Yashamaru

Yashamaru
Ninja Stats
Gender:	Male
Special Ability:	Controls Dozens of Strands of "Black Rope"
Status:	Killed by Gyoubu Kasumi
Affiliation:	Iga Clan
Family:	Unknown
Appearances
First Appearance (Manga):	Chapter 1
First Appearance (Anime):	Episode 1
Voice Actors
Japanese:	Naoki Yanagi
English:	Justin Cook

Yashamaru (夜叉丸, Yashamaru) is a member of the Iga Tsubagakure clan and one of the ten ninja picked by Ogen to participate in the battle against the Kouga. He is engaged/Fiance to fellow Iga ninja Hotarubi.

Appearance

Yashamaru is a you

Yashamaru with short hair

ng man with long, black hair, which he ties in a loose ponytail with a red ribbon, allowing his fringe to cover some of his face. His hair has a slight blue tint that is similar to the color of his eyes. He wears a traditional ninja outfit consisting of a black kosode and black hakama. The sleeves of his kosode are long enough to cover his entire arm and are also very wide, hanging down when he lifts his arms. He also wears black fingerless gloves, black tabi socks and traditional sandals. During his fight with Shougen Kazamachi he is forced to cut his hair off, making it short and slightly spikey.

Biography

Before the War

Yashamaru with Hotarubi

In an anime only flashback Yashamaru is seen on a secluded mountain alone with Hotarubi. Hotarubi reminds him that he should be off performing patrol duties but he replies he would much rather spend the time with her. She smiles and the two go to kiss, however out of the corner of his eye Yashamaru can see Hotarubi's snake watching them. Feeling uncomfortable he turns away and tells her that it wasn't a good day for it, heading back to his duties. Confused, Hotarubi chases after him.

In one of Hotarubi's flashbacks, Yashamaru is seen, clearly excited, and tells Hotarubi that he was chosen to go to Sunpu with Ogen (as the representative of Iga). Hotarubi smiles and Yashamaru goes on to say that old people can be surprising, and that Ogen had not "gone senile" yet. He promises to bring something back for Hotarubi and names a number of gifts, but she laughs and tells him that she could not use any of them since she's a ninja. Yasham

Yashamaru holding Hotarubi's hand

aru tells her she does not have to worry about training constantly and there is time for her to be a woman, using Oboro as an example. Hotarubi pouts, most likely jealous, and begins to walk off before Yashamaru stops her. He gently takes her hand and holds it against his face, explaining that the no-hostilities pact is a positive thing and believes this when he is with her. He then states that Hotarubi has the most beautiful hands and he never wants to see blood on them.

In another flashback he is seen with the rest of the Iga clan huddled in a group talking. Yashamaru hears a noise from the room next door and slides it open slightly to peer inside. He makes a comical face and the rest of the group peek inside as well. They catch sight of Ogen fixing her make-up and are so shocked they fall forward into Ogen's room, breaking the doors in the process and collapsing on top of one another.

Visit to Sunpu

Yashamaru is specially selected by Ogen to be her representitive when she travels to Sunpu to meet Ieyasu Tokugawa. When there he is made to battle against Shougen, who is the representitive of the Kouga selected by Danjou. Yashamaru begins the match by attacking with his "Black Ropes", which force Shougen to back off. He manages to tie Shougen to a rock and taunts him as he pulls the strings tighter and tighter. Eventually he completely slices through the rock, but Shougen escapes and spits his glue-like saliva in Yashamaru's face. With Yashamaru's hands bound to his face in the saliva Shougen moves behind him and taunts him. Yashamaru uses the opportunity to use the ropes around his ankles to slice away the saliva and free himself, though it cuts his hair in the process.

The pair then run up to the roof, Yashamaru using his ropes to pull him up. They continue the battle with Shougen spitting more saliva at Yashamaru, who manages to dodge it all. They run towards each other for the final attack but are ordered to stop, which they do immediately. Yashamaru is shown to have wrapped Shougen's head within his "Black Ropes"and even resulted to drawing his cleaver. The two rejoin their leaders and watch as the peace treaty is broken and ninjas from both clans are selected for battle. Upon hearing the treaty is abolished, Yashamaru appears terrified for a brief moment. Yashamaru is then handed a scroll by Ogen, who orders him to take it back to Iga. As he leaves, he passes Danjou, who manages to take the scroll unbeknownst to Yashamaru.

Return to Iga

Yashamaru realises he has lost the scroll and heads back to Sunpu. Unable to find Ogen or Danjou he leaves, once again setting out for Iga. He heads along the Tokai road, worried that he has let down the Iga clan and put Hotarubi in danger. He stops when he hears a voice calling him, a voice he recognises as belonging to Tenzen. When he asks Tenzen to come out the voice says it has a reason for staying hidded, before diverting the conversation to why Yashamaru was returning from Sunpu. Yashamaru asks if Tenzen wouldn't show himself because he had been killed by Shougen and when the voice doesn't answer he takes it as a yes. He apoligises for being tricked by Danzou, losing the scroll and for letting Tenzen be killed. The voice then asks what Yashamaru means by the scroll and Yashamaru gleefully informs him that the peace treaty has been broken. The voice gasps, shocked by the news and Yashamaru realises it is no longer Tenzen's voice.

Yashamaru uses his ropes to slice through the wall and catches Saemon Kisaragi in the strings. He realises killing a Kouga will make up for him losing the scroll, so he places his foot against the wall to give him leverage as he pulls the strings, declaring that he will kill Saemon. Gyoubu then appears through the wall, grabbing Yashamaru's neck with one hand and Yashamaru's arms in the other. Gyoubu breaks both of his forearms simultaneously, preventing him from using the strings on his wrists and begins to choke him. Yashamaru then attempts to use the strings around his ankles, but Gyoubu snaps his neck before the strings reach him. Gyoubu releases Yashamaru's limp body, and he falls to the ground, having died instantly. Before Yashamaru's vision fades to black, one of Hotarubi's butterflies is seen fluttering above him, and returns to her with a vision of her lover. Shortly after, a white butterfly can be seen lying dead along with Yashamaru, just out of his grasp.

Personality

Yashamaru is rather loud, brash and cocky man who is not afraid to brag and taunt his opponents in the middle of battle. Despite all this he is madly in love with Hotarubi and often worries about her. He is one of the few Iga ninja who wanted the peace treaty to succeed, hoping it would allow him to marry Hotarubi without worrying about potential attacks. He also seems to care of his honour, shown when he wanted to kill Saemon to restore his honour.

Abilities

Yashamaru using his Black Ropes

Kokujou: Yashamaru's "black ropes" are garrote wires woven from the hair of young women and alchemically treated with natural oils harvested from wild animals, which gives them the consistency of steel. He ties them around his forearms and he also keeps some around his calves to use if his hands are immobilized. He uses the wires as an extension of his own body, able to tie up opponents, flay them, or use the strands to pierce like needles.

Kenjutsu: While Yashamaru is never seen fighting with a sword he is often seen carrying a cleaver on his back. This hints that he might have been good at wielding a sword and that it may have been used as his back-up weapon should his "Black Ropes" be beaten. His opponents rarely get close enough that he's required to draw it.

Relationships

Hotarubi

Hotarubi is engaged to Yashamaru and he cares for her deeply. On is return from Sunpu, after he realised he had lost the scroll, his first thoughts were hoping that she was safe as he believed her to be unaware of the treaty being broken. When shown in flashbacks Yashamaru is almost always standing with Hotarubi, often holding each other tightly.

Tenzen

Yashamaru, like many of the Iga, respected Tenzen and would do almost anything he asked. This is shown when Yashamaru answers "Tenzen"'s questions of the scroll without hesitation. He also hints that he is aware of Tenzen's special ability, though it is likely most Iga ninja are.

Appearance in Other Media

Tak Sakaguchi as Yashamaru

Yashamaru was in the 2005 live-action movie Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, played by Tak Sakaguchi. There are some differences in that he is not romanticly involved with Hotarubi, only speaks a few words during the entire movie, is very aloof, keeps his long hair, and is somewhat androgynous. He also wears an outfit with extremely long sleeves, but his use of garrote wires remain the same. He is killed in a duel with the Kouga Koshirou, who uses his sickle to wrap Yashamaru around a tree and impale him in the heart. His appearance is later stolen by Saemon.

Trivia

• In the original novel, after realizing Danjou had grabbed his scroll, Yashamaru runs all the way back to Sunpu only to find Ogen and Danjou's dead bodies floating in the river. His affections for Hotarubi and abilities remain the same.
• Also in the novel instead of using multiple wires, Yashamaru wields a single thin piece of rope that he keeps hung from his belt when not in use. He's also described as having shining black eyes and cheeks the color of cherry blossoms.
• In the manga, Yashamaru threatens Saemon for his name after capturing him in his wires. After Saemon tells him, Yashamaru promises to kill him personally right before being strangled by Gyoubu. In the anime, this never occurs, and Yashamaru accepts Saemon as a nameless Kouga.
• The kanji forming Yashamaru's name can possibly translate to "demon boy".
• Once his hair got shorter, Yashamaru has a similar appearance to the child form of Walter C Dornez from Kouta Hirano's anime and manga series Hellsing, who has similar abilites to Yashamaru.  And Hotarubi has a similar appearance to Alucard's female form which fans have dubbed "Girlycard."

Quotes

• (To Kazamachi) "Don't you worry. Just relax; this will only hurt for a second."
• (To himself, after resolving to kill Saemon) "He must be one of the Kouga ten. I can make up for my failures if I bring back his head."
• (To Hotarubi) "These are the most beautiful hands. I never want to see blood on them."