Haohmaru: The Carefree Swordsman with the Poison-Fish Blade, Samurai Shodown's Eternal Hero

No matter how many entries Samurai Shodown gets, the face in the middle of the poster is almost always Haohmaru. He's been the series' protagonist from day one, and he's practically become the name behind the word "samurai".

A wanderer who only takes his sword seriously

Haohmaru is a drifting swordsman who carries a blade everywhere, whose life philosophy boils down to something like "eat, sleep, practice the sword". He studied under a legendary master alongside his fellow student Gaira Caffeine — classmates, and also the sworn rivals who've fought since day one without either ever conceding.

His beloved sword has a comical name — he calls it after blowfish poison, because, the story goes, it's cut so many things that the poison seeped in. The name's a joke; the cutting is not.

A tough-talking softie

Haohmaru's biggest flaw is his mouth. He has a long-time love named Oshizu, devoted to him, but he's always putting on that "I have to train, no time for romance" act and leaving her feelings hanging. Old players see that tsundere act and can't help feeling sorry for Oshizu.

Not until Samurai Shodown II's ending — when Oshizu throws herself in front of him to shield him, gravely wounded — does the tough-talking drifter finally drop the act and answer her love. The two finally end up together.

He has a dark side too

Samurai Shodown V introduced a character named Rasetsumaru — in the lore, a copy of Haohmaru, or the embodiment of his inner darkness. A carefree hero, and the developers still gave him a mirror showing "what you'd become if you fell" — which makes Haohmaru far more three-dimensional.

Carefree, stubborn, obsessed with the blade, with a soft spot buried underneath — that's Haohmaru. He's not perfect, and that imperfection is exactly why people have remembered him for almost thirty years.