Nyotengu

Nyotengu is a female tengu who first appeared in a 2014 update version of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade.

Early life
Details of her life are unclear, other than that she apparently existed as early as the Heian Era of Japan. She was also instrumental in causing a week-long tsunami in the capital due to wanting to alleviate the heat. She also apparently observed a particularly ambitious warlord known as Lord Fool.

Arrival at New Zack Island
She apparently landed on New Zack Island briefly, only to lose her wings due to a "mysterious power" at work on the island. Although shocked due to it technically rendering her not Nyotengu anymore, she nonetheless took the opportunity to experience a vacation among humans.

The Sixth Tournament
At some point, she encountered Leifang, who was training for the tournament. She offered to give Leifang some advice regarding getting stronger, should the latter beat her. Leifang ultimately did so, although Nyotengu then tauntingly gave her mixed messages on how to get stronger before promptly flying off.

She later encountered Brad Wong, who was trying to retrieve a legendary whiskey, making off with the treasure before he could get it. She then told him to fight her for it. After doing so, they shared some of the whiskey.

Next she met Ryu Hayabusa while the latter was training and, being aware of his role in taking down Bankotsubo, offered a sparring match to experience his abilities first-hand. She ultimately was defeated, with Ryu bluntly telling her to leave before teleporting away. Although put off slightly by his rudeness, she nonetheless was infatuated by him and satisfied.

She also ran into Ayane, and revealed she was the real "Female Tengu of Mount Miyama", in reference to Ayane's previous boasts, before sparring her. She also gatecrashed the Sixth tournament, with Zack deciding to have her act as the "half-time show", which she agreed to.

Arrival at the Venus Islands
She arrived at the Venus Islands due to expressing some interest at the "lively" human presence there, and was called upon by the owner of the island. Impressed with the owner for being bold enough to address her, and expressing some interest in the Venus Islands due to it "captivating the human mind", she then beckoned the Owner to follow her. Shortly afterwards, her wings vanished again, thus rendering her human yet again. Largely undaunted, she decided to give the Venus Festival a try, thinking the vacation would generate some excitement.

Appearance

 * See also: Nyotengu's costumes

Despite being a female tengu of a very high age, she doesn't look very old and appears instead to be in her early to mid twenties. She also differs from Bankotsubo in that she lacks a demonic, monstrous appearance, instead appearing much more human. She has pale, creamy colored skin, and has a voluptuous figure, with curvy hips and a large bust. She is of above-average height for a Japanese lady, has an oval face and a small beauty mark on the left of her chin. She has light purple eyes and also seems to be wearing light purple eye-shadow. Despite lacking the trademark beak-like long nose of the tengu, some of her costumes do reference it with long-nosed masks. Like Bankotsubo, she has wings, but they're smaller, and change color depending on her outfit. In Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, her wings disappeared upon her arrival at New Zack Island.

Her dark bluish hair is intricately done, with perfect straight cut style bangs and perfectly cut hime side-locks. Unusually, the rest of her side-locks are left uncut and long, and tied to the sides with topknot style bands on the tops. The rest of her hair is worn in perfectly straight cut pigtails which she wraps up, and she wears geisha and oiran style hair decorations. She can also wear her near bottom length hair loose, however, her long side-locks are kept adorned, aside from in Extreme 3 where she has the option to where her side-locks unadorned. Her hair color is altered in certain DLCs, as well as the actual style; In her Fairy Tail DLC, she receives uncovered hair buns with her loose hair for example, and she wears her hair short and curled inward in her 2016 Halloween DLC, and she wears a short grey white hairstyle in her Aquaplus DLC.

Her main costume appears inspired by geisha fashion like Kokoro, except Kokoro's is more modest and modern looking; Nyotengu wears a kimono that oirans, or Japanese courtesans, used to wear. The opening is directly in the front, the main purpose of which was for the oiran's clients to have "easier access". The kimono is both flame-red and black, and the skirt and wide sleeves have Asian patterns and designs on them. The kimono is worn loose to expose more of her cleavage and she wears a white, shorter kimono underneath her external one. She wears tabi and geta sandals like Bankotsubo. She also wears a mask on the front at times modeled after tengu.

Aside from her main outfit, she has a different color variant of the kimono, and she also wears a full body leather catsuit with the front unzipped, and a leather face mask, and black geta. She also carries a fan in her outfits, and can equip a tengu mask in her kimono costumes.

In some of her DLC outfits, her fan type is modified, such as a white rigid bathing fan (uchiwa), a violet and red metallic leaf fan for her Fighter Force outfit, Velguirie's fan for her Deception pack, and a foldable fan (sensu) for her Tamiki Wakaki outfit.

In most of her own variation of various DLC costumes, she uses an appropriate substitute in place of a fan (ie, a handheld Christmas Wreath for both her Santa's Helper and Christmas 2014 outfits, a baton for both her gym and cheerleader outfits, etc.)

With the exception of her teacher outfit, she does not wear glasses in any DLC costumes that include the option. She instead wears a tengu mask if prompted.

Personality
Nyotengu, like Bankotsubo, has a loud and arrogant personality, but contrasts from him in also being somewhat playful and laidback. Her opening introduction in the trailer shows she's quite energetic and appears to enjoy fighting, especially inflicting pain on her opponents, hinting at a sadistic motivation. She's also quite suggestive and flirty, as she sensually licks her lips after a match. She's very loud and frequently yells in delight as she's attacking her opponents. She seems to despise defeat, as she acts overly dramatic and angry after a loss. Although if her opponent proved himself or herself to be exceptionally skilled, she'd overlook her defeat, as evidenced by her reaction upon being defeated by Ryu and to a lesser extent with Leifang. She appears to enjoy alcoholic beverages, as evidenced when she partied with Raiden and Fujin (who implied she often gets worse when she's drunk), as well as her bonding with Brad Wong.

Her actions are very sensual and suggestive, with her dialogue including a lot of double entendres, and her attacks include alot of subtle provocative poses on her part. Besides that she appears very confident in her fighting abilities; when taunting she will tell the opponent that she's merely toying with them or that they should not be shy of approaching her. She can also fan herself arrogantly as she expresses that she's tired of her opponent's empty boasting, and she can even laugh to herself in an arrogant and haughty fashion. She also can glide away in a relaxed state as she waves for her opponent to come over.

In Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, she is capable of befriending the other girls on the island, showing her friendly, peaceful, and playful side. She was also implied to have a slight soft-spot for humans, as she mentioned that part of the reason she went to New Zack Island was because it presented a rare opportunity for her to actually experience human aspects. Even though she doesn't have any friends on New Zack Island in the beginning of the vacation, she can easily become immediately close or attached with the player's character by playing with her in a few Butt Battles. In Xtreme Venus Vacation, she is also shown to be something of a prankster, as during the main episodes, she briefly poses as the voice of the God's statue and later during a ghost festival posed as an undead schoolgirl. She also shows her friendly yet mischievous side in Dead or Alive 6 when she encountered Leifang and Brad Wong. Unlike Bankotsubo, who shows nothing but hatred and disgust for the human world and wants to cause chaos, it is shown in Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 that she loves and appreciates the human world, calling it a wonderful and fascinating place to live.

Etymology
Nyotengu, when translated into English, literally means "female tengu".

The word tengu it self translates to "heavenly dog" in English. In Japanese folklore, tengu started out as destructive demons and harbingers of war; however, over time, their image gradually softened into beings that are protective, though still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests.

Ayane
Nyotengu has a tendency to annoy Ayane, although they are also able to work together. In their unique Tag Battle outro, she irritates Ayane by literally standing in front of her after the latter said no one gets in her way. In Xtreme Venus Vacation, she pranked Ayane and Kasumi (who were both rehearsing for a ghost festival) by acting like a zombified schoolgirl. She later worked with Ayane alongside Misaki for the second New Year's Card photoshoot, with Ayane in particular being annoyed at Nyotengu's rather revealing Daitan outfit. They also entered a minor argument about who looked the best.

In Dead or Alive 6, Ayane and Nyotengu meet formally, and the latter recalls that Ayane had mentioned that she was the "woman tengu of the Miyama." She openly flirts with Ayane, wrapping her arms around her and making a suggestive innuendo, much to the latter's confusion and irritation, before making clear that Nyotengu herself was the true "woman tengu of the Miyama".

Marie Rose
In Xtreme Venus Vacation, Marie Rose and Nyotengu had some degree of acquaintance, as the two alongside Honoka attempted to plan out how to celebrate the then-upcoming first anniversary of their arrival at the Venus Islands. However, similar to most of the other girls, she does get cross when Nyotengu makes remarks that implied that she viewed Marie Rose as being a child.

Ryu Hayabusa
Nyotengu desired to challenge Ryu Hayabusa, being interested in his fighting capabilities after hearing of his role in the death of the rogue tengu, Bankotsubo. She is capable of allying with him, as evidenced by Ryu being a tag partner of hers in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and having a unique victory and intro. Her intro in Last Round when encountering him implies that while she has heard of him, she never actually met him. In Dead or Alive 6 she is able to meet him, and Nyotengu is satisfied when he proves his skill by defeating her.

Honoka
She acted as a teacher to Honoka during their stay on New Zack Island, with Honoka looking up to her as a result. In addition, the two also worked together alongside Fiona in planning out the Dancing Party of Love and the First Anniversary event, and also worked with Misaki for planning the first Rivals Festival.

Tamaki
Nyotengu is willing to work with Tamaki as part of assignments for the island if such is mandated, and they shared a bit of a friendly rivalry, especially regarding the Owner. The two also had a discussion regarding how similar humans and Tengu were (or rather, how similar Tamaki and Nyotengu were), although Nyotengu initially took some offense at the comparison until Tamaki clarified. They also worked together as tour guides for the island, trying to find a date spot for the Owner.

Misaki
Nyotengu largely got along well with Misaki, although the former has shown some haughtiness towards her. In addition, Nyotengu once pulled a prank on Misaki by posing as a "frivolous god"'s voice. She also voiced her opinion on how the setting up of the Venus Festival was going off to a bad start. Later on, she also teasingly suggested that Misaki didn't want to "pull the teeth out" of the owner when she suggested the whole Rivals Festival aspect could be dangerous. Nyotengu also at one point hypnotized her into thinking she was a cat. She later worked with Misaki alongside Ayane for the second New Year's Card photoshoot, with Misaki in particular being shocked at Nyotengu's rather revealing Daitan outfit. They also entered a minor argument about who looked the best.

Luna
Nyotengu once used Luna as a test subject in her hypnosis training by having her act as a cat. However, although it had initially worked by having her briefly acting like a cat, she ultimately returned to her usual self, with Nyotengu implying that it failed to work because Luna had no inherent interest in acting like one.

Leifang
The two met each other in Dead Or Alive 6. Nyotengu is seen watching Leifang practicing for the tournament. She then asked Leifang if she wants to become much stronger, however she will only tell her how if Leifang can beat her. Leifang accepted her request and managed to defeat her. After the match, Nyotengu was impressed with Leifang's strength and playfully joked a bit on how to become stronger before suddenly leaving.

Brad Wong
The two entered a minor altercation when Nyotengu ended up making off with a chest containing legendary liquor that Brad had been searching for. Afterwards, they presumably drank the contents together, with them complimenting each other.

Fiona
Nyotengu alongside Honoka helped Fiona do the final touches of the dancing party, with Nyotengu showing her Tengu dance techniques, with Fiona being somewhat impressed by her dance techniques.

Kanna
Nyotengu's relationship with Kanna is complicated to say the very least. Nyotengu herself merely views Kanna as a childhood friend of hers, but Kanna has hostility to Nyotengu, viewing her as her arch-enemy at worst. Eventually, Momiji after beating the two at a match made them swear to get along from that point onward, Kanna especially, with their ultimately agreeing, although it was implied that they still had a competitive streak against each other even when technically being friends.

Gameplay

 * See also: Nyotengu's command lists

Nyotengu uses an almost identical move set to Bankotsubo; she has very powerful strikes, damaging throws, and incorporates flight, as well as using her fan to summon large deadly gusts of wind. However, unlike Bankotsubo, she seems to focus more heavily on evasive air attacks, with the help of her wings. Her attacks, unfortunately are quite slow, and her more powerful moves require long start-ups, and have slow recovery frames. As a result, quicker, more combo-focused fighters like Kasumi can easily take advantage of  her vulnerable, recovering state. Also, her attacks that have long start-ups can be easily interrupted, or a well-timed hold can push aside a slow attack.

To make up for her slow speed and slow start-up and recovery frames, she can glide away from an aggressive opponent or towards them, using her wings. She can also evade low attacks while flying, and can do deadly throws, while her holds do average to high damage. Like Bankotsubo, beginners aren't recommended to use her, due to her intimidatingly complex moves and weaknesses. An expert player who has practiced with her enough on higher difficulty AI opponents can easily use her refined and powerful moves to their advantage.

Stats
The following are Nyotengu's official stats as listed in the games.

Dead Or Alive Xtreme 3
Nyotengu is not very easy to befriend if she is not your starting partner, especially for Kasumi, Ayane, Kokoro, and Helena due to her 1 friendship note (not close relationship) for them at the very beginning of the vacation. While for the rest of the girls, Nyotengu's 2 friendship notes will slowly decrease to 1 if not befriended soon or interacted with. However, if she is the player's starting partner, she gets immediately close or attached to the player's character (any of the girls) by playing with her with at least 5 continuous Butt Battles.

In beach volleyball, just like Tina Armstrong in Dead or Alive Xtreme 1 and 2, Nyotengu has a lot of power to hit the ball very hard which often makes the girls fall down to their feet if they get hit by the ball. However, she is not good in terms of speed and a bit slow to recover when she falls down.

Dead or Alive series

 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade (playable, 2014)
 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (playable DLC, 2014)
 * Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (playable, 2015)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 (playable, 2016)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation (playable, 2017)
 * Dead or Alive 6 (playable, 2019; DLC)

Fighting quotes

 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate
 * Dead or Alive 5 Last Round

Music themes
The following are the music themes used for Nyotengu throughout the series.

Gallery

 * See: Nyotengu gallery

Trivia

 * Nyotengu is the oldest female character in the series, at the age of 1018, with the oldest character being Bankotsubo at the age of 1500.
 * In the Japanese version of the games, she spoke with extremely antiquated Japanese, and used the Japanese feminine pronoun "warawa" in reference to herself as a demonstration of her otherworldliness. This trait was localized with her speaking with a more regal inflection.
 * Nyotengu, being his spiritual successor, shares quotes with Bankotsubo.
 * She is the first female in the series to have a visible beauty mark.
 * Both Nyotengu and Phase 4 appear as DLC in Dead Or Alive 6.
 * This also marks the second time that they're DLC in the main series.
 * Team Ninja noted on their official twitter account how some fans in the West were not pleased with her name, and that they acknowledged that these fans wished for her to undergo a name change for her console release in the West if deemed necessary. No change to her name was made.
 * In Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, Nyotengu loses her wings as soon as she arrives on New Zack Island. The only way to get her wings back is to make her satisfied by showing her the true meaning of fun about humanity, such as hanging out with the other characters and getting to know them well.
 * In Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, she is unable to wear her hair up in her signature style, but gains the option of wearing her side-locks unadorned.
 * In her promotional audio for Xtreme 3, Nyotengu refers to herself as "Miyama no Nyotengu", which translates to "the female tengu of [Mount] Miyama", which implies that she lives on Mount Miyama.
 * Meanwhile, Ayane was similarly referred to as "the Miyama's woman tengu" in Dead or Alive 2. This is used as a source of humorous tension in their interactions.
 * Her birthday is revealed in Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation, where starting the game on that date will have the player celebrating Nyotengu's birthday. However, in her actual bio, it lists her birthday as unknown.
 * Unlike the other characters in Xtreme Venus Vacation, who generally refer to the Owner with Katakana spelling, she uses the Hiragana spelling which roughly translates to "my lord".
 * Nyotengu, Rachel (since she's half-fiend) and Alpha-152 are the only playable female characters in the series who are not human.