Tenjin

About Tenjin

Tenjin is the famous god of learning, rich in shrines, wealth and worshippers, everything Yato dreams of being. Elegant, witty and a little cruel, he enjoys teasing the penniless stray god, and he once took in Yato's former shinki Mayu as his own. Tenjin shows what a successful god looks like, and how coldly heaven can treat those beneath it.

Appearance

Tenjin is a refined, middle-aged-looking god in elegant traditional dress, usually with plum blossom motifs, his emblem, and the calm bearing of a celebrity scholar. His shinki attend him as a graceful household.

Personality

Tenjin is charming, poetic and a little cruel, generous with hospitality and ruthless about a god's dignity. He pities Yato the way the successful pity the failed, and his kindness always has a price or a lesson attached.

Background & Story

Tenjin is Sugawara no Michizane, deified as the god of learning, with shrines across Japan and students praying to him every exam season, the finished version of everything Yato wants. He once took in Yato's former shinki Mayu, and he hires Yato for jobs beneath his own dignity, paying in pocket change and aphorisms. Through Tenjin the series shows heaven's establishment: wealthy, cultured and willing to discard a shinki or a minor god without a scene.

Key Relationships

• Tomone: His shinki Mayu, formerly Yato's Tomone, now serving with the dignity she always wanted.
• Yato: The stray god he teases, employs and occasionally, almost kindly, advises.

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