Database and Lore

Tu’er Shen (NSFW)

There are many mythological characters out there. Deities worshiped by many and some by a few. Perhaps one that rings out that not many may know is the legend of Tu'er Shen, but who is he and what is he? What importance does he bring to all of us and what stories does he have to tell? It is important in Chinese mythology that Tu'er Shen is not confused with Tu'er Ye who is a completely different character even if both are Chinese. The story of Tu'er Shen is the story of a soldier by the name of Hu Tianbao that lived in the Fujian Province. The Chinese soldier lived during the 17th century and realized that he was different from the other soldiers. He had an attraction towards men and had grown enamored with a government official. One day, Hu Tianbao was caught spying on the official when he took a bath. When confronted, he admitted the truth that he was gay. In history, homosexuality is viewed differently throughout history and culture. Some places like Greece and Rome in the past, homosexuality was more open towards men and sometimes boys. In China, there was a similar concept to male concubines. Emperors were sometimes known to take up young male concubines that would take up the ranks among the other female concubines. Older men and younger men were sometimes married off together to last twenty years until they could find and be married off to women to have children. For Hu Tianbao, his story would come to a crashing halt. Infuriated for having a gay man spying on him, the government official had the Chinese soldier executed. Hu Tianbao would be beaten to death and discarded, a victim for who he was......but the story does not end there. A month later, a man would report of seeing Hu Tianbao in his dreams. Appearing as a rabbit, he told the man that he was Hu Tianbao and that he was brought back from the dead. He informed the man that his death was wrong and the gods of the underworld agreed that his actions that resulted in his death was a result from an act of love. He would no longer be known as Hu Tianbao but a god and defender to homosexuality. Reborn, he arose to become Tu'er Shen. Moved by the rabbit deity, the man built a shrine to him. In Tales of Heroes, Tu'er Shen's story follows the same route. He felt his body changed as he clawed his way out of the dirt and sand. Told that his execution was an act of injustice, he would be the god of homosexuality and their defender. His body was changed as he knew that he was given a second chance in life. He like many of the deities around the world, joined the Coalition of Deities to help bring balance and represent his followers to the best he could. A struggle to maintain both missions, Tu'er Shen was a mythic that cared for those that worshiped him, while he kept his true identity secret to even his own people. The knowledge of the gods was a forbidden one in the rules of the Coalition with the exception of those that are truly close and trustworthy. In the early 1980's Tu'er Shen while in his human form and at the shrine where he was worshiped, found a man by the name of Wu. The man was also gay and they spent time together getting to know each other. A year later, Tu'er Shen would drop his human form in front of Wu to reveal that he was the god that he worshiped and genuinely loved. Wu accepted his offer and the two got married, a testament that even in a world of different society's and beliefs, that love conquers all even against those that maybe against it. Of course homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgender is something that isn't new in the mythology and literature of mankind even in the legend of Tu'er Shen. The Mayan God such as Chin has been known as the god that introduced homoeroticsm to the Mayan culture. Mayan culture was known to actually purchase young men as lovers for sons and even having legal relationships. To the Inuit, Aakulujjuusi and Uumarnituq which were both male desired each other's company and had sex. Uumarnituq ended up getting pregnant, but unable to give birth due to him being male, a spell was cast that changed his sex to female in order to accomplish this. In Japan, homosexuality was introduced by Shinu No Hafuri and Ama No Hafuri that were servants to a primordial goddess. When Shinu died, Ama stricken with grief committed suicide and was buried with Shinu in the same grave. In China, there are mythical stories of dragons that often enjoyed the company of older men with the tale of the "Old Farmer and a Dragon" being a good example of this. There are even stories of androgynous gods such as Mwari, that is neither male or female. In Egypt, there is a story of Set and Horus having either a consensual or non- consensual sexual encounter together. There has been even Egyptian Art that actually has depictions of female pharaohs having a penis. The cult of Hu Tianbao would struggle through the early years in China as it would get suppressed for the acts of having and encouraging acts of romance between men and men. However, as time progresses in the future of mankind, the movement has managed to survive and the legend of Tu'er Shen (Hu Tianbao) would remain today. With the case of Tu'er Shen, the history of homosexual love would be preserved by a priest named Lu-Weiming that would end up building a temple in Yonghe City, Taiwan. This temple still exists today and provides spiritual comfort to the Taoist community that is gay. Tales of Heroes is never (Or at least tries to avoid) about insulting anybody's personal beliefs. It is in all intents and purposes a story. It is a story about us, the gods, the mythical characters, and legendary people that history unveils as we progress further and further in time. It is designed to bring awareness and knowledge on things we may never have known before. By ignoring such events, that in itself maybe the greater insult. Tales of Heroes is always about people trying to find the company of those that others may never encourage and allow. With the case of Tu'er Shen, he loved and cared for Wu and would be the defender to those that maybe excluded or prejudice by others for who they are. He is competent in his abilities as a fighter and swordsman. He even uses the legendary sword Zhan Lu to defend himself and those around him. Known as the sword of kindness, the blade has the ability to calm the anger of those around him and allow him to negotiate his way to victory rather than committing acts of violence. While the sword has no effect against other mythics, with human mortals Tu'er Shen can calm the angriest of people and bring them to a state of peace. It was the perfect weapon and tool for the rabbit deity to use in helping those that might intend to bring violence to the community that he lives in.