Jeffrey Master

Issei Tenkai is a famous pastry chef, considered to be number one in the world. He has his own TV program, "Dansweet", in which he dances, sings and makes cakes. His servant, Tsukasa Oyashiki, appears at the program as well.

Background
In 1984, on a snowy Christmas Eve night, Tenkai found Tsukasa as a baby, left before his mansion. He adopted her and gave her the name "Oyashiki" as a memento of this - yashiki (屋敷) means "mansion". She was to become his successor in the Tenkaichi Group. Both Tenkai and Oyashiki became big fans of Paul Holic, a French sculptor, at that time active in his country. He would also appear together with Oyashiki in the Dansweets children's television series.

Eventually, Tenkai lost his ability to perceive salty taste, being diagnosed with a dissociative taste disorder. When his parents passed away, they left him a new drug formula - the Ultimate Recipe - as a keepsake. It was a recipe which could cure his ailment. He then chose to make a dessert competition where the winner would receive this recipe.

IS-7 Incident

 * Main article: IS-7 Incident.

On the Christmas Eve of 2000, Tenkai became the suspect in the IS-7 Incident - the murder of Isaku Hyōdō. However, the truth is actually that Yutaka Kazami killed him, in order to silence him about Kazami's most feared secret - the complete lack of the ability to taste, and that he was trying to steal the Ultimate Recipe, which could temporarily cure his ailment.

Nevertheless, he was wrongly convicted by Manfred von Karma, a prosecutor who was only fixing for his perfect record and nothing else. Though one thing that von Karma didn't expect was that the victim's body would go missing, thanks to the fact that Kazami hid it in the Gemini Sculpture and Oyashiki hid all sculptures in the cellar, making it look like they all melted.

Trial
Tenkai was put on trial. Oyashiki stood by him, but in the end he cracked under the pressure and confessed. On December 28 2001, more than a year after the incident, Tenkai was found guilty as an accomplice to murder. However, Gregory Edgeworth, his defense attorney, managed to prove in court that the victim's autopsy record had been forged by the prosecution and that he was forced to a confession.

As a result, Bansai Ichiyanagi, Chief Prosecutor at that time, who was actually the person who had the record forged, gave von Karma a penalty - the first and only he ever received. Von Karma himself never knew that the body went missing during the investigation. He managed to avoid any further punishment by putting the blame on Wataru Shirase, the detective he chose to replace Tyrell Badd. Still, the incident left him furious and this would later lead to the DL-6 Incident. After Tenkai's conviction, he lost the Tenkaichi Group's support and Oyashiki was kicked out of his mansion by distant relatives. The Ultimate Recipe was also confiscated by the Group.

Later, Sōta Sarushiro remembered this trial. Its results shattered his faith in due process even more. He knew Tenkai was innocent, because he was a great admirer of Holic's work, whom he believed to be his father.

Present day

 * Main article: The Inherited Turnabout.

Oyashiki opened the 12 Constellations Art Gallery, which consisted of 12 zodiacs. While everyone was in Pisces room, she transported the body hidden inside Gemini Sculpture to the fountain in the hall and let everyone discover it. Eventually, Edgeworth figured out what she did 18 years ago and that her motive was that she wanted to find the true criminal, Yutaka Kazami.

He proved that Kazami was the real murderer of IS-7, therefore proving Tenkai's innocence. Tenkai promised to support Oyashiki, who waited 18 years to prove his innocence, getting charged for manipulating evidence in the process, saying that it is now his turn to wait for her release.

Personality
Tenkai is reserved, polite, generous, and dedicated to his work. In the past he was serious and often frowning, in the present, he constantly has a smile on his face

.When Tenkai was imprisoned for 18 years, and due to being a master in the trade of creating sweets that bring happiness to everyone, he created sweets for the prisoners and guards, which became a tradition during snacktime at 3:00.

His hair became white due to stress and mental and physical fatigue. Von Karma questioned him day and night and didn't let him sleep until he plead guilty to accomplice to murder. Tenkai had also almost gone insane, if it wasn't for the chocolates that Oyashiki gave him, the symbol of their friendship, that keep him on that he isn't guilty.

Name

 * His name comes from "Tenka Ichi" (天下一) which means "the best on earth". This matches Tenkai's reputation of being the best pastry chef. This seems to be one of the few cases where the pun in the name is acknowledged as Tenkai Ichi is his nickname.

Trivia

 * Tenkai's design might have been inspired from an anime/manga character, Ken Matsushiro from the series: Yakitate! Japan as his appearance greatly resembles the character.