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Basilisk Characters
Yakushiji Tenzen
Yakushiji Tenzen is the series' primary villain.
As the second in command to Lady Ogen, Tenzen was chosen to be one of ten fighters to represent his clan of Iga Tsubagakure against the chosen ten of the rival Koga Manjidani clan.
Due to Princess Oboro's hesitance to fight, Tenzen is able to completely usurp her authority following Ogen's death to become Iga's de facto leader. But although his initial impression is of a pragmatic fighter concerned solely for the honor and future of his clan, Tenzen is actually a sadistic and mendacious individual who revels in conflict and bloodshed.
He fights with a brutal, ruthless tenacity and won't hesitate to involve innocent bystanders to guarantee a victory. He also lusts after Oboro and desires to take her for his wife in order to become the true lord of Tsubagakure. Even if he has to rape her to do it - which he attempts at least twice over the course of the series.
Similar to Himura Genma of Ninja Scroll, Tenzen's power is one of regeneration and immortality. He was born sharing his body with a demonic symbiote that usually conceals its presence so that only its closed eyes are visible as a wart/growth on each of Tenzen's ears. The creature reveals itself whenever Tenzen has been wounded or killed, moving through his body to regenerate Tenzen by 'eating' his wounds and restoring whatever ravages of time or battle Tenzen might experience.
Thanks to his powers, by the time of Basilisk's beginning Tenzen was already over 200 years old, though he looks no older than 30 -- granting him a lifetime of martial and tactical abilities that surpass any of his clansmen. Even when decapitated, Tenzen can still regenerate if his head is placed back onto his body with his twin sealing the cut. Reviving from death, however, seems to be even more painful for Tenzen than dying itself, and has greatly contributed to the deterioration of his sanity over time.