Soujirou Seta is an assassin originating from the world of Rurouni Kenshin.

Character Info

This profile contains quite a bit of spoilers.

Personality:

At first, Soujirou Seta seems like a pretty ordinary Meiji Era Japanese boy. He has polite manners, addressing even his enemies with proper Japanese honorifics, dresses plainly (for his era), and has a pretty non-threatening appearance.

However, one unusual thing about him is his apparent lack of emotions. He's always seen with a constant amused smile. Over time, he cut himself off from his other emotions like anger, joy, and sadness, leaving only amusement. As an illegitimate child, Soujirou was frequently abused by his family following his father's death. This abuse took the form of difficult chores and frequent beatings, as well as forcing him to sleep outside whenever he made even small mistakes. This smile arose out of self-defense to stop his family from abusing him. Rather than gain their satisfaction for taking out their anger on Soujirou, they'd be frustrated at his smile and leave him alone sooner than if he cried or lashed back in anger.

This smile, too, was what saved him from the sword of Makoto Shishio, the renegade hitokiri, in a chance encounter when Soujirou was eight years old. In the face of death, Soujirou kept smiling and was spared in exchange for food and bandages for the man who would change his life forever. Learning of Soujirou's abuse, Shishio gave him a gift of a wakizashi (short sword) in exchange for the shelter, but told him he'd always be abused as long as he was weak.

Upon realization that he was sheltering a dangerous criminal, Soujirou's half-brothers began to attack him, using the excuse to kill him. However, Soujirou lashed out with the wakizashi he was given and murdered his family. He ended up following after Shishio from that point as the man began his plots to take control of what he saw as the weak government of Meiji Japan. It was under his tutelage that Soujirou learned to hone his natural gifts for swordsmanship.

Shishio instilled in Soujirou the motto “After all, in this world, the flesh of the weak is food for the strong. The strong shall live, and the weak shall die.” But even Shishio did not take these words to heart nearly as much as Soujirou, who built his life's philosophy around it. He firmly believes that someone (like Himura) who believes in protecting the weak and not killing, is no match for him. Due to this arrogance, he does not usually fight with his full strength against such a person, as that would be a waste of effort.

Soujirou has followed Shishio unquestioningly for ten years and has depended upon him for leadership and guidance. He'll murder without question, if ordered to. But without Shishio to guide him, he's not one to kill unnecessarily. While he could, theoretically, commit quite a slaughter, he's one who'd rather keep low profile, assassinating who Shishio calls for as a member of the Ten Swords/Juppongatana, Shishio's elite unit.

Abilities:

Soujirou has trained for ten years under Makoto Shishio in combat, becoming second only to Shishio in skill among Shishio's rebels, though tied in this rank of prowess with another of the Ten Swords, Usui. He's a prodigy at swordsmanship, able to take on even seasoned combatants despite his youth. He's notably skilled in the Battoujutsu style of combat, which involves cutting with the sword as it's drawn out of the sheath.

His most notable physical ability, however, is his shukuchi (“reduced earth”) technique. Through incredible leg strength, the user of shukuchi can spring from a start to full speed in an instant, allowing him move even faster than normal human eye can process. It's with this technique that he was able to catch up to and enter a moving carriage without being noticed, allowing him to assassinate Ookubo Toshimichi without detection. However, he rarely makes use of this technique when it is not necessary. For inferior opponents, he'll use a lesser form of it such as “three steps before shukuchi” or “two steps before shukuchi.” Each step closer to true shukuchi gives him greater speed, and “one step before shukuchi” and true shukuchi allow for him to utilize vertical space in his attacks as well.

The ability of true shukuchi as well as Soujirou's skills at battoujutsu can, however, be combined into Soujirou's one named attack, the shuntensatsu (“Instant Heaven Kill”). This attack is said to be instant, killing the target and leaving no time to feel pain.

In addition to his skills in combat, Soujirou's appearance also allows for a great advantage as well. By suppressing his emotions, he lacks an offensive aura (or kenki), which hinders onlookers' ability to predict his movements and attacks. This combined with his shukuchi has helped him create the assassin he is today, with attacks unpredictable to even masters of sword combat like Kenshin Himura.

This lack of emotions is not a certain thing, however. Faced with an opponent with a diametrical philosophy that Soujirou cannot easily take down, his bottled up emotions might be set free, starting with uncertainty and annoyance. This was how he was defeated, in the end. However, he doesn't yet have this doubt in his heart, as he's yet to fight Himura in their second duel.

Although confiscated, Soujirou makes use of the famous sword 'Kiku Ichimonji Norimune' for his fighting. He also carries an unnamed wakizashi that was given to him ten years ago by Shishio, the same blade used to murder his family. However, he's also been shown using a knife in his assassination of Ookubo Toshimichi and likely has the skill and mind to allow him to use other kinds of weapons as well.

Languages: Japanese 

Tropes:

• Alliterative Name
• Badass Adorable
• Crossdressing Voices (In the original)
• Cry Cute
• Cute Shotaro Boy (In looks, because he's around 18 in the story)
• The Dragon (To Shishio)
• Dissonant Serenity (practically the poster child for this trope)
• Freudian Excuse (has a pretty screwed up backstory)
• Lawful Evil —> either Lawful Neutral or True Neutral (when he goes Walking The Earth after this point in canon)
• Self Made Orphan ( Killed his abusive stepsiblings in self-defense)
• Stepford Smiler (Is very polite and all smiles, even when he kills people)
• Super Speed (gets pretty damn close, even surpassing Kenshin's speed)
• Villainous Breakdown (Although not at this point in canon.)
• Walking The Earth (Although not at this point in canon.)
• The Woobie
• Yangire (because of his past)