Shishio The Charlatan

[Ronin Aquila]

For the unenlightened people out there who consider Shishio to be a villain of any potence,I shall now convince you to the otherwise. In terms of combat prowess, he is nothing but an absolute charlatan compared to the other villains.

Now don't get me wrong. I respect this guy, but only as a (most excellent) politician and businessman. But think about it for a moment. Every villain before him earned their techniques through sheer hard practice, no doubt refining their own chi in the process.

Let us now look at Shishio the cheat. Did he even train himself to discover the "Homaru Dama?" NO. He merely uses science to synthesise a reaction of sparks to human oil with a cruel hacksaw of a weapon. Also, he did not gain his power through practice, but a mere lack of sweat glands. How lazy can you get?

To make him even LESS of a true martial artist, the sickeningly labled "Master Technique" Guren Kaina uses GUNPOWDER ON A GLOVE for crying out loud!! This significantly lowers his station as a master martial artist as:

(1) It is not truly martial, as he did not refine it from hard work. Anybody who has gunpowder and a match can do it.

(2) Firepower is THE antithesis of the Martial Spirit.

Also, considering his restricted speed under his bandages and "time limit", he is more vulnerable than ANY fighter in Ruronin Kenshin. Take away his hacksaw and gunpowder, and even Raijutai (the wind blade master) and Kurogasa Jine (Mr Paralysis) is a better swordsman than he is. For all intents and purposes, Soujiro is the best fighter in Ruronin Kenshin (God bless that sweet little boy.).

Don't get me wrong, Shishio is a COOL villain, but just is not a good martial artist because he did not EARN the skills he has today.

[ryezen]

interesting points youve raised, unfortunately I tend to think otherwise.

if you recall Shishio's motto was "survival of the fittest" - sure it was used more often by Soujiro but remember it was taught to him my Shishio.

"Let us now look at Shishio the cheat. Did he even train himself to discover the "Homaru Dama?" NO. He merely uses science to synthesise a reaction of sparks to human oil with a cruel hacksaw of a weapon. Also, he did not gain his power through practice, but a mere lack of sweat glands. How lazy can you get?"

I wouldn call Shishio a cheat - for one he survived the bullet through his head, not to mention the fact that he was burned and left for dead. thus he earned the power to "create flame" and that is already comparable to the "hard work and training" which you so say.


"To make him even LESS of a true martial artist, the sickeningly labled "Master Technique" Guren Kaina uses GUNPOWDER ON A GLOVE for crying out loud!! This significantly lowers his station as a master martial artist as:

no it does not - like I said, Shishio believes in survival of the fittest - so to compensate for his "15 min" limit, he has to use not only his body but his brain as well and since he was exposed to Western thought (gunpowder, etc) he had to use the resources at his disposal to give him an advantage

"(1) It is not truly martial, as he did not refine it from hard work. Anybody who has gunpowder and a match can do it."

true, true. but that is bec. you are aware of that fact. people back then, during that time were not quite aware of it, as we do today. Shishio was intelligent and resourceful - you may call it cheating - but I call it adapting


"Also, considering his restricted speed under his bandages and "time limit", he is more vulnerable than ANY fighter in Ruronin Kenshin. Take away his hacksaw and gunpowder, and even Raijutai (the wind blade master) and Kurogasa Jine (Mr Paralysis) is a better swordsman than he is. For all intents and purposes, Soujiro is the best fighter in Ruronin Kenshin (God bless that sweet little boy.). "

no no no, Shishio is an Exellent swordsman. remember he can breakdown a technique by just witnessing it once, after that it wont work against him (kenshin on the other hand needs to witness it more than once) - coupled with his own sword skills and killer instinct he is not to be taken lightly. like i said above, he was chosen as Kenshin's replacement as hitiroki.


"Don't get me wrong, Shishio is a COOL villain, but just is not a good martial artist because he did not EARN the skills he has today"

No Shishio is not just cool - he is one of the greatest villians. He has the heart to love someone, he has the mind of a great leader, the strength of a great fighter. He earned his skills by surviving death - and that is all that matters.

[Einherjar]

Don't underestimate Shishio's abilities. Remember, he was chosen by Katsura to replace the Battousai as the hitokiri. It takes great skills to be a hitokiri, just like Kenshin's. Also, come on he SURVIVED being shot and being burned to crisp, how strong is that. Ryjuta, on the other hand is a pathetic swordsman who only uses his strength, that's not a great swordsman. Jin'e is pretty good though, but he's no match for the Battousai

[AkuSokuZan]

RE


Don't underestimate Shishio's abilities. Remember, he was chosen by Katsura to replace the Battousai as the hitokiri. It takes great skills to be a hitokiri, just like Kenshin's. Also, come on he SURVIVED being shot and being burned to crisp, how strong is that. Ryjuta, on the other hand is a pathetic swordsman who only uses his strength, that's not a great swordsman. Jin'e is pretty good though, but he's no match for the Battousai


And in the end Jiné ends up to killing himself..........

[Darklightz]

That's only because Kenshin wouldn't kill him and he knew he couldn't bea him since his arm was broken.

[psycnarf]

Well I have to agree w/ Shishiyo about his philiosophy on "Survival of the Fitest". If youd look at today's society, copetion is everywhere especially in labor. Ofcourse nobody kills each other but youve got to be ahead of the rest if you want to make it in this modern age.

[Darklightz]

Sadly,I must agree with psycnarf.Only today we've changed our swords for contracts,our ammunition for money,you assassins for lawyers.Whatever your weapon is,the law of the jungle still stands.