Well, she's just about the most popular secondary character in Usagi Yojimbo. Stan based her on the legendary character Tomoe Gozen of Feudal Japan, a female samurai skilled with the blade. The name "Tomoe Ame" was borrowed from a popular Japanese candy and thus producing a pun (a common thing done by Stan). In Usagi Yojimbo, "Tomoe" is her family name and "Ame", meaning "rain," is her "first" name, though Usagi usually calls her just "Tomoe", probably due to formal reasons. Tomoe Ame is pronounced like this: TOE-(those things on your feet)-MOE (Like the Three Stooges, emphasize "MOE")- EH (like the letter "A") AH (open up and say "aahh", emphasize "AH") MAY (like the month of May). Toe - MOE - eh AH - may. Pretty easy.

She is the daughter of Tatsutaro, sword-master of the Falling Rain School of Fencing. Read her origin story in Usagi Yojimbo Color Special #1, if you can find it for sale anywhere. In her late teens, Tomoe became cheif retainer to Geishu Lord Noriyuki, a child forced to take over the Geishu Provice after his father, Lord Mataichi, died. Tomoe is the undisputed master of the "Falling Rain Style" of swordsmanship, a style much more orthodox than Usagi's style. It has not been determined who is the better swordsperson between Usagi and Tomoe since their last duel ended up in a tie.

As far as the rumors to a Tomoe Ame/Miyamoto Usagi romance go, I'm sorry to say that no romance exists between them... yet. Right now, they're just good friends and are, of course comrades on the field of battle. About the romance thing, several issues of Usagi seem to suggest some feelings between the two that go beyond mere friendship (they've saved each others lives many times), however, this has not been fully explored by Stan. So for those of you eager to see some rabbit/cat romance, don't stop hoping. Remember how long it took Stan to fill us in on how far Usagi's relationship with Mariko (now married to Kenichi) went? Let's just say Stan probably has a few surprises up his kimono.