History Characters / NinjaScroll

* ManInWhite: Wears a fancy white robe.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Her disdain for clothing includes footwear. She is once seen robed, but never seen with shoes.

* BadassGrandpa: His advanced age hasn't dulled his effectiveness as a government spy much.

* ItsAllAboutMe: He shows no emotion at all about betraying others, or his colleagues and lovers with the Devils of Kimon being killed.

* DeadAllAlong: Though we are not revealed exactly how much. Later in the film, [[spoiler:he reveals himself to be Genma.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Seems to be a prudent leader, only a bit cold towards his subordinates.

!!Main characters

!!The Eight Demons of Kimon

* Gonk: He would make [[Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Quasimodo]] look handsome, no kidding.

* DeadAllAlong: Though we are not revealed exactly how much. Later in the film, [[spoiler:he reveals himself to be Genma later in the film.]]

* BloodLust: Drinks blood from Hanza's severed arm, apparently for no reason other than to terrify Kagero and freak her out.

* RollingAttack: Turns himself into a wheel with his double blade protruding from the sides to break through a wall and attack Jubei.

* DefeatEqualsExplosion: [[spoiler:Inverted. He dies when Zakuro uses a rat stuffed with gunpowder to kill him out of jealousy.]]

** Original Japanese: "Writhe in pain before you die."

* YouHaveFailedMe: Electrocutes Benisato after one failure too many in killing Jubei.

* spoiler: ShipperOnDeck: Getting [[spoiler: Jubei and Kagero]] to fall in love was a secondary pet project of his, likely done as a [[ItAmusedMe personal challenge]] to [[SelfImposedChallenge test his skills as a ninja]] and out of some twisted bout of sympathy for [[spoiler: [[CantHaveSexEver Kagero's condition]]]]

* CharacterEstablishingMoment: The first scene of the movie sums up Jubei in a nutshell: A master at sword-fighting, willing to do the right thing over money and eager to snark at whoever crosses his path.

* BeeBeeGun: Controls hornets as attack beasts.

* BaldOfEvil: Seen the only time he is shown without his hat.

** Also of the monk Ryoan from Takeshi Narumi's ''Sengoku Kitan Yōtōden''. Their introduction scenes are similarly in order to save the main lead from a supernatural ninja, both appear and disappear at chance, and both are related to devils either symbolically or literally. Dakuan's hat and kimono are directly based on those worn by Ryo in the 1987 OVA adaptation of ''Yōtōden''.
** He also resembles Giuseppe Mayart from Kawajiri's previous work ''Anime/WickedCity'', being a creepy little old man with an unpleasant personality who manipulates the male and female heroes to have intimate contact with each other. Fittingly, the two characters were voiced by the same actor in their Spanish dubs.

** She also evokes Ayame from Takeshi Narumi's ''Sengoku Kitan Yōtōden'', another kunoichi who fights with a kodachi, seeks revenge for the death of all of her team, and is forced to team up with a washed up ninja swordsman and a diminutive monk.

* TwoGirlsToATeam: Benisato and Zakuro are the only women. In a TomboyAndGirlyGirl fashion, the former uses seduction and feminine wiles, while the latter likes the more masculine art of things blowing up.
* WeAREStrugglingTogether: Even although we don't get to see all the members interacting together, at least some of them hold murderous grudges toward others, which causes more than a defeat.

* {{Expy}}: Of Yakushiji Tenzen, the ruthless, power hungry BigBad with immortality powers of ''Kōga Ninpōchō''.

* {{Expy}}: Of Gyobu Kasumi from ''Kōga Ninpōchō''. Like Tessai, Gyobu is a bald mountain of a man whose powers allow him to turn his body into inanimate materials yet is oddly specialized in stealth as well.

* {{Expy}}: Of Hotarubi from ''Kōga Ninpōchō'', another kunoichi associated to both snakes and illusion spells.

** Also of Shuranosuke Sakaki from Takeshi Narumi's novel series ''Shuranosuke Zanmaken'', only blind. Mujuro's robe design and style evokes Shuranosuke's from the 1990 OVA adaptation, where the latter even often keeps his eyes closed.

* SuperSenses: His senses are keen enough to mostly make up for his lack of vision. Even Jubei's attempt to use the sound of falling trees to disguise an attack is easily foiled by Utsusu's hearing. However, eventually RealityEnsues: his sharpened hearing is not infallible and can fail when overtasked. Jubei exploits this weakness and it allows him to kill Utsusu despite Utsusu's superior swordsmanship.

-->Voiced By: Creator/ShuichiroMoriyama (Japanese), Edward Mannix (English), Josep María Zamora (Spain)

* {{Expy}}: His powers are markedly similar to Yakushiji Tenzen, the ruthless, power hungry BigBad of ''Koga Ninpocho''

* FullFrontalAssault: Goes completely naked in all of her fights. As she never engages in hand-to-hand if she can avoid it and instead fights by generating animals from any part of her body, it is a practical option to use more easily her skill, as well as a sexy preference.

* TwoGirlsToATeam: With Zakuro.

* BodyHorror: The dude is not just hideously malformed, he has a hornet hive grafted to his back. Even worse, judging from his death scene, the hive isn't limited to his hunch and probably runs through his entire torso. Finally, he also carries a needle on his throat and can exhale it out with surprising strength.

* FatalFlaw: Submerging him in water makes the hornets inside his body frantic to escape drowning, and they will sting him to death in an attempt to save themselves.

* LongRangeFighter: Subverted. He fights mainly using his hornets, but is no slouch in close quarters neither.

* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Deconstructed. Aside from sheltering them into his hump, he keeps a control over the insects to do his bidding, probably via psychic link, but it means that things get very bad for him if he loses it. Effectively, he is killed when the hornets panic and cease obeying him at a critical moment.

* TwoGirlsToATeam: She is one of the two girls on Genma's team along with Benisato.

* {{Expy}}: Of the historical UsefulNotes/YagyuJubei, particularly of his portrayal in Futaro Yamada's works ''Yagyū Ninpōchō'' and ''Makai Tenshō''. In an example of give and take, the latter's 1997 anime adaptation ended up using a character design for Jubei Yagyu obviously based on Kibagami.

** Of the historical monk Takuan Soho, though very much like Jubei, specifically of Takuan's portrayal in Futaro Yamada's ''Yagyū Ninpōchō''.

* MeaningfulName: In a pun to the real life Takuan, "Dakuan" means "Impure Monk," referring to his fake monk disguise. It also hints that, as he is a spy, Dakuan might not be his real name.

* {{Expy}}: Her name and poison affinity (yet only those, as she is quite different otherwise) are taken from a character from Futaro Yamada's ''Kōga Ninpōchō''.

* {{Expy}}: Of Ichi from ''Franchise/{{Zatoichi}}'', the most famous blind samurai in popular culture.

* SuperSenses: His senses are keen enough to make up for his lack of vision. Even Jubei's attempt to use the sound of falling trees to disguise an attack is easily foiled by Utsusu's hearing. However, eventually RealityEnsues: his sharpened hearing may allow him to track the movements of his enemies and detect obstacles on his path, but a very thin object that is part of a bigger and more recognizable thing (like a blade lodged in a tree) can go unnoticed for him if he's concentrating on other things. Jubei exploits this weakness and it allows him to kill Utsusu despite Utsusu's superior swordsmanship.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:As he is about to light the fuse to blow up Zakuro, Dakuan gets this when the latter throws her knife to slice the candle's wick.]]

* OhCrap: He gets this when he realizes that his skin is starting to crumble. And later when Tessai gets his fingers cut and he realizes that his own sword is going to kill him because he's unable to catch it.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:While electrocuting Jubei, he sees Zakuro's rat wander into the room and collapse, displaying sutures on its belly. He realizes that the rat is a bomb when it comes into contact with her black gunpowder just before it is about to explode]].

** Original Japanese: "Pathetic fool."

* ChivalrousPervert: Though a very professional guy, he still seems a bit too eager to SuckOutThePoison from Kagero's thigh, later asks her if she really poisons the people she sleeps with, and even teases her that he's willing to find out for himself whether it's true or not. However, he refuses to sleep when she offers in order to cure his poison, because he can see that she clearly either doesn't want to or at least is tremendously nervous/reluctant about it. He's also NotDistractedByTheSexy at all when he first encounters Benisato in a hot spring, realizing full well that she's dangerous.

* CovertPervert: Though a very professional guy, he still seems a bit too eager to SuckOutThePoison from Kagero's thigh, later asks her if she really poisons the people she sleeps with, and even teases her with checking it out himself. However, he refuses to sleep gratuitously with her when proposed and even forced by circumstances, all out of HonorBeforeReason. He's also NotDistractedByTheSexy when he first encounters Benisato in a hot spring, realizing full well that she's dangerous.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:Was forced to butcher his own clan in self-defense.]]

* DissonantSerenity: Despite showing often both fear and anger in their fights, Juben barely bats an eye at the vision of strange ninjas with demonic abilities.

* MeaningfulName: "Kibagami" means "Fang God," which could be a lyric way to describe his sword skill.

* AntiHero: Bordering the NominalHero, he is willing to do anything to fulfill his mission, even blackmail innocent people with lethal means and "silence" them at the end of the day.

* BeardOfEvil: Sports a long, thin goatee, a kind of beard typically seen in villainous characters. In Dakuan's case, he is not a villain, but is definitely dastardly.

* BlueIsHeroic: Her mini-kimono is blue, complete with RedIsHeroic in the underwear.

* DeathSeeker: Shows signs of this, which are noted by Jubei, though it's not clear if they represent an actual desire to die or only a spectacular disregard for her life in favor of her mission.

* MartialArtsHeadband: An ornated variation.

* {{Tsundere}}: She gives both Jubei and the leader of her ninja group cold (and sometimes rather rough) treatment, but secretly cares much more than she lets on.

* LightningBruiser: You wouldn't think that he'd be especially agile considering his large hunch and barrel-chested build, but Mushizo is really fast on his feet and can keep pace with the much more athletic Jubei.

* FinalBoss: He's the last of the Demons which Jubei confronts.

* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: [[spoiler:After Zakuro is killed, Genma decides to confront Jubei himself]].

* BlindWeaponmaster: A blind swordfighter who is actually Jubei's superior in sword fighting, which is quite a feat.

* TheGrotesque: He would make [[Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Quasimodo]] look handsome, no kidding.

* BaldOfEvil: Seen at the only time he is shown without his hat.

* {{Expy}}: Of the historical monk Takuan Soho, though very much like Jubei, specifically of Takuan's portrayal in Futaro Yamada's ''Yagyū Ninpōchō''.

* {{Fingore}}: Just before his death, Jubei cuts off his fingers.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He literally gets hit in the head by his own double-bladed sword.

* OhCrap: He gets this when he realizes that his skin is starting to crumble. And later when Tessai gets his fingers cut and he realizes that his own sword is going to kill him.

* SuperSenses: His senses are keen enough to make up for his lack of vision. Even Jubei's attempt to use the sound of falling trees to disguise an attack is easily foiled by Utsusu's hearing. However, eventually RealityEnsues. His sharpened hearing may allow him to track the movements of his enemies and their attacks, but a stationary item is effectively invisible to him, particularly if he's concentrating on other things. Jubei exploits this weakness and it allows him to kill Utsusu despite Utsusu's superior swordsmanship.

* BadassNormal: Has no overt superhuman skills, trusting only in his sword, smarts and peak physical skills to do the work. Still, he is behind most of the kills of the movie (although in no small part due to some help from Kagero and occasionally by sheer luck).

* CovertPervert: Though a very professional guy, he still seems a bit too eager to SuckOutThePoison from Kagero's thigh, later asks her if she really poisons the people she sleeps with, and even teases her with checking it out himself. However, he refuses to sleep gratuitously with her when proposed and even forced by circumstances, all out of HonorBeforeReason. He's also NotDistractedByTheSexy when he first encounters Benisato in a hot spring, realising full well that she's dangerous.

* MeaningfulName: "Kibagami" means "Fang God," which could be a poetic way to describe his sword skill.

* CreepyBlueEyes: Has grey-blueish eyes which turn bulging when excited.

* NonStandardCharacterDesign: His face design is definitely more cartoonish than other characters, making him look a bit more grotesque.

* FullFrontalAssault: Goes completely naked in all of her fights. As she never engages in hand-to-hand if she can avoid it and instead fights by generating animals from any part of her body, it is a practical option to ease her skill as well as a sexy preference.

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: To the extent that she apparently doesn't care about wearing clothes when she is out on a mission.

* InformedAbility: Some promotional materials describe Mushizo as a monk warrior, but unlike Dakuan, nothing about him makes you think of a monk.

* InformedAbility: Some promotional materials describe Mushizo as a monk warrior, but unlike Dakuan, nothing in him makes think on a monk.

* ArtificialLimbs: Her left arm is a mechanical crossbow/claw/hand combination.

* PeoplePuppets: Shows the ability to control people, apparently only after molesting them (or at least getting his salive inside their bodies).