Tou-gyou

Tou-gyou
Land	Tong-Nou
Location	Tong-nou (Central Mountain) Ming-ken (via emblem) Shi-chieng (via emblem) Yui-wang (via emblem) Ping-chao (via emblem)
Role	King, Advisor

Tou-gyou is the king of Tong-nou. He was sealed by the other four kings so his power could be harnessed. Tou-gyou's image is engraved in each of the five lands, conversing with these engravings will deliver hints about the area. After unsealing the Central Mountain, Rin must talk to each engraving to recieve the Katana Gems. When all Katana Gems have been acquired, Rin can acquire the Katana of Five Forces and use it to release Tou-gyou.

Engraving locations

Central Mountain

On the stairs after unsealing the gate. This is where he gives Rin the Katana of Five Forces.

Land of Desire

On the wall behind King-gyou.

Land of Dreaming

On the wall inside Ping-chao, directly greets the player at the entrance.

Land of Life

On the ground after taking the left path, then the right, then going forward.

Land of Time

On the ground, below the side of the Fire Tower where the player is facing when they come in.

Etymology

His name appears to be a fusion of to (土, or earth, as in ground, soil) and gyou (行), a kanji that can mean "to circulate" or "to travel"; which originates from the Wu Xing philosophical concept, also known as the Chinese "Five Elements" (五行, go-gyou in Japanese).

In which case, as his name and domains theme suggest, Tou-gyou is a representation of the element of Earth. The element is also linked to the middle of each changing season, the color yellow, the virtue of fidelity, a naked skin, and the Center of the cardinal directions. All in all, the Earth element is very much linked to stability, centralisation; it keeps balance between the other four elements at the same time.

Besides 土 (transliterated as 'to'), there's at least 3 other different kanji that are fitting to his name: 東 (tou, meaning east), along with 刀 (katana) and 島 (island) that can also be read as tou when being used in a compound word.

Gallery

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  Tou-gyou's design featured in The Art of Computer Designing.

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  Tou-gyou's appearance in the Karacters gallery.

Trivia

• Tou-gyou can be contacted through the Computer.
• Clicking above an engraving's eyes will cause it to say "My name is Tou-gyou. I am held in captivity here. When your mission has been accomplished, I will be released."
  • Oddly, this does not work in the Palace of Dreaming, because the hitbox is a layer below the regular hitbox where he says a hint.