You were definitely born in the wrong world! Therefore, I'll let you be reborn! In the world you should've been born in! Welcome to my world! This is the ideal world you've always dreamed of! The world on a game board: Disboard! Everything in this world is decided by simple games. People's lives... and even national borders!
— Tet, bringing 『 』 to Disboard
Tet (テト, Teto) is the God of Play (遊戯の神, Yūgi no kami). He assumed the title of One True God (唯一神, Yuiitsushin) after he won the Great War and obtained the Suniaster before any of the other gods and surpassed their strength despite not participating in the war at all. Tet does not belong to any of the 16 races and acts as an observer of the world from a king chess piece.
After both Shiro and Sora defeated him in a game of Internet chess, he summoned the siblings to Disboard, under the guise of saving Immanity. To challenge Tet for the title of the One True God, one must collect all pieces of different chess from 16 races. This means that, under the tenth rule of the Ten Covenants, one must defeat or unite all 16 races before being able to play against him.
Appearance
Tet is seen wearing a beret with a brim and a yellow clover on top of it. He has a small red-colored heart below his right eye. His most distinctive features are his eyes, for they are multi-colored. Despite the fact of his eyes being multi-color, his right pupil has a diamond shape and his left a spade shape on it. He wears a large metal earring on his left ear which is shown to be a die, a blue choker, and bracelets in both hands with the same color. He wears a red hoodie with a chartreuse shirt and typical blue shorts, accentuating the fact that he is only a boy. Tet appears to have all the symbols of a deck of cards on him (the last suit, clubs, is printed in yellow on his hat). He is shown to wear a red sock on his right foot and a red piece of cloth wrapped around his left one.
Personality
From the moment Tet introduced Shiro and Sora to his world, he exhibited a cheerful and playful demeanor akin to that of any typical human boy of his apparent age.
The rules he established on Disboard reflect his aversion to violence and conflict, likely stemming from witnessing the devastating consequences of Great War. This inclination hints at his benevolent and peace-loving nature.
Tet frequently mentions his preference for being a spectator rather than an active participant, demonstrating his reluctance to interfere in the affairs of Disboard. He holds a negative view of the other Old Deus, finding them uninteresting and even boring.
Despite being a victor in every game he's played, experiencing defeat is a novel and unwelcome sensation for Tet, thus his determination to avoid such an outcome is the driving force behind his decision to bring Blank into Disboard, as portrayed in Episode 4.
History
A long time ago, Riku, who had a habit of playing chess on his own, always imagined the existence of an 'ultimate gamer' sitting right across the chessboard, constantly challenging him to another game with a smile.
During the climax of the Great War, when Riku successfully summoned the Suniaster, he considered himself unworthy of its power and instead prayed for somebody to appear and use the Suniaster to make the world a better place. In his last moments, Riku witnessed the 'ultimate gamer' of his imaginations come to life. The person who stood before him called himself Tet, the final and weakest Old Deus, born from Riku's wish and the overwhelming presence of incredible magic energy. Claiming the Suniaster and becoming the One True God, Tet immediately used his absolute power to repair the damage done to the planet and set forth the Ten Covenants, thus ending the Great War.
After the end of the Great War, as the Exceed races slowly learned to cope with their new lifestyles, Tet would constantly masquerade as a member of a particular race, infiltrate said race and have as much fun as he could. He also enjoys visiting other worlds and parallel dimensions to learn their games and strategies.
6000 years later, during one such trip, he came across a pair of siblings who were said to be unbeatable in any game. Intrigued, he challenged them to a game of online chess and, for the first time in his life, lost. Elated over finally meeting a worthy opponent, Tet transported them to the world of Disboard and presented them with the opportunity to challenge him for the throne of One True God.
Since then, Tet has been constantly monitoring Sora and Shiro with enthusiasm. Not long after Avant Heim joined the Commonwealth of Elkia, Tet decided to masquerade as an Immanity and go play with Sora and Shiro but ended up fainting on the streets because he hadn't eaten for three days. When Izuna encountered him and fed him some fish, Tet passionately challenged her to various games and recounted the story of Riku and Schwi to her during the Great War.
Abilities
Strengths
As the One True God, Tet is the strongest of the Old Deus and has a plethora of unknown powers at his disposal, with the definitive ones being teleportation, levitation, interdimensional travel, and reality warping. He also possesses an unimaginably vast amount of magical power and has the greatest affinity for magic out of anyone else in Disboard. Jibril once stated that even the Old Deus would have trouble summoning a living being from another world, and yet Tet was able to keep two in Disboard for an indefinite period of time with no ill effects. Also, as the God of Play, Tet is incredibly skilled at games, having only lost once to Sora and Shiro in his entire existence.
Weaknesses
As of the moment, he does not have any discernible weaknesses. Although he was defeated by Sora and Shiro in a game of online chess, that was the first time he had ever lost in his life and even then, he pushed them to their limits.
Before gaining the Suniaster, he was the weakest of the Old Deus and was only brought to life by the wishes of Riku.
Quotes
| “ | You creatures who have fought with strength, violence, blood and death, who built a tower of corpses that rises to the sky and call yourselves wise, tell me this: What is the difference between you and the dumb beasts? | ” |
| —To everyone | ||
| “ | You sixteen races who think yourselves wise, exhaust your reason, knowledge, skills, and wealth to construct a tower of wisdom and prove that you are indeed -- wise. | ” |
| —Tet, Narration from Episode 1 | ||
| “ | No one created you. No one wished for you. And no one asked for you. Purely of your own will, you went from beasts to walking on two legs. Attaining knowledge and becoming what you are today. A nameless race. But I, the One True God, shall give you a name -- Imanity. | ” |
| —Tet, Message to Humanity in No Game No Life:Zero | ||
| “ | To all exceed, the self appointed sentient races -- First, there was Achete, to honor the fallen. Then Aschent, for consent between races. But now you will use Aschente. As of this day, the world will be forever changed -- Now, let's keep this game going! | ” |
| —Tet, Declaration to the world | ||
| “ | From this piece of Heaven, I command that there will be no plundering or bloodshed. | ” |
| —To Disboard, First law stated by Tet (Light Novel Volume 1 chapter 1 part 1)' | ||
| “ | Oh, but you know, you’re way too weak to beat me now, so you’d better work on those skills. If you don’t at least get good enough to earn a draw against Blank, there is no future where you see me howl! Ah-ha-haaa! ♪ | ” |
| —To Holou | ||
Trivia
- It is interesting to note that Tet's name is also the 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet ("ט" in Hebrew). Although it cannot be confirmed at this point, Tet's name ("テト" in Japanese") could be a reference/abbreviation to "Tetragrammaton" ("テトラグラマトン" in Japanese), which would explain why he is the sole god in the series.
- In Volume 6 it is shown that Tet was the imaginary friend of Riku that played with him when he was lonely. He was brought to life through prayer and belief to obtain the Star Grail and put an end to the Great War when Riku was unable to due to "not being worthy" in his deformed, dying body and physically being unable to reach it due to both arms falling off.
- He now resides on a king chess piece on Disboard.
- Tet has a record of not losing to anyone, however, he was defeated once by 『 』 and a special case of having a draw with Riku Dola, in a game that ended as a stalemate, due to Riku having died prior to finishing.
