Gyobu Kokonoe

Gyobu Kokonoe (九重刑部) is a minor character in Soulcalibur VI. The current head of the Kokonoe clan, after Mitsurugi had intruded upon his dojo in hopes of fighting a battoujyutsu master to learn how to best the Tanegashima rifles, he would arrange for the rōnin to have a duel against Shugen, whom he despised.

Soulcalibur VI[]

Events of Soulcalibur VI[]

Gyobu only appears in Setsuka's Soul Chronicle and Mitsurugi's Side Story, which is set around the same time as Setsuka's.

In early 1585 A.D., in the merchant district of Nagasaki, Gyobu witnesses Setsuka fight a lecherous merchant's bodyguards. As Setsuka escapes, Gyobu approaches a Mitsurugi, who the merchant had approached to ask him to aid him. Mitsurugi had been concerned about the advent of rifles, so he was amazed by Setsuka's claim of there being a swordsman—her master—who was able to defy bullets. He tells the rōnin that Setsuka was a practitioner of Shinden Tsushima-Ryu Battoujyutsu. When Mitsurugi asks if he was her master, Gyobu denies this as the Kokonoe clan doesn't teach their techniques to "outlanders" nor do the use their techniques to settle personal disputes; defying the latter rule is punishable by death. Setsuka's master was someone who had deserted the clan, and that he had already sent someone to follow her.

Upon arriving home, Setsuka notices that Shugen was not there and that she had been followed by Gyobu and his disciple, Gorozaemon Yamabuki. Gyobu tells her that they've come to punish her for using Shinden Tsushima-Ryu techniques to settle personal quarrels and Gorozaemon is disgusted that someone had taught their techniques to a girl such as Setsuka. Not willing to let someone insult her master, Setsuka and Gorozaemon fight, but Gyobu interrupts them and asks Setsuka who her master is. Setsuka refuses to answer, so Gyobu uses Mystic Arts: Zanki on her. Mystic Arts: Zanki is one of the Mystic Arts that is passed down through the Hidden Kokonoe, the assassin branch of the Kokonoe clan. It is a powerful technique that allows the user to put their opponent's bodies at their will, but so few people have actually mastered it and even fewer know how to break free from it. Using this, Gyobu could tell that Setsuka's master is Shugen. Disgusted by her and her eyes, Shugen prepares to gouge out Setsuka eyes, but Shugen arrives at breaks her free from it. Shugen asks Gyobu what he could want from a deserter, and he tells him that he wants his secret techniques and hidden scroll; if Shugen rejoins the clan, then he will completely forgive him. Shugen rejects this, and Gyobu and Gorozaemon leave, but not before asking Shugen if he knows Mitsurugi—which he confirms, but only through rumours—and that he will reap what he sows.

In the middle of that same year, Mitsurugi arranges for a duel against a Tanegashima rifleman at Noshima Castle. But before he even realises what's happening, Mitsurugi falls to the ground, utterly defeated. To defeat the Tanegashima, Mitsurugi attempts to learn the technique, Relic, attempting to mimic the techniques that he had witnessed Setsuka using, but finds it difficult. Deciding that he should face battoujyutsu masters in combat, he heads to a Shinden Tsushima-Ryu dojo and demands a duel. He fights members of the dojo until Gyobu and Gorozaemon return. Enraged by Mitsurugi's actions, Gorozaemon attempts to fight the rōnin but Gyobu stops him, telling his disciple that he will die and that risking one's life for fun is something that only lowly rōnin do. Mitsurugi tells the two that he wants to see a true master's techniques that was able to defeat the Tanegashima. Gyobu tells him that, although that very master had left the clan thirteen years ago, he was able to arrange a duel with him. Satisfied, Mitsurugi leaves. Gorozaemon asks Gyobu if Shugen would actually respond to the duel request, but Gyobu assures him that it was in Shugen's nature, surmising that Shugen could not have changed that much within thirteen years.

After Mitsurugi had defeated Shugen in the duel, Gyobu and other hidden Kokonoe clan members would surround the two warriors. Gyobu congratulates him for his victory and asks him to step aside as they only have business with Shugen. Mitsurugi refuses, as he still wants to talk to him. As such, Gorozaemon and other Kokonoe clan members battle Mitsurugi, but the rōnin easily defeats them all. As he rushes towards Gyobu, Gyobu uses his Mystic Arts: Zanki on him, ordering him to suffocate and die. As Mitsurugi struggles, Shugen appears and knocks Gyobu out using his sheath as the battle with Mitsurugi had shattered his blade.

In the later half of 1587 A.D., Gorozaemon would visit Setsuka. He tells her that, six months prior to their meeting, Gyobu had grown unstable following the death of Shugen. Rumours began to swirl that Shugen's ghost had begun to haunt Gyobu as he slept at night. Furthermore, a "Demon Assassin" had also been terrorising nearby towns, slaying even skilled warriors. Setsuka asks Gorozaemon if Gyobu was the Demon Assassin. He tells her that he had initially brushed that off as a baseless rumour, but quickly changed his mind after seeing Gyobu wandering around town at night, as if he was possessed; from behind, Gyobu resembled the former Demon Assassin, Shugen. If Gyobu really was the Demon Assassin, then defeating him would be difficult as barely anyone knows how to break free from Zanki and anyone that crossed his path would almost certainly die, hence why Kokonoe clan members had been chasing after Setsuka for hidden secret arts scrolls. Gorozaemon begs Setsuka to hand over any hidden scrolls she has, promising that the clan will finally leave her alone if she does.

At the tail end of that same year, Setsuka arrives at the Kokonoe estate promising to hand over the hidden scrolls she has in exchange for information on Shugen's past. Gyobu reads the hidden scroll, which detailed the secret art "Mournful Oblivion", and muses that only Shugen was able to master it. As promised, he tells Setsuka about Shugen's past. Setsuka could tell that Gyobu was not the same as he was when she last met him, visibly weakened from Shugen's hauntings. As she leaves the estate, Gorozaemon speaks to her, telling that a skilled retainer had followed Gyobu at night but was found the next day dead. Shugen was the only person that could break free from Zanki that Gorozaemon knew of, and asks Setsuka if she could do it as well. Setsuka says she only knows how to in theory, and goes on to track down the Demon Assassin, unsure if she could actually break free from Gyobu's Zanki or if Gyobu was really the Demon Assassin at all.

In early 1588 A.D., Setsuka had enough information on the Demon Assassin to know that he would pass through Murakumo Shrine later that night. After one final test from Sakan Inobe, Setsuka smells blood in the air; Gyobu steps out from the shadows, revealing himself. Setsuka sees that Gyobu has gone mad, speaking only of murdering people. Sakan warns her that the more malice the user has, the mroe powerful Zanki becomes, and senses that there's some other power mixed in with Gyobu. Gyobu uses his Zanki on the both of them, but Setsuka manages to break free, telling him that she sympathises with him as they've both been bound to the deceased Shugen. They fight, with Setsuka winning in the end. Gyobu praises her skills as he falls to the ground, with Setsuka letting him live.

Later on at day, a mysterious girl picks up a shard of Soul Edge that had fallen out from Gyobu. She laments at the loss of a useful pawn, and decides to go and find a new one.

Profile[]

The current head of the Kokonoe clan, practitioners of Shinden Tsushima-Ryu Battoujyutsu. His birth father is the previous head Danjo Kokonoe, and he is known as "Naoakira" to close relations. He inherited his unique, eerie laughter from his father.

In the third year of the Genki Era (1572), the "Sanjo Surprise Attack" occurred. Gyobu made it his chance to take over the clan and gain command over both Kokonoe factions from his father, who had stepped down from the headship.

As a master of not only battoujyutsu but also of the Hidden Kokonoe art of "Zanki," Gyobu's weapon of choice against his opponents is fear. His superhuman powers are the result of a brutal training regimen known only to the Hidden Kokonoe. Level-headed, practical, and stern with both himself and others, Gyobu has become a feared presence among Kokonoe clansmen, Hizen's warriors, and even the local townsfolk.

"Indubitably" is a favorite word of his. His vast knowledge of rare texts has given him an immense vocabulary, which makes it incredibly difficult to understand anything he talks about. Upon hearing his pedantic lectures, one is often overcome with an irresistible sleepiness; some of his disciples have dubbed this phenomenon "the other Zanki." As head of the clan, Gyobu has shown to be a strict and conservative leader. He has created many new rules; for example, he has forbidden the use of battoujyutsu in personal matters, reasoning that such actions are disgraceful to the feared and respected deadly art of Shinden Tsushima-Ryu.

Gyobu also forbid the teaching of Shinden Tsushima-Ryu to foreigners, but only to save face for the Kokonoe clan in light of the provincial lord Sumitada Omura's rather unpopular fascination with all things foreign. Gyobu himself seems to be interested in foreign culture, studying Christianity and the like on his own accord. Ever since his childhood, when he was known as "Kaijin-maru," Gyobu has been deeply involved with "Narukami-maru"—Shugen Kokonoe. While he always respected Shugen's ability as a swordsman, he was never able to stifle his feelings of contempt. Even after Shugen left the Kokonoe clan, Gyobu's hatred continued to smolder, eventually driving him to madness.

After Gyobu regained his senses in his fight with Setsuka, he allowed her permission to read the Kokonoe clan's hidden scrolls and issued orders to branches of the clan to give her their aid. Though his wounds in the fight were not fatal, it seems he wishes to atone for his misdeeds to avoid causing trouble for the clan later on.