"The Giant of Bizen" Rokurōta (〝
Appearance
Rokurōta was a man known for his abnormally large size, standing twice as tall as Yamada Asaemon Genji who is quite tall himself. He had extremely broad, well-muscled torso, wide-set shoulders, and massive toned arms and legs. He had messy dark hair and wore a mask covering his entire face with only a single eye hole. He wore a sleeveless, worn out kimono held together with an obi.
Gallery
Personality
Rokurōta remained in silence and usually spended his time lounging or sleeping. The only times he reacted was when he was feeling hungry, which resulted in him going on a rampage. During his final moments, it was revealed in Rokurōta's vision that the giant viewed his attacking as "playing".
History
Rokurōta was born as a large infant in a village with his mother and father. While growing up, he spent his time eating and playing with rocks. Sometime ago, he killed his parents along with his entire village, and became known as The Giant of Bizen. He then accepted an offer to be pardon for his crimes if he were to find the Elixir of Life for the shogun.
Plot
Island Arc
- Main article: Island Arc
After being sent to Edo for the hearing of the mission, the criminals gathered are ordered to reduce the numbers until there are only a few left to leave for the island. After sitting through the massacre, Rokurōta leaves off with Yamada Asaemon Eizen to the island.
Once they land on the island, Rokurōta starts to feel hungry and instantly kills Eizen. After a day had past, Rokurōta finds Genji and Sagiri and attacks. Gabimaru kicks Rokurōta and sends him crashing. Rokurōta picks himself up and throws a tree towards Gabimaru. He proceeds to attack him while Gabimaru strategies on how he should fight him. After throwing another attack, Rokurōta notices that his little finger is cut by Sagiri who arrives to aid Gabimaru.
Rokurōta fighting Gabimaru and Sagiri.
Rokurōta stops the bleeding on his finger and attacks Gabimaru. Gabimaru blocks the punch and Sagiri comes behind Rokurōta to cut his right leg but to no avail. Later, Rokurōta cries after his stomach rumbles loudly from hunger and charges at Gabimaru. Rokurōta slams Gabimaru to the ground and faces Sagiri next. Sagiri blocks all of Rokurōta's attack and causes him to fall to the ground. However, Rokurōta sees the attack coming and jumps up to give him distance away from Sagiri.
Rokurōta beheaded by Sagiri.
Gabimaru attacks Rokurōta with a barrage of flaming ninjutsu but he deflects it towards the trees. As a result, Rokurōta sets the whole area on fire and suffocates from the smoke covering his face. He falls to his knees, giving Sagiri an opportunity to behead him. Rokurōta sees Sagiri and tries to attack but Gabimaru grabs his arm and holds him down. After Sagiri makes the finishing blow, Rokurōta thinks back to his past. Sagiri appears and holds a Rokurōta as an infant and is later seen holding the severed head of Rokurōta, laying his soul to rest.
Abilities and Powers
Rokurōta was viewed as a criminal too dangerous to live and was given a death sentence. Rokurōta was able to fight against Gabimaru the Hollow and caused him to struggle with how he should go about fighting him.
Physical Abilities
Rokurōta crushes Eizen.
Ever since he was an infant, Rokurōta was born with tremendous physical strength, capable of slaughtering his parents and his entire village. Rokurōta had enough power to smash the ground, grab and throw a tree effortlessly with one hand, and instantly kill a person with a single palm strike. When he attacked Eizen, Rokurōta destroyed the entire upper half of his body and managed to leave a giant gaping hole in Genji's torso. He was also known for eating bears starting from the head. According to Gabimaru, guarding against Rokurōta's attacks were nearly impossible and a single graze could mean the end.[1] With a single blow, Rokurōta broke past Gabimaru's immense defensive power and leave him badly wounded.
Despite his size, Rokurōta was extremely fast and had extraordinary reflexes, being able to keep Gabimaru on full alert. He was fast enough to instantly kill Eizen and jump out of the way of Sagiri's sword attack after momentarily falling to the ground.
Tao
- Further information: Tao
After battling him up close, Sagiri sensed that Rokurōta was using Tao subconsciously, which explained his tremendous durability. Rokurōta's tough body prevented him being penetrated from swords or spears. Gabimaru compared his sturdiness to that of a Iwa ninja. He was able to survive a kick from Gabimaru and instantly got up afterwards. During his battle with the ninja, Rokurōta survived being hit by stones launched as projectiles and showed no signs of injury.
Trivia
- Rokurōta ranked 25th place in the manga 1st Character Popularity Poll.
References
- ↑ Jigokuraku chapter 13, page 8-9
