Lore
The Shogun's Shadow
"Of course i suspect he 'removed' the previous 9 shoguns, but if he removes this one i can take over! Don't worry, I've got it all figured out."– Soon-to-be-Shogun Mizugawa
"We don't like to brag, but we're kind of impressed of how many people are here because of us. Did I say us? I mean me. Just one me."
– Jiro, eyes shifting side to side and staring at the ceiling
As the story goes...
The masterful shinobi from the Iga and Koga clans were known far and wide. It was behind these clever diversions that the unparalleled Gensoujin family plied their trade.Secreted away in the Realm of Twilight it was here that Jiro trained as a child. From the beginning, his reckless and unorthodox ways kept him in the top of his class and in trouble with the elders. When he was told to "use the darkness to your advantage," he convinced other trainees' Shadows to fight as his side and set a School record. Perfecting his Saiyokage technique, he began taking others' shadows for good and struck out on his own.
If the family dojo wasn't ready for Jiro, his targets in the mortal world were even less prepared. With each victory he added another shadow to his arsenal, Shogun Mizugawa's reign ended in the setting sun when Jiro's Shadow stretched over the fortress wall and sliced him in two. He hooked and set the Blood Moon with his Kusarigama to turn the Demon Shogun Yotsunaga mortal. Briefly. Most notably, Jiro employed the forbidden Full Eclipse Blade technique and Shogun Fujiyama disappeared under a flood of Shadows along with his entire army.
Now in Valhalla, some say Jiro is hiding from death, but Wu Shang says he's hiding behind the grand tapestry in the Great Hall as a part of the yearly hide-and-seek tournament with Kaya and Caspian. Together, Jiro and his shadows climb the rankings and are still all too happy to take a contract for the right price.
Connections
- Jaeyun earned 10,000 rubies and a huge magic sword on a job protecting the king from the shadow ninja Jiro, and managed to hang on to the sword.
Context
Jiro, like Hattori, is a ninja. Specifically, he is a shinobi, a term often used to refer to a male ninja. Because he is a ninja, he is from Japan.Let's go over several Japanese terms mentioned in Jiro's lore.
- Saiyokage = when I looked up the Japanese translation, I got "again night shadow," or something about repeating shadows in the night; kage means "shadow," I know that much; in any case, it seems to be the technique Jiro uses to take other people's shadows
- Shinobi = as mentioned before, a male ninja
- Shogun = military dictator in Japan; this system of government, called the shogunate, existed from the late 12th to the late 19th century; it's very possible that Jiro, Hattori, and Koji could have met each other, though it's not likely because it's such a large timeframe (then again, Koji killed Hattori's demon husband)
- Kusurigama = a sickle or scythe on a chain; in Jiro's character select animation, and in some of his scythe sigs, his weapon has a shadowy chain attached to it, turning it into a kusurigama
On Hattori's page, I've pointed out what kind of sword a ninja would use. Jiro's scythe (kama in Japanese) is another possible ninja weapon, which is actually a very smart weapon to master if you're going to be going undercover in a rural area. Harvest by day, fight by night. Not sure what Jiro's Full Eclipse Blade Technique could be, but I certainly wouldn't want to find out first hand.
This is just my speculation, but Jiro collecting shadows with each victory could be a reference to the warrior monk Musashibou Benkei who would challenge samurai to duel and take their swords when he won, eventually collecting 999 swords until he was bested by Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Also on the theory that he's Hattori's husband, Jiro can be written as 次郎 meaning second son, and the demon was a second son too as seen in Koji's lore
ReplyDeleteHis Crimson Oni skin from 1st battle pass could be how he looked like as Kagima's brother
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