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15[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_ruroni.png]]
16
17->''"It was to create a world of peace, not to win positions of power, that we raised our swords and killed. If we forget that, then we are no revolutionaries after all."''
18--> -- '''Himura Kenshin'''
19
20''Rurouni Kenshin'' (るろうに剣心, Kenshin the Wanderer), also known as ''Samurai X'' after Creator/ColumbiaPictures renamed it for their anime releases (which was later co-opted by Creator/ADVFilms for ''their'' release of the movie and [=OVAs=]),[[note]]Watsuki, being a major fan of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' comics (the characters from which he based a lot of the cast's designs on), [[ApprovalOfGod heartily endorsed this title translation]].[[/note]] is a {{shonen|Demographic}} manga by Creator/NobuhiroWatsuki, which was serialized in ''[[Magazine/ShonenJump Weekly Shonen Jump]]'' from 1994 to 1999.
21
22The series is set in the year Meiji 11 (1878), a time of peace after the turbulent UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration and the abortive Satsuma Rebellion. Kaoru Kamiya, the spirited young head of the Kasshin Kamiya Kendo School, is fending off some hooligans who want to seize her dojo when she acquires the last-minute help of a mysterious vagabond.
23
24It turns out that this stranger is Kenshin Himura, a former assassin for anti-shogunate forces during the early days of the Restoration. Regretting his former life as the infamous "Hitokiri Battōsai" -- the "Quick-Draw Manslayer" -- Kenshin now wanders Japan as a vagrant soul, seeking atonement for his sins by using his outstanding swordsmanship to right wrongs without spilling any more blood. To that end, he carries a ''sakabatou'': a katana with the sharp and blunt sides reversed.
25
26Along the way, Kenshin meets new friends -- Sanosuke Sagara, a veteran of an extremist group; Yahiko Myōjin, a street urchin and aspiring samurai; and Megumi Takani, a doctor he rescued from her unintentional involvement in the opium trade. At the same time, however, he must also deal with many enemies, some of whom are stark reminders of who he used to be.
27
28The series is notable for defying several established {{Shonen}} conventions. It features an older hero (Kenshin is 28, [[HollywoodOld which is ancient by the demographic's protagonist standards]][[note]]Kenshin was supposed to be even older, but Jump's editor didn't allow a Shonen protagonist more than 28 years old.[[/note]] -- [[OlderThanTheyLook not that he looks it]]) who is world-weary and tired of fighting, instead of a wide-eyed young lad eager for adventure. Other themes that are rarely seen in this demographic, such as politics, multi-layered romance, and the struggles of adapting to a vastly changing world, pop up as well. This is what contributed to the ''legendary'' MultipleDemographicAppeal of the series, which crossed age, gender, and ''national'' boundaries with equal ease.
29
30The anime television series, which aired from 1996 to 1998, was followed by two [=OVAs=] -- ''Tsuiokuhen''/''Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal'', a prequel adapting a manga arc, and ''Seisoushen''/''Reflections'', an anime-original sequel. A NonSerialMovie, ''Requiem for the Ishin Patriots'', was also released. The entire Sony or Creator/{{Animax}} dub of the anime is available to watch on [[http://www.hulu.com/samurai-x Hulu]] under ''Samurai X''. [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/rurouni-kenshin Crunchyroll]] hosts both the subtitled series and the Media Blasters or Creator/BangZoomEntertainment English dub.
31
32There was a revival of the franchise in the form of a new [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]] [[LicensedGame game]], and a series of Japanese-produced live-action movies. The first one, entitled simply ''Film/RurouniKenshin'', was received with critical acclaim in 2012 and was distributed worldwide. Sequels immediately followed: ''Film/RurouniKenshinKyotoInferno'' and ''Film/RurouniKenshinTheLegendEnds'' adapted the Kyoto arc, and were released in 2014, to large critical and commercial acclaim all over Asia. Additionally, two more films, ''Film/RurouniKenshinTheFinal'' and ''Film/RurouniKenshinTheBeginning'', covering the Jinchū and Tsuiokuhen arcs, arrived in 2021.
33
34Watsuki announced that he would be working on the series again on May 2, 2012 -- ''Rurouni Kenshin Cinema-ban'' is a loose adaption of the first live-action movie; it was a short monthly run at ''Jump Square'' magazine.
35
36There is also an anime OVA series, ''New Kyoto Arc'', remaking the Kyoto arc, and a spinoff manga ''Master of Flame'' focusing on the villains from it. Another short manga for the series debuted in 2017 called ''Ruroni Kenshin Ibun: The Criminal Ashitaro'', and introduces the titular boy as an ex-criminal and budding "11th sword" of Shishio who is, by the end of it, trained and mentored by Kenshin along with another ex-criminal named Alan Inoue. The spinoff sets itself up as a prelude to a new "Hokkaido Arc" starring the remaining ''Kenshin'' cast, which started its run in late 2017.
37
38Watsuki's assistants while writing this series included Creator/EiichiroOda (''Manga/OnePiece'') and Hiroyuki Takei (''Manga/ShamanKing''), both of whom Watsuki credits with designing several characters.
39
40On Aniplex Online Fest 2022, it was announced that a new TV series that retells the manga story is in production. It is produced by Creator/LidenFilms and premiered on July 7, 2023. It's a more direct manga adaptation in the vein of ''[[Manga/FullMetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]''. Additionally, the voice cast is reshuffled, with Creator/SomaSaito as Kenshin and Creator/RieTakahashi as Kaoru.
41
42A {{Recap}} page for the original anime is in progress [[Recap/RurouniKenshin HERE.]]
43----
44!!''Rurouni Kenshin'' contains examples of:
45[[foldercontrol]]
46[[folder:#-E]]
47* TenMinuteRetirement: When Kenshin comes out of the worst of his HeroicBSOD he falls into this. He drifts into a village of wanderers and simply stares at the ground with DullEyesOfUnhappiness. He even chains his sword so that he can no longer draw it.
48* AbsurdlySharpBlade: So many.
49** None more so than Kenshin's Reverse Blade Sword.
50** Shishio's blade never dulls because it has tiny sawblade-like teeth that wear away like shark's teeth.
51** Sanosuke's zanbatō is a notable aversion, as it has no edge at all.
52* AccidentalSuicide: The GrandFinale of the Kyoto Arc shows [[BigBad Makoto Shishio]] getting to his max to finally defeat Kenshin. But before he could give Kenshin the final hit to kill him, [[spoiler:Shishio's body shuts down since he pushed himself to fight Kenshin for 30 minutes, way over his 20-minute limit (he can't fight at his max for over 20 minutes since doing so causes his blood to boil). This leads to his inevitable death by SpontaneousHumanCombustion]].
53* AccentAdaptation: The dub for the most part gave people accents.
54* TheAce:
55** Kamishimoemon appears to be this way. Subverted since [[spoiler:his son Sanosuke]] is actually much, '''''much''''' stronger than him.
56** Hiko Seijuro, to the point where the mangaka makes a point to keep him out of most battles because he would curb-stomp everyone else.
57* AcheyScars: During the Bakumatsu, Kenshin's first scar (the one he received from Kiyosato) would occasionally ache or even open up and bleed after some of his assassinations or during stressful moments, [[spoiler:like when he read Tomoe's journal in the OVA]].
58* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: In the third season filler of the first anime, Aoshi Shinomori [[spoiler: gives up on fighting and dedicates his life to meditating peacefully, as opposed to the manga where he still remains a fighter but acts as an ally to Kenshin in the Jinchū Arc]].
59* AdaptationalAttractiveness:
60** [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T8iRwP7f5ik/T-fgo0NcwSI/AAAAAAAARaY/cvigutNOPdU/s1600/rurouni_kenshin_poster.jpg Live-action Kenshin has a smaller scar than the usual]].
61** [[http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww133/jelene07/emi-kaoru.jpg Kaoru was considered in universe to be plain-looking. In the live-action movies she is played by Japanese J-Idol beauty Emi Takei]].
62** Even though there are already fans who consider the franchise's physical portrayal of him to be handsome (though canceled out by his dark personality and hard rugged features) and the fandom as a whole universally agrees Watsuki's design is far more attractive than his [[HistoricalBeautyUpdate real-life counterpart]], the live-action films manages to do this to [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/kenshin/images/c/cc/Rsz_saitoova.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120930193546 Saito]] who is played by [[http://asianwiki.com/images/3/39/Rurouni_Kenshin-0015.jpg hunk actor Yosuke Eguchi]].
63* AdaptationalBadass: Happens throughout various adaptations but in particular the live-action film trilogy where mostly side characters that are barely above BadassNormal such as Misao, Sadojima, and Kaoru are given more various skill sets and even shown to be as capable of taking on far weight more than they can carry in the original manga (to the point of being OneManArmies and even going toe-to-toe with the master swordsman and superhuman martial artists of the franchise). Even some of the already badass experts of Swordsmanship and superhuman fighters such as Makoto are portrayed as being even better.
64** Should be noted the live TV series does this to Kaoru, Yahiko, and Megumi. Yahiko progresses much faster in the TV series to the point of already being capable of taking on multiple trained swordsmen before the Kyoto arc. Kaoru is given more screentime in the action scenes, even going as far as helping Kenshin raid Kanryu's mansion and fending off over 20 men along with Yahiko. She is also portrayed as being well-versed in Jujitsu techniques in a filler episode. Megumi was only a backup doctor in the original manga (who never did anything daring once the Oniawaban arc finished). The TV series has her not only involved directly in incidents she never had any direct contact with in the manga (such as the Raijuta chapters) in a role similar to a {{combat medic}} but she is portrayed physically striking working class men and even enemy mooks (going so far as to KO a few perverts in one blow and knocking down some pawns in a single blow in filler episodes).
65** Raijuta is the biggest example as far as villain goes in the franchise. The original manga has him as a MilesGloriosus who quickly breaks down after [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Kenshin lectures him on the true lethality of swordsmanship without drawing his blade once]] to the point of permanent trauma. The TV series portrays him being a genuine threat as an ambitious warlord eager to create a sovereign state who is capable of wiping out an entire platoon of [[EliteArmy Meiji classified Imperial Army division]] in a sword swing emitting RazorWind and capable of commanding a small army of MasterSwordsman to execute military tactics including recon and ambushes. The climatic duel of his arc in the TV series forced Kenshin to fight seriously and ended both with Raijuta being knocked out unconscious and Kenshin suffering some serious injuries.
66** The 2023 anime does this for Tsukioka Tsunan in a big way. In previous portrayals, Katsu wasn't shown to be in the same league as Sanosuke in an all-out brawl, being played as more of a LongRangeFighter who threw explosives. However, in an additional scene for the series that wasn't in the source material, Katsu got into a brawl with Sanosuke and exchanged blows with him for a period of time, showing that 2023 Katsu is a decent hand-to-hand fighter in his own right.
67* AdaptationDistillation: The live-action film trilogy and to a lesser extent the [= OVAs=] and animated film incarnations get this. In particular Soujirou's backstory always receives this in all adaptations due to the brutal nature of what he did.
68** Even the 1996 TV series, known to add in generally decent filler and to expand upon canon scenes, is not free from this. Some of the events building up to the climatic battle of major arcs are altered as are the involvement of several minor characters and backstory elements. In particular the Oniwaban's various members' backstories (particularly Shikijo and Hanya) key-defining moments as well as essential actions they did in the arc were removed
69* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance:
70** In the 1996 anime, Tae debuts in episode 2, telling Kenshin and Kaoru about what she knows about Yahiko. She doesn't appear in the chapter that the episode was based on. Instead, she debuts several chapters later in Sano's introductory chapter.
71** The 2023 anime, has several characters and plot points referenced significantly earlier. Episode 1 begins with Okita and Saito encountering Battousai, which didn't happen until the beginning of the Kyoto arc in both the manga and first anime. Additionally, the episode shows a brief glimpse of Kenshin [[spoiler:killing Kiyosato and Tomoe]], which wouldn't happen until the Jinchuu arc.
72* AdaptationExpansion: Some parts of the TV series:
73** In the manga, Sagara Sozo and the Sekihotai chose to follow the summons of the Meiji Government after the false accusation of them being a "false army" got around, [[LateArrivalSpoiler which led to their immediate execution]]. In the anime, they were ambushed by a Meiji Government military unit sent to exterminate them. [[spoiler:The leader of this unit would also become the villain in the expansion of the story arc involving Sanosuke's Sekihotai comrade Katsu.]]
74** Saito's clash with Shishio is a major example as far as individual duels go. After his ambush fails, he attempts a point-blank Gatotsu against Shishio which fails in the manga. The first anime extends the battle almost 3X in length with Saito trying to score blows on Shishio with variations of the Gatotsu technique before landing the futile point-blank range version.
75* AdaptationalSympathy:
76** The 1996 anime gives this to Raijuta's four Shinko Ryu followers. In the manga, they were four minions without much depth whom Kenshin defeats. In the first anime, they're given more sympathetic reasons for joining Raijuta, stating that they're warriors who don't want to give up their way of life. One of them, Tsuruzaemon, even dies tragically in a DeathByAdaptation in a last stand against government soldiers and another, Tsukio, attempts suicide before being stopped by Kenshin and breaks down crying after realizing Raijuta's dream wouldn't be fulfilled.
77** Meanwhile, the 2023 anime does this for Raijuta, with an additional scene that wasn't in the original story. After his defeat, Raijuta tries to [[spoiler: murder a grandma and her granddaughter praying to Buddhist statues in the forest but then realizes he can't go through with taking a human life. After that, Raijuta breaks down crying and the scene plays out in a non-fatal AlasPoorVillain manner]].
78* AdaptationalVillainy: Inverted with Ujiki, the corrupt Satsuma police officer in the Tokyo Arc, in the Reflection OVA. In the OVA, he is simply doing his job of trying to apprehend Kenshin for breaking the "no swords rule" and respectively lets Yamagata handle when he arrives, showing none of his manga/anime counterpart's douchebaggery.
79 ** In the manga, Raijuta is a buffoon rampaging against select kendo dojos, throwing his weight around with Yutaro's wealth. While still using Yutaro's wealth and betraying him at the end of the arc. In the anime, Raijuta has a QuirkyMinibossSquad and is actually seeking to launch a coup d'etat against the Meiji Government and create their own sovereign state. To go a step further he even intends to re-install the bigoted and inefficient Tokugawa caste system (that was often abused and rife with corruption) as an institution in his would-be nation and his intended form of governing is through SocialDarwinism.
80*** Most of all in the original manga Raijuta for all his rant about being a hardened killer had never murdered anyone and even breaks down when Kenshin confronts him about this. In the TV series, he is shown killing henchmen as punishment casually for failing their assignments or betraying the cause.
81** This also applies to many of the Ten Swords in the live-action movies where almost all members had their sympathetic qualities and backstories removed, altered, or downplayed. In particular this is Anji gets hit hardest by this.
82* AdaptationalWimp: Aoshi gets hit with this '''''hard''''' in Shin Kyoto Hen, going from one of the biggest badasses in the series to a mook who gets pimpslapped by a tired and wounded Kenshin in less than a minute, going down with one simple hit from the butt of Kenshin's sword without landing a single blow. For Shame!
83** Several of the Ten Swords suffer this in the live-action movies but Usui gets hit hardest. Most of his incarnations in the franchise portray him as a OneManArmy assassin capable of wiping out an entire elite squad of policemen within an hour with ease (and that's just with toying around) in a direct confrontation. In addition, while it's granted that Saito was playing around and still won in the end through a CurbstompBattle, Usui was skilled enough to give him leg wounds. In the live-action movie, Usui only kills two police in a completely unexpected ambush before getting slaughtered by Saito just minutes later.
84* AdaptedOut:
85** The live-action movies do this with many characters' backstories and internal angst, even going as far as removing arc-important characters period. In particular Sanosuke, Anji, and Raijuta get hit hardest with this with their pasts that are essential to their personalities removed (with the last not even appearing in the live-action movie).
86** A scene [[http://heckyeahkenkao.tumblr.com/post/142487425901/rurouni-kenshin-unaired-last-scene from the last episode of the anime]] included [[spoiler:Kenshin and Kaoru's son, Kenji Himura]], but it wasn't aired. The character didn't show up ''at all'' in the TV series [[spoiler:and didn't make an animated apparition until the polemic ''Seisouhen'' OAV's, where he becomes an AscendedExtra]].
87** The first arc of the anime also completely eliminates Kihei Hiruma, leaving his brother Gohei (who is just a DumbMuscle in the manga) as the sole StarterVillain.
88* AnAesop:
89** One chapter has the message that committing suicide out of guilt is bad and that [[TheAtoner only living on to confront the ramifications of your actions will help to remedy those problems]]. On that occasion, Sanosuke interrupts Megumi's [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempt]] (upon reaching her in Kanryu Takeda's mansion where she was being held). Kenshin explains that no matter how bad one feels about their past actions, killing oneself will not undo the damage that has been done.
90** The chapters following the victory of Team Kenshin over Shishio and the Juppongatana has the message of being humble. Yahiko, after learning about the troubled pasts and sympathetic motives from their enemies, openly asks Kenshin if their victory meant that they were objectively in the right. Kenshin is quick to warn that they can't hubristically claim their victory as being any sort of sign that their ideals are inherently superior. Team Kenshin are only as human as anybody else and that claiming such unfounded superiority [[KnightTemplar would make them no better than Shishio]].
91* AgeGapRomance: With Kenshin being 28, and Kaoru being 17, it's almost jail-bait for Kenshin in a modern sense. However, since this set in the late 1870s when older men married younger women more commonly, it's a normal relationship for that time period. Also, [[spoiler:they don't get married until she's at least 18 and wait for her to be about 19 or 20 before she has their son.]]
92* AlasPoorVillain:
93** [[spoiler:Sadojima Houji]]. A lot more honorable than his master, so much so that he throws a fight rather than resort to fighting dirty. Kenshin says he feels very sorry for him when he learns about his death.
94** Uonuma Usui was a bastard, but the nature of his death is both pathetic and strangely sad. It's hard not to feel at least some sympathy for him as he says his last words (see character sheet). Moreso taken by his backstory in which the very government he risked his life to serve and fight for (and got blinded permanently as a result) banished him into the wilderness to die because they felt he became useless.
95* AllLoveIsUnrequited: For the most part averted (which is kind of surprising considering that it's a shounen anime.)
96* AllPowerfulBystander: Seijuro Hiko taught the main character every sword skill he knows, except that, unlike Kenshin, Hiko's got the raw muscular power to use Hiten Mitsurugi style to its fullest, and doesn't bother with Kenshin's ThouShaltNotKill philosophy. [[WordOfGod The author stated outright]] that Hiko was far too powerful for anyone else in the series to handle. That's why he was made [[BystanderSyndrome too apathetic and anti-social]] to ever go after the {{Big Bad}}s himself.
97* AmbiguouslyHuman: In the anime filler, the anime-exclusive villain Gekki who mutinied against Shura has a distinctly inhuman appearance in a series that's largely devoid of supernatural elements. He resembles a goblin with a long nose, pointy ears, yellow skin, and upward fangs on his mouth. However, nobody ever comments on his appearance and whether or not he's even human. While later on in the manga series, there are human characters like Yatsume Mumyoi who have a monstrous appearance but are at least given an explanation for why they look that way, no explanation is given for why Gekki resembles an orc or goblin.
98* AnimalMotifs: Enishi (Tiger), Kaoru (Racoon dog), Kenshin (Dragon), Megumi (Fox), Misao (Weasel), Sanosuke (Rooster), and Saitou (Wolf).
99* AnimeAccentAbsence: Partly averted with Enishi: having spent much of his life in China at first he speaks Japanese with a "visible" accent. Later on, he loses it (Watsuki probably grew tired of it) but he still roars, groans, and laughs in "Chinese."
100* AnimeThemeSong: Some ''particularly'' famous and career-launching examples, with the greatest irony being that the ''ending'' theme changed far more often than the opening.
101** The third and most famous ending theme, "Heart of Sword" (which puns off of Kenshin's name, of course) is the song that made T.M.Revolution famous. The show even went ''back'' to it after L'Arc~en~Ciel's song was infamously ''removed'' after a drug scandal.
102** "It's gonna rain", which was drafted as a rather quick replacement, became the big break for Bonnie Pink.
103** "1/3 of Pure Emotional Feelings" was similarly Siam Shade's first day in the limelight.
104** Most infamously, though, was that the show kept "1/2" by Makoto Kawamoto as the opening theme for ''ages''; it lasted for three whole plot arcs and the opening animation was altered ''twice'' while keeping the song the same. In an industry where songs can change every ''hour'', this was very, very unusual.
105* AntiHero: Saito Hajime is the [[UnscrupulousHero unscrupulous]] type.
106* ApatheticCitizens: The people of Shingetsu, the village that was taken over by Shishio and overseen by Senkaku. They refused to let Kenshin help free them or even let him take down the corpses of Eiji's parents, [[DeadGuyOnDisplay who were executed and displayed as a warning to the other villagers]], out of fear that Shishio and Senkaku would retaliate. They were even prepared to expel Eiji from the village in order to keep living.
107* ArcWords:
108** "This new era" (i.e., Meiji) serves as a Story Words version during the majority of the manga.
109** "The age decides the man" and "In this world the weak are food for the strong. If you are strong, you live. If you are weak, you die" throughout the Kyoto arc, especially during Kenshin and Shishio's duel.
110* ArtEvolution:
111** Kenshin's art had three major shifts: the soft, shojo-esque initial design, the sharp, more shonen style used starting in the Kyoto arc, and a style that gradually became more streamlined during the Revenge arc. The 2012 run is just like ''Manga/BusoRenkin'' and ''Manga/{{Embalming}}'' in art style.
112** There's also Music Evolution for the anime. The first "season" (roughly the first two hours or 26 episodes) featured a fairly light, jazzy soundtrack. Once the Kyoto arc kicked off, however, the show shifted to a much heavier, orchestral soundtrack and feel to match the scope and scale of the story.
113** There are also the [[http://the-oro.com/kk_lay.php?x=multi/zanz draft character redesigns]] that were released with the kanzenban editions yet. Drawn in Watsuki's more recent style, some of the characters are barely recognizable (also there appear to be changes to some [[BackStory back stories]] but it's not really certain since translations don't seem to exist yet).
114* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: The ''sakabatou'' still has a backwards curve like a normal katana. In real life, katanas acquire that curve because of a quirk of forging: due to chronic shortages of high-quality steel, Japanese smiths forged swords from multiple pieces of steel of varying compositions that were forge-welded together. They were forged straight but naturally bent backwards when cooled due to differing thermal expansion coefficients between the spine and edge sides of the blade. A back-bent reversed-blade sword like Kenshin uses would therefore be difficult to achieve, but one supposes this is why Arai Shakkuu was an UltimateBlacksmith.
115* AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe: Kenshin almost kills Seijuro with the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, only sparing him because [[DeusExMachina some bolts on his sword gave way]], lessening the blow. Kenshin never comes close to doing that kind of damage with the move again, even against enemies far physically weaker than Seijuro. Justified somewhat as it's explicitly said that Kenshin must be ''very'' careful with that attack.
116* AscendedExtra: Dr. Oguni Gensai was a very minor character in the original manga but in the 1996 anime, he's given a lot more prominence as a supporting character and even has [[CanonForeigner two anime-exclusive granddaughters]] to play off of.
117* TheAtoner:
118** Kenshin, for his time as Hitokiri Battousai.
119** Megumi is a non-combatant example, as she's trying to gain redemption for the deaths her opium caused.
120** Aoshi definitely has shades of this, especially after Kenshin brings him back from the brink of pure evil.
121* AttackItsWeakPoint: Kenshin wins the battle against Gein by [[spoiler:jamming up the gears of his puppet with a tiny rock]], and then proceeds to HannibalLecture Gein about the importance of being able to feel pain.
122* AvoidingTheGreatWar: This trope is played straight after Kenshin defeats Shishio, who has a SocialDarwinist ideology. Kenshin thinks to himself that hopefully he's prevented such an ideology from ever again arising or leading to problems in Japan.
123* AwesomeButImpractical: Sanosuke's Zanbatō, a giant and heavy sword that ends up playing a good part in making his fight against Kenshin a CurbStompBattle in favor of the latter.
124* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:In the DistantEpilogue Kaoru and Kenshin are married and have a son, Kenji, who by WordOfGod grows to surpass his old man as a swordsman]].
125%%* BadassAdorable: Kenshin.
126* BadassBoast:
127** Battousai during the Jin-E duel
128--> '''Battousai:''' "It doesn't matter. Use whatever technique you like. Once I've said I'll kill you, ''your death is assured!''"
129** Happens twice more during his duel with Saito:
130--> '''Battousai:''' "Stop dreaming. I will be the one killing you."
131--> '''Battousai:''' "The next time something flies, it will be your head."
132* BadassCreed: Aku Soku Zan. It translates to "Swift Death to Evil", or a bit more creatively, "Slay Evil Immediately[=/=]Instantly." Columbia Pictures, on the other hand, dubbed it as "Evil. Right Now. Murder."
133* BadassNormal: Sagara Sanosuke. Despite being just a street fighter, he's able to hold his own against foes who give Kenshin a hard time.
134* BandageWince: Sanosuke was beaten up (and he gets beaten up pretty often), but one episode has him wincing in pain when his wounds and being washed and cleansed.
135* BarehandedBladeBlock:
136** Kenshin to Aoshi. This gets a nice IronicEcho when Aoshi does the same to an EliteMook who was copying his fighting style.
137---> "It is my sword, and I know its every swing." (He then proceeds to ''break'' the weapon. With ''one hand''.)
138** Yahiko becomes famous for this, as his school excels at defensive abilities, starting with a technique that allows him to catch blades between the backs of his hands. He eventually learns to catch swords between ''the knuckles of his index and middle fingers'', gaining him the nickname "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Master of a Thousand Blade Catches]]."
139** Shishio makes it very clear that [[AdaptiveAbility any move he sees will never work against him]] and to prove his point, he catches Kenshin and Saito's blades between his thumb and his index and middle fingers when attempting Ryushosen and the Gatotsu respectively, both of which he had seen previously.
140* BashBrothers: Kenshin and Sanosuke at several points.
141* BastardAngst: Seta Soujirou is a darker take on this trope -- his entire stepfamily was abusive towards him for his illegitimacy, which caused him to snap and kill them all.
142* TheBeCarefulSpeech: Before Kenshin's final fight with Enishi [[spoiler:turns out it's far from it]], Kaoru wishes Kenshin well and personally gives him his sakabato.
143* BerserkButton:
144** Call Yahiko a kid or use the ''chan'' [[{{Honorifics}} honorific]]. [[SchmuckBait We dare you]]. Even if you're [[ShrinkingViolet Tsubame]].
145** [[BewareTheNiceOnes Kenshin himself is no exception]]. Making innocent people suffer is enough to piss Kenshin off.
146** Sanosuke's policy against conspiracies and against being treated like a weakling are absolute--he will stand for neither, and he'll just as soon sucker-punch Kenshin as he'll threaten to break Saito's arm for either offense, [[{{HonorBeforeReason}} even if it would be to help him]].
147* BetterToDieThanBeKilled:
148** [[spoiler:Kurogasa/Jin-E stabbed his own heart when Battousai was stopped an inch from killing him by Kaoru; he knows the Meiji authorities will kill him anyway but [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou he thought only Battousai was worthy of killing him]]]].
149** Later, [[spoiler:Houji commits suicide rather than stand trial, when it turns out that the Meiji Government will deny him his chance at making a public statement]].
150* BewareTheNiceOnes: Kenshin is most decidedly Not Nice when in Battousai Mode. This is illustrated most memorably when he plays up his scary face on Takeda Kanryu:
151--> "IF YOU'RE GOING TO BEG FOR YOUR LIFE... PRAY TO YOUR BELOVED MONEY!!"
152* {{BFS}}: Sano's zanbato. Deconstructed when Kenshin explains that because it's so large, it only has a limited number of ways of attacking and is thus very predictable. Kenshin eventually cuts it in half, leading Sanosuke to ditch it [[BareFistedMonk in favor of his fists]] [[spoiler:until the Revenge arc, where it's repaired and used to play baseball with a grenade launcher]].
153* BigBad: Makoto Shishio in the Kyoto Arc, Enishi Yukishiro in the Revenge Arc. The Tokyo Arc is a collection of smaller stories without a single Big Bad, though Saito is the final opponent of the arc. In the Remembrance flashback, Tatsumi arguably serves this role.
154* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Team Kenshin all go their separate ways in the end, but their lives are far from unhappy -- Kenshin and Kaoru are married with a son, Kenji; and Kenshin has finally come to terms with his bloody past. Yahiko has grown up to be a master swordsman and inherits Kenshin's sword after proving himself worthy. Megumi moves to another town but continues her work as a doctor. And while Sanosuke is alive, he's on the run for attacking a government official, but he mails a letter to his friends that he'll be returning soon.]]
155* BladeRun: Kenshin does this to Sano's [[{{BFS}} zanbato]]; his mentor pulls off an even more awesome version on a different opponent's even bigger weapon.
156* TheBlank: Shinomori Aoshi's {{ninja}} EliteMook more or less destroyed his own face so that he can be a MasterOfDisguise. His unmasked visage is pure horror, which is presumably why the anime didn't show it.
157* BloodyHorror:
158** This is most often invoked by the villains since Kenshi is a peaceful person and is against killing. The villains tend to kill people in very bloody ways to make a point they're horrible murderers. Although quite a few characters [[IncurableCoughOfDeath Cough Up]] [[BloodFromTheMouth Blood]] after sustaining heavy hits causing life-threatening organ damage, making the other characters fear if they'll come out alive.
159** The Animated film with Kenshi's backstory is also very fear-inducing with its high amount of bloody deaths, and BloodSplatteredInnocents like Tomoe. And as is noted below some of the characters have {{Bloodbath Villain Origin}}s.
160* BloodbathVillainOrigin:
161%%** Seta Soujirou
162** This trope applies to Enishi Yukishiro, especially since he covered ''all three bonus circumstances''.
163* BloodFromTheMouth:
164** One of the few times the implications of coughing up blood is actually addressed in Shonen anime: Kenshin gets punched in the gut by Gein's giant puppet, and when he coughs up blood, Megumi worriedly notes that this means he's sustained major organ damage.
165** Any character who has the IncurableCoughOfDeath (see below) eventually exhibits at least one instance of this.
166* BloodlessCarnage: Interestingly not due to censorship; because Kenshin's sword has a reversed blade, it's not uncommon (especially in the early episodes) for him to use it to strike down hordes of enemies without shedding a pint of blood.
167* BlueWithShock: Kenshin does this (complete with floating spirit balls of depression) when he remembers the [[TrainingFromHell kind of training]] [[SinkOrSwimMentor Hiko]] put him through.
168* BoringReturnJourney: During the Kyoto arc especially, it takes Kenshin several episodes and sidetrack journeys in order to get to Kyoto from Tokyo. After the massive battle is over and everyone is patched up they decide to go home. The next episode later they're already back in Tokyo getting settled in.
169** This happens with the filler arc right before the Kyoto arc too, with the pirates. There is a whole long episode explaining how Kenshin got into that kidnapping plot (DudeInDistress) but once everything is over, everyone is back in Tokyo in the next episode like it never happened. Probably because it never did happen in the manga.
170** This trope is also averted after the Kyoto arc. When they're done with the Divine Elixir arc it takes more than one episode for them to get back to Tokyo again, for example, and has some pretty funny filler episodes. This is probably because the writers were writing so much filler so the manga would catch up. Unfortunately the show got cancelled before that happened because of said filler episodes.
171* BouncingBattler: Kenshin leaps off walls and ceilings quite often in order to get the drop on his enemies.
172%%* BraidsOfAction: Misao.
173* BreakfastClub: Just about any of the various sets of TrueCompanions, but especially the Kenshin-gumi.
174* BreakingSpeech: Shishio explains his plans to Kenshin in great detail and can't help but make derogatory remarks about Kenshin's pacifism. Kenshin refuses to cave.
175* BreakingTheFellowship: First, when Kenshin sets out for Kyoto alone (necessitating everyone else to chase after him), and then when Kenshin has a HeroicBSOD over [[spoiler:Kaoru's apparent death]].
176* BreakingTheFourthWall: According to Kaoru, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Kenshin's handwriting is as bad as Watsuki's]].
177* BreakingTheBonds: Kenshin has to do this a few times, given the number of times he winds up tied to various objects over the course of the series; interestingly enough, though, he almost never actually breaks the rope in question. He slips out of it, cuts it, or--in the pirate filler arc--dislocates his wrist to get free.
178--> '''(crunch)''' "''Gngh''! I can never get used to this, can I!" ''(he escapes)''
179* BreakTheCutie: Happens to Kenshin as a result of being an assassin.
180* BridalCarry:
181** Kenshin [[MeetCute meets]] Kaoru this way. He saves her via bridal-carry against the fake Battousai and then fakes a hip injury. (Kaoru, thinking that he's insulting her weight, is [[{{Tsundere}} most unamused]]).
182** When Yumi's being carried by Sano via being slung over his back as they're racing against time to fight their way up Shishio's evil fortress. When Yumi complains, Sano asks her sarcastically whether or not she'd prefer being carried bridal style (with a straw dummy taking her place).
183* BrokenBird: Yumi Komagata, Shura the Pirate, Tomoe Yukishiro, to a degree Sayo Magdaria; Megumi started the series as this, but she gets better.
184* BumblingHenchmenDuo: A pair of brothers Kenshin defeats in his debut chapter were brought back as recurring minor minions in the anime; the manga also lets them show up again during Sano's side-story where he meets up with his family and dealt with offscreen just as quickly.
185* BurnTheOrphanage: Happens in Anji's back story, where a temple that was used to shelter kids who were orphaned by the war was burned down by the land owner more or less for the money.
186* BustContrastDuo: Here we have Kaoru, flat and bad-tempered, and Megumi, who doesn't really have huge knockers, though looks older and more feminine but at the same time is sweeter towards Kenshin Himura.
187* CallingYourAttacks: Interrupted on one occasion when [[spoiler:Enishi punches Kenshin in the face]] before he can finish.
188* CantCatchUp:
189** Kaoru ''starts'' the series unable to catch up to Kenshin, and though [[WordOfGod Watsuki points out]] that Kaoru is at least a national level ''kendoka'' and thus a very strong woman both emotionally and physically, she's surrounded by [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower absurdly strong fighters]]. Her choosing to stay home and out of many of the big fights in the manga doesn't help the perception of her being a FauxActionGirl either. In the anime, however, she is much more involved, helping with rescuing Yahiko and taking part in the raid on Kanryuu's mansion.
190** Most of the rest of the Kenshingumi can't catch up to him either, but they have particular abilities and skills that allow them to take on {{Quirky Miniboss Squad}}s.
191** Averted by Saito, who is definitely on Kenshin's level.
192* CapitalismIsBad: An early incident delves into this with the conflict against Kanryu Takeda. Kanryu is an "entrepreneur" who has learned about western capitalism and seeks to spread it about in the setting of Meiji-era Japan. The business he runs specializes in opium, which has had a [[WretchedHive detrimental effect on the local area]], but nonetheless, Kanryu has profited and thus continues to provide it to meet the demand [[ItsAllAboutMe to make himself wealthier]]. In addition, he treats his employees Megumi Takani (his chief Opium maker) and [[HiredGuns the Oniwaban group]] with no shred of dignity. He even attempts to kill all of the latter with a Gatling gun just so he could kill [[TheHero Himura Kenshin]] [[MoralEventHorizon in the process]].
193* CastingGag: In the 2023 remake, Creator/SatoshiHino (as Saito Hajime) pulls this twice: Firstly, he voiced [[Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero another character whose name is Saito]], and finally, he voiced Alluri Sitarama Raju, aka "Ram", in the Japanese dub of ''Film/RRR2022'', an [[HeroAntagonist heroic antagonist]] police officer trying to stop the rogue main protagonist, while both working in the same system they despise.[[note]]Curiously enough, Hino's role as Saito was announced just two days after the Japanese announcement of the dub cast of ''RRR'', which was on June 16th, 2023.[[/note]]
194* CatSmile: Well more like fox face, Megumi does this every once in a while when teasing Kaoru.
195* CaughtTheHeartOnHisSleeve: Kaoru does this to Kenshin several times most notably [[spoiler:before his first fight with Saito]].
196* CentralTheme: Atoning and redemption for past mistakes, as well as the [[ThouShaltNotKill restraint]] and [[TheDeterminator resolve]] it takes to maintain it.
197* CerebusSyndrome: The series starts out relatively light-hearted and episodic. There were some serious villains like Jin-e and shorter story arcs involving Aoshi and Raijuuta but there was also a lot of comedy to balance things out. Then came the Kyoto Arc where things became DarkerAndEdgier and the story more serialized, with Kenshin having to fight for the fate of the country against Shishio. After that, things really got grim in the Jinchuu Arc which, although much smaller in scale compared to Shishio's plot to conquer Japan, became much more personal for Kenshin as his past came back to haunt him in the form of Enishi and he really gets put through the TraumaCongaLine.
198* CharacterExaggeration: Kenshin's ObfuscatingStupidity is played up in the anime version, to the point that in the Kyoto arc, some people found it odd that he was acting like his manga self--which is much more of a DeadpanSnarker.
199* ChekhovsGun: When Sanosuke leaves for Kyoto, one of his friends from his revolutionary days gives him several tiny bombs of his own making, "just in case." Those bombs, after not being mentioned for several volumes, are used to [[spoiler:sink Shishio's battleship and completely derail his plan]].
200* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Kenshin has this as a huge part of his character. As TheAtoner he feels he must protect everyone he can regardless of whether it impedes improving the bigger picture (it rarely does but it wouldn't change his decision if it did).
201* ClingyJealousGirl: Kaoru, when Megumi was nearby. She drops it after a while, though.
202* CoitusUninterruptus: In ''Shin Kyoto Hen'', Usui attempts to attack Shishio while he's ''boning'' Yumi. Yet, as expected of Shishio, he can still defend himself while in bed and proceeds to give Usui orders as if this was all a normal day for him.
203* CombatParkour: Implied to be part of Soujirou's arsenal, though the one time he uses it onscreen he was mostly doing it to show off; at tip-top speed, he instead moves ''too fast to be seen by the human eye''.
204* {{Conscription}}: Kaoru's father was conscripted to help suppress the Satsuma Rebellion before the start of the story. He died during the war, leaving Kaoru as the sole master of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu.
205* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Many fights play out like this, though it is somewhat justified for Kenshin in that the Hiten Mitsurugi style is specifically described as an exceptionally rare and deadly discipline that specializes in combat against multiple opponents.
206* ContemplateOurNavels: Nearly every battle, which is one of the strikes "against" the series.
207* CorruptPolitician: Several times throughout the series, we are reminded that while some people were able to find peace once the Bakumatsu ended, there are still those in high places who cause misery for everyone for their own gain.
208* CradleOfLoneliness: At the very end of the ''Trust and Betrayal'' OVA, Kenshin can be seen [[spoiler:cradling Tomoe's shawl as he takes shelter from the rain]]. In an inversion, while he does that [[spoiler:the ghost of Tomoe begins cradling him]].
209* CripplingTheCompetition: Kenshin encounters a thug posing as Kenshin's old assassin persona creating a lot of trouble. When he defeats the guy in the anime, Kenshin smashes his fingers with his sword so that the thug will never be able to hold a sword again. Also, early in his days of being a TechnicalPacifist, Kenshin chopped off an opponent's arm instead of killing him. The opponent thought this was a deliberate CruelMercy (as opposed to killing him honorably), and comes back for revenge with an ArmCannon.
210* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Kenshin is angelically good-natured and easygoing, to the point of being a bit of a doormat, emphasized by his extremely formal and humble, almost groveling, manner of speech (he uses "this one" instead of "I", for one). He is also the most feared assassin in recent history and, even though he doesn't kill anymore, has no problem demonstrating just how terrifying he can be if push comes to shove.
211* CrusadingWidow: [[spoiler:Kenshin's principle of "protect the innocent without killing" was inspired by the death of his wife Tomoe]].
212* CrystalDragonJesus: Subverted; a filler arc of the anime begins with a band of Christian revolutionaries and their deranged leader Amakusa Shogo, a would-be messiah likely modeled after both real-world cult leader Asahara Shoko ''and'' Japanese historical figure Amakusa Shiro Tokisada.
213* CutLexLuthorACheck: [[spoiler:At the end of the Kyoto arc, most of the surviving Juppongatana members are pardoned and given government jobs that make use of their unique skills]].
214* CutTheFuse: Kenshin cuts the fuses off of the bombs Katsu throws at him. In another instance, he swings his sword so fast [[RazorWind the wind blows out the fuses]].
215* DamselInDistress: Kaoru who is kidnapped or otherwise in danger frequently in the first half.
216* DangerWithADeadline: Makoto Shishio is an incredibly powerful warrior, but due to being burnt to a crisp earlier in life, he can now only engage in strenuous activity (like ''swordfighting'') for a very short period of time due to his extreme hyperthermia. [[spoiler:He physically and mentally starts breaking down after 15 minutes of activity due to his extreme body heat, and after 25 minutes, ''he bursts into flame and dies'']].
217* DangerousForbiddenTechnique:
218** The Succession Technique puts tremendous strain on Kenshin's body.
219** Sano broke his hand during the Kyoto arc; subsequent uses of his ultimate technique tended to have bad results for said hand (until he figured out a workaround).
220* DarkerAndEdgier: The first OVA, which manages to be even darker than the accompanying portion of the manga, which is... impressive. [[SerialEscalation It's almost fun and sunshine compared to the second OVA]].
221** Pretty much all the [=OVAs=], in general. Most of the more humorous and light-hearted moments are gone and in their place, more blood, violence, and even some nudity and adult themes.
222* DeadlyDelivery: Saito pulls this stunt when he visits the Kamiya dojo, by posing as a peddler selling medicines and home remedies. Sanosuke almost falls for it, until he notices the calluses on Saito's hands. At which point Saito [[spoiler:drops the facade and attacks Sanosuke, nearly killing him. He notes the attack would have been fatal had it not been for the flimsiness of the sword he was carrying]].
223* [[DeadGuyOnDisplay Dead Guys On Display]]: Sanosuke's mentor, Sagara Sozo, was a [[TruthInTelevision historically-accurate]] [[TearJerker victim of this]]. This is also the unfortunate fate of [[spoiler:Eiji's parents in Shingetsu Village]].
224* DeadpanSnarker:
225** Whenever Kenshin's not ObfuscatingStupidity, he's got a wicked sense of humor.
226** When it comes to his morals. Saitou Hajime is a straight example as well, not mincing any words and possessing a tongue that's sharper than his sword and says it with a straight face. For solid proof, watch his fights against Usui and Mumyoui Yatsume.
227* DeathByAdaptation: Tsuruzaemon is one of four elite warriors of Raijuta's Shinko-ryu who fights Kenshin in the manga and merely gets knocked out. In the anime, he gets gunned down and killed in a last stand once government soldiers assault Yutaro's mansion where Raijuta and his men were holed up.
228* DeathByChildbirth: [[spoiler:Enishi and Tomoe's mother. Tomoe thus became more of a mother figure to him, which explains his obsession with big sis]].
229* DeathFakedForYou: [[spoiler:Kaoru]]. Enishi wanted to leave behind [[spoiler:her]] actual corpse, but couldn't bring himself to do it.
230* DecapitationPresentation: After [[spoiler:Souzou Sagara]] was executed, his head was put on display for betraying the government.
231* {{Deconstruction}}:
232** The series as a whole is a deconstruction of the JidaiGeki genre.
233** Also, [[spoiler:Anji Yukyuzen]] is a deconstruction of PapaWolf since [[spoiler:his adoptive children's death drive him to madness and a FaceHeelTurn, and Sanosuke has to beat the shit out of him both physically ''and'' mentally to make him see reason]].
234** Shougo Amakusa from the anime deconstructs ReligiousBruiser and LoveFreak, since [[spoiler:everyone told him that he was a "Son of God" since he was a kid and his family died horribly... but that makes him grow into an arrogant JerkAss with a God Complex who almost gets himself and all of his followers killed, and doesn't stop until both his sister and MoralityPet dies and Kenshin defeats him]].
235* DefeatMeansFriendship: Happens to Sano (after one battle, though it was the power of Kenshin's WarriorTherapist tendencies that really did the job), Aoshi (it takes a second, more thorough ass-kicking), and to some extent even Saitou (by the end of the series).
236* DefensiveFeintTrap: Kenshin defeats a large opponent by baiting him into a running match, until the point that the opponent's knee gives out.
237* DeliberatelyNonLethalAttack: Having sworn off the path of the assassin, Kenshin revised most of his attacks to be non-lethal, including getting a sword with the edge on the reverse side of the blade so he can't accidentally cut up opponents.
238* {{Denouement}}: After Kenshin [[spoiler:defeats Enishi once and for all]], the rest of Volume 28 focuses on wrapping up everything in the story.
239* TheDeterminator:
240** Kenshin himself sometimes seems to fight on nothing more than sheer willpower.
241** Sanosuke displays this trait just as much as Kenshin does. It helps that he's MadeOfIron.
242** Yahiko, particularly during the Jinchuu Arc.
243* DeusExitMachina: Kenshin's master explicitly enforces this to Kenshin; as the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is the strongest sword style in the series, any side they join will win. Therefore, he advises Kenshin not to get involved for fear of him being used as a political tool.
244* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: A two-fold example. In real life, Captain Sagara was executed by decapitation and his fate is the same in the manga. However, in the anime, he's shown saving Sanosuke's life and is killed by a hail of gunfire. Later on, the 2023 anime would restore his original death to what it was in both real life and the manga.
245* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Kaoru]]. The author even apologized for the anticlimax (although in retrospect the setup for this was ''really'' obvious). He's also somewhat torn on how it turned out--on the one hand, it's an ''awful'' anticlimax, but on the other hand, he believes steadfastly that Kenshin deserves a happy ending and life, and there was ''no way'' that could be accomplished if that had happened. So he doesn't regret it.
246* DisproportionateCelebration: A [[ArcVillain minor antagonist]] celebrates when he manages to inflict [[JustAFleshWound a negligible wound]] on [[MasterSwordsman Kenshin]]. Based on this Kenshin concludes that all the guy's tough talk about how ARealManIsAKiller and the antagonist's claims of being an experienced swordsman who has slain many people are all false. As Kenshin explains, someone with such a background would actually be disappointed in only managing to inflict such a minor injury instead of celebrating that he managed to wound his opponent at all. Soon afterwards Kenshin is proven right, and his opponent descends into a VillainousBreakdown.
247* DissonantSerenity:
248** Soujirou is the embodiment of this [[spoiler:until he snaps in a VillainousBreakdown]].
249** Enishi also starts like this, but soon we find out that he's prone to very wild mood swings.
250* DistantFinale: Two, the one in the manga and the OVA.
251* DoNotCallMePaul: Inverted. At the end of the anime, Saitou rejects an offer to have a final duel with his old rival, because his dispute was with the Hitokiri Battousai. He had no interest in dueling ''Kenshin''.
252* DoomedProtagonist: [[spoiler:Kenshin]] and [[spoiler:Kaoru]] in the second OVA [[DownerEnding stated below]].
253* DoubleEdgedBuff: Enishi is able to activate his Frenzied Nerves, dramatically increasing his strength, speed, reflexes, and senses, making him incredibly strong and hard to hit. However, due to his increased sensitivity, the pain he receives from any hits he does take is increased several times over.
254%%* DownerEnding: The controversial ending of the second OVA series.
255* TheDragon: Soujirou to Shishio and Gein to Enishi.
256* DragonWithAnAgenda: Gein is this to both Shishio and Enishi; as Shishio's minion, he was actually [[spoiler:acting as Enishi's informant]], and as Enishi's, [[spoiler:he only cares about using Enishi to further his own ends]].
257* TheDrifter: Kenshin's way of life after the Restoration is to repent for his killings and to protect people plagued by evil until he settles down at the dojo. Kaoru also often worries about him reverting to his old habits and leaving her alone.
258%%* DualWielding: Shinomori Aoshi.
259* DubNameChange: Bizzarely, a few of the main cast get this in the Sony/Columbia dub which saw lots of play in markets other than the U.S., and it's a Japanese ... to ''Japanese'' name change. Kenshin is often pronounced without the "n", Kaoru became Kao''ri'', and most bizarrely Yahiko was changed to ''Yoshi''. '''''No other characters''''' got this treatment. What makes it even ''weirder'' is that it's almost like someone was [[ShownTheirWork doing their homework]] on the changes, since Kaoru (薫) and Kaori (香) have essentially the same meaning in Japanese (but the latter sounds a bit more "feminine" to Western ears due to ending on a high vowel), and "Yoshi" could be either 義 (righteous), 吉 ("good luck", for irony points) or 良 (good, as in "decently good", referencing his okay-but-not-great swordwork), all of which fit Mr. Myoujin well. These would almost fall under the {{Woolseyism}} banner ... ''if anyone could figure out why in the world the changes were even deemed necessary in the first place''.
260%%* DudeLooksLikeALady: Kenshin [[spoiler:and Kamatari]].
261* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: When Kenshin believes [[spoiler:Enishi murdered Kaoru]], he displays this trope. His recovery from the depression is marked by a return of his normal eyes.
262* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the chapter after Sanosuke is introduced, Kenshin is shown to have the ability to sense people's chi, and chi is later used to explain Udo Jin-e's paralysis power. After that Chi, and the ability to read it, is mentioned a grand total of ''once'' - during Kenshin's first fight against Soujiro, where it's mentioned that the Tenken's habitual tendency to completely suppress his emotions makes the ability useless.
263* EarnYourHappyEnding: Watsuki [[WordOfGod repeatedly states in the tankobon]] that this is a major theme of the manga. The second OVA? [[BrokenAesop Didn't]] [[DownerEnding agree]] [[ShootTheShaggyDog so much...]].
264* EatingTheEyeCandy: In episode 19, the group is [[HotSpringsEpisode visiting a local hot spring]]. While Kenshin is bathing in the men's side, he overhears the girls and their hostess talking about the plot and has a EurekaMoment, [[SexySurfacingShot jumping out of the water]] to go to the girls' side to tell them about it, completely forgetting he's naked. A shocked Kaoru [[LuminescentBlush blushes]] while Megumi enjoys the view.
265-->'''Megumi:''' You're certainly well-built, Sir Ken!
266* EccentricMentor: Oibore. He's even got a WizardBeard, RobeAndWizardHat! (Well, okay, the robes are natty rags and the hat is made of bamboo, but his look still evokes the archetype).
267* EdutainmentShow: Just might qualify, since the show provides plenty of information on the Meiji Era and the Bakumatsu that took place during the final years of the Edo period. Indeed, it is on record that popular and scholarly interest in formerly obscure aspects of the Meiji Revolution such as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekih%C5%8Dtai Sekihotai]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haibutsu_kishaku anti-Buddhist purges]] were [[TheRedStapler sparked by the series]].
268* EmotionlessGirl: Yukishiro Tomoe; the author admitted that he based her on Ayanami Rei from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
269* EndOfAnAge: The series takes place at the twilight of the Samurai as Japan becomes increasingly modern and westernized.
270%%* EnfanteTerrible: Soujirou, Enishi.
271* EpiphanyTherapy: Subverted. After his experience with Tomoe, Kenshin decides to become a TechnicalPacifist but he still carries his hitokiri-related baggage until the end of the series.
272* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Seijiro Hiko, full stop. Also, Kenshin (to an extent).
273** To even lesser extents, just about every other reasonably attractive male character. As odd as it may seem, if you're a guy and a fan of this series, you ''will'' want one of the guys.
274* EvilCounterpart:
275** Shishio is this for Kenshin, as Shishio was Kenshin's replacement as hitokiri and both symbolize the cultural conflict in Japan at the time between the ruthless inhumanity of modern politics and technology and the idealistic hope for future social equality and peace.
276** Soujirou and Shishio are specifically drawn as [[EvilCounterpart evil counterparts]] to Kenshin and Hiko Seijurou to show how the differing philosophies of their respective mentors had vastly different effects on their lives.
277** Enishi Yukishiro is also an EvilCounterpart to Kenshin, given that both of them received lasting marks from [[spoiler:Tomoe's death]] (Kenshin got the second half of his cross-scar while Enishi's hair [[LockedIntoStrangeness turned white from the trauma]]), but while that event motivated Kenshin to become TheAtoner, Enishi went AxCrazy.
278%%* EvilWeapon
279* ExactWords: The agreement that Kenshin, Sano and Saito agreed to when entering Shishio's domain is that they will have a one-on-one fight and the other two will not step in to help. So when Sano and Anju are having their fight, Kenshin gives Sano some verbal encouragement, leading to this exchange.
280--> '''Yumi''': Himura-san. That should be a one-on-one battle. You shouldn't be giving him a hand.\
281'''Kenshin''': Yes. That is exactly why this humble one gave him an advice, not a hand.
282%%* ExplosionPropulsion
283* ExpressiveHair: Misao's braid; the other characters just get a few strands of misplaced hair while flustered. Chou claims that his hair stands straight up while angry, but Kenshin brutally shoots him down by saying that his hair is like that all the time anyway.
284* {{Expy}}: All over the place, as evidenced by [[WordOfGod Watsuki's notes]]:
285** UsefulNotes/TheShinsengumi: (Watsuki is a huge Shinsengumi fan) get them in Aoshi (Hijikata Toshizou), Sanosuke (Harada Sanosuke), Soujirou (Okita Souji), Kanryuu (Kanryuusai Takeda), and to some extent Shishio (Serizawa Kamo). Saito Hajime is just right out there.
286** ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Tomoe (Ayanami Rei), Kamatari (Ikari Yui)
287** Fuji is the God Warrior from ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind''. His design was also influenced by [=EVAs=] 01 and 02 from ''Evangelion'', with [=EVAs=] themselves also based on God Warriors.
288** Marvel Comics (Watsuki is a self-admitted {{Otaku}} of Creator/StanLee): Jin-E (Gambit), Kujiranami Hyōgo (Apocalypse), and Yatsume Mumyōi (Venom)
289** Unlike the above examples, which are mainly just visual expies, Arundo Akamatsu IS Omega Red. He has the same facial markings and method of attack.
290** The name Houji is a Japanization of Forge from the X-Men, as Watsuki wanted a similar support character for the Juppongatana.
291** Hyottoko is one of The Blob.
292** Misao is a partial Expy of Kaoru as Watsuki felt he needed a GenkiGirl to lighten the DarkerAndEdgier Kyoto Arc.
293** In the past before he got burned, Shishio was an Expy of Genjuro Kibagami from ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown''. You could tell was quite handsome and even had a dressing style similar to him.
294** Watsuki is a big ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' fan, frequently writing about it in his manga notes. Kenshin himself even resembles Shizumaru from the same series as well.
295** Enishi is an expy of Natsu from Kamijou Atsushi's ''Manga/{{SEX}}'', plus glasses (though Natsu is actually blond).
296[[/folder]]
297
298[[folder:F-K]]
299* FastballSpecial:
300** Sanosuke's tossed Yahiko on a few occasions so that the latter could lend a hand before Kenshin finished off all of the {{Mook}}s. Yahiko, for his part, is ''not'' happy about being used as a projectile.
301** Kenshin and Sano also pull off a pretty damn awesome variant in the Revenge Arc, with Kenshin executing a flying leap from Sano's fist to land the first blow.
302* FatalFamilyPhoto: No photo involved, but Kiyosato Akira (Tomoe's fiance) talks about his engagement right before Battousai shows up to assassinate his party.
303* TheFellowshipHasEnded: At the end of the series, most of the characters leave Tokyo to go on with their lives. Misao and Aoshi return to Kyoto. Sanosuke [[spoiler:is forced to flee from Japan and becomes TheDrifter]]. Megumi leaves to search for her family and only characters remaining are Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko.
304* {{Filler}}: Sadly, the overuse of filler episodes in the later seasons led to its eventual cancellation.
305* FinalBattle: The Kenshin Gumi along with Aoshi, Misao, and Saitou go to Enishi's island to [[spoiler:rescue Kaoru]]. Once there, it's Aoshi, Yahiko, Sanosuke, and Saitou vs. Enishi's four henchmen and, of course, Kenshin vs. Enishi.
306* FingerPokeOfDoom: Sano introduces himself with one of these. Anji has a fingerpoke version of the Futae no Kawami, an ability that can shatter rocks to fine dust, and teaches it to Sano.
307* {{Fingore}}: Houji has one fingernail torn out and tears out six more himself. Also, Sanosuke's hand is seen with the fingers... not quite... sticking out correctly after using the [[MegatonPunch Futae no Kiwami]] too much.
308* FireIceDuo: Kenshin and the Kyoto arc BigBad Shishio Makoto can be considered rivals (both were highly skilled ''hitokiri'' during the Bakumatsu period (1853-1868) and now they're enemies. In their final battle, Kenshin's revamp and secret attack summon forth a fierce squall, while Makoto's special attack and power-up are announced by roaring flames.
309* ForcedToWatch: Averted in the Jinchuu Arc since [[spoiler:Enishi was unable to kill any young woman who resembled his sister in age and appearance, so he couldn't kill Kaoru in front of Kenshin as he originally planned. So instead he left the dummy doll for Kenshin [[HeroicBSOD to stare at]], [[TheReveal but Aoshi figured it out]]]].
310* ForeignExchangeStudent: According to Cho, the "sword hunter", this is what Kamatari becomes after the Juppongatana disbands. [[spoiler:Though truthfully it was because Cho lied to Kamatari, by saying Shishio had wanted the remaining Juppongatana to spread word of his deeds in case his plans failed. In reality, it was Cho's way of keeping Kamatari from killing him/herself. It's also implied that he/she was aware of it]].
311* {{Foreshadowing}}: In one early story, Yahiko explains that he's started work at the Akabeko because he wants to buy a reverse blade sword like Kenshin has. [[spoiler:After the TimeSkip at the end of the series, Kenshin gives Yahiko his own sword]].
312* ForgotAboutHisPowers: In the anime filler, Kenshin, during his fight against the Black Knight Meldars, seemed to forget that he had the Doryusen at his disposal, along with several other moves, which could have easily enabled him to take down the German knight(while easily knocking him off his horse) and not get beaten to an inch of his life.
313* FragileSpeedster:
314** Played with. On the one hand, Kenshin's Determinator qualities allow him to tank massive amounts of damage despite his slim build and his sword style's emphasis on speed and two-strike moves. Unfortunately played devastatingly straight at the end of the series where [[spoiler:learning the Succession Technique effectively destroys his body through the accumulation of muscle damage in conjunction with the natural strain of someone with Kenshin's build using Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu style. This forces him to abandon the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu style (though his son is supposed to be even better than he is once he grows up, being a natural prodigy and all)]].
315** Interestingly played with Senkaku, one of Shishiou's lower minions. He's a LightningBruiser who is approximately as fast as Kenshin, despite his massive build. However, Kenshin fights him in a match of speed, turning Senkaku's own body against him as he (Senkaku) keeps pushing himself until his joints collapse underneath him from the repeated strain.
316* FullCircleRevolution: The Meiji Restoration is portrayed as this. The Shogunate was an oppressive and corrupt government. Kenshin joined the Revolution to overthrow it and ended up creating an equally-oppressive Empire. All of the evil Kenshin committed achieved nothing of value, and this is part of what drove him to become TheAtoner.
317* FunbagAirbag: Variant: Yahiko once walked face-first into Sano's... [[UnusualEuphemism waist]].
318* GatlingGood: Kanryu shows off his shiny new toy, a prototype gatling gun. [[spoiler:He still loses, but it takes the HeroicSacrifice of all of Aoshi's {{Elite Mook}}s]].
319%%* GeckoEnding: The anime series.
320* GeniusBruiser: The Gohei brothers once they were merged in the anime.
321* GenkiGirl: Misao is very perky for a ninja. Kaoru starts like one and mellows out (somewhat) as the series progresses. The two still have moments together where they create Typhoons of Genki, however, to the general dismay of Kenshin, Sano and any other male within fifty yards.
322* GenreDeconstruction: Of JidaiGeki. Being a samurai isn't just a thing of honor and swordfighting for either your master, your beliefs, or other causes, and it leaves huge mental and social scars on those who survive it.
323* GenreShift:
324** From Shonen to Seinen, particularly in the [=OVAs=], which were free of both the slapstick comic relief and the more unrealistic RuleOfCool elements of the original.
325** The final arc of the series shifts from a historical fiction with RuleOfCool physics to straight-up fantasy.
326* GentleGiant: Fuji of the Juppongatana; Anji is not nearly as humongous, but he fits the trope as well [[spoiler:until his horrible FreakOut. He gets better after being defeated by Sano, though]].
327* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan:
328** Sano talks Megumi out of killing herself by grabbing her knife just as she was about to use it (ouch!) and reminding her that 1.) the rest of the cast had almost died trying to rescue her and 2.) her dead family would want her to keep on living.
329** Megumi delivers both a physical and verbal Bright Slap to Kaoru to talk her out of her deep blue funk.
330** It's more of a "how dare you leave me behind" punch, but Kenshin gets one from Sano in the Kyoto arc after they meet up again. Sano tries again after Kenshin's HeroicBSOD, but this time, it doesn't work. [[spoiler:Tsubame is more successful, by reminding Kenshin that people still needed saving, like Yahiko. Oibore is the one who makes one last push]].
331** Sano's motivation to fight [[spoiler:Anji]] is this.
332** The time Kenshin punched himself ''in the face'' to get out of Battousai mode after a duel [[spoiler:with Saitou]] also counts.
333* GetOutOfJailFreeCard: Justified when the Meiji Government offers [[spoiler:the surviving members of the Juppongatana jobs in exchange for their freedom. All but two accept: [[TheAtoner Anji]] chooses to stay in jail, and Houji commits suicide, as he saw the deal as a betrayal of Shishio's ideals]].
334* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Even {{bowdlerise}}d, the anime has some stuff that goes beyond the [[[[http://www.tvguidelines.org/resources/TheRatings.pdf TV-Y7]] rating it received when aired on Creator/{{Toonami}}. Naturally, it found an audience with older viewers, to the extent that producer Sean Akins [[https://web.archive.org/web/20030911171122/http://toonami.animationinsider.net/thecode/akins/interview.htm later realised they should have put it on]] Creator/AdultSwim:
335** A shocking amount of blood was left in.
336** Sanosuke's "Damn it! That guy's totally off his rocker." was left intact in episode 6.
337** A train robber got to yell "Damn it! What are those guys doing?" in episode 22.
338* GirlsNightOutEpisode: A filler episode was constructed in this manner when the women of the Kyoto branch of the Onibanwashu, but including Aoshi, came to Tokyo to fetch Misao. They all decided to go out on a day trip before they departed, with Kenshin and Aoshi staying behind at the doji and Yahiko and Sano trailing the girls to confirm that [[FelonyMisdemeanor they were getting food without them]].
339* GoAndSinNoMore: This is basically the offer that Kenshin makes to a great deal of his foes (aside from having them sent to the slammer) after he resolved not to kill anymore. However, this has been deconstructed when the [[StrawmanHasAPoint strawman argument]] has been introduced to some of the nastier villains...
340* GoodCounterpart: The first villains impersonated Kenshin to commit murder, ran a ThugDojo, and aimed to take over the Kamiya family dojo. A filler character impersonated Kenshin by using his reputation as an unstoppable swordsman to break up fights, ran a dojo, and used it to raise money for his orphanage.
341* GoodScarsEvilScars: Kenshin has an X-shaped scar on his cheek with a tragic backstory, some villains like Makoto Shishio are [[strike:just disfigured]] one big scar.
342* GratuitousEnglish: In the 2023 anime, Kanryū often mixes English words into his speech.[[note]]Actually a case of ''Adaptational'' Gratuitous English; although this second adaptation aims to be as loyal to the manga as possible, he did not speak like this in the original work.[[/note]]
343* TheGreatestStyle: The Hiten-Mitsurugi-ryu, a legendary sword art used by Kenshin and his master, Hiko Seijuuro XIII. This art makes the two of them, combined, the {{Worlds Best Warrior}}s. The irony, however, is that this technique is actually NOT suited for someone of Kenshin's build (thus zig-zagging "TheGift" version of this trope).
344* GroinAttack:
345** [[KidSamurai Yahiko]], having been raised in a rough neighborhood, isn't averse to some very cheap shots. One filler episode had Yahiko attack half of the GoldfishPoopGang in this manner, using a DiscretionShot of something else and the appropriate sound effects to imply what happened and then repeating it again, [[OverlyLongGag three times and in slow motion]], each time with a different visual metaphor.
346** Yahiko invented a technique in the Jinchu arc called "Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu: Curse on the Descendants" which is essentially a flying sidekick to the groin.
347** Yahiko bit a guy in the groin in the manga. In the same chapter in which he was introduced.
348** Episode 17 of the anime series had the GirlOfTheWeek Marimo kicking the episode villain's henchman in the groin from behind as she and Yahiko were confronted by them while making their way back to the circus show. It's no surprise that the henchman was hopping up and down in excruciating pain while holding his crotch after Marimo's surprising kick and that both Yahiko and the villain were quite surprised to see such an event transpire.
349** At one point in the manga, Yahiko isn't watching where he is going... and walks headfirst into Sanosuke's groin. ItMakesSenseInContext: Yahiko is really short, and by contrast Sanosuke is the tallest of the group.
350* GroundPunch: Sanosuke performs a variant in the Kyoto arc; instead of punching the ground, he punches the water (since he's in the ocean), making a massive column which allows him to defend against gunfire from a Gatling gun.
351** His mentor Anji uses Futae no Kawami to punch the ground as a means of area denial.
352* GuiltComplex: Kenshin, Kenshin, Kenshin. Tomoe's death, Enishi's insanity and everything he does as a result of that, his psycho enemies putting his TrueCompanions in danger, SurvivorsGuilt after the attack when he was a little kid... these are just a few of the things he blames himself for.
353* HaveWeMet: At the end of the Jinchuu arc, Enishi and Oibore ([[spoiler:his father]]) run into each other in a hobo camp near Tokyo. It's implied that they both realize who the other is, but neither seems to want to discuss it, so it's purposefully left ambiguous.
354* HeirToTheDojo: Kaoru calls herself "assistant master" because she was the next in line to be ''the'' master.
355* HellHasNewManagement: [[spoiler:After dying]], Shishio Makoto declared his intent to overthrow the King of Hell. Depending on how you interpret it, Shishio may or may not have succeeded in this endeavor when he visits the catatonic Kenshin in the latter's living hell during the Jinchuu arc.
356* HeroesFightBarehanded: Inverted: TheHero Kenshin is a swordsman, though he uses a blunt blade, while TheLancer Sanosuke focuses on barehanded fighting after discarding his [[{{BFS}} zanbato]].
357* HeroicBSOD: Kaoru falls apart after Kenshin leaves Tokyo to fight Shishio; later, [[spoiler:Kenshin]] has an absolutely ''epic'' one after Enishi's attack on the dojo.
358* HeroicRROD:
359** Sano breaks all of the bones in his hand executing his ultimate technique.
360** Villainous example: [[spoiler:Shishio]] burns himself out, literally, at the end of the Kyoto arc.
361** Hiten Mitsurugi wasn't meant to be practiced by wielders of Kenshin's body type, so it was plenty stressful on Kenshin's body. Then when he mastered the final technique, the clock just began ticking right then and there until it was revealed in the last volume [[spoiler:that Kenshin would no longer be able to use Hiten Mitsurugi style]].
362* HeroicSacrifice: Aoshi's men sacrifice themselves against Kanryuu's machine gun to keep Kanryuu from firing on Aoshi, after which Kanryuu runs out of ammunition. In the anime, the gun jams due to a projectile from the hidden weapons specialist.
363* HesBack: Kenshin revival from his HeroicBSOD after he found a reason to live again after Enishi's Jinchuu.
364* HiddenDepths: Many characters, but most notably Yumi, who is introduced at the beginning of the Kyoto arc as literally nothing more than an accessory for Shishio, and by the end is a well-rounded AntiVillain complete with backstory.
365* HiddenElfVillage: Shingetsu Village. Not so much hidden as it was ''erased'' from official maps due to it being taken over by Shishio.
366* HighlyVisibleNinja:
367** The former imperial ninjas went public (sort of, they do have civilian identities and their headquarters doubles as an inn), wearing stereotypical ninja-type outfits, a conscious decision made by Misao's grandfather Okina, thus building for himself quite the support system out of his friends and neighbors in Kyoto.
368** Some other former ninjas ended up as mercenaries led by Aoshi, and they were employed as Highly Visible Bodyguards. (When there was a need for stealth, they were properly difficult to detect.)
369** In his days as an assassin, Kenshin fought a man dressed like a stereotypical Kabuki puppeteer, whose costume seemed to more serve the purpose of anonymity than stealth (and his methods seemed to center around ''killing all potential witnesses'' after he'd disposed of a target, rendering the need for true stealth redundant). He's succeeded by a man who looks and dresses like Venom (as in, the villain from ComicBook/SpiderMan).
370* HistoricalBeautyUpdate:
371** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Realsaitou-2.jpg Saito Hajime]] gets one of these in every [[Manga/PeacemakerKurogane anime]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaze_Hikaru manga]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Last_Sword_Is_Drawn film]] that features him and [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/kenshin/images/c/cc/Rsz_saitoova.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120930193546 Rurouni Kenshin is no exception]] albeit {{downplayed|Trope}} when compared to other fictional examples which often portray the man as a young slender pretty boy (and also because he is generally considered to be evil-looking or fierce in his appearance by the Kenshin fandom in general with this including those who find him handsome and his snarky GoodIsNotNice personality).
372* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Saito Hajime (1844-1915) was the captain of the Shinsengumi's third unit and later a police officer in Tokyo where he adopted the alias Fujita Goro (a name he uses frequently in the series) and married one Takagi Tokio.
373** Also Okita Souji and other Shinsengumi members, Oukubo Toshimichi, etc.
374* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Saito again, [[AntiHero for certain values of hero]]. While the man was indeed badass, we know very little about him otherwise. In the manga, he claims to have given up on drinking, while in actual history he died of a stomach tumor from said drinking.
375* HistoricalInJoke: Lots, though one of the most famous is the appearance of Okubo Toshimichi, a man considered one of the founders of modern Japan. In real life, he was murdered by a group of extremists called the Ichiro clan. In Kenshin, he travels to Tokyo to ask for Kenshin's help against [[BigBad Shishio]] and is killed by one of Shishio's men on the way to get Kenshin's answer. The Ichiro clan then ambush the carriage to find Okubo already dead. Sensing an easy way to become feared and respected, they tell everyone ''they'' killed him.
376* HonorBeforeReason: The warriors of the Kenshin Gumi and even ''Shishio'' follow this trope to a tee.
377* HotBlooded: Yahiko, Sanosuke, his father [[spoiler:Kamishimoemon Higashidane]] and Shishio [[spoiler:who ''dies'' of literal Hot Blood]]
378* HorseJump: Happens in a {{Filler}} episode when Kenshin catches up to a train being taken over by robbers by riding a horse over several docked boats and then making a spectacular leap onto the train.
379* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Most obviously Misao and Aoshi, as she barely comes up to his chest.
380* ImStandingRightHere: When Kenshin was about to spar with Seijuro again in order to get him to teach the final technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.
381--> '''Kenshin:''' Hiko Seijuro, thirteenth successor to Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. His skill is without equal... by nature, he is crude, cruel, and hateful, plus, he knows of this one's past, making him far more dangerous than Saito.
382--> '''Seijuro:''' ''(annoyed)'' Quit saying things like that even though they're true.
383* IaijutsuPractitioner: Kenshin's signature technique is based on this. Although an all-around Master Swordsman, he earned the nickname "Battousai" by being just that damn good at battoujutsu. Not only does he go out of his way to resheath his weapon against (nearly) all of his substantial adversaries, the ultimate technique of his swordsfighting style is a battoujutsu which is so powerful that, if blocked, it creates a small vacuum in the air.
384* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: Subverted. [[spoiler:Saitou uses it this to bring out Kenshin's ''SuperpoweredEvilSide'', Kaoru tries to play it straight to bring Kenshin back and fails]]. However, it's played straight when [[spoiler:Kaoru brings back Kenshin's gentler side when he's about to kill Jin-e, Kenshin indirectly stops Aoshi from fighting to the death by mentioning how Misao cried when he (Kenshin) promised to bring Aoshi back and how he (Aoshi) was turning his four fallen comrades into demons by obsessively fighting like this]].
385* ILetGwenStacyDie: Kenshin, being a TechnicalPacifist, is haunted by every person he's ever killed, but especially [[spoiler:Tomoe]].
386* ImagineSpot: When Kenshin is late to return home after being dragged off to a gambling session with Sano, Yahiko suggests that he's either won big or lost big, then suggests that Kaoru shouldn't be surprised about him coming home in nothing but his underwear. In the manga, this is accompanied by a small visual of just that.
387** Kaoru gets very blushy when Yahiko (jokingly) suggests that she should put Kenshin (who has a habit of [[StealthHiBye disappearing]]) on a leash because she imagines this. This comes back as a BrickJoke: in an attempt to keep Kenshin in Kyoto, Megumi puts a collar and leash on him.
388** Saitou, master of mental associations, makes the "[[http://i.imgur.com/d9DESAE.png if Kaoru -> Tanuki and Megumi -> Fox, then Misao -> Weasel]]" connection in one; later, when Chou and Sanosuke are arguing, he imagines [[http://i.imgur.com/GkqPuXJ.png a broom shooing away an angry rooster]].
389** Misao and Kenshin also get one when they hear that Saitou is married. "She must be some kind of Goddess!" Cue (in the anime) a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/30621_400932544284_533649284_4416546_4570889_n_4234.png visual sting of Saitou]] reclining on the statue of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva Bodhisattva]].
390** When Hiko finishes teaching Kenshin the Succession Technique, he declares Kenshin worthy of the Hiko name and cape. Both of them then imagine how Kenshin might look in it, and Kenshin decides that he'd rather not accept the passing of the torch after all.
391** A surprisingly naughty one happens in the anime when Kaoru imagines Kenshin proposing to her and then, um, well... the two of them are suddenly hidden by the bushes and then a flower falls off a nearby branch, complete with Kaoru crying out Kenshin's name passionately. Cut to Kaoru who has passed out on the street from the sheer hotness of the mental image.
392** One episode had Kaoru training a sumo wrestler. Sano wondered if she'd wear one of the sumo-wrestler loincloths. Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sano, all in a row, became very thoughtful as they shared a mental image of Kaoru in a loincloth and nothing else. Kaoru disabused them of the notion.
393* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy:
394** Anyone with a gun graduated. A particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} incident involves at least a dozen soldiers firing rifles at one villain and the shots being in a pattern that perfectly outlined him.
395** Subverted in one important case: [[spoiler:Kanryu Takeda uses a Gatling gun to mow down all of the Oniwabanshuu but Aoshi]]. This scene is probably the most important instance in the series.
396%%* ImplacableMan: Shishio.
397%%* ImplausibleFencingPowers
398%%* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Okita, Takasugi, Magdaria, and [[spoiler:Kenshin and Kaoru]] in the [=OVAs=].
399* InformedAbility: In the anime, Raijuta described his top four elite Shinko-ryu soldiers as being the best warriors from across the country. While they were indeed skilled warriors, as Kenshin himself noted, and could give the reverse-blade swordsman a decent fight, they still got [[CurbStompBattle thoroughly destroyed]] once Kenshin got serious with them. And in the grand scheme of things, they were still nothing compared to the Ten Swords and the Six Comrades, who probably have a much more stable claim for being some of the best warriors in Japan.
400* InformedAttractiveness: Megumi isn't ugly by any means, but she's certainly not as pretty as the show makes her out to be.
401* InformedAttribute: Misao is ''16''. She looks like she's maybe a year or so older than Yahiko!! Made particularly egregious after the time-skip where not only does she STILL not look her age (at this point in her twenties for Christ's sake!) Yahiko is 16 and looks older than she is!
402* InspectorJavert: Inverted with Saitou. He doesn't doubt that Kenshin has changed... he is simply appalled by how "weak" the famous Battousai has become and wants him to revert to his old self. By the end of the series, [[spoiler:he acknowledges that Kenshin's gone down a different path, and calls off the blood feud between them]].
403* InstantWakingSkills: It's unclear if Kenshin's this trope or just a very light sleeper, but when he's on watch he rests sitting up, with his sword in his lap and his forehead resting on the hilt. Once, he heard someone sneaking up on him and started a draw with his thumb. When it turned out to be Kaoru, he dropped the sword back down in relief and cuts said thumb.
404** In the flashback arc, Kenshin almost decapitates [[spoiler:Tomoe]] when she approaches him while asleep to put a blanket on him. This actually subverts InstantWakingSkills by having Kenshin being so out of it that he almost could not identify his "attacker" in time to push her away--a moment more and he would've killed her. This causes him to truly realize the psychological toll of being an assassin.
405* IntertwinedFingers: In ''Reflection'', Kenshin and Kaoru do this during their love scene.
406* IronicEcho: "A sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu the art of murder." Kenshin says this at the beginning of the series, but then immediately rejects it in favor of Kaoru's more [[TechnicalPacifist idealistic vision]]; it's revealed that this is his mentor's philosophy, and he quotes it back to Kenshin to remind him that real life is a CrapsackWorld.
407** Later, Saitou remarks to himself: "A Shinsegumi is a Shinsengumi. A wolf is a wolf. A hitokiri is a hitokiri. Isn't that right... Battousai?" but revises this statement at the end of the series when he realizes that Kenshin is serious about that whole ThouShaltNotKill thing, to the point of stopping ''Saitou'', and then Enishi, from killing a downed opponent.
408* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: This is the reason [[spoiler:Kenshin sets off alone]] at the beginning of the Kyoto Arc.
409* ItsProbablyNothing: Kenshin has a dream about fighting someone from the revolution, which causes him to be distracted all day. In order to try and quit being detracted he tries to dismiss it as nothing, right before finding Sanosuke who was attacked by the same fighter from his dream.
410* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:Tomoe]] and Megumi for Kenshin.
411* JidaiGeki: A {{deconstruction}} that asks: "So what happens to all those badass swordsmen after they've been outmoded by technology and a shift in societal mores?" The [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome surprisingly accurate answer]], of course, is that "a lot of them were ''bored as hell'' and this was not a particularly safe period to live in." It never got ''quite'' this epic in real life, but it was still pretty brutal at times. This comes to a climax in the Revenge (''Jinchuu'') Arc, where almost the entire group of people fighting Kenshin [[ItsPersonal have a personal grudge against him for what he did as an assassin]].
412%%* KidSamurai: Yahiko.
413* KillerBearHug: When Misao reunites with Okina, the latter hugs her because he's happy she's back, only for it to turn into a painful, back-popping hug because [[AngerBornOfWorry he's mad at her for running off in the first place]].
414* KnifeThrowingAct: A filler episode had Kaoru attempt this, only to hit Sanosuke in the arm on her first try.
415[[/folder]]
416
417[[folder:L-Q]]
418* TheLadysFavour: Kaoru gives Kenshin her favorite ribbon before he leaves to fight Jin-E. When he comes back and returns it to her, she goes ballistic on him because he stained it with his blood.
419* LastChanceToQuit: Done in the Kyoto arc by Yumi, who gave Kenshin and Sanosuke a chance to back off of Shishio's plans and she could just say that they ran off. Kenshin declines, noting that Yumi offered this because she was worried about Shishio's health during the fight.
420* LegendaryImpostor: Several villains, including the very first one of the series, have found it useful to attempt to claim that they are the infamous assassin "Battousai", a title that main character Kenshin was given during the revolution.
421* LethalChef: Kaoru, by her own admission. Though [[{{Hypocrite}} she still doesn't like]] when someone else points it out.
422* LightningBruiser: At least several characters
423* LimitedWardrobe: Kenshin always wears a faded red (almost pink) kimono and a white hakama, Kaoru only dresses in kendo uniform or one of two or three kimonos (the yellow one, the blue one, and a red one), Megumi is always dressed up in her doctor attire, Misao has only two outfits, and so on. Lampshaded when Misao tried to rob Kenshin. She's stopped short as she gets a good look at Kenshin's kimono, which is absolutely covered in seam lines where all the cuts it's taken throughout the series have sewn up. Misao then asks if Kenshin's wife left him[[note]]Which is accurate from a certain point of view - she'd been dead for ten years at this point, though Kenshin being a widower hadn't been revealed yet[[/note]].
424* TheLoad: Kaoru and Yahiko at times, especially in the early episodes; however, both are good fighters and hold their own far more often than they get kidnapped. It doesn't help that Kenshin's godlike swordsmanship makes them look weaker. Interestingly, Yahiko's character development in the later arcs of the manga center around his ''own'' perception of this applying to ''himself'', and he pushes himself to almost dangerous extremes to prove he really can hold his own... against people ''twice'' his age or greater.
425** Sanosuke volunteers for a TrainingFromHell because he was left behind as a liability, and this idea pisses him off to no end.
426* LoadBearingBoss: InvokedTrope. Houji triggers a SelfDestructMechanism after [[spoiler:Shishio self-immolates]].
427* LockedIntoStrangeness: [[spoiler:12-year-old Enishi's black hair turned white after Tomoe's death]].
428* LovedOnesMontage: Kenshin has a flash of his experiences (friends and enemies alike) just before learning his ultimate technique; Yahiko has a similar one later to reflect how much he'd unconsciously picked up just by witnessing the same set of events.
429* LoveEpiphany: The others are aware that Kaoru has more than platonic feelings for Kenshin by the Jin-E arc, but it doesn't hit Kaoru herself big time until the beginning of the Kyoto Arc. This, combined with [[spoiler:Kenshin leaving for Kyoto without a backwards glance]] is enough to give her a HeroicBSOD.
430* LoveRedeems: Tomoe's influence changes Kenshin drastically, and leads him to renounce killing after the war.
431* LyricalDissonance: The first opening, "Sobakasu" (lit. Freckles), a bouncy, upbeat tune with lyrics about a bitter breakup.
432* MadArtist: Gein. He considers [[spoiler:Kaoru's "corpse"]] to be a work of art and is [[spoiler:killed in the process of attempting to retrieve it]].
433* MadeOfIron: While the series appears to have high standards for what counts as a "crippling blow", this is one of Sanosuke's distinguishing traits. As early as his introduction mini-arc, a man hits him in the face with a hidden knife-ring: not only Sanosuke doesn't even flinch, the man ''breaks his finger in the attempt''.
434** Shishio manages to survive an assassination attempt, getting his "corpse" lit on fire (though not without massive scarring), a ridiculous amount of punishment from Kenshin (being smacked around with a supposedly nonlethal weapon still hurts), AND a punch to the face by the aforementioned Sanosuke, which ''[[HeroicRROD shatters all the bones in Sanosuke's hand]]''.
435* MalevolentMaskedMan: Hannya (though he's not so much malevolent as fiercely loyal to Aoshi) and Gein.
436* MarionetteMaster: Gein, who uses his puppets like a SteamPunk HumongousMecha.
437* MarketBasedTitle: Known as "''Samurai X''" in parts of the English-speaking world. The "X" is presumably Kenshin's scar, but he is not a samurai.
438%%* MartialPacifist: Kenshin.
439* MartyrWithoutACause: Kenshin will always run off to save the day even if it means he will most likely get killed no matter what sacrifice he is forced to make or forces others to make (i.e. their relationship with him). Getting over this (partially) is a major plot point midway through the series.
440* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Despite being a notorious former assassin, Kenshin Himura has a slender physique and feminine-looking face with long hair, is one of the most polite and deferential speakers you'll ever find, and is very skilled at housework[[spoiler:, eventually becoming a house-husband]]. His landlord [[spoiler:and eventual wife]], Kaoru Kamiya, is a skilled kendo instructor who brings in the dojo's income and often wears a masculine training gi (although is also a feminine beauty when dressed in traditional women's clothes), is a short-tempered {{tsundere}}, and her cooking skills are mediocre at best.
441* MasterPoisoner: Megumi Takani could arguably be considered this in her DarkAndTroubledPast. She was ''supposed'' to be training in medicine, and though she gained medical knowledge, she ended up being used to produce [[DrugsAreBad opium]]. She knows all about different poisons but now cures them (among other roles befitting TheMedic).
442* MauveShirt: Cho initially appears to be a throwaway villain, but ends up becoming a supporting character for the remainder of the series.
443* MayDecemberRomance: "December" is kind of pushing it, Kenshin is a good 11 years older than Kaoru, making it more of a May/June or May/July romance with that decent age difference.
444* MeetTheNewBoss: The reason Kenshin joined the Meiji rebellion in the first place was that he thought the world would be genuinely changed for the better by the loss of the Tokugawa Shogunate. But once the war was won, the ultimate result was the trading of one sort of oppression for another and nothing was ultimately changed, as Hiko warned would be the case. It's one of the major reasons Kenshin embraces his idealism so fiercely.
445* TheMenFirst: Aoshi took the job bodyguarding Kanryu because while he had better offers from more respectable sources, that job was the only one that included positions for the last squad of his unit, who were essentially unemployable for various reasons, and he believed that he couldn't seek a new life for himself until he had seen to all of the men under his command.
446* MentorOccupationalHazard: The training in Kenshin and Hiko's sword-style ends with [[spoiler:the apprentice killing the master in order to learn [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique the final technique]]. This trope is actually an ''intentional'' part of the job. Oddly, [[SubvertedTrope Hiko manages to survive anyway]], though his own master wasn't so lucky]].
447* MirrorMatch: Aoshi runs into a guy who can observe and instantly copy moves. He proves that [[spoiler:the original is superior via a standing kick to the Mook's face]].
448* MissingMom: The mother of every single major character whose parentage is discussed is deceased, as are most of their fathers.
449* TheMole: [[spoiler:Iwanbou]] in the manga, who turns out to be [[spoiler:Gein]], spying on Kenshin for [[spoiler:Enishi]].
450** [[spoiler:In the Remembrance arc, Iizuka turns out to the be the traitor for the Choshu clan]].
451* MoneyIsNotPower: Opium kingpin Takeda Kanryuu tries to bribe Kenshin out of attacking his mansion. This works about as well as you'd expect. {{Discussed|Trope}} by his DragonInChief Shinomori Aoshi:
452--> '''Aoshi:''' You don't get it. Your money's of no use here. Himura Battousai does not live for gain--I told you."
453** Later on, when Kenshin finally takes him out:
454--->'''Kenshin:''' "[[PreAsskickingOneLiner Why don't you ask your money to save you!?]]"
455* MoodWhiplash: The manga very often swings between deadly serious battles to slapstick humor; the anime also manages this pretty well. At times it's used as a brilliant source of dramatic tension.
456* MotherhoodIsSuperior: In the epilogue, Kenshin and Kaoru have a child who is a boy named Kenji. A block of text clearly states "Loves his mother" complete with Kenji eager to hold onto Kaoru. Another block of text clearly states "Hates his father" complete with Kenji eager to pull Kenshin's hair when he tries to hold him. The kid is only a few years old, and it's not like the father has done him wrong or anything!
457* MotiveDecay: Raijuuta is a bad enough case of this that Watsuki himself complains about it in an afterword.
458** The Band of Six are initially introduced as a group of men with a legitimate bone to pick with Kenshin, though we gradually discover that they either had no real grudge against Kenshin or had a pitiful one that was undermined by their actions. Only Enishi and Kujirinami have any motive that doesn't qualify as EvilIsPetty, and both of them ultimately realize that they were in the wrong anyway. Watsuki himself admits that it was probably a bad idea to include the group at all and it would've been better to send Enishi alone on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
459* MrFanservice: Between [[PrettyBoy Kenshin]], [[KidSamurai Yahiko]], [[HotBlooded Sano]], [[AloofBigBrother Aoshi]], [[SexyMentor Hiko]], and [[WhiteHairBlackHeart Enishi]], there's something there for every female.
460* MultipleDemographicAppeal: While it is, ''strictly'' speaking, a shonen adventure series, the hugely varied cast, fascinating villains, interesting politics and backstories (many of which were at least historically based and some of which were ''startlingly'' accurate), and beautiful guys AND girls gave it appeal across nearly every single age and gender group in Japan, making it far and away one of the banner [=manga/anime=] series of the '90s. It was even exported to ''dozens'' of other countries with great success, particularly in Asia, Western Europe, Oceania, and America (for example, Australia & New Zealand ran the full Sony dub several times over, nearly every Asian country ran the show in various forms at least once, and the series gained considerable success on Creator/{{Toonami}} in America).
461** Also, the subtitle, "Meiji Swordsman ''Romantic'' Story", applies in both the classical (as in a fictitious narrative that turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents) and common (involving romance) senses.
462* MundaneMadeAwesome: Many techniques and abilities are rather mundane, but presented in an over-the-top manner as some sort of trump card:
463** Hannya makes wearing striped sleeves into a combat technique that Kenshin struggles with for a time. The optical illusion of his sleeves throws Kenshin off that he misjudges Hannya's attacks.
464** Uonuma Usui's ultimate attack, one that he considers essentially unbeatable and gloats about to no end, is essentially "holding up his shield to block his opponent's vision."
465** Kenshin's ultimate ability? Made possible by him simply leading with his left foot. Which enables him to create a vacuum. Somehow.
466* MundaneUtility:
467** In an anime filler episode, the protagonist at one point finds himself attending a fancy dinner party, so he picks up a knife and performs the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (Steak style) to cut up a steak.
468** This trope is also subverted when he goes looking for the heir of a famous swordmaker: he uses one of the man's kitchen knives to [[MundaneMadeAwesome slice up a daikon in the most awesome way possible]] and then reveals that he was testing the blade.
469* MurderersAreRapists: Though the notion of rape is largely averted in the series altogether (since {{mooks}} just get to the killing part [[PunchClockVillain that their bosses order]]), only one threat of rape is made in the anime when Gohei makes implications that he and his men would rape Kaoru before killing her. [[RescueRomance But Kenshin's there to save her]].
470* MusclesAreMeaningless: While Kenshin's enemies tend to be bigger and bulkier than him (to their detriment), his mentor Hiko dramatically removes his (hideously heavy) cape to reveal a set of well-built chest and abdominal muscles; Kenshin himself feels intimidated, as he begins to realize for the first time this is the kind of physique it takes to master the school of swordsmanship Hiko teaches. [[spoiler:Fully subverted in the final chapters of the manga, where it's revealed that the repeated use of the Hiten Mitsurugi techniques put so much strain on Kenshin's small and lithe body that in a few years he would be too weak to even use his sword style]].
471* MyNameIsInigoMontoya: Quite a few times in the series, like when Kenshin first reveals he's Battousai to the Hiruma Brothers (or just Gohei Hiruma in the 1996 anime), or when he does the same to yakuza in order to save Yahiko's life, or when he faces off against Sanosuke.
472* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Hitokiri Battousai. In translation: Assassin who kills on the draw.
473* {{Narrator}}: Creator/ToshihikoSeki narrates the 2023 anime.
474* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Shishio's ideology is very similar to that of UsefulNotes/WorldWar2 era [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japan]]. He believes in driving Westerners out of East Asia by brutally uniting East Asia under Japanese rule.
475* NeutralFemale: Several of the women in the series just stand around and [[CombatCommentator talk about the fight]].
476* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Whenever Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Saitou are together, they share this dynamic. Kenshin as the Wanderer is the nicest of the three, being genuinely cheerful, friendly, and the easiest to get along with as long as he isn't in his Battousai mode. Saitou is the mean one, being the most caustic and harshest of the three, and generally [[NinetiesAntiHero dishes out cold, insulting remarks, beatdowns, and/or executions with zero hesitation]]. Meanwhile, Sanosuke is in-between the two. He's colder and more cynical compared to Kenshin, being the AntiHero of Team Kenshin, but is still considerably less ruthless and mean compared to Saitou, having more moments of warmth and friendliness towards others by comparison.
477* {{Ninja}}: The Oniwabanshuu, especially Hanya, Shinomori Aoshi, and Makimachi Misao.
478* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted in the third episode of the 1999 OVA, where Tomoe quite clearly gets her period.
479* NoSenseOfDirection: Sanosuke is INFAMOUS about this. He even manages to get himself lost while running around with a compass.
480* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: When Saitou very casually drops the fact that he's married (and Kenshin and Misao react with appropriate shock), a sidebar notes: "This is historical truth."
481* ObfuscatingStupidity:
482** Kenshin tends to do this with strangers, acting as if he's a clumsy fool until he has a reason to get serious.
483%%** [[spoiler:Oibore]].
484%%** Saitou in his introduction arc.
485%%** Gein [[spoiler:in his Iwanbou disguise]].
486* OddCouple: Sanosuke teaming up with either Megumi and/or Saitou; Kenshin also remarks how unlikely it was that he, a former Imperialist, and Saitou, a warrior for the Shogunate, can be trusted teammates.
487* OfficerOHara: The first American dub had the cops sporting Irish accents; fortunately this tested so poorly that it went back for redubbing before the commercial release.
488* OffWithHisHead: There are quite a few scenes in the manga that show characters literally losing their heads. Many of these scenes are either AdaptedOut (Aoshi taking the heads of the fallen Oniwabanshu after Kanryuu's defeat) or edited (Soujirou decapitating his adopted family is covered by a ShadowDiscretionShot).
489* OhCrap: Happens frequently when a fighter is revealed to be much stronger than was previously thought. When Kenshin fights Seta Sojirou, Sanosuke has this reaction ''twice'' in rapid succession (once when Sojirou moves so fast even Kenshin can barely see him, and then again when Sojirou explains he ''wasn't even at his top speed'').
490* OldSchoolChivalry: A female ninja is escorting a Dutch visitor about and is disconcerted when he wants her to walk through a door ahead of him. When he explains chivalry dictates it as a way of showing respect for women, she just laughs it off.
491* OlderThanTheyLook: Kenshin is 28 years old, while his master Hiko is a whopping (by manga standards) 43--but you'd never guess it. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Yahiko and Misao, who wonder if the Hiten Mitsurugi style is the fountain of youth. Also pointed out in the End-of-Volume specials in Volumes 1 and 4 of the manga, where characters thinking on Kenshin after he left come to the conclusion that if he really was a hero of the Meiji Restoration, he'd have to be at least 30...
492** Misao is a minor example; most characters assume she's around 12, but she's 16.
493* OutdoorBathPeeping: Sano and Yahiko attempt this in the anime version of the Raijuta arc, only to get attacked by a still-dressed Kaoru and Megumi, who knew they would try this.
494* OvershadowedByAwesome: Kaoru. She's one of the best fighters in her generation - and her odd-job man is one of the top five fighters of that ''century''.
495* OvertookTheManga: A ''really'' grating example, as it meant that ratings declined post-Shishio and the show didn't remain on the air long enough to ever get to the [=Jinchuu/Enishi=] arc, which drives a lot of fans mad since that's the real culmination of Kenshin's entire plot arc. The only material ever animated from this part has been the flashback to Kenshin's time with Tomoe, and that was in an OVA produced years after the show was canceled.
496* PacifismIsCowardice: While Kenshin Himura [[BadassPacifist is willing to fight if it is needed]], he is considered a coward by his enemies and Saito Hajime because he refuses to use violence as a first course of action as well as his refusal to kill. The villains even constantly [[TargetedToHurtTheHero try to kill Kenshin's friends]] in order to [[TheyWereHoldingYouBack give Kenshin "proper motivation" to stop holding back]].
497* PapaWolf: Kenshin, Anji.
498* ParentalSubstitute: Kenshin and Kaoru all but adopt Yahiko. This is best emphasized by their reaction, when [[spoiler:Yahiko runs away to join the rebels. In the DistantFinale he inherits Kaoru's fighting style and Kenshin's reverse blade]].
499** Hiko saves young Shinta, takes him in, and teaches him everything he knows (or at least tries to; Kenshin is too naive and headstrong to listen sometimes).
500** Tae pretty much adopts Tsubame after she's free from her abusive caretaker.
501* ParryingBullets: The third chapter has some gangsters attack Kamiya Kasshin-ryu dojo with a wooden cannon (a black powder muzzle-loader with a barrel carved from oak, firing a clay cannonball). Kenshin ''chops the cannonball in half in mid-flight'' with the sharp edge of his reverse-blade sword and rather irritatedly tells the gangsters to beat it.
502* PayEvilUntoEvil: A possible translation of Saito's philosophy--Aku Soku Zan. Evildoers tend not to live long in his presence.
503* PersonalEffectsReveal: [[spoiler:After Tomoe's death]], Kenshin goes through her diary and figures out that [[spoiler:the man he killed months earlier was Tomoe's fiance]]. Bummer.
504** Even worse in the anime OVA, when Kenshin is first told that [[spoiler:Tomoe]] is the traitor and then is prompted to [[spoiler:look in her diary, where he finds out that he killed her fiance. On his way to find her, that's the only thing he can think about]].
505* PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars: Kenshin is identified by his cross-scar, and the backstory behind it is what forms the kind of person he is today.
506* PintsizedPowerhouse: Kenshin; Yahiko to an extent.
507* PirateGirl: The {{filler}} character Shura.
508* PlotTailoredToTheParty: The battle against Enishi's [[SmugSnake second-in-command's]] [[EliteMook bodyguards]]; subverted in that it's the ''bodyguards'' who pick their opponents based on each of their specialties.
509* PromotedToLoveInterest: Though it's clear the two would end up with each other, the anime was far more clear about Yahiko and Tsubame's blossoming relationship than the manga. In the manga, Tsubame's debut chapter was about the mystery surrounding Yahiko suddenly working at the Akabeko (though the rest of the Kenshingumi do muse at the idea of him trying to be with Tsubame). In the anime, Tsubame's debut episode was about Yahiko experiencing LoveAtFirstSight.
510* PromotionToParent: Tomoe.
511** Also, as referred to above, Anji to the orphans he looked after.
512* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Shishio Makoto is this trope taken to its darkest logical conclusion; a warrior whose respect for strength is so ''absolute'' that he wishes to create a Japan where ''everyone'' has to be a warrior just to ''survive''.
513* PsychoForHire: Gein, who only wants to perfect his techniques.
514* PunnyName: Kamatari, the Great Scythe (''O-Kama'') of the Ten Swords, who also happens to be a homosexual transvestite (''okama''). (Although technically, his weapon is more of a ''dai-kusarigama'').
515* PuppyLove: InUniverse, Yahiko and Tsubame--until the series epilogue, when they [[spoiler:are all grown up and officially dating]].
516* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Juppongatana, Aoshi's Oniwabanshuu.
517[[/folder]]
518
519[[folder:R-Z]]
520* RazorFloss: In addition to controlling both Iwanbō models from the inside, Gein fights on his own by using near-invisible steel strings covered with diamond dust that easily slice through things.
521* RazorWind: Raijuuta's specialty attack; Hiko also is capable of doing this [[spoiler:with his incredibly heavy cape removed]].
522* RealEventFictionalCause: This is done with the assassination of Okubo Toshimichi. In real life, Okubo was assassinated by a group of samurai unhappy with his rapid modernization/westernization and abolition of the privileges the samurai had enjoyed. In the story, SocialDarwinist Shishio has [[TheDragon his dragon]] assassinate Okubo as a step to weaken Japan and make it easy for Shishio to take over the country, and the samurai find Okubo's body afterward and claim credit for the deed.
523* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
524** Every time Kenshin fights an opponent, the opponent gives him this, mainly for being on the Imperialists' side or being a pacifist. Kenshin always manages to prove them wrong, or at least prove that he may not agree with them but doesn't suck like they say he does.
525** Saito delivers a particularly incisive and crushing one of these to Usui during their fight.
526* RebusBubble: Courtesy of Saito and his [[AnimalMotifs nicknaming]] [[ImagineSpot deductions]].
527--> If '''Megumi = fox''' and '''Kaoru = racoon dog''', then '''Misao = weasel'''.
528* RecklessPacifist: Kenshin, when he's not in a flashback of his Battosai-years or going into Battosai mode.
529* RecognitionFailure: As a RunningGag, whenever a politician (often a HistoricalDomainCharacter) appears, Yahiko has no idea who they are.
530* RecruitingTheCriminal: Most of Shishio's surviving minions are offered jobs with the Japanese government in exchange for clemency.
531* RedBaron: Hitokiri Battousai. The reputation centered around that name grows so large that most people can't believe that the scrawny Kenshin could possibly be him.
532%%* RedemptionQuest
533* RedemptionEarnsLife: One of the most prominent themes of the series.
534* RedemptionEqualsAffliction: While on an assassination mission, Kenshin received a cut to his face from his target's bodyguard (whom he immediately dispatched as well). Because the cut refused to heal it was theorized by Kenshin's peers that he had been struck by an innocent man and his wound was penance. The wound only finally stopped bleeding some months later when the famous cross-shaped-scar was completed [[spoiler:by his dying wife, who he had accidentally struck during a battle (and who had been the fiancee of the man he murdered before)]]. Kenshin holds the belief that the cross-shaped scar will vanish when he has fully atoned for his sins. He also doesn't believe that is possible [[spoiler:though by the end of the manga it has indeed begun to heal]].
535* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Subverted again and again and ''again''.
536* RedEyesTakeWarning: Makoto Shishio has narrow red eyes. His intro episode is appropriately titled "Devil of Vengeance." Earlier on, though, protagonist Kenshin Himura himself was exhibiting the trope as Hitokiri Battousai until his battle with Saitou Hajime gave him gold eyes, probably to match the prescribed manga coloring. His eyes also looked red then turned gold very early in the series when Jin-E kidnapped Kaoru. Possibly justified in that the more enraged he is, the more his eyes change from their normal blue-ish purple.
537* RedOniBlueOni: Except to Sano (who takes the Red Oni role all the time, causing Kenshin to be Blue in contrast), Kenshin plays Red Oni to most of his rivals.
538* ReunionVow: Kaoru lends Kenshin her hair ribbon so that he will come back. At the end of the arc, he gives it back, and she flips out because he bled on it after getting stabbed in a duel while rescuing her.
539* {{Revenge}}: Enishi Yukishiro; almost all his {{Mook}}s all have grudges against Kenshin in one form or another.
540* RevengeByProxy: Yukishiro, again. Subverted when [[spoiler:he can't bring himself to kill Kaoru, because she reminds him of his dead older sister]].
541* [[RomancingTheWidow Romancing the Widower]]: [[spoiler:Although his former marriage is not revealed for quite a while, the story features Kaoru falling for the older hesitant widower Kenshin.]]
542* RunningGag: Sano keeps breaking his hand from half story until the very end and Megumi hitting him for it.
543* {{Samurai}}: Myojin Yahiko, apparently a Tokyo samurai, and Saitou Hajime.
544* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:Shura]] the leader of the pirates in Episode 25.
545* TheScapegoat: Sano's mentor Shouzo Sagara was executed by the Meiji Government when it became clear that part of their original platform (equality for all classes) was, for the time being, unattainable.
546* ScarsAreForever: Kenshin's scar, which only starts fading in the post-series epilogue.
547* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Kanryu believes this absolutely. As a result, he [[EvilCannotComprehendGood totally fails to comprehend Kenshin's motivations]], even after Hannya points out that if Kenshin was motivated by personal gain, he'd be a member of the Army General Staff rather than being the odd-job guy for a minor kenjutsu dojo. In the end, Kenshin counters Kanryu's claims that money is all-powerful with a truly epic ShutUpHannibal.
548* ScrewTheMoneyThisIsPersonal: Opium dealer Takeda Kanryuu gloats that he has enough money to buy anything, but after massacring most of [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Onibanwashu]] with a [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] at the climax of the arc, he has royally pissed off Kenshin to the point he ''really'' wants to kill Takeda, and as he approaches Takeda and [[OhCrap Takeda finds out he ran out of ammo]], he starts begging Kenshin to be spared and that he'll pay anything. Kenshin's answer?
549-->Do you know what your money can't buy? That's right. ''Your life!'' [''Smashes all of Takeda's teeth out with his sakabatou'']
550* SecondLove: [[spoiler:Kenshin ending up with Kaoru]], and then Kenshin himself being [[spoiler:Tomoe]]'s second love.
551* SelfDisposingVillain: Frequently. If Kenshin can't redeem them, ''something'' will kill them.
552* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler:Soujirou killed his abusive stepsiblings in self-defense. Enishi killed his adoptive family because he hated their happiness]].
553* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:Yumi's death]] doesn't actually help Shishio at all, since he [[spoiler:starts burning up]] almost immediately after that.
554%%* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Kenshin and Sano.
555* SerratedBladeOfPain: Shishio Makoto wields a finely serrated sword that never dulls. Also doubles as FlamingSword.
556* SexyMentor: Hiko Seijuro. 43, my ass...
557* ShedArmorGainSpeed: During the battle with the Juppongatana, Hiko Seijuurou tells the giant Fuji to lose the armor because, though it protects him, it restricts his movements. Hiko curbstomps him anyway.
558* ShooOutTheClowns: Played with during the ''Kyoto Arc''. The entire arc seems to be moving in this direction with regard to some of Kenshin's friends in Tokyo like Yahiko, Kaoru, and Sanosuke. Saitou even makes it a point to tell Sanosuke that he's an amateur who's nowhere near ready to face Shishio and the dangers that lie ahead in Kyoto. And as Sano and Kenshin's Tokyo crew tend to be used for a lot of comedy in Kenshin's everyday life, the only natural outcome would be for them to be sidelined as CerebusSyndrome hit the series. However, Sanosuke, Kaoru, and Yahiko ultimately avert this as they undergo more training and prove that they can still fight by Kenshin's side against KnightOfCerebus villains like Shishio and his Ten Swords.
559* ShownTheirWork: Watsuki was ''very'' meticulous about historical accuracy in this series at any point where [[RuleOfCool outright insanity wasn't just cooler]]. Many characters are based on historical figures, including Kenshin himself, and there are even plenty of references to actual events. Perhaps this is why some of his [[Manga/BusoRenkin later work]] more or less runs on the aforementioned outright insanity.
560* ShrineToTheFallen: Sano finds out about what happened to his mother at one of these. He prays to it under the guise of wanting to eat dinner faster.
561** Hiko meets Kenshin after rescuing him from bandits to find that Kenshin has [[DueToTheDead buried not only the bandits, but the slavers who were travelling with him]], and especially raised three memorial stones for a trio of women who died trying to protect him.
562* ShrinkingViolet: Tsubame. She grows out of it a little by the end of the series.
563* ShroudedInMyth: Battousai's identity is so secret, it became easy for hoodlums to pretend they were he.
564* SignOfTheApocalypse: Kaoru... ''cooking''.
565* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Saitou's stance on Kenshin's views: namely, that not killing the bad guys immediately allows them to escape and perform greater evil, and that trying to teach them a better way is a risk not worth taking.
566* SinkOrSwimMentor: Kenshin's old master Hiko Seijuuro, whose training techniques seem to center around "beat Kenshin silly with the Technique of the Day, then have Kenshin attempt the same. If he succeeds, start beating him silly with the counter."
567%%* SittingOnTheRoof
568* SlidingScaleOfGenderInequality: Level 4. Most of the girls in the series are [[FauxActionGirl supposedly competent action girls]], but it's been shown that the guys take the limelight while the girls fall in action.
569* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The series itself is on the Idealistic side, but most of Kenshin's opponents (and Kenshin himself to some extent) are on the Cynical side.
570** In his debut, Kenshin acknowledges that Kaoru's wide-eyed idealism doesn't mesh with reality, but he prefers her version (as he had been much more idealistic in his youth).
571* SlipknotPonytail: Kenshin in the pilot chapter and during the fight with [[spoiler:Saitou; Yumi, during her death scene]].
572* SmugSnake: Raijuuta starts off as a hulking, manipulative serial dojo smasher who [[KickTheDog permanently cripples his own student]] ForTheEvulz to a broken shell of a man crying and begging for mercy as soon as Kenshin defeats his supposedly invincible technique.
573* SNKBoss: Kanryu Takeda fights swordsmen using a Gatling Gun, and declares them weak when they die from his bullets.
574* SnowMeansDeath: In the Tsuiokuhen OVA, [[spoiler:Tomoe]] dies in the snow.
575** Variant in Seishouhen: [[spoiler:Kenshin]] dies among a shower of snowflake-like cherry blossoms.
576* SnowMeansLove: This trope is used twice:
577** During the Jinchuu/Memorial arc, Kenshin and Tomoe share [[TheirFirstTime a physically]] ''and'' [[TalkingInBed emotionally]] intimate scene with each other in their cabin as it is snowing. However, much like the case in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', it was later [[spoiler:[[SnowMeansDeath mixed with death]]]].
578** In a rare '''villainous''' case, it's used ShipTease between the teenage orphan [[{{Tsundere}} Tsubaki]] and her protector, the gentle and friendly monk Anji Yukyuzan, whom she has a huge PrecociousCrush on. She's hurt her ankle and [[PiggybackCute Anji carries her on his back]] towards the temple they live in, and as this happens she promises him that no matter what, she will always be with him, which can be easily seen as a sort-of LoveConfession... However, this is a case of ForegoneConclusion, because Anji is already known as '''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Destroyer]]'''. He ''used'' to be a sweet, caring guy determined to help the poor, but when the new government [[StartOfDarkness killed his adopted children]] when the government tried to outlaw Buddhism, and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge he did not]] [[ThenLetMeBeEvil take it]] [[FromNobodyToNightmare so well]]. For extra effect, the snow scene happens literally ''right before'' he finds all of his children (Tsubaki included) burned to death by government agents.
579* TheSoCalledCoward: Plenty of people throughout the manga attribute Kenshin's pacifism to this. And usually they learn that this is ''not at all'' the case.
580* SocialDarwinist: Shishio and Soujirou.
581* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Played straight in the first arcs, but subverted in the final one. While Enishi is no pushover, he's explicitly stated to be weaker than Shishio. Similarly, Sano's foe, Inui Banjin, would be no match for Anji. Enishi makes up for this by attacking when the team is still recovering from the battle against Shishio, [[spoiler:faking Kaoru's death]] so that Kenshin will be as emotionally distraught as possible, and designing his style of swordsmanship specifically to counter Kenshin's. In short, Shishio would beat Enishi, but Enishi is in a better position to defeat Kenshin. Banjin, in the meantime, is facing an injured Sano, who can no longer use the special technique that let him take on Anji.
582* SplitSecondBladeSpam: The ''Kuzuryusen'' technique, which utilizes Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu's signature [[SuperSpeed God-Speed]] to launch 8 slashes and one stab with such speed that they all ''appear'' to be simultaneous for the human eye, making the attack unblockable ''and'' undodgeable unless you counter it with the same technique, ''and'' you possess equal or greater muscular strength and body weight than your opponent (the strength of each strike depends on both factors). [[spoiler:The only defense is striking the user before they attack. Realizing this is how you are forced to learn the true Ultimate Attack of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style. The only other sole exception is being a [[FlashStep Shukuchi]]-user, like Seta Soujirou (see below under the ''Juppongatana'')]].
583* StoryBreakerPower: Hiko Seijuro. WordOfGod states that he is essentially invincible in battle, which is why he doesn't show up often. When he does fight, it's pretty much a CurbStompBattle.
584* StreetUrchin: Yahiko starts out as this.
585* SuperpoweredEvilSide: At certain points in the series, Kenshin's murderous "Battousai" side, which he tries very hard to suppress, comes to the surface--usually when a villain does [[KickTheDog something]] [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable]], resulting in Kenshin getting SupernaturalGoldEyes and [[UnstoppableRage going completely berserk]]. Less frequent as the series progresses, and completely gone after Kenshin [[spoiler:learns his ultimate technique]].
586* SuperweaponSurprise: When Sanosuke throws Tsukioka's homemade grenades at Shishio's battleship, Hōji ensures the worried crew that the bombs aren't strong enough to do any serious damage to the vessel. The exact opposite happens, to the astonishment of villains and heroes alike - including Sanosuke himself since Tsukioka had told him the grenades were only for self-defense.
587%%* TheSweatDrop
588%%* SwordLines
589* SymbolicWeaponDiscarding: Years prior to the start of the story, Kenshin Himura was known as "Hitokiri Battousai" ("Quick-Draw Manslayer") and had taken dozens of lives for various reasons. However, following the end of the Bakumatsu and [[TheseHandsHaveKilled his subsequent horror at all the lives he took]], he takes a vow to never kill again. As a symbol of this vow, he discards his normal swords and begins wielding a sakabato, a katana variant whose cutting edge is on the inside of the blade. Over the course of the story, Kenshin is faced with numerous threats that have him grappling with the temptation to pick up a regular sword to kill again to protect the ones he loves.
590* {{Symbolism}}: Shishio insists he is "chosen by the age" to lead, and is only defeated by time itself, when he insists on fighting Kenshin too long, and his damaged body, unable to sweat, ''literally catches on fire''.
591* TakeThatMe: Just like Watsuki, Kenshin has terrible handwriting. Yahiko [[BreakingTheFourthWall even points this out]].
592* TakeOurWordForIt: Since nobody knew what Kenshin's succession technique actually looked like until the battle against Kyoto Arc BigBad Shishio, previous uses of it in the anime were dealt with via a DiscretionShot of an iris-out combined with a lens flare.
593* TallDarkAndSnarky: Saitou, Aoshi, and Hiko Seijirou are literal versions; Kenshin is a short, red-headed version, but just as snarky (at least in Battousai mode).
594* TalkingIsAFreeAction: [[HannibalLecture Squeezing]] [[LastSecondChance out]] [[KirkSummation speeches]] [[ShutUpHannibal mid-fight]] means that you don't necessarily need the Hiten Mitsurugi style to achieve god-like speed.
595** During Saitou's fight with Usui, they jump and meet each other in midair. Saitou tries to use a stab, but Usui deflects it with his shield. In between deflection and counterattack, ''while still in midair'', Usui gets off a couple lines about how round his shield is.
596* TalkToTheFist: During his second battle with Enishi, Kenshin attempts a second Kuzu Ryu Sen. He's only able to get the "Kuzu" before taking a palm to the face.
597* TeamMom: Megumi cooks, works as a doctor, keeps the peace and calm among Kenshin's group, and even [[spoiler:deals more than one GetAHoldOfYourselfMan]].
598* TechnicalPacifist: Kenshin, because he has made a [[ThouShaltNotKill vow]] as part of his self-induced atonement.
599* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Shishio wonders out loud if this is the reason Kenshin figured out his nefarious plot so quickly.
600* TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason: Kaoru is okay with Kenshin not talking about himself, and it takes the Revenge Arc for him to open up.
601* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: All the time, for different characters/opponents.
602* TigerVersusDragon: Kenshin and his master are repeatedly given dragon motifs. Most of their fighting style's moves have the word Dragon in the name. Later on, the final BigBad Enishi shows up... and is given tiger motifs.
603* TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential: It's a Shonen series, of course it's going to happen once per arc.
604* ToneShift: The shift in tone between the first and second seasons of the anime is noticeable; the shift in tone between the anime and the [=OVAs=] is ''massive'', quite possibly crossing over into AudienceShift.
605* TookALevelInBadass: Yahiko in the DistantFinale and Sano in ''Reflections'', if his longer hair and nice proto-beard are any indication.
606** Sano took an in-series level during the Kyoto arc; [[spoiler:Anji]], who trained him, notes this to himself when watching Sano leave.
607* TragicHero: Kenshin's backstory involving his [[spoiler:first wife Tomoe]].
608* TrainingFromHell: Kenshin underwent one of these to learn his ultimate technique, and it's implied that his training before he left to fight in the Meiji Revolution was also hellish. If one could even call it "training", as it only consisted of Hiko Seijuro pounding Kenshin repeatedly with '''''all''''' the techniques of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (Kenshin was surprised those attacks weren't fatal, and Hiko brags that it's because he has perfect control).
609** Yahiko's training is less hellish, but still fairly brutal (thousands of repetitions of the moves necessary for the succession technique so that he could operate purely on muscle memory).
610** Sano, on the other hand, used up all the rocks in the area he was training to learn the Futae no Kawami, ''and'' Anji threatened to kill him (as per Sanosuke's own suggestion, albeit) if he hasn't figured it out by the end of the week.
611* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: Enishi is the leader of a massive Chinese crime syndicate.
612* TrueCompanions: As early as Megumi's introduction, she was already noticing the family dynamic between Kenshin and his friends; Yahiko gives the group their InUniverse nickname: "The Kenshin-gumi." Later in the series [[spoiler:Aoshi and Misao join the group]].
613* TruerToTheText: The 2023 anime notably follows the manga storylines much more closely than the first anime, which included more filler and even drastically altered some original manga stories like Raijuta's arc. With that being said, the latest anime does occasionally veer off-course just a tiny bit by including additional scenes that weren't in the manga, such as showing Kanryu going to retrieve his gatling gun from a foreign trader, having Raijuta's Shinko Ryu followers AdaptedOut despite being in the manga and showing up in the 1996 anime, or giving Katsu an additional fight scene against Sanosuke that he didn't have in the source material.
614* {{Tsundere}}: Kaoru, who is largely ''tsun'' around Kenshin and Yahiko especially, but fairly sweet otherwise. Lampshaded in her ImageSong called "It's not that I like you!"
615* UndressingTheUnconscious: In the final arc of the manga, Enishi kidnaps Kaoru and she awakens in his remote Island base wearing only a robe because he used her clothes to dress up a [[DeathFakedForYou fake doll corpse]] in order to make Kenshin think she's dead.
616* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Kamatari proves himself to be a crossdressing man and not a scythe-wielding woman by flipping up his kimono and flashing her, complete with pixellated naughty bits, causing Misao to scream in horror.
617* VerbalTic: Kenshin speaks using very archaic humble verbiage, referring to himself as "sessha" (This Lowly One), more or less, using the exclamation "oro" to express surprise, and ending his sentences with "de gozaru."
618* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Fictional characters and events get inserted into the early Meiji years.
619* VictorStealsInsignia: Isurugi Raijuta brings up the tradition that he who challenges and defeats the master of a sword dojo can do whatever he wants with the dojo's sign: after defeating Maekawa Miyauchi, sensei of Chūetsu-ryū, he orders his protege Tsukayama Yutarō to take the dojo's sign down and burn it--enraging Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko, who were visiting the dojo of Kaoru's family friend on that day.
620* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Soujirou during the Kyoto arc, when Kenshin's words start to get to him and clash with what Shishio Makoto taught him as well as reliving the horrible events from his past]]. Shishio after being hit with the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki and going over his time limit of 15 minutes in battle. Also [[spoiler:Enishi in the Jinchuu arc, in his second fight against Kenshin. When the image of his dead sister doesn't smile for him anymore, he all but loses the will to fight and can only resort to pounding the ground and screaming at Kenshin]].
621* VillainHasAPoint:
622** Shogo is a dangerous fanatic that believes his people have the right to kill "heretics", but he's not wrong that Christians in Japan were horrifically oppressed by the state and were routinely tortured and killed on the grounds of their faith.
623** Though Saitou's contemptuousness of Kenshin's TechnicalPacifist ways is presented negatively, many will agree that his critique (namely, that Kenshin puts the people around him in constant danger because he won't PayEvilUntoEvil) makes perfect sense given the times they both lived through and in.
624** Kujiranami Hyogo wants revenge against Kenshin because he sees Kenshin sparing him after cutting one of his arms off (and thereby turning him into a cripple who can never make a living as a swordsman again) and denying him an honorable death in battle as CruelMercy and though he eventually comes around to having the will to live, it's quite easy to sympathize with his initial position that a truly compassionate man would have ended Hyogo's life in their original duel.
625* VillainOverForDinner: Saitou visits the Kamiya household in his civilian identity of a police officer while he sent an assassin after Kenshin, just to demonstrate to Kenshin how his non-killing vow could have bit him in the ass.
626* VillainousCrossdresser: Honjo Kamatari and Otowa Hyoko.
627* VillainousRROD: Kyoto Arc BigBad SocialDarwinist Shishio Makoto can only exert himself for so long before the massive burns he suffered threaten to kill him. He over-exerts himself in the battle against Kenshin and [[spoiler:spontaneously combusts]], sparing Kenshin the difficult decision of whether or not to break his ThouShaltNotKill vow.
628* WalkingShirtlessScene: Sano, who wears an open jacket and sports bandages around his torso.
629* WalkingTheEarth: Kenshin before the beginning of the series.
630** Soujirou at the end of the Kyoto arc.
631** At the end of the series, [[spoiler:Sanosuke]] leaves Japan after attacking an Ishin Shishi who [[spoiler:attacked his family]].
632* TheWarJustBefore: In this historical fiction series, the changes of the Meiji Restoration following the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boshin_War Boshin War]] is the backdrop for the series storyline. Notably [[TheHero Himura Kenshin]] was a veteran of that war who served on the side of the House of Meiji against the Tokugawa Shogunate. The events of the Boshin War also become relevant during the Kyoto (on an ideological scale) and Jinchū Arcs (on a more personal level). The main antagonist of the former story arc, Makoto Shishio, was a fellow Meiji partisan who now seeks to overthrow the current government based on it not [[TheSocialDarwinist living up to his own standards]] while Enishi Yukishiro seeks retribution on Kenshin for one of his unintended casualties being [[spoiler:his sister Tomoe Yukishiro]]. In addition, two characters who were soldiers for the Tokugawas, Hajime Saito and Uonuma Usui, joined Kenshin and Shishio's groups respectively.
633* WarriorTherapist: Kenshin and many others.
634%%* WeakButSkilled: Kenshin.
635* WeaponsBreakingWeapons:
636** Himura Kenshin has taken [[TechnicalPacifist a vow to never kill again]] and commonly uses his ''sakabatou'' (a katana with the edge and blunt side reversed) to break opponents' weapons to defeat them without killing them. Examples include Sagara Sanosuke's zanbatou (a {{BFS}} supposedly meant to kill a rider ''and'' his horse), Saitou Hajime's sword (though he ''was'' trying to kill Saitou that time since his SuperpoweredEvilSide had emerged), and several of "Sword Hunter" Cho's swords.
637** In Kenshin and Shishio Makoto's first encounter, Shishio's dragon Seta Soujiro breaks Kenshin's sakabatou with his own sword, although Soujiro's blade is ruined as well.
638** During the final battle of the Kyoto arc, Kenshin's teacher Hiko Seijuurou smashes the giant Fuji's sword with his own.
639* WhamEpisode: Enishi [[spoiler:gets to defeat Kenshin and (apparently) brutally murders Kaoru]].
640* WhamLine: Kenshin sitting down to tell his friends that not only does he know who Enishi is, but that [[spoiler:Enishi is his brother. In fact, Enishi is his brother-''in-law'', and Kenshin was married to his sister]].
641* WhatIf: The series serves as ''sort of'' a historical one: What if, instead of going to prison and getting executed, Himura Kenshin [[note]]AKA Kawakami Gensai[[/note]] began to wander Japan after the Bakumatsu to try and atone for all the death he caused? And what if he eventually had to face down his past, personified in [[AxCrazy Udo Jin-E]] [[note]]Okada Izo[[/note]], Saito Hajime, Shishio Makoto [[note]]AKA Kirino Toshiaki[[/note]] and the brother of his wife?
642** Alternately, what if Okubo Toshimichi's assassination was actually the responsibility of an anarchist conspiracy group, and the band of disgruntled ex-samurai merely took credit for it?
643* WithThisRing: One episode of the anime featured a man who bought a ring to propose to his loved one but then he saw her with another man, misunderstood, and threw it away. When he learned the other man was just an old friend, he tried to kill himself and that's when Sanosuke saw him. Fortunately, Sasuke recognized the ring as the one Kenshin found inside a fish he caught. Unfortunately, Megumi saw Kenshin with the ring and thought he intended to propose to Kaoru and then pushed him into giving it to her (it was the proper Japanese Holiday for this kind of thing). Until being told the story, Kenshin thought Kaoru took it as a birthday gift. When he learned the truth, he was [[OhCrap too scared]] to resemble the legendary manslayer.
644* TheWorfEffect: Sanosuke often suffers from this in anime filler to show how tough the bad guys are. He lost to Saitou and Shishio in the manga to build them up as bigger threats to Kenshin but is otherwise a valuable ally who wins most of his fights via brute strength and sheer determination.
645%%* WorldOfBadass
646* WorthyOpponent: Saitou Hajime, Shinomori Aoshi, and even Shishio fit this trope to some extent.
647* WrestlerInAllOfUs: In the live-action movie, Sano busts out a dropkick and a couple of German Suplexes.
648* WrittenByTheWinners: A major theme deals with what it's like to be on the wrong side of history. Saitou fought on the losing side of the revolution and was forced to watch his country be taken over by the people who killed his comrades. Kenshin fought on the winning side but now questions if he did the right thing.
649* XMarksTheHero: Kenshin's the [[TropeCodifier poster child]] of this trope (and the page image for it, to boot). The cross-shaped scar is associated with him so utterly that other characters with this scar are regularly accused of ripping the idea from him, [[OlderThanTheyThink even if they predate him by years]]. Unlike many examples, though, Kenshin's scar is [[spoiler:from two separate incidents]].
650* YamatoNadeshiko: Tsubame will likely be one when she grows up; she's still a flower bud in the main narrative. Tomoe is described as 'elegant and educated' and at the time was arranging flowers. [[spoiler:Adult Kaoru in both the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue and the second OVA]] could also count.
651** Tomoe is a deconstruction, since her reserved and soft-spoken behavior caused her a huge problem: [[spoiler:Not being able to show her love for her boyfriend Kiyosato, who then went off to Tokyo to make a name for himself and make her happier once he was famous. As we know, he ended up dead under Kenshin's blade]].
652* YouTasteDelicious: Shishio bites a chunk of flesh out of Kenshin to demonstrate that he's dead serious about his philosophy: The weak are food for the strong. He claims that Kenshin tastes terrible, though.
653* ZenSurvivor: Oibore. Kenshin transitions from ShellShockedVeteran to this, eventually. He developed his own philosophy about fighting and struggle and such.
654[[/folder]]

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