#[15] trying to take teruko with him in death

[zickyvici]

Tetcho Suehiro: A character analysis (Part 4)

Read Part 3 here first!!

A popular fan theory to explain this behavior is that Tetcho is neurodivergent and is on the autistic spectrum. This would explain his hyperfixations, unusual food pairings (which he finds perfectly normal) and him taking things quite literally sometimes. However, I'm not knowledgeable enough on this topic to feel comfortable writing about it. I'd much appreciate it if someone with more experience could add their thoughts to this theory.

One thing about Tetcho is that he just likes keeping to himself. He prefers to let others do the talking while he observes. He's usually shown standing in the background, only stepping up when he feels the need to, unlike Jono who's usually in the foreground, taking the lead.

At this point, I'd like to talk more about his relationship with Jono. We barely see Tetcho outside of fights or work meetings, but we get a glimpse of his more laid-back side when he's alone with Jono. As I've just said, Tetcho likes keeping to himself and usually stays in the background. But when he's with Jono, he becomes chattier - obviously Jono still does most of the talking, but the only time we see Tetcho smile and talk about anything other than his mission is when he's with Jono. 

He fully trusts Jono and his ability, as shown in the Café Uzumaki scene ("What Jono says is surely right"/"There's no mistake in what Jono has said"). Although he dislikes the way Jono torments people, he stands behind Jono more than he stands behind Fukuchi - which is huge, considering that leadership and justice are the most important things to him - but not quite as important as his friendship with Jono. And Jono knows this. After Fukuchi told Jono the truth and Jono betrayed him, Jono was completely certain that, given the evidence, Tetcho would believe him over Fukuchi. 

(I'm not at all trying to say that Tetcho doesn't respect and trust Fukuchi because he absolutely does. Interestingly, he's often drawn facing/standing behind Fukuchi, while he's usually on the same height as Jono - I'm guessing it represents how Tetcho looks up to Fukuchi as his superior and considers Jono as his friend and colleague.)

Obviously, the clearest proof of Tetcho putting Jono over the mission was when he abandoned all his morals and beat up an (innocent) 14 year old because Jono went missing (and he was only gone for like…15 minutes too) - "For just five minutes, I will place Jono above justice."

We've seen that Tetcho usually keeps a cool head during battle, taking calculated and smart decisions. However, during his fight with Kenji, he seems so out of his mind that he doesn't give Kenji time to explain himself, he draws illogical conclusions and doesn't stop to think about what he's doing. Remember how I said that Tetcho hates torturing others? This is the only instance where we see him being okay with it (Teruko tells him that she'll torture Atsushi and Tetcho is okay with it) and even torturing Kenji himself.

Only after the fight he realizes that he got overwhelmed by his emotions and ignored all his morals - and asks for death. He doesn't feel like he should be a Hunting Dog anymore. This once again demonstrates how seriously he takes his job and how important justice is to him. He realizes his mistakes, fully accepts that the ADA is innocent and lastly, becomes Kenji's friend (before passing out on the floor). 

Now that we've covered everything single appearance he's canonically made and analyzed every action he's taken, it's time to get theoretical. 

First of all, I find it interesting that after Tetcho realized his mistake after fighting against Kenji, he didn't feel like he deserved to be a Hunting Dog anymore. He still puts so much importance on being a Hunting Dog, he still puts this group on a pedestal. Imagine how his heart will shatter once he realizes that their leader was the actual mastermind behind it all. I wonder how it will end: Will Tetcho quit the Hunting Dogs and find another way to bring justice? Or will he, as a Hunting Dog, decide to do the right thing and kill Fukuchi and the DOA? (Little fun fact: The real Tetcho Suehiro actually quit his job as a politician. So maybe Tetcho will quit the Hunting Dogs?? Idk. I still want to see him do cool stuff tho.)

We haven't gotten Tetcho's backstory yet (and I will cry if it stays that way), so all we can do is theorize about his past. I think it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume he comes from a samurai lineage (like the real Tetcho Suehiro) and that that's why he takes so much pride in his swordsmanship. Since pretty much everyone in Bungo Stray Dogs is an orphan, I wonder if his parents also died when he was young. It would explain why he never learned how to (properly) cook and just mixes stuff that has the same color instead. What if his parents were killed wrongfully and that's why justice is so important to him? The real Tetcho Suehiro ended up in prison two times because he fought for freedom and rights. What if Tetcho got recruited while in prison? I can definitely see little teen Tetcho trying to punish criminals and accidentally ending up in prison because of it. I'd love to hear your theories and comments!! 

I've spent like 6 hours on this, accidentally deleted the first 3 parts (multiple times) and had to write it all again and now my brain is all mushy. That's enough Tetcho for one day, even for the self-proclaimed biggest Tetcho fan.