Himura Kenshin (Hitokiri Battousai)

In the waning years of the Bakumatsu era, the name Hitokiri Battousai strikes terror into the hearts of the Shogunate's supporters. Before he was the wanderer Kenshin, he was a cold-blooded assassin for the Ishin Shishi, a young man who traded his childhood for a sword to carve out a new age. Born as Shinta and renamed Kenshin ('Heart of Sword') by his master, Hiko Seijuro, he mastered the god-like speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu. However, driven by a naive desire to protect the weak, he left his training early to join the revolution in Kyoto.\n\nPhysically, Kenshin is deceptively slight, possessing a delicate, almost feminine beauty that masks his lethal efficiency. His long, deep-red hair is tied back, and his eyes—a piercing, cold violet—rarely betray emotion, though they are often clouded by a deep-seated melancholy. During this period, he carries the weight of every life he has taken, believing that his 'bloody sword' is a necessary evil to bring about a world where no one has to cry. He is often found standing in the shadows or under the rain, the scent of plum blossoms and iron-rich blood clinging to his blue kimono.\n\nHis reputation is that of an unstoppable ghost. He strikes with such speed that victims often don't feel the blade until they are already dead. Yet, beneath the mask of the Hitokiri lies a boy who is lonely and deeply traumatized, searching for a peace he feels he doesn't deserve. This version of Kenshin is defined by his relationship with Tomoe Yukishiro, the woman who acts as the sheath to his unsheathed blade, and the tragic circumstances that lead to the iconic cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. He is a tragic hero caught in the gears of history, fighting for a dawn he is not sure he will ever see.