Rasetsumaru

Samurai Shodown VI. Design by Takkun.

### Weapon(s)

Yōtō - Torikabuto (妖刀・屠痢兜) - *Demon Sword: Slaughtering Diarrheal Beetle*, a bloodied katana.

### Fighting style

Satsujin Yoku ni Kiwamete Chūjitsu (殺人欲にきわめて忠実) - *One Style Exceedingly Faithful to Homicidal Urges*.

### When you feel at peace:

*"When I crush a slain victim's heart in my hand."*

### First appearance

*Samurai Shodown V*

"*Yeeeah! Broke you down!*"
—Rasetsumaru, *Samurai Shodown V* victory phrase.
**Rasetsumaru** (羅刹丸, *Rasetsumaru*?) is a character and minor antagonist from the Samurai Shodown series first featured in the 2003 game *Samurai Shodown V*. Although he looks very similar to Haohmaru, both are very different entities and unrelated, but in terms of gameplay and personality Rasetsumaru acts as an obvious evil counterpart.

## Overview

### Concept

During the development of *Samurai Shodown II* the series's artist Eiji Shiroi commented that some of his sketches included a dark, "evil" version of the protagonist Haohmaru, with a design that looks rougher and more aggressive.

When SNK released *Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage* the BUST version of Haohmaru finally depicts a cold-blooded version of the character, with a serious and ruthless personality.

During the development of *Samurai Shodown V* the team at Yuki Enterprise had the idea to bring back an evil Haohmaru as part of the increased roster of characters inspired by older BUST versions, as compensation for the lack of the Technique feature, creating new animations to Haohmaru's sprites and adding a color palette-swap.

His name includes the chinese characters 羅刹, which are readed as "Rasetsu" in japanese. Such name comes from Rakshasa, a mythological being in Hindu mythology typically associated with cannibalism and bloodlust.

The title of his Demon Sword reads as Torikabuto (屠痢兜トリカブト, *Torikabuto*?). The first chinese character 屠 comes from *Tú* (slaughter, pronouncing *To* in japanese), 痢 is *Lì* and means dysentery (pronunced *Ri* in japanese), and the character 兜 refers to the Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles, known in Japan as Kabutomushi (カブトムシ, *helm insect*?). Also the name of this sword is a Japanese homophone/pun on the Japanese name for the azure monkshood, a toxic plant that shares his skin's color.

### Appearance

In *Samurai Shodown V* Rasetsumaru wears an outfit with a design quite similar to Haohmaru's, but looking a bit sloppy. The white colors in Haohmaru's original costume are now bluish gray. His hair looks messy but keeping the same hairstyle as Haohmaru, and the skin is purple. His eyes are completely red, as well the blade of his katana, the Demon Sword: Slaughtering Diarrheal Beetle.

Because his mood is angry all the time, he always keeps showing his teeth, either as a sign of anger or perverse joy.

### Personality

In terms of personality, he is extremely ferocious and brutal, who prefers to crush the heart of the people he slays. His words and actions are often vulgar and violent. He is a sadistic and savage bloodthirsty demon who only cares about killing. Not only loves inflicting pain on others but also loves feeling pain himself as shown in his animation when is selected or when perform the special move Death Curse.

## Storyline

### Biography

* **Samurai Shodown V:** *"The evil alter-ego born from the soul of Haohmaru. He believes he'll become complete after he eats the heart of Haohmaru, once he succeeds in slaying his literal "better half". His quest to find Haohmaru continues."*

### Background

Some years before the first canonical game in the series (*SamSho V*), when Amakusa was revived by the Demon God Ambrosia the doors that links the Demon and Human worlds were unstable, so Rasetsumaru took the opportunity to escape to the Human World. Free to do what he pleases, Rasetsumaru begins his murder spiral terrorizing entire towns and travelers, wandering through Japan to find and fight against worth opponents in order to kill them and take out their hearts. He never clean the blade of his sword, so it turns into a crimson color from the dried blood of his victims.

### *Samurai Shodown V*

One day he hears about an experienced swordsman named Haohmaru which, people say, who looks very similar to him. So Rasetsumaru sets the goal of find this Haohmaru, rip out and devour his heart to absorb his vital essence, so become even more powerful.

While the Hinowa rebellion broke out, Rasetsumaru was in Yamashiro attacking some thugs, and one of them gives him information about Haohmaru's whereabouts in order to be forgiven, pointing towards the land of Hinowa. Rasetsumaru is very excited to feel that is close to his sworn rival, and after receiving this information he kills the poor man.

Unfortunately for him, was unable to find Haohmaru during the revolt, but that did not interrupt his relentless search. A year later he arrives at a temple, first defeating a monk and, unexpectedly, encountering Haohmaru himself in front of him. To his surprise it was just an illusory trick, and this person turned out to be a bhikkhunī with the face covered. Willing to kill her for tricking him, Rasetsumaru lunges at her, but the bhikkhunī has the upper hand, decapitating him in a single move. Awakening back at the Demon World his head makes a small smile, assuring that he has found "another game", adding a new rival to his to-do list.

### *Samurai Shodown VI*

In this sequel set on an alternate line Rasetsumaru has "put" his head again, and while continuing to chase Haohmaru to fulfill his ultimate goal, he also develops a vendetta against Yumeji. At the end of the tournament he is able to defeat Haohmaru, and also provokes him by threatening Oshizu's life. Desperate, weakened, and helpless, Haohmaru is hitted by Rasetsumaru's Destructive Whirlwind, ultimately killing him off-screen.

During the epilogue, everybody at Gozen were murderer, included Haohmaru. Rasetsumaru unleashes all his madness by killing hundreds of innocents (including women and children). The terror that he sowed in the world was so legendary, that it began to be called Demon Rakshasa (悪魔羅刹, *Akuma Rasetsu*?).

### Powers and abilities

Rasetsumaru is a quite undisciplined and violent swordsman, starting with his unorthodox battle stance, holding his sword with only his right hand, demonstrating the confidence he has in his abilities and how much he underestimates his rivals, only carrying his sword with both hands when moving, jumping, or executing his special attacks. Most of his experience and fighting style relies on his primitive killing instinct.

His basic Slash/Kick attacks and speed movement are almost the same as Haohmaru, so Rasetsumaru could be considered as a slightly easy character to start using but, on the other hand, it has a somewhat small and limited list of moves available compared to his "good counterpart", possessing special attacks with a clear inclination towards close combat, while Medium or Strong Slash are a good alternative to attack from distance.

His main Special Move is the **Cyclone Homicide Slash**, a variation of Haohmaru's classic Cyclone Slash, with the characteristic that the windswirl rises up following a diagonal direction, disappearing in the air (the distance depends on the intensity of the Slash). His "dragon punch" is a move called **Calm Blade**, whose operation contrasts too much with Rasetsumaru's brave personality because he does not make any movement with his sword and only adopts a posture waiting to be attacked by the opponent to execute a counter attack. Another special moves previously performed by BUST Haohmaru are the **Destructive Whirlwind** and the physical attack **Sword Shockwave**.

A special move completely new and exclusive for Rasetsumaru is the **Death Curse**. After wounding himself with his sword the Rage Gauge fills up automatically, but in return he loses a portion of his life bar.

## Techniques

### Special Moves

* Cyclone Homicide Slash
* Calm Blade
* Destructive Whirlwind
* Sword Shockwave
* Death Curse

### Super Special Moves

* Supremely Furious Slash
* Power Roar

## Catch Copy

Rasetsumaru doesn't have a character slogan.

## Voice Actor

* Tsuguo Mogami (*V, V Special/Perfect*)
* Shinsuke Fukui (*VI*)

## Game Appearances

* *Samurai Shodown V*
* *Samurai Shodown V Special*
* *Samurai Shodown V Perfect*
* *Samurai Shodown VI*
* *Samurai Spirits ~Kengou Hachiban Shoubu~*

### Mobile Appearances

* *Samurai Shodown Online*
* *Samurai Shodown Tenkadaiichi Kenkakuden*

### Cameo Appearances

* Soulcalibur VI - His fourth outfit gives him a black outfit and white hair, resembling a Malfested version of himself, possibly loosely based on his Bust variation, Rasetsumaru.

## Subpages

* Rasetsumaru Gallery
* Quotes