acata app
OOC INFO;
NAME: Teej
AGE: 28
CONTACT: plurk @ probabiliteej
CHARACTERS IN GAME: n/a!
IC INFO;
CHARACTER NAME: Hizamaru
AGE: 1,000+ (forged in the Heian period); his human body looks like a young adult and has existed for a few years
CANON Touken Ranbu (specifically the musical version)
CANON POINT From the end of the musical Tsuwamono Domo ga Yume no Ato
HISTORY: Links: Basic canon info/world view; Hizamaru's page; the actual sword doesn't have a wiki page but here's a couple of posts about the legends concerning Higekiri & Hizamaru; also his former master who he takes after.
and because the musicals don't have plot summaries, here you go, just let me know if you need more deets that don't come up in the app:
The Tsuwamono musical (fourth in the series) is the first to include Hizamaru and his brother Higekiri. They're sent back in time to when their former masters Yoshitsune and Yoritomo (also brothers) were still living, and are part of a mission to stop the enemy from interfering with the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, along with a few other swords: Imanotsurugi (also formerly owned by Yoshitsune), Iwatooshi (owned by Musashibo Benkei, who served Yoshitsune), Kogitsunemaru, and Mikazuki Munechika.
While on their mission to ensure that history goes as it should, they deal with conflicts between their own group members as well as against their enemies: Hizamaru and Higekiri have been asked by their master to watch Mikazuki, Kogitsunemaru has been asked to keep an eye on Imanotsurugi (and is also busy side-eyeing what the brothers are up to), Iwatooshi is aware he should know the brothers but has no memory of them, and is trying to keep Imanotsurugi from realizing the same thing and facing the fact he might not have existed in this version of history. Meanwhile, Mikazuki keeps disappearing off on his own trying to directly influence the major players of the time period into doing as they should, often against their own wishes.
In the end, though, their group succeeds instead at slightly altering what should have happened and sparing Yoshitsune and Benkei's lives. Historically, Yoritomo orders Yasuhira to kill him; in this version of history, neither of them truly want him dead, and at the end of the battle that should have killed him Mikazuki instructs Yoshitsune and Benkei to disappear and just let others believe they're dead, saying that this is one of many outcomes and won't disrupt history overall.
PERSONALITY:
-"I'm a treasure of the Minamoto Clan, Hizamaru. While being tested on a criminal, I cut both of his knees in a single strike, so I was given this name... though, just like my elder brother, there are people who wish to call me by other names."
While he's been given a human body by his master, Hizamaru is still a sword first and foremost, loyal to the one wielding him even if he isn't necessarily attached to them. Unlike other swords who had few masters and developed attachments to them, he's been passed through the clan as a family treasure and has been wielded by several masters who gave him different names. He comments on how he and his brother are adaptable after having passed through many hands, and even sounds unconcerned in his in-game greeting line when the player has been gone for a long time ("You've returned, huh. What, there's nothing to concern yourself over. I'm used to my master's absence.") He still agrees with Imanotsurugi's positive comments on their old master, Yoshitsune, but unlike Imanotsurugi he is much less affected by the thought of his former master's impending death and more focused on completing their mission. Outside of missions, he's more concerned about things like whether his master will change his name yet again; where his brother's more casual about it, Hizamaru's lines for doing chores include a request not to assign weird tasks to the two of them, and muttering to himself about potential new names while working in the stables. He's not actually known by his sword's current name (Usumidori), which is likely a part of why he's more focused on it-- while his brother was given the name Higekiri back, Hizamaru's name was changed yet again even after the family was warned doing so decreased a sword's power.
-"Elder brother, he... has forgotten my name again... ...No, I'm not crying. I'm not crying!"
He might not be very attached to specific masters over the clan as a whole, but he's definitely attached to his brother Higekiri. While he gets over each incident quickly enough, he's often briefly distraught over Higekiri's failure to remember his name, and tends to try to be reliable in comparison to his brother's flightiness-- he cares for him, sure, but that won't stop him from saying that their mission would fail if they were all so unconcerned with details. He's frequently concerned over his brother's lack of concern for things, and when they're given secret orders to keep an eye on Mikazuki in Tsuwamono, Hizamaru keeps fretting over whether his brother actually remembers the orders and that they should be kept quiet (while Higekiri gives him at least 2 separate moments of panic over it.) They're close, though, despite their differences and the fact that Higekiri earned one of his names by cutting Hizamaru's blade; many of Hizamaru's lines reference his brother, whether he's mentioning getting a souvenir for him, not wanting to lose and affect his brother's honor as well, or even asking their master to give a protective charm to Higekiri first if he's equipped with one. He also comments in the musical on how he's pleased to see the Minamoto brothers getting along, and later on, how it's difficult to see brothers fight. In actuality, his brother is plenty capable and Hizamaru does respect him (and wants his respect and acknowledgment in turn), but that doesn't keep him from worrying over the small things, seeing as Higekiri certainly won't bother with them.
Although he's the reliable one when it comes to memories and detail, he isn't really the one to go to for more complicated matters. When they talk about the dark side of the moon, Hizamaru comments that he doesn't believe in what he can't see, and has some difficulty with the idea that if Imanotsurugi and Iwatooshi don't exist, the two brothers might have an uncertain existence too. It's his brother who's the more reliable one in that situation, reassuring him that they exist here and now, so it isn't worth worrying so much about (even if it doesn't entirely get rid of that concern); Higekiri is also the one who seems to be better at smoothing things over with the others, though Hizamaru still tries to help.
-"Everyone except me is easygoing... no! I'm not that uptight!"
Other swords also comment on his dependability on their mission, and Hizamaru is also one of the more perceptive group members-- he quickly picks up on things like someone being less relaxed than they seem, and tends to be the first to point out when a member of the group is missing, as well as assisting in talks about strategy, and picking up on it when history has started to go off the rails (despite not having been present for it himself.) Still, he isn't all business, and shows a softer side of himself in the musical as well. Even though he realizes early on that he and Imanotsurugi don't know each other despite both being Yoshitsune's swords, Hizamaru can't ever bring himself to say as much to him. He asks him about being Yoshitsune's sword and about their old master, but stops himself short before going any deeper into the subject, later telling his brother that he just couldn't do it after seeing Imanotsurugi's innocent smile. He also dodges the question when Imanotsurugi asks about the two of them introducing themselves as treasures of the clan, to avoid tipping him off. Hizamaru shows some concern as well when Iwatooshi confronts the brothers and asks them not to hurt Imanotsurugi, asking him if he thinks Ima has realized the situation yet-- and following Iwatooshi's admission that he thinks the two of them don't exist, Hizamaru helps try to keep him in better spirits by asking him to share the memories that he has of Yoshitsune and Benkei.
-"It's on the battlefield that we can truly display our heritage."
While their mission spanned a few years and gave Hizamaru plenty of experience fighting in his new body, the fact that he was dispatched not too long after arriving means that he has less experience just living a human life. He's more focused on fighting and on their duty to protect history, telling their master that this mission proved the battlefield is where they truly belong. This also means he hasn't had the same experiences that other swords have with emotional struggles, since he was less affected by most of the mission than characters like Imanotsurugi & Iwatooshi-- he's had that uncertainty over how solid his own existence might be, but he has yet to encounter some of the difficulties that others have when it comes to his own feelings, which are still relatively new to him. He has memories of what happened while he was just an object, but manifesting like this is his first opportunity to experience human emotions: they're something he's sure to have to learn to deal with at some point, along with the finer points of living with others.
CANON POWERS:
-As the sword Hizamaru is his actual self, he has a link to it: touching the sword is like touching his physical body, and damage to the sword is reflected as injuries on his body. If the blade is fully broken, it will kill him. His body, though, is a manifestation and is more easily repaired. It can be damaged, but doesn't age.
-He's also a stronger fighter than a human would be, given his status as a tsukumogami-- Hizamaru in particular is very agile and acrobatic in his fighting style.
-He can de-manifest and re-manifest his body, but can only reappear where his sword is.
-Swords seem to have a kind of sense for their enemy, and detect their presence when they show up-- probably they have some kind of detection going on? How far does it extend, I just don't know. I'm not going to use it unless there's something with an explicitly negative/evil presence while he has his abilities.
-When he's in especially high spirits or good health, cherry blossom petals appear around him. Swords are just like this.
OTHER: Touken Ranbu is a multimedia canon, with the game functioning as a base canon to draw off for mechanics/etc but every other version existing as its own iteration of the Citadel-- the base abilities of the characters are the same across these canons, but the plot is different in each and there are a few details about the mechanics that differ (like the methods of summoning swords and time travel that they use). I'm pulling only from the game/musicals as far as those setting and plot differences.
GAME INFO;
CRAU INFO: n/a!
MAGIC ABILITY: Stretchy body-- the ability to elongate himself/one of his limbs, but no further than twice his body height (which is 179 cm, so twice that is going to be between 11.5 and 12 feet; just let me know if that needs adjusting!)
ANY WEAPONS/MAGICAL ITEMS?: The sword Hizamaru
ANY PETS?: I wish I could say yes tbh, but nope, no pets!
SAMPLE;
LINKED SAMPLE: tdm toplevel, and an additional thread with a few more comments!