Kenzo Tenma

is a fictional Japanese doctor who is the main character of the manga Monster. At the start of the manga, he is a renowned surgeon in the area of neurosurgery and as such, is the Chief of Neurosurgery at the Eisler Memorial Hospital.

Background
Not much is known about Tenma's childhood, however when he was growing up in Japan, he was constantly getting picked on and had a habit of wetting his pants. This earned him the nickname of "Sissy Pants Tenma". As well, Kenzo's father and brother were also doctors, possibly leading to his decision to also pursue a career in medicine. However as Tenma was not a person who was close to his family, he had chosen to attend a University in Germany to study medicine. As such his ties to his family have since grown weaker as he had not been back in Japan since he left.

Kenzo's family is also one which is considered to be middle class, as Kenzo would later feel awkward about inviting his parents to stay at the Heinemann Mansion for Kenzo's marriage to Eva Heinemann, the daughter of the director of Eisler Memorial Hospital.

One of the people Kenzo meets in Germany is a fellow student named Rudy Gillen. Gillen was one of the top students of the class, but after Kenzo arrives, it is soon evident that both are in a battle for top score. This culminates during an exam in which Rudi had brought some cheat notes to the test only to notice Kenzo looking at him with a smirk on his face. This initially results in a strained relationship between Rudi and Kenzo. However it is revealed that Kenzo was cheating as well, and that his expression was that of surprise that the other top student was cheating as well.

Medical Career

It is unknown how much time passed between Kenzo becoming a certified doctor to when he started as an attending surgeon at Eisler Memorial Hospital. However, it soon became evident to his superiors Kenzo was perhaps the best neurosurgeon on staff, and he would quickly be promoted to Chief of Neurosurgery. As well, he finds favour with his boss, Director Heinemann, and writes certain research papers for the director per his request.

Later on, he becomes disenchanted with office politics at the hospital, namely who should receive proper treatment above others. This happens after he is pulled from performing surgery on an ordinary Turkish construction worker in order to work on a famous opera singer who had arrived afterwards. When a strange massacre brings the twins Johan and Anna Liebert to the hospital, Tenma starts to perform an operation on Johan who has a severe bullet wound to the head. But before he can begin the operation, Heinemann and Chief of Surgery Oppenheimer order Tenma to operate on a prominent politician who arrives after the boy. After considering the death of the Turkish man, he disobeys his orders and saves Johan's life, however the politician does not survive. This causes him to fall out of favour with Director Heinemann, and he is replaced as Chief of Neurosurgery by Dr. Boyer, another of Heinemann's loyalists. However, Heinemann, Oppenheimer, and Boyer are soon killed after eating poisoned candy. The board of directors promptly promote Tenma to Chief of Surgery. He would then hold this position for 9 years before resigning abruptly to flee from BKA Inspector Runge who suspects him of murder in the deaths of Heinemann, Oppenheimer, and Boyer.

Dr. Tenma is portrayed as a humanitarian who cares deeply about saving the lives of others, regardless of their affiliation. Even in his capacity of Chief of Surgery at Eisler Memorial Hospital, he frequently visited patients and encouraged their recovery, thus making him a favourite among the patients. Despite being cast off from Eisler Memorial Hospital, he is still able to carry out medical duties whenever possible. One of his exploits include operating on a woman with a subarachnoid hemorrhage without a craniotome.

Dr. Tenma's Personal Life

It is presumed that Kenzo meets Eva sometime after his promotion to Chief of Neurosurgery. However, Kenzo's relationship with Eva initially appears to have some issues, as Kenzo would insist on partaking in activities that Eva (as the daughter of a high class hospital director) would not even want to do. Also, Kenzo would have the tendency to ignore Eva while he is conducting research. However, it is assumed that they do at one point fall in love to the point that Kenzo asks for Eva's hand in marriage, much to the approval to her father. Eva appears to be enthusiastic about this, she is looking forward to Dr. Tenma climbing the ladder of the hospital and soon becoming Hospital director, a prospect that Eva anticipates with glee so she could be "the director's wife".

However, Kenzo soon becomes disenchanted with Eva as well after the death of the Turkish construction worker. Eva insists that not all human lives are of equal importance, a revelation that unnerves Kenzo. Soon after Kenzo is dropped as Chief of Neurosurgery, Eva cancels her engagement with Kenzo. But after the death of Director Heinemann, and the promotion of Kenzo to Chief of Surgery, Eva tries to reconcile saying she is the one who is wrong, but Tenma refuses.

Since that moment, and during his tenure as Chief of Surgery, Dr. Tenma has refused to devote himself to relationship despite Dr. Becker's insistence that Kenzo should find a woman. Dr. Becker can be considered as one of Dr. Tenma's closest friends and co-workers. However, after Dr. Tenma is accused of murder, Dr. Becker assumes that Dr. Tenma is guilty.

Kenzo Tenma also has some acquaintances from Japan who occasionally visit Kenzo while on business. It is not known how close his friendship with these people is.

TENMA, Kenzo

fr:Kenzô Tenma

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See Also

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