Amakusa Shōgo (天草 翔伍) is a young Japanese doctor and swordsman loosely based on an actual historical figure and the main antagonist of the Shimabara Arc. Originally born as Shogo Mutou (武藤 翔伍, Mutō Shōgo), he abandoned his family name to take up the title of "Amakusa Shiro", a Christian samurai who fought against the government centuries ago, to claim vengeance against who wronged his family and fellow Christians. He learned the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū from his uncle, Nishida Hyōei, after they fled to Europe into hiding following their parents' persecution, before returning to Japan to fulfill his ambitions to make the country into God's land where his people could live in peace.
Appearance[]
Shōgo's first appearance
Shōgo has long brown-red hair and yellow eyes. He is always shown wearing a long green cape and a gold circlet (Shirō, in comparison, was reputed to be a bishonen—beautiful boy—but this may have been legendary, as well as a comparison to another mythic bishonen commander, Yoshitsune of the Minamoto clan, who fought in the Heike Wars of the 12th century.)
Personality[]
Shōgo Amakusa is a kind-hearted person to his fellow Christians and especially to his younger sister, Sayo. He would do everything in his power take care of his people and improve their lives, and in the face of persecution and injustice, even rise just to fight for them and their beliefs. He is also very faithful and devout to the Christian God.
However, his hate for the Meiji Government shrouded his heart in darkness, making him somewhat of a ruthless person. With this, he was able to kill three powerful people from the government, which lead the citizens in Japan worried.
During their battle, Kenshin saw that deep in Shōgo's heart, he never wanted to kill anyone because of his sadness and pain. Evidently, Shōgo did not like this in the least as he sealed Kenshin's eyesight as punishment.
Relationships[]
Amakusa Sayo - sister
Nishida Hyōei - uncle and former master
Abilities[]
Shōgo was a prodigy swordsman, able to master the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū by the age of 14, and to such a degree that he was able to wield its most basic techniques, surpassing godspeed without the need of a two step Battōjutsu.
Not only limited to the physical and precise, Shōgo's genius was able to have created the first new technique in 13 generations, creating a new Hiten Mitsurugi Ryū technique, the Rairyūsen (Thunder Dragon Flash). Unique to him, the technique involves utilizing his swordsman's spirit and ki, through which the correlation of Aoshi, believed the technique to be of the same variant of the kinds of attack similar the Shin no Ippo used by Udo Jin-e. Combining it with light reflected from his sword, the series of flashes that emanate from the blade impose such will and strikes the opponent by their sense of sight and mind so powerfully to where it is able to knock them out by sheer force of awe and spirit. By his discretion, Shōgo is also able to level its intensity; its normal strength was capable of knocking out legions of forces hired to stop him, and in direct example, was capable of paralyzing Misao Makimachi's mind through her sight, knocking her unconscious; its most powerful is enough to paralyze the eyes and permanently blind its foes.
Despite his impressive skills of swordplay and kenjutsu, Shōgo had not truly attained by right of traditional succession the mantle of the next generational master of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū; while he was able to deduce and mimic the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki, his succession was rather attained by the use of his Rairyūsen than the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki and the trial of the Kuzuryūsen proper, which is crucial to understand the basis of heart and principle the art follows. In turn, while he is a master of its external capabilities, he is not yet a master of its internal aspects that guides its users, and is what truly defines a true master and user of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū.
With the exception of being a powerful and skilled swordsman, Shogo displayed progressive knowledge about astrology and medicine to which he implements them in Shimabara to predict major events and cure diseases. This led the people to beleive he was performing "miracles" which led to further "evidence" for him being the Child of God.
History[]
Shōgo was said to be the "Son of God" and he lead a rebellion with the Shimabara Christians to fight against the Meiji government. When he was young, he was forced to leave Japan with his younger sister, Sayo (or Lady Magdalia), and his uncle, Nishida Hyōuei, in order to survive the persecution of Christians by the Tokugawa regime. His parents were both brutally killed by Christian persecutioners, soon before his uncle Hyōuei was able to take he and his sister Sayo away.
Besides Kenshin and his master, Hiko Seijūrō XIII, Shōgo is also a disciple of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū after being trained by his uncle Hyōuei who failed to become Hiko Seijūrō XIII, since he couldn't master the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki and so beat the Kuzuryūsen of his master in the final challenge. Nonetheless, Hyōuei survived his master's Kuzuryūsen and left Japan to carry on with his life. He later returned to save Shōgo and Sayo from persecution.
Shimabara Arc[]
Aware of Kaiō's betrayal and his territory raided by the Meiji government, Shogo led an all-out defense against the army in belief they will ascend into heaven upon death. As Shogo fought back, his medallion broke which he senses as the omen which Sayo has left the mortal plane, but the shock put his guard down, leaving him shot at the back from a soldier.
From their duel, Kenshin learned that Shōgo wasn't a bad person. Quite the contrary, he was a very compassionate and kind person deep down in his heart, and he never wanted to kill another person. In fact, he suffered unspeakable torments every time he took a life of another. Kenshin decided to fight Shōgo one last time in order to bring him back to the light, to stop calling himself a deity, and admit to himself that he is nothing more than confused and doesn't like hurting human beings, like any other. The two confronted once again, both with their Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki techniques, and Kenshin won. Shōgo admitted that he never wished to take another life, that he regrets everything that he had done, he even asks Kenshin to end his life, although his followers convinced him to keep on living and guiding them.
After his surrender of the Meiji government, Shogo sits quietly in prison knowing his awaitment for capital punishment. But Elsten manages to convince the government to spare the Shōgo and his followers into exile, to which Elsten gladly takes them into his homeland, Holland. Before being the last to board the ferry to Holland, Shogo reads Sayo's will in front of her grave as a very sad farewell, and saying goodbye and thank you to Kenshin and his friends at port.
Etymology[]
- Amakusa means "agar-agar" (天草).
- Shōgo means "soar, glide, fly" (翔) (shō) and "samurai, file" (伍) (go).
Real Name[]
- Mutoh means "military, martial" (武) (mu) and "wisteria" (藤) (toh), which literally means "warrior wisteria" altogether.
- Shōgo means "soar, glide, fly" (翔) (shō) and "samurai, file" (伍) (go).
Trivia[]
- When Matsukura became daimyo of Shimabara (a region on the west coast of the island of Kyushu) in 1633, he raised taxes drastically and tortured those who could not or would not pay. This led to the Shimabara Tax Rebellion of 1637-1638. At first, it attacked the daimyo, then spread to nearby areas, including the island of Amakusa. There, they found a figurehead for the rebellion: a devout teenage Christian named Amakusa Shirō Tokisada, who was the basis for Shōgo. Eventually the shogun's troops trapped the rebels in a castle and laid siege to it for three months. Both sides suffered casualties before the siege ended, and Shirō Amakusa was among the dead.