Ryoko
Ryoko, the demon ( Oni ) who wreaked terror on Earth 700 years ago, is a symbiot
created by Washu, powered by gems of unknown origin. Yosho ( Tenchi's ancestor whom we later find out is Tenchi's grandfather ) is the one who imprisoned her.
She first appears as a hideous mummy within the shrine ( after Tenchi uses the legendary Tenchi-ken sword on the "lock" to her prison ), but
soon rejuvenates herself back to her preferred appearance of a beautiful young ( female )
space-pirate after Tenchi releases her.
Ryoko has witnessed Tenchi's life since he was a small child, and
so has a soft spot for him, although this doesn't stop her terrorising him when he wakes her. She appears as if she's 17 years old, but in reality she is 2017 years old! For those of you who were wondering, her birthday is on August 23rd ^_^ !
Ryoko's Sword
Ryoko's favorite weapon is her energy sword. She actually creates it by using the power of the gems ( The more gems she has the more powerful she can make the sword ). She can create the sword at varied lengths from dagger-size to a long sword. The sword actually has no handle, and she can hold it as if it were a quarter staff !
Ryoko can also use gathered energy as a blast weapon. This is similar to her
sword, except that the beam is projected from the palm of her hand.
Ryoko's Power with Demons
The Chinese Letters for Ryoko's name ( called Kanji ) are translated into "Demon Summoner". Ryoko first demonstrates her ability
to summon Demons in episode 4 of the OAV series. She's at the hot springs and gets into a fight with Ayeka ( what else is new ; )... so she summons a demon. The only thing is she forgot to see how many gems she had. She requires one wrist-gem to summon a demon, but requires two gems ( one
in each wrist ) to control any demon she summons. She only had one so the demon went berserk and destroyed the hot springs ^_^