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[echigo_wargod]

OOC INFORMATION;
Player: Sammy
Age: 30
Personal Journal: satrugha
Contact Info: aim: satrugha
Other Characters: Chibiusa 30thcenturyrabbit

IC INFORMATION;
Characters Name: Kenshin Uesugi
Age: Unknown. More than likely in his 30s or 40s.
Canon: Sengoku Basara games
Canon Point: End of Sengoku Basara 3
Species: human
Gender: unknown. While generally believed to be male, the game's creator and anime director both state that Kenshin's gender is ambiguous. This plays on a historical rumor that Kenshin was actually a woman dressed in men's clothing. (see Other section below for more)
Orientation: Bisexual. Definitely flirts with both men and women.

History: As the games all follow individual paths depending on character, this history reflects his own path as well as paths of those associated with him. I've excluded any paths which result in his death.

Basara 1.
Kenshin has quite well established himself as a war-god and a powerful warlord so much that a ninja is sent after him. Kasuga was sent to kill him but upon seeing his face, she was unable to kill him. Instead she fell in love with him. Kenshin, respecting the skill he could see reflecting in her eyes, made her his right hand man.

The game begins around 1583 when Nobunaga had just rose to power with a great force. Kenshin opposed Nobunaga's expansions, fighting to defend his borders as well as expand his own territory. That lead to a fated battle at a key location, Kawanakajima, between the Uesugi and Takeda clans. There, Kenshin found what his icy heart had sought: a rival who could match him in skill, power, and strategy. Takeda Shingen, known as the Tiger of Kai, faced off with Kenshin in a fierce battle. The battle was a draw, leaving Kawanakajima as uncontested territory while both sides left to deal with Nobunaga's approaching forces.

Nobunaga, armed with the powers of demons and shadows, was a huge threat to the country, but Kenshin managed to push him back, causing the demon king to retreat. Kenshin soon returned home, disappointed to not cross paths with Shingen once again.

In the end, Nobunaga's retainer, Mitsuhide Akechi, slew his master, supposedly ending the demon king's reign and paving the way for Hideyoshi Tomotomi to gain power.

Basara 2.
Several years later, Kenshin decided to make a bold move. The Takeda were once again attempting to overtake Kawanakajima and were overwhelming the Uesugi forces. Kenshin charges through the army himself and off a cliff, taking a dramatic swan dive straight into the heart of battle to fight Shingen himself. The two forces decide they are evenly matched, and the two lords call an end to the battle. Neither side is victorious.

Both sides soon return to Kawanakajima for a third battle, Kenshin determined to be victorious. In the middle of the battle, Kasuga interrupts, telling that both Oda and Toyotomi forces have attacked Echigo. Once again, both sides call the battle a draw and withdraw.

Withdrawing to Echigo, Kenshin fought off the demon king and his advances once again to defend the peasants and villagers of Echigo. Kasuga parted for investigations, learning that the source of another attack, by Hojo's clan, was fueled by the Toyotomi's tactician, Hanbei.

After learning this information, Kenshin headed to face off against Hanbei, finding himself ambushed. Hanbei had orchestrated all of the attacks on Echigo, even Nobunaga's, in order to provoke Kenshin and lure him to his death. Shingen arrived on the battlefield, proclaiming to Hanbei that the only one who could kill Kenshin was himself. The two fought off Hanbei, causing the tactician to retreat, and the two warlords went back to what they did best, fight over Kawanakajima and fuel their burning rivalries.

At some point in the storyline, there is a fourth battle of Kawanakajima, as mentioned in Masamune's storyline, but this too was interrupted by Masamune himself.

While Toyotomi attempts to continue his expansion, Ieyasu Tokugawa sees an end to that when he kills Toyotomi.

Basara 3.
Fast forward to about 1600. Kenshin withdrew from the battlefront, choosing to defend Echigo instead of expand it. He heard of Shingen's sickness and subsequent death. He no longer had a rival or a territory to fight him over. Kawanakajima remained uncontested.

Ieyasu came to him to request an alliance. Kenshin told Ieyasu that his heart had grown cold due to Shingen's death. He declined Ieyasu's offer, but sent him off with a blessing instead.

Kenshin and his clan did not participate in the final battle at Sekigahara, though historically, they fought alongside Ieyasu in the Eastern Army after Kenshin's sudden death. In the games, Kenshin remains alive but has withdrawn from the battlefield.


Appearance:


Kenshin's outfits, main and alternate, scream drama and flair. His outfit's made to fit his wintery home, and is also a reflection of his often icy demeanor and icy basara abilities. Very little of his skin is ever seen, but of what is seen, Kenshin is somewhat pale with deep blue eyes and amazing eyelashes that go on for days. He is rather wiry and slender, contrary to most of the men in the series, aside from Mitsunari. His form and face are much closer to the women in the series, particularly Magoichi and Nouhime.

It is important to note that his appearance under his strange kabuto (which seems more of some kind of head wrap than a practical kabuto) has never been revealed. Even when bed-bound or in casual wear, he continues to wear the wrap. It is likely few have ever seen him with it off. What is known about him is that he appears to be about 20 but is actually years older, much closer to Takeda Shingen's age. His facial features are soft and his entire rather wiry body is almost entirely covered, head to toe.

Personality:
Kenshin is extremely polite, refined, and cultured. He speaks in a rather effeminate manner, often poetically, with a somewhat archaic form of Keigo, the most polite form of Japanese. He uses an archaic honorific, -dono, to address even his enemies except for anyone related to Nobunaga or Toyotomi. In the English translations (excluding the first game, which was tragic at best), he uses sir and often refers to people by titles instead of actual names. The exception to this is his eternal rival, Shingen Takeda, the head of Kai. For those who don't have an official title, his names for them often come across as poetic, such as "butterfly bathed in blood" for Nouhime.

Kenshin greatly respects strength and inner peace. This stems from being a Buddhist monk and his own inner peace. While not in battle, Kenshin is a calm and highly pleasant person. He has delicate and almost calligraphic handwriting and often takes to writing and drinking. Speaking of drinking, both historically and in the game, Kenshin drinks an obscene amount of sake, and often from a large red bowl probably intended for food and not sake. Even other characters comment on how much sake he drinks, with Kojuro mentioning if they hadn't crossed paths in battle, he would've liked to have sake with Kenshin.

Despite his gentleness and pleasantness out of battle, Kenshin is cold and calculating in battle. If given the choice, however, Kenshin would prefer to settle the matter with as little bloodshed as possible, yet when the situation isn't right for that ideal choice (which is usually the case), he is ruthless and fights to be completely victorious. Kenshin also does make alliances if he finds the ally honorable and that the alliance would benefit him and Echigo. He fights on the battlefield alongside his troops, often the one leading them. He gives his commands verbally, and they're often flowery code words for proper formations.

His fighting style is graceful and very powerful, often with a dramatic flair. The animated cutscenes in the second game show him twirling gracefully before giving the command to destroy the opposition. His ruthlessness and brilliant strategy has earned him the title, War-god of Echigo. There are few who can match his prowess and Kenshin only considers Shingen Takeda as a worthy rival in strategy and strength. Both Nobunaga and Toyotomi wanted Kenshin killed, as he was a strong opponent to their regime not only in words but in actions. Both knew he was a strong obstacle in their paths.

Kenshin capable of striking terror into the hearts of his enemies simply by being there. When invading his territory, the player's soldiers become panicked when Kenshin appears. His mere presence can strike fear into his enemies.

Both historically and in the game, Kenshin's rivalry with Shingen is legendary. The two have clashed a total of 5 times across two games, neither proving more powerful or more tactical than the other. They consider each other on equal levels of power, skill, and tactics. Each battle ends up in a draw or is interrupted. The two seem to clash for fun more than vying for each others' lands and seem to actually get along as shown when the two join forces in an effort to take down Hanbei, Hideyoshi's tactician. Their battles are so extremely powerful that people around them are forced away by the sheer force of impact.

Kenshin has a love of flash and dramatic flair. His odd outfit is the most noticeable expression of his flair. Kenshin seems to have an endless personal supply of rose petals, though it's hard to discern if the rosepetals truly appear or if this is Kasuga imagining them. His movements when fighting, his serenading Kasuga, even when giving commands are all accompanied by red rose petals. He also seems to have a supply of sparkles somewhere too. His fighting style is no less dramatic. His movements are graceful and elegant and impossibly fast. He often jumps to impossible heights to launch a surprise attack or simply to attack in general or to cast ice at his opponents. In the second battle against Shingen in Kawanakajima, Kenshin enters the battle by gracefully swan diving from a cliff and down into the battlefield.

Kenshin is a Buddhist monk and devout follower of the Buddhist war-god Bishamonten. Some of his followers and opponents have even claimed he's an avatar of Bishamonten due to his devotion and victories on the battlefield. The flag his soldiers carry have the first kanji "bi" in Bishamonten's name.

Abilities:
Kenshin's biggest strength is his intelligence. He moves and divides his troops in the most efficient and effective manner, creating tactical maneuvers on the fly if the situation does not fall in his favor. His men are highly trained as Kenshin simply shouts out a maneuver and the whole unit seamlessly shifts to the new maneuver. He knows when to attack and when to retreat. He uses the strength of his people to make the best decisions. Kenshin moves with the ebb and flow of battle as if it were second nature. Known as the War God of Echigo, Kenshin is feared by opposing clans on the battlefield, few knowing his pleasant and completely opposite demeanor outside battle.

Despite his rather frail appearance, Kenshin is extremely fast and strong. He is a practitioner of Iaijutsu, meaning that he can fight with both sword and sheath as well as that his movements are incredibly fast, sometimes making his sword appear invisible as he draws it to make a precise slice. All of his movements are precise and graceful, no energy wasted whatsoever.

Kenshin has an elemental attunement to ice. Many of his attacks and abilities combine his blade with the power of ice. He is capable of creating large spears of ice and shattering them to damage his opponents. Outside of battle, as shown in cutscenes, he is capable of creating large formations of ice by touch or even from a great distance. He has created a set of stairs out of ice, a snow storm, and even ice bridges.

Outside of battle, he is an incredibly studious person, well versed in literature and poetry. He also can outdrink every person in the game.

Other:
Kenshin's gender is incredibly ambiguous. The game's creator specifically stated that Kenshin's gender was unknown, a play on a historical rumor yet to be proven true. Likewise, in a commentary for the anime, the sound director asked the game producer if Kenshin was male or female and he didn't give a straight answer. In the Japanese, he is voiced by a woman, and in the English adaptations (Devil Kings aside), he is voiced incredibly effeminately. In every stage performance and live action drama based on the game, he is played by a woman as well. He shows little signs of frontal muscles and has a very feminine frame compared to the other male characters in the game. Apparently everyone just assumes Kenshin is male. I have taken to use the male pronouns for him with this assumption.

Historically Kenshin never married and adopted two sons instead of having his own which has lead some to believe he was actually a woman in men's clothing. Or at least that Kenshin was actually quite androgynous and beautiful. Several other adaptations of the Sengoku era play on this, including a live action drama where GACKT plays him, and in another anime, Nobunaga the Fool, where Kenshin is portrayed as excessively beautiful. There are a handful of anime which also portray him as female.

SAMPLES;
First Person: "Action brackets", this will be your cell phone, webcam, and text related communicating. At least eight sentences is required. You may link from a musebox, a meme thread, or a previous roleplays tag for this section. When linking singular threads, however, make sure that they are at least 10 comments long from YOUR character to accurately judge. Can be taken from any community or musebox. 18+ threads are permitted to be linked.

Third Person: Kenshin awoke with a start on the front lawn of his new house. He could feel the long blades of grass brush against his cheek as he stared up at the sky. It was so blue, the weather so warm. He took to his feet in a graceful burst, planting both feet quickly on the ground as he reached behind him to grip the sheath and withdraw his sword, sorely disappointed he no longer had one. His brown eyes focused on his hip where his sword usually hung. Empty. Bare.

"Has death finally embraced me?" he inquired to no one in particular. He flourished his right hand, pulling it from his hip to his face, curling all but the index and middle fingers as he placed the two at his lips. Calmly he glanced around, noting the odd, definitely foreign structures around him. Houses he did not recognize and strange pathways about the place. The houses were particularly unusual, perfect copies from one to the next. He was definitely not at home. He could no longer feel Kasuga's presence, his beautiful blade thieved from him. He either had been abducted in the most unusual manner or death had finally claimed him.

Yet if death had truly claimed him, then Shingen would be here too. They could continue their rivalry, and perhaps one would become the victor. Kenshin could only truly hope such. Their rivalry was the flame that melted the ice in his heart, and without Shingen, battle simply had become dull. He no longer could look forward to crossing paths with him again.

The possibility warmed him as he stood on the lawn, his fingers planted against his lips. "Bishamonten, light the path I must take. Guide me in this realm, towards the fate you have laid out for me." As he spoke, he hoped his fate was to cross paths with the Tiger of Kai once again, wherever he may be in this realm.

OTHER;
Housing Request?: none
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