The Mugen Tenshin clan is a prominent clan of shinobi, located within the mountains of Japan. A secret society, only certain groups such as the Hayabusa clan, Black Spider clan, and DOATEC know of them and their capabilities. The clan has existed for eighteen generations. For unknown reasons, DOATEC, and later MIST, seems to be fixated on the clan, using the clans' members as subjects in their cloning and genetic experiments.
Society[]
The Mugen Tenshin Village.
As with all shinobi clans, the Mugen Tenshin clan is governed by a group of master shinobi, with the lower shinobi "troops" ranking from greater shinobi to lesser shinobi. The master shinobi govern the clan’s activities both within and outside the village, and are regarded with respect by other members of the clan. Currently, Hayate has become the eighteenth leader of the Tenjinmon sect, the ruling sect of the clan, after inheriting the title from his father, Shiden.
The society is also supported by a shadow sect; the Hajinmon sect. Practitioners of the Hajinmon style of the clan’s ninjutsu serve as loyal guards and servants to the master shinobi, and are considered to be amongst the most skilled members of the clan. The sect's leader used to be Genra; upon his death Ayane, his foster daughter, took over leadership of the sect.
The clan has been in good relations with the Hayabusa clan for generations; both clans fight together against the Black Spider clan, rivals to the Hayabusa clan; and DOATEC, who had often harmed the peace of the Mugen Tenshin clan with its experiments until the mastermind behind the experiment, Victor Donovan left DOATEC and create MIST to proceed the experiments, same time when DOATEC reformed into a better company as a tournament entertainment, lead by Helena Douglas and sponsored by Zack. Knowing some of MIST members will be there, Helena sent Zack to summons Mugen Tenshin ninjas, Bayman and Hayabusa (though both Bayman and Hayabusa refused to go with Zack is to find info about MIST in different ways) for secret ops against MIST, and finds out more info about them.
The clan's masters and heirs in conference.
Head Families[]
Tenjinmon sect[]
- Hayate - Shiden and Ayame's eldest child, and the current master of the Mugen Tenshin clan.
- Shiden - The former master of the Mugen Tenshin clan.
- Ayame - Shiden's wife.
- Kasumi - Shiden and Ayame's second child. After Hayate was injured, Shiden ordered Kasumi to take his place, but when she ran away, she become a runaway shinobi.
Hajinmon sect[]
- Ayane - The current leader of the Hajinmon sect. As she is the daughter of Raidou, Shiden's older brother, and Ayame, she may have a claim to the title of Tenjinmon leader as well.
- Genra - The former leader of the Hajinmon sect and Ayane's foster father.
History[]
Ayane's birth[]
When Hayate was seven and Kasumi was an infant, their mother Ayame was raped by Raidou, Shiden's brother and the progenitor of the clan's problems. As a result of his assault, Ayame became pregnant and gave birth to a girl, Ayane. However, Ayame was too ashamed of her dishonourable conception and didn't want to care for her daughter, so Ayane was passed into the care of Genra, and became his foster-daughter.
Because of her parentage, everyone in the village thought of Ayane as a demon child, trying to keep her away from the main village in an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ affair.
The heirs' childhood[]
When Kasumi and Ayane were children, despite the village's dislike of Ayane, the girls were great friends and played with each other often, clueless to the fact that they were half-sisters and cousins. When Genra made Ayane his next-of-kin to the Hajinmon title, she also started to form a very close bond with Hayate as well, looking up to him.
However, Ayane's friendship with Kasumi didn't last. Later on, Ayame told Ayane that she was her daughter, and Ayane finally learned the truth of her birth. This triggered Ayane’s jealousy regarding Kasumi, angered that while she was made an outcast, Kasumi was treated like a princess and loved by everyone.
As years went by, Ayane practiced the arts of Hajinmon in order to one day defeat Raidou, to take revenge for her cursed birth.
Raidou's return[]
One day, when Hayate, Kasumi, and Ayane were young adults, Raidou returned to the Mugen Tenshin Village to acquire the Torn Sky Blast, one of the clan’s prominent techniques. Ayane tried to defeat Raidou, but was overpowered. To protect her, Hayate engaged Raidou in combat, using the Torn Sky Blast against him. However, Raidou mimicked the technique and beats him into a tree. Hayate cracked his spine on impact, and fell into a coma, rendering him paraplegic.
Kasumi's departure[]
After that night, Shiden decided that Kasumi would take her brother's place as the clan's master. Unable to go through with it, Kasumi left the village on a quest for vengeance against Raidou for Hayate's pain.
Now a runaway shinobi, Kasumi was marked for assassination, with the job initially falling to Ayane to kill her. All the while, Kasumi herself entered the first Dead or Alive Tournament and killed Raidou. Afterwards, she was kidnapped by DOATEC and cloned for Project Alpha, before managing to escape. Meanwhile, Raidou's corpse was recovered and saved for future resurrection.
Back at the village, DOATEC also abducted and experimentated on Hayate for Project Epsilon. Although he regained his mobility and consciousness, he also lost his memory. Considered a failure, he was released in Germany by the head scientist, Lisa Hamilton.
Finding Hayate[]
For a time, Hayate lived in Germany as "Ein" after being found by Hitomi, and he learned karate under her father's teachings . Eager to learn where he came from, he entered the second Dead or Alive Tournament, and after facing Ayane, Kasumi, and his best friend Ryu Hayabusa, he regained his memories, returned to the clan, and became the leader. During the tournament, Kasumi also faces her clone; Kasumi α.
Genra's betrayal and death[]
As soon as Hayate regained his memories, Genra betrayed the clan after revealing to have broken the dimensional barrier between Earth and Tengukai (the world of the Tengu). As soon as he revealed his true nature, he sent Ayane, brainwashed by one of his Genjutsu arts, to kill Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa as he ran away. By the third tournament, Genra became a DOATEC member and allowed the Development Project to convert him into a new superhuman creature known as Omega. The Tenjinmon house leader, Shiden allows Hayate and Ayane to hunt down Genra, while Ryu and his partner Irene lend their assistance.
After a difficult and deadly battle in an alternate dimension created by Genra's black magic; Hayate, Hayabusa, and Ayane slay the treacherous Genra. With the death of Genra, Ayane steps in and becomes the Master of the Hajinmon sect.
The Fall of DOATEC[]
Fed up with being used, Hayate led an assault against DOATEC during the fourth tournament. The attack resulted in a victory for the Mugen Tenshin clan.
Dealings with DOATEC and the Attack on the MIST Laboratory[]
For the next two years the Mugen Tenshin clan would know relative peace. One day, Helena, the new President and CEO of a newly reformed DOATEC, gives Hayate and Ayane an invitation to the luxury yacht, Freedom Survivor with the help of Zack transported in via helicopter. With Alpha-152 still at large, as well as the new group known as MIST that is recently working on Phase 4 for Alpha's final upgrade and then world domination, led by the former member of DOATEC, Victor Donovan, the mastermind behind the cloning of Kasumi and experimenting on Hayate, the shinobi accept the mission to stop MIST. Despite being able to destroy a Phase 4 leveled Alpha-152 with the help of the real Kasumi who is alerted by Ryu Hayabusa, they are too late to stop Donovan from beginning Phase 4 of Project Alpha: mass production of the best clones.
Honoka's Connection and Raidou's Resurrection[]
After the incident at the plant, Hayate went to Helena seeking more information. When he noticed the image of the plant supervisor Rig, he went to New York to question him. To his surprise Rig was nothing like the man he saw that night. After leaving the scene he and Ayane decided to watch over the two for a time. But as time went on, Ayane found out something peculiar about a young girl named Honoka. To Hayate's shock it was revealed that Honoka had the same uncanny ability to mimic someone else's moves and techniques by seeing it in action once, just like the deceased Raidou. Realizing she shouldn't be left alone, Hayate orders Ayane to help bring her in. But due to Marie Rose interfering a fight ensues between Ayane and Marie. While the girls fought, Hayate comes upon Rig again, now acting as Victor Donovan Jr., but before he can get to him the Epsilon Curse is triggered. Hayate realizes that as long as Epsilon can be triggered he can't do anything to MIST, which frustrates him. But as he struggles to rise, he learns from Bayman that Lisa Hamilton is alive, having survived the explosion with the data she nearly died stealing from MIST.
Hayate goes to Lisa at Bayman's suggestion and the two managed to override the Epsilon Curse, giving Hayate freedom to go after Donovan Jr. As the ninja mount a strike Hayate comes upon Rig, who attempts to use Epsilon against him, but Hayate manages to break free and attacks. He defeats Rig, but receives a butterfly familiar from Ayane, indicating she's been taken prisoner. Begrudgingly, he leaves the battle to save his half-sister and comes across Kasumi along the way. The two break into the laboratory where they find Ayane and Honoka unconscious. NiCO attempts to use Epsilon to keep the Wind Ninja at bay, but it fails, and she sets the Phase 4 clones on the ninja siblings while one escapes with Honoka, prompting Hayate to give chase. Ayane wakes, brainwashed by NiCO, and attacks Kasumi. After Kasumi defeats her, Hayate and Kasumi reunite Honoka and Marie, but sense that Raidou has returned from death, and is going on a rampage.
The siblings give chase and find Raidou in a bamboo meadow. Hayate laments at how pitiful Raidou is; a shinobi of great power using his hard earned skills and gifts for evil, and that he still seeks to bring ruin to the world even as a half rotted corpse. Refusing to let Raidou run rampant any longer, the three shinobi battle the super powered monstrosity and defeat him, reducing Raidou's cybernetic body to dust, leaving no trace of him behind. After that Kasumi reminisces about a scene the three saw as children before leaving her siblings, Hayate and Ayane looking on with relieved smiles on their faces.
Location[]
The Mugen Tenshin Village (霧幻天神の里 Mugen Tenshin no Sato) is the home of the Mugen Tenshin clan. Because of the clan being seperated into two sects, the clan village is divided into two sectors. The Tenjinmon act as the forefront of the clan and majority of the clan belong to this faction, so this sector is the largest.
The Hajinmon, the "dark side" of the clan, is smaller in number, and seems to live in dwellings hidden within the forest around the main body of the village.
Mugen Tenshin style ninjutsu[]
The Mugen Tenshin style ninjutsu (霧幻天神流忍術 Mugen Tenshin ryū ninjutsu) is the style of the Mugen Tenshin clan. The style itself is split into two perspectives.
Tenjinmon[]
Tenjinmon (天神門, lit. "Heavenly God Gate") is the foreground perspective of Mugen Tenshin style ninjutsu. Most ninjas from the Mugen Tenshin clan belong to this perspective. Tenjinmon practitioners train in order to acquire superhuman physical strength and battle technique and are highly resistant to physical pressure.
Practitioners include: Hayate, Kasumi, Raidou, Shiden, and Honoka (part of her Honoka Fu).
Hajinmon[]
Hajinmon (覇神門, lit. "Supreme God Gate") is the background of Mugen Tenshin style ninjutsu and is considered a secret style within the Mugen Tenshin clan. Hajinmon practitioners possess the same capabilities of Tenjinmon practitioners. However, the style is a lot less direct in attacks with emphasis on stronger ninpo abilities. The ninja of the Hajinmon style, despite possessing unbelievable powers, provide background support and loyalty to the Tenjinmon ninja.
Practitioners include: Ayane, Genra, and Honoka (part of her Honoka Fu).
Notable items and techniques[]
Weapons[]
- Fuma Kodachi
- Kunai
Techniques[]
Trivia[]
An image of Ayane and Genra in Dimensions, showing their masks.
- The Hajinmon ninja seem to have their own masks, since both the former master Genra, and the current master Ayane, have the same black mask.
- The Mugen Tenshin clan is referenced in Kasumi and Phase 4's victory pose outro in a Tag battle, where they declare in unison that their actions are Mugen Tenshin.
- In the original story treatment by Itagaki for Dead or Alive 5, the Mugen Tenshin clan would have been wiped out by DOATEC-Asia in response to their taking down DOATEC-USA in Dead or Alive 4, with only Ayane (who barely survived the attack and presumably killed a DOATEC soldier by decapitating him) and Kasumi (who wasn't even at the village at the time) surviving. Ayane then sought out Kasumi to warn her, and also expressed a desire for revenge against Miyako, although Kasumi initially thought Ayane still wanted to kill her despite their working together to take down DOATEC. This plot point was cut when the story changed hands.[1]
- Comments from Ayane, Hayate, and Kasumi as well as the summary for her story mode mission "Deadly Autumn Dance" implied that Mai Shiranui had run-ins and conflicts with the Mugen Tenshin clan prior to encountering Kasumi in Dead or Alive 6.