Hiko Seijuro

Hiko Seijūrō XIII (比古 清十郎 十三代, Hiko Seijūrō Jūsandai) is Himura Kenshin's master and the overarching protagonist in the anime/manga series Rurouni Kenshin. As a potter, he uses the assumed name of Ni'itsu Kakunoshin.
==History==
The thirteenth successor to the sword art of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryuu, Hiko Seijuurou saved young Shinta from marauding bandits who killed his companions. Hiko then took care of Shinta, and renamed him Kenshin ("Heart of Sword") after claiming that Shinta was not a good name for a swordsman. He became angry and disappointed with Kenshin, because he ran away to join the rebellion against the Tokugawa regime. He shut himself away from the rest of the world; he lives as a potter close to the forest near Kyoto. In Seisouhen/Reflection, he also realizes that the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryuu no longer seems relevant in the changing world, as he remarks to Yahiko: "The only thing that doesn't seem to change is the moon." Hiko is perhaps the strongest swordsman around; he is far superior even to Kenshin. Although the two are comparable in speed, Hiko possesses a superior sense of judgement in combat and the superhuman strength (hidden, and even suppressed, underneath his heavy cloak) to wield Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu to its maximum. After fifteen years, master and student meet once more. It is then that Kenshin will complete his training, if Kenshin can survive Hiko's ego. The cloak is not only distinctive for all Hiten Mitsurugi masters, but it also serves to strengthen them in peacetime. Even when conflict is not at the door, Hiko remains in training just by wearing it, as it is composed of several heavy materials that weigh him down and force him to work out because of counter-springs with pressure of around 37.5 kilograms. Watsuki mentions in the manga that he based the billowy capes' image on Spawn of Image Comics by Todd McFarlane (the size of the collar pieces was reduced in the anime). The name Hiko Seijuro is in fact a title granted to each succeeding master of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryuu. Since Hiko Seijuurou II, each new master has discarded his own name in favor of the name of the creator of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryuu. As Kenshin declines to take the name "Hiko Seijuurou XIV", his master is the last man ever to be known as Hiko Seijuurou.
==Personality==
Hiko is shown to be very sarcastic, egotistical and a punishing taskmaster, often referring to Kenshin as "my stupid/idiot apprentice," and bringing up embarrasing incidents in Kenshin's past to provoke him into training harder. Kenshin describes his personality as "crude, cruel, and hateful." He dislikes socialization, and in order to avoid having to work with people, he makes his living as a pottery artist alone on a mountain (a profession that he is reported to excel at). He also comes off as somewhat lazy, professing to have retrained Kenshin to save himself the bother of dealing with Shishio, and complaining about protecting Kenshin's friends. Despite this rough exterior, he has a deep sense of responsibility to Kenshin and those he protects in the rare cases when he does get involved. Hiko also shows a surprising amount of warmth towards Kenshin when he thinks Kenshin's mortally wounded him and later talks and fights Fuji out of being a member of the villainous Juppongatana.
==Abilities==
Hiko is the most powerful swordsman in the series; a deus ex machina - vastly superior to Kenshin, Saito, Shishio, Enishi, and Aoshi. In fact, during Kenshin's second training, Kenshin strikes at Hiko with his "entire body and soul" at one point (devoting so much attention that he fails to land properly and passes out), and only manages to graze one of Hiko's bracers (possibly because he was using a sakabatō). Although the two are comparable in speed when Hiko suppresses his true strength beneath his 90-kilogram cloak, Hiko possesses a superior sense of judgement in combat and the superhuman strength (hidden, and even suppressed, underneath his heavy cloak) to wield Hiten Mitsurugi Ryū to its maximum. Even though Hiko is 43 years old, he looks as if he were in his late twenties, looking the same as he did in a flashback to when he was only in his 20's. When Hiko told Yahiko and Misao his real age (43), the two were shocked and pondered if Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is some sort of fountain of youth (as Kenshin, despite being about twenty-eight, looks as if he were in his late teens). Additionally, it is revealed late in the series that an abnormally muscular physique is in fact necessary to use the Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu safely. As it turns out, the Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu puts so much strain on a body that, if one does not possess a powerful musculature, the massive strain caused by moving so quickly eventually build up to the point that even a master eventually becomes unable to use the style at its full power, and perhaps even become unable to wield a sword ever again. Thus, Hiko is able to use the style without suffering its debilitating side effects.
Hiko does not hold back when he fights, is supremely analytical in combat, understands the nature of his opponents, and is at peak physical condition. Kamiya Kaoru stated that a master swordsman of Hiko's caliber makes his sword a barrier of sorts, stating that if one were to enter this barrier, Hiko would defeat them instantly. Nobuhiro Watsuki has mentioned in character notes that he is comparable to the Joker in a deck of cards because he is so powerful. As such, he ended up being difficult to include in the story because he could simply solve Kenshin's problems with little effort, and because finding opponents for him would be difficult without overshadowing Kenshin's own opponents. Due to this, his only fight in the series is with the giant Fuji, another "Joker" card that defeated Kyoto's entire police force single handedly, but was not involved in the story in a narrivite sense. Thus Hiko does not appear except in flashbacks once the Kyoto arc finishes, though he is featured in the OVA series and Watsuki has stated that he wished he could have used Hiko more often.
Hiko's weapon is a shirasaya nihonto(a katana with a wooden sheath and hilt).
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