Hiruma Brothers : (Gohei) : (Kihei) The are crooks who scheme to take ownership of Kaoru's dojo. After Kaoru's father died, the elder brother collapsed in front of the dojo, and Kaoru took him in, becoming a kind of a live-in apprentice and gaining Kaoru's trust while trying to persuade her to sell the dojo. , the younger brother, is a former samurai who falsely uses the "
Hitokiri Battōsai" and
Kamiya Kasshin-ryū names to commit murders. The brothers use the , a former dojo in a neighboring town that has become a gathering spot for gamblers and rogues, as their base of operations. When Kaoru begins to discover the truth, the brothers attempt to kill her, but Kenshin easily defeats them after revealing himself to be the real
Hitokiri Battōsai. Having escaped jail, the Hiruma Brothers appear again, hiring Sanosuke to fight Kenshin and planning to use a gun to kill a weakened Kenshin. When Kenshin defeats Sanosuke, he stops Kihei's bullet dead on the guard of his sword. When the brothers try to attack Kaoru and Yahiko, Sanosuke defeats Gohei and Kenshin injures Kihei into submission. Later in the series, they are employed as bodyguards by
Fudōsawa, a
yakuza in Sanosuke's hometown, and then by
Tani Jūsanrō. Sanosuke easily beats them up on both occasions. Gohei is the only brother to appear in the first anime series and is more intelligent than his manga counterpart. He is a former student at the Kamiya dojo. Still, when Gohei insisted on using swords for killing and then unsuccessfully attacked the master of the dojo, Kaoru's father, he received a broken thumb and an expulsion. Gohei tries to take over the Kamiya dojo in the story, but Kenshin prevents him from doing so. Gohei hires Sanosuke to defeat Kenshin, but this fails. Later, he hires the Kisaki brothers to defeat Kenshin. Though they almost succeed, the brothers are beaten and Yahiko sends Gohei limping away after kicking him in the genitals. Watsuki described the creation of the brothers as a "direct function of the story." Watsuki wanted "interesting villains to start things off with a bang" and made one "brainy" and the other "wild." He decided that the story involving the two coming together was taking "too many" pages, so he made the duo as brothers instead of being "circumstantially related." He used a manager and director from Takeshi Obata's ''
sumo manga as a model for Kihei and a character he found in a magazine that made him think "Ooh, impact''!" for Gohei. Watsuki stated that, unlike the faces of Kenshin and other characters, the faces of Kihei and Gohei are of basic shapes and therefore the two were easy to draw as a result. He said that he became fonder of the brothers as his deadlines approached.
Udō Jin-e : , also known as , is a deranged serial killer who has been hunting down former
Ishin Shishi warriors that now hold positions in the government or economy for the past ten years. A master of the style, Jin-e was a member of the Shinsengumi during the Bakumatsu. But when he was about to be disciplined for killing people he was not supposed to, he escaped and switched sides to the Ishin Shishi and became a
hitokiri for hire in Kyoto. He now appears as a man dressed in a long kimono with a long scarf and straw hat. He has a unique technique to project
chi toward people, hypnotizing them with his eyes via the . When Kenshin stops him from killing Tani Jūsanrō, Jin-e makes Kenshin his next target. Believing the new repenting Kenshin to be soft and weak, Jin-e kidnaps Kaoru Kamiya to enrage Kenshin into his old
Hitokiri Battōsai self. Though he assumes his old mindset and crushes Jin-e's right elbow, ending his life as a swordsman, Kenshin stops himself from killing when Kaoru calls out. Though spared, Jin-e stabs himself in the heart, so the police will not discover who his government employer is. Watsuki intended for the motif of Jin-e to be
Okada Izō, the top
hitokiri of the Bakumatsu, but admitted that his design looks even less like his counterpart than Kenshin's looks like his. He was designed to be a "murderous ogre", the "polar opposite of Kenshin." The author described Jin-e as a "complicated fellow" who is "
crazy-crazy" and not merely "crazy-acting." Although both the character and story were difficult, Watsuki said it was worth it as Jin-e was the fan-favorite bad guy. He summarized Jin-e as, in a sense, the only character to defeat Kenshin even though he did not defeat
Battōsai. Jin-e's outfit originates from
Serizawa Kamo, the main character from a Shinsengumi manga released around 14–15 years before the release of
Rurouni Kenshin volume two in Japan. Jin-e's laugh, the "uhu-hu-hu," is from the character Ukon played by
Ryōtarō Sugi in the television series
Kenka-ya Ukon. The character is voiced by
Unshō Ishizuka in the drama. Jin-e came in tenth place in the series' first character popularity poll, and tied with
Arai Iori for eighteenth in the second. In
Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration, Jin-e is one of the assassins hired by Takeda Kanryū to kill Kenshin. His kidnapping of Kaoru and fight with Kenshin are similar with some differences. He has holes in both hands from when Kenshin pierced them during the Bakumatsu, where he now inserts hilt-less swords to fight. Watsuki said that many of the changes he made to Jin-e in
Restoration did not work out, proving that the original version is perfect. Giving Jin-e a motive to attack Kenshin, lost some of his madness; leaving out the
Shin no Ippō for being "too supernatural", diminished the excitement unique to
shōnen manga; and the change in his skin tone to make him odder, made keeping the tone of the entire story consistent difficult. In the
first live-action film, Jin-e is the principal antagonist who uses the
Kamiya Kasshin-ryū style for horrific acts. Having acquired Kenshin's old katana after the
Battle of Toba–Fushimi, Jin-e found employment under the corrupt, power-hungry businessman, Takeda Kanryū. While sent to assassinate Takani Megumi, Jin-e crosses paths with Kenshin and recognizes him. As Kenshin and Sanosuke deal with Kanryū, Jin-e captures Kaoru and paralyzes her lungs to force Kenshin into a duel that ultimately leads to his suicide. He is portrayed by
Kōji Kikkawa.
Takeda Kanryū : is a cunning money-minded
industrialist with a private army of about 60 men plus the Oniwabanshū led by Shinomori Aoshi. Takeda is the head of an opium dealing business where he forces Takani Megumi to create a stronger and fast-working recipe called "Spider's Web" in a scheme to gain a foothold in the
arms industry by purchasing modern Western weapons. Managing to recapture Megumi, Kanryū finds himself over his head when Kenshin arrives at his manor and defeats Aoshi. He resorts to using a
Gatling gun shooting at everyone, killing the members of the Oniwabanshū. After his weapon runs out of bullets, Kanryū is beaten and taken into police custody. Watsuki modeled Takeda Kanryū after
Takeda Kanryūsai, the Shinsengumi's Fifth Unit captain. He said that there was no actual model in terms of design. He described Takeda Kanryū as a "carryover" of Nishiwaki, a character in the first
Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story one-shot. Kanryū wears white since Watsuki felt that "between Kenshin and Aoshi, there was too much black already." Watsuki felt that since he emphasized Megumi and the Oniwabanshū, Kanryū never became the character he intended, which "was a bit of a letdown." The historical Takeda Kanryūsai is well known for being homosexual. Watsuki considered making Kanryū homosexual, but dropped the idea as he felt it would "unnecessarily complicate things." He is portrayed by
Teruyuki Kagawa in the first live-action film. For
Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration, Watsuki did not plan on making any drastic changes to Kanryū but was inspired to after seeing Kagawa's "fanatical" performance in the film.
Akamatsu Arundo : is a mercenary of
Shibumi, a corrupt politician. Because Arundo is jealous that Shibumi orders Saitō Hajime to kill Kenshin, Saitō allows Arundo to have the job, knowing he stands no chance. Arundo ambushes Kenshin and tries to use a chain to immobilize Kenshin but is ultimately defeated. Arundo discovers that Saitō is allied with
Ōkubo Toshimichi. When Arundo, fearing for his safety, decides to cut ties with Shibumi and flee to Shanghai, Saitō appears and decapitates Arundo with a strike from his sword. Watsuki stated, "this character's only there to get beat up." Appearing to aid story development, Arundo does not have much personality aside from arrogance (Watsuki's favorite personality trait for villains). Watsuki believes that he could not make Arundo's chain-scythe appear like real chains. The character's design originates from a superhuman soldier in an American comic book who has a name similar to Arundo's, that being
X-Mens
Omega Red (
aka meaning "red", and
matsu corresponding to "end", equivalent to "Omega", which is the last letter of the Greek alphabet - also related to the Christian concept of Alpha and Omega). Arundo's use of chains also parallels Omega Red's carbonadium tentacles.
Senkaku : is a minion of
Shishio Makoto who oppresses Shingetsu village, which after two years has been abandoned by the government. Senkaku killed
Mishima Eiji's brother and parents after learning that the boys were plotting to escape the village. He claims to have killed 99 people. Senkaku fights with a pair of
knuckle blades and has high speed, contrary to his size. However, this proves to be his undoing, as Kenshin defeats Senkaku in a battle by using the gigantic size to stress out Senkaku's limits, causing his leg to break. The police take Senkaku away, in which Saitō notes he would most likely be executed. In the anime, he manages to escape and is killed by
Seta Sōjirō. Originally, Senkaku was one of the Juppongatana, so Watsuki put a lot of effort into his creation. But since Shishio and Sōjirō were present and Kenshin needed to go to Kyoto, he decided to make Senkaku a "violent village despot." Originally the author had Senkaku as an experimental character who could not form any words. Still, an editor commented that Senkaku "is not a wild animal" during a meeting, so Watsuki scrapped this idea. Senkaku had no model for his personality, and after the scrapping of the inarticulation trait he became "pretty much just muscle-head small fry." Senkaku's design originates from the design of the four Abukuma priests, a group of minor antagonists. Watsuki had no attachment towards the four bald priests, but felt that the cone-shaped head design was "a waste for an unimportant character." So he instead used that design for Senkaku, who Watsuki said turned out to be unimportant also. In retrospect Watsuki felt that the Coneheads may have influenced him in a
Sega Saturn commercial, and the Giant Soldier in
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The author felt regret about Senkaku; what he regretted most was how he could not use Senkaku's special technique "Piercing Head-Butt" in the storyline.
Shishio Makoto is the leader of the Juppongatana and the primary antagonist of the Kyoto arc. Shishio was Kenshin's successor as
hitokiri for the Ishin Shishi. When the new Meiji government discovered Shishio's insatiable lust for power, they attempted to kill him and lit his body on fire. But he survived and has gathered an army to exact his revenge and overthrow the government.
Komagata Yumi : , also known as , is Shishio's lover. She was the most famous
oiran in
Yoshiwara and took pride in it, until the
María Luz Incident. She became reviled at the Japanese government's refusal to compensate the newly emancipated prostitutes due to it regarding them as equivalent to livestock. She serves as Kenshin, Saitō and Sanosuke's guide through Shishio's maze-like hideout, taking them from each duel to avoid traps. She is often concerned about Shishio and his medical state. When Shishio's body becomes overheated in his fight with Kenshin, she runs in between them and pleads with Kenshin to end the duel. Still, Shishio runs her through with his sword, mortally wounding her and injuring the unguarded Kenshin. Knowing that she has finally been of use to Shishio in his most important battle, she dies happy and released from her former frustration for not being able to fight next to him. She is then seen with Shishio and Hōji in hell. Yumi was initially designed to be an attractive accessory for Shishio, as Watsuki believed a villain ought to have a "temptress" or two nearby. He was surprised to see her develop into such a love-driven character. In commenting on her death, the author stated that he saw Yumi's happiness following Shishio everywhere, including hell. Watsuki had no particular personality model for Yumi. Still, the character is essentially a version of Ogin, a character played by actress
Kaoru Yumi in
Mitokōmon Gaiden: Kagerō Ninpō-Chō, a spinoff series of
Mitokōmon. Having designed Yumi on the spot with the intention of her being sexy, Watsuki had no specific design model. But halfway through, Watsuki became a fan of
Morrigan Aensland from
Vampire Hunter and, as a result, began to expose more and more of Yumi's cleavage and shoulders, "eventually increasing the sexiness by about 120%." Admitting that he has always had trouble drawing women, Watsuki stated that drawing Yumi taught him that he could have fun while drawing female characters not just by making them appear "cute," but also by making them "seductive, or even evil." He added that, since Yumi had a "sexed-up body," botching even one line could make the character appear "downright indecent." Watsuki stated that in this way, Yumi taught him the importance of skillful sketching. She is portrayed by
Maryjun Takahashi in live-action films.
Seta Sōjirō , also known as , is a teenage boy who is Shishio's right-hand man and the strongest of the Juppongatana. He is noted in the series for always smiling and lacks any emotion but "comfort," making him impossible to read. He has been with Shishio the longest and is the most trusted member of the Juppongatana, having met Shishio when he was a small boy. He had witnessed Shishio brutally killing police officers, but Shishio ordered him to keep him in a safe house and provide for him instead of killing him. Days pass and Sōjirō tended to him and explained his situation with his abusive relatives. Shishio then explained his creed of survival of the fittest and gives him his sword. When Sōjirō is caught harboring Shishio in his family's rice silo, his older relatives try to kill him, thinking they can pin it on Shishio. As a result, Sōjirō kills them in self-defense and goes off with Shishio to become his protege.
Yūkyūzan Anji : , also known as after
Fudō Myō-ō, is a warrior
monk and member of the Juppongatana. Anji is the third strongest and most merciful of the Juppongatana and has agreed with Shishio that Anji shall decide whether someone lives or dies. He 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 were killed during the
Boshin War. Though he is a "fallen priest," who feels no shame in violating the directives of Buddha, he still wishes to save the world, but believes in doing so by killing those who are evil to save the pure. Over ten years he developed the technique, which delivers two hits within 1/75 of a second, allowing him to smash rocks with his limbs. Upon meeting Sagara Sanosuke in a forest, he teaches him his secret technique, without realizing Sanosuke is allied with Kenshin. Although Anji is a master of the technique, his later fight with Sanosuke ends when Sanosuke creates the "Mastery of
Three Layers" and Anji drops to his knees when Sanosuke points out that the orphans' souls do not care about his mission to save the world, they only want him to be happy. After Shishio's death, Anji chooses to serve 25 years in a
Hokkaidō prison. Five years later, Anji is transferred out of prison to
Hakodate by its Kendo instructor Sugimura Yoshie (
Nagakura Shinpachi), reuniting with former Juppongatana member
Seta Sojiro on the way. Watsuki developed Anji before the publication of
Rurouni Kenshin; he appears as an extra in the second
Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story one-shot. However, he had difficulty determining Anji's backstory and whether he would be a friend or foe, so he put Anji in "storage" until his ultimate introduction. Having determined that Sanosuke needed to become more powerful, Watsuki introduced Anji as a counterpart to Sanosuke's fighting style, so that he could give Sanosuke a strong opponent and increase Sanosuke's power at the same time. Watsuki had no model for Anji's personality, but pictured him as being similar to Shinsengumi lieutenant Shimada Kai due to the "manly air." He also said that Anji is his second attempt at "manly intelligence," following the "failed" Isurugi Raijūta. Anji's visual model originates from the lead vocalist of a punk band called Angie, and his name originates from the band's as well. Watsuki said that their bandannas on shaved heads and the black makeup under the eyes looks "cool" but still gives an impression suggesting intelligence. Instead, he intended to give Anji a "power-fighter" design but settled for "macho". Although the reader response to Anji's story was mostly positive, looking back on it Watsuki said he was an immature writer then. Watsuki planned to have more to Anji's story, but with five weeks' worth of material, he had to significantly cut it down so it would not interrupt the flow of the fighting; he originally planned to have Anji's heart momentarily stop due to the "Mastery of Three Layers." The author assesses that if one reads into the story deeply enough, one can see that Anji's "rampage" to the dark side was stopped. Still, his soul has yet to be "saved." Watsuki said that while he had nothing specific about Anji's later adventures, they were slowly coming to him and he might write it down if the chance presents itself. Anji came in tenth place in the series' second character popularity poll. Chō ranked ninth in the "Who is Kenshin's Biggest Rival?" poll. Usui came in seventeenth place in the second character popularity poll of the series. in
Japanese, is a slang word for homosexual, while the word for a scythe is . Watsuki used ideas from assistants to create many of the Juppongatana and Kamatari was one he seized immediately. Still, when coming up with the specifics, the concept "just wasn't coming together." In the beginning, some of his ideas were "male-appearing on the surface, but personality-wise, will be feminine," "A very erotic and seductive, womanly appearance from the outside, but a manly man on the inside," and "a big macho gay guy." But a friend of Watsuki's suggested making Kamatari "just a 'pretty girl' type," leading to the solidification of the character. Watsuki planned for Kamatari to have a "light-hearted and cheerful" personality, but found complications when a "more serious side" began to emerge, leading him to feel some regret with the outcome; he admitted that one of his bad habits is to cross the fine line between "serious" and "depressing". Watsuki added that the next time he uses the character, he would try to "keep his outlook sunny" while not compromising the "essential self." Watsuki used
Ikari Yui from
Neon Genesis Evangelion as the visual model for Kamatari's face; but colored the hair black, exposed more of the forehead, and had the back of Kamatari's hair "flip out as I've seen so many high-schoolers do these days." Watsuki found that the character's triangular silhouette has influences from
Rei-Rei in
Vampire Hunter. The large chain-scythe that Kamatari uses exists in real life, but Watsuki made the blade larger to give it "a real super-impact look" and noted that it is not intended to be used in the way that Kamatari does. Kamatari came in sixteenth place in the series' second character popularity poll and tenth in the third.
Iwanbō : , also known as , is a fat oaf and one of the Juppongatana sent to attack Aoi-Ya. He fights using small blades worn on his fingertips and his large body; his skin is too thick to cut. He is very stupid and says very little. Despite defeating four members of the Kyoto Oniwabanshū by himself, Iwanbō flees when Henya and Kamatari are defeated. After Shishio's defeat, Chō remarks that Iwanbō is too stupid to do anything on his own. Iwanbō is later shown to be a
karakuri puppet controlled from the inside by
Gein. Gein uses the new Iwanbō Version Three, Savage Mode to fight Kenshin during the
Six Comrades' attack on Kamiya dojo. This version has unrestricted detachable joints, allowing every limb to move in any direction, and anti-piercing armor of woven steel protecting Gein inside. It is defeated when Kenshin lodges debris in its internal gears to stop its offense, and then destroyed by his strongest technique. Following having a "giant" in the Juppongatana (Fuji), Iwanbō was created as a "full body costume." Although Watsuki admitted he might have included too many elements from the Kyoto arc in the Jinchū arc, he said he enjoyed the character of Iwanbō. Because he had to hide that it was just a costume, the author portrayed Version One as a very mysterious character, but the design kept changing and he became a "weird, but likable personality." Version Two was not intended to appear, but because Gein broke Version One, Watsuki had to "cut and paste" and later utilized this in the story. Version Three had to fight Kenshin and therefore was made into a "powerful suit." After all this, the author reflected that he seems to have gotten carried away, making Iwanbō feel out of place in the
Rurouni Kenshin universe. The design models for Version One (and Two) were the characters
Blob and
Mojo from
X-Men. But elements of
Victor and
Sasquatch from
Vampire Hunter were also incorporated, making him "cuter." The design model for Version Three was the comic book character
Hulk, specifically the version that was on
Marvel X, a small booklet included in an issue of
Wizard in relation to
Age of Apocalypse. Version Three's full-body tattoo was added to give him the look of a "battling tribe" from an undeveloped world, but Watsuki said it does not look that good.
Saizuchi : , also known as , is a member of the Juppongatana and a cunning elder who manipulates the giant
Fuji. Saizuchi's talents lie not in battle-abilities, but his proficient use of words. Having taken Fuji in after he was nearly killed, Saizuchi reminds Fuji that he has to repay him. During the Juppongatana's attack of Aoi-Ya, Saizuchi attempts to destroy the morale of the Oniwabanshū by giving a speech as to why it is impossible for them to defeat Fuji and himself. Saizuchi is knocked unconscious when Fuji's left arm falls on him upon being defeated by
Hiko Seijūrō. Pardoned for his crimes, Saizuchi uses his gifts of persuasion for the Foreign Ministry in secret negotiations. The overall model for Saizuchi is a villainous elf who tricks the giant in what Watsuki was told is a Finnish folktale called "Frost Giant"; he combined that with an "image of a giant-robot pilot." Originally Watsuki planned for Okina to fight Saizuchi, but he cut the concept because he wanted to maintain the balance of the story and because his "inner story-editor" asked him if anyone would really like to see "two old codgers" fight each other. The design model is Director-General Luchi of the Akuda Republic from
Purin Purin Monogatari, an
NHK puppet show. Watsuki said that the large size of Director-General Luchi's head would "freak me out." Watsuki commented that Luchi's design was "efficient" since one could tell that he was brilliant at one glance. Watsuki felt that of all the Juppongatana, Saizuchi got the "short end of the stick" since the character did not have a chance to fully display what his "massive brain could do." He described this as the "Senkaku Effect," where the characters with the "best noggins" are not used to their "full potential."
Fuji : , also known as , is a member of the Juppongatana and a giant. Considered a freak by everyone around him, one day he was attacked and almost killed but 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. Fuji is easily defeated by Hiko Seijūrō, who acknowledges Fuji's samurai soul and was the first to look at Fuji as someone other than a monster. Pardoned for his crimes, the Meiji government assigns Fuji to Hokkaidō to develop land and act as a defending fighter during times of war. The idea for a giant originated from the
God Warrior in the
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, after Watsuki saw the film. He wondered if it would "even be interesting" for Kenshin to fight a giant, but could not let it go and so decided to have Fuji fight Hiko instead. Watsuki revealed that he and his editor both had doubts about actually doing it because Fuji was so big, but friends and assistants told him it would be fun and he was pleased that it seemed to have paid off. Fuji also utilized inspiration from what Watsuki was told is a Finnish folktale called "Frost Giant", in which a monster-like giant is revealed to have a heart. The design was inspired by the first
Eva in
Neon Genesis Evangelion. The face originated from Eva #2, but Watsuki's assistants believed the design looked too similar. So his then-assistant
Hiroyuki Takei created a "skull-like riff on Eva #1" and Watsuki added the biting of his helmet's anchor rope feature, finishing Fuji's helmet face. Watsuki tried "very hard" to keep the body from being too similar to the Eva. Fuji's actual face originates from Dogura Magura in
Arabian Lamp-Lamp by Takeshi Obata; Watsuki wanted to work with the concept of a "monstrous character who's still somehow good looking," which Watsuki says Dogura Magura is "the epitome of." The author admitted that due to the "tight" schedule of the Fuji chapters, he had insufficient time to revise the design, resulting in "an essentially unoriginal face."
Six Comrades The are a group of six men who each seek revenge against Himura Kenshin for their own reasons. Financed and conceived by
Yukishiro Enishi, they are the primary antagonist group of the Jinchū arc. Rather than simply kill Kenshin, they decide they must make him recognize his past crimes first. The group agreed to disband then and whoever gets to Kenshin first gets to kill him. Because many of the Juppongatana were characters that were "hard to hate," Watsuki wanted to make the five comrades (excluding Enishi) in this storyline as "scum-like" as possible. But because he created villains with no ideals or beliefs, it was not easy to portray them as an enjoyable read. Gein ranked eighth in the "Who is Kenshin's Biggest Rival?" poll. Kujiranami ranked tenth in the "Who is Kenshin's Biggest Rival?" poll. In the first live-action film, Inui appears as one of Kanryū's men and is portrayed by
Genki Sudo. In the fourth film, his equivalent Inui Tenmon is portrayed by Joey Iwanaga.
Otowa Hyōko , the , is member number five of the Six Comrades and an effeminate-looking user of assassin's weapons or "Instruments of the Shadows". He says he has thirteen hidden weapons all over his body, but only four are shown in the series. The first is , a small six-barreled arrow-launcher worn on his left wrist. The second is the , a paralyzing mist generated by dropping two small cubes into water. The third is a jar of iron powder, , used in conjunction with his magnetic . The last is the , six long piercing tentacle-like appendages worn on his torso. His battle tactic is to outwit the opponent and catch them off guard with his hidden weapons as opposed to simply overpowering them. Otowa is a
sadistic individual who enjoys killing people for fun and is not above targeting women and children. Otowa seeks Kenshin's death in revenge for the death of his friend
Nakajō, whom he had competitive killing sprees with. In reality Otowa joined the fight just for pleasure. Otowa attacks Chief Uramura's house as part of the Jinchū campaign while Inui simultaneously attacks Maekawa dojo. Otowa later fights Myōjin Yahiko during the attack on Kamiya dojo. He comes close to killing Yahiko with a few of his weapons, but Yahiko eventually defeats him. As Otowa goes down he has a crazed smile on his face as he could not believe his defeat at the hands of someone not even half his age;. However, Sanosuke notes Otowa was not in peak form because he feared Kenshin's abilities and thought of fleeing after the duel with Yahiko. Otowa is arrested by the police afterwards. Watsuki had no personality model for Otowa and made him cruel because he is a shadow instrument user, which he notes resulted in him being like Kanryū. The author wanted to make him more cunning and sadistic, but said Otowa was not developed satisfactorily due to his own incompetence. Otowa's design model was a previously rejected "
drag queen-ish" villain who wore a lot of lipstick. The six-pronged accessory was borrowed from
Mr. Sinister in
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse. Watsuki said that he feels Otowa is one of his better designed characters.
Yatsume Mumyōi is a member of the Six Comrades who hides himself from the others, such as by hiding in the ceiling. A member of a famous gold mining clan, family tradition led them to elongate the limbs of their members using metal rings to help them mine better via ; similar to
neck rings. As a result, Yatsume's limbs are about 1.5 times as long as normal, with the notable exception of his left arm, which is twice as long and equipped with metal claws. His teeth have also been sharpened into fangs from a young age, although his long tongue is natural. Fifteen years earlier, Yatsume took up fighting and joined the
Yaminobu in order to support his clan, who had fallen on hard times due to depleted gold mines, by hoping to prove to the
Tokugawa shogunate that their bodies had battle potential. But the Yaminobu were defeated by Kenshin and the Shogunate defeated by the Ishin Shishi. Yatsume wants revenge on Kenshin to uphold the laws of his clan (which state that anyone who sees a member of their clan must be killed) and for the misfortunes of his clan, which he blames on the Ishin Shishi and Kenshin. Before he can fight Kenshin however, he ends up fighting Saitō instead and is brutally maimed in defeat, despite having managed to outmaneuver the man's trademark attack once. Kenshin stops Saitō from killing him and offers to let Yatsume fight him if he still wants to after healing, but suggests that he go up north and use his abilities to help his clan. He is arrested by the police afterwards. Yatsume's model was
kumo otoko ("Spider Man"), not the American version, so he has similar roots as Han'nya. Because the "freaks" theme did not go so well with Han'nya, Yatsume is Watsuki's second attempt at it. But the author said he was utterly defeated, citing Saitō as the biggest reason; any character turns into a weakling in front of Saitō, just like Usui did. Watsuki said that the body shaping is one of the ideas he likes, but seems a little unfitting for a shonen manga. Because body deformation is a sensitive issue, he had to be careful how he dealt with it, which might have detracted from the storyline as a whole. He stated that there would be no further attempts at the freaks theme because he believes that there needs to be more "positive themes" in shonen manga; but will still use it in terms of design. Watsuki admitted that the design model is all "jumbled up." The silhouette version of Yatsume, seen before his full reveal, was modeled after the "bandana mask version" of
Wolverine from
X-Men and
Carnage from
Spider-Man. After being told by various people to "do Spider-Man, or to do Spawn and such," Watsuki got agitated and said "I'll throw in
Venom also!," which he referred to as digging his own grave. The gold-mining clan backstory was added after the fact, but Yatsume still stuck out from the period.
Woo Heishin is the second-in-command of Enishi's black market organization that smuggles weapons from Shanghai to Japan. While Enishi likes to rule from action and fear, Heishin rules from careful planning, and this balance is what allowed their organization to grow so fast. He possesses no true fighting skills and is guarded by the
Sū-shin, who are skilled in various fighting styles. In exchange for being allowed to use the organization's resources for his personal Jinchū campaign, Enishi agreed to hand over total control of it to Heishin. After receiving control, Heishin tries to have the Sū-shin take Enishi's revenge by killing Kenshin. But all four are defeated by Kenshin's comrades, while Heishin is beaten up by Enishi. He later recovers and begins shooting with dual revolvers, managing to wound Kenshin before being beaten up by Enishi again, but just when Enishi is about to kill Heishin, Kenshin stops him. Watsuki had no model for Heishin. He created him after his editor told Watsuki that he needed to put more depth into the black market weapons organization. Since the organization was made simply to explain Enishi's finances, Watsuki believed that the addition of Heishin "didn't seem to change anything." The author felt that chapters flew by and he was unable to set Heishin's personality, so he became "this pathetic creature." Even though Heishin was his favorite "#2," he became an unattractive character and Watsuki regretted how he turned out. Heishin also had no design model; he was designed around the time of the Tomoe chapters when Watsuki was aiming for originality and creating characters that did not obviously look like any other. Heishin was designed to be "heavy" on black to contrast with the "whiteness" of Enishi.
Sū-shin The are Woo Heishin's personal bodyguards. They are identical quadruplets named after the
four symbols of Chinese astrology, and each versed in a different form of combat. Heishin tries to have the Sū-shin take Enishi's revenge by killing Kenshin, but Kenshin's friends take them on so he can save his energy for Enishi. fights using a
naginata-like weapon and prides himself on being able to determine his opponents moves and conquer them. He lets himself be hit by Saitō's
Gatotsu and correctly identifies its weakness as the blind spot created by extending the right hand as a counterweight. But Saitō defeats him with the move regardless by using his right hand to grab Seiryū by the mouth. fights using two swords and prides himself on being able to mimic his opponents moves. He perfectly mimics Aoshi's dual sword attacks and is even faster than him, but Aoshi defeats him using martial arts. fights using his fists and spiked knuckle blades and prides himself on simply attacking. Although he delivers a lot of blows, Sanosuke defeats Byakko as his attacks are too weak to do any damage. fights with what looks like a staff but is actually a retractable six-jointed mace and prides himself on his battle strategy. He is defeated when Yahiko uses the
Kamiya Kasshin-ryū secret technique and ultimately destroys his mace. The Sū-shin had no personality models and were created simply to "fill out the numbers." As the story advanced towards Kenshin's final battle, Watsuki realized that the other characters would have no "glamour" and created the Sū-shin on the spot. Because they were "irresponsibly made," he initially named them the "Four Stars", but changed it to the "Four Gods" and individually named them after the four godly beasts. He realized this and tried to fix the dialogue but it "got weird" and the fights were not as glamorous as he had hoped. This made him realize how important it is to decide the scenes and plot in advance. The Sū-shin had no design models either; it was simply an easy to draw design and making them quadruplets in Chinese clothes without any tone. One can tell them apart by their head tattoos and weapons.
Yaminobu The were a group of assassins who were called the "Oniwabanshū of the West" and planned to kill Kenshin. They used Yukishiro Tomoe to get close to him and become his weakness. One of their members, , a wielder of dual-katana chained at their hilts was the assassin Kenshin killed in front of Tomoe. Finally setting their plan into action in December 1864, they send Enishi to contact Tomoe and leave a note luring Kenshin to their "Binding Forest." Kenshin kills , a warrior who uses hidden weapons and successfully binds Kenshin's hearing with an explosion, and , a large axe-wielder who binds his vision in another. Yatsume Mumyōi fights alongside Sumita but flees injured and vowing revenge; he later joins Enishi in the Six Comrades. With his senses impaired, Kenshin fights the leader , a hand-to-hand fighter. Although Tatsumi has the advantage, he is killed by Kenshin when Tomoe jumps in between them. was their spy in the Ishin Shishi. After Kenshin defeats the Yaminobu,
Katsura Kogorō sends Shishio Makoto to kill I'izuka, having discovered his true affiliation.
Fudōsawa is a yakuza trying to take over a small town in
Shinshū, former sumo wrestler, and nephew of Tani Jūsanrō. The only obstacle preventing him from taking over the town is the farmer
Higashidani Kamishimoemon. Fudōsawa hires Sanosuke to fight the farmer, but Sanosuke realizes that Kamishimoemon is his father and that his family is being forced into poverty by Fudōsawa. Sanosuke defeats Fudōsawa's army of 200 men single-handedly and injures Fudōsawa, breaking six of his ribs. ==Other characters==