Tenor Garthwright, or "Tenga" as he preferred to be called, was the son of a plumber and an auto mechanic in the unremarkable, unimportant village of Antler Creek, New Mexico. One day his village was attacked by a ruthless gang known as the Desert Dragons, a band of AWOL soldiers armed with stolen military hardware. With he and his parents leading the rest of the village, they fought back against the Dragons, driving them out of town in a matter of hours with no casualties. But the next day, they returned, in far greater numbers with far superior weaponry, but they did not attack right away- instead, the leader of the Desert Dragons, "Big Mamba", gave a proposal to Tenga's parents: if they agreed to join the Desert Dragons as their new mechanics, the gang would leave Antler Creek and never return again. Despite Tenga's protests, his mother and father joined the Dragons. Staying true to their word, Big Mamba and her gang packed up and left town with Tenga's parents, as well as Tenga, in tow.

At first, Tenga and his family adjusted to life with the Dragons rather well. Tenga got to travel a lot, and learned how to fight as well as how to use, build and repair weaponry. But as time went on, he and his family became more distant. They spent less time with their son and more time with Big Mamba, and his parents became more violent in their words and actions. It wasn't until the next raiding party began and Tenga saw his own mother gun someone down that he finally ran away and never looked back.

After seven years of living on his own, Tenga became a free spirit, roaming the desert in search of adventure, making a living building and selling weaponry. Despite being an expert marksman and a complete gun nut, he has never shot anyone (except scorpions).

Despite being a male, Tenga was born with a pouch, which he uses primarily for storing stuff. When questioned about its origins, he answers thusly: "Y'know how some human chicks have beards? Same basic principle."