Portrait of a Character – Takeo Masterson Sato

Takeo Masterson Sato is something of a cypher.

Origins

When dreaming up Empress Hoshi‘s children, I wanted her to have fraternal twins, a boy and the only girl. Takeo is the younger of the two. All of the Empress’s children have meaningful names; Takeo means warrior. Takeo is a child of the Empress and Chip Masterson.

Portrayal

Takeo is played by Rick Yune.

Rick Yune as Takeo Sato

This former Wall Street trader and model turned actor is of Korean descent.

I feel that he is just the right guy to be an Empress’s child, but also, in an alternate timeline, a violent collector of bad gambling debts.

Personality

Called Lefty by his peers, Takeo doesn’t really have a brash personality that stands out. Takara is bratty turned sympathetic, Jun is secretive but with a heightened sense of duty, Kira is almost romantic and is something of an outsider, Arashi is businesslike and greedy and Izo is nasty and impulsive. But Takeo? There just isn’t a lot there, and I blame myself for not giving him more to do.

During the first alternate timeline in Temper, Marie Patrice takes a passing interest as she is trying to get both Jun and Kira jealous. But apart from being a bit of eye candy for her, there isn’t a lot to recommend Takeo.

Relationships

Ubvelwev

At the end of Temper, Rick Daniels notes for posterity that, in the correct timeline, Takeo had a male Calafan lover, but the man’s name is not known to history. In Who Shall Wear the Robe and Crown? I reveal him to be Ubvelwev. Since this Calafan is silver, he comes from our universe – and was the winner of the 2159 election for First Minister in Voice of the Common Man. But this is a lot later (2245), so it’s unknown whether he and Takeo were together at that time (as a Calafan, Ubvelwev can shuttle between the universes but, since Takeo is a human, he cannot).

Theme Music

Takeo’s theme is Cracker’s Get Off This.

Prime Universe

Takeo does not have a Prime Universe counterpart (that’s impossible), but he does have an analogue – Kevin Madden Beckett, as they both have unknown potential. As I have written him, he is almost as much of a cypher as Kevin.

Quote

“He’s hopelessly ugly.”

Upshot

I’m not sure if I will ever have a chance to really develop Takeo Masterson Sato. All mysteries about him are my own doing, for not putting enough out there about him.