Basic Information
Name: Murasame Kenshin
Nickname(s): "Lightning"
Age: 450
Squad: 10th
Seat: Captain
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 170 lb
Personality: The 10th Squad's Captain is quiet and reserved, but could be perceived as "antisocial". He is intelligent, and has a strong work ethic. He prefers zanjutsu (swordplay) to kidou or hakuda (bare fist), and uses a style known as "Shippuu no Mai" or "The Dance of the Whirlwind".
Physical Appearance:
Standing at 5' 10", Kenshin is slightly taller than the average Shinigami. He has a lean, muscular physique...a fighter's physique. His brown hair is long and slightly wavy. It falls just to the bottom of his shoulder blades, and is usually pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes are the shape of almonds, and are nearly of the same hue. His skin is the color of olives, and possesses several scars, acquired over the course of his several centuries in the Gotei 13. He possesses no body hair below his neck, as it reduces wind resistance in combat. His uniform is completely standard issue, bearing no personal modifications. His zanpakuto, Ten no Gekido, hangs low on his hip to facilitate his quick-draw based fighting style.
Biography: Born October 31, 1560, Kenshin was the son of a low ranking samurai. He lived a relatively normal life, or as normal as life can get for one who could see ghosts. He eventually learned to tell the difference between the spirits and those who were still among the living. He tried to ignore the specters when he could, but they were always with him. During his late teenage years, he began seeing visions of an elaborate katana. The visions always came with the same message..."Take the sword and accept your destiny." They would eventually stop when he turned 18.
Kenshin died a few months after his 21st birthday, during the New Year's festival. He was walking with his fiancee watching the celebration when a hollow attacked. The villagers began to panic when people started getting maimed and buildings began to be destroyed by an unseen force. The hollow's presence triggered one final vision as it set its sights on Kenshin's beloved. He once again saw the sword, but the voice that accompanied it had an urgent tone to it. "If you wish to save her, reach out and take it."
Kenshin dove between the monster and his intended and seized the zanpakuto, which flung his soul from his body just as the beast connected with a grievous blow. With his basic swordsmanship, he was able to eventually dispatch the hollow as the shinigami assigned to the area arrived on the scene. While his spirit body survived the battle more or less intact, his physical body was too mangled for Kenshin to return to.
The Gotei 13 officer escorted Kenshin to the Soul Society, where he soon convinced his Captain to sponsor Kenshin's enrollment in the Academy. Kenshin was initially assigned to Squad 11, but was transferred to Squad 10 after he achieved shikai and his zanpakuto's elemental nature was revealed. He was promoted to Vice-Captain within his first century within the Gotei, and was promoted to Captain a few years ago. He has just recently achieved full mastery of the Shippuu no Mai, although he is trying to keep a tight lid on this achievement, since the master technique "Kami no Arashi Ryu Kiku no Hana" or "Divine Storm Dragon Chrysanthemum Blossom" is incredibly devastating, and tends to cause a great deal of collateral damage.
Theme Song(s): AC/DC - Thunderstruck
Zanpakutou Information
Name: Ten no Gekido (Heaven's Fury)
Spirit: The Thunder God, Raijin
Sealed Description: The blade of the zanpakuto is 36" in length, and 2" in width. The slightly curved blade has a single edge. The grip of the sword is made of ivory, and is wrapped with crimson dyed eel skin. The pommel is capped with a golden seal, used in Soul Burial. Ten no Gekido's guard slightly resembles the one of Kenpachi Zaraki in that it is teardrop shaped, but is set with a large topaz stone on both sides.
Sword Type: Elemental (Air)
Release Phrase: Strike down my foes
Shikai: When released, the hilt and guard morph into something like this, and the gold-plated blade constantly crackles with electricity while tendrils of compressed wind swirl around it. All melee strikes with this blade inflict additional electrical damage.
Shikai Attacks:
Geiru Sessaku (Cutting Gale) - Kenshin channels his reiatsu through the blade, where it is combined with the swirling winds that surround the blade, and charged with the electricity of the blade. The arc of reiatsu released from the blade will cut through practically anything, though a creature with sufficient reiatsu could possibly stop it. Geiru Sessaku has an interesting reaction to fire - especially kidou-based fire - it will magnify the intensity of the flames and consume them, adding their power to itself as the burning blast morphs into the shape of a dragon
Kaminari Furasshu (Lightning Flash) - If Kenshin takes a moment to charge Ten no Gekido with reiatsu, he can release a bright flash of light that can temporarily blind everyone but him in a 50' radius.
Sandakurasshu (Thunder Crash) - A successful melee strike will trigger a massive thunderclap that may stun or disorient everyone within a 50' radius other than Kenshin.
Bankai: Raijin no Ikidoori Ten no Gekido (Heaven's Fury: Wrath of the Thunder God) - When Ten no Gekido's bankai is released, the skies in a five mile radius of the zanpakuto's blade turn black and overcast as the winds begin gusting violently, and the smell of ozone permeates the air. The blade grows to 48 inches in length, doubles in width and transforms into pure energy. It takes the form of a double-edged, European style Zweihand-schwert. Due to the strong electrical charge in the surrounding area, the effects of lightning-based kidou are amplified.
Bankai Attacks:
Kaminari Kiba (Lightning Fang) - Any cut inflicted by Raijin no Ikidoori Ten no Gekido rips the electrons from the atoms surrounding the cut and creates a massive positive charge, which turns the wound into a lightning rod.
Tengoku Hikisaku Geiru Sessaku (Heaven Tearing Cutting Gale) - By swinging his zanpakuto in a wide arc, he can create a massive blast of hurricane force wind that inflicts numerous small cuts (which are under the effect of the Kaminari Kiba ability) on anything that gets caught in its area of effect.
Spells and Other Information
Hadou: 1 - 91
Bakudou: 1 - 81
Other Spells(if applicable) Hakufuku, Hanki
Skills:Shunpo mastery - due to the nature of his "Shippuu no Mai" style zanjutsu, Kenshin has become a master of the flash step, combining his style's high-speed movement techniques with the shunpo to achieve levels of speed that even mid-level Captains have had difficulty tracking.
Incredible Stamina - due to the physical demands imposed upon Kenshin by the Shippuu no Mai style, Kenshin has built up a level of stamina that few in the Soul Society can match. It is one of the prime requisites of the zanjutsu style, and is needed for the constant flash steps and godspeed strikes that are executed during combat.
Kenatsu - (lit. Sword Pressure) Kenshin has learned to focus and compress his reiatsu around the blade of his zanpakuto, thereby increasing the range and intensity of his blade's strikes and gaining the ability to cut ahead of the actual blade, although the range varies depending on the amount of reiatsu allocated for the effect (the more energy devoted, the larger the effect) with the effect's intensity increasing greatly with each level. This effect is a byproduct of his fighting style, not his zanpakuto (although a similar trait is common among the air elemental class of zanpakuto).
Battoujutsu expert - also due to the nature of the "Dance of the Whirlwind", Kenshin's hand speed has increased exponentially as well. He possesses one of the fastest sword draws in the entire Gotei 13, and is on par with (if not superior to) most of the current Captains.
Master swordsman - Kenshin has completely mastered his zanjutsu style, "Shippuu no Mai". This high-speed, quick draw based fighting style was taught to him by the avatar of his zanpakuto.
Kidou practicioner - Kenshin is proficient in the Demon Arts, and can cast Hadou 1 - 91, as well as Bakudo 1 - 81, and can cast all except Kurohitsugi and Senjū Kōten Taihō without incantation.
Air attuned - Due to the nature of Ten no Gekido itself, Kenshin is sub-consciously attuned to the state of the air, constantly and passively monitoring its condition. He can detect disruptions in the flow of air, and they will register as a crawling sensation in his skin and a general feeling of wrongness.
Senka (Flash Blossom) - a special Shunpo technique where one moves to their opponent's back, directly attacking and sealing one's "Saketsu" and "Hakusui" in one strike (effectively cutting them off of their spiritual energy flow). This attack is his favorite to use. The movement is so fast that an opponent may not be able to tell whether he was attacked from the front or the back and even an outside observer may find it impossible to tell what the movements are.
Kami no Arashi Ryu Kiku no Hana (Divine Storm Dragon Chrysanthemum Blossom) - This is the master technique of the Shippuu no Mai. By combining the style's godspeed movement techniques with shunpo, Kenshin will circle his opponent while moving at such high speeds that he becomes momentarily invisible, and fire nine near simultaneous (each within 1/1000th of a second apart) Tengoku Hikisaku Geiru Sessaku blasts. The resulting maelstrom appears to any observers as a gigantic chrysanthemum flower enveloped in crackling electricity from the constant barrage of lightning bolts striking the target, accompanied by roaring winds that sound eerily reminiscent of a dragon's roar.
