Masaru Kurozawa

BIOS
Bellum Bestiae:

Masaru is a farmer in Sengoku-era Japan, working to provide for his family. Upon happening upon a katana of unknown origin that only recently appeared at his doorstep, he trains hard in the art of the Japanese sword so that he may begin his quest to discover the true circumstances of his birth, as well as reclaim his former lover, Ayumi Hinato.

ARS SPECIALIS
Taifuu Joushou Ha (Hurricane Rising Blade): Masaru slashes at his opponent in a 360° clockwise motion, then jumps into the air slashing upwards, damaging the foe. Meter Burn adds two extra hits to the jumping upwards slash. (Match Win Finish Animation: V-Bisected)

Hagane Chuugaeri (Steel Somersault): Masaru jumps and somersaults towards his opponent with his katana in front of him, damaging the opponent and dealing three hits total if it connects. Meter Burn adds a downward slash. (Match Win Finish Animation: V-Bisected)

Kakou-Ha (Falling Wave): Masaru rapidly descends downwards, slashing in a diagonal right angle as he does so. Must be performed in midair. Meter Burn does more damage and causes a hard knockdown. (Match Win Finish Animation: H-Dismembered)

Bakushin Hangeki (Rushing Counterattack): Masaru holds his katana in front of him. If hit by a high or medium attack while in this state, he will zip past the opponent with a horizontal slash. Meter Burn adds another slash. (Match Win Finish Animation: H-Bisected)

ARS BESTIAE
Hikou Konchuu Bakushinkiru (Flying Insect Rush Cut): Masaru shape-shifts into his insect form, flies at extreme velocity towards his opponent, and horizontally swings his tibial hooks simultaneously at them, damaging them. (Match Win Finish Animation: H-Bisected)

Ekkusukiru (X-Cut): Masaru turns into his insect form and slices his opponent in an X motion with his tibial hooks before changing back to human form. (Match Win Finish Animation: A-Dismembered)

PERCUTE ULTIMUM
Pre-Percute Ultimum pose: Holds his katana in front of him with both hands, then pulls it back with his right

Pre-Percute Ultimum strike: Jumps at his opponent with a 270° clockwise slash

Masaru zips past his opponent, katana drawn, and changes into his insect form, slicing open their stomach with his razor-sharp tibial hooks. While the defeated foe falls to their knees, frantically trying to hold in their spilling-out intestines in a panic, Masaru raises his front legs above their head, turning back into a human as he does so, and slices their head horizontally in half, and his opponent face-plants to the ground dead, their lower jaw and tongue exposed. Lastly, Masaru is seen slashing left and right diagonally, then horizontally, saying, "I suppose you wished not to go to war." If performed on Karasu, he will fall to one knee and grieve, "Ayumi... Iie (no)! I loved you... I did not wish to kill you...", during which the Percute Ultimum music becomes somber and mournful in tone.

MISC. INFO
Voice Actor: Johnny Yong Bosch (Bleach, Mortal Kombat X, Marvel vs. Capcom 3)

Destined Battle Rival: Karasu

Stage: Kurozawa Farmhouse

Intro Sequence: Masaru, while in his insect form, crawls into the battlefield, then shape-shifts back to human form, draws his katana, and raises it above his head, saying "Who says the peasantry...", before going into his fighting stance, continuing, "...are but laborers and farmers?"

Round Win Quote: Masaru spins his katana in front of him once with his right hand, then plants it into the ground, saying as he holds onto the hilt, "Shall I leave you alive in one piece?", then pulls his sword back out with both hands and goes into his fighting stance again.

Outro Sequence: Masaru jumps at the camera with a spinning slash, then slashes in an X motion, declaring, "I will discover the truth of my lineage...", then performs a jumping uppercut slash, continuing, "...regardless of how hard I try!", before holstering his katana behind his back and walking off-screen.

PROLOGUE: THE TALE OF THE FARMER, MASARU KUROZAWA
(We cut to a 16th-century tapestry of Masaru outside the Kurozawa Farmhouse, slashing downwards with his katana, then some text pops up in a manner reminiscent of the Story Modes of Soul Caliburs III and IV.)

Before the Industrial Revolution, there existed people known as "peasants." Masaru Kurozawa is one such person, a farmer, and has been since he learned the agricultural trade at the age of 14 from his parents, Takanobu and Chisato. He will need to harvest as much rice, wheat, and other crops as necessary to provide for his family, lest they begin to starve.

One day, a katana of unknown origin arrived at the doorstep of the Kurozawa farmhouse. In the hopes that he would learn who it belonged to previously, Masaru trained hard in the art of the Japanese sword, as unexpected from someone as low a status as he, and was later chosen by the mantis spirit, Mantis, to be her physical host. The peasant soon embarked on a quest not only to discover his true lineage, but also to reclaim his lost love and save the world from Damoclus' influence.

MIRROR MATCH (QUEST MODE)
(Masaru is in his home stage when, out of nowhere, a fiery circle appears in front of him, and Damoclus emerges from it.)

Damoclus: I am impressed you have made it this far, warrior. However, before your destined battle begins, I have one more challenge for you... yourself! (creates another Masaru for the real one to fight)

(An older East Asian man and woman appear. The husband has receding grey hair and a thin black mustache and wears a white kimono top with the sleeves rolled up, dark gray hakama pants, and white tabi with light brown sandals, whereas the wife has white hair styled into a shimada and wears a dark blue kimono with a white obi, as well as white tabi and brown sandals.)

Takanobu (voiced by Soon-Tek Oh): That demon I only recently saw... It not only looks unfamiliar to me, but has also created someone who resembles you from nothing. Beware of this deception.

Chisato (voiced by Amy Hill): Mind what your father says, watashi no kodomo (my child).

Masaru: I most certainly will. Sayonara (goodbye), the both of you. (turning to face mirror!Masaru) You may imitate my appearance, but not my skills in the art of the katana!

(Both Masarus draw their katanas and go into their fighting stances.)

Mirror!Masaru: Who are you to judge? I deserve to be the one looking for answers, not you!

DESTINED BATTLE - vs. Karasu
(Cut to an abandoned cathedral somewhere in Europe, where Masaru and Karasu stand a foot away from each other, looking at each other.)

Masaru: This is not right, Ayumi. Shinzo is using you!

Karasu: The old Ayumi is unavailable right now. Allow me to explain to you why. Because she... is dead!

(Masaru and Karasu go into their fighting stances.)

Masaru: "Sensoude wanaku ai o tsukuru" ("make love, not war") is what they always say!

Karasu: I have no time for meaningless ideologies. Now, perish!

SUB-BOSS BATTLE - vs. Torturex
(After the fight, a badly-beaten Karasu is down on one knee and one hand.)

Masaru: I will not kill you here today. Remember what we promised san-nen mae (three years ago), back in 1498.

Karasu: (on the verge of tears) That we would love each other... for all of eternity?

Masaru: Correct. (kneeling down to hug Karasu, who accepts, also caressing her back with his right hand.) Dry your eyes, Ayumi. Everything will be just fine.

(A fiery portal materializes beneath Masaru's feet, slowly dragging him into it.)

Karasu: Matsu (wait), Masaru! I will see you again soon, I promise!

(Six seconds later, we cut to Masaru in the Infernal Torture Chamber.)

Masaru: One task down, two more to go. ...Wait... Have I been transported... to Jigoku?

Damoclus: No... Somewhere much worse than all of your sixteen Hells combined. This, low-born, is Infernus! In order for your final confrontation against me to commence, you must first get past... my chief torturer.

(Soon after, thunderous footsteps are heard, which are revealed to be those of an emerging Torturex.)

Torturex: Me welcome you to Infernus! Torture you in chains for Lord! Me want watch you suffer!

Masaru: I would much prefer the true circumstances of my birth over a lifetime of torture! (readies his katana)

FINAL BOSS BATTLE - vs. Damoclus
Damoclus: (sitting on his molten rock throne, infuriated that Masaru has defeated Torturex) What is this?! My chief torturer, defeated? (rises from his throne) Very well... I shall finish off that farm boy myself!

Masaru: (walking into Damoclus' throne room with his katana strapped to his back) Perhaps he might be able to provide me the answers necessary to find out where I really came from...

Damoclus: (approaching Masaru) Masaru Kurozawa, nothing more than a simple rice farmer, as are your parents, Takanobu and Chisato. Were you actually assuming I would expect someone of your kind to come to face ME? Welcome to your final confrontation against me, Damoclus, the demon lord of the realm of Infernus!

Masaru: No, I was not. And do you have the answers I need concerning the truth of my origins?

Damoclus: For what reason should I even care? I would not bother attempting to find them at all, were I you.

Masaru: Because, without them, I cannot learn my true lineage. And I have another request for you. Could you send me back home to Nihon (Japan) to see my Ayumi?

Damoclus: The Sengoku general's daughter? Oh, but she no longer wants any part of you!

Masaru: You are incorrect. She reformed her ways at my persuasion.

Damoclus: Well, tough luck. You are going to spend the remainder of your days here in my domain without your precious Ayumi to suffer, same as all the other inferior, lower-class humans!

Masaru: I did not come here to languish in the shakunetsu fukasa (burning depths). (going into his fighting stance) I came here to stop your evil plans!

Damoclus: You think you, a peasant, can defeat the demon lord of Infernus? Allow this battle to be your final one! Septemgladio! (his seven swords, Septemgladio, materialize, and he goes into his fighting stance as well)

AFTER WINNING AGAINST DAMOCLUS IN HIS PRIMARY FORM
Damoclus: (badly beaten and down on one knee and one hand) How dare you...?! (slowly gets back up, heavily breathing with his fiery purple glow becoming angry) Never again... will you see... the light of day!

(Damoclus then transforms into his dinosaur form, then lets out a vicious roar, forcing the player to fight him in only one round.)

ENDING
Damoclus: (defeated and reverting to his humanoid form) NO!! This is impossible! (having been beaten even worse, slowly gets back up again, but barely) Me, a demon lord... defeated by a mere commoner?

Masaru: Perhaps if I slay you here and now, akuma (demon), the answers I seek will become clear to me! (holding his katana above his head, thrusts the sword into Damoclus' chest)

Damoclus: I will make you pay dearly... (breathing heavily) for ruining my plans! (falls to the molten rock ground, dead and lying in a pool of his own purple blood)

(Cut first to Masaru in burned-down Japanese fortress ruins speaking with an elderly East Asian man who looks and dresses similarly to the old man in the temple from M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender," who was played by Randall Duk Kim in the movie, then a younger Takanobu and Chisato taking 7-year-old Masaru out of the site of the burning building, never looking back.)

Masaru fought and vanquished Damoclus and was subsequently transported to charred fortress ruins back home in Japan. There, he learned from an elderly man the truth: that the farmers he called his parents were not his biological parents at all. He was actually the son of a daimyo of Emperor Fusahito whom he lost alongside his mother in a fire when he was but seven. His grief did not last long, however, for the farmers found the boy and raised him as their own.

(We later see Masaru in a training ground slicing up some straw dummies. He is seen wearing a white kimono top with some pieces of gold traditional Japanese armor on top of it, with the old man from earlier in his ending observing it.)

He also discovered that the katana that appeared to him before his quest began previously belonged to his biological father. With the answers he had sought in regards to the truth of his origins all those years now clear to him, Masaru decided to quit farming and train as hard as necessary. He will need to if he is to carry on the legacy the daimyo had left behind.

(Cut to pre-credits roll, where "The Devil and the Huntsman," from Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, starts playing as we are treated to short animations of all the characters, shown in full-body, in their home stages, with the names of their voice actors/actresses and pieces of 16th-century tapestry depicting said characters as their animal forms on their left or right. Afterwards, the credits start rolling and the song continues playing.)

DID YOU KNOW?

 * Masaru's in-game voice actor, Johnny Yong Bosch, previously voiced Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Zero in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Infinite, Kung Jin in Mortal Kombat X, and Nero in Devil May Cry 4, and did you know he was also Adam Park in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers?
 * There is a Taylor Swift "Look What You Made Me Do" reference hidden somewhere in his rival banter vs. Karasu. Find it and you will get a free cookie.