Binding Blade Karel: The Himura Kenshin of the FE universe?

[Jedi]

One of my favorite manga of all time is the classic Rurouni Kenshin made by Nobuhiro Watsuki in 1994.

It's main hero Himura Kenshin, is a traveling vagabond who has a dark past. He used to be known as the Battosai a ruthless killer who was nearly unstoppable with the blade, however after a tragedy he begins to change his ways so that he never kills another human again, he even carries a reverse-edge sword, which was actually found to be in existance around the Edo period recently http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/345082/scitech/geeksandgaming/rurouni-kenshin-s-reverse-edged-sword-discovered-in-old-cellar

In Kenshin the sword was known as the "Sakabato" the actual recently found reverse edged sword is the Kogatana (lit. short katana). But going into the swords history isn't the purpose here.

Karel as we know in FE7 (Blazing Sword) is a ruthless killer who kills for the pure pleasure of it (Kenshin did so for the side he was fighting for, but was raised in a difficult world. His style was not to take any particular sides in a conflict due to his masters teachers however)

However both of them have personal events (death of a loved one and sister in Karels case) that change them for the better. Karel becomes known as the Sword Saint after being known as the Sword Demon

Kenshin was the Hitokiri Battosai (Lit. Human Slayer for the first word, Battosai was made for Kenshin to my knowledge but I could be wrong) and would become a goofy, wise non killer. Good at domestic work and of course still good in swordsmanship. However his dark side does like to try to manifest itself every now and again.

All in all, I just find the two characters funnily similar. Feel free to agree or disagree, I remember Severlan and I having a grand ol discussion on the topic, more than a year ago.

[Ownagepuffs]

If Kenshin were a unit I bet he'd have FE6 Karel's growths.

[Jedi]

If Kenshin were a unit I bet he'd have FE6 Karel's growths.

Perfect Levels every day :P

[DragonLord]

That's a cool connection. Perhaps the creators were inspired by the manga when they made Karel. Who knows?

Edited January 24, 2015 by DragonLord

[Jedi]

That's a cool connection. Perhaps the creators were inspired by the manga when they made Karel. Who knows?

Wish I could ask haha, I am certain there was some minor inspiration at the least.

[MacLovin]

I'm pretty sure the idea of a wandering master swordsman who does good deeds is a tale type told in a lot of countries.

THo Rurouni Kenshin is among the best in the genre.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

They are actually pretty simmilar, and I can't deny Karel might have been designed after Kenshin

Isn't it Guy or something that changed Karel? Or I am missing something. FE7 ending certainly did not mention Karla's death for this case, and AFAIK Karel had his change of heart before it got banned in favor of Snatch Steal FIr(IIRC) run away from home after Karla is dead because of illness

Anyway the reverse bladed sword might be pretty cool in FE? A weapon that can't kill. EZ exp feeding mechanism!

Edited January 25, 2015 by JSND

[Ϲharlie]

There are definitely some similarities between Karel and Kenshin, but I'm not sure they're substantial enough to say that Karel was directly inspired by Kenshin. I could just as easily point out a fair amount of similarities between Karel and Cecil of Final Fantasy IV. It's also worth noting that there are several key differences between Karel and Kenshin. Prior to reforming, Karel was a madman who killed for killing's sake. Kenshin was a ruthless killer, but he killed for a reason. And even after becoming the sword saint, Karel still killed his enemies (albeit with great reluctance), while Kenshin went to great lengths to avoid killing anyone.

Also, it's worth pointing out that Karel's change of heart wasn't brought on by Karla's death. Indeed, he wasn't even aware she had died until Fir told him about it later.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Starman