Tenukie Chaudo

Tenukie Chaudo is one of the most iconic bosses of the Sonic Wings series. However, he originates from the earlier Video System game Rabio Lepus. He appears as a stage boss in Rabio Lepus, but he is always a major boss in the Sonic Wings games.

Despite his cute appearance, Tenukie is identified as a ferocious mercenary with a violent personality, which may explain why he has worked with both Yohmaoh and Fata Morgana. In Sonic Wings Special, Tenukie calls himself 「宇宙一の暴れん坊」, which can be translated as "the rowdiest boy in the universe." He is also known as 「千の仮面を持つ男」, "the man with 1000 masks," because of his ability to change faces^[1].

"Tenukie" (テヌキー) is written as 手抜き in hiragana and means "cutting corners." "Chaudo" (チャウド) means "it's not" in the Kansai dialect of Japanese, which Tenukie speaks in Sonic Wings 2. Therefore, his name means something along the lines of "this isn't cutting corners," likely a joke referring to Tenukie's simplistic design. The Kansai dialect is sometimes associated with humor, so Tenukie's use of it might be intended to make the character funnier to players.^[2][1]

In all games, Tenukie has a round body with a white cloth-like sheet draped over it. One caption in the Sonic Wings 3 guidebook reads, 「「ソニックウイングス２」のチャウド氏。布（のようなもの）を取るとその下には．．．」 ("Mr. Chaudo of Sonic Wings 2. When you take off the cloth [or something like it], underneath it is..."), indicating that what Tenukie's body is actually made of is unknown. His normal face consists of heavy black eye brows, round black eyes, a small mouth, and blushing cheeks. In contrast to Tenukie's appearance in the Sonic Wings series, his eyes are smaller and he has a nose in Rabio Lepus. However, in all games, Tenukie's face changes expressions and features frequently, particularly when he attacks. He also is one of few characters with spoken lines outside of Sonic Wings Assault, and he received his own mix track, "Dead Shimotagana Radio MIX," on the Sonic Wings 3 Soundtrack.

Inspiration[]

Ttbozu — Tenuki Tenuki Bozu with Kotenuki in Parodius.

Tenukie Chaudo strongly resembles a teru teru bozu (てるてる坊主) a traditional Japanese doll used to wish for sun or rain depending on how it is hung. However, according to the official Rabio Lepus website, Tenukie doesn't like to be called a teru teru bozu.^[3]

Stage 3 of the first Parodius shmup featured a boss named Tenuki Tenuki Bozu, romanized as Tenuki Tenuki Buzz.^[4] As the original Rabio Lepus was released in 1987 and Parodius in 1988, Tenukie Chaudo pre-dates Tenuki Tenuki Bozu. It is unknown whether Tenuki Tenuki Bozu was meant as a parody of Tenukie, since generally, Parodius only references other Konami games.

Tenuki Tenuki Bozu differs from both versions of Tenukie Chaudo in that it hangs from a rope like a true teru teru bozu. Tenuki Tenuki Bozu's face is drawn in a style known as henohenomoheji, in which a human face is drawn using hirigana. Henohenomoheji are often used for the faces of scarecrows and teru teru bozu.^[5] Like Tenukie, Tenuki Tenuki Bozu changes its face during its attacks, although all of its facial expressions are composed of hirigana.

Tenuki Tenuki Bozu attacks by sending out small ghosts called Kotenuki ("little Tenuki"). Tenukie Chaudo uses this same method of attack in Sonic Wings 3 as part of the Tenukie Chaudo Osaru Station sub-boss, and one of its ghostlings has a henohenomoheji face like Tenuki Tenuki Bozu's.

Rabio Lepus[]

Tenukiirl — Tenukie Chaudo in Rabio Lepus.

Stage: Stage 6 (Asteroid); Stage 11 (Planet)

In Tenukie's first appearance, he is a minor boss at the end of the swamp-like area of the Asteroid. He is accompanied by Kame-Chargers, mechanical turtle enemies who also appear elsewhere throughout the game. Tenukie's attacks are simple: he shoots small fireballs and rushes the player. The Kame-Chargers also rush at the player after emerging from the swamp waters. Tenukie has four different facial expressions, which change according to his actions:

Default smiling face
Ugly face when he attacks
Wincing face when he is hit
Smashed face, along with his sheet becoming tattered when he is defeated

If Tenukie is not defeated within a certain period of time, he will drift off the left side of the screen, and the player can continue to the next level.

Tenukie and the Kame-Chargers reappear as the final boss in the boss rush of Stage 11. Tenukie can again be spared and will drift away to the left, after which the stage ends and the player continues to the final boss.

Rabio Lepus Special[]

Rlstenukii — Tenukie Chaudo in Rabio Lepus Special.

Stage: Stage 2 (Asteroid Base); Stage 5 (Demon Palace)

Tenukie, along with his Kame-Chargers, reprises his Rabio Lepus role in two stages: as the second boss of the Asteroid and the fourth boss in Yohmaoh's palace. His behavior and appearance are the same, except his sheet is a brighter white with golden undertones rather than gray.

Despite Tenukie still having his nose and longer sheet from Rabio Lepus, the artwork included in the Rabio Lepus Special manual depicts Tenukie as looking nearly identical to how he will later appear in Sonic Wings 2.

Turbo Force[]

Stage: Stage 7 (unused)

Tf-tenukii — Tenukie's Turbo Force sprite compiled from game data.

A sprite for Tenukie Chaudo appears in the game data for the last stage of Turbo Force, suggesting that he may have been meant to appear as one of the game's final bosses. However, no evidence has been found to show that Tenukie actually ever appears during game play. Tenukie's Turbo Force sprite is identical to the sprite later used Sonic Wings 2, except he has only five facial expressions within the game data, instead of the fourteen he has in Sonic Wings 2.

Sonic Wings 2[]

Fair1 — Cameo of Tenukie in Sonic Wings 2.

Stage: Another Dimension

Tenukie is one of the final bosses for Sonic Wings 2, appearing much less frequently than Lar but far more often than Manbou. As in Rabio Lepus, Tenukie most often attacks by shooting fireballs in a variety of patterns. Besides attacking the player directly, Tenukie can also summon the Kame-Chargers from Rabio Lepus, which drop from the top of the screen onto the player. If the player shoots the Kame-Chargers, they turn into carrots which give bonus points when touched, mimicking the bonus-point carrots in Rabio Lepus.

As in Rabio Lepus, Tenukie's expression changes depending upon his pattern of attack; however, instead of just four expressions, he now has fourteen. When defeated, Tenukie cries, 「死んでしもたがな」 which translates to "You got me!" (literally, "Oh no, I'm dead!") in the Kansai dialect ^[6].

If the player does not defeat Tenukie quickly enough during the first run of the game, the game's "bad" ending depicts Tenukie destroying a major city. If Tenukie escapes after the second run of the game, an animation is shown of him alternately smiling and mimicking the face of Golgo 13. In the Japanese version, this ending includes text which reads, "It looks like you did your best, but there's still more to come," followed by laughter. In the English version of the game, there is no text.

Tenukie is also visible in a cameo at the fairground in the America stage of Sonic Wings 2, along with Rabio and the other final bosses of Sonic Wings 2.

Sonic Wings 3[]

Tcosc — Tenukie Chaudo Osaru Station in Sonic Wings 3.

Sw3mode — Tenukie on the mode select screen of Sonic Wings 3.

Stage: Deep Sea off the Bermuda

Tenukie Chaudo is an enemy who first appeared in Rabio Lepus (occupation: mercenary). It appeared as a final boss in Sonic Wings 2. Now (laugh) it has united strongly with Osaru.

—Sonic Wings 3 Japanese strategy guide

Tenukie Chaudo appears as the sub-boss of Sonic Wings 3's final stage if the player chooses the path that leads to Bermuda. Here Tenukie does not fight on his own but is part of ボステヌキーチャウドおさるステーション (Tenukie Chaudo Osaru Station), along with Osaru and the Station Core from Sonic Wings. Tenukie performs most of the attacks; as in previous games, they vary according to his facial expression. Most often, the attacks include fireballs, but Tenukie also uses laser beams and can summon smaller six ghosts to attack the player (although the two ghostlings with sad faces are harmless). Tenukie does not attack in two modes: when he imitates Mao Mao and performs an E-Wave attack which backfires and freezes the Station, and when he sings to the accompaniment of Osaru's guitar in a parody of the characters Basara Nekki and Mylene Flare Jenius from Macross 7.

Tenukie also has a cameo as the cursor on the mode select menu of the Neo Geo version of Sonic Wings 3.

Sonic Wings Special/Sonic Wings Limited[]

Swstenukii — Cameo of Tenukie in Sonic Wings Special.

While Tenukie Chaudo is not a boss in Sonic Wings Special or Limited, he does have cameos in single-player mode endings of both games if the player is using Kowful. After defeating Lar, Kowful boasts that he came all the way to another dimension in search of a strong opponent, only to find weakness. Tenukie appears, challenges Kowful. . . and beats him up. A rough translation of this scene is in the gallery below, along with the English version from Aero Fighters Special.

Tenukie also appears a second time if the player defeats Balbi in Special or Osaru in Limited using Kowful. Kowful is again searching for a strong opponent, and when Tenukie returns, Kowful agrees to fight him. Tenukie triumphs once more, but this time, his appearance mimics the character Gouki/Akuma of the Street Fighter video game franchise: Tenukie wears Gouki's ponytail and the kanji 天, meaning "heaven," which Gouki bears in some poses. In this form, Tenukie is called ゴ◯キチャウド ("Gouki Chaudo" - literally, "this isn't Gouki") and is described as being possessed by the Satsui no Hado (殺意の波動) which possesses Gouki in Street Fighter^[7].

SukuSuku Inufuku[]

Tenukie is featured in two cameos. He appears during a quiz question from Arihiro Minakata, who asks the player which of three sets of items they recommend. The choices are as follows:

"Mysterious Robot Set" featuring Lar and Mecha-Keaton. Lar is shown with two humanoid arms, though it only ever appears with one in the Sonic Wings series.
"USAGI set" featuring Rabio, Lepus, and Tenukie Chaudo. The names Aka ("red"), Midori ("green"), and Chaudo appear with them in romanji.
"Inufuku Abuse Set" featuring two poor Inufuku being tortured.

"Mysterious Robot Set" is the correct answer. If chosen, Minakata quotes Keaton's line, "A drill is a man's weapon."

Also, two Tenukie dolls are shown as prizes in a UFO catcher game, along with many Inufuku plushes.

Voice Samples[]

Tenukie's spoken lines in Sonic Wings 2
- 「ほな、いきまっせー」 ( "Well, here I go!")
- 「えへへへへへ」("Ehehehehehe!")
- 「ぽへー」 ("Pohee!")
- 「いてっ」 ("Ouch!")
- 「お？」 ("Oh?")
- 「ふふ」 ("Phew!")
- 「なめとったらあかんぞー！」 ("Don't take me for a fool!")
- 「死んでしもたがな！」 ("You got me!", lit. "I'm dead!")