斎藤一
Nobuhiro Watsuki based Saitō Hajime on the actual historic figure of the same name who was the captain of the third squad of the Shinsengumi in the Meiji era. Watsuki altered the character to a higher degree than the other historic figures who appear in "Rurouni Kenshin" since the character Saitō has a greater role in the story than the other characters. In the development of "Rurouni Kenshin" Watsuki planned for Saitō to be a "dirty" hero who maintains his "Swift Death to Evil" policy and does not become friendly with Kenshin's group, being rather aloof to them. Hajime has no specific model for his design. Since Watsuki intended for the character Saitō to be a villain, he made the character's face "villain-ish."