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| Kyou Kai | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | Qiang Lei | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 羌瘣 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Biographical Information
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Professional Information
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Media
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Appearance
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| “ | O ancient darkness...primordial flame, what is it that lies...within your eyes? O bright light that splits the Heavens, rumbling tremors that shake the Earth, what pulse beats...within your ears? Man walks adrift, a vessel of the Earth. I dance for thee, O God of Lightning! Ah...Ryoku Sui...Let blood boil over! | ” |
—Kyou Kai's Dance Pray, Chapter 621: Caller | ||
Kyou Kai is the second lieutenant of the Hi Shin Unit, the famous and powerful specialist army unit and a General of the Qin Military. She served as the primary Strategist in their days as a 100-Man unit before leaving the unit during the Sanyou Campaign Arc's end and was succeeded by Ka Ryo Ten. She is the leader of the Kyou Kai Unit, her own personal military unit that's been bounded to the Hi Shin Unit since their formation.
Born into the Clan Shiyuu, a legendary clan of swordswoman infamous for their strength and powerful swordsmanship, she is a descendent of the clan's Kyou Tribe as she was raised and fostered from birth alongside her older adopted sister, Kyou Shou and younger adopted sisters, Kyou Rei and Kyou Shiki. Found to be the most talented warrior of the tribe, Kai and her sister Shou were chosen for the clan's selection ritual for the title of "Shiyuu", the successor of their entire clan's teachings. Shou, wanting to avoid fighting and Kai in sacrificing herself, put her to sleep by drugging her to stop her from participating in the ritual. However, Shou was cruelly murdered by Yuu Ren, another candidate, who used underhanded tactics to kill her and later won the title.
After founding out about Shou's death and the unfairness towards their "sacred" rules, Kyou Kai left the village as she vowed to avenge Shou by killing Yuu Ren. In her search, Kyou Kai joined the Qin Military as a simple Infantry soldier and participated in the Keiyou Campaign. During the campaign, she met Ri Shin, the Bi Brothers, Bi Hei and Bi Tou, and Taku Kei as they fought together in the Battle at Dakan Plains
She temporarily left the unit in order to complete her journey of vengeance and after killing Yuu Ren in a duel, she rejoined the unit with a renewed outlook towards the end of the Kyou Kai's Revenge Arc. Since then, she pursues the dream of becoming a Great General of the Qin Military while also living life in the place of her late sister, Kyou Shou.
Though initially indifferent and antagonistic towards Shin, his bravery on the battlefield and help in giving her new motivations in life in the military caused her to befriend him [1] and eventually fall in love with him. [2] She slowly came to realize her feelings for him as she proclaimed her intent to have his children [3], watches his back while fighting on the battlefield together, and gave up half of her lifespan in order to save him from the brink of death. [4]
Kyou Kai has garner great fame across the Warring States through her accomplishments in the military, natural born talent and genius in warfare, and being the strongest combatant of the Hi Shin Unit as she known for her "inhuman" might.
Appearance[]
| “ | Well, doesn't someone have a surprisingly pretty face. | ” |
—Ten's envy on Kyou Kai's beauty. | ||
Kyou Kai first appeared as a short 13 year old girl with a petite looking appearance and large jade green eyes, or turquoise depending on the art [5], with long shoulder-length black hair. [6] Whenever she takes her headband off, two strands of hair fell on each side of her with her bangs reaching eye level tied into a ponytail with a tied white ribbon. Her appearance remained relatively the seem aside from her getting taller and becoming more feminine looking in between the Battle of Bayou and Sanyou Campaign. By the end of the two-year time skip after the Coalition Invasion Arc and her return to the Hi Shin Unit, her hairstyle subtle changed with two thick strands of hair overlapping her headband and her becoming even more beautiful in her appearance. However, after confessing her feeling to Shin and with help from Rei, she cut her hair and went back to her old haircut. [7]
In terms of clothing, Kyou Kai wears the traditional clothing of the Kyou Tribe which consists of her signature white headband with two red markings that symbolize of her tribe, a same-colored scarf around her neck and pants with ju shoes, bright red robe with a white cloth belt and decorated long sleeves with double red rings that reach over her hands. Aside from her outward clothing, Kyou Kai wears bandages that cover up her chest.
Even while fighting on the battlefield, she wears her outfit into and off the battlefield as her appearance has remained practically the same throughout the years. Unlike Shin or the rise of the Hi Shin soldiers, she doesn't wear military armor but consistently carries her exquisitely beautiful, Ryoku Sui on her back.
Personality[]
| “ | Looks like you have emotions after all. Hehehe | ” |
—Shin to Kyou Kai | ||
Kyou Kai was first introduced as a quit person that spoke very little with an aloofness that gave off a disinterested attitude, which was shown as she ignored the loud Shin in his attempts to befriend her and only spoke when she introduced herself to everyone in the Taku Kei Squad while expressing a clear disinterest in talking to others.[8]
Related to this, she can be incredibly calm to the point of eeriness, being able to keep a vail of cool-headed composure in even the direst of situations. While she can show some anxiousness like when something unexpected happens, Kyou Kai almost never goes as far as to lose her cool.
However, she showed an impressive form of intelligence and quick-witted responses like when she gave out advice and helped calm Shin down in his distracted overthinking while fighting against the War Chariots during the Battle at Dakan Plains. And also expressed that she had no desire to die in a place like that. [9]
But, while distance, Kyou Kai has a humane side to herself as she saved Bi Hei from nearly being killed by the Go Kei Army's Infantry without a hint of hesitation [10] and gave Shin a roundabout warning to stay away from the Royal Palace on the night of Ryo Fui's assassination attempt on Ei Sei [11]. She would also show no real motivation in trying to kill him either during their duel.
However, due to her isolated upbringing in her tribe and strange teaching from her late sister, she tends to be unaware of or be ignorant towards social norms such as being mistaken of where babies come from and the subject of romance. She is also shown to be humorously self-serving after being raised from in a strength-based hierarchy in the Kyou Tribe. She has no qualms towards commandeering food from her soldiers (and others) or subjecting them to physically intensive training.
Kyou Kai has admitted that she has fallen in love with Shin.
Goals[]
- Give Shin's marriage proposal a proper response. (Ongoing)
- Become a Great General. (Ongoing)
- To have Shin's children. (Unknown after founding out how babies were made.)
- Avenge Shou's death. (Achieved in Chapter 363)
Abilities[]
| STATS | |
|---|---|
| Strength | 96 + extra large α |
| Leadership | 86 |
| Intelligence | 89 |
| Experience | A |
| Tends to be quite unreasonable | |
| STATS | |
|---|---|
| Strength | 96 + extra large α |
| Leadership | 85 |
| Intelligence | 88 |
| Experience | B |
| Hidden phrase: I'm starving | |
| STATS | |
|---|---|
| Strength | 95 + large α |
| Leadership | 80 |
| Intelligence | 87 |
| Experience | C |
| I dance cool lines with Ryokusui | |
| STATS | |
|---|---|
| Strength | 94 + large α |
| Leadership | 80 |
| Knowledge | 87 |
| Endurance: somewhat lacking | |
| STATS | |
|---|---|
| Strength | Unknown |
| Leadership | Unknown |
| Knowledge | Unknown |
| Strong | |
Kyou Kai is noted to be an incredibly talented military commander with the same qualities as the previous generation of Six Great Generals.[12] She is a prodigy warrior and assassin even amongst the legendary Clan Shiyuu and was the one to likely obtain the Shiyuu title if she took part in the ritual.[13] Like Shin, Ou Hon, and Mou Ten, she is one of the most dangerous threats of her generation's military commanders with Ri Boku himself acknowledging her abilities and noting that one needs twice the number of soldiers to fight her let alone challenge or kill her.
Physical Abilities[]
Kyou Kai exchanging blows with Hou Ken during their second duel.
Master Swordswoman: Kyou Kai is a dangerously fearsome master swordswoman whose skill is said to be "beyond human".[14] She is strong enough to kill multiple opponents within a single stroke of her blade, splitting them in half and was shown to take down masses of enemies on the battlefield. Despite this, she exhibits total control over her strength as she skillfully cut Shin's clothes intentionally without causing him to bleed and knocked him down with a heavy strike during their first duel. This shows the clear skill difference as Shin is bigger than her, yet she can deliver powerful attacks that are at odds with her size. Furthermore, she continues to prove her superiority over Shin in numerous sparring matches. She also believed herself to be capable of slaying Zhao general Gyou’un in a ground fight.[15]
- Mist Technique: A special technique taught in a Kyou Tribe where the user delivers a barrage of slashes from different angles to overwhelm her opponent. Kyou Kai taught this technique to Shiki.[16]
Horsemanship: Kyou Kai showed a natural ability in riding a horse, despite preferring to fight on ground. she is incredibly skilled in cavalry warfare as she is able to ride horses that were stolen from enemies.
Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Aside from her masterful swordplay, Kyou Kai is also proficient in unarmed combat. She demonstrated her skills when she brutally crippled two thugs for their food during her journey for vengeance and frequently "disciplines" Shin whenever the need arises. She is also knowledgeable in grappling martial arts.
Immense Agility: Kyou Kai possess tremendous agility and balance as she can effortlessly dodges enemy attacks. She once balanced her entire body on Shin's blade during their duel.[17] Her agility mixed with speed is so vast that she can kill people before they even notice that they had been struck. She was also able to keep up and even outpace powerful opponents like Yuu Ren and Hou Ken.
Immense Strength: Kyou Kai is a walking powerhouse as she can cut through multiple adult men in half with a single swing of her sword despite her delicate features.[18][19] She easily pierced through Clan Kakuriki's layer of hardened chi that was said to be impervious to all forms of blades.[20] And during the Hi Shin Unit's strength competition tournament, she was able to easily beat Shin in arm wrestling making her the defacto physically strongest member of the entire unit at the time.[21]
Enhanced Healing Rate: Kyou Kai is noted to have a superhuman healing rate, similarly to Shin's own.[22] After being seriously wounded by Ryuu Tou and his soldiers while falling several meters to the ground she was able to recover fast enough to be back on the battlefield in the next day, despite only having basic medical treatment, although the wound didn't heal completely.[23]
Chi Manipulation: Thanks to a lifetime of Shiyuu training, Kyou Kai displays accurate breath control that allows her to manipulate her chi for a variety effect like enhancing her physical abilities.[24] She can also manipulate Chi of other people for medical purposes as shown when she helped to calm down Shin's fever after their fight.[25]
- Chi Sense: Kyou Kai is able sense the appearance of enemies such as Hou Ken and even to determine the nature of their chi.[26]
- Priestess Dance: Kyou Kai is noted to be the most talented practitioner of the Priestess Dance in her generation, having demonstrated her mastery over the technique on multiple occasions.[27] Before challenging Yuu Ren, she single-handedly slew the multiple highly skilled Yuu Tribe assassins who were also using the Priestess Dance, proving her vastly superior mastery of the same technique. During her battle with Yuu Ren, she showed the ability to use a different form of the Priestess Dance by using her worldly attachments (her bond with the HSU) in order to anchor herself to the world and come back from even the deepest depths of the dance. This allowed her to break the "Hakuryou/Soul Territory" Taboo without dying. Doing so enabled her to reach a level that surpassed even Yuu Ren who has completed the Shiyuu ritual. When Kyou Kai uses her Priestess Dance, the movements around her start getting slower and slower, until, at the very end, when even the flying insects are completely still.[28]
- Life Sharing Technique: Clan Shiyuu's forbidden technique. the technique is capable of opening one's chi pathways and connecting it to another person in order to share their own life energy.[29] To use the technique, the user must chant a particular prayer while singing a special song to focus their consciousness. However, this technique is only meant to be used in special circumstances as it places both parties in immense danger with a one in two chance of working or both losing themselves to death as reviving a person who is already deep within the "world of darkness" will give one in ten chances under the same circumstances.[30] Kyou Kai used this very technique to bring Shin back from the brink of death as he nearly died from his intense final duel with Hou Ken. After using it on Shin, her lifespan was shortened to that of a normal person, and she became incapable of using it for the second time. It was also noted that some of her other techniques became much weaker or no longer possible to use.[31]
Master Assassin: Kyou Kai is a prodigal assassin having received strict training in the art of assassination since she could walk. Aside from her talent in combat, she can hide her presence so well that she once sneaked pass other trained assassins[32] and infiltrate highly secured places such as Ryuu Tou's base camp.[33]
- Sound Muffling Technique: Kyou Kai can use a special technique based around one’s footwork that used to hide the sound of one's footsteps. She first used this technique against the Fuu Ki Army’s hidden sentries as she instantly appeared in front of one after cutting off his arm to prevent him from alerting the Zhao to the Hi Shin Unit’s presence and took down the others before they could even see her. [34]
Leadership[]
Kyou Kai is a great leader. It was noted that Kyou Kai's soldiers have exceptionally high morale whenever she is around.[35] She is also capable of rallying them with a simple speech before an important clash.[36]
Tactical Abilities[]
Master Strategist: Kyou Kai is a naturally gifted tactician with glaringly impressive talent in strategy, having thought up entire strategies on the fly despite never having any formal training with So Sui calling her a genius.[37] She first showed her intelligence as she thought the idea of building ramparts from the dead bodies shattered around the battlefield and noted that the Wei’s War Chariots had slowed down due to them during the Battle at Dakan Plains. As such, she was the primary strategist of the Hi Shin Unit prior to Ka Ryo Ten's arrival.[38] Her attention towards the battlefield as a whole is incredibly sharp like during the Sanyou Campaign when she was the first person to figure out Gen Pou's sound communication poly and created a counterplan to interfere with it by making similar sounds.[39]
Her acumen and her shrewdness would grow over the years since her return to the Hi Shin Unit and new goal in becoming a Great General, as she was the first one to comprehend the purpose behind Ou Sen's "Locusts" strategy in the form of the refugees during the Gyou Campaign’s early stages.[40] And during the Battle at Shukai Plains when the Hi Shin Unit first faced off against the Gyou’un Army, she noticed that they were losing in small pockets of the battle and Ten was being overtaken by Gyou'un's instinctual tactics but noticed that Shin’s area was the only place that was putting up a decent fight. To counter the pressure by the Gyou'un Army she set up two anchor points on the sides in order to funnel the Zhao straight down the middle and push them back in one swoop with the Hi Shin infantry.[41] This allowed her to hold the position and prevent a large portion of the Hi Shin Unit from being wiped out while also destroying an equal amount of Gyou'un own forces.
Later during the Han invasion she was able to create a plan to conquer Nanyou City without any casualties by having 100'000 old men pretend to be proffessional army and scare Han into giving up the fortress without the fight due to them miscalculating the number of troops.
Military Formations: Kyou Kai is proficient in the use of military formations. After her return to the unit, she invented her own unique anti-cavalry tactic known as the Gouriki and its stronger variation, the Chained Gouriki. And has a strong familiarity with other standard formations having used a Wedge Formation during the Battle of Eikyuu.
Other Skills[]
Kyou Kai has other abilities that also define her talents aside from her ability as a warrior and military commander. She also has remarkable eyesight.
Teaching Expert: Kyou Kai is incredibly skilled in teaching others, having demonstrated numerous techniques to Rei and Shiki after learning them herself in their childhood, taught Shin how to read and use feints, showed Kou and other Hi Shin soldiers how to use joint locks [42] and helped improved Suu Gen's swordsmanship as she occasionally spars with him.
Master Healer: Kyou Kai is an expert in the applications of medicine, having received education in medical techniques and herbalism in her childhood. With knowledge on rare herbs and plants, she can create potent and effective medical ointments that can mend and even boost a person's healing rate [43]. This medicine was shown to heal serious injuries like with Shin as he nearly lost his arm after his intense duel with Rin Ko of the Four Heavenly Kings and Ou Hon as he nearly died after his fight with Gyou’un. Aside from the practical medicines, she can harness her own chi to speed up a person's recovery having done so for Shin twice.[44]
Weaknesses[]
Her weakness is her short stamina as seen in the assassination attempt and the Battle at Dakan Plains. Opponents that can survive until she runs out of breath can quickly turn the fight in their favor so fighting alongside comrades can give some protection if this were to happen. Kyou Kai can somewhat compensate for it with short breaks on the battlefield, during which she is guarded by her personal soldiers.[45]
Duels[]
- vs. Shin: 6 wins, 1 draw, 1 interrupted.
- vs. Clan Kakuriki: Won
- vs. Clan Gouma: Won
- vs. Shuu: Won
- vs. Hou Ken: Lost
- vs. Yuu Ren: Won
- vs. Gi Tai: Win
- vs. Kan Rin: Win
- vs. Ryuu Tou: Drew
- vs. Ryuu Tou Round 2: Won
- vs. Jo Shou: Win
- vs. Hou Ken Round 2: Lost
- vs. Kyou Rei: Won
- vs. Gou Za Kou: Won
Owned Land and House[]
Kyou Kai has her own lands which were given to her through countless achievements on the battlefield. She also commissioned Den Yuu and his carpenters to build her a manor at one point, possibly after she became a 4000-Man Commander or 5000-Man Commander. While the land's name has yet to revealed, her manor is decorated with the Kyou Tribe's clan markings and bigger than Shin's own. It's assumed that the lands are located next to Fuuri. [46].
Etymology[]
- Kyou or Qiang refers to various groups of people at different periods in ancient China. One meaning is shepherds with 羌 being formed from the characters for "sheep" (羊) and "man" (人) and pronounced like "sheep" and another is they were descended from the Yan Emperor, the mythical "Flame Emperor" and his tribe.
Trivia[]
- Kyou Kai came in 1st place in the popularity vote poll.
- Like Yo Tan Wa and many other female characters, Kyou Kai was historically a man. Qiang Lei was a Qin general tasked to defeat Zhao alongside Wang Jian, Li Xin, Yang Duan He and Huan Yi.
Yōko Hikasa, the Japanese voice of Kyou Kai, has voiced the likes of Sakura Sakurakōji, a major character of the Code:Breaker series in its 2012 anime adaptation and Farnese, a former enemy turned alley in the 2016 and 2017 anime adaptation of Berserk.
- Prior to announcing her intent to have Shin's children, Kyou Kai was falsely taught by her sister Shou that babies were born when a man and a woman team up, climb a mountain, and make something explode but Ten quickly explained to her how babies are really made. Afterwards, she couldn’t face or even be near Shin for a while.
- The third volume of the guidebook released after her duel with Yuu Ren added +特大α to her STR stat which is distinct from the +大α ofYuu Ren and her late sister. This indicates that Kyou Kai's Priestess Dance has improved compared to before. (大 means large and 特大 means extra-large)
- Kyou Kai has a super-fast recovery rate like Shin [47].
- In Vol.48's color page, a more adult version of Kyou Kai is shown wearing a gray military helmet decorated with her clan markings and a short sleeve version of her outfit with a bright colored cape. Whether this is a future version of her as a General or Great General is unknown [48].
- Kyou Kai is one of the youngest commanders in the Qin Military having become a 1000-Man Commander at the age of 18.
- Kyou Kai is an absolute terror when it comes to subjects of food and comfort.
- She instantly beat up, crippled, and robbed two thugs when she saw they had food during her journey of vengeance.
- She routinely "asks" other Hi Shin members for their food during campaigns.
- She tactically tricked Shin into sharing a newly discovered hot spring with her later knocking him out with Ten's help.
- She is always the first one in line whenever rations are handed out.
[]
References[]
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.10 Chapter 104
- ↑ Kingdom Manga:Vol.17 Chapter 174, Vol.18 Chapter 189
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.34 Chapter 364
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.57 Chapter 620
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.55's Color Page
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.5 Chapter 49
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.62 [[Chapter 674]
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.5 Chapter 50, pages 155-156
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.6 Chapter 60, pages 134-135
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.6 Chapter 60, pages 147-148
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.8 Chapter 85, pages 188-189
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.51 Chapter 550, page 12
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.33 Chapter 358, page 6
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.42 Chapter 452, page 11
- ↑ Chapter 584 Page 6
- ↑ Chapter 667, page 8, Chapter 668 Page 6-8
- ↑ Chapter 87 Page 18
- ↑ Chapter 469 Page 17
- ↑ Chapter 549 Page 5
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.8 Chapter 85, page 10
- ↑ Vol.19's Omake
- ↑ Chapter 462 Page 10
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.43 Chapter 470, page 5
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.19's Omake.
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.9 Chapter 92, page 12
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.13 Chapter 137, page 17
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.14 Chapter 141, page 9
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.33 Chapter 359, page 10
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.58 Chapter 630, page 16
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.58 Chapter 630, page 17
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.58 Chapter 632, page 10
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.8 Chapter 83, page 7
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.42 Chapter 452, page 8
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.12 Chapter 121, pages 57-58
- ↑ Chapter 548, page 17
- ↑ Chapter 548, page 20
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Chapter 202, page 5
- ↑ Chapter 180, page 128
- ↑ Chapter 208, page 6
- ↑ Chapter 515, page 16
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.51 Chapter 548, pages 14-15
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.28's Omake
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.21 Chapter 223, page 8
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.10 Chapter 92 and Vol.51 Chapter 550, page 51-52
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.51 Chapter 549, page 6
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.70 Chapter 766
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.43 Chapter 462, page 10
- ↑ Kingdom Manga: Vol.48's Color Page