Urusei Teppannov is a Japanese man raised in Russia, living in that country during both the Russian and present day era. Since he was little, Teppannov supported Vladimir Putin and began to work as a hitman; he also had a strong childhood friendship with the officer Elena. Sent to kill Elena after she began undermining the current Russian regime, Teppannov began to have doubts about serving his country and eventually joins her side in opposing Putin.
"In those days that time was the most beautiful, although I couldn't speak Russian yet..."
―Teppannov[src]Growing up in a Russian orphanage despite his Japanese heritage,[1] Teppannov was outcast for not being able to speak Russian, preferring to practice more at the guitar than learning the language.[2] He formed a friendship with a fellow orphan,
Elena, and the two would often listen to the radio together.[3] Becoming indoctrinated to support and idolize Vladimir Putin,[4] the two resolved to join his service. After becoming adults, the two went their separate ways.[5]
Still unable to speak enough Russian to carry a conversation, Teppannov became a hitman for Putin,[6] meeting with him in person occasionally to receive his duties.[7] During this time, he also continued to practice his music. As part of this, Teppannov acquired the Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, making use of her vocals to create songs such as A Man of Few Words..[8] Over time, he grew very attached to her and the two were close friends.[9] Later on, however, he separated from her.[10]
Part 3[]
"I became a hitman, and I came to kill you."
―Teppannov[src]After a female officer under Putin betrayed the Russian regime and began to spread the story of Putin's usage of child-soldiers, Teppannov was dispatched to silence her permanently.[11] He was also ordered to insert a virus into the data that she was broadcasting,[12] as well as make it all look like the doing of the American government.[13] In addition, he helped propagate the idea that the story of the Russian child soldiers was a hoax and witnessed how disappointed everyone was at this news.[14]
Tracking the woman to her room, Teppannov burst in with a pistol,[15] only for the former officer to get away easily. Since then, over multiple occasions he attempted to apprehend her, only for her to slip out of his grasp.[16] As this happened, Teppannov began to doubt Putin for the first time and desired to step out of his role as a hitman as he fell in love with the beautiful pink-haired woman.[17]
He then tracked her for a final time to a tropical country,[18] finding her there on the beach. As Teppannov prepared to grab her, the woman fled and he ran in pursuit, eventually cutting her off and holding her at gunpoint.[19] When he fired, however, a rose popped out of his gun and Teppannov asked the woman to escape with him instead of killing her.[20] The two made preparations to leave together, getting on a train.[21] As the woman worked on her laptop, Teppannov heard Miku's voice coming from it and realized that the woman was Elena, his own childhood friend.[22]
Believing that everything that happened in his life had been fate leading him to her,[23] Teppannov began crying to think of how they were reunited and started excitedly thinking about his plans to escape with her.[24] After deciding to kill a scapegoat to ease their way,[25] he decided that she would understand and looked back to share his plans, only to find that Elena had committed suicide in the seat across from him.[26]
Part 4[]
Left alone, Teppannov became depressed and lived for many years, as elsewhere events were unfolding in Japan concerning Elena's spam-file being uploaded into the Vocaloid Kagamine Rin. At some point during this, he was responsible for creating the viruses that went into Elena's spam files, including the one within Kagamine Rin.
One day, Teppannov watched Hatsune Miku online as she was recorded in the data world by Tashiro.[27] Aware of his presence as a viewer, Miku instructed Teppannov to watch until the end,[28] at which time Teppannov saw Miku's decision to stay in the artificial world with Ronald. As he did, he began to cry alone in the dark.[29] In part wishing to die and in part wishing to topple the Russian regime,[30] Teppannov decided to assassinate President Vladimir Putin one and for all.
To do this, Teppannov approached Putin while he was surrounded by bodyguards and took aim,[31] only to be distracted by thoughts of the future he could have had with Elena if things had turned out differently,[32] in which both their sins were wiped clean and he was dancing with Elena in an elegant ballroom. While he was distracted, Urusei Teppannov was shot by one of Putin's guards and fell to the snow. As he collapsed, he saw Putin wave at him and walk off, before finally succumbing to his injuries and dying.[33]
Traits[]
Personality[]
Urusei Teppannov was a man of few words who often concealed his own thoughts and feelings behind an expressionless facade.[34] In addition, as an assassin he was desensitized to killing and followed Putin's orders without doubts in most cases;[35] he was also a loner as a result of his prioritizing music over learning to speak Russian.[36] Despite this, Teppanov deep down was a sensitive and easily touched individual, drawing a line at killing an innocent woman and quickly falling in love with her,[37] only to have those feelings exacerbated when learning her identity.[38]
He was consequently deeply touched by her death and the loss of Hatsune Miku,[39] valuing the few friendships he had due to his lonely life and seeing no more value to this life once they were gone. After this depression Teppannov stopped caring about wanting to live or die and so acted recklessly to attack Putin,[40] recognizing that his plans to escape with Elena had at the time been foolish.[41]
Skills and Abilities[]
Since childhood, Teppannov developed a skill with the guitar and possessed considerable musical talent,[42] enough to become a producer who could tune and make use of the Vocaloid program.[43] As a consequence of his dedication to practicing, however, he neglected to learn to speak Russian and was unable to carry a conversation in the language, hindering his ability to integrate into normal Russian society;[44] he was, however, able to speak and fluently understand Japanese as a result of his heritage.[45]
As a hitman, Teppanov had considerable athletic skill and was trained in tracking down a target for his employers, able to consistently confront Elena during his pursuit of her. As part of this,[46] he was also able to see through her disguised appearance with no problem and even showed up sooner than she'd expected.[47] He also had skill with a handgun, although his skill suffered under emotional duress.[48]
Appearance[]
Teppannov was a well-built man with a goattee, large nose, thick eyebrows, brown eyes framed in thick glasses, and slightly tanned skin with his hair short and close to the skull. Due to the harsh climate he typically lived in, he would wear a fur hat and large, dark fur-lined overcoat where he would conceal his pistol;[49] in a warmer, more tropical climate, he wore a yellow and red Hawaiian shirt and brown shorts.[50] As a child, he wore a yellow shirt with a red character for the number "1", blue shorts, and blue shoes over white socks.[51] He also wore an earring of the word "Love" in English.[52]
Teppannov's relationship with Elena was built on dreams
Teppannov's former childhood friend, as well as later on being his target. In his early childhood, having no friends, the young Teppannov greatly appreciated the girl who would sit with him and listen to the radio, enjoying the Japanese tune.[53] Later on, however, the two separated as they grew up and Teppannov lost track of the woman, later not even recognizing her when he was sent to kill her.[54] Despite this, he began to doubt his allegiance to Putin when sent to kill her and began to fall in love with her over the times that her pursued her.[55] Eventually, this developed into a wish to escape with the woman and he pursued her with that end in mind.[56]
After recognizing Elena, Teppannov became overwhelmed with emotion and was happy to be able to reunite with his childhood friend.[57] Believing that it was fate that the two of them had reunited,[58] Teppannov was eager to start a new life with Elena and was utterly confident in the bright future they had together and her own willingness to leave with him.[59] As a result he was utterly crushed by her suicide and depressed, wishing things could have ended differently even to the point of his death.[60]
Hatsune Miku[]
"Even though you were a machine, you were shining, huh?"
―Teppannov about Miku[src]A Vocaloid that Teppannov made use of in his days in Russia.[61] Although not often expressing himself in words, Teppannov created many songs with the Vocaloid that were able to convey his feelings instead.[62] Because of this relationship, he and Miku were close and he saw her as someone he could confide in.[63] Seeing how she was able to shine even though she was a machine, he would eventually take inspiration from her actions and break free of his role in life.[64]
Even after separating from Miku, he still followed her progress as a Vocaloid and would mentally refer to her in his actions.[65] As a result, Teppannov saw Miku's story to the very end and was greatly saddened to see her staying behind in the data world, crying as he watched.[66]
Putin[]
"For the first time I doubted him"
―Teppannov[src]Teppannov's employer. Indoctrinated to believe in the politician, he served him faithfully as an assassin for many years and had no doubts about the orders he was made to carry out. Despite this, he began to rethink his devotion after being made to hunt down Elena and later had no compunction with escaping Putin's regime entirely.[67] He later only hoped to assassinate the politician,[68] while also using him as a means to commit suicide.[69]
A virus that Teppannov created to discredit and destroy Elena's story.[70] Red Rin does not acknowledge Teppannov as her creator, although Irina appears to reference back to it being on Putin's orders.[71] Teppannov presumably was ashamed of his role in creating Red Rin as he was his other duties carried out for Putin's sake.
Trivia[]
Notes[]
Teppannov is partially based on a Vocaloid producer who's in the same circle as Putin-P (Twisted Ducks), named Teppu-P.
Teppannov's surname Urusei comes from the Japanese slang for "shut up", pronounced the same but romanized as "urusee".
Curiosities[]
In January 2010, Teppannov won tenth place in a "Favorite Putin-P Series character" poll held on Putin-P's blog.
