Ashitare
Name: Ashitare (氐宿)
Real Name:Unknown
Age: Unknown
Family: Unknown
Place of Birth: Apparently Hokkan...
Power: Literal brute animal strength. The ability to avoid death by becoming a wolf rather than a person.
Seiyuu (Japanese):
Voice Artist (English):
Background:
Not quite sure. He
has some kind of wolven blood in him, and he may be some kind of
relation/connection to the demon Yukiyasha that features in Nuriko's
novel Yukiyashaden, which Ashitare also features in. However, as much
isn't really said, so it's difficult to be certain. Either way, he's
not quite a man, not quite a monster. Think yeti. ^_^. Born in Hokkan
(so wtf is he doing on Seiryuu's team?!), and the prisoner of a freak
show, until he managed to escape. After a fleeting encounter with
Nuriko in Yukigase (yep, no kidding) and his recapture by his freak
show master, he was freed by Nakago who recognised him as one of the
Seiryuu Seishi.
Character:
It's hard to know. As a fan of Nuriko I have to be careful with my bias here, because I really can't forgive Ashitare for killing Nuriko on the mountain in Hokkan. However, to dismiss Ashitare as simply a monster with no feelings or thoughts would be careless and wrong. He knows precisely what he's doing, when he fights Nuriko in the snow. Even though he is a beast who will eat human flesh, and who has a wolf-side that makes him more than half animal, he has a concept of what is going on around him. He is able to understand that failure will mean the crack of Nakago's whip, and he does not want that - indicating he understands fear and also retribution. That he's suffered a lot in his life seems likely, as he was part of a freak show and Nakago is not exactly a kindly master, either. He suffers a good deal, really, because of how he looks and how people react to him. He hates Nuriko because of Nuriko setting the firecracker off in his face (there is more to this connection if you read Nuriko's novel, but I won't dwell on it too much here). I think that he goes to kill Nuriko out of personal revenge as well as out of loyalty/fear where Nakago is concerned.
None of the other Seiryuu Seishi seem to consider Ashitare anything more than a beast, except for Soi, who shows him a modicum of sympathy and questions Nakago on the fact that he was sent into battle as a sacrifice. (Although having said that, Suboshi does exclaim about Soi's missing life force at one point...)
Maybe knowing what he is doing where Nuriko is concerned makes him a worse character. I don't know. I confess, I still find it hard to look at him with any liking at all...