Ts'ui Mei Character Reference
-- Ts'ui Mei taunting a group of Crossguards
Musubi's current personal assistant in a long line of family members who've claimed similar titles. His loyalty is matched only by his avarice as he seems to share an almost familial bond with Musubi.
Table of Contents
BackstorySomehow the Ts'ui family always finds its way to Musubi...
Born as the illegitimate son of Musubi's former personal attendant, Ts'ui Meili, Mei was thrust into a life of difficulty as he had to live with his poor mother in the slums of a small city near the countryside of Japan. Due to his rough upbringing, he began to develop skill with a knife and briefly ran a business as a charlatan, selling fake potions and medications to those in desperate need. He mostly stayed local until his mother died when he was seventeen, after which he began venturing the countryside of Japan. All was going well until he had been unknowingly followed by a physically powerful farmer who beat him half-to-death.
Now broken physically and financially, Ts'ui Mei found himself sleeping under dead trees and what remained of his hand-made portable shop to avoid the rain. That was, until he came across a man by the name of Musubi. He had naturally heard of him and his fathers' exploits from his mother but didn't care much for the stories at first. Learning more about his father from Musubi, Ts'ui decided to join Musubi on his rampage, journeying with the man for almost an entire decade. As of now he's a somewhat loyal assistant of Musubi, acting mainly to surpass his father as a heinous individual.
PersonalityArrogant, avaricious, and apathetic. Three words that do a pristine job of describing Ts'ui Mei as a person. He acts in a very carefree manner, showing little remorse to victims of his actions with the goals of just breezing through life on easy mode. His decisions are impulsive yet his main desire to get riches stays consistent.
His lack of care or respect for people is especially evident in how he refers to them. Mei won't refer to Musubi by his name or a proper honorific unless the latter appears enraged, and he's even gifted the God-Eater the title, "Old Hag". Sometimes his disrespect is intentional, but more often then not he habitually insults people with his nicknames for them because it's his method of communication. It also doesn't help that he generally sees himself as generally superior to other human beings.
He only seems to take genuine interest in a person when he actually likes or is interested in them, to which he becomes more genuine and flirtatious. Of course he will likely still be insulting towards them, but they take on a much more playful tone. The longer he knows someone the more casual and comfortable he gets with them, hence referring to Musubi as boss.
Mei's love for money is quite notable as he has no issues with putting himself or Musubi in danger for the prospect of earning more, and when scolded about this issue by Musubi it'll go in one ear and out the other. In spite of this, however, he remains loyal to Musubi and often treats him like he would a trusted family member, even doing more... odd tasks like helping the arsonist bathe or eat food. He could be a genuinely good househusband /caretaker if he felt like it, unfortunately, he really doesn't. |
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Abilities
Knife skills
Ts'ui Mei had learned to wield knives as weapons since he was just a child and as such he became skilled in dagger combat, alongside hidden blade tricks. His skill extends to hiding knives, using them as close-quartered weapons, and throwing knives.
Salesmanship
Ts'ui Mei spent a good portion of his teenage years as a snake oil salesman, as such he knows how to manipulate people, especially those who are desperate, into doing his bidding. His serpentine tongue and superficial charm allow him to capture the hearts of naïve fools and this even works in battle to enhance his tricky nature.
Many Faces
Have you seen Ts'ui Mei before? Well this person is new! Being a snake oil salesman meant lying about more than just your products, and Mei is rather skilled at disguising himself. In spite of his large size and build, he can slip into very convincing disguises so long as most of his face is covered, enhancing his trickery.
Strengths
Charismatic
Ts'ui Mei is an attractive man with a silver tongue who's definitely willing to use it, weaving fake stories in an instant to capture the hearts and imaginations of his victims. This combined with his knack for disguises allows him to be a very potent scout and intel gatherer.
General Combat Competence
Where Musubi handles the magic and spells, Mei is much more down and dirty being skilled in hand-to-hand, plus knife combat. This allows him to hold his own even against threats more physically imposing than he is, Besides, it'd be practically impossible for him to survive in his environment if he didn't pick up at least some kind of combat-based skills
Impressive Physicals
He's still a mortal human at the end of the day, but he's definitely above average in physical qualities, the most fine of which is his endurance, allowing him to take beatings from multiple people at the same time and still get back up at the end of the day. He's gotten used to being ganged up on and body-blocking for Musubi, so it pays to have thick skin.
Weaknesses
Avarice
Musubi often drops coins or valuable items on the ground as a way to "summon" Mei if he's gone missing. Mei is a rather greedy individual who will sometimes prioritize stealing something valuable, regardless of whether he needs or can even use it, over completing his missions. His kleptomaniac streaks have gotten him into trouble on more than just one occasion.
Arrogance
Mei has a bad habit of underestimating prey based on surface-level judgments. Despite having been reprimanded for this many times, his arrogance still remains and mostly affects his intellectual reasoning. More often than not he'll end up in a situation where he believes someone to be much less intelligent than they truly are.
Can't Smell
Since birth Mei's brain has been incapable of registering smells. While it definitely helps with bearing the stench of Musubi, it has led to situations where Mei has unknowingly worked with incredibly dangerous materials or couldn't sniff out when he was in danger.
Gallery
Ts'ui Mei's Reference | Ts'ui Mei Render | [item description] |