Character Biographies: Characters In Depth: NAGI

NAGI ON SCREEN
Voice Artist
(Japanese)
(English)


Appearances:

Tenchi Universe

 


Don't Mess With Me, Buddy...

Name: Nagi

Occupation: Bounty Hunter


REVIEW

Nagi is one of the better characters introduced into the Tenchi Universe sphere. She is a bounty hunter - Ryoko's sworn arch-rival - but their relationship is never quite so simple as a hate-hate one. Nagi is something of an enigma - ruthless yet fair, and she plays by her own rules of justice which even Ryoko sometimes has trouble figuring out.

ORIGINS/BACKGROUND
We know nothing about Nagi's background, although two things are clear from her appearances in the show. Firstly, the markings on her cheek are very like Jurai battle tattoos, yet her hair is more like Ryoko or Washu's, and her ears are like Ryoko's - more elvish than ordinary human. Maybe she's a mongrel of several different species - it's hard to be sure - but she has a cabbit ship, like Ryoko which suggests some form of shared origin somewhere along the line. The other thing is that she has weaponry and is skilled with her whip and her laser - but she doesn't seem to have any native magic or power herself (in contrast to Ryoko or Ayeka who do). Is it coincidental that Nagi's eyes are the blood red of the Jurai Royal Family also? I have to wonder!! What we do know is that she and Ryoko have fought each other 'many times' and that she is a bounty hunter - someone who hunts down wanted criminals for the reward money. Kiyone calls her the 'very best at what she does', and Ryoko adds that, of all the people she's hunted, 'none have ever survived -except for me."

PERSONALITY et al
Nagi's cloak - worn even in the hottest sun - gives her a sinister air at times, but she's more than happy to strip down to bare essentials if it's another chance to compete with Ryoko (such as in the swimsuit competition on the beach planet between Earth and Jurai!). She is competitive and single-minded - once she has an idea in her head she seems to find it hard to shift from that focus. She has pursued Ryoko all across the Galaxy, probably because Ryoko is the 'one that got away' as much as anything. She likes to fight and seems to relish challenges, believing in her own ability and calling such combats 'fun'. And yet, ruthless as she can be -and obviously has been in the past, from Ryoko's accounts of her successes - she is also pedantically fair, in her own unique way. She will not fight a battle against someone who is injured - her sense of honour rebels against taking advantage of a weakened opponant. She believes in following the rules of a contest and in following through on her word - when Ryoko skips out on her challenge on the beach island she is furious, and when Ayeka intervenes in her battle with Ryoko on Venus, she retaliates by attacking Ayeka.