Rurouni Kenshin/Characters
A list of notable characters from the manga and anime series Rurouni Kenshin.
Note: All name are in Eastern Order.
Main Characters / The Kenshingumi
Himura Kenshin (Birth Name: Himura Shinta)
|Voiced by: Mayo Suzukaze (JP - Anime), Megumi Ogata (JP - Drama CD), Richard Cansino (EN - Anime), J. Shanon Weaver (EN - OVA)
A sword is a weapon, and swordsmanship is learning how to kill. That is the truth. What Mistress Kaoru says is play-talk that only those that have never stained their hands can say. However, I prefer Mistress Kaoru's play-talk more than the truth. And I wish that in the world to come, her play talk shall become the truth. |
The titular and main character of the series. He is a wanderer formerly known as the Hitokiri Battosai, a deadly man-slayer who slaughtered many men in the war before the Meiji era.
Kenshin's fighting style is Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, now an ancient study. With this dangerous sword style, he uses his Sakabato (a sword with a reversed edge) to restrain himself from killing anyone ever again, and renounces the title Hitokiri.
- Adorkable
- Animal Battle Aura
- Animal Motifs: The dragon.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV in the revolution. In the series proper, he's a straight-up hero.
- The Atoner: It was either Walking the Earth or killing himself through Seppuku after the Bakumatsu, according to his own words.
- Death Seeker: So powerful was his guilt for his past as a hitokiri that, until late into the plot, he believed his own life to be worthless, providing a weakness through which his Battousai persona can emerge through; this was the core obstacle in his path to learn Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's final secret technique.
- Babies Ever After: He and Kaoru have a son named Kenji in the Manga's Distant Finale.
- Badass:
- Badass Adorable
- Badass Long Hair
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Heartbroken Badass: By the Jinchu arc.
- Berserk Button: Admitting that you killed an innocent person For the Evulz, or threatening to harm an innocent person (or worse, one of his Nakama), will result in a very painful beat-down.
- Beware the Nice Ones
- Beware the Silly Ones
- Bishonen
- Blind Weaponmaster: Only in the Anime. Eventually, he recovers.
- The backstory also contained a horrifying aversion to this trope. He couldn't see Tomoe jump in front of him thanks to being blinded earlier in the fight, so he wound up accidentally killing her.
- Broken Ace
- Call to Agriculture: In the OVA. "For many years I ended the lives of evil men but I've only realized inner peace by bringing life to this land and sharing its harvest with you." Its more of a cover story than a choice but he learns to love it.
- Dark and Troubled Past
- Determinator
- Disappeared Dad: In the second OVA.
- Dork Knight
- The Drifter: At the beginning.
- Dueling Scar: He got half of his iconic scar in a "duel" to the death (it was really more of a Curb Stomp Battle, but the man who gave him the scar had such a will to live that he managed to leave his mark).
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Kenshin goes through trauma, death, tragedy and the potential for his own death many times over before he finally finds peace.
- Experienced Protagonist: Kenshin is already a war veteran, legendary assassin known as "Battōsai", and one of Japan's best swordsmen at series start. A number of antagonists come after him specifically because of his past deeds.
- The Fettered
- Good Is Not Dumb
- Good Is Not Nice: He may not kill you when he fights you, but rest assures, you don't know what pain is until you piss him off.
- Good Old Ways: His formal and old-fashioned manner of speech is commented on more than once.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: His X-shaped scar on his face.
- Happily Married: To Kaoru in the Manga's Distant Finale.
- The Hero
- Hot Dad: He becomes one in the Manga's Distant Finale.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With several characters, especially Sanosuke and Yahiko
- Jade-Colored Glasses: Earned his in the Revolution, when he realized that he had essentially been a hitokiri in a war against oppressors so that the victors might become oppressors instead. He also has no illusions that violence, whether it kills or not, begets anything other than violence.
- Jerkass Facade: He tries to assume one of these during the Kyoto Arc. Key word "tries;" he isn't very good at it.
- Keigo: Speaks like this almost constantly, and is also a Third Person Person. If he doesn't... run.
- Kung Fu Jesus: Somewhat, although it takes a long, long time and quite a bit of suffering to develop the Jesus part.
- Lightning Bruiser: Of the "Hard-hitting Speedster" variety.
- Meaningful Name/Meaningful Rename: Both his adoptive and birth names. When Hiko Seijuro, his teacher and adoptive father considered Shinta, which means "Kindness" too meek a name for a swordsman, he renamed the boy "Kenshin" (Sword-Heart) so he may better travel down the road of the warrior.
- The Messiah: Was a Dark Messiah in the revolution, and is a more archetypical one now.
- Messianic Archetype
- Nice Guy
- Older Than They Look
- One-Man Army: Case in point.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse
- Purple Eyes
- Real Men Wear Pink: His shirt is actually pink. He's also a better cook than Kaoru (which isn't saying much) and helps keep the dojo neat and tidy.
- Red Baron: Hitokiri Battousai, The "Manslayer"
- Redheaded Hero: Despite being Japanese and in a series that has realistic Hair Colors. According to Fanon and/or some Epileptic Trees, he might have Dutch blood in his veins as the Dutch were pretty much the only foreigners allowed to stay in Japanese territory during the isolation years imposed by the Shogunate.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Except when in Battosai mode, he's the Red Oni to Saito's Blue Oni
- Second Love: For Tomoe.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: He's the sensitive guy to Sanosuke's manly man
- Shell-Shocked Veteran
- Super-Powered Evil Side: If he cracks under pressure, the Knight Templar Battousai comes out...
- Eyes of Gold: Part and parcel of the transformation.
- Technical Pacifist: He will never ever kill you, but you will be in a shit load of pain if you fight him.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Most of the time.
- What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: The cross-shaped scar (a mark) on a character who is Walking the Earth after committing murder brings to mind the Biblical story of Cain. Also, the cross is a symbol of redemption, and Kenshin is trying to make up for his checkered past. The fact that it is probably Kenshin's "cross to bear" is made more obvious in the Shimabara/Christian Revolt filler arc, as well as the accompanying ED "1/3 Junjou na Kanjou."
- Verbal Tic: "Oro?"
- Warrior Therapist: Much like his namesake would indicate, he's able to tell quite a bit about someone by fighting them.
- Weak but Skilled: He is short and scrawny but his skills are top notch.
- X Marks the Hero: The most iconic example.
Kamiya Kaoru
Voiced by: Miki Fujitani (JP - Anime), Tomo Sakurai (JP - Drama CD), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (EN - Anime), Katherine Catmull (EN - OVA) |
A seventeen-year-old dojo instructor. Kaoru is a teacher of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryu style, a swords style used to protect people, and not harm others. Since her father was killed in the war, responsibility for running the family dojo fell to young Kaoru. After defending Kaoru from the fake Battōsai and his allies, Kenshin is invited to live at the dojo. Kaoru quickly develops a crush on Kenshin, soon falling in love with him, although she tends to violently deny it.
- Action Girl/Faux Action Girl: Depending on your viewpoint and on the story arc. She's more action-geared in the anime.
- Alliterative Name
- Animal Motifs: The Tanuki.
- Babies Ever After: She and Kenshin have a son named Kenji in the Manga's Distant Finale.
- Badass Adorable
- Badass Teacher: To Yahiko
- Bathing Beauty: More so in the anime than in the manga, though it's not done for Fan Service in particular. Nothing pleases Kaoru more than taking a nice bath in the furo after a long day of training at dojos, so Kenshin always makes sure to prepare it for her beforehand.)
- Can't Catch Up: Kaoru would be an Action Girl, if she weren't outclassed by the overpowered freaks of nature that run rampant in this show (though it does get awkward when her own 10-year old student is leagues ahead of her...)
- The Chick
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Played for laughs, but dropped thanks to Character Development
- Faking the Dead: Not by choice, though.
- First Girl Wins: First girl introduced in the main narrative but actually second in the timeline.
- Happily Married: To Kenshin in the Manga's Distant Finale.
- Heir to the Dojo
- Hot Mom: She becomes one in the Manga's Distant Finale.
- Informed Ability: Word of God considers her very strong emotionally, but her Heroic BSOD when Kenshin went away to fight Shishio and her being little more than a Neutral Female in the Enishi arc speak otherwise...
- Character Development: Actually, Kaoru transforms more over the series than any other character. At the beginning she is a clingy, snappy, naive and immature girl with a childish crush on Kenshin; by the end she is far more emotionally mature, being more even-tempered, holding ideals that are grounded in reality (without being cynical) and harboring a sincere love for Kenshin and desire to support him. Not punching a bitch every five seconds =/= being a weakling.
- Lethal Chef: To the extent that Kenshin is the one wearing the apron in the family...
- Plucky Girl: When in a good day. Specially seen in the Aoiya episodes.
- Second Love: For Kenshin.
- The Obi-Wan: To Yahiko. Subverted in that her death is faked.
- The Other Darrin: Was initially voiced by Tomo Sakurai in the CD dramas, who then was replaced by Miki Fujitani. Mrs. Sakurai would then voice Misao.
- Tomboyish Ponytail
- Tsundere: Type B aka more deredere. Even the title of her image song It's Not Like I Like You or Anything practically lampshades it.
- Volleying Insults: With Sanosuke and Yahiko
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Believes quite firmly in the Katsujinken, that is, the sword that gives life. She never quite loses this ideal, but she does adapt them to be more realistic.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: A straight up example in Seishouhen. She has also grown into one after the manga's Grand Finale, but it's quite more subtle.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
- Her hair is most likely just black (blue-black).
Sagara Sanosuke / Higashidani Sanosuke
Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (JP - Anime), Tomokazu Seki (JP - Drama CD), Lex Lang (EN - Anime), Gray G. Haddock (EN - OVA) |
A street fighter who befriends Kenshin early in the series. As a youth, Sanosuke ran away from home to join the Sekiho Army, a group of farmers and merchants who fought for the Ishin Shishi during the Meiji Revolution. When the Sekiho were betrayed and executed by the other revolutionaries, Sanosuke escaped and becomes a fighter-for-hire to vent his anger. He is hired to attack Kenshin, a former Ishin Shishi, but when Sanosuke is defeated he becomes Kenshin's best friend and fighting partner.
- Alliterative Name If he's using his adoptive father's surname that is.
- Animal Motifs: The rooster.
- Badass Normal: Compared to everyone else.
- Big Brother Mentor: To Yahiko. Captain Sagara Souzo was one to him; Sanosuke would take his surname out of respect.
- BFS: Sano wielded a massive zanbato as his trademark weapon when he made his first appearance. Deconstructed (literally) by Kenshin, who notes that the zanbato's size makes it impossible to wield effectively and limits its' usage to horizontal and overhead swings.
- Blood Knight -> Boisterous Bruiser
- Charles Atlas Superpower
- Chekhov's Gun: Sano's zanbato is broken in his debut battle with Kenshin and is never seen again... until the Jinchuu arc comes around and Sano breaks it out again to knock one of Kujiranami's cannon shells right back at him.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Mastery of the Two Layers becomes this after overusing it causes Sano to break his hand, and every subsequent usage re-breaks it. Subverted in that Sano eventually devises an alternate version that uses both hands to reduce the attack's backlash.
- Deadpan Snarker: Particularly in the manga.
- Defeat Means Friendship
- Determinator
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: In his interactions with Saito.
- Estrogen Brigade Bait
- Generation Xerox: Just look at his dad... The biological one, Higashidane Kamishimoemon. Not the adoptive one, Sagara Souzou from the Sekihoutai.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Sano's choice of fighting technique after the zanbato breaks. Somewhat subverted in that certain really skilled characters can crush him with no problem, but if they aren't at Kenshin's or Saito's level, no amount of martial arts mastery or pressure point knowledge will do anything to put him down.
- Hot-Blooded
- Idiot Hero: Well... Idiot Lancer.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- The Lancer
- Lex Lang
- Made of Iron: The first character in the series to take one of Kenshin's attacks and stand up again; this was practically his trademark ability for the entire series. Also a source of several Crowning Moments Of Awesome, usually when a Villain of the Week hits him with their strongest attack only for Sano to nonchalantly brush it off; if they were particularly powerful Villains Of The Week, they might give him a bruise or two before Sano demolished them with Good Old Fisticuffs.
Sano: What's this? You thought you could kill things with this? |
- Man in White
- Megaton Punch: Mastery of the Two Layers is a rare serious use of this trope, as well as Sano's only named technique and his other trademark ability after he learned it from Anji.
- New Media Are Evil: In the anime. He's terrified and superstitious of photography, believing the camera steals people's souls. To be fair, it is documented that some Japanese during the late Tokugawa and early Meiji period held these superstitions, even when Japanese photographers are already being trained in the craft.
- No Sense of Direction: Gets lost even when he has a map and compass handy.
- Oral Fixation Fixation: Always seen chewing something (his namesake, Harada Sanosuke of The Shinsengumi, is portrayed the same way in the flashback chapter).
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: He's the manly man to Kenshin's sensitive guy.
- Spanner in the Works: During the Kyoto arc, Shishio watches Kenshin, Saitou, and Sano from the deck of his ironclad battleship, the Rengoku (that he had sunk fully 3/5ths of his finances into acquiring) and dismisses Sano as a mere tagalong. Sano then does him the favour of throwing a few bombs that his friend Katsu had given him right before leaving Kyoto at the Rengoku, which sinks pretty shortly afterwards.
- He does it again during the raid on Shishio's base: Shishio was counting on Monk Anji, Seta Soujiro, and Aoshi Shinomori to weaken Kenshin, while Blind Sword Usui weakened Saito. Instead, Sanosuke was able to beat Monk Anji alone, keeping Kenshin from taking internal damage before his fight with Shishio.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Speced up with a Sarashi.
- Walking the Earth: At the end of the series.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Terrified of trains and photographs in the anime. The scene where these fears are revealed and Kaoru fails to dispel them is a Crowning Moment of Funny.
- The Worf Effect: While he's not defeated often, his utter loss to Saitou TWICE prompts him to train himself. Plus in the anime, Aoshi takes him out in a single blow as does Shishio in the manga and anime.
- Worf Had the Flu: His loss to Shishio, while inevitable given who he was, makes a lot of sense considering the condition he was in. Nobody's ready to fight a master swordsman after trading hits with someone like Monk Anji.
- A fact that was actually pointed out by Shishio himself-- he kept Monk Anji as the first line specifically because, in his words, nobody could walk away from him unscathed. And given the way Monk Anji fought, it's very likely he would have crippled Kenshin or Saito, who are more skilled than Sanosuke but can't just stand there and tank hits.
- Worf Had the Flu: His loss to Shishio, while inevitable given who he was, makes a lot of sense considering the condition he was in. Nobody's ready to fight a master swordsman after trading hits with someone like Monk Anji.
Myojin Yahiko
Voiced by: Mina Tominaga (JP - Anime), Minami Takayama (JP - Drama CD), Wendee Lee (EN) |
A young boy at ten years old and the son of a samurai. When he was younger, both of his parents died, and he was taken in by the Yakuza, who forced him to live as a pickpocket. Once he meets up with Kenshin and Kaoru, he decides to stand up to the Yakuza, and escapes with Kenshin's help. He joins Kaoru's dojo to become a stronger swordsman, becoming the first graduate of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū. Over the course of the series, he becomes a strong warrior.
- Author Avatar: Apparently based on Watsuki's own bratty boyhood self in the Junior High Kendo Team.
- Barehanded Blade Block: His specialty. At the end of the manga, he becomes known as "The Man Who Caught A Thousand Blades".
- Bare handed nothing, he does it with his knuckles!
- The Big Guy: He may be tiny, but he can take one hell of a beating.
- Bratty Half-Pint: At first
- Big Brother Mentor: Becomes this for Kenji.
- Determinator
- Hot-Blooded
- Kid Samurai
- The Mario: He can't match up to Kenshin, Sanosuke, Saito, or Kaoru as a child, but he learns from all four and has a pretty well-rounded fighting style. Evolves to The Ace as an adult, utilizing Kenshin's attitude, taking Kaoru's sword style to a new level, and keeping just a hint of Sanosuke in his personality.
- Percussive Pickpocket: Tries to do this to Kenshin.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Kaoru smugly notes in the series epilogue that he only has eyes for Tsubame.
- Son of a Whore: His Missing Mom was an Ill Girl and a prostitute, widowed in the war. It should be noted that, unlike many examples of the trope, Yahiko actually cherishes his mom's memory and even takes pride on her doing what she could to raise him, using that to his favor when a bad guy tries giving him a Breaking Speech.
- Street Urchin
- Took a Level in Badass: Throughout the Kyoto and Jinchu arcs, and especially at the end of the manga.
Supporting Characters
Sekihara Tae
Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto (JP - Anime), Michiko Neya (JP - Drama CD), Michelle Ruff (EN - Anime) |
The manager of the beef hot pot restaurant, the Akabeko. She has a twin sister named Sae managing in a similar restaurant called the Shirobeko in Kyoto. Sagara Sanosuke also owes her a seemingly large sum of money in which interest is accounted for. In the anime, and a bit in the manga, she has also tried to push the relationship between Himura Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru since it seemed it to her that it was not working.
Kaoru: Don't lecture me about getting married, Tae!! You're already twenty-XXXXX' year's old!! |
- Cool Big Sis: To Kaoru.
- Eyes Always Shut: Later in the anime.
- Miss Exposition: Since her restaurant is a well-known reunion place, she more than once drops useful info to Kenshin and Kaoru; i.e., Tae tells them Yahiko's backstory as a Street Urchin under a gang's orders, which motivates them to go rescue him.
- Parental Substitute: Pretty much adopts Tsubame after she's free from her abusive caretaker.
- Shipper on Deck: Biggest Kenshin/Kaoru fangirl ever, aside of Kenshin's group.
- Supreme Chef: Good enough to have her own restaurant, the Akebeko.
- Talking To Herself: She and Tsubame are voiced by Michelle Ruff in the english dub.
- Theme Twin Naming: Has a twin younger sister named Sae in Kyoto, who fills her role when the gang goes there.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Even voiced by one of the better-known YN seiyuus aside of Kikuko Inoue, Mrs. Sumi Shimamoto.
Sanjou Tsubame
Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori (JP), Michelle Ruff (EN) |
A waitress at Tae's restaurant and Myojin Yahiko's sweetheart. She was saved by him from the ronin her family worked for as Yahiko stopped them from robbing the Akabeko.
- Expy: Of Hotaru Tomoe from Sailor Moon.
- Friend to All Living Things: Very briefly shown in the manga just as the Revenge arc begins; walking past a bamboo grove, she greets some singing birds as they flutter around her. Then she holds out a finger and one lands on it.
- Meet Cute: Finds Yahiko training, watches him and then repairs his broken sandal. They meet up again as Kenshin's group goes to the Akebeko, where Tsubame is working part-time.
- Rescue Romance: Yahiko has to defeat the Jerkass who took Tsubame in after her parents died and abused her both physically and emotionally.
- Shrinking Violet: She even wears a purple kimono in her first episode.
- Talking To Herself: She and Tae are voiced by Michelle Ruff in english dub.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: One in training, thanks to her boss/adoptive mother Tae.
Takani Megumi
Voiced by: Mika Doi (JP - Anime), Mari Devon (EN - Anime), Rebeca Robinson (EN - OVA) |
A woman who was originally forced to make opium for an industrialist. With Kenshin and Sanosuke's support and encouragement, she becomes a doctor to atone for her past misdeeds.
- Animal Motifs: The fox.
- The Atoner: Is haunted by her past as Kanryuu Takeda's assistant.
- Broken Bird: She gets better.
- Hello, Nurse!
- Interrupted Suicide: Tries this after being kidnapped by Kanryuu again, but Sanosuke stops her.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: To Kenshin eventually.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In her first appearances.
- Master Poisoner: In her Dark and Troubled Past.
- The Medic
- My God, What Have I Done?
- Noblewoman's Laugh
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
- Team Mom
Makimachi Misao
Voiced by: Tomo Sakurai (JP), Philece Sampler (EN) |
A kunoichi who was raised by the Oniwabanshū. She appears in the story after Himura Kenshin leaves Kamiya Kaoru and his friends and goes to Kyoto alone.
- Action Girl
- Alliterative Name
- Animal Motifs: The weasel.
- Badass Adorable
- Bokukko
- Genki Girl
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Kawaiiko
- Knife Nut: Her preferred weapons are her throwing knives.
- Ninja
- Older Than They Look: "LITTLE GIRL!! I'm a beautiful sixteen year old maiden, thank you very much!!"
- Plucky Girl
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Wears a Western dress once in the anime. Sano doesn't recognize her.
- Short Hair with Tail
Kashiwazaki Nenji (aka Okina)
Voiced by: Koichi Kitamura (JP), Michael McConnohie (EN) |
An elder member of the Oniwabanshu, and during the Bakumatsu, he operated at the Kyoto Investigator in order to analyze the movements in the city's political world. After the Restoration, he raised Misao, who was handed over by Aoshi.
- Badass Boast: "Once they called me the most horrific of the Oniwabanshu. Only a fool resists me."
- Badass Grandpa
- Determinator
- Dirty Old Man
- Dual-Wielding: His Weapon of Choice is a pair of metal tonfa.
- Let's Get Dangerous
- Obfuscating Stupidity
- The Strategist: After he gets hit with...
- The Worf Effect
Tsukayama Yutaro
Voiced by: Mayumi Tanaka (JP), Michael Lindsay (EN - Raijuta arc), Brian Donovan (EN - Black Knights arc) |
A young boy who wishes to become a better swordsman.
- Cute Shotaro Boy
- Disappeared Dad: Only in the anime. His father's still very much alive and present in the manga, but he feels that Yutaro despises him for giving up swordsmanship and his former samurai status to become a merchant.
- Heroic BSOD: Following Raijuta's Kick the Dog moment.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Regarding Raijuta.
- Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold --> Jerkass Woobie: He's spoiled, stubborn and bratty. Still doesn't deserve to be punted by Raijuuta.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Apparently comes back as a dangerous play boy in Yahiko's Sakabatou.
- Put on a Bus: At the end of his story arc, Yutaro leaves Japan to go to Germany, where their advanced medicine may help him regain the use of his right arm, which was injured by Raijuta. The manga's epilogue reveals that he eventually returns to be an assistant instructor at the Kamiya dojo.
- The Bus Came Back: Only in the anime
- Rich Bitch: A male example, though he gets better.
- The Rival: To Yahiko.
- Spoiled Brat
Hiko Seijuro XIII
Voiced by: Shuichi Ikeda (JP), Richard Epcar (EN - Anime), Joe York (EN - First OVA series), James Brownlee (EN - Second OVA series) |
Kenshin's swordsmanship instructor, and passed down his signature style to Kenshin, the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū.
- The Ace
- Badass: Possibly the biggest badass in the series.
- Big Damn Heroes: His only fight in the series starts this way.
- Brilliant but Lazy: Although he isn't lazy so much as jaded.
- Catch Phrase: "My stupid/idiot apprentice" when speaking of Kenshin.
- Cynical Mentor
- Deus Ex Machina: His arrival at the Aoi-Ya.
- Heroic Neutral: Content to live a quiet life as a potter, but will come out of retirement to help his pupil.
- Insufferable Genius: He loves bragging and calls himself a genius, but it doesn't change the fact that he really is the best swordsman in the series.
- Jerkass Facade / Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's arrogant and condescending, but shows a surprising amount of warmth towards Kenshin when he thinks Kenshin's mortally wounded him and later talks and fights Fuji out of being a member of the villainous Juppongatana.
- Knight in Sour Armour: With the emphasis on sour; He berates Kenshin that yes, the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu successor is meant to protect the innocent and uphold justice, but as a warrior unbound by political prejudices, not a political tool. He knows the age of the the swordsmen is over, and is quite bitter about it.
- Lightning Bruiser: Faster, stronger, and more skilled than any other character in the series.
- The Obi-Wan: Subverted twice. Firstly when Kenshin disobeys him and storms off before finishing his training, secondly when he survives Kenshin's ultimate attack.
- Old Master: He saw in Himura Shinta's kindness the potential of a true warrior, and adopted him as Kenshin to create one... though the results were not exactly what he intended or liked... until much later.
- Older Than They Look: Reinforces the running gag of practitioners of the the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu being much older than they look. Yahoo and Misao have a minor freak out after hearing his age, wondering if the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu is some kind of fountain of youth.
- Power Limiter: That cape does more than just look badass. In addition to being quite heavy, it's also outfitted with several springs that provide resistance in opposition to muscle movement to limit the wearer's strength. It's a testament to how strong Hiko is that he only takes the darn thing off once in the entire series. And that was just for his pupil's final exam.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Makes his living... as a potter. Pottery in Japan is very Serious Business.
- Retired Badass
- Richard Epcar
- Sexy Mentor
- Shout-Out: His cloak is based on Spawn's.
- Split-Second Blade Spam: As the 13th master of the Hiten Mitsurugi style, he naturally is capable of using the same Kuzuryusen that he taught Kenshin just before he went off to face down Shishio and his Juppongatana at their HQ.
- Story-Breaker Power: In Watsuki's own words, he's the "Joker in the Card Deck" and Watsuki wrote himself into a corner with him, which is why he's reserved for use as a Deus Ex Machina.
- Tall, Dark and Handsome
- Tall, Dark and Snarky
- Warrior Therapist: Just watch his fight with Fuji.
Okita Souji
Voiced by: Yoko Ogai (JP) |
Leader of the first squad of the Shinsengumi during the revolution. He suffers from tuberculosis as seen when he fought Kenshin in a flashback, though he was still able to hold his own with the Battosai.
Yukishiro Tomoe or less commonly, Himura Tomoe
Voiced by: Junko Iwao (JP), Rebecca Davis (EN) |
Kenshin's first love and Enishi's sister. She was the elder daughter of a samurai, a low-level bureaucrat who served the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo. Tomoe left home and joined the Yaminobu with the intention of killing Kenshin in order to avenge her fiancé's death, but ultimately fell in love with him... and sacrificed her life to save him.
- Becoming the Mask
- Black Eyes
- Broken Bird
- Cry Cute: In the Manga.
- Deadpan Snarker: The original manga gave her a few moments of this, but the OVA, which was told from her point of view, removed much of this.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Although it was short-lived, she did eventually warm up to Kenshin and even sacrificed herself to save Kenshin.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
- Emotionless Girl: At the beginning. It brings her lots of heartbreak since she couldn't express her genuine love for Kiyosato as much as she wants to... which leads him to go to Kyoto and then die at Kenshin's hands.
- Expy: Of Rei Ayanami.
- First Love: For Kenshin.
- Go Out with a Smile
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die
- The Ophelia: Has a fit of this because of her fiancé's death. The first time she meets Kenshin, she's drunk and her only reaction to getting splattered by the blood of someone Kenshin just eviscerated is to say that he made it rain blood. She then promptly faints.
- Onee-Sama
- Posthumous Character
- Promotion to Parent: Helps raise Enishi since their mom died when giving birth to him, so Enishi sees her more as a mother than a sister.
- Sugar and Ice Girl
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
- Victorious Childhood Friend: Sadly subverted, as her deceased fiancé was her childhood friend.
- When She Smiles: She is absolutely angelic.
- Woman in White
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Subversion: she looks and acts the part but her train of thoughts is very different. Tomoe wanted revenge for her fiancé's murder, and she also felt horribly guilty because he went to Kyoto to make a name for himself and got killed off.
Kiyosato Akira
Voiced by: Tetsuya Iwanaga (JP) |
The second son of a shōgun retainer, he was the childhood friend and fiancé of Yukishiro Tomoe. Fearing that his own meager position would not be enough to impress his betrothed, Akira postponed the wedding and left Edo for Kyoto to join the Mimawarigumi, where he became a bodyguard for the high-ranking samurai Shigekura Jūbei. But in the first year of Genji (1864), after a night of drinking with Shigekura and fellow bodyguard Ishiji, Akira came face-to-face with the infamous Ishin Shishi hitokiri Himura Battōsai and met his demise.
- Chekhov's Gunman: It's thanks to them that Tomoe becomes The Mole and the Honey Trap. We won't know it for a while, though.
- The Determinator: To the point that despite being hopelessly outclassed, he gave Kenshin the first half of his X-shaped scar before dying. Which Kenshin aknowledges.
- Family-Unfriendly Death
- Middle Child Syndrome: Implied more than anything. He's the second son of a samurai family, and to make his girlfriend Tomoe happier with their engagement, he sent off to Kyoto. It Got Worse for both of them.
- Sacrificial Lamb
- Victorious Childhood Friend: What he was to Tomoe. And then he got killed by Kenshin.
Katsura Kogoro
Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (JP) |
- Big Brother Mentor: He and Takasugi are this to young Kenshin
- Historical Domain Character
- Knight in Sour Armor
- Shipper on Deck: Mild case, as he notices how Tomoe is a calming influence on Kenshin and refers to her as "the sheath of his sword".
Takasugi Shinsaku
Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (JP) |
- Big Brother Mentor: He and Katsura are this to young Kenshin
- Blood From the Mouth: For a very good reason. See below...
- Ill Boy: The real Takasugi died of tuberculosis when in his late 20's. His RK portrayal keeps up with this, and he's already fatally ill when he recruits Kenshin.
- Historical Domain Character
- Hot-Blooded
- Knight in Sour Armor
- What the Hell, Hero?: Wasn't too happy with Katsura's plans for Kenshin. Not like he could do a lot about it at that point.
- Tall, Dark and Snarky
Iizuka-san
Voiced by: Ryusei Nakao (JP) |
Rivals and Miscellaneous Villains
Kurogasa / Udo Jin-e
Voiced by: Akio Ohtsuka (JP), Dave Mallow (EN) |
A hitokiri during the Revolution, and there is evidence he continued killing people well after the end of the Revolution. A master of the Nikaidō Heihō technique, attacked high-ranking Imperialist officials of the Meiji government (leading some to believe he fought for the Tokugawa shogunate during the war, since he did state that he was a member of the Shinsengumi, though his thirst for blood led him to killing members of his own squad), killing anyone who stood in his way.
- Badass Longcoat
- Black Eyes of Evil
- Blood Knight
- Combat Sadomasochist: He thought the feeling of him stabbing himself was "sweet." Pleasant.
- Evil Laugh: An epic one.
- Expy: Of Remy Le-Beau aka Gambit.
- Knight of Cerebus: The moment he appears is when the series takes its turn.
- Large Ham
- Nice Hat
- Psycho for Hire: In his backstory.
- Scarf of Asskicking
- Serial Killer: Specifically, of high-ranking government officials who fought on the side of the Meiji movement during the war, though really anybody was game for him. It's later revealed he was hired to commit those political killings by the same corrupt politician who hired Saito.
Shinomori Aoshi
Voiced by: Yoshito Yasuhara (JP), Terrence Stone (EN) |
The genius young leader of the Oniwabanshū onmitsu. Known to his followers as the "Okashira", Aoshi's skills in combat, stealth and information gathering are without parallel, but having missed his chance to gain glory for the Oniwabanshū during the bakumatsu, he led a group of his men in serving as enforcers for the wealthy industrialist and opium dealer Takeda Kanryū in the hopes of finding a new battlefield in the Meiji era.
When Kanryū made himself the enemy of the legendary Hitokiri Battōsai, Aoshi believed that his long-missed chance to prove the superiority of the Oniwabanshū had finally come. Unfortunately, Kanryū's wicked deception and greed cost Aoshi's men their lives and the shame of being defeated and then rescued by Battōsai drove the Okashira to a new vow: he would defeat Battōsai at any cost in order to gain the title of "the strongest" and offer that title at his comrades' graves.
- A Father to His Men: Cares quite a bit about his Quirky Miniboss Squad, and desires to give them the chance to become great that they never got in the Revolution. He would die for any of them. When they die for him instead, he... doesn't take it well.
- Aloof Big Brother: To Misao.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV
- The Atoner
- Badass Longcoat: One of the iconic badass longcoats of anime; has inspired countless imitators.
- Berserk Button: It is never wise to desecrate the graves of his men. Four of Shishio's Elite Mooks learned this the hard way.
- Blood Knight: Becomes this after Kanryuu kills the Oniwabanshu, who die protecting him. Kensin is able to talk him out of it.
- Blue Eyes
- Deceptive Disciple: To Okina.
- Dragon-in-Chief: To Kanryu. This leads to some friction between them.
- Dual-Wielding
- Expy: Not Aoshi himself but his coat: It's based on the one worn by Hush.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With Misao. She comes up to his waist.
- My God, What Have I Done?
- Ninja
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: Runs one before they die.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To Kenshin.
- The Rival: One of Kenshin's two.
- Rival Turned Evil: After the Kanryu estate. He gets better.
- Sixth Ranger: To two different Five Man/Five Bad Bands.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: Aoshi eventually betrays his Five-Bad Band.
- The Stoic
- Tall, Dark and Handsome
- Tranquil Fury: When he gets angry enough, his blades express what his face doesn't.
- Worthy Opponent (to Kenshin)
Takeda Kanryuu
Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (JP), John Snyder (EN) |
A cunning money-minded industrialist and opium dealer. He hired Shinomori Aoshi and his Oniwanbanshu, as well as numerous lesser warriors, as personal bodygaurds and hitmen.
- Asskicking Equals Authority: Inverted--he's the Oniwabanshu's boss during the Kanryuu Arc, but he's a major weakling physically.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Dirty Coward
- Evil Gloating
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He's of the evil variety, casually smoking a cigar while shooting his Gatling gun at the protagonists.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Him being this only serves to piss Kenshin off after he tries to bribe the former manslayer.
- Jerkass
- Manipulative Bastard: Toward Megumi.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money: He plays it utterly straight with his declaration that money is the greatest power in the world, and his having so much of it makes him stronger than Kenshin or Aoshi. Too bad his money can't save him from Kenshin's wrath.
- Smug Snake
- Would Hit a Girl: He doesn't just hit Megumi, he batters her bloody after she returns to his mansion and makes an attempt on his life with a dagger that is nabbed away by Aoshi.
Isurugi Raijuta
Voiced by: Ryunosuke Obayashi (JP), Richard Epcar (EN) |
The leader and founder of the Shinko-ryū "school" of kenjutsu - an organization whose purpose is to revitalize Japanese kenjutsu through force.
- Anticlimax Boss: He's a big, muscular man who appears to be a genuine threat when he first appears, but as the story progresses he's eventually shown up for the weakling he really is compared to Kenshin. This is even more obvious in the manga; in the anime, he at least had an imposing force of samurai warriors to back him up.
- Evil Gloating: He does this during his fight against Kenshin. It's more jarring in the manga than in the anime, as only it serves to prove just how weak he really is as a fighter.
- Informed Ability: Claims his Izuna technique is the "ultimate killing technique." Kenshin proves him very, very wrong.
- Manipulative Bastard: He utilizes Yutaro's hero-worship of him to his own advantage, pretending to be the boy's sword instructor while accessing Yutaro's family fortune for his own ends.
- Straw Hypocrite: In the manga, Kenshin (correctly) guesses that despite Raijuta's ambition to restore the "killing sword" philosophy and his claims of Izuna being the "ultimate killing technique," Raijuta himself has never actually killed anybody. The fact that Raijuta celebrates at being able to nick Kenshin on the wrist with said technique, instead of expressing disappointment that the blow wasn't a fatal one, cements the point.
- Villainous Breakdown: In the manga, following a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Kenshin.
- The Worf Effect: He fights Kenshin in one-on-one combat following the Kick the Dog scenario above. It goes about as well for him as you'd expect (totally one-sided against him in the manga).
Saito Hajime (aka Fujita Goro)
Voiced by: Hirotaka Suzuoki (JP -Anime), Ken Narita (JP - 2011 OVA), Kirk Thornton (EN) |
The former captain of the third unit of the Shinsengumi and currently a special agent for the Meiji Government's Department of Internal Affairs. Having a long-standing rivalry with Himura Kenshin since their days on opposite sides of the Bakumatsu, Saitō nevertheless holds a begrudging respect for the rurouni and has come to his aid on assignment more than once, acting as a ruthless ally and the voice of cynical reason in the Kenshin-gumi's major battles.
- Addiction Displacement: Kind of implied. Unlike his historical counterpart who remained The Alcoholic, this Saito gave up drinking, but is a chain smoker.
- Of course, there is also the possibility that he was lying about the drinking... he did say that it makes him want to kill, and he was sitting across from a guy he couldn't kill until Saito finished an undercover investigation of him...
- Aloof Ally
- Animal Motifs: The wolf.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV.
- Badass
- Badass Creed: Aku. Soku. Zan.
- Clothing Combat: After losing his sword, he uses his own belt to fight Kenshin and almost wins by strangling him.
- Combat Pragmatist
- Deadpan Snarker
- Eyes of Gold
- Genius Bruiser
- Good Is Not Nice
- Happily Married: His wife, Tokio, is never shown on screen, though the others speculate that she must be like a goddess.
- Historical Domain Character
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Though more of an Anti-Hero.
- Noble Demon
- Pet the Dog: He casually adopts a little boy who was the only survivor of a village massacred by Shishio's men.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Frequently. Combines it with the Breaking Speech during his battle with Usui.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the Blue Oni to Kenshin's Red Oni.
- Red Baron: The Wolf Of Mibu.
- The Rival: Was the only character to fight on even terms with Kenshin's battousai personality, and was one of Kenshin's main rivals during the Bakumatsu, along with Okita. However it mellows down to non existence.
- The Smart Guy: When he teams up with the Kenshin-gumi, he pretty much takes this role.
- Smoking Is Cool
- Tall, Dark and Snarky: Tall? Check. Dark? Check. Snarky? Major check.
- The Shinsengumi
- When All You Have Is a Hammer: The only sword techniques he uses is Gatotsu, a powerful left-handed thrust, and variations of it to suit the occasion. Unlike most other examples, he's talented enough to learn other techniques. He simply doesn't bother because he doesn't need them.
The Ten Swords / Juppongatana
Shishio Makoto
Voiced by: Masanori Ikeda (JP), Steve Blum (EN) |
The primary antagonist of the "Kyoto arc" in the Manga and the second season of the anime. Like Kenshin, Shishio was an assassin during the Revolution. He aspires to conquer all Japan by re-creating the chaos of the Revolution. He was known as the successor of the legendary Battōsai, replacing Kenshin after he retired. He possessed skills equal or even greater to Himura, but none of the conscience.
- Arch Enemy: Portrayed as Kenshin's complete opposite in terms of belief, fighting style, and stature.
- Big Bad
- Badass
- Bandage Mummy
- Barehanded Blade Block: Does this to both Kenshin and Saito. With his fingers.
- Big Brother Mentor: Sadly enough, he is the closest thing Soujiro has to a father and a best friend.
- Blood Knight: His love for battle is legendary, and lusts for a Worthy Opponent of his equal to test his prowess.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Occassionally will call himself a demon from Hell, and fully expects to go there when he dies...and plans on taking it over as well. And once his story arc is finished, he starts making good on that threat.
- Crazy Prepared
- Covered with Scars: Shishio's full-body scarring is from one incident, but having almost all of your skin be second- or third-degree burns can't be pleasant.
- Curb Stomp Battle: He takes out Kenshin, Saito, and Sanosuke early on in his final battle with Kenshin, but Aoshi manages to buy time for Kenshin to recover and get back in the fight.
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: And HOW.
- Dark Messiah
- Death by Irony: The entire arc kept coming back to how Kenshin, with his equivalent skill and opposite views, was the only one who could have stopped Shishio. But in the end, it wasn't Kenshin or Saito or Sanosuke that destroyed him... It was his own inhuman strength and endurance, his own passion for violence, that killed him.
- Karmic Death Shishio evaded death by fire ten years earlier. Didn't happen a second time. And Kenshin didn't have to break his vow.
- Diabolical Mastermind
- Evil Counterpart: To Kenshin, serving as his replacement as the Battousai. Yahiko even points it out, stating that if things had been a little different Saito might have been asking Shishio to help him kill a rogue Kenshin.
- Evil Mentor: To Soujirou. And even then, he was kinder to him than his evil family would ever be
- Flaming Sword: A particularly disgusting one, considering that it's ignited from human fat.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: While Kenshin's scar is heroic, Shishio is just disfigured
- The Hard Hat: He wears a steel-lined headband to protect his head, as his "fall" was caused by a bullet to the forehead.
- Heroic RROD: How he dies.
- Hot-Blooded: Both literally and figuratively.
- Honor Before Reason: Threatens to kill Houji when he suggests shooting Kenshin in their climactic final battle
- Implacable Man
- Like a Badass Out of Hell: After he finally dies, we get a scene of him in Hell, deciding to see if he can take over. Given who he is, Kenshin better hope he's good enough to get into Heaven.
- Made of Iron: Survived getting shot in the head at point blank range and set on fire. The man is tough . His fight at the end of the Kyoto Arc after said injuries eptiomizes this.
- Mad Love: Played for tragedy, with Yumi. They're both very aware of it, too.
- Man On Fire: The reason for his current state. And his ultimate fate.
- Meaningful Name: Frighteningly enough, his name literally means "Idealistic-Hero of The-Truth." And this is a villain we are talking about, folks.
- Mega Manning: If he sees a technique (or even hears about it) he'll be able to counter it immediately.
- Playing with Fire: His sword has had so much human fat soak into it that it can be ignited as wanted; he can also use gunpowder in his gloves to set off explosions against enemies in his grasp.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: And he wishes Japan to be a nation comprised entirely of this, too.
- Sanity Slippage
- Shout-Out: Word of God states that he was based on Kibagami Genjuro.
- Social Darwinist
- Staying Alive: Dude. Was shot point blank in the head. Doused with oil. Lit on fire. Left to die. STILL HE SURVIVED.
- Ubermensch: A Social Darwinist example.
- 'Tis Only a Bullet in the Brain: And he survives it.
- Unholy Matrimony: With Yumi.
- Villainous Breakdown: At the end of his battle.
- Warrior Heaven: His idealized vision of Japan, wherein one must be a great warrior to survive, and hence will one day become a universally proud and strong nation in the global arena.
Seta Soujirou
Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka (JP), Tara Jayne (EN - Episodes 31-47), Melissa Fahn (EN - Episodes 54-56, 61) |
A teenage boy who is Shishio's right-hand man. He is noted in the series for always smiling, and apparently displaying no emotions in battle. He met Shishio when he was a small boy. After his parents died in the war, he stayed with his abusive relatives that treated him as a slave. He witnessed Shishio killing police men, after carrying large amounts rice packages back and forth, Shishio was about to kill him but didn't because of his habit to smile when he is in danger. Shishio orders him to keep him in a safe house and to provide for him. Days pass and Soujirou tended to him and explained his situation with his relatives. Shishio then explained his creed of survival of the fittest and gives him his sword. When Soujirou is blamed for wasting rice his older relatives try to kill him thinking that they can pin it on Shishio. In the end, Soujirou killed his relatives and went of with Shishio to become his protégé.
Soujirou's apparent lack of emotion, his simple, insensitive mentality that the strong will live and the weak shall die, and his skills make him a formidable foe for Kenshin. As a master swordsman of his own style, Sōjirō's abilities have earned him the nickname of "Heaven's Sword".
- Abusive Parents: More exactly, abusive stepsiblings who hated on him for being an illegitimate child.
- Affably Evil
- Alliterative Name
- Badass Adorable
- Blue Eyes: In the Manga.
- Cry Cute
- Cute Shotaro Boy: In looks, because he's around 17 in the story.
- The Dragon: To Shishio.
- Dissonant Serenity: Practically the poster child for this trope.
- Evil Counterpart: He has a somewhat similar childhood to Kenshin's and employs a speedy sword style. Both have powerful mentors who influenced their beliefs. Both are relatively effeminate looking and kind, at least for their facade. Most of all, both had childhoods surrounded by violence.
- Fragile Speedster: Justified since Kenshin hit him with his strongest attack.
- Freudian Excuse: Has a pretty screwed up backstory.
- Flash Step
- Journey to Find Oneself
- Keet
- Older Than They Look
- Psychopathic Manchild
- Self-Made Orphan: Killed his abusive stepsiblings in self-defense.
- Social Darwinist
- Stepford Smiler: Is very polite and all smiles, even when he kills people.
- Super Speed: Gets pretty damn close. Not only is he faster then Kenshin's, he can't even be seen when he's attacking.
- Villainous Breakdown: An epic one. And heartbreaking as well.
Soujirou: "You... Himura-san, you say you strive to protect people... Then... WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE TO PROTECT ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU!?" |
- Walking the Earth: After the Kyoto arc.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
Komagata Yumi
Voiced by: Kanako Irie (JP), Wendee Lee (EN) |
An oiran, a courtesan in Yoshiwara, formerly an akasen. Because of that, she is beautiful, intelligent, dignified, well-cultured, and was brought up in a comfortable life. She was always interested in social issues and occurrences in Japan, and became revolted at the Japanese government's stance regarding prostitutes. She came to love Shishio Makoto with an utmost passion, which he returned. Thus, she joined Shishio's conspiracy to bring down the Meiji government. She is constantly concerned about Shishio's medical state.
- Anti-Villain
- Beauty Mark
- Brainy Brunette
- Broken Bird
- Cool Big Sis: To Soujirou.
- Dark Mistress
- Hidden Depths: She starts out as little more than an accessory to Shishio, but ends up with a remarkably developed personality and a genuinely tragic death scene.
- High-Class Call Girl: What she used to be.
- Impossibly Low Neckline
- Lady in Red
- Like a Badass Out of Hell: Accompanies Shishio and Houji in their endeavor to overthrow King Enma and take the throne of Japan's literal Hell.
- Mad Love: With Shishio. They both know it.
- Neutral Female: She hates being one, and that prompts her death.
- Noble Demon
- The Resenter: She's revealed to have been this to the fighters of the Jupon Gatana, as they made her feel useless to Shishio, who always respected strength.
- Slipknot Ponytail
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
- The Tease
- Villainous Sacrifice: Interposes herself between Kenshin and Shishio, allowing the latter to stab through her and wound Kenshin. It's screwed up, but damn, it's hard not to respect that girl's convictions.
Honjou Kamatari
Voiced by: Junko Takeuchi (JP), Sonja S. Fox (EN) |
A crossdresser. He loves Shishio Makoto deeply, but knows that he will never be loved like Komagata Yumi nor will he ever become as talented as Seta Soujirou, who serves as Shishio's right hand man.
Kamatari uses a very heavy scythe-like weapon, a reaper, with a chain ball on the end of the weapon; this is called Ogama. He practices Honjou-ryu, his own style of martial arts with his scythe.
- Anti-Villain
- Badass Adorable
- Driven to Suicide: Twice. Misao knocks him out from committing jigai ritual suicide after losing to her and Kaoru, and later Cho has to dissuade him from joining Shishio and Yumi in death.
- Dropped a Bridget On Him: When called "scythe girl", he proceeds to flash his jibblies to Misao, Yahiko, Kaoru, and the whole Aoiya crew.
- Expy: Noted by Watsuki in the design notes to be modeled after Ikari Yui, Ikari Shinji's Hot Mom.
- Gag Penis: When he flashes Misao, she stammers, "It's like ... an elephant. A ... furry elephant..." Kamatari smiles, blushing, and says, "You're too kind."
- Kawaiiko: He's a guy, yes; he works for a murdering bastard, yes; but he's just so darned huggable and cute.
- Love Martyr: To Shishio.
- Sinister Scythe: His Weapon of Choice. Though notably he usually uses it not to cut, but rather to smash enemies, and the sheer weight of the weapon is actually used effectively in battle.
- In one of the volumes, the author mentions that the character came about as a result of a Japanese pun suggested by one of his assistants. Kama is a word referring to a sickle or scythe, while okama is a slang term for transvestites. Reading between the lines, fans have come to the very reasonable conclusion that the assistant in question was none other than Eiichiro Oda.
- Trans Equals Gay: Is both a crossdresser and in love with Shishio.
- Villainous Crossdresser: More sympathetic than most, though.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: After the end of the Kyoto arc, when he's hired as a spy for the Japanese government.
- Volleying Insults: With Yumi.
Fuji
Voiced by: Unsho Ishizuka (JP), Beau Billingslea (EN) |
A giant, considered a freak by everyone around him; his real name is not stated in the series. One day he was attacked and almost killed but the old man Saizuchi found him and took him in. The gentle, depressed Fuji was in an ideal state for Saizuchi to manipulate his emotions and turn him into an unbelievable fighter. Saizuchi keeps telling Fuji that he owes him for saving his life and uses that to control him.
- All of the Other Reindeer: His enormous height terrified everyone, and once he was shot to almost death by scared guards.
- Anti-Villain: A lot more sympathetic than his allies.
- Break the Cutie: His backstory is completely heartwretching.
- Expy: His armored form is noted in the manga's notes to be based off Evangelion Unit 01.
- Gentle Giant: One who towered over buildings), and despite his terrifying armor, he's actually the sweetest character in the series.
- Manly Tears: When Hiko adresses and treats him as a human and not a tool or a monster, Fuji takes off his mask and helmet and cries in joy. Then, they duel properly, and Hiko wins.
- Mighty Glacier: Averted, though he is huge, he's so fast that the gang at the Oniwabanshu place until after he had cut it down, but hey, Hiko makes everyone seem slow compared to him.
- Screaming Warrior
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Or at least, a freakishly huge one. Misao lampshades the trope by wondering if he was a human man or not.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy: He's actually not that bad looking under that armor...
- Wild Card: When he was first mentioned, it is implied that he is ever a an overconfident brute or a simple-minded behemoth that uses strong, but slow punches. No could have expected he'd be a huge swordsman who's not only subtle, but not look menacing in his armor. In fact, it's implied only Hiko could face him on equal terms.
- Shishio remarks that Soujiro is his strongest warrior under him, but it seems that Fuji has more raw power than all of his top men, even him. And is heavily implied that even Kenshin would lose to him, so Hiko the strongest character in the series had to face him.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
Saizuchi
Voiced by: Ikuo Nishikawa (JP), Paul St. Peter (EN) |
A cunning small old man who manipulates Fuji and lays out the battle plans for him; his real name is not stated in the series. He believes that his old age makes him the one who is right since he has lived so long. Saizuchi's talents lie not in battle-abilities, but his proficient use of words.
- Bald of Evil
- Heel Face Turn: Is employed as strategist and advisor for the Meiji government.
- Humiliation Conga
- Manipulative Bastard: Poor Fuji.
- Non-Action Guy: One of the two Jupponganta that doesn't have an awesome fighting style, and he's only there to order Fuji around.
- Old Man With The Leash: Of his disciple, Fuji.
- Smug Snake: Talks like a superior and tries a logical analysis on why Kenshin's team will lose, but we all know he's only there to give orders to his giant.
- The Strategist: Thinks he's this, although Hoji's a lot better at then he is.
Yukyuzan Anji
Voiced by: Yasuyoshi Hara (JP), Michael McConnohie (EN) |
Only the hands of men can save the world of men. But to do so they must surpass the gods. |
A warrior fallen-monk who fights alongside Shishio to destroy the Meiji government who did nothing to stop the anti-Buddhist purge which resulted in the destruction of his home and the deaths of the five orphaned children he cared for in his temple, who came from families who opposed the Meiji restoration and were wiped away during the war.
Anji is the third strongest and most merciful of the Ten Swords and has made an agreement with Shishio that Anji shall decide whether someone lives or dies. Despite being ranked as third most powerful, Uonuma Usui seems to fear him to some extent, having declined from Anji's challenge after the fallen monk protected Makimachi Misao from the Blind Murderer. He does not use a blade directly in combat, instead utilizing Futae no Kiwami (Double Layer Limit or "Mastery of Two Layers") to strike the blade into the ground to attack from a distance, or more usually directly with his fists.
- Anti-Villain
- Badass
- Bald of Awesome
- Bare-Fisted Monk
- Big Damn Heroes: Pulls one despite being a villain, saving Misao from Usui trying to stab her in the back.
- Break the Cutie: Once was a sweet, caring monk. Then, his adoptive children were murdered and his shrine was burned down. He... snapped.
- The Brute: To Shishio's Big Bad. Genius Bruiser variant.
- Dead Little Sister: Or better said, dead adoptive children.
- Despair Event Horizon: The Break the Cutie incident.
- Evil Mentor: To Sanosuke, whom he taught the Futae no Kiwami to. Sanosuke subverts the trope by snapping Anji back to his senses.
- Evil Counterpart: To Sanosuke again. They both became bitter after losing their loved ones and turned to violence. Sanosuke even mentions it during their fight, how Anji's just him in the past.
- Expy: His physical frame and musculature is modelled on that of Colossus from X-Men.
- Facial Markings: Painted with ashes to make himself look more imposing.
- Faith Heel Turn: If God won't listen to the world's prayers, he reasons, then he'll damn well save the world by his own hands.
- Friend to All Living Things: Used to be one.
- Gentle Giant: Was originally this.
- Genius Bruiser: Big, strong, and very, very bright.
- Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Has huge wide eyes before being broken. Afterwards, they're much more narrow. Double the effect since he paints his eyelids black with ashes.
- Knight Templar: He wants to destroy the world because he feels there are too many bad people in it, so he can save those who are worth saving afterwards.
- Lightning Bruiser
- Manly Tears: When he's brought back by Sanosuke and remembers the good times with his adoptive children, he collapses in tears. And we all cry for and with him.
- Noble Demon: Wishes to destroy the current unjust and corrupt Japan to make a kinder and gentler world... no matter how much blood needs to be spilt.
- Papa Wolf: Deconstructed. See Break the Cutie.
- Precocious Crush: A teenage girl named Tsubaki had a crush on Anji and was Tsundere towards him. The children said they'd pray so Anji and Tsubaki could get married later. But then, she died with the other kids.
- Religious Bruiser: Rare villainous version.
- Tear Jerker: "Now do you see? Faith and prayers are but lies incapable of saving anything. I am going to save this world; this world so desperately beyond saving. Until those children have travelled the wheel of Kharma and be reborn, Anji the Shining-King will not fall!!"
- Took a Level in Badass: For his Revenge. In five years, he went from a scrawny and sweet monk to a huge Lightning Bruiser.
- Tragic Keepsake: A small prayer tablet with the names of his adoptive kids. It's the only thing that remains from his destroyed temple.
- You Have 48 Hours: He told Sano "if you don't learn the Futae No Kiwami in a week, I'll kill you".
Sadoshima Houji
Voiced by: Hiroshi Takahashi (JP), David Mallow (EN) |
Shishio's second in command. He used to be an official in the Meiji government but lost faith in it when he saw no one in the government worthy of controlling the country. He abandoned his position in the government and eventually met Shishio. Houji, too, envisions Japan as a mighty power led by Shishio, ruling with the principles of basic animal survival. Hōji is indeed unique; although he is not proficient in any fighting style, he is a cunning organizer and possesses formidable leadership qualities. His skills as a staff officer figure are quite amazing; he even manages to purchase Rengoku on the black market. Houji's plan with the Rengoku fails when Sanosuke blows up the Purgatory with bombs provided by his friend Katsu. Houji was "baptized" by Shishio's intense body heat to kindle in him a belief in hell.
- Driven to Suicide: And he did that in a way that made him very Badass.
- Evil Genius: Shishio's logistician, organiser, and administrator. Very capable too; he arranges to smuggle a battleship into the country. Shishio got his money's worth when he hired this guy.
- Famous Last Words: Writes them in blood on his cell wall before committing suicide.
This world is dead to me. I will follow my master to Hell. |
- Fingore: In the manga, Usui rips off one of his fingernails to determine if he's telling the truth about not being a traitor. Houji then bites off six more to "punish himself".
- In the anime, Usui only breaks a finger, then Hoji stabs it. Still pretty unpleasant.
- Large Ham
- Like a Badass Out of Hell: Happily joins Shishio in his plan to take the throne of Hell from King Enma. And if you think Kaguro from Kekkaishi is actually Shishio who managed to take it over and become a powerful demon/ayakkashi as a reward then yes, his master did succeed.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: Sports a very nice suit.
- Non-Action Guy
- Psycho Supporter: And how.
- The Strategist
- Smug Snake
- Villainous Breakdown
- Wicked Cultured
Uonuma Usui
Voiced by: Shou Ryuzanji (JP), Jamieson Price (EN) |
The "Blind Sword", used to be a swordsman working for the shogunate government. However, in a fight against Shishio Makoto, he was blinded and eventually left to die.
He possesses the Shingan, which actually is superhuman hearing that lets him hear another's heartbeat thus enabling him to sense people around him and detect the emotions of others. This ability is so advanced that it appears to be similar to the sonar of a dolphin or bat.
- Alliterative Name
- Anticlimax Boss: Gets a huge build up, but is defeated by Saito in the space of less than ten minutes screen time.
- Becoming the Mask: Has more or less given up on killing Shishio, despite his protestations otherwise. A major source of his self-loathing.
- Blade on a Stick: His weapon of choice.
- Career Killers: Was a government assassin before his Face Heel Turn.
- Disability Superpower: His hearing more or less functions as a sonar, allowing him to read people's emotions and movements. He is convinced that recieved this power due to his near-death experience at Shishio's hands.
- Face Heel Turn: Before the story. He was a government assassin sent to kill Shishio. Now he works for him.
- Famous Last Words: Which more or less sum up the wreckage of his life:
"To hold onto one's beliefs, without even the smallest fraction of doubt. It seems easy, but what a difficult thing it is. Just how long will you last, in this new world of the Meiji? Can you live by the sword, holding true to your precious, Aku, Zoku, Zan...?" |
- Handicapped Badass: A previous battle with Shishio left him completely blind.
- Informed Ability: We're told he is the strongest of Shishio's men after Soujiro, yet his battle with Saito is one of the shortest in the series, especially when compared to any of Kenshin or Sano's fights. It's a bit of a letdown.
- His opponent was Saito. What else WOULD you expect?
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: By Saito. He ends up looking like a pinned butterfly.
- Kick the Dog: Frequently. He breaks Houji's finger, attempts to stab Misao from behind, and constantly belittles the other members of his team. Saito implies that this is the result of Usui needing an outlet for his own self-hatred.
- Like a Badass Out of Hell: Possibly. Yumi suggests finding and recruting him as she, Shishio and Houji plot to usurp control of Hell.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Uses a tortoise shell that is tough enough to withstand katanas. Until Saito uses Gatotsu Zeroshiki.
- Red Baron: The Blind Sword.
- Revenge: His reason for joining Shishio.
- The Starscream: Joined Shishio's group under the condition that he be allowed to try and assasinate Shishio, whenever and as often as he wished. Subverted in that he has in fact, completely given up on taking over; he just keeps up his Starscream facade to save face.
- Super Senses: His ears are sharp enough to compensate for his eyes, and allow him to easily read people's emotions.
- Villainous Breakdown: Totally loses his cool when Saito reveals that he has given up on killing Shishio.
- Villainous Fashion Sense: A yellow kimono completely covered in eyes.
Sawagejō Chō
Voiced by: Shinichi Fukumoto (JP), Derek Stephen Prince (EN) |
Also known as "Sword Hunter", Chō possesses quite a collection of rare and unusual swords, including, his favorite, a long flexible sword he keeps hidden around his waist named urumi, and double bladed sword known as a renbatō. He is only a mediocre opponent when not using the former (despite using a master sheathing technique), but he will still begin battles with regular swords, preferring to toy with his opponents. Only if they prove a true challenge will he reveal his full ability. A native of Osaka, Chō has a very calm and cool exterior, and normally keeps one eye closed when talking, and only opens both eyes when excited in the heat of battle.
His fighting style is determined by the sword he uses, but he mainly uses the style Garyuorochi.
- Anime Hair: He says its "The hair of sacered fire". Everyone else says that it looks like "The hair of insane broom."
- Evil Counterpart: As showcased in an amusing meeting between the two, he looks/dresses very similarly to Sanosuke and gives an idea of what he would be like absent morals (while Sano loves a good fight, Cho is a Blood Knight).
- Eye Always Shut: And when he opens it, it means he's about to get serious.
- Heel Face Turn: Sort of.
- The Idiot From Osaka: Has a strong Kansai Regional Accent and he's not all that bright.
- Platonic Life Partners: With Yumi. They used to go out and drink together, according to him.
- Whip Sword: His urumi.
- Would Hurt a Child: During his introduction, he tries to pressure someone into supplying a sword by threatening the guy's infant son. It's kind of played for dark humor.
Kariwa Henya
Voiced by: Eiji Takemoto (JP), Jake Martin (EN) |
Known as Henya the Flighted, aids the attack on Aoi-Ya, the Kyoto secret headquarters of the Oniwabanshu, with four other Juppongatana members. His battle technique is called Hiku Happa, in which he uses dynamite to lift himself into flight and attack with from above. He can descend to attack the opponent with a blade on his arm and then blow himself back into the air. The power of flight is harnessed because Henya starves himself and is very emaciated; he is so light that the constant uplift from the explosions can easily keep him in the air, and a cape allows him to control his movement.
- Anime Hair: His resembles a blade and is grown to a pointed tip.
- Black Cloak: It opens out into a glider designed to look like bat-wings.
- Blade Below the Shoulder
- Blow You Away: He blows up his enemies with dynamite, and uses the force of the explosions to propel himself higher.
- Flight / Not Quite Flight
- Heel Face Turn: The government later uses his flying skills to spy for them.
- Shout-Out: To Spawn character Freak.
Iwanbou
Voiced by: Norito Yashima (JP), Lex Lang (EN) |
A fat oaf who uses his immense size, his strength, and his ability to entrap weapons in his flab. He is armed with small blades worn on his fingertips. He is very stupid, and, apart from taking part in the battle of Aoi-Ya as well as grinning like an utter idiot, he does not say anything, and he does not do anything.
He is in reality a mechanical puppet, a primitive mech, controlled by Gein, the puppetmaster.
- Acrofatic
- The Ditz
- The Mole: See Gein's entry below.
- Obfuscating Stupidity
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Kamatari and Henya are defeated, but before Saizuchi and Fuji show up.
- Too Dumb to Live
The Six Comrades
Yukishiro Enishi
Voiced by: Nozomu Sasaki (JP), Bill Wise (EN) |
The brother of Yukishiro Tomoe and the primary antagonist of the Jinchu arc, the last major story arc of the manga. Enishi wants revenge against Kenshin since Kenshin killed Tomoe.
- Animal Battle Aura
- Animal Motifs: The tiger.
- Anti-Villain: A Type II, arguably. Of the Jerkass Woobie variety.
- Arch Enemy: To Kenshin (shown in their animal motifs).
- Arms Dealer: How he sustained himself prior to his appearance in the manga. Also see Fiction 500 below.
- Ax Crazy
- Bad Boss
- Big Bad: The last one of the series. Also a Bad Boss, showing no empathy whatsoever for his subordinates, and even ( trying to have his Dragon killed once he's served his purpose. He deserves it, but still...).
- Berserk Button: Kenshin is this for him at times.
- Black and White Insanity
- Bloodbath Villain Origin: Fits all of the classic criteria, horrifying as it is.
- Cool Shades: Sporting a pair of John Lennon shades in the Meiji era is cool!
- Creepy Child
- Dead Older Sister
- Even Evil Has Standards: Does not - or rather, cannot - kill young women, especially those who had the likeliness of Tomoe when she died. Near the end, he even went so far as to saving Kaoru's life when his former accomplice turned on him and almost shot Kaoru when she was trying to protect Kenshin.
- Evil Counterpart: To Kenshin. For one thing, there's the Tiger Versus Dragon motif between them in terms of their fighting styles (Enishi as the tiger, Kenshin as the dragon), and also the fact that Enishi's Watou-Jutsu just so happens to perfectly counter the Hiten Mitsurugi style. Also, they both bear trauma-marks from Tomoe's death--Kenshin got the second part of his cross-scar, while Enishi's hair turned white from the shock--but whereas Kenshin became The Atoner, Enishi turned Ax Crazy and hell-bent on revenge.
- Evil Orphan: Killed an entire family just because he hated seeing them happy.
- Fate Worse Than Death: What he wants put Kenshin through.
- Fiction 500: Remember Shishio Makoto's battleship The Rengoku? Yes, the one that's said to be able to blow Meiji Era Tokyo to ruins by itself? Enishi is an arms dealer so ludicrously wealthy and powerful he not only sold the evil warrior this ship, but owns a fleet of them.
- Freudian Excuse: And it doesn't even come close to justifying his lunacy.
- Hair-Trigger Temper
- It's All About Me
- Knight Templar Little Brother
- Lack of Empathy
- Locked Into Strangeness: After Tomoe's death, his formerly black hair turned white out of trauma.
- Manipulative Bastard
- The Mentally Disturbed: Has hallucinations of his dead sister, whom he has had a Stalker Without a Crush relationship with since childhood; suffers from Black and White Insanity; has a murderous Hair-Trigger Temper....yeah, he needs help.
- Mind Rape: Unleashes a non supernatural one on Kenshin as part of his plan, by kidnapping Kaoru and leaving a mutilated puppet in her place, which sends Kenshin dangerously close to the Despair Event Horizon.
- Redemption Earns Life
- Revenge Before Reason
- Self-Made Orphan: He killed his rich Chinese adoptive family for the money and because he couldn't stand having a normal life after all that happened. More accurately, because he couldn't stand seeing such a happy family after his own happiness had been taken from him.
- Selective Slaughter: Can't kill young women because of what happened to Tomoe.
- The Syndicate: Was a major Chinese-based crime lord for a time, but retired as he became such mainly to fund his elaborate revenge scheme against Kenshin. He has promised his criminal empire to his Dragon once that is accomplished.
- Tautological Templar
- Tragic Villain
- The Unfettered
- Villainous Breakdown: An absolutely epic one.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy: The shock of witnessing his sister's death bleached his hair.
- You Killed My Sister and Revenge
Gein
The last remaining descendant of a small group of people who mastered the art of mechanics in the Middle Ages. He creates puppet like suits out of corpses, most notably the Iwanbou series. He is actually an old man yet he is very strong due to controlling his heavy puppets for so long. The diamond edged steel wires he uses (Zankosen) to control his puppets can also be used as a weapon as they are sharp enough to cut flesh and break bone. Gein just wants to test out his creations and needs to be around men of battle to do it since according to him, the forefront of technology is always in battle.
- Badass Grandpa: He's revealed to be quite old under his mask.
- Blood Knight: Interesting variation, and one that proves how scary it can be when Blood Knight and Smart Guy/Evil Genius get together. He doesn't like war for it's own sake, but does see it as an opportunity to test his creations against appropriately strong opponents. And if he can make a buck doing it...
- Crazy Prepared:The various mechanisms he installs in Iwanbou 03,to prepare for fighting Kenshin
- The Dragon: To Enishi. Unusual in that he's much, much older than the Big Bad.
- Evil Genius: While he's not the Evil Genius in a Five-Bad Band sense, functioning instead as Enishi's Dragon, he's certainly an Evil Genius, with shades of 19th Century Steampunk Mad Scientist, all wrapped up in one skull-masked package.
- Giant Robot: Several of his puppets border on this.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Killed in a trap he set for Aoshi. Good riddance.
- Kill It with Fire: He's burnt to a crisp by Aoshi. With his own oil.
- Mad Artist: Listen to one of his rants about the functional beauty of his puppets. He even refers to himself as a "Mechanical Artist", thus combining this trope with Mad Scientist for a truly screwed-up time. Heck, when Aoshi kills him it's while he's trying to get back his Kaoru doll, which he regards as his greatest masterpiece, one that can "rival the creations of god." Complex much?
- Mask Power: Spends most of the series wearing a concealing facemask that hides both his identity and age.
- Marionette Master: Uses his puppets as his main weapons, fighting from inside of them. Made even worse by the fact that they're built from corpses.
- Meaningful Name: Watsuki derived his name from American serial killer Edward Gein, who actually flayed his victims' corpses and made upholstery from them.
- The Mole: Infiltrated Shishio's group for Enishi disguised in one of his puppets so that he could keep an eye on Kenshin.
- Older Sidekick: To Enishi.
- Psycho for Hire: A more subtle example than most. He's not in it for the sadism (although that's certainly a part of it). But he needs opportunities to test out the Iwanbou series and working for whack-jobs like Enishi provide plenty of them. If a normal Psycho for Hire sees the job as a way to get off, Gein sees it as a chance for intellectual masturbation. In a way, it's almost worse.
- Razor Floss: When outside of his puppets, he uses their wires as offensive weaponry. He's good enough to slaughter a boatload full of thugs, and give Aoshi a run for his money.
The Six Comrades
Enishi's team, consisting of himself, Gein and four others: Kujiranami Hyogo, Inui Banjin, Otowa Hyoko, and Yatsume Mumyoi. All of them join with Enishi in order to exact revenge on Kenshin for past wrongs.
- Arm Cannon: Kujirinami has an Armstrong cannon built into his missing arm. Later becomes a grenade launcher
- Avenging the Villain: Averted with Banjin and Hyoko. They claim to want revenge for the deaths of a mentor (Tatsumi) and a friend (Nakajo) respectively (both were members of the group that tried to assassinate Kenshin during the flashbacks with Tomoe). Though it's later revealed that neither of them actually care about revenge and are only using it as an excuse to fight: Banjin to prove how strong he is and Hyoko for pleasure.
- Berserk Button: Kenshin is Kujiranami's. Also, don't call Yatsume a freak.
- The Berserker: Kujirinami alternates between this and The Juggernaut.
- The Brute: Kujirinami and Inui Banjin fullfill this role. Of the two Banjin is a more classic example.
- Career Killers: Otowa is a former hitman.
- Dark Chick: Yatsume is...weird.
- Dumb Muscle: Banjin. He makes Sano look like a genius.
- Evil Genius: The dependent on technology Otowa.
- Expy: Of Apocalypse (Kujirinami) and Venom (Yatsume).
- Five-Bad Band
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: How Kenshin manages to beat Kujirinami by cutting off the arm cannon. This oddly enough snaps his sanity back to normal.
- Honour Before Reason: Kujirinami's reason for wanting revenge: Kenshin severed his arm, leaving him incapable of continuing on as a samurai, but refused to kill him. Kujirinami considers himself shamed by this, and wants to take the price of his humiliation it out of Kenshin's hide. And he shows no reason whatsoever in doing it.
- The Juggernaut: Kujirinami. He's damn near unstoppable, and bigger than Anji.
- Kick the Dog: Otowa and especially Banjin, who makes a point of only fighting people weaker than himself.
- Ninja: Yatsume.
- Power Fist: Banjin. He wears a pair of tekkou (basically metal gauntlets) in order to beat his opponents to death with ease. They don't do so well against Sano's special move.
- Revenge
- Samurai: Kujirinami's former profession.
- Sissy Villain: Otowa. Bordering on Villainous Crossdresser.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Banjin, which Sano repeatedly points out.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Banjin, Banshin?
- Villainous Breakdown: Otowa, who gets knocked out with a grin on his face in utter disbelief that Yahiko, a child not even half his age, managed to beat him.
Anime-only Characters
Muto Sayo aka Magdaria
Voiced by: Hiroko Kasahara (JP), Lia Sargent (EN) |
Shougo Amakusa's younger sister. She serves as a holy mother to their crowd of followers and a teacher to the young children. She has suffered from consumption ever since she was a child (which she most likely obtained from her and Shougo's dead mother, who suffered the same illness). She is often seen accompanied by Shozo, a childhood friend whom she and her brother saved from persecution.
- Break the Cutie: Was a happy-go-lucky Christian little girl from the countryside. Then, shit happened. LOTS of shit.
- Broken Bird: Her hardships left her very embittered, until she befriended Sanosuke. She lampshades the trope as she thanks Sanosuke for emotionally helping her while she lays dying in his arms.
- Defrosting Ice Queen
- Florence Nightingale Effect: She took care of a young and injured Shouzo after Shougo took him in his Christian group, and he pretty much fell in love with her.
- Generation Xerox: Looks a lot like her Missing Hot Mom and inherits her Ill Girl condition.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Gets shot to protect the only person, aside of Kenshin and his group, who was willing to help her crazed older brother.
- Ill Girl: Has tuberculosis, which gives her Blood From the Mouth and Incurable Cough of Death.
- The Medic: Pretty good nurse, she patches up Sano after he gets hurt and she finds him.
- Meaningful Name: Her Christian name comes from Mary Magdalene.
- Morality Pet: To Shougo.
- Plucky Girl: When Shouzo got trapped under a tremendous pile of rocks while trying to shield Sayo, she immediately started to try getting them off him. Considering that she's an Ill Girl and such an effort could make her collapse... whoa.
- Ship Tease: Got a lot of this with both her bodyguard Shouzo and Sanosuke.
- Team Mom: To the Christian children she takes care of.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth
- Tragic Keepsake: Her medallion, which belonged to her Missing Mom.
- Yamato Nadeshiko
Muto Shougo aka Amakusa
Voiced by: Junichi Inoue (JP), Crispin Freeman (EN) |
A Christian, and sought revenge for Christianity, and to make the Holy Land, after his parents were killed for their beliefs, when Christians were persecuted during the Shogunate. He mastered "God Speed" by the age of 14, and according to Kenshin, had surpassed even God Speed. His followers believe that he is the "Son of God". Some of his "miracles" were really just due to his education in Western Medicine, and other sciences.
- A God Am I: Or better said, A Son Of God Am I.
- Badass Preacher
- Break the Cutie: As a child, he and his sister saw their family die horribly, which embittered him very much)
- Break the Haughty: As an adult, when his plans fall.
- Church Militant: He's both a badass swordsman and a cultist leader.
- Dead Little Sister: Poor Sayo.
- Expy: Of Real Life rebel Amakusa Shiro Tokisada.
- Knight Templar
- Love Freak: Played quite tragically.
- The Medic: Studied medicine during his adult years. Still not enough to cure his sister's illness.
- Religious Bruiser: Deconstructed nastily.
Lorenzo Shouzo
Voiced by: Hozumi Gouda (JP) |
A Chinese young man who was taken in by Shougo and Sayo's group after being bullied and beaten up by his Christian beliefs. Due to this he holds Undying Loyalty for both of them and acts as Magdaria's bodyguard, eventually seeing Sanosuke as his Worthy Opponent.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Was a Chinese Christian boy, which got him into lots of trouble.
- Badass Preacher
- Bare-Fisted Monk
- Bodyguard Crush: On Sayo
- Florence Nightingale Effect: It happened since she shed Tender Tears for him and nursed him back to health.
- I Owe You My Life: To Shougo and Sayo.
- Martial Pacifist
- Meaningful Name: His Christian name comes from Saint Lawrence, the martyr who was burned alive by roasting.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni and Worthy Opponent: To Sanosuke.
- Religious Bruiser
- Street Urchin
- Tall, Dark and Handsome
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Sayo.
Gentatsu Takatsuki
Voiced by: Nozomu Sasaki (JP) |
A young samurai whom we meet in the Ishinshishi e no Requiem movie. As a Posthumous Character, since Kenshin killed him in battle during the war, which drives a good part of the conflict.
- Dead Older Brother: For his sister Toki and his partner Shigure.
- Promotion to Parent: Had to raise his baby sister alone
- Sacrificial Lion
- Tall, Dark and Handsome
- We Hardly Knew Ye
Shigure Takimi
Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (JP) |
Gentatsu's best friend, whom also befriends Kenshin. He witnessed the death of Gentatsu and swore revenge for it. After raising Gentatsu's sister Toki, he started brewing a plan to take down the Meiji government alongside a small group of ex-Samurais...
- Anti-Villain
- Heroic Sacrifice
- Parental Substitute: Raised Toki after the death of her brother Gentatsu. She seems to have a crush on him.
- Sacrificial Lion
- Tall, Dark and Handsome
- Worthy Opponent
Toki Takatsuki
Voiced by: Yuko Miyamura (JP) |
Shigure's ward and a local school teacher, as well as Gentatsu's younger sister. Shigure raised her in the dead Gentatsu's place.
- Hot Teacher: Works as a schoolteacher
- Yamato Nadeshiko
Yasuharu Musashino
Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (JP) |
A teenage boy who works for Shigure and quickly makes friends with Yahiko. He dies in the middle of Shigure's rebellion.
- Anti-Villain
- Big Brother Mentor: For Yahiko
- Birds of a Feather: Him and Yahiko could have been brothers, their similar backstories and all. Only that Yahiko is younger and far more Hot-Blooded than the calm Musashino.
- Sacrificial Lamb
Sadashiro Kajiki
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (JP) |
One of Shigure's supporters. Actually The Mole.
Ebin Tamono
Voiced by: Jurota Kosugi (JP) |
Another of Shigure's supporters. Yet another mole.