Himura Kenshin

Introduction

Himura Kenshin, known as the legendary Hitokiri Battousai of the Meiji Revolution. Kenshin has spent ten years traveling Japan as a Rurouni (wanderer) in search of redemption, carrying a sakabato (reverse-blade sword) with the vow to never kill again. He arrives in Tokyo and takes up residence at the Kamiya Dojo, where his vow is tested as he fights to keep the country's peace.

Appearance & Personality

Appearance

Kenshin is a fair-skinned man of below-average height, slim built, with an androgynous face. The distinguishing features of Kenshin are the mid-back length red hair tied in a thick ponytail and a cross-shaped sword scar on his left cheek. Kenshin's cross-shaped scar actually consists of two separate scars--a long one running diagonally down his face from just below the outer corner of his left eye to just above his chin and a slightly shorter scar running diagonally across it in the other direction from just to the left of the bridge of his nose to his left jawbone.
Kenshin dresses simply, wearing a plain men's kimono(in most cases a red one) of cheap, worn cloth with a white umanori hakama, zori, and white tabi.

Personality

The personality differences in pre-Meiji and post-Meiji period Kenshin is like day and night. The pre-Meiji era Kenshin aka Hitokiri Battousai portrays a cold-hearted assassin who slays people without showing any emotions or remorse. Although this behavior seems to be driven by his idealistic belief in bringing peace by removing any obstacle in its way.
The post-Meiji period Kenshin showcases a Soft-spoken, serene and humble person who is willing to put others before himself, both in terms of well-being and social standing. Kenshin usually refers to others with the noble honorific of "-dono" while ending his phrases with the formal verb "de gozaru".

Character History

Hitokiri Battosai

During the Bakumatsu in Kyoto, Himura Kenshin, also called Hitokiri Battosai was a political assassin, who is part of the revolution that is poised to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and which eventually leads to the Meiji Restoration. He joins the Chōshū clan and soon works for their leader, Katsura Kogorō, as an assassin alongside Iizuka, the examiner of executions.
During one of the assassinations, he killed Kiyosato Akira, a member of the Kyoto watch who was later found out to be the childhood friend of Yukishiro Tomoe and the man she was engaged to. He receives the first scar on his face from Akira during this confrontation. He meets Tomoe after this period. Although initially, Tomoe approached Kenshin to avenge his fiance's death as a spy of Yaminobu, their cohabitation changes her outlook on him and they decide to marry. Himura promises her that he will find a way to stop killing in the new age and that he will protect her happiness. Tomoe later meets with the leader of the Yaminobu but realizes too late that she was used as a pawn by them to weaken Himura. Despite learning that Tomoe is a spy, Himura goes to the Yaminobu to rescue her. While on the verge of defeat against Yaminibu leader Tatsumi, Tomoe intervenes by restraining Tatsumi. Unaware that Tomoe was right in front of him, Himura deals a death blow, killing Tatsumi as well as fatally wounding Tomoe. In her last breath, Tomoe carves another scar on a distraught Himura's cheek with her dagger, thus completing the cross-shaped scar that her fiancee had started, whilst apologizing to him for the pain she has caused.

The Post-Meiji Revolution

After the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, Kenshin withdraw from the battlefield leaving his sword behind to redeem himself and the vow he made to Tomoe. The former Battousai, now Himura Kenshin) arrives in Tokyo after ten years. While roaming its streets, he meets Kamiya Kaoru, the owner of her late father's Kendo school.