handle. Parsnip
age. 30
contact info. AIM: parsnipchan or PLURK: parsnip


THE BASICS
canon. Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom (psp game)
character name. Chikage Kazama (western order)
gender. Male
age. unknown but roughly between 27-30 years in appearance by human standards (it's implied in an unofficially translated prequel canon that demons can live up to 200 or so years)

appearance.



Kazama is pretty tall (probably something like 5 foot 8 or 5 foot 10) with blond hair and red eyes and while he doesn't have any scars (he's a demon which means his healing regenerative abilities are pretty fast (re: within seconds after a cut, longer for more serious wounds). He also has a sweet bedroom voice/drawl and he's pretty dang lazy. However, piss him off and drive him to his limits and he can turn "on" his demon abilities which causes four small, white horns to appear on his head and his hair to fade to white to match. His eyes also turn gold.



Other notable quirks is that he has a tendency to fight with one hand wielding the sword and only adds in a second when things get complicated.

history. Character page and a history section previously written by Seiko, the (now expired) reserved Hijikata-mun and used with permission.

pull point. Hijikata Route: Chapter 7 Bad Ending (Kazama kills Chizuru and Hijikata. He will be from just after finishing that deed).

THE PSYCHOLOGY
personality.

Chikage Kazama is a demon first and foremost and a noble second. He takes great pride in who he is and often looks down on others for being inferior, mostly because he is a pureblooded demon and everyone else just… isn't. He likewise has some preconceived notions over the value of women, looking on them as property and simple breeding machines which he pretty much maintains for the entirety of Hijikata's route.

There are a few exceptions such as Sen, a demon princess and, if you decide to pursue Kazama's route, to Chizuru by the end of the route. However, in this version, he has yet to see a woman as actually worthy of his consideration unless she directly impacts his goals.

In fact, that's pretty much how we really first see him. Or, well… that's his excuse anyway for coming back around to the Shinsengumi after he fought Okita at Ikeda inn. Even in that first scene, however, his arrogance is clearly showing because he's plainly scoffing at Okita for being an inferior swordsman. If it's not interesting, he doesn't want anything to do with it, really, because it's just far too easy for him to just, you know. Kill his opponent.

And really, it's that defining characteristic, that arrogance that drives much of what we see of him in the game time and time again.

He's too arrogant to take a defeat as a defeat and rather than learning from his mistakes, he actually becomes obsessive with Hijikata after Hijikata managed to beat him back and draw blood. The fact that a false demon managed to do that at all is just outrageous and he quite plainly vows to get his revenge no matter what the means is. It's there that he turns his attention from Chizuru to Hijikata alone.

Once he makes a vow, he keeps it.

In fact, it's those vows in the first place that kept Kazama from just "taking" Chizuru in the beginning when he wanted to because his purpose was first and foremost dedicated to eradicating the debt his family had towards the Satsuma domain which is one faction of the war between imperialists and the shogun supporters.

But even beyond all this, his arrogance is also his downfall because in many instances he almost seems lazy or lackadaisical, often claiming that he'll be back to finish the job of killing Hijikata or capturing Chizuru. This likewise shows in his fighting abilities because rather than adopting a two handed fighting stance, he usually just uses brute strength and a one handed grip. In fact, even though he's quite skilled with a sword, one wonders if he's ever truly had to fight at all. It's his downfall though, because while he may have superior strength and agility, he lacks the experience in fighting a battle with his life on the line.

It's probably this, more than anything, which actually sparked the obsession he has with the shinsengumi.

But other than his obsessions, Kazama has a strange, twisted sense of pride because in one scene, directly after the Hamaguri Rebellion was routed, the Choshu warriors all ran off to commit seppuku on a mountain and he actually stepped in against the orders of the Satsuma domain to buy them time to do it, even though Hijikata rightfully points out that they don't deserve honorable death for fleeing the battle field.

In Kazama's route, we actually see Kazama learn to respect this point of view because he sees time and again that even though the Shinsengumi have lost everything, they never give up and they never run away.

They are true samurai.

So where does that leave us?

Well, Kazama is arrogant, brutal (in fact, half his "fun" is in torturing/goading Hijikata and Chizuru and taking extreme pleasure in seeing their pain and grief and of being the cause of said pain and grief), and with a rather one sided view of what's the "right thing to do" so to speak. He is pro-demon, anti-human, and he'd like nothing more than to have nothing to do with humans once his duties are done with the Satsuma.

He's a noble and a demon.

He is Chikage Kazama and quite frankly, he just really hates losing.


In addition, because of the psychological/emotional horror elements of this game we would also like to see you touch on points such as how your character is like under duress and what they desire and fear. It is also encouraged to discuss how they may adapt or react to their darker side coming to light.

weaknesses. Character weakness is his laziness. He constantly uses this excuse as a reason for leaving Chizuru with the Shinsengumi rather than actually going through with claiming her as his bride. And this is a thing that continues on for actual real years, not just months. In addition, he actually has a pretty volatile temper and once riled, he becomes seriously obsessive. Re: just look at how he moves from Chizuru as his goal to simply wanting to kill Hijikata because Hijikata had the audacity to actually scratch him with a sword. That also means his pride is a huge weakness because in the end of HIjikata's route, he actually acknowledges it and leaves his clan to go have one last fight with his rival both because his pride has shown him how bad of a leader he actually is and also, in a way, to regain what pride he lost in his obsessions.

SKILLS/ABILITIES
basic skills. Kazama is skilled in the art of Japanese sword fighting, and is quite well versed in politics, tactics, and other things one can assume a "lord" of the edo period should be versed in.

supernatural & superhuman.

Kazama is a pureblooded demon and is, in fact, the head of the Kazama clan which is claimed to be the most powerful demon clan in Eastern Japan. He has "undiliuted" demon blood which means that his abilities are unimpaired and are basically more powerful than others of his species. Specifically, he has the following characteristics: super strength, near instantaneous healing/regenerative abilities, and increased speed and general athleticism. The general athleticism is shown in how he can quickly move to and from rooftops without necessarily being seen by the naked eye (unless you're just that good at following stuff like that).

In addition, the above skills increase (we'll just say approximately ten-fold?) when he let's go of his "human" appearance to appear full on oni/demon. Due to his regenerative abilities, the only things that can kill him is a direct blow to his heart or a beheading.

Note: Kazama carries a sword on him at all times that's called the "Douji-giri Ysutsuna" which is a sword passed down as a family heirloom that has the ability to "harm" demons like himself and the false demons/furies like those found among the castmates already in the game. Essentially, this blade slows down or halts the fast healing ability that demons naturally possess which makes them more vulnerable and easier to kill.

It's implied that the blade may be tempered with silver which also has a known affect on halting fury abilities to that level of a normal humans.

SAMPLES

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