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"Mature Content Warning!" |
Tetsuo Shima is the main antagonist of the 1982 Manga Akira as well as its 1988 film adaption of the same name. Starting off as the best friend of protagonist, Shotaro Kaneda, Tetsuo quickly goes insane upon discovering his psychic powers.
In the film he was voiced by Nozomu Sasaki in the original Japanese dub, the late Jan Rabson in the streamline English dub, and Joshua Seth in the pioneer dub.
His Evil Rankings[]
What makes him heinous?[]
Anime[]
- When his psychic powers manifest, Tetsuo kills three doctors at the government facility where he's being held for trying to put him back in his room.
- Killed numerous soldiers on his way to the "baby room" where the other Espers are being held.
- Upon escaping, Tetsuo kills the bartender at his gang's hideout. Later killing Yamagata for questioning him.
- Rampages throughout Neo-Tokyo to reach the olympic stadium where Akira is being held. Killing hundreds of innocent people in the process and destroying much of the city.
- Even after Akira is revealed to have been killed and dissected after starting World War 3, Tetsuo is disappointed, but isn't dissuaded in the slightest.
- Fought his former best friend Kaneda, and attempted to kill him on multiple occassions.
- When his mutation started towards the end of the film, Tetsuo still refused to return to the facility with Colonel Shikashima where he could get the treatment he needed.
- His actions destroyed most of Neo-Tokyo, meaning Tetsuo is responsible for the deaths of millions of people.
Manga[]
- Tetsuo discovers his psychic powers sooner than in the anime, and immediately jumps off the slippery slope.
- After being attacked by a member of the rival biker gang, the clowns, Tetsuo beats him within an inch of his life. Outright stating he intends to kill him.
- When his migraines get too bad to handle, Tetsuo betrays his fellow gang members and becomes the new leader of The Clowns.
- Instigates a gang war between his former gang, the Capsules, and his new Gang the clowns. During which, he uses his psychic powers to split Yamagata's head open.
- In spite of Colonel Shikashima's warnings, Tetsuo took a pill that ended up advancing his psychic powers. Making him even more dangerous and unhinged in the process.
- Upon escaping from the government facility, Tetsuo heads to the Olympic Stadium to awaken Akira. With the hopes of making him his accomplice in his pursuit of world conquest.
- After Akira destroys Neo Tokyo from the shock of seeing Nezu shoot Takashi to death, Tetsuo takes advantage of the Esper's traumatized state.
- Forms The Great Tokyo Empire with the hopes of taking over the world.
- Forces his recruits to take the government's pills in the hopes of awakening any psychic powers that may lay dormant amongst his peers. Said pills end up killing anyone who doesn't have any psychic powers to awaken, meaning Tetsuo doesn't even care about the lives of his own men.
- Upon finding a meek girl named Kaori, Tetsuo kidnaps her and makes her his sex slave.
- At Lady Miyako's request, Tetsuo stops taking the pills to further advance his psychic potential. This leads to him becoming powerful enough to deface the surface of the moon just to demonstrate his power.
- When his assault on Lady Miyako's temple goes sideways, Tetsuo neglects to help his allies. Lashing out at his aide in the process.
- Upon watching Kaori die at the hands of his treacherous aide, Tetsuo loses his temper and goes completely insane. Starting his mutation in the process.
What makes him inconsistent?[]
Both[]
- Tetsuo's insecurity is his defining character trait. Throughout his life, he wanted to be like Kaneda and hated the fact that he always had to be saved. In fact, the main reason Tetsuo seeks out for world domination is so that nobody would ever look down on him again.
- Tetsuo has a genuinely tragic backstory, he was abandoned by his parents at a young age and was completely aware of it too. Kaneda was his only friend and despite being jealous of him, he still looked up to him.
- Though in the manga Kaori started off as his sex slave who he regularly abused, he eventually grew to love her. This is best shown by his breakdown towards the end of the manga after she is killed by his aide. In the anime, Tetsuo loved her from the very beginning and turned evil partially because he failed to defend her from being raped.
Manga[]
- The manga implies that the reason Tetsuo doesn't kill Kaneda on the spot is because he still considers him his friend, and doesn't want to kill him. He's just tired of living in Kaneda's shadow.
- Before Tetsuo's death in the manga, he reconciles with Kaneda, meaning he found some form of redemption upon his defeat. His ghost is also shown alongside Yamagata's at the end of the manga.