A list of characters appearing in Masatoshi Kawahara's Shura no Toki, sorted by their appearances in the manga. Names are in Western order.
Mutsu Clan
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General
- Badass Boast: "Mutsu knows no defeat in our thousand-year history." Or a variation of that.
- Badass Family: What do you expect? The entire storyline is about retelling their hidden influences on historical events. None of the clan members can be considered weak, and they exclusively (and stubbornly) fight with only barehanded combat even against ever-evolving weaponry and techniques.
- Been There, Shaped History: The premise of the manga. A secret clan of martial artists who help, kill, change, and influence the history as we know it.
- Big Eater: Shared with the men, and we can assume the girls are too if they're trained just as hard (like Hazuki and Shizuru). The degree this is used as comic relief varies between the arcs.
- Lightning Bruiser: Relative to the other 'normal' people around them. It's worth nothing some characters mark themselves as some of the weaker members of the clan, though that's not saying much when facing inexhaustible number of goons.
- Oblivious to Love: Completely averted. The enhanced senses most Mutsu attained through their training see through the opposite sex's hearts just as easily. It could also be attributed to their general blunt mannerisms and attitude in a more reserved society.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Most fathers/mothers have a sink-or-swim mentality for their children. Justified in-story by the need to have their children survive the outside world with their traditional techniques.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Masatoshi Kawahara's art style borders on Only Six Faces, so it's inevitable a near-continuous, unbroken family line will get this treatment naturally. In-story, it's almost invoked by the way they dress: white gi and purple pants for the men, purple/pink robes for women.
Yakumo Mutsu
Yakumo on Volume 01's cover
A carefree, cloud-like wanderer. He lives in the early Tokugawa period, going from job to job just to fill his insatiable belly.
- Babies Ever After: He had Takato from Shiori by the time his arc's over.
- Bare-Handed Blade Block: In the manga, he did a more realistic version of this on one of the Yagyuu swordsman. In the anime, however, he simply redirected the sword blade-first onto the ground, snapping it using a combined force of his and his opponent's.
- Big Eater: A trait shared by his ancestors and descendants. However, compared to him, this trait of theirs is played less for laughs, making his comic relief eating scenes more of an exaggeration. It even turned into a plot point when Yukihime bribed him to defect to her service with seven days worth of non-stop supply of food, since he's usually so poor he dines-and-dashes frequently.
- Brutal Honesty: Let's see... Hugging a girl out of nowhere and smelling her, before comparing their scents. Outright saying the same girl's pretty right after he watched her bathe (not peek; literally watched). In a more serious manner, he didn't held back when analyzing his opponents and himself, too. In fact, he set up this trait for the rest of the manga to follow.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Downplayed, when he used Mukuuha in his duel against Musashi. His descendant, Tsukumo (from Shura no Mon), greatly injured his arm when using it and forcing it into a sling for a prolonged period of time, but Yakumo was merely winded.
- Lightning Bruiser: Downplayed. Yes, he's fast, but Musashi matched him quite well in their duel. Against other Mooks, though, this is played straight - kicking someone fast enough normal onlookers couldn't even see what's going on and hard enough it one-shot said opponent.
- Riches to Rags: Implied. His ancestors owned a mountain during the Heian era. In land-strapped Japan, this makes Kiichi at least a local landlord. Now, Yakumo can barely scrap day-to-day by doing miscellaneous work, eating rice and barley in shoddy teahouses (frequently running without paying, too). His future wife, Shiori, is also an impoverished princess after her family fell from grace.
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: Subverted. Yes, he's attracted to Shiori, but he sees through her male disguise in an instant. It earned him a slap.
Izumi Mutsu
Izumi on Volume 03's cover
A mysterious man who shows up suddenly in Shinsengumi's dojo, eager to challenge the swordsmen there.
Azuma Mutsu
Azuma on Volume 04's cover
A young man stranded in America's wild frontier, who inadvertently find himself brought into a Native American settlement.
Takato Mutsu
Kiichi Mutsu
Kiichi on Volume 07's cover
The 'demon' rumoured to inhabit the Gojo Bridge.
Shizuka Mutsu a.k.a. Shizuka Gozen
Shizuka as an adult
Shizuka as a child
Tatsumi Mutsu
Tatsumi on Volume 11's cover
An unknown man who walks right into Oda Nobunaga's troops' sumo exercise.
Torahiko & Komahiko Mutsu
Torahiko & Komahiko on Volume 12's cover (not sure which one is which)
A pair of 'demon children' who assisted Oda Nobunaga at various points of his career.
Tenpei Mutsu
Tenpei on Volume 14's cover
Sakon Mutsu
Hazuki Mutsu
Hazuki on Volume 15's cover
A beautiful young girl who defeated many warriors in the Edo period.
- Absurdly Youthful Mother: Subverted. When she conceived Hyōei, she's clearly well into the acceptable marriageable age in her era, though naturally it's a little too young for modern standards. It's her looks which makes this trope look the part.
- Brutal Honesty: Doesn't pull her verbal punches even against her father. She's this to herself, too, leading to her minor Heroic BSoD later on.
- Hates Being Called Cute: Absolutely loses her composure when Raiden implies she's weak because she's a woman. She's weak because she's weak. It has no relation to her sex.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: She has a complex regarding her inability to defeat Raiden fair and square. When he theorized there's nothing she can do because of her lighter (and thus, to him, frailer) frame as a woman, she lashes out at him, revealing even she considers she's weak. It doesn't matter if she's a woman or not - she thinks so little of herself she doesn't even want to shoulder the Mutsu surname.
- Hidden Buxom: In the manga, she hides quite the curve beneath that loose robes.
- Fragile Speedster: Compared to her father, her attacks are much faster (to the point an experienced Raiden near his peak can barely perceive them), but light. It's still enough to draw blood against Raiden, though, so her lack of power is questionable.
- Informed Flaw: According to Raiden, her lighter frame (due to being a woman) makes her attacks less lethal than her father's or her son's. However, before facing off against him, she defeated (and likely killed) numerous martial artists around the area, so this weakness is perhaps only viable from Raiden's point of view.
- Older Than She Looks: She can pass as Hyōei's younger sister when standing side-by-side with him.
Hyōei Mutsu
Shizuru Mutsu
Allies & Spouses
Shiori
A masculine young woman whose family has fallen on hard times. Accompanied by her 'grandfather', she strives to escape from an arranged marriage to an older, powerful lord.
- Damsel in Distress: Though a decent swordswoman, she's no match for well-trained goons who've been professionally practicing since they were small. Thus, she's put in this situation quite easily and often, requiring Musashi and/or Yakumo to bail her out several times.
- Riches to Rags: Much like her future husband, Yakumo, her family was rich prior to her father's death. Then it all went downhill from there.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Attempts this during the start of Yakumo's arc. It didn't last long, with even her pursuers instantly recognizing her in male clothing.
- Tomboy: Subverted. Despite her masculine clothing and general lack of care for her appearance, she's just as refined and polite in mannerism as normal girls.
Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Iori
Yukihime
Tsubura Mutsu
Tsubura on Volume 05's cover
