Kojirō Miyamoto

"A fight's 10% muscle and 90% willpower. Thank the heavens I have quite a bit of muscle."

- Kojirō Miyamoto

Kojirō Miyamoto (宮本小次郎; Miyamoto Kojirō) was a rōnin mercenary who was hired to take part in the Clan Wars. He was notorious for possessing great strength, breaking his own weapon several times, including the sword that bound him to his daimyō. According to rumors, Kojirō was highly adept at, but abandoned the techniques after he left the employment of his daimyō. Most of what was known about Kojirō originated from rumors since Kojirō rarely talked about his past.

Background
Little is actually known about Kojirō's past. All sources indicate he was a bodyguard of a daimyō in the Land of Lightning. Kojirō and his daimyō apparently were not on good terms, resulting in Kojirō's discharge from service after breaking his sword. Sometime later, Kojirō met a monk, who he helped perform burial rites for the dead. In return for his help, the monk gave him the spade used to bury the deceased. Kojirō apparently broke the spade several times, resulting in its numerous modifications into its present form.

Personality
Kojirō puts on the impression of a bold and strong-willed rōnin. He claimed to constantly break his own things, though Kojirō had the physical prowess to back up his claims. Despite his strength, Kojirō had always been a proponent of tactical and strategic decision making, stating that it was more important to have a goal than the means to achieve that goal.

When he was not on the job, Kojirō drowned himself in alcohol and slept with women. It was suggested that his past was constantly troubling him, though the rōnin had always avoided attempts to bring up the topic in a conversation.

Appearance
Kojirō's gruff appearance was evident in his attire. He only wore a jacket and what appeared to be a hakama tucked into his plated ankle guards. His forearms were protected similarly, with simple leather gloves. Alongside a low neck-guard, Kojirō had a spiked belt slung across his shoulder, though the reasoning for this remains uncertain.

He often held an expression of confidence in himself, despite his outlandish appearance. He wore a large eyepatch, apparently due to losing an eye in his past, which covered nearly half of his face. Kojirō's white hair was unkempt, as though he never took care of it ever since he left the service of his daimyō.

Abilities
From his training to become a bodyguard, Kojirō was taught how to counter as well as the application of emergency medical techniques that he could apply to himself and others in order to prolong one's life long enough for specialists to arrive at the scene. This included the procedure of producing and. Kojirō was also taught to fight by ear, in the case that he would not be able to see his enemies while defending his daimyō.

Kojirō is classified as a, though capable of some range through the use of the chain on his modified spade.

Kojirō's modified spade
Kojirō's signature weapon, it was a polearm weapon consisting of a crescent-blade on one end, curved away rather than towards the opponent, and a dead-weight on the other. At the bladed end was a handle fitted with a long chain, used to pull the weapon back to its wielder in the case that it leaves its user's grip.

It was both heavy and awkward to use, especially to amateurs, leaving Kojirō to be the only person to come close to mastering its use. Though heavy, it was capable of withstanding powerful attacks, allowing Kojirō to use attacks that would damage any other weapon that he would have used.

The crescent blade was capable of both slashing and stabbing attacks, though its shape limited its potential in both regards. To compensate for this, Kojirō also used the blunt faces of the crescent blade as part of his combative style, relying on his strength to be able to fight against the poor aerodynamics.

His proficiency with his highly modified monk's spade was described as unrefined but holding experience and skill. Kojirō admitted that he rarely knew what he was doing when he fought with his weapon, stating that the spade still felt odd in his hands. The lack of a refined form with his weapon made Kojirō's fighting style relatively wild and unpredictable.

Kenjutsu
The extent of Kojirō's skill in remains uncertain, though he was able to use  with his modified spade, which is a rare accomplishment due to not using a sheath for such a long, unwieldy weapon.