe. Ziria is a ninja who's also a thief who steals from the rich and gives the money to the poor. That is until the Daimon Cult, the main antagonists, attacked his sensei and now it's up to him and his friends to stop them, and save Jipang.- The Chosen One: Ziria is treated as such by everybody in the PC Engine version of the first game.
- The Hero
- Heroic Mime: Ziria is this in the PC Engine version. Although he only speaks in the beginning, he was planned to have more spoken dialogue. Unfortunately, the script to his spoken scenes was canned due to time and data issues. Thankfully, this is averted in the Xbox 360 remake, in which Ziria is fully voiced and gets most of his original dialogues restored.
- Just Like Robin Hood: His main job, before the Daimon Cult went into scene.
- Keet: He's always happy and he rarely angst for long. Averted in the Xbox 360 remake, as he's more serious and angrier than previous games.
- Kid Hero
- The Kirk: Naturally, since he’s the player’s avatar.
- Lovable Rogue: Ziria uses his ninja skills to steal valuable objects and give the money earned from them to the needy.
- My Nayme Is: It is supposed to be Jiraiya, like the title character from Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari, but the spelling is deliberate to emphasize the Fantasy Counterpart Culture setting.
- Ninja
- Pint Sized Power House: Despite being of the same size of Tsunade, he packs lots of fire power.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Kabuki. Both hate each other's guts and compete about petty things such as who is manlier.
Tsunade
Voiced by: Hiroko Emori
Ziria's friend, and a descendant of the Slug tribe who lives in the forest and is in love with Orochimaru, much to the latter's disgust.- The Big Girl: Tsunade is quite possibly the first female party member in a JRPG that has the highest attack and learns no magic whatsoever.
- Book Dumb: The in-universe reason behind her lack of ability to learn spells.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In the first game, Tsunade shows no signs of attraction towards Orochimaru. Instead, she points him out as a sissy after seeing him out of his courtesan disguise.
- Glacier Waif: Seriously, her axe is bigger than she is
- Genki Girl
- Like Brother and Sister: Her relationship with Ziria.
- The McCoy: Tsunade tends to act solely on her emotions, without ever considering the consequences.
- Precocious Crush: With Orochimaru.
- Token Mini-Moe
Orochimaru
Descendant of the Snake tribe, wandering samurai, prestigious actor, and head spy for the Edo Shogun. Orochimaru is the oldest member of the team, and thus the one most likely to help guide Ziria with his wisdom.- Agent Peacock: Orochimaru is a very elegant and ladylike spy for the Shogun whose preferred method of espionage is to dress up as a geisha.
- Ambiguously Gay: Orochimaru shows several hints of this throughout the original series. He rejects Tsunade's advances with disgust, has a fondness for cross-dressing, and shows misplaced admiration for the bumbling idiot that is Kabuki. This is downplayed in the Ziria remake, though.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: In both versions of the first game, he is initially condescending and dismissive to Ziria; considering the ninja too young and unskilled to defeat the Daimon Cult. And thus, Orochimaru believed that he alone was good enough for that task.
- Big Brother Mentor: To Ziria. Though this is more apparent in the remake.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Uses this to his advantage when spying.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: He's the Responsible Sibling to Kabuki's Foolish.
- The Lancer: Orochimaru is calm and collected when Ziria is being rash and impulsive; Secretive when Ziria has nothing to hide; and plans beforehand whereas Ziria improvises and acts on the spot.
- The Spock: Acts based on reason and logic.
- The Smart Guy: Also plays this role within the trio. This is only natural, since he's a spy for the Shogunate.
- The Stoic
- Not So Stoic: Each time Tsunade wants him.
- The Unfavorite: Played with. In Tengai Makyou 2, visiting the snake hermit reveals that he raised both Orochimaru and Kabuki; the hermit follows by stating that he is proud of Orochimaru for his stoic demeanor and elegant manners, but complains about Kabuki being flashy, loud, and downright ridiculous. It turns out that Kabuki is the one that takes the most out of the Snake hermit in terms of personality and appearance, and is also the most popular character both in-game and among the players. Thus, the Snake hermit complaining about Kabuki all the time is his way of paying more attention to the latter than to Orochimaru.
Kogama
The Abu to Ziria's Aladdin. Kogama is a talking toad who hails from the Toad Hermit's retreat in the peaceful region of Tsukuba. After being briefed with their mission by the Toad hermit, Kogama agrees to accompany Ziria for the entirety of his adventure. Kogama has faint psychic powers that he uses to occasionally attack enemies during battle sequences, and to teleport to different thief hideouts scattered throughout Jipang.- Non-Human Sidekick: To Ziria
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Kogama is a miniature toad with a lovable smirk and a Chonmage hairstyle.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: During battle Kogama can turn into a giant, fire-breathing toad that can deal massive damage to multiple enemies. The transformation can be seen clearly in the Xbox 360 remake as well as in Kabuki Klash, but is anything but implied in the PC Engine version, where the damage it deals grows alongside Ziria's.
The Daimon Cult
Jashinsai/Lucifeller
Voiced by: Seizō Katō
The game's main villain. The 13th General and High Priest of the Daimon Cult, Jashinsai is an evil sorcerer bent on controlling people by means of converting them to his demonic religion. He has extremely powerful magic abilities and can even create demonic offspring, like Genoumaru and Suioumaru, out of thin air. While there are no hints to his backstory in the first game, it isn't until Manjimaru that his motivations are revealed.- Alas, Poor Villain: In Manjimaru, an Ihika sage reveals that Jashinsai used to be a kind member of their race; until he was tempted and eventually possessed by the demon Lucifeller, who instigated the entire conflict of Ziria by attempting to revive Masakado.
- Big Bad: Of both Ziria and Kabuki Klash.
- Demonic Possession: His body in reality was taken over by a demon called Lucifeller.
- Expy: Of King Piccolo from Dragon Ball. Green skin? Check. Evil old sorcerer? Check. Corrupt member of an ancient race of exclusively male sages? Check. Creates demonic "sons" to do his bidding? Check.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
Series head artist Yoshiteru Tsujino confirmed that Jashinsai’s appearance was based on Max von Sydow’s portrayal of Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon (1980).
Genoumaru/Belial
The 12th General of the Daimon Cult and Jashinsai's eldest son. He is an insane illusionist whose appearance resembles a masked Noh actor. His true identity is that of a horned demon called Belial, who was created by Lucifeller to serve as his second-in-command.- The Dragon: Serves as Jashinsai's second-in-command.
- Evil Counterpart: To Ziria. Ziria uses his thievery to help the innocent, while Genoumaru -on the other hand- uses his hallucinations to torture and manipulate people, at times even for no reason.
- The Heavy: Is this in both versions of Ziria. He is by far the most annoying and persistent general, as he escapes the battle three times during the first game, and transforms into a much more powerful form for his final boss fight. Genoumaru's role as this expands during the remake, where he pesters and stalls Ziria all throughout the game. And it gets even worse during the game's climax, where he makes everything harder by faking his death and kidnapping Tsukihime to exploit her psychic powers.
- Meaningful Name: "Genoumaru" stands for "the king of illusions", which is fitting, because he uses mirages, faux bodies, and other kinds of trickery when confronted.
- Master of Illusion: He has a Meaningful Name. "Genoumaru" stands for "the king of illusions", which is fitting, because he uses mirages, faux bodies, and other kinds of trickery when confronted.
