Tokimi

"I am Lady Tokimi. It is a name known to few, but to the few who know it, it means the difference between universal peace and absolute chaos."

- Tokimi to the Norman, The Mazkertis Paradox Chapter 10 Part 1: As Time Goes By

Lady Tokimi, or Tokimi-kami-sama (lit. "Spirit Lady Tokimi" in Japanese), is one of the three Chousin sisters tasked with safeguarding the integrity of the BZPB Multiverse.

Biography
Tokimi presents herself as being a coldly realistic and distantly professional decision-maker, who operates chiefly with the Creator (the Architect)'s orders in mind. She is not nearly as carefree as her sister Washu, and often demands respect from lesser beings when in their presence. This was made startlingly clear when Tokimi temporarily erased Malygos's entire left side from existence in response to being called 'sister' instead of 'Lady Tokimi'. However, Tokimi's sensitive side has been revealed on several occasions, the first of which occurred when Washu hurled an insult that was so bad it had to be censored; Tokimi actually seemed a bit hurt. She also seems to empathize with the last Time Guardian, Quolas, to the point where she has no reservations about showing her true emotions in his presence: instead of maintaining her usual cold exterior while listening to Quolas's recollection of his life, she allowed tears to form in her eyes.

The Goddess of Balance
Tokimi was created by the Users (or just one of them) shortly before the formation of the BZPB Multiverse. Tokimi was the third and final Chousin sister to be created: this is why she refers to her sisters as Tsunami-nee and Washu-nee ('nee' meaning 'oneesan', a Japanese honorific meaning 'elder sister'). Each of the sisters were tasked with protecting and regulating a specific aspect of reality -- Tokimi's task was to ensure that multiversal balance was maintained at any and all cost. In addition, the Creator Supreme (the Architect) entrusted the Chousin with another, shared mission before the creation of the multiverse, but what this mission was remains unknown.

From within the Hyperdimension, a realm from which the Chousin could observe all of reality, Tokimi enforced balance in the multiverse for countless millennia. On the occasions where the Chousin discovered a threat to more than one aspect of reality, Tokimi would meet with her sisters in the Hyperdimension, where the three of them would act as a living tribunal with ultimate jurisdiction over the BZPB Multiverse (second only to the Users themselves). However, for most of the rest of the time, the Chousin worked as individuals.

It has been stated that the Chousin had been apart for 200,000 years, but this is unlikely, especially considering the frequent occurrence of multiversal threats and the fact that the Original Universe was just over 150,000 years old when this claim arose.

Encounter with Malygos
In 150,080 CMT, Zev Raregroove told Malygos that Tokimi was one of the Chousin, a trio of deities from the Eleventh Dimension (Hyperdimension) who were responsible for creating the universe and all of the dimensions of the multiverse. Though this claim was incorrect, Malygos believed Zev regardless. Judging by Washu's list of creations, Malygos mused that she could be one of the First Ones, which would essentially make Washu (and by extension, Tokimi) his sister. Malygos became so enamoured with this idea that he called Washu "sister" later in their first meeting, which she did not object to. Moments later, Tokimi transported Washu and Malygos to a pocket dimension to see how Washu and her latest "test subject" were doing. Tokimi recognized Malygos, but called him by a different name: "Remnant Malygos".

Malygos pretended that he recognized Tokimi, sarcastically telling her that she was "as warm as ever", and referred to her as a sister like he had with Washu. In response, Tokimi erased Malygos's entire left half from existence; informing him that she was not his sister, and that she was to be referred to as "Lady Tokimi" only. Washu told Tokimi in no kind words that Malygos was an apprentice, not a test subject, and that Tokimi must have gone too long without speaking to Tsunami, because she had become even more of a (bitch) in her absence. This hurt Tokimi, so she withdrew, but commended Washu on having made progress in the "Search" and offered to transport Washu and Malygos to a location of their choice. While waiting for a response from Malygos, Tokimi and Washu felt an "S-Tremble" in the Hyperdimension, which caused them significant concern. Malygos seemed to think that this "S-Tremble" was caused by the return of his father (???) but abruptly left to the Shadows and Fire Dimension to stop Blackout from activating the Pandorica.

(NOTE: The "Search" that Tokimi referred to was likely the Chousin's search for a third-dimensional being who would eventually become more powerful than themselves, which was a major plot point in the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA.)

The Counter-Actor
Later that year, Misaki Raregroove transformed into the Counter-Actor while exacting revenge against a clan of ogre-like beings who were accused of plotting against Zev. Washu teleported the Counter-Actor to Tokimi's pocket dimension so that the Chousin could calm her down, but the Counter-Actor violently backhand Tsunami when approached, so Tokimi ordered Washu to find and summon Zev while she attempted to hold the Counter-Actor off. The Counter-Actor uprooted and hurled two pillars at Tokimi, but Tokimi disintegrated them. She then threw a punch at the Counter-Actor, but the Counter-Actor ducked and threw Tokimi into the central altar of her dimension. It was then that several drones belonging to Tokimi activated, attempting to constrict the Counter-Actor by wrapping her in cords, but the Counter-Actor effortlessly destroyed them. Fortunately, the battle was ended when Washu located Zev and teleported him to the dimension; his presence was sufficient to sooth the Counter-Actor's rage and revert her to the form of Misaki Raregroove.

Tokimi's Wrath
Later still, Washu angered the Fallen by severing his arm, so the Fallen summoned seven Heralds of Unicron: Blackarachnia, Galvatron, Obsidian, Razorclaw, Sideways, Strika, and Xaaron, and sent them into the seventh dimension to find and kill Washu and her friends. In response, Tokimi froze them in space and appeared to them with all ten of the Chousin's Dimensional Caretakers. She stated that, though she had allowed them to support the "swine" Unicron in his goals, she and the Dimensional Caretakers would no longer allow them to continue. Tokimi delivered punishment by wrapping tentacles of energy around their bodies, which caused them to slowly deteriorate, until they had been disintegrated entirely. However, a discrepancy has emerged: though it was stated that Tokimi killed all of these Heralds, Strika reappeared alive and well several years later. The reason for this anomaly is currently unknown.

The Call to War
In the midst of the Uterio War, Zev and his allies discussed who they could recruit to help them combat the Great Beings. Zev realized that he might be able to gain the assistance of Tokimi and Tsunami, so he telepathically shared this idea with Viriathus. Seconds after Zev made this suggestion, his telepathic message was painfully hijacked by Tokimi, who spoke to Zev and his group from within her personal dimension. Tokimi informed Zev that whether or not the Chousin decided to intervene would not be decided by him, and in cases like the Uterio War, his purpose was to observe and record its events instead of getting involved in the conflict. However, Tokimi said that because Uterio was endangering the Architect's work, Zev was permitted to fight, as long as he did not condemn himself to death in doing so.

The Mazkertis Paradox
In 150,084 CMT, the Chousin were alerted to the fact that Dukamu had gained access to Knowledge Dimension and was attempting to locate its aleph point, so Tokimi's sister Tsunami teleported there to stop him. The battle was fierce: Dukamu nearly succeeded in killing Tsunami when she arrived to stop him, and his banishment was only achieved by the combined force of all three of the Chousin. After losing the battle, Dukamu immediately returned to the UG pocket dimension, where he began to empower himself even further to win the next one. The Chousin had no choice but to contact the Users themselves to deal with the threat. Luckily, Users Kon and MK succeeded in sending the UG, containing Dukamu and his allies, into the far future to be dealt with at a later date, allowing the Chousin to focus on other threats to the integrity of the BZPB Multiverse. Because more and more characters were becoming aware of the Knowledge Dimension's existence, the Chousin assigned several Dimensional Caretakers to monitor the dimension to prevent unwanted intrusions.

Months later, on Day 4 of The Mazkertis Paradox arc, Tokimi, Tsunami, and Washu gathered in the Hyperdimension to share what they had learned about Mazkertis, the latest threat to the stability of the BZPB Multiverse. After Tsunami recalled Mazkertis's history and current objectives, Tokimi suggested that Mazkertis could be willing to alter the Original Universe's timeline in the past to make his close ally, Gabriel Ascheron, the emperor of the universe. Tsunami noted that the timeline was already fragile thanks to F-Klak, F-Blackout, and Ynot's attempts to manipulate past events, which could only be worsened by the application of Mazkertis's powers, and eventually lead to a total collapse of the timeline itself.

Washu pondered what the Time Guardians were doing in the midst of this crisis, so Tsunami informed her that they were busy elsewhere and that the only man they had sent to take on Mazkertis (Quolas) had disappeared. However, Tsunami was optimistic because some of the universe's most powerful beings, such as Blackout, Malygos, Ynot, and the Claws of the Phoenix had joined forces to stop Mazkertis. Washu dismissed their importance, saying that they could not be counted on, but Tokimi affirmed that she was sure that they would succeed if the Chousin helped them. Tokimi then enquired as to the status of the Users, so Washu revealed that User Sarge was exploring reality, the Architect was on some kind of mission, Users MK, Kon, Zev, and Nif were all busy on a secret project of sorts, and that the others were all occupied with other matters. Tsunami could not accurately envision an outcome to the conflict, so the Chousin agreed to bide their time and further assess the situation before taking any kind of action.

On Day 12,

Quantum Stabilization
Tokimi has ultimate control over creation's "z-axis" -- Balance. She is essentially the "great equalizer" -- though she can't use her powers to affect herself or the other Chousin, between any number of mortals or lesser deities, she can freely make their powers against each other as balanced or unbalanced as she sees fit. Also, she can maintain the universe's stabilization under circumstances that would normally cause serious problems -- like alternate universes overlapping, galaxies being displaced, and time/space anomalies of various proportions.

"Shielding her eyes with her arm, Tokimi did the only thing she could: even the odds. The Chousin sister's power of enforcing absolute balance equilized both combatants' powers so that neither one of them had an advantage over the other. "Neither Quolas nor Mazkertis noticed the change in balance at first, but the realization crept up on them. Mazkertis had punched Quolas several times in the face and even clawed him with his fingernails, but he didn't have a scratch on him. On the flip side, when Quolas channeled ice energy through his sword to freeze Mazkertis like he did last month at the subway station, he noticed that Mazkertis was now completely unaffected."

- Narrator, The Mazkertis Paradox Chapter 10 Part 2: The Secret Within

It is important to note that the reach of Tokimi's powers depends on which dimension she is inhabiting. In the Hyperdimension, which exists above and beyond the boundaries of the BZPB Multiverse, Tokimi is able to use her powers to alter reality on a multiversal scale because she can view the entire multiverse through the Hyperdimension's aleph point and extend her power through it. Alternatively, if Tokimi's physical form is inhabiting a singular universe in the Third Dimension (for example, the Original Universe), she can only use her powers to enforce balance on objects, beings, or spacial manifestations within a reasonable distance of herself, because she would not able to view the entire multiverse in front of her like she can when in the Hyperdimension. When in use, Tokimi's powers are visualized as a white light emanating from the palms of her hands. An example of when Tokimi used her powers of quantum stabilization while in a lower dimension was when she evened the odds between Quolas and Mazkertis when they duelled across the room from her in the Battle in the White Church.

Entropic consequences without Tokimi's influence
Essentially, without the usage of Tokimi's power in the Hyperdimension, she and her sisters would be severely limited in what they could accomplish. Tokimi allows 'entropic consequences' (see below) to be overcome. Without that, she herself could not maintain the balance; Tsunami could not influence the time flow, past and future as needed; and Washu would not be able to bend space, matter and energy as needed.

If it were not for Tokimi-kami-sama's supervision and the regular application of her powers from within the Hyperdimension, many of the actions committed by the powerful characters of the BZPB Multiverse would have serious entropic consequences. In this case, 'entropy' means 'the tendency of things to go wrong in a system'. Basically, things like taking one universe's version of a planet and moving it to another universe, or permanently eliminating one of these 'versions' outside of its own universe, or even something as seemingly material as destroying several planets, all have a consequence - an entropic consequence. Should the universe become too imbalanced, the entropic consequences will begin. Energy and matter will start to shift to other forms; gravity will start to go haywire; galaxies will start to drift chaotically. Finally, when chaos has fully taken hold, the universe will come undone in that dimension; eventually setting off a chain reaction in the other dimensions. So, Tokimi-kami-sama's inner power is maintained by a consciousness above her own, perhaps even that of the Creator Supreme himself. She can prevent most entropic consequences, and should something occur that she cannot stop, she is alerted to the precise location in space to stop it. The last of which is handy, because she is the best actual fighter among the Chousin.

Lighthawk Wings
Tokimi is capable of manifesting a set of personal Lighthawk Wings when she is within any of the standard universes of the Third Dimension (for example, the Original Universe). The exact number of Lighthawk Wings she is capable of summoning is unknown, because she has fashioned hers into the shape of actual wings via an energy-matter conversion technique. In her first and only demonstrated usage of Lighthawk Wings, she used hers to glide to the surface of Malchior IV.