| Hōjō Tamae 北条 玉枝 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Information | |
| Age | Presumably around early 40s |
| Weapon(s) | ladle (seen in the manga) |
| First Appearance | Meakashi-hen |
| Portrayed By | |
Hōjō Tamae (北条 玉枝) is a villainous character in the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series. She is Teppei's wife, and Hōjō Satoko and Hōjō Satoshi's aunt.
Tamae was beaten to death on the night of last year's Watanagashi Festival, causing Teppei, her husband, to flee Hinamizawa. At first, in Onikakushi-hen and in Watanagashi-hen, it seems like she was beaten to death by a drug addict, however in Tatarigoroshi-hen it was hinted while in Meakashi-hen it was revealed that Satoshi was her real murderer.
Character Summary[]
Like her husband, Hōjō Teppei, Tamae was violent and abusive towards Satoko and Satoshi, which caused Satoko to break mentally and Satoshi to get tired out due to the stress. Only minimal information is known about Tamae until Tatarigoroshi-hen, but in Meakashi-hen the reason for her abusive personality is revealed.
Because she was part of the Hōjō family, the villagers started to hate her during the dam war. After the dam project was stopped, the hostility toward the Hojos started to decrease, but Tamae's paranoia led her to continue holding an antagonistic view of the villagers, which only intensified their dislike of her. The tension in the Hojo house started to grow when Tamae found out that her husband had a lover. The couple's violent arguing became a daily habit, which made Satoko and Satoshi's life more miserable and stressful, especially as Teppei and Tamae bullied the children whenever they were upset and the daily arguing meant they were upset all the time. (This drove Satoshi to exhaustion, and eventually caused him succumb to the Hinamizawa Syndrome). Whenever Teppei came home late, Tamae yelled at him in the entrance, starting another fight. After a while, Teppei realized that the only way to avoid a fight was to avoid coming home at all. At that time, Satoshi hoped that the abuse would stop since his uncle was no longer present.
Tamae, moments before her death.
Tamae's frustration only increased without an outlet, however, and she started to bully Satoko and Satoshi to the point of Satoko's mental breakdown. Satoshi was unable to bear the abuse any longer, so he came to a conclusion: if he wanted to save his little sister, then he had to murder their aunt. Tamae liked to bring useful trash home, such as old furniture, so Satoshi told her he had found a wardrobe in the forest that she might like. Tamae walked into Satoshi's trap: while she was checking the wardrobe, Satoshi picked up his metal bat from the bushes and struck Tamae in the head. Tamae, unconscious, lay face-down on the ground until Satoshi rolled her over and smashed her face with the bat (Ōishi revealed that this is a sign of hatred, a desire to obliterate the person's features and thus the person themselves). After his wife's death, Teppei moved in with his lover in Okinomiya, and Satoshi disappeared. Tamae's death and Satoshi's disappearance added to the series of mysterious deaths.
Etymology[]
- Hōjō means "north" (北) (hō) and "article" (条) (jō).
- Tamae means "ball, sphere, bullet, lens, jade, bulb, bead, gem, shot, jewel, shell, coin, bowl, pretty girl" (玉) (tama) and "branch" (枝) (e).
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