Characters / Genzo

Good Guys

Genzo Tsujimura

The main hero of the manga, is a puppetmaster of great skill, capable of creating and assembling puppets so perfect that they're almost alive. After the death of his beloved wife Saki he has lost any will to live, and now is trying to build a puppet of her, so that he'll be able to commit suicide along with it and join Saki. However, the time passed with Kiku and Otsuru mellows him a bit.

• Artificial Human: His puppets. When they're not turning into giant, tentacled masses of flesh.
• Big Damn Heroes: In the last story he gathers all his tricks and goes to rescue Kiku from the evil Yasuke.
• Combat Pragmatist: Deception is his strong suit.
• Combat Tentacles: Some of his puppets can grow flesh tentacles to bind and suffocate his victims.
• Crazy-Prepared: He seems to keep around puppets for many uses frequently. Partly justified, as he's always seen with a huge wardrobe-like box on his back where he keeps his instruments.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Get himself stabbed in the gut by Kiku in order to free her from the Yamiganemaru sword, and then trew it in a huge fire behind him. Subverted in that he managed to survive somehow.
• I See Dead People: Can see ghosts and wisp fires.
• Ignore the Fanservice: He usually cares only about the "inner beauty" of a woman, and doesn't hesitate to call a pretty lady ugly.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Aloof, rude, antisocial and at times downright scary, he does have a good heart. Best seen in the second volume, where he plans to use the puppet of a (dead) Daimyo he was tasked to build to throw his greedy subjects into disarray and chaos, only to desist when the girl of the week pleads him.
• Marionette Master: Genzo Tsujimura was trained to make and manipulate mechanical puppets made of flesh and gears with such skill they appear to be alive.
• Mr. Fanservice: Most of the time is not apparent, but Genzo is a good-looking man. Best seen when he appears with his hair down wearing only underwear, which causes Kiku to freak out.
• Out of the Inferno: He apparently vanishes in a crumbling tower of fire, but he managed to survive that.
• Pet the Dog: His treatment of Otsuru.
• Scars Are Forever: From volume 2 onward, he misses a chunk of his ear, courtesy of Koushiro's doll.
• Single-Target Sexuality: He loved only Saki. By the end he managed to open his heart to Kiku.
• Slasher Smile: When he gets interested in a job.

• Wife Husbandry: Genderflippedy: he was raised by Koshiro to be Saki's husband.

Kiku Nagashima

The young and tomboyish princess of Kamigawa, Kiku meets Genzo when she employ his service in order to avoid a forced marriage with her Evil Uncle Genba. Later she becomes infatuated with Genzo and follows him around. She's a skilled swordswoman, trained by her own father from a young age.

• Anguished Declaration of Love: Not exactly love but she does eventually ask Genzo to marry her.

• Badass in Distress: Rarely. Expecially glaring in the last act when she's held hostage by Yasuke.

• Berserk Button: Don't call her ugly of flat-chested.
• Demonic Possession: She's briefly possessed by the Yamiganemaru.
• Dual Wielding: The traditional Daisho combo of swords.
• Genius Bruiser: She's quite clever and often figures out several mysteries by herself.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: How she takes out Marukobashi and his crony... while both guys where rushing her, swords readied.
• Kissing Cousins: In the very beginning she was about to marry her cousin Tatsumaru.
• Raised as the Opposite Gender: Sort of. As she was the only child of the Daimyo, he decided to grow her as a strong, powerful leader.
• Rebellious Princess: She'd rather walk the countryside and hang around with Genzo rather than care to administer her fiefdom. Eventually dropped in the last arc, where she finally decides to make Kamigawa prosper.
• Stalker with a Crush: She often daydreams about her and Genzo, and hope she could spend "some time" alone with him.

• Tyke Bomb: Revealed in the last story that her father trained her hard in order to make sure that she'll destroy the Yamiganemaru.
• Watch Out for That Tree!: She run face-first into a wall after asking Genzo to marry her.

Otsuru

A young girl from a village ruled by a former bandit, she had her hand cut and degraded to a feral state in order to protect the treasure of her foster father. She was fred and adopted by Genzo and eventually followed him around everywhere. She has a curved blade instead of her right hand.

• Action Girl: Being raised by a bandit and spending a large amount of time as a wild murderous beast does this to you.
• Animal Motifs: Birds, in her case a crane.
• Badass Adorable
• Blade Below the Shoulder: She has a curved, sickle-like blade instead of her right arm.
• Covert Pervert: She used to openly stare at Kiku when she was about to kiss Genzo.
• Dual Wielding: Her hook-hand and a small knife.
• Full-Frontal Assault: During her first appearence as "The Monster".
• Hulk Speak: Used most of the time. She revert to a normal speech pattern during the last story.
• Lovable Rogue: She adores to steal food from farmers and fishermen.
• Made of Iron: That girl has a great stamina, and gets involved in nasty battles often.
• Murderous Thighs: Used once to knock out a spy.

Kagari

A character introduced in volume 2, she's the daughter of Ukyo Kunikanehide, a master swordsmith serving the Nagashima house who was killed by the monk Kyokai. After her introduction she's always seen around Kiku serving as her humble handmaiden. During the 3rd and fourth volumes she's able to read the Journal of Father Floris, revealing some secrets about the Urakami family.

• Skintone Sclerae: Oddly she's the only character who sports them.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Kiku's tomboy.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: The humble handmaiden who is seen wielding a spear during Yasuke's raid.

Fuyu Momose

Daughter of Tatsugoro Momose, owner of a great saltern and former architect of castles. She's involved in the struggle between Genzo and Koshiro after witnessing the apparent death of her father.

• Ambiguously Brown: Like Yoruichi. However, considering that she does work in a saltern she could just be tanned.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Her own father Tatsugoro, for faking his death and hiding his past.
• Face Fault: Once when Genzo bluntly states that she was his reward for faking Tatsugoro's death.=

Chiyomaru Tsukuda / Kiyone Urakami

The young heir of the Tsukuda family, a clan serving the former Urakami clan, is a pretty-looking boy who fights to protect the coast from pirates. Revealed to be actually Kiyone Urakami, the last Urakami and key to the treasure left behind by her family.

• Angst: Considering that She had to live for about 15 years as a boy, this could be justified.
• Damsel in Distress: In Volume 4 she's tied and has a bag on her back containing a flask of oil and one of gunpowder.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Even Genzo admitted that he was beautiful and shapeful. Justified when we find out that he's actually a real woman.

• Scars Are Forever: As a baby, her father tried to save her from a burning ship, but she was scarred all over her body by the flames.
• Taking You with Me: She tackles Kurojishi off a boat in order to save an unconscious Genzo. Too bad he survives and capture her.

Bad Guys

Genba Horinouchi

Kiku's villainous uncle who poisoned her cousin and future husband Tatsumaru so that she'll be forced to marry him instead.

• Attempted Rape: On her own niece Kiku!
• Blood Knight: He's said to be incredibly skilled in battle and Genzo sees a horde of howling spirits surrounding him.

• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a large scar on his left eyebrow.
• Oh, Crap!: When he sees Tatsumaru's puppet. And a even bigger one when Kiku's puppet turns into a gigantic blob of tentacled flesh and wrap him up.

Kyokai

A large and strong warrior Monk who likes to collect swords and loathes the modern warfare. After discovering that Ukyo Kanekunihide, the Nagashima swordsmith, forged a fake Samoji sword for the Taiko Hideyoshi and kept the real one, he steals the sword and blackmail both him and the Nagashima clan.

• Badass Normal: Can easly beat Kiku without breaking a sweat.
• Epic Flail: His weapon is a ludicrously big Kanabo, with a retractable Chigiriki (flail) hidden in the handle.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: His love for swords prevents him from parrying Kiku's attack with the Samoji Swords, as his strength would have ruined it.
• Motive Rant: Gives one to Kiku while curp-stomping her.

• Wicked Cultured: He's an expert of swords and used to drop by Kanekunihide to admire his handiwork.

Koshiro Honebami

Saki's elder brother, he's the man who adopted Genzo in order to serve as heir of the Tsujimura puppetmasters, while he'll get fame by working with the samurais. He appears in Volume 2 where he tries to murder Genzo for letting Saki die.

• Aloof Big Brother: Averted in the flashbacks, where it's shown he was a cordial big brother to both Saki and Genzo. In the present, on the other hand...
• Berserk Button: Goes from surprised to apeshit when Genzo tries to calm him using Saki's puppet.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely loves Saki, though according to Genzo he's not realizing that if he kills Genzo, he'll make Saki unhappy.

• Heel–Face Turn: When Saki's puppet briefly comes to life and begs him to simply be happy.
• Marionette Master: Maybe even better than Genzo.
• People Puppets: He uses his strings to capture Kiku and use her as a marionette.
• Pet the Dog: When he adopted Genzo. We also gets to see that he was kind and friendly to both Saki and Genzo.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Tried to kill Kiku's guards with an armored marionette filled with explosive.
• Uncanny Valley Make Up: Wears Guyliner which does a lot to make him appear sinister and otherwordly.
• Unusual Ears: His are pointy, like those of an elf.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He literally disappears after being calmed down by Saki's ghost.
• You Killed My Father: You Let My Little Sister Die variant.

Kurojishi

A large man wearing a huge Koma-Inu mask and probably a pirate leader. He's serving Maria Kurusu. Appears to be a very resilient and powerful man, though he often falls for Genzo's trickery.

• Berserk Button: He really gets mad at Genzo after he made a fool of him in front of Maria.
• Butt-Monkey: The sheer number of times when he's caught in an explosion is utterly hilarious.

• Implacable Man: Seriously, it takes a lot to slow this guy down.
• Made of Iron: He did managed to survive a lot of explosions.

• No Body Left Behind: He's finally done for good when he gets tied to a puppet of Chiyomaru ready to explode in the middle of a burning ship. He can't be deader than that!
• Oh, Crap!: When the apparently wounded Genzo rise up... with a puppet mask identical to the explosive one which got him earlier.

• The Unreveal: Whe never get to see how he looks like under his mask.

Maria Kurusu

Leader of the Kurusu clan, she's a strong willed half-portuguese woman who's plotting to overthrow Hideyoshi using a giant warship, and intends to recover the Urakami treasure in order to achieve her goal.

• An Arm and a Leg: Loses a hand to Kohayamaru, Kiyone's wholphin pet.
• Bad Boss: Seen whipping and insulting her men when they fail.
• Big Bad: The most notable one, as her arc is extended to two whole volumes.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Possibly because she's half westerner, she has noticeable eyebrows.
• But Not Too Foreign: Half Portuguese.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Her huge breasts are implied to be the reason why the Westerner-fearing Hideyoshi left a half-Portuguese woman in charge of the area. Angrily lampshaded by Kiku, who remarks that "that old pervert fell for it again!"
• Evil Red Head: She's the most dangerous and ambitious villain of the story, and has fiery red hair.
• From No Body To Nightmare: Since her father's death she was forced to live in misery, as a peasant. Then, a mysterious man delivered her money and evidence of the Urakami Treasure, as well as means for her rise to power, power she plans to use to take down the Toyotomi and conquer Japan.
• Genre Savvy: After Genzo's first intrusion she orders her soldiers to not wear helmets so that he won't be disguised as one of them. She didn't predict the possibility of Genzo disguising himself as Kuroshiji, who's always masked.
• Jerkass: She's extremely callous, rude and nasty to everyone.
• Made of Iron: She has her right arm ripped by a wholphin but when she recovers she's still strong enough to skewer an adult man on a pike.
• Of Corsets Sexy: She constantly wears a black, revealing corset which compliments her statuesque bust.
• Sexy Heroes Chaste Villains: Downplayed. She's a strong, big-breasted, domineering Evil Redhead woman with a black corset and a Whip of Dominance, and although he's not (strictly) a hero even outside of the narrative, she's also bent on overthrowing Hideyoshi, who's otherwise the closest thing to Big Good due to his welfare policies. That, and he's drawn with attractive anthropoid features.
• Take Over the World: Her goal is to kill Hideyoshi during his campaign against Korea and turn the Japan into a Portuguese colony with her as ruler.
• Taking You with Me: Tries to blow up everyone during her Villainous Breakdown.
• Ungrateful Bitch: Even After being saved by Kiyone and Genzo she still tries to kill them.
• Villain Has a Point: When Kiyone tries to stop her from talking ill of her father, Urakami Matazaemon, she furiously retorts that the Matazaemon she misses so much had her Portuguese father killed in an ambush to favor his smuggling with the Spaniards and she was forced to spend her entire early life in misery.
• Villainous Breakdown: When she finds out that the Urakami treasure is actually a way to produce gunpowder.
• Whip of Dominance: She carries a leather whip that helps to compliment her callous and domineering nature. She's shown to be extremely proficient with it, using it to discipline and intimidate her men and as a weapon in combat.

Yasuke

An old and wicked bandit leader who owns a legendary cursed sword called Yamiganemaru ("Metal Ring of Darkness") who was limped in battle by Kiku's father and since then plotted revenge on the Nagashima clan. He asks for an artificial leg to Genzo and after he's able to walk he tries to kill the puppet master and goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Kiku. He's eventually disarmed by Otsuru and impaled by his own sword wielded by Kiku.

• An Arm and a Leg: When he fought Kiku's father, he ended up losing a leg and left for the mountains, swearing revenge.
• Ax-Crazy: A murderous psychopath who claims that he only listens to his own sword and indulges into killing urges.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Making him creepy.

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Possibly because it's cursed. Most notably, it managed to leave a deep gash in Kiku's father's iron armor.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Especially one fueled by the grudge-filled souls of its victims.
• Evil Weapon: Is possessed by the wraiths of those who died forging it.
• Demonic Possession: Does this to those who wield it.

• Combat Pragmatist: Hides himself in Genzo's backpack to deliver a mean sneak attack on Kiku.

• Game Face: At first appears as a perfectly normal, kind old man with Eyes Always Shut. His default face however is completely different.
• The Heavy: Turns out he was the reason why Kiku's father forced her to train with the sword since infancy and caused Kiku's mother to fell ill and die. Upon learning this, Kiku is determinated to find him and end him herself.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Possessed!Kiku impales him with his own cursed katana after telling him that he failed to the sword.
• The Power of Hate: He claims that costant hatred and endless grudge kept him well-fed and sharp in the wilderness.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Against the Nagashima clan for invading his mountains.
• Shrouded in Myth: Nothing is known of Yasuke's past, only that he suddenly appeared when Kiku's father was fighting bandits on the nearby mountains and fought him until he lost a leg, swearing revenge.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Genzo made a new leg for him, and in returns he tries to shank him.

Others

Seibei Tsujimura

Genzo's old teacher and Saki's father.

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Never seen again after the second volume.

• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Seen in the flashback.
• Marionette Master: A retired Puppet master.

Saki

Genzo's deceased wife. She appears through the series as a ghost. She also animate Saki's incomplete marionette to save him from Koshiro.

• Family-Unfriendly Death: Details are scarce, but apparently her head was cleaved.
• Heroic Sacrifice: To save Genzo from Koshiro and stop their fight.

Suguroku Tsukuda

Chiyomaru's adoptive father, he was a vassal of the local warlord Mataemon Urakami before his death in a fire. He asks Genzo to build a puppet of Chiyomaru in order to fake "his" death and so reveal back Kiyone. He's eventually captured by Maria Kurusu's men, as he know the secret of the Urakami treasure. In the end he's revealed to have been behind the events leading to Mataemon's death and betrays the group, only to get killed by Maria.

• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: By Maria, when she finds out that he manipulated her too.

• Secret-Keeper: Knows Chiyomaru's true identity and knows that the Treasure of the Urakami is actually a written method about how to produce gunpowder.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He was afraid of Matazaemon's idea about producing gupowder and in general his nefarious plots, so he ended up burning the ship he was on.

Gotsuden Characters

Oshizu

A young and plucky girl who writes horror and supernatural stories for a kawaraban ^note Old japanese newspaper written on a tile. She get's involved in Kenjiro's investigations.

• Break the Cutie: She's almost raped and quartered by Denzaemon. She survives the experience and retains her high spirits though.
• Expy: She's surprisingly similar to Pai.
• Genki Girl: She's very lively and energetic, and even boldly asks Kenjiro if he's a heroic warrior on a quest to vanquish an evil sword.
• Going for the Big Scoop: She's trying to find a great story to write.
• Plucky Girl: She's determinated to investigate the house of a powerful lord to get her scoop.

Kenjiro Ootsuki

A grim, wandering samurai looking for a cursed blade. He's the son of Terumitsu Ootsuki, a great swordsmith. Wields a powerful and famed katana named Gotsumaru (Way of Karma).

• Agent Scully: Downplayed, though when Oshizu asks him if he's undertaking a quest to destroy the "demon sword", he stoically replies that there are not such a thing as demon swords before leaving.
• Big Damn Heroes: Arrives just in time to save Oshizu.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Large, grim-looking warrior with two swords and prone to Death Glares ? He's the hero.

Kenjiro:"Congratulations for the carefuly chosen words..."

• It's Personal: His father asked him to set on a quest to find and destroy his cursed weapon, the Jintsumaru Tenganken.
• Made of Iron: Takes a flying sword to the chest and doesn't even budge. Justified, as a katana isn't made to be thrown and thus can't leave serious wounds.

• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to Denzaemon, pointing out that he's just using the sword's dark reputation as an excuse for his own murderous istinct.

Denzaemon Kogure

Big Bad of the Gotsuden short story. He's a vassal of the Daimyo. He's murdering women in a satanic ritual in hope of using black magic to grant a heir to his master.

• Big Bad: He's the bad guy of the story, behind the murders.
• Dirty Old Man: When he captures Oshizu he gropes her in the groin, commenting on her being still virgin, before trying to use the Jintsumaru to... fatally deflorate her.
• Evil Weapon: Jintsumaru Tenganken, a blade which is said to have powers over illusions. Subverted by Kenjiro, who claims that demon swords do not exists and speculates that the sword's reputation causes its owner to perform evil acts, convinced that it's the sword's evilness doing the job.
• Gonk: While he's costantly wearing a goat mask, we see a little of his face when Kenjiro bifurcates him, and he's no looker.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Is cleaved in half by Kenjiro.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Actually subverted: he throw a large, generic katana to his enemies, forcing them to parry, and then attack them with the Jintsumaru hidden under his cloak to kill them. The thrown sword itself isn't very dangerous: when Kenjiro's hit in the chest the blade's tip barely penetrate his sternum.
• Jack The Rip Off: Goes around murdering prostitutes and gutting them.
• Large Ham: Lampshaded and mocked by Kenjiro.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He claims that his murders are part of a western Black Magic to allow his lord to have an heir.