Lord Hikiji is the main antagonist of the Usagi Yojimbo series, who is mentioned often but rarely appears. Unlike most of the characters, Hikiji is human. He is a ruthless and power-hungry lord who aspires to be shogun. who is responsible for the deaths of individuals close to Miyamoto Usagi: his father Magistrate Miyamoto and Lord Mifune.
He first appeared in The Goblin of Adachigahara, published in Albedo Volume 1, Issue 2.
History
Edit
Not much is known about Hikiji, but it is known that he rules the Mutsu Province and is responsible for Usagi's scar and deaths of those close to him. He took over Mifune's lands in the Battle of Adachigahara, and before that, he killed Usagi's father for defying him. The Neko and Komori clans serve him.
Hikji rarely appears in person, and often operates behind the scenes.
OriginEdit
Stan Sakai states in his LiveJournal blog[1] that he originally planned for Lord Hikiji to be a major villain in his Nilson Groundthumper epic.
Nilson predates Usagi Yojimbo by many, many years. In fact, Usagi was to have been a secondary character in the Nilson epic. The entire story would have taken about 2,500 pages, and would have told the story of why there are animal-animals, why there are funny-animals, and the rise of the humans. It would have started off with short humorous stories, turning into longer, more dramatic, story arcs spanning an entire generation. The entire thing was to culminate with the anthromorphs making their last stand in a castle that looked much like the abbey at Mont St Michele......The last remnant of the Nilson epic ironically appears in UY Book 1. I drew Lord Hikiji, the main political power in UY and who would have been the major villain in Nilson, as a human.
Stories where he is mentioned or appearedEdit
- The Goblin of Adachigahara
- Lone Rabbit and Child
- Lone Rabbit and Child - Part II
- The Confession
- Homecoming Part 1
- Samurai Part 7
- Samurai Part 8
- The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy, Chapter 2
- The Tangled Skein
- The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy, Epilogue
- Blood Wings Part 1
- Blood Wings 2
- Broken Ritual
- Battlefield Part 1
TriviaEdit
- He is based off of Date Masamune, who also sought to become shogun.[2]
