Baiken

**Baiken** (梅喧; *Baiken*) is one of the few characters of Japanese descent in the *Guilty Gear* fighting game series (others being May and Anji Mito). Baiken was a hidden character in *Guilty Gear*, but became a normal character in later installments.

## Character Design

Baiken has pink hair worn in a ponytail, a scar over her left eye, a red, black and white kimono with the sleeves tucked in the sides of a black vest, gold and black greaves, sandals, a clawed grappling hook for her right arm, peach eyes and a sword covered in a blue sheath.

In Xrd, her kimono is almost unchanged, though she now has a jacket that she wears on her shoulders like a cape. Her footwear now resemble boots with the back of the heel and toe missing. She also wears an eye patch made of glass over her missing eye and her hair has become fuller with two tufts pointing upward like cat ears. The sheath of her sword is now red. It's also revealed she wears a sarashi under her kimono like shorts.

## Personality

Baiken is an aggressive, brash, impulsive and anti-social person motivated solely by revenge, wanting to kill That Man. She has remained bitter over her family's demise and intensely hates Gears. Despite this, she tolerates Anji Mito to a certain extent. And though she dislikes the idea of the Japanese being treated like a special race, she occasionally expresses pride towards her heritage. Baiken also comes off as a masculine female character, and she mentions that she has abandoned her gender. She also accepts the natural consequences of her actions and has solemnly consigned herself to damnation for her sins.

Six years after the events of *Guilty Gear XX*, her personality seems to have mellowed slightly, allowing her to express herself more amiably towards people. While she still desires revenge for the death of her family and destruction of her country, she no longer actively pursues That Man and knows when to prioritize the greater good over her personal vendetta.

In one of her *Accent Core Plus* endings, Baiken loses her sanity and becomes addicted to killing people.

## Powers & Abilities

Whereas other characters possess supernatural abilities or Gear powers, Baiken is one of the few fully "normal" human characters in the series. Her thirst for vengeance made her incredibly skilled in the use of the katana, becoming deadly despite only having one arm. She also has many hidden surprise weapons within the sleeve of her severed arm: a Japanese mace, a feudal cannon, a bladed fan, a chain rope, a hook, a claw, and a spear. These items are collectively referred to as "Demon Tools" by Baiken, but whether they were specifically created to kill demons or made from demons is unknown. She also has the ability to manipulate Ki for offensive purposes and in the form of seals, though she is not reliant upon it nor as versatile in its usage as other Ki users. She also has knowledge of summoning magic (which she uses to conjure the tatami mats for her Tatami Gaeshi).

## Musical Themes

* **Momentary Life** - *Guilty Gear*
* **Momentary Life II** - *Guilty Gear XX*
* **Ricochet** - *Guilty Gear XX #Reload Korean OST*
* **Drumhead Pulsation** - *Guilty Gear Isuka*
* **六文 - ROKUMON (Six Sentences)**- *Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2*

## References and Allusions

* Baiken was heavily inspired by Kenshin Himura, to the point where her initial physical appearance in the first game was a pallette swap of Kenshin. It is said that Daisuke Ishiwatari (the character designer) got the idea when he saw a picture of Kenshin and mistook him for a woman.
* Aside from the superficial similarities to Kenshin, the concept of a one-armed, one-eyed samurai seeking revenge for his/her clan was directly lifted from Hayashi Fubo's popular literary hero, Tange Sazen. Sazen has been the subject of several stage and film adaptations in Japan. Originally a man, the character has also been portrayed as a female in several films, which is most likely where the inspiration for Baiken emerged from.
* One of Baiken's special moves, Suzuran (すずらん), is named after the Japanese name for 'Lily of the Valley,' a sweet scented but poisonous flower. English rock band Queen feature a song by the same name on *Sheer Heart Attack*, a favorite album of series creator Daisuke Ishiwatari. Baiken's quest shares parallels with the lyrics of the song.
* Her Instant Kill as of *X* is known as "Garyou Tensei", which is usually a four-character idiom/term for adding the finishing touches to a work/project, as it literally means "painting in the dragon's pupil", nodding to the most difficult-and-final part of the process.

## TMNT X Pokemon

Baiken likes to spar with Leo and often ends up winning. She doesn't like to socialize with people but loves to hear gossip and use it against them

## Trivia

* Baiken is likely named (using different kanji) after Shishido Baiken (宍戸梅軒), an Edo period samurai known for his mastery of the kusarigama (chain sickle) and having been in a duel with legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.
* Her use of an eye patch resembling a sword guard in Xrd -Revelator- is likely a reference to Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi, a legendary swordsman whose clan were the sword instructors to the shogun.
* Baiken's special move "Tatami Gaeshi" is a reference to trap-doors in straw panel flooring (tatami), which are a cliché in Japanese period dramas.
	+ Additionally, "Tatami Gaeshi" also references the "Tsubame Gaeshi" technique reportedly favored by Sengoku era samurai Sasaki Kojiro.
* A majority of Baiken's attacks are named after Japanese terms, but with their kanji being different which makes them double as puns (e.g. Sakura literally meaning "Tearing Gauze" instead of "Cherry Blossom", and Kikyou literally meaning "Ogre Sutra" instead of "Bellflower").
* Her *Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2* theme, ***六文 - ROKUMON***, is a reference to the saying "It only takes six mon to cross the Sanzu River." Mon were a type of currency used in Japan throughout the Muromachi period, and were used at funerals in reference to the saying. The Sanada, a samurai clan, even used six mon as their crest.
	+ Her standard Overdrive, Tsurane Sanzu Watashi, also is literally named after the said river.
* Baiken is one of (and perhaps the only) the *Guilty Gear* characters that has been able to actually murder and/or fatally wound I-No, though that scene is not considered to be canon.
* It has been implied that Baiken is much older than she appears as remarked by I-No. Since she was a child during the destruction of Japan, this indicates that she may be well over 100 years old, possibly due to her Japanese heritage and affinity to Ki.