History Characters / ToukenRanbuTachiPartTwo

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Tsurumaru Kuninaga in ''Kishou Hongi'' is a very different character from Tsurumaru in ''Paraiso'', as he is more light-hearted, playful, and caring toward his teammates, which is more consistent with how Tsurumaru is usually portrayed in most media. Despite being a subsequent main installment, the Tsurumaru that appears in ''Paraiso'' is a broken StepfordSmiler who hides his true feelings behind a mask of lightheartedness and is spartan towards his teammates, with this portrayal becoming the official, or at least consistent, characterization in later installments.

** In clashes with his fellow Touken Danshi, he uses his sword, sheath, grabs, kicks, and fists to gain the upper hand, whereas they only attack him with their sword.

* HeartbrokenBadass: [[spoiler: ''Michi no Oku'' reveals that he has also been devastated by the loss of several friends from the early days of the citadel, losing one possibly due to death and another to a potentially futile mission in which he constantly puts himself in danger of being killed and refuses to (or likely cannot) let anyone accompany him on, not even Tsurumaru himself, despite their close relationship, which caused their friendship to sever and left Tsurumaru both lonely and full of resentment]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: {{Downplayed|Trope}}; Tsurumaru Kuninaga in the musical continuity is not a very nice person in between all of his joking and eccentricities, as he rudely interrupts people, is dismissive of other people's feelings in the face of their suffering, violent, and blunt. To summarize, his portrayal here is a bit harsher than previous portrayals, but his softer moments reveal that he primarily behaves this way because he believes it is required of him in his role of protecting history, and he thus tries to toughen his teammates so they can better cope with their own roles in the same manner. As well, when not on a mission, he tends to be more relaxed and friendly... well, usually.

* StepfordSmiler: He tends to put on a carefree facade and keep all of his burdens to himself, but is quietly crushed by the weight of the responsibility he takes on.

* TalkingThroughTechnique: Tsurumaru follows Mikazuki's philosophy that fighting is a better way to communicate than words when trying to understand someone's true feelings. [[spoiler: It's PlayedForDrama when they battle and, after clashing swords and inflicting harm onto each other, realize and accept each other's intentions]].

* TheCameo:
** Appeared as a cameo character in the ''Granblue Fantasy x Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu'' collaboration event ''Katsugeki Touken Ranbu: Fate Horizon'' alongside several other ''Katsugeki'' characters, but unlike Mikazuki Munechika, Izuminokami Kanesada, and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, he was not released as a playable unit. Instead, his sword was temporarily available for trade in the event shop, coming with a Fate Episode for Tsurumaru that unlocked at the max level.
** In the second live-action film, both actors for Tsurumaru in the stage play cameo at the end of the film to help take down the Historical Retrograding force as they terrorize Tokyo. There is also one Tsurumaru seen among the members of Mikazuki's citadel at the beginning of the film.

* CoolOldGuy: Having been forged in the Heian era, he is one of the oldest swords and is this by default due to his laidback personality, though unlike fellow Heian swords like Mikazuki Munechika, or even earlier swords like Kogarasumaru, he doesn't lean into this trope as much in the browser game due to his youthful characterization, and in the adaptations, how senior he actually considers himself, or if he considers himself senior at all, [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on whose writing him]], with some writers making him out to be more of a manchild instead. That being said, he at least considers himself to be senior to his friends Mitsutada, Ookurikara, and Taikogane regardless of the continuity, affectionately referring to them as "[insert nickname]-bou," which is how older men refer to younger boys.

* EightiesHair: His hair is cut into a mullet-style.

* IJustWantToHaveFriends: His voice actor, Soma Saitou, once described him as being "lonely" in an interview. This becomes something of an InformedAttribute for almost every version of his character because his characterization allows him to befriend a variety of Touken Danshi across the continuities while displaying no angst about it. In fact, his loneliness was not highlighted in his character until the musical continuity and, more subtly, the stage play, but even then, he only expresses it toward Mikazuki Munechika.
* ImmortalImmaturity: He is nearly a millennium old, but he exudes a youthful vigour and charm that rivals some of the younger generations of Touken Danshi. Some adaptations, such as ''Stage Touken Ranbu'', exaggerate this aspect of his personality, making him come across as an unruly manchild in non-serious situations.

* NotDrawnToScale: An odd example mainly because of his footwear. Tsurumaru's official height is listed as being 177 centimeters, presumably not accounting for the height his trademark geta sandals add because he's drawn to be the exact same size both with and without them on. That said, official height charts count the sandals toward his height, raising the question of how tall he's actually supposed to be. The anime adaptations (and promotional materials for the musical, for some reason) also tend to make the same mistake of failing to account for the height added by the sandals, resulting in him being smaller than other tachi such as Mikazuki Munechika, who is 180 centimeters, despite the fact that the sandals should make them the same height.

** Given that Tsurumaru is typically sociable and energetic, and Ookurikara is a moody, brooding loner, Ookurikara is probably the least likely person Tsurumaru could get along with. However, they have a friendship that dates back to when Tsurumaru was most likely owned by Date Masamune, or at the very least by the Date clan, and they usually are depicted as being very close in a way. Even in spin-offs where they aren't depicted as being particularly close, Tsurumaru forces interactions with the unwilling Ookurikara anyway.
** Aside from the Dategumi, he is often shown to have a close bond with the mellow Mikazuki Munechika in the spin-offs (or is revealed to have had a close relationship with him in the past, such as in ''Toumyu'' and ''Katsugeki'') despite their vastly differently personalities.
* OutOfFocus: Even though he's a Date clan sword, he rarely interacts with Taikogane Sadamune after his introduction in ''Zoku'', despite the fact that the majority of those interactions are Dategumi-focused, and is mysteriously absent from the Dategumi-centric ending song.
* PerpetualSmiler: Rarely, if ever, seen without a smile on his face.
* PowerGlows: He returns to the citadel with new spiritual power as a result of Kiwame training, which cause his blade to glow white and emit feathers in reference to his crane motif.

* UtilityWeapon: Tsurumaru is often shown using his sword as a cane to support himself when not using it in battle.

* BreakoutCharacter: One of the most popular and recognizable characters in the entire franchise, earning him a spot in every major adaptation save the first live-action film despite not being one of the six Touken Danshi mascots. Moreover, he often plays a significant or recurring role in almost all of the adaptations he shows up in.

* SiblingYinYang: With Yamanbagiri. Yamabushi is enthusiastic and optimistic, while Yamanbagiri is more reserved and pessimistic due to his issues.

* MeaningfulAppearance: His design is partially based on the appearance of his sheath, which is white and has metal fittings attached, the metal fittings represented as golden chains attached to his hoodie.

* AdaptationalFriendship: In the original browser game, the two don't have any interactions, but it's become standard practice for the spin-offs to show that he either has or develops a close relationship with Mikazuki Munechika. Similar to the Dategumi, this actually has some historical basis, as he was forged by the son or grandson of Sanjou Munechika, Mikazuki Munechika's forger, explaining why he would feel a sense of kinship toward Mikazuki. ''Hanamaru'' even had Tsurumaru introduce himself as a Gojo to Mikazuki on their first meeting, and would also later mention Mikazuki being a Sanjou in ''Warriors''.

* AlternateSelf: He has two selves in the ''Touken Ranbu Stage'' continuity, one played by Toshiyuki Someya and the other by Kento.

He is a major player in the second live-action film.

* WingedHumanoid: After Kiwame training, he gains a pair of black wings as a reference to his name and crow motif.

* ApologeticAttacker: [[spoiler: He tells Suinshinshi "No hard feelings" just before very nearly breaking him in an attempt to force Mikazuki to confront him]].

* {{Tsundere}}: [[spoiler: He has very complicated feelings for Mikazuki Munechika following what was heavily implied to have been a fundamental disagreement between the two that led to the collapse of their once very close friendship. He acts very aloof or hostile toward him whenever they interact in the present, giving the impression that he resents him at first. However, he is actually lonely in the citadel without Mikazuki, and he even has hallucinations about their happy times together and talks to the moon as though it were Mikazuki. As well, right before beating Suishinshi up to bait Mikazuki into a confrontation with him, he regretfully tells Suishinshi to snuggle up to Mikazuki until he gets tired of it because he can no longer do so]].

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* CoolBigBro: Despite the fact that Shokudaikiri is his senior, he regards him as a cute little brother and wants to be seen as a big brother to him.

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* MartialPacifist: Influenced by his master, who was a monk, Kousetsu prefers to solve things without violence, but will fight when necessary.
* RareRandomDrop: Is one of the four-petal tachis, along with Ichigo, Tsurumaru, and Uguisumaru.
* ReluctantWarrior: Really doesn't like fighting.

* AmbiguouslyRelated: Tsurumaru Kuninaga was forged by the son (or grandson) and disciple of the Sanjou's swordsmith, Gojo Kuninaga, but you wouldn't know it from the browser game alone due to a lack of in-game interactions between him and the Sanjou, his Unlisted school, and the fact that it's not mentioned in his bio. To make up for this, the adaptations have him develop a relationship--or, by default, have one--with Mikazuki Munechika, the representative work of the Sanjou school. However, only ''Hanamaru'' has made reference to the connection between the Sanjou and Gojo schools; the other adaptations have their own reasons for why Mikazuki and Tsurumaru are paired off, and he hasn't yet meaningfully interacted with the other non-Mikazuki Sanjou in any continuity to demonstrate what kind of relationship he has with them, if any. On the whole, when he's not with Mikazuki, he's treated more like a Dategumi-aligned Touken Danshi than a descendant of the Sanjou.

* TheNicknamer: He calls Shokudaikiri "Mitsu-bou" and Ookurikara "Kara-bou," "Bou" being a term of endearment for young boys. He also never says it in the browser game, but the stage play reveals that he calls Taikogane Sadamune "Sada-bou."
** He refers to Sayo Samonji as "Sayo-bou" in the anime ''Touken Ranbu Kai'' and the stage play its based on, suggesting that its a general nickname he uses for younger swords in those continuities.

* {{Foil}}: To Mikazuki Munechika.
** Mikazuki's color palette is dark, with him mostly wearing dark blue, whereas Tsurumaru primarily wears white.
** Although they approach their mission similarly--preferring to work alone and taking on most of the emotional weight of their missions while maintaining a carefree exterior to conceal the strain they feel--Mikazuki tries to handle everything on his own to spare others the unpleasantness of the lengths he must go to protect history, while Tsurumaru forces others to face these same painful things head-on in order for them to grow and better cope with their roles as the protectors of history.
** Mikazuki tends to take on a lot of responsibility by listening to other people's pain, whereas Tsurumaru tends to shut other people out so he doesn't have to hear what he doesn't want to hear.
** Both of them exhibit a degree of hypocrisy in their positions. [[spoiler: Mikazuki attempts to shield others because he believes that they are not emotionally capable of bearing the responsibility, even though he advised Iwatooshi to treat Imanotsurugi like an adult when he reveals the truth about his non existence to him. Tsurumaru, on the other hand, angrily criticizes Mikazuki for treating the rebels of the Shimabara Rebellion like a statistic in an effort to preserve history, despite the fact that he not only actively led these same individuals to their deaths for the same reason but also made his teammates follow suit, with the justification that it is their duty to preserve history no matter how painful it is]].

* TheChainsOfCommanding: As a veteran Touken Danshi in the citadel, he is not only responsible for the citadel's overall leadership, but he is also frequently called upon to carry out some of the most difficult and emotionally draining missions. Naturally, this is a stressful situation to be in on its own, [[spoiler: but it becomes even more so for him due to the combination of the grief he feels over having lost a friend, followed by the intense loneliness and frustration he felt after his best friend abandoned the citadel in search of the friend he's still grieving for, leaving him to feel the loss of both, but unable to process either due to the Saniwa's and the citadels over-reliance on him. As a result, he is left in a mentally vulnerable state, exhibiting concerning signs of psychosis that go unnoticed by most people because he projects an air of toughness that he believes is appropriate for a leader when around others]].

* AdaptationalFriendship: In the original browser game, the two don't have a personal relationship, but it's become standard practice for the spin-offs to show that he either has or develops a close relationship with Mikazuki Munechika. Similar to the Dategumi, this actually has a historical basis: not only was the Mikazuki Munechika forged by Tsurumaru's forgers mentor and father (or grandfather), but also likely that they're the representative works of their respective, connected schools.

* AmbiguouslyRelated: Tsurumaru Kuninaga was forged by the son (or grandson) and disciple of the Sanjou's swordsmith, Gojo Kuninaga, but you wouldn't know it from the browser game alone due to a lack of in-game interactions between them and Tsurumaru, and the fact that Tsurumaru's school is unlisted in his book description. The spin-offs attempt to address this by consistently depicting Mikazuki and Tsurumaru as friends, but the efforts to bridge the Sanjou and Gojo schools are also, for some reason, typically restricted to interactions with Mikazuki alone; when he does appear in a work with other Sanjou, he rarely, if ever, interacts with them in a particularly meaningful way, if he interacts with them at all.

* BoisterousBruiser: Portrayed as this in ''Katsugeki''.

** He also appears in the film adaptation, but his face is either obscured in the shots in which he appears or he is only heard offscreen.

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