Kite Tenjo (or known as Kaito Tenjo in the original) is one of the main characters of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, and also as a major supporting character in Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V as an alternate universe version of the same character. Kite Tenjo is the son of Dr. Faker and the older brother of Hart Tenjo. When his younger brother was formerly sick, Kite would hunt down "number" cards in order to help cure his sick brother. During that time he encountered Yuma Tsukumo and his companion Astral, and became their rival after meeting them. Kite Tenjo, who is assisted by a robot named Orbital 7, would act as the most direct antagonist in the first three arcs, before all his "numbers" ended up in Yuma Tsukumo's possession.
After Hart is cured, Kite becomes friends with Yuma Tsukumo and together along with Reginald Kastle would fight together against the Barians in the inter dimensional war between the Barian World and the Astral World. At that time he eventually would meet Mizar, a Barian Emperor and another duelist who possess a "Galaxy-Eyes" to which the two began to share a fierce rivalry to see who is the superior "Galaxy-Eyes" master. He would also play an important part to his involvement with the Legends of the Dragons of Light and Time. After his final battle and victory over Mizar on the moon, Kite deems Mizar, a true Dragon tamer and entrusts him with Number 100: Numeron Dragon while Kite succumbs to his death due to low oxygen on the moon. After Yuma's battle with Astral, Astral used the Numeron Code to revive Kite and he once again joins his comrades in helping Yuma against new crises that are happening.
He is voiced by Kōki Uchiyama in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Christopher Kromer in the English version of the anime.
Personality
Kite initially carried a pious and self-righteous demeanor as he aims to crush any opponent with a religious fervor in his duels. He also shares a brotherly bond with Hart similar to that of Seto Kaiba when it comes to protecting his younger brother, who is his "everything", from any danger. Kite clearly cares more about Hart's safety than his own, as he keeps using the Photon Transformation to hunt "Numbers" not caring that it damages his body and constantly ignores Orbital 7's warnings because he needs the "Numbers" to heal Hart.
Because of Hart's condition supposedly being caused by the "Number" cards, Kite Duels and acts ruthlessly when it comes to facing those whose possess such cards. He announces his arrival by whistling which tends to frighten the person he is about to Duel. Before Kite Duels, he would always say his usual phrase, "Allow me to collect your "Numbers" along with your souls", and when he takes the "Number", he says "Numbers hunting complete". Kite is opposed to inflicting fear on his opponent, calling it an excessive and despicable thing to do. He is however not above using the fear his opponents already have to make them doubt themselves as seen with Astral when he could have Summoned "Number 39: Utopia" against Kite, but the fear of "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" prevented him from thinking clearly. He considers his hunting to be a job he has to do, not one he wants to do. During the World Duel Carnival Finals, Vetrix notes he began his hunt with the ambition to cure his brother, but began reveling in stealing souls as a Numbers Hunter, shown most clearly when he steals two souls at once with a smile on his face, and his intent to take Quattro's.
Kite doesn't trust and shows hatred towards Dr. Faker and Mr. Heartland, and tends to hide secrets from them. Whenever he speaks with Heartland, he tends to glare at him. He also accuses Dr. Faker of hiding the truth from him about the "Numbers", and only hunts them in order to heal Hart. He also didn't tell them about his plan to find the origin of the "Numbers", or about Yuma and Astral, and lied to Mr. Heartland when he asked about that day. Besides Hart, Kite shows little compassion towards others, such as Nistro and Dextra. Kite has little interest in Nistro's one-sided rivalry, and told him if he gets in his way, Kite will consider Nistro an enemy. Kite shows little consideration to Dextra, once told Dextra not to concern herself with him when they were young or when she sacrificed herself for him, he bluntly claimed he doesn't care about anyone besides Hart.
In the beginning, Kite despises those wielding the "Numbers" due to Hart's condition and the lies told to him by Mr. Heartland and his father as well. However, during the Duel against his own father, Kite found that his reasons for hunting the Numbers were all a lie, his perception of those using such cards was wrong as he states that all those he hunted were innocent souls. After Hart was cured and having reconciled with his father, Kite shows a much lighter disposition, but remains feeling guilty about the actions he committed when he collected the "Numbers". Although Yuma convinced him to move on, Kite admitted to Fender's Barian-brainwashed gang that his soul is still "guilty".
The difference between the anime and manga version of the character is how they view their ace card, "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon": In the anime, especially episode 106, Kite makes it clear that his dragon is an inseparable part of his identity as a dragon tamer, and that he himself is part of his "Galaxy-Eyes", therefore refusing to destroy it. In the manga, Kaito makes it clear that if his "Galaxy-Eyes" won't be at his side, he will destroy it without a second thought (saying it will humiliate itself at the hand of someone else) after it was taken by Hishakaku, Summoning "Galaxy Dragun" to take it down mercilessly with the intention of ending the Duel.
