Masaharu Niō
Name	Masaharu Niō
Kanji	仁王 雅治
Romanji	Niō Masaharu
Nicknames	Trickster Most Troublesome Guy Con Artist Of The Courts Genius Swindler (by Yanagi)
School	Rikkaidai (3rd Year)
Class	3-B #14
Birthday	December 4
Notable Relatives	Unnamed (Parents) Unnamed (Older Sister) Unnamed (Younger Brother)
Style	All-Rounder Left-Handed
Voiced by	Yūki Masuda (Japanese)

Contents 1 Background 2 Appearance 3 Personality 4 History 4.1 Two Years Prior To The Storyline 4.2 One Year Prior To The Storyline 4.3 Regionals 4.4 Nationals 4.5 Prior to the U-17 Camp 4.6 U-17 Camp 4.6.1 Foreign Expedition Group Challenge 4.6.2 Top 10 Challenge 5 Tennis Record 5.1 Official Middle School Tournaments 5.2 U-17 Camp Results 6 Playing Style and Techniques 7 Personal Informantion 8 Trivia 9 Gallery

BackgroundEdit

Masaharu Niō (仁王 雅治, Niou Masaharu) is a third year from Rikkaidai Fuzoku. Even within the strongest corps, Niō is rumored to be "the most troublesome guy". Reading ten to twenty moves in advance, his forte is a style of play where he deceives his opponent, but that skill takes great artistry, as many others can attest. He can copy anyone's tennis style, but he is limited by his own physical abilities. This creates the illusion that his opponent is facing a copy of themselves. His parents have a house in Shikoku mentioned in the AnoPuri's.

AppearanceEdit

Nio has silver-gray hair that is pratically always in a rat-tail style, and is normally dressed in his Rikkai tennis uniform, or school uniform. His eyes are blue and he has a beauty mark on his chin. Sometimes he is known to dress up as someone else so he can trick his teamates or rival players

PersonalityEdit

Nio's nickname is "The Con Artist Of The Courts" and this is shown in "Genius 359: Nightmare" when Niou was playing against Seigaku's Fuji.

Niō impersonates Atobe Keigo to make Kabaji Munehiro follow him when all the Middle School losers were climbing the mountain, he ordered Kabaji to carry Momoshiro who was, then suffering from broken wrists. And second was when he ordered Kabaji to get him pillows to join the pillow fights between the Middle Schoolers.

Niō has a habit of saying "Puri!" "Piyo!" and more recently "Pupina!"

HistoryEdit

Two Years Prior To The StorylineEdit

Niou began Rikkai Dai along with the rest of the Rikkai 3rd Years as 1st years. Sometime during this time, Niou convinced golfer Hiroshi Yagyū from the golf team to join tennis. They practiced together and eventually became doubles partners.

One Year Prior To The StorylineEdit

Niou became a regular during his 2nd Year at Rikkai Dai.

During this time, Niou lied to Kirihara on where was the tennis club room, and he tricked Kirihara a second time when he disguised as Sanada and told Kirihara to run 100 laps. Thus, since from the start of meeting his kouhai, Niou has been shown to really enjoy tricking and making a fool out of Kirihara.

RegionalsEdit

During the Kantō finals, Niō and Yagyū shocked his opponents when they revealed that they had been impersonating each other. They switch to confuse their opponents, changing their appearance, personalities and play styles for half the game. Showing why they are an undefeated pair in Doubles.

NationalsEdit

Niou and Rikkai Dai head into the Nationals as underdogs after losing their Regional tournament but after the return of their captain Yukimura Seiichi, they believe victory will be certain. Niou and Rikkai Dai annihalate their opponent until they reach the Semi-Finals against Nagoya Seitoku. After losing the first two sets, Kirihara Akaya makes a 5-0 comeback to destroy Liliadent Krauser for 7 straight games and win, Niou partnered with Yanagi Renji easily defeat their opponents while it is revealed that Yagyuu Hiroshi, Marui Bunta and Jackal Kuwahara lost their matches on purpose and could acutally have easily defeated their opponents.

In the National finals, even his teammates were stunned when he "became" Tezuka Kunimitsu and later Kuranosuke Shiraishi to take on Shūsuke Fuji. He imitated all of Seigaku's Kunimitsu Tezuka's moves including the Tezuka Zone and Zero Shiki Drop Shot, but Fuji saw through the illusion, saying that Niou's illusion was incomplete because he was not able to use the Zero Shiki Serve.

He then made the illusion of Shitenhoji's Kuranosuke Shiraishi and tried to intimidate Fuji by playing as someone against whom he had previously lost, but Fuji saw through the illusion and declared that he never loses to the same person twice. He then used his final counter, Hoshi Hanabi, and won the game 7-5.

Prior to the U-17 CampEdit

Niou and the rest of Rikkai Dai carry on with their training after the Nationals, Yukimura Seiichi decides to make sure the players have fun while playing tennis after suffering his first official loss. However, during a training session, Yanagi Renji arrives to practice with a large amount of Inui Juices to show Rikkai Dai. The team, believing that Seigaku also enjoyed it, (unfortunately) willfully drank the drink. This is due to Rikkai Dai refusing to attend the Prince of Yakiniku challenge that Seigaku, Hyotei, Rokkaku, Higa, and Shitenhōji took part in just before the Nationals final (they were unaware of what side effects the Inui Juice put on those who drank it). The drink ended up wiping all members of the club.

Also sometime during this period, Niou and Yagyuu bumped into the Fuji Siblings at the cosplay section of the department store as shown through the Anime PairPuri. Niou tries to scare the Fujis, but was ineffective. They were there because Yagyuu wanted to know where Niou got all the things he used for his tricks. With the appearence of the Trickster and the Gentleman, the Mizuki of the St. Rudolph regular & co. that were following the Fuji siblings believed both Seigaku and Rikkaidai were trying to recruit Yūta Fuji.

During Rikkai's Ocean Festival, Niou plays the Fairy Godmother in the play by the tennis club- however, he is called the Magic Mushroom Man that enchants Kirihara's (as Cinderella) carriage into a giant mushroom pulled by Jackal (as a horse).

U-17 CampEdit

Niō and the rest of Rikkaidai was invited to the U-17 Camp along with the other Middle Schoolers. He was able to catch a ball with the 50 other middle schoolers. Right after the first official shuffle match, having Momoshiro losing against Oni and resulting in having intense pain in both of his wrists, the mental coach for the U-17 camp appears: Saito. He asks all the present middle schoolers to pair up with whoever they want, leading them to believe they are to play a doubles pair.

He played a singles tie-break with his doubles partner and close friend Yagyū Hiroshi and lost as the two were tricked into thinking they would be a doubles pair. All the Middle Schoolers that lost their tie-break are taken away from the camp by coach however the driver takes a detour and they are met by the Mental Coach who takes them to where the other middle schoolers that lost their tie-break games are.

He tells them to climb a mountain by the camp if they want the chance to stay in the camp. Oishi and the 26 other middle schoolers complete this task and end up meeting the High Schoolers who were unable to attain a ball from the helicopter. When they reach the top, they see the eliminated high schoolers training under the Drunken Coach.

He trained in the mountains with the Drunken Coach with his extreme methods. Later on, the 27 middle schoolers in the mountains steal the Coach's sake, angering him to the point he decides they should all go back to the camp and start a revolution.and came back with the other Middle School losers and became a player of the 2nd Court. When the Top 20 U-17 Camp players arrive back to the camp from their Foreign Expedition, Niou watches on with Oishi Shuichiro the sound defeat of Washio Issa and Suzuki Shun by the Mutsu twins who were No.15 and No.16 representatives of the Japan U-17 Camp at the time.

Foreign Expedition Group ChallengeEdit

He and Oishi request a doubles match against the identical twins pair Mutsu Yūho and Mutsu Yūma. Niō once again used Illusion and impersonated Kikumaru Eiji thus he was able to use the Synchro with Oishi and took a game from the twins quickly. However, the twins have more physical strengths and abilities in Synchro. So as the twins become Synchronized, they begin to crush Niou and Oishi. Niou and Oishi, realizing they are about to lose desperately think of a plan. Niou, showing that he had now furthered his Illusion ability so greatly that he could become not only any Middle Schooler but also any High Schooler.

Before they became completey exhausted, Niō impersonated the twins and Synchronized with them. With the three of them Synchronized as triplets, Niou was able to disturb the play by making them play shots and stand in position that would make them vulnerable to Oishi Territory. Niou and Oishi's plan works and the two make a miraculous comeback and defeat the twins making Niou the No.15 All-Japan Junior Representative.

Top 10 ChallengeEdit

Upon the night of their return, Niou returned his No.15 badge as he wanted to aim for a higher representative spot. This is revealed when Atobe calls him from outside Niou's room which was formerly Room 201 but Niou renamed the room label as Niou Kingdom as a pun on Atobe Kingdom. The next day, the match for No.s 10 & 9 take place with No.10 Mūri Juzaburō who was Niou's former Rikkai teammate who won the Nationals with Rikkai last year who was paired with former Hyotei Gakuen Captain Ochi Tsukimutsu known as the High School Doubles Specialists. As Muuri and Ochi step on to the court waiting to find out their challengers, Atobe Keigo steps onto the court by himself, surprising those around him. He shouts out to Niou, who steps onto the court as his partner. Immediately, Niou uses his Illusion to again become Seigaku's Tezuka Kunimitsu who had recently travelled to Germany, shocking the courts even more.

During the doubles match, Niou was shown to be able to use Tezuka's Zero Shiki Serve, an accomplishment that shocked Fuji and the other spectators because he was unable to hit it during the National Finals. When the Zero Shiki Serve is returned by Juzaburo, Niou uses Tezuka Zone and draws the ball in to himself, but Atobe returns it.

As the match progesses to 4-4, Nio and Atobe show they are getting exhausted and that Nio cannot use the Zero-Shiki Serve anymore. When the game reaches 5-4 in the first stringers favour, Nio uses his Illusion to become Kabaji when told they need more power. With the score standing at 6-5 in favour of the 2nd stringers, Ochi's tennis style kicks in and by giving his opponent eye contact, he is able to ruin Atobe's mindset and forces him todouble- fault and making him give away a game and taking them to tie-break.

As the tie-breaker continues on to favour the 1st stringers 6-0, Nio, in Tezula's form, unleashes Tezuka Phantom, forcing a ball out and scoring the first point in the tie-breaker for the 2nd stringers. Eventually, Atobe and Niou win the first set 7-6 (the tiebreak scoreline being 47-45), however Niou is by then completely exhausted, and the High Schoolers easily pull one set back, winning the second set back 6-0. Atobe and Niou are eventually able to win the third set 7-6, winning the game. This makes Atobe the 9th All Japan U-17 representative and Niou the 10th, though Niou has to be hospitalized, temporarily leaving the camp.

Tennis RecordEdit

Official Middle School TournamentsEdit

Tournament	Round	School	Position	Partner	Opponent(s)	Score
2008 Kanagawa Prefectural	Finals	Hanomiya	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Won
2008 Kantō Regionals	Quarterfinals	Nashikari Gakuen	Doubles 1	Yagyū Hiroshi	Ichimiya Keisuke/Ueno	Won (6-0)
2008 Kantō Regionals	Semifinals	Fudomine	Singles 1	None	Mori Tatsunori	None (NOTE-1)
2008 Kantō Regionals	Finals	Seigaku	Doubles 1	Yagyū Hiroshi	Kikumaru Eiji/Oishi Shuichiro	Won (6-4)
2008 Nationals	Round 2	Murigaoka	Doubles 2	Marui Bunta	Sakakibara/Suzuki	Won (6-0)
2008 Nationals	Quarterfinals	Kabuto	Doubles 2	Yagyū Hiroshi	Minamihata/Yoshida	Won (6-0)
2008 Nationals	Semi-Finals	Nagoya Seitoku	Doubles 1	Yanagi Renji	David Rivera/Lucas Siebold	Won (6-1)
2008 Nationals	Finals	Seigaku	Singles 2	None	Fuji Shusuke	Lost (5-7)

• NOTE-1 No result due to Rikkai already winning 3 sets.

U-17 Camp ResultsEdit

Type of Match	Partner	Opponent(s)	Score
Tiebreaker-Style Elimination Match	None	Yagyū Hiroshi	Lost (6-8)
Foreign Expedition Group Challenge	Oishi Shūichirō	Mutsu Yūho/Mutsu Yūma	Won (Unknown)
U-17 Representatives VS. 2nd Stringers Player Shuffle 1st Set	Atobe Keigo	Mūri Juzaburō/Ochi Tsukimitsu	Won (7-6) (50-48)
U-17 Representatives VS. 2nd Stringers Player Shuffle 2nd Set	Atobe Keigo	Mūri Juzaburō/Ochi Tsukimitsu	Lost (0-6)
U-17 Representatives VS. 2nd Stringers Player Shuffle 3rd Set	Atobe Keigo	Mūri Juzaburō/Ochi Tsukimitsu	Won (7-6)

Playing Style and TechniquesEdit

Niou is an All-Rounder and is able shown to be very able in both Doubles and Singles. He is also amongst the few characters who have been shown to be ambidextrous. Since in the Kanto Regionals Final he played for several games with his Right-Hand while pretending to Yagyuu.

Though he is not one of the 3 Monsters/Demons of Rikkai, Niou is described to be the "most troublesome player on court" by not only Inui, but also his Captain, Yukimura.

He is also able to live up to his nickname as The Trickster. As he is able to create an Illusion in which he can become any other Schoolers and behave and perform like them as long as it is within his physical capabilities which explains why he is shown to only imitate School players.

The Trickster could also referring to many other minor tricks, such as hiding his partner Yagyuu from Kikumaru who finally took the shot, making a false bleeding to make Yagyuu think he is badly hurt and could not run or, in Inui's dream, taking the ball in his racket heart to make Fuji's panic as he was looking for the ball during a Meteor Drive Shot.

Laser Beam

Since Nio and Yagyuu are close friends, Nio knows some of Yagyuu's moves, including Laser Beam. He showed he can perfectly use it in a match against Nagoya Seitoku is the semi-finals of the Nationals.

Niou learned the Laserbeam off of Yagyuu and can use the technique efficently however it is significantly slower than Yagyuu's.

Illusion

Niou creates an Illusion which gives the impression that he has become a different opponent. Niou can become any player as long as he has enough data on them and their play style is within his capability. He can become almost any School player since he has become a vast variety of other schoolers such as Tezuka Kunimitsu, Shiraishi Kuranosuke and Kikumaru Eiji. Through these Illusions, he can use almost all of the techniques of the player he has become, making him an extremely troublesome opponent. Some of the most notable moves Niou can use include:

• Tezuka Zone (as Kunimitsu Tezuka)
• Zero Shiki Drop (as Tezuka)
• Zero Shiki Serve (as Tezuka)
• Tezuka Phantom (as Tezuka)
• Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami (Pinnacle of Hard Work) (as Tezuka)
• Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami (Pinnacle of Great Wisdom) (as Tezuka)
• Synchro (as Eiji Kikumaru with Oishi Shuichiro / a triplet with Yūma and Yūho/ or With Keigo Atobe by being Atobe Keigo ).
• Perfect Tennis (as Shiraishi Kuranosuke)
• Twist Serve (as Ryoma Echizen)

Meteor Drive (In Inui's dream)

In his singles match against Seigaku's Fuji, Nio shows his own move. This move is similar to Fuji's Hoshi Hanabi. Nio hits it high into the air and crash lands by the baseline of the opponents side of the court, meteor style.

Personal InformantionEdit

• Niō is 175 cm and 62 kg. The same height and 1 kg more than his captain Yukimura Seiichi.
• Niō’s favorite color is blue, and his hobby is playing darts.
• Astrological Sign: Saggitarius
• Blood Type: AB
• Best subject: Math
• Worse subject: Music
• Most visited spot in school: Rooftop
• Favorite Food: Yakiniku (fried meat)
• Favorite movie: "8 1/2"
• Favorite book: Paradies der falschen Vögel (The Trickster's Paradise)
• Favorite music: Jazz
• Favorite type: A girl who is full of strategies
• Favorite Date spot: Sea
• Most wanted item now: Screw and driver (usage unknown)
• Daily routine: Preparation and review for class
• Dislikes/bad at: Heat
• Special skill aside tennis: Archery, gun-shooting games

TriviaEdit

• He is played by Masataka Nakagauchi and Taisuke Wada in the musicals.
• He is left-handed, which means that up to the point when the switch was revealed, both he and Yagyū were playing with their non-dominant hands for the match against the Golden Pair.
• In the Ano Koro no Oujisama - The Princes From Back Then, Niou is seen riding on top of the rails of a bridge after leaving behind a note saying, "I'm going on a journey." He left his parents' house in Shikoku and was heading towards Honshuu. However, he got hungry in the end and went home in the evening.
• As a child, Niou loved surprising people and acting differently- a reason for why he says "Puri" and stick his tongue out while imagining his family becoming frantic
• He is the only Rikkaidai member Inui Sadaharu doesn't have a data on.
• His family apparently also all mimic one another.

GalleryEdit