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Name: Hijikata Toshizo
Fandom: Peace Maker Kurogane / Shinsengumi Imon Peace Maker (manga)
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Time Period: August 1864, after the Ikedaya incident (end of first manga series)
Wing Color: Black with ashy gray dappling
History: Hijikata was born to a merchant family in Hino, a modern suburb of Tokyo, in 1835. His father, a wealthy farmer, died before he was born and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was very young (the disease also took at least one of his siblings.) He was largely raised by his eldest brother, who tried to find him a trade since as the youngest child, Hijikata would not inherit any of his family's wealth. From a very young age, however, Hijikata only wanted to be bushi. He came to fiercely resent those lucky enough to be born into families of the warrior class, who could easily achieve the glory, wealth, honor and strength that he desired so much. His attempts at finding a career were less than successful. Although he worked as a medicine peddler selling Ishida Sanyaku (a traditional medicine for bruises and broken bones), he was a rough and arrogant youth, teaching himself to fight, getting in brawls and seducing married women. He caused scandal after scandal with samurai women he seduced and then dumped, perhaps as a way to prove to himself that the samurai he envied weren't any more special than he was.
Despite his rough attitude, Hijikata developed a close friendship with Kondou Katsuta, the adopted son of the Kondou dojo, and a fellow talented swordsman. After an incident with a group of bandits who nearly killed them both, he also became close to the dojo's youngest student, nine-year-old Okita Soujirou. (He never did give up using the initial mocking nickname he developed for the boy, Souji, from the cleaning chores [souji] that Okita did around the dojo.)
Hijikata joined the Tennen Rishin-ryu dojo sometime after Souji's acceptance as a student there, never quite mastering the style (his own brutal street-fighting background made him an unconventional, if deadly, fighter) and made many of his lifelong friends there. As well as Kondou, he met Yamanami Keisuke, who joined him and Kondou in dreaming of a future as honorable, accomplished bushi. Yamanami was the highly educated, impeccably honorable member of their group of friends, so much so that Hijikata relied on him to keep Hijikata from going astray following his hot temper and ruthless pragmatism.
In 1863, the Tokugawa shogunate organized a group of ronin to protect the shogun during his time in Kyoto. Hijikata jumped at the chance to take an official position, and along with a group of his comrades from the Shieikan including Kondou, Okita, Yamanami, Nagakura, Harada and Todo, traveled to Kyoto to join the organization, which became known as the Roshigumi. Originally, the group was led by three joint commanders, Kondo Isami, Serizawa Kamo, and Niimi Nishiki; Hijikata was a vice-commander and enforcer of the regulations. Serizawa and Niimi, however, began to drink, gamble, and commit extortion, giving the group a reputation as amoral thugs. It was during this period that they got the nickname of Miburo, or "wolves of Mibu.”
Hijikata found enough evidence of Niimi's wrongdoing that he was able to demand that Niimi commit seppuku; however, there wasn't enough evidence against Serizawa to force seppuku, and therefore, on orders from their noble sponsor Matsudaira Katamori, Hijikata, Kondou, Yamanami and Okita slipped into Serizawa's house and slaughtered everyone inside. After Serizawa's death, Kondou became the exclusive commander of the Shinsengumi, with Hijikata and Yamanami acting as vice-commanders. Hijikata had the responsibility for accepting new recruits, writing and enforcing the Shinsengumi code, and doing a great deal of the tactical planning as well as delivering orders to Yamazaki Susumu and Yamazaki Ayumu, the Shinsengumi's spies, and recieving information from them. Kondou oversaw training and handled dealing with their commanders and those of high rank; Yamanami mostly concerned himself with the Shinsengumi's financial and business affairs.
The first Peace Maker series begins after the assassination of Serizawa, with a boy named Ichimura Tetsunosuke applying to enter the Shinsengumi. Hijikata initially denies his request because Tetsu is far too young to fight; however, Okita argues for Tetsu to be admitted, Kondou praises the boy's determination and potential, Tetsu himself willingly kneels in the rain in the Shinsengumi compound all night in hopes of convincing Hijikata of his seriousness, and when faced with all of that together Hijikata caves and says to Tetsu: "...You remind me of Souji. All right, for Souji's sake, I'll let you join." However, he continues to refuse to let Tetsu fight; instead, the boy becomes Hijikata's page while he studies swordplay with Okita. At the time, the Shinsengumi was occupied tracking down the associates of a known enemy and Choshu sympathizer, Yoshida Toshimaru, infamous for his habit of using arson against his enemies and last spotted entering Kyoto. On Hijikata's orders, Yamazaki Ayumu seduced a suspected associate to try and extract information out of him, but the group, realizing she was a spy for the Shinsengumi, raped her and beat her to death. Hijikata, furious at both the shishi for murdering her and himself for sending her into such a dangerous situation, ordered an all-out assault led by Okita on the inn where they were staying. A fair number of them were killed, and one captured. Hijikata tortured the captive for two days before he finally cracked and gave information on the location of his conspirators - the Ikedaya, an inn in Kyoto. The Shinsengumi attacked the Ikedaya, killing nearly all the conspirators; Tetsu tagged along, and ended up fighting Yoshida personally for a short period of time before Okita came to his aid and beheaded Yoshida. Injured by Yoshida -- and extremely ill with the first outbreak of the tuberculosis that would later kill him -- Okita collapsed, and Hijikata dashed to his aid with cough medicine and helped him back to the Shinsengumi compound. He then proceeded to grumpily insist that Okita stay in bed with proper medicine until he recovered fully.
Personality: Hijikata is a harsh man, strict, unforgiving and violent, but his harshest judgment is reserved for himself. He was born to a rich farming family, but idealized samurai and wanted to be a warrior from the earliest point he can remember. However, because of his common birth, his ambitions were laughed off by everyone surrounding him. For someone born a commoner to become bushi would require exceptional skill, wealth, or excellence - whereas those born samurai could be weak, dissipated and venal, and would still have the right to bear a sword. As a teenager, this knowledge had twisted into anger and resentment toward anyone born to the samurai class, even women and children. He rejected his friend Katsuta's (later Kondo Isami) offer to train at their dojo for years, preferring to make his own way and strike out in petty ways at the social order that rejected his ambitions. Nearly dying at the hands of a gang of bandits taught him better, but although he joined the Tennen Rishin-ryu dojo and successfully made his way up the ranks on the strength of his swordsmanship and ability as a leader, Hijikata still has the heart of the angry, ambitious boy he was. He constantly judges himself against the ideals of bushido, and he still condemns himself - and those around him - for any failure to live up to his own high standards.
As a commander, Hijikata is ruthless and decisive, but he feels a powerful sense of responsibility towards his subordinates. The death of Ayumu, a female ninja and spy for the Shinsengumi, hit him hard because he believed he was personally responsible. He had ordered her to extract information from a nest of known traitors; he did not know that those traitors had already seen through her cover identity and were waiting for her arrival to torture her to death. His own guilt and anger may have played a part in his decision to order the attack on the Ikedaya before there was time for reinforcements to arrive; or it may simply have been a rational decision to take the conspirators there by surprise. Either way, it was effective. Although Hijikata is powerfully affected by his emotions, he would not allow them to affect him to the point of making bad tactical decisions.
His ruthlessness is part of his image as the “demon vice-commander.” Each of the Shinsengumi's leaders fills a distinct role: Yamanami is kind and honorable to a fault, to the point where obeying an order to assassinate the commander who was giving the Shinsengumi a bad name with carousing and extortion left him so wracked by self-doubt he was unable to continue wielding his sword. Kondou is reasonable, fatherly and enthusiastic, honorable and good at building rapport. Hijikata is the “demon,” the one who created a code requiring seppuku for any infringement and who is willing to get his hands dirty with assassination, torture, trickery, or intrigue - any means at all to achieve his ends. He doesn't attempt to build rapport with the men; his only real friendships seem to be those with the people he has known for years, Kondou and Okita. Although he appears to have once been close to Yamanami, the tension between their very different personalities and leadership styles has built to the point of open hostility by the beginning of Shinsengumi Imon Peace Maker, and he treats the other swordsmen from the Shieikan as subordinates, perhaps comrades, but not friends.
Although he's ruthless and lacking in social skills, Hijikata isn't as heartless as his crusty exterior suggests. He cares deeply for the friends he has, to the point of visibly panicking and rushing to Souji's side when told that he had collapsed at the Ikedaya. He tries to protect Tetsu from the realities of life in the Shinsengumi, convinced that he's too young despite Tetsu's eagerness to rush into battle. He's gruff and defensive about the gulf that has developed between himself and Yamanami. He's even a poet, although he's very sensitive about his writings.
What he doesn't generally do is express those feelings. He isn't an expressive man at all; he's grown more and more taciturn over the years, and often takes refuge in silence when challenged by difficult emotion. He doesn't know how to respond when Souji is upset by Hijikata's refusal to let Tetsu begin fighting at a young age; he responds to Yamanami's antagonism with hostility and bravado, despite seeming to dislike their estrangement. Although Hijikata is intelligent, he's spectacularly bad at dealing with complicated emotions. He either finds himself lost for words or he reacts in exactly the wrong way. The only way his emotions ever escape is through his haiku - which tend to be blunt, straightforward, and not particularly skillful, but which are still the only outlet for his softer feelings.
Action is always easier for Hijikata than speech. He's a deadly brawler, not a technically expert swordsman; he fights like he lives, doing whatever is necessary to win (dirty tricks most definitely included). The level of violence he's willing to commit is frankly shocking. He doesn't even consider mercy for his opponents, and in the assassination of Serizawa Kamo, he insisted on the deaths of everyone in the house - their target, his guests, and the innocent entertainers hired for the night alike. He is willing to murder and brutally torture without the slightest hint of remorse. Hijikata's compassion and concern are reserved for his own comrades. Once a person attacks him or his friends, he rarely hesitates to destroy them. It is in his attitude towards his enemies that his truly “demonic” side is exposed.
Strengths:
Physical
Hijikata is strong, powerful and very skilled with a sword. He's one of the few people who's willing and able to spar with Souji, and he's tough, ruthless and adaptable, unashamed of “dirty tricks” like groin shots, tripping, or striking a distracted enemy. He's shown to be exceptionally deadly in battle, able to take out a large group of armed men singlehandedly when they tried to ambush him.
Emotional
Hijikata is the quintessential strong and silent type. He's tough and stern, sometimes ruled by anger, rarely by fear, and never by his softer feelings. While that has its down sides, it serves him well. He's also highly ambitious and driven, working his way up from common birth to an eventual position as a Tokugawa hatamoto; he's constantly striving to improve in the pursuit of his goals.
Mental
Very adaptable and a skilled military tactician; when he goes after something, he has the mental resources to achieve it. As a commander, his decisions are sound, and he is able to repeatedly direct the Shinsengumi to achieve their desired goals, even when they are outnumbered or lack support.
Weaknesses:
Physical
Although the physical is Hijikata's strong point, he tends to sleep in, develops eczema when he's stressed out, is addicted to tobacco, and gets really tense, especially in his shoulders.
Emotional
Sensitive about his poetry. Like, really sensitive. He will track you down with weapon drawn if you mess with it. He's also incapable of communicating his feelings and freezes up when challenged about them, and he has a nasty temper than can push him into going too far (something that he is aware of and fears). He's bad at empathizing with others; for instance, he never seems to understand Yamanami's growing horror of violence, because he's unable to reconcile that “weakness” with Yamanami's skill and his many admirable traits.
Mental
Hijikata's laserlike focus on his goals is as much a weakness as it is a strength; he doesn't register other people's needs and differences, and his blunt speech often alienates others. He's not clever with words, and people who are can quickly reduce him to angry glaring (negatively, in the case of Itou, as he'll find out in a few months; with friendly banter, in the case of Souji.) Although he has a keen military mind, he's not particularly cultured, and even his poetry tends to be blunt and gnomic rather than refined.
Samples
First Person: [The video clicks on to show the edge of one bare shoulder. It is not a happy shoulder, although as far as biceps go, it's also not particularly expressive. The barely hidden snarl in its owner's voice is much more telling.]
-thing even working. There must be a way to-
[A throat-clearing noise. He raises his voice.]
You're all talking like you expect to be answered. You should be able to hear me. This is- [No.]
Answer me immediately. What is this place? Who controls it? Who brought us here?
[He tilts the book for a closer look at the controls; badly tousled long black hair sneaks into view on the left side of the screen.]
This is idiotic. It's a book. And give me directions back to Kyoto.
[Hijikata slams the book shut, cutting the feed with a decisive thump.]
Third Person: Hijikata drifted into consciousness facedown with a horrible taste in his mouth and an ache between his shoulder blades. The floor was lumpy, damp, and there was something pointy digging into his ribcage.
Where the hell had he gone to sleep? And just how much had he had to drink last night? Souji's insinuations aside, he didn't overindulge like that these days. There was too much to be done to waste much time on pleasure. And his head didn't hurt, anyway, which ruled out alcohol, which left....
Reluctantly, he cracked an eye open and turned his head just a little to the side.
Grass. Lovely, dew-spangled, fresh green grass.
He was outside?
Hijikata was on his feet in an instant. He wasn't only outside. He was in a forest, with trees looming around him on every side. And - he glanced down at himself - he wasn't even wearing his clothes.. Someone had put him in undyed monk's pants. His mind churned through the possibilities: a forest, different clothes, no injuries, no company. Enemies wouldn't have left him uninjured and unrestrained. If someone had thought this was a funny prank, they'd be singing a different tune when he got his hands on them-
Something twitched on his shoulder. He slapped at it, and felt feathers under his hand, and a jolt of pain along - something - to that sore spot just inside his left shoulder blade.
Bewildered, Hijikata craned his neck to get a decent look at his back. Feathers, definitely feathers. On some kind of structure. Was that a wing?
It moved as he thought of it, a shiver that rattled the gray primaries against each other. His eyebrows drew together, and he tried to move it again: spreading out, tucking tight against his ribs. The wing swept through each movement as if it belonged there, like a limb he'd had all his life, if it weren't for the ache that gripped his shoulder at each movement. And if it weren't that he knew better.
He looked over his other shoulder, already knowing what he'd see there. His other wing spread out and tucked tight with the same obedience as the first.
This wasn't just a prank.
Hijikata snarled, hiding the unsettled lurch that gripped his gut, and looked around again. No sign of footsteps in the mouldering leaves, nothing but the scuff mark where he'd been lying. No sign of his clothes or his weapons.
Something in that scuff mark caught his eye, and he reached down for it. A book. Not his; the binding wasn't familiar. It must have been dropped by his ... kidnappers, he decided, for lack of a better term. Whatever else they had done, he had certainly been kidnapped.
He flipped the cover open and stared. The first page was filled with a complex diagram: boxes, triangles, squares, lines everywhere, and precise little pictures of strangers' faces. Bizarre. He flipped the page again, looking for plain writing, and stared at another, larger picture-
This one moved and spoke. Hijikata slammed the book shut, his hand tightening on the cover to throw it into the underbrush. At the last moment, he hesitated. Breathed out. Talking pictures weren't going to attack him. They might have useful information. If there was just one thing he could get, right now, he wanted it to be answers.
Before he started listening to pictures, though, he was going to try the normal way of getting them: finding someone who knew. And beating the truth out of the bastard with his bare hands.
Hijikata picked a direction, tucked the book into the waistband of his pants, and started walking.
Threadhopping with this character?: Always OK with me; also please feel free to threadhop other characters in my posts if you wish and it's OK with the other character.
Backtagging with this character?: Go for it. I'm generally willing to keep going, especially with logs, as long as is necessary, and if otherwise I'll say something ^_^
Hugging this character?: Hijikata is not the cuddly sort. You are welcome to try, but he's likely to respond by prying you off him and depositing you a proper distance away. If you manage to surprise him with a hug things could get violent.
Giving this character a kiss?: Again, you are welcome to try. If you're a hot lady trying to seduce him your chances are not zero.
Something more intimate?: See above ^^ Hijikata is much less into the casual sex thing than he was as a teenager, and I don't think this is likely, but I'm OK with it if it happens: that said, see below.
Relationships?: I'm not unwilling to go there, but it probably won't happen. Hijikata's a jerk and not particularly interested in developing any close, loving attachments with anybody, friend-wise or relationship-wise. If he's not ALREADY your best friend, he is unlikely to BECOME one anytime soon....
Punching this character (provided they can fight back): Hijikata will probably escalate the violence level if your character starts anything. Please PM to discuss.
Injury?: With discussion. I would prefer to avoid permanent maiming, so if we're talking a crippling or disfiguring injury (e.g. limb loss, mangling, anything with permanent consequences) then I would prefer it either not happen or result in death.
Death?: With discussion. He's tough to kill and not stupid enough to put himself in unsurvivable situations without a very good reason, and if anyone attempts to kill him he will not have any reservations about killing them immediately. I'm not planning on killing him off but am open to it if it's necessary for plot reasons~
Is there anything you need us to know about interacting with this character?: I WAS SAD THAT "kicks_puppies" WAS TAKEN WHEN I WAS COMING UP WITH USERNAMES. If you play a puppy and do not want that puppy kicked, please be aware that Hijikata is probably not gonna take mercy on them. :(
That said, he's not cruel, just harsh, and if you dig far enough there's squishy bits under the steel. He's just not a good fit for people who have easily hurt feelings.
Anything else, please mention here: Not that I can think of, but if there's anything YOU want to know, I answer PMs and email!
Fandom: Peace Maker Kurogane / Shinsengumi Imon Peace Maker (manga)
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Time Period: August 1864, after the Ikedaya incident (end of first manga series)
Wing Color: Black with ashy gray dappling
History: Hijikata was born to a merchant family in Hino, a modern suburb of Tokyo, in 1835. His father, a wealthy farmer, died before he was born and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was very young (the disease also took at least one of his siblings.) He was largely raised by his eldest brother, who tried to find him a trade since as the youngest child, Hijikata would not inherit any of his family's wealth. From a very young age, however, Hijikata only wanted to be bushi. He came to fiercely resent those lucky enough to be born into families of the warrior class, who could easily achieve the glory, wealth, honor and strength that he desired so much. His attempts at finding a career were less than successful. Although he worked as a medicine peddler selling Ishida Sanyaku (a traditional medicine for bruises and broken bones), he was a rough and arrogant youth, teaching himself to fight, getting in brawls and seducing married women. He caused scandal after scandal with samurai women he seduced and then dumped, perhaps as a way to prove to himself that the samurai he envied weren't any more special than he was.
Despite his rough attitude, Hijikata developed a close friendship with Kondou Katsuta, the adopted son of the Kondou dojo, and a fellow talented swordsman. After an incident with a group of bandits who nearly killed them both, he also became close to the dojo's youngest student, nine-year-old Okita Soujirou. (He never did give up using the initial mocking nickname he developed for the boy, Souji, from the cleaning chores [souji] that Okita did around the dojo.)
Hijikata joined the Tennen Rishin-ryu dojo sometime after Souji's acceptance as a student there, never quite mastering the style (his own brutal street-fighting background made him an unconventional, if deadly, fighter) and made many of his lifelong friends there. As well as Kondou, he met Yamanami Keisuke, who joined him and Kondou in dreaming of a future as honorable, accomplished bushi. Yamanami was the highly educated, impeccably honorable member of their group of friends, so much so that Hijikata relied on him to keep Hijikata from going astray following his hot temper and ruthless pragmatism.
In 1863, the Tokugawa shogunate organized a group of ronin to protect the shogun during his time in Kyoto. Hijikata jumped at the chance to take an official position, and along with a group of his comrades from the Shieikan including Kondou, Okita, Yamanami, Nagakura, Harada and Todo, traveled to Kyoto to join the organization, which became known as the Roshigumi. Originally, the group was led by three joint commanders, Kondo Isami, Serizawa Kamo, and Niimi Nishiki; Hijikata was a vice-commander and enforcer of the regulations. Serizawa and Niimi, however, began to drink, gamble, and commit extortion, giving the group a reputation as amoral thugs. It was during this period that they got the nickname of Miburo, or "wolves of Mibu.”
Hijikata found enough evidence of Niimi's wrongdoing that he was able to demand that Niimi commit seppuku; however, there wasn't enough evidence against Serizawa to force seppuku, and therefore, on orders from their noble sponsor Matsudaira Katamori, Hijikata, Kondou, Yamanami and Okita slipped into Serizawa's house and slaughtered everyone inside. After Serizawa's death, Kondou became the exclusive commander of the Shinsengumi, with Hijikata and Yamanami acting as vice-commanders. Hijikata had the responsibility for accepting new recruits, writing and enforcing the Shinsengumi code, and doing a great deal of the tactical planning as well as delivering orders to Yamazaki Susumu and Yamazaki Ayumu, the Shinsengumi's spies, and recieving information from them. Kondou oversaw training and handled dealing with their commanders and those of high rank; Yamanami mostly concerned himself with the Shinsengumi's financial and business affairs.
The first Peace Maker series begins after the assassination of Serizawa, with a boy named Ichimura Tetsunosuke applying to enter the Shinsengumi. Hijikata initially denies his request because Tetsu is far too young to fight; however, Okita argues for Tetsu to be admitted, Kondou praises the boy's determination and potential, Tetsu himself willingly kneels in the rain in the Shinsengumi compound all night in hopes of convincing Hijikata of his seriousness, and when faced with all of that together Hijikata caves and says to Tetsu: "...You remind me of Souji. All right, for Souji's sake, I'll let you join." However, he continues to refuse to let Tetsu fight; instead, the boy becomes Hijikata's page while he studies swordplay with Okita. At the time, the Shinsengumi was occupied tracking down the associates of a known enemy and Choshu sympathizer, Yoshida Toshimaru, infamous for his habit of using arson against his enemies and last spotted entering Kyoto. On Hijikata's orders, Yamazaki Ayumu seduced a suspected associate to try and extract information out of him, but the group, realizing she was a spy for the Shinsengumi, raped her and beat her to death. Hijikata, furious at both the shishi for murdering her and himself for sending her into such a dangerous situation, ordered an all-out assault led by Okita on the inn where they were staying. A fair number of them were killed, and one captured. Hijikata tortured the captive for two days before he finally cracked and gave information on the location of his conspirators - the Ikedaya, an inn in Kyoto. The Shinsengumi attacked the Ikedaya, killing nearly all the conspirators; Tetsu tagged along, and ended up fighting Yoshida personally for a short period of time before Okita came to his aid and beheaded Yoshida. Injured by Yoshida -- and extremely ill with the first outbreak of the tuberculosis that would later kill him -- Okita collapsed, and Hijikata dashed to his aid with cough medicine and helped him back to the Shinsengumi compound. He then proceeded to grumpily insist that Okita stay in bed with proper medicine until he recovered fully.
Personality: Hijikata is a harsh man, strict, unforgiving and violent, but his harshest judgment is reserved for himself. He was born to a rich farming family, but idealized samurai and wanted to be a warrior from the earliest point he can remember. However, because of his common birth, his ambitions were laughed off by everyone surrounding him. For someone born a commoner to become bushi would require exceptional skill, wealth, or excellence - whereas those born samurai could be weak, dissipated and venal, and would still have the right to bear a sword. As a teenager, this knowledge had twisted into anger and resentment toward anyone born to the samurai class, even women and children. He rejected his friend Katsuta's (later Kondo Isami) offer to train at their dojo for years, preferring to make his own way and strike out in petty ways at the social order that rejected his ambitions. Nearly dying at the hands of a gang of bandits taught him better, but although he joined the Tennen Rishin-ryu dojo and successfully made his way up the ranks on the strength of his swordsmanship and ability as a leader, Hijikata still has the heart of the angry, ambitious boy he was. He constantly judges himself against the ideals of bushido, and he still condemns himself - and those around him - for any failure to live up to his own high standards.
As a commander, Hijikata is ruthless and decisive, but he feels a powerful sense of responsibility towards his subordinates. The death of Ayumu, a female ninja and spy for the Shinsengumi, hit him hard because he believed he was personally responsible. He had ordered her to extract information from a nest of known traitors; he did not know that those traitors had already seen through her cover identity and were waiting for her arrival to torture her to death. His own guilt and anger may have played a part in his decision to order the attack on the Ikedaya before there was time for reinforcements to arrive; or it may simply have been a rational decision to take the conspirators there by surprise. Either way, it was effective. Although Hijikata is powerfully affected by his emotions, he would not allow them to affect him to the point of making bad tactical decisions.
His ruthlessness is part of his image as the “demon vice-commander.” Each of the Shinsengumi's leaders fills a distinct role: Yamanami is kind and honorable to a fault, to the point where obeying an order to assassinate the commander who was giving the Shinsengumi a bad name with carousing and extortion left him so wracked by self-doubt he was unable to continue wielding his sword. Kondou is reasonable, fatherly and enthusiastic, honorable and good at building rapport. Hijikata is the “demon,” the one who created a code requiring seppuku for any infringement and who is willing to get his hands dirty with assassination, torture, trickery, or intrigue - any means at all to achieve his ends. He doesn't attempt to build rapport with the men; his only real friendships seem to be those with the people he has known for years, Kondou and Okita. Although he appears to have once been close to Yamanami, the tension between their very different personalities and leadership styles has built to the point of open hostility by the beginning of Shinsengumi Imon Peace Maker, and he treats the other swordsmen from the Shieikan as subordinates, perhaps comrades, but not friends.
Although he's ruthless and lacking in social skills, Hijikata isn't as heartless as his crusty exterior suggests. He cares deeply for the friends he has, to the point of visibly panicking and rushing to Souji's side when told that he had collapsed at the Ikedaya. He tries to protect Tetsu from the realities of life in the Shinsengumi, convinced that he's too young despite Tetsu's eagerness to rush into battle. He's gruff and defensive about the gulf that has developed between himself and Yamanami. He's even a poet, although he's very sensitive about his writings.
What he doesn't generally do is express those feelings. He isn't an expressive man at all; he's grown more and more taciturn over the years, and often takes refuge in silence when challenged by difficult emotion. He doesn't know how to respond when Souji is upset by Hijikata's refusal to let Tetsu begin fighting at a young age; he responds to Yamanami's antagonism with hostility and bravado, despite seeming to dislike their estrangement. Although Hijikata is intelligent, he's spectacularly bad at dealing with complicated emotions. He either finds himself lost for words or he reacts in exactly the wrong way. The only way his emotions ever escape is through his haiku - which tend to be blunt, straightforward, and not particularly skillful, but which are still the only outlet for his softer feelings.
Action is always easier for Hijikata than speech. He's a deadly brawler, not a technically expert swordsman; he fights like he lives, doing whatever is necessary to win (dirty tricks most definitely included). The level of violence he's willing to commit is frankly shocking. He doesn't even consider mercy for his opponents, and in the assassination of Serizawa Kamo, he insisted on the deaths of everyone in the house - their target, his guests, and the innocent entertainers hired for the night alike. He is willing to murder and brutally torture without the slightest hint of remorse. Hijikata's compassion and concern are reserved for his own comrades. Once a person attacks him or his friends, he rarely hesitates to destroy them. It is in his attitude towards his enemies that his truly “demonic” side is exposed.
Strengths:
Physical
Hijikata is strong, powerful and very skilled with a sword. He's one of the few people who's willing and able to spar with Souji, and he's tough, ruthless and adaptable, unashamed of “dirty tricks” like groin shots, tripping, or striking a distracted enemy. He's shown to be exceptionally deadly in battle, able to take out a large group of armed men singlehandedly when they tried to ambush him.
Emotional
Hijikata is the quintessential strong and silent type. He's tough and stern, sometimes ruled by anger, rarely by fear, and never by his softer feelings. While that has its down sides, it serves him well. He's also highly ambitious and driven, working his way up from common birth to an eventual position as a Tokugawa hatamoto; he's constantly striving to improve in the pursuit of his goals.
Mental
Very adaptable and a skilled military tactician; when he goes after something, he has the mental resources to achieve it. As a commander, his decisions are sound, and he is able to repeatedly direct the Shinsengumi to achieve their desired goals, even when they are outnumbered or lack support.
Weaknesses:
Physical
Although the physical is Hijikata's strong point, he tends to sleep in, develops eczema when he's stressed out, is addicted to tobacco, and gets really tense, especially in his shoulders.
Emotional
Sensitive about his poetry. Like, really sensitive. He will track you down with weapon drawn if you mess with it. He's also incapable of communicating his feelings and freezes up when challenged about them, and he has a nasty temper than can push him into going too far (something that he is aware of and fears). He's bad at empathizing with others; for instance, he never seems to understand Yamanami's growing horror of violence, because he's unable to reconcile that “weakness” with Yamanami's skill and his many admirable traits.
Mental
Hijikata's laserlike focus on his goals is as much a weakness as it is a strength; he doesn't register other people's needs and differences, and his blunt speech often alienates others. He's not clever with words, and people who are can quickly reduce him to angry glaring (negatively, in the case of Itou, as he'll find out in a few months; with friendly banter, in the case of Souji.) Although he has a keen military mind, he's not particularly cultured, and even his poetry tends to be blunt and gnomic rather than refined.
Samples
First Person: [The video clicks on to show the edge of one bare shoulder. It is not a happy shoulder, although as far as biceps go, it's also not particularly expressive. The barely hidden snarl in its owner's voice is much more telling.]
-thing even working. There must be a way to-
[A throat-clearing noise. He raises his voice.]
You're all talking like you expect to be answered. You should be able to hear me. This is- [No.]
Answer me immediately. What is this place? Who controls it? Who brought us here?
[He tilts the book for a closer look at the controls; badly tousled long black hair sneaks into view on the left side of the screen.]
This is idiotic. It's a book. And give me directions back to Kyoto.
[Hijikata slams the book shut, cutting the feed with a decisive thump.]
Third Person: Hijikata drifted into consciousness facedown with a horrible taste in his mouth and an ache between his shoulder blades. The floor was lumpy, damp, and there was something pointy digging into his ribcage.
Where the hell had he gone to sleep? And just how much had he had to drink last night? Souji's insinuations aside, he didn't overindulge like that these days. There was too much to be done to waste much time on pleasure. And his head didn't hurt, anyway, which ruled out alcohol, which left....
Reluctantly, he cracked an eye open and turned his head just a little to the side.
Grass. Lovely, dew-spangled, fresh green grass.
He was outside?
Hijikata was on his feet in an instant. He wasn't only outside. He was in a forest, with trees looming around him on every side. And - he glanced down at himself - he wasn't even wearing his clothes.. Someone had put him in undyed monk's pants. His mind churned through the possibilities: a forest, different clothes, no injuries, no company. Enemies wouldn't have left him uninjured and unrestrained. If someone had thought this was a funny prank, they'd be singing a different tune when he got his hands on them-
Something twitched on his shoulder. He slapped at it, and felt feathers under his hand, and a jolt of pain along - something - to that sore spot just inside his left shoulder blade.
Bewildered, Hijikata craned his neck to get a decent look at his back. Feathers, definitely feathers. On some kind of structure. Was that a wing?
It moved as he thought of it, a shiver that rattled the gray primaries against each other. His eyebrows drew together, and he tried to move it again: spreading out, tucking tight against his ribs. The wing swept through each movement as if it belonged there, like a limb he'd had all his life, if it weren't for the ache that gripped his shoulder at each movement. And if it weren't that he knew better.
He looked over his other shoulder, already knowing what he'd see there. His other wing spread out and tucked tight with the same obedience as the first.
This wasn't just a prank.
Hijikata snarled, hiding the unsettled lurch that gripped his gut, and looked around again. No sign of footsteps in the mouldering leaves, nothing but the scuff mark where he'd been lying. No sign of his clothes or his weapons.
Something in that scuff mark caught his eye, and he reached down for it. A book. Not his; the binding wasn't familiar. It must have been dropped by his ... kidnappers, he decided, for lack of a better term. Whatever else they had done, he had certainly been kidnapped.
He flipped the cover open and stared. The first page was filled with a complex diagram: boxes, triangles, squares, lines everywhere, and precise little pictures of strangers' faces. Bizarre. He flipped the page again, looking for plain writing, and stared at another, larger picture-
This one moved and spoke. Hijikata slammed the book shut, his hand tightening on the cover to throw it into the underbrush. At the last moment, he hesitated. Breathed out. Talking pictures weren't going to attack him. They might have useful information. If there was just one thing he could get, right now, he wanted it to be answers.
Before he started listening to pictures, though, he was going to try the normal way of getting them: finding someone who knew. And beating the truth out of the bastard with his bare hands.
Hijikata picked a direction, tucked the book into the waistband of his pants, and started walking.
Threadhopping with this character?: Always OK with me; also please feel free to threadhop other characters in my posts if you wish and it's OK with the other character.
Backtagging with this character?: Go for it. I'm generally willing to keep going, especially with logs, as long as is necessary, and if otherwise I'll say something ^_^
Hugging this character?: Hijikata is not the cuddly sort. You are welcome to try, but he's likely to respond by prying you off him and depositing you a proper distance away. If you manage to surprise him with a hug things could get violent.
Giving this character a kiss?: Again, you are welcome to try. If you're a hot lady trying to seduce him your chances are not zero.
Something more intimate?: See above ^^ Hijikata is much less into the casual sex thing than he was as a teenager, and I don't think this is likely, but I'm OK with it if it happens: that said, see below.
Relationships?: I'm not unwilling to go there, but it probably won't happen. Hijikata's a jerk and not particularly interested in developing any close, loving attachments with anybody, friend-wise or relationship-wise. If he's not ALREADY your best friend, he is unlikely to BECOME one anytime soon....
Punching this character (provided they can fight back): Hijikata will probably escalate the violence level if your character starts anything. Please PM to discuss.
Injury?: With discussion. I would prefer to avoid permanent maiming, so if we're talking a crippling or disfiguring injury (e.g. limb loss, mangling, anything with permanent consequences) then I would prefer it either not happen or result in death.
Death?: With discussion. He's tough to kill and not stupid enough to put himself in unsurvivable situations without a very good reason, and if anyone attempts to kill him he will not have any reservations about killing them immediately. I'm not planning on killing him off but am open to it if it's necessary for plot reasons~
Is there anything you need us to know about interacting with this character?: I WAS SAD THAT "kicks_puppies" WAS TAKEN WHEN I WAS COMING UP WITH USERNAMES. If you play a puppy and do not want that puppy kicked, please be aware that Hijikata is probably not gonna take mercy on them. :(
That said, he's not cruel, just harsh, and if you dig far enough there's squishy bits under the steel. He's just not a good fit for people who have easily hurt feelings.
Anything else, please mention here: Not that I can think of, but if there's anything YOU want to know, I answer PMs and email!