Mōkarō Kuze

## **Personality:**

Mōkarō was an air-headed individual who seems to constantly wander off in thought and is unable to focus on anything.

Impassive and, at times, obtuse, he tended to think only for himself and operates on logic alone, never letting emotion guide him, making him seem completely apathetic and indifferent. Despite his uncaring and unserious demeanor, he would get serious when it is required and is devoted to his position as the Demon Slayer Corps' Mist Hashira.

## **Background:**

Mōkarō was born into the **Kuze clan**, one of the many Samurai clans of feudal Japan. Mōkarō was the ninth child of the current lord Kuze and had four elder brothers and four elder sisters. His brothers were all strong and cunning warriors, while his sisters were all virtuous and diligent maidens. But Mōkarō was caught in between: he was born with an androgynous face, meaning it was quite hard to determine his gender by simply looking at his face. Unfortunately for him, he was also born with a natural memory disorder, meaning he was largely unable to remember and recollect memories. That ranged from his duties to everyday affairs, like who his brothers and sisters were, or what he had for lunch if he even had lunch. This caused him many problems and led to much of his family viewing him as a cursed child.

These views were not based on loose beliefs, however. Before Mōkarō was even born, a priestess predicted to lord Kuze that his ninth child could bring about the downfall of the Kuze clan (nine is an unlucky number in Japan).

So even if Mōkarō looked so harmless, his father still viewed him with much suspicion, fearing that the prophecy might come true. He grew even more worried when Mōkarō showed an innate talent with the sword, being able to best all his brothers in a sparring duel.

Being the Daimyo (lord) of a Samurai clan is not always a bed of roses, as the Kuze clan also had a massive rival clan bordering them: **the Tsugikuni clan**. The two clans were like fire and ice/water and their feud originated centuries past. Even though the two were not at war at the moment, they still hated each other's guts and were always looking for an opportunity to oust one another.

One day, when Mōkarō was 14, he accompanied his brothers on a falcon hunt (falconry was a popular pastime for the Samurai class). They came dangerously close to the border of Tsugikuni territory. When his brothers were busy hunting, Mōkarō suddenly got distracted by a butterfly and chased it into Tsugikuni territory. It did not take long before his brothers knew he was gone, but it was already too late. The two clans were already immensely at odds with each other, and an individual of one clan trespassing on the territory of the other clan would only worsen the tensions and probably lead to war. The brothers quickly tracked down Mōkarō and got him out of there, hoping no one saw them.

Unfortunately for them, a soldier of the Tsugikuni clan patrolling the area saw them trespassing and reported his findings to **Mitsuhiko Tsugikuni** **(継国 光彥)**, the lord of the Tsugikuni clan (AKA Yoriichi's and Michikatsu's father). Mitsuhiko was furious about the trespassing and wanted to go after them himself had it not been for his worsening health. Still, he ordered his son Michikatsu to take the Tsugikuni army and undertake a punitive expedition to the Kuze castle. Michikatsu had better things to do but obeyed anyway.

At the Kuze castle, lord Kuze was already panicking about the possible outbreak of war due to their trespassing while his sons tried to convince him otherwise to calm him down. Not long after, a guard reported that the Tsugikuni army had arrived in full force and its leader stood in front of the gates demanding an audience. Michikatsu wanted to avoid bloodshed over some trespassing but still laid out the ridiculous terms for apology gifts set by his father. One of lord Kuze's sons got angry about Michikatsu's supposed arrogant behavior, grabbed his bow, and shot Michikatsu right in his left shoulder (it would have been his head had it not been for the wind direction). Negotiations broke down and Michikatsu was escorted back to his camp.

Michikatsu refused all requests to open war between the two clans from his officers, still insisting on a peaceful solution. He decided to settle the matter with a duel, where the winner would set the terms. Once Michikatsu offered the duel to lord Kuze, his sons, overconfident that they can beat a wounded daddy's boy, agreed immediately. The duel began and Michikatsu stood alone against four of clan Kuze's best warriors. But Michikatsu was not to be underestimated. He lived for the battlefield and was like the Achilles of the time (without the fiery temper). Within minutes, Michikatsu decapitated all four of his opponents in one blow, using some sort of breathing,later called Moon Breathing. The Kuze clan lost and its territories were peacefully subjugated by the Tsugikuni forces. As a token of leniency, Michikatsu allowed lord Kuze to remain leader of his clan but was now subservient to the Tsugikuni clan. The prophecy was fulfilled.

When lord Kuze went to look for Mōkarō, he was already gone. His sisters secretly snuck him out of the castle together with their family treasure: an old sword. They did not want it to fall into Tsugikuni hands and gave it to Mōkarō, telling him to take care of it and start over somewhere else. By the time Mōkarō left, he had already forgotten about the downfall of his clan, only remembering a strange sense of guilt.

Half a year on the run and miraculously surviving later, Mōkarō was resting at a pond when a crow that had been following him flew away. Not long after, a woman and two girls appeared. By that time, Mōkarō had already forgotten everything, including his name. The woman, the wife of the Oyakata-sama, revealed that the ancestors of Kuze and Tsugikuni were both feuding demon slayers. Their feud carried over to their descendants' clans. The old nichirin sword Mōkarō now had was his ancestor's sword. Having heard that he caused the downfall of his clan, the woman recommended that he'd become a demon slayer like his ancestor to redeem himself. Mōkarō replied with a simple "Okay."

His innate talent with the sword carried over to his demon-slaying career, as he quickly rounded up dozens of kills. What was special about his fighting style was that he was never on the offensive until the very last moment. He dodged and ran all around his opponent until he could deliver the final blow from the opening. When Mōkarō was still 16 years old, he was called back to HQ, where Yoriichi was demonstrating his breathing techniques at the request of Hideyoshi Ubayashiki. Yoriichi then began teaching his breathing style to other demon slayers. Mōkarō was unable to master it, so Yoriichi taught him a modified style that focused on rotating offensive movements (it became Wind Breathing later). Mōkarō modified it further into a style that focused on swift strikes and movements performed in a unique pattern that obscures the opponent's senses and surroundings as if the battlefield were enveloped in mist. He named this style after this feature. Thus, Mist Breathing was born. Sometime later, Mōkarō was picked for the Hashira as its final member, becoming the first Mist Hashira. He was also one of the strongest Hashira of the Sengoku era,the other being the Stone Hashira,and he obviously even surprassed Muichiro in power,though Muichiro was an child prodigy

## Forms

1st Form:Low Clouds,Distant Haze: The user performs a very quick and frontal thrust to damage an opponent .

2nd Form: Eight-Layered Mist: The user uses their blade to deliver 8 quick blows to their target.

3rd Form: Scattering Mist Splash: The user performs a circular slash that can "counter" an oncoming attack.

4th Form: Shifting Flow Slash: The user crouches and lunges toward the target,slashing them.

5th Form: Sea Of Clouds and Haze: The user charges at the opponent at very high speeds performing a lot of slashes around or in front of them.

6th Form: Lunar Dispersing Mist: The user leaps into the air and performs a barrage of slashes while somersaulting,easily killing any demons in the way.

### Forbidden Techniques:

8th Form: Dance Of The Foggy Creature: The user gets in a low stance before circling around the user very gracefully and at the end,charging straight for the targets head

## **Trivia:**

* Mōkarō's surname contains the kanji for "long time" (久 *ku*) and "world" (世 *ze*). His first name contains "Obscure" (朦 *mō*), "hold aloft" (翳 *ka*), and "haziness" (朧 *rō*). The unlucky number nine is sometimes also pronounced as "Ku", just like the first part of his surname.
* The character, Mōkarō, was inspired by the story of Paris of Troy, as both characters were responsible for the downfall of their clans.
* The downfall of Mōkarō's clan, quite literally caused by a butterfly, is a parody of "the Butterfly Effect."
* Mōkarō had a relatively small body compared to the other demon slayers and thus wore an oversized uniform.
* Mōkarō is the youngest Hashira of the first generation, being only 16 years old at the time of his appointment
* Mokaro also learned a few forbidden techniques,but these were lost to time.
* He is the only Hashira who was close to achieving the Mark,at least,before the Taisho era.

## **Mōkarō viewed the other Hashira as follows:**

* *"She looks like that butterfly I chased in the past."* - about the Flower hashira.
* *"Who? Oh, he is like a bat. He only comes out at night."* - about the Shadow Hashira.
* *"He's like a spotted cat. At least, his clothes make him seem like that."* - about the Thunder Hashira.
* *"Who? Oh, right. He is like an unmovable mountain."* - about the Stone Hashira.
* *"He slithers around like a watersnake when he fights."* - about the Water Hashira.
* *"Who? Oh, he looks and yells like a tiger."* - about the Flame Hashira.
* *"Oh, she looks like a flaming bird. Her weapon is weird."* - about the Phoenix Hashira.
* *"He is like a lone wolf. I think someone taught us the same combat style."* - about the Wind Hashira.
* *"Who?" -* about Yoriichi and Michikatsu.
* "He has a powerful aura around him.He's so mysterious"-about the Spectrum Hashira