I picked Itto from the comic book character Ogamii Itto (lone wolf and cub) The personal assasin of the shogun who was betrayed and had his wife killed.
Awesome comic book series, really enjoyed it, gets me all excited even talking about it now. Shame my dofus character doesn't lolol.
Taken from (wiki):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Wolf_and_CubA formidable warrior and a master of the suiō-ryū, Ogami Ittō (拝 一刀), had become the Shōgun's executioner, the Kogi Kaishakunin, a position of high power used by the Tokugawa Shogunate (along with the oniwaban and the assassins) to enforce the will of the Shogun over the daimyō or domain lords. For those samurai and lords ordered to commit seppuku, the Kogi Kaishakunin would assist with their deaths by decapitating them to relieve the pain of cutting their own stomachs.
Shortly after Ogami Ittō's wife's childbirth with Ogami Daigorō (拝 大五郎), Ogami Ittō returned to find his wife, Asami, and their maidens brutally murdered, with only the newborn Daigorō surviving. They were ostensibly murdered by three men to avenge a lord who was executed by Ogami Ittō. However, the entire matter was designed to disgrace Ogami Ittō by placing and then revealing an ihai (funeral tablet) with the shogun's name on it in Ittō's family shrine (representing Ogami's wish for the shogun's death). This would make Ittō a criminal and thus forfeit his post. The set up was planned by Ura-Yagyū, Yagyū Retsudō (柳生 烈堂), leader of the Yagyū clan, in order to seize Ogami's post for the Yagyū clan.
Akihiro Tomikawa as Daigoro in Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril.
Akihiro Tomikawa as Daigoro in Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril.
The 1-year-old Daigorō was given a choice by his father: a ball or a sword. Had Daigorō chosen the ball, his father would have killed him, sending him to be with his mother; however, the child crawled toward the sword, and reached for its hilt. This signified that he would take the path of a rōnin, living with his father as "demons" – the assassin-for-hire team that would become known as Lone Wolf and Cub, vowing to eventually destroy the Yagyū clan to avenge his wife and his disgrace.
On meifumadō ("The Road to Hell"), the cursed journey for vengeance, Ogami Ittō and his son, Daigorō, encounter numerous adventures, encountering Yagyū Retsudō's children and eventually Retsudō himself.
Before his final duel with Yagyū Retsudō, Ittō was attacked by the last of the elite ninja of the Yagyū clan, the "Grass". His sword was tampered with earlier by a visit from a member of the Grass disguised as a sword polisher, causing Ittō's longtime dōtanuki sword to finally wear down and break during the Grass's final assault. He was inflicted with wounds that would ultimately be his demise against his battle with Retsudō. After eliminating each and every ninja, Ittō and his shattered dōtanuki were finally met with Retsudō and his spear. His will to end the Yagyū flowed through his soul, but his wounded and exhausted body would eventually leave Ittō to his fate. In the middle of the battle Ittō's spirit left his body after a lifetime of fatigue and bloodshed. Ittō was unable to destroy his longtime enemy and his walking of meifumadō had ended. The story finishes with Ittō's son, Daigorō, taking up Retsudo's spear and charging in fury. Retsudō opens his arms, disregarding all defense, and allows Daigorō to drive the spear into his body. Embracing Daigorō with tears Yagyū Retsudō names him, "Grandson of my heart", thus concluding the epic.
