Sopranos
The Sop
Full Name: Benjamin Pearson
Age: 27
Alias: Hachiman/Hachimantarō
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Role: Hero/Anti-Hero
Appearance:
Physical Appearance:
- Race: Caucasian
- Height and weight: 5 ft 12(~ 182 cm) and 78 kg, average build
- Hair: White
- Eyes: Blue
Outfit:
Hachiman is known for his signature white hair and dark blue formal outfit. His outfit is known as the Guardian Outfit, though seem formal and simple, but it's specially designed for combat and crime fighting with high resistance material. To hide his identity, he wears a Menpo, a traditional Japanese war hero mask.
- Race: Caucasian
- Height and weight: 5 ft 12(~ 182 cm) and 78 kg, average build
- Hair: White
- Eyes: Blue
Outfit:
Hachiman is known for his signature white hair and dark blue formal outfit. His outfit is known as the Guardian Outfit, though seem formal and simple, but it's specially designed for combat and crime fighting with high resistance material. To hide his identity, he wears a Menpo, a traditional Japanese war hero mask.
Background:
History
Benjamin didn’t know wealth his entire life, but he did grow into it. The second son of a construction supervisor, James Pearson. Benjamin, his older brother and his mother often moved from site-to-site with his father, making friendships far and few between and life somewhat lonely for him. His brother tended to be the more popular of the two; he matured quickly, defended Benjamin in his time of need and often played the role model for young Ben. Most of this changed, however, when his younger sister was born. His parents decided it was time to settle down and it was a greater benefit for his father to take larger projects and work while mobile, accepting per diem for room and board instead of living in apartments near work sites.
The change in lifestyle was rough for the whole family, but none more than James himself. While his income was sufficient at first, the companies he worked for began to cut away at his hours, diminish overtime, overwrite his comments and ignore his suggestions. At times, it was even discussed that Theresa, Benjamin’s mother, take a part-time job, but with their young daughter, that proved next-to-impossible as transportation and daycare costs outweighed and profit. That was when James began to write letters and reach out not just to his superiors, but their superiors, the media, the companies that his worked for, and eventually, he was answered.
James Pearson became the pioneer for a revolution in Unions in Gotham. He became an overnight celebrity and short-term poster boy for worker’s rights in Gotham. By the time his daughter had started classes, he was making fair money for his work, even more as the head of his labor union and was endorsed by several companies that supported his endeavor. These movements would only grow larger and larger in Gotham, helping to formally abolish some of harsh, unsafe work conditions skilled tradesmen and hired hands alike were exposed to just to make a decent living.
By the age of nine, Benjamin had shifted from living in a nearly-impoverished state to a relatively well off life and it was only going to get better from there. James was made the official head of the formalized he helped create: Gotham Skilled Trade Union, or GSTU. Not only did his salary increase several fold over, but he shifted from the heavy-equipment operator he began as to a suited man fighting for the rights of the men he worked with. Meanwhile, his eldest son was an honors student in the top of his class and Benjamin wasn’t far behind.
What changed his life forever, however, wasn’t the shift in wealth or placement in society, but a whole new outlook on it. Just a few years later, at the malleable age of twelve, Benjamin witnessed a robbery take place. Now, Benjamin had seen violence before. He had even been in a few fights. But, what he saw on this day was entirely different. He saw Katana, the successor to the title to be specific, halt this robbery and end this violence with her raw, nearly-inhuman skill. She was powerful. She was a storm. A tempest. She blew in like the rough winds of a hurricane, yet she slashed her sword with the grace of a swan on a gentle breeze. Every clang of metal, every slice through the air, every movement she made seemed to be perfect.
Every little thing seemed to be in sync. Now, Benjamin grew up in Gotham. He grew up seeing different vigilantes on the screens, but never had he saw this. Never had he saw crime-fighting as nearly an art. What snapped him out of his trance was the sight of one of the gunman crawling back to his knees to take a shot at Katana. Instinctually, Benjamin tackled the man, making him miss, but at the same time, subjecting himself to the wrath of a criminal. The struggle wasn’t long as Katana disposed of the thug on top of him, then pushed him behind a nearby car until she finished clearing the scene.
When she returned to check on him, he was full of nothing but excitement. No fear. No anxiety. Just excited to see this woman, this woman who stole the entire role of hero from his older brother and whom in just a few moments he idolized more than his own father. He whispered ever-so lightly, “You’re like a ninja…”
She laughed. “Maybe,” she replied, “but you’re brave. Like a Samurai.”
Inspiration of the sword
This captured Benjamin. Everything about it. He wanted to be like her. He wanted to push himself to save people like her. He convinced his father to pay for kendo lessons. Not only did he excel, he expanded. He took martial arts and fencing, but kendo is where he really excelled. Beyond excelled, actually. Something about Benjamin made him a natural. Not just his determination, but something inside him that was almost shaped to wield a sword. An odd, ancient weapon of the past, but it was natural in his hands. Mean while, he also started take an interest in Japanese culture, he read out their tradition, their history, and of course about their legendary warfare hero - the Samurai. And the more he read about it, the more he was amazed.
Benjamin competed in fencing in his school, but it was outside of school that consumed him. He trained with his mentor day after day until… he beat him. Benjamin was just seventeen when he was able to consistently defeat his kendo master, a Kyōshi (a 7th dan; a very high rank in Kendo), in both formal and informal sparring. This skill was unprecedented and it merited a recommendation: a transfer to his mentor in Japan to further this.
The recommendation was scoffed at in the beginning… but his father was invited to see his son practice this skill and even given chances to speak with the International Kendo Federation (FIK) whom supported this decision, all levied by some outside forces. With a year of convincing, Benjamin was allowed to make this transfer. While his older brother went to a large University for Business Administration, Benjamin was training among some of the greatest kendo practitioners in Japan.
Of them all, however, one was far more renown than the others. Tadashi, a kendoka (a 10th dan; originally, only five were ever acknowledged, but history allowed three more), was considered the greatest living practitioner with a blade. Not just a master of kendo, but of various forms of armed and unarmed combat. All forms of Koryū, including ancient kenjutsu techniques from hundreds of years prior to the Meiji restoration to the present forms of Iaido and Shinbudo. Tadashi was the one that first pressed the FIK to convince James Pearson to allow Benjamin to join him and it was his vision that saw a spark inside of Benjamin… a seemingly random American with a crush on a vigilante with a cursed blade.
Benjamin was not alone, however. Tadashi had his students sieve the world over for talent beyond talent. Benjamin was met with Aadesh whom was two years his senior; Dubaku whom was just fourteen and on his skill level; and, Tamako, the only female to ever be trained by Tadashi. His students came from across the world; America, India, South Africa and even southern Japan. Benjamin was in constant competition where iron sharpened iron and the heat never dropped.
The next four years were intense. Benjamin and his companion were not only graded on their skill, but their spiritual development. Tadashi taught them far more than just how to use a blade. He taught them about life and the elements. He made them understand chi. He taught them how fire, the element of uncontrolled destruction, only is so because it is alive just like all other creatures. He taught them how water was patient and carved the Earth; how time made it an unstoppable force. He taught them how mountains could not move because they were inconvenient. He even taught them how the wind was always unattainable, uncatchable, untouchable - yet it was something we relied every second of every day.
Tadashi taught them to temper their pride and use the heat of their ambition to do so. He taught them about honor. He taught them that samurai were only romanticized as men of great morality. In true history, samurai began as men of great skill in combat on the battlefields and over generations became little more than the bodyguards of nobility, swiping their forged swords on wandering strangers at night to test them. He taught them not to invest themselves in a title, but to invest in themselves and their very soul; how to better the world by bettering themselves.
The successor of Hachiman and the Alcatraz Incident
All of his effort was intended to find a suitor for one of five great blades of Kyoto: Hachiman. The blade was in a family of five, three owned by Tadashi himself. Each blade had a story of its own, and Hachiman told a story of deception and clarity. The elegant blade was made by an upcoming smith some time after the great age of blades in feudal Japan. The blade smith, one of the last of his kind, wanted to make a sword comparable to the great legendary blades before him. He spent years acquiring all of the highest quality materials he could; iron far greater in quality than what was in Japan.
The story went, as Tadashi told his students, was that Hachiman was never a blade meant for killing or combat. It was a blade meant to be admired. A blade of incredible beauty, balanced perfectly, to be used not as a weapon, but to complete an art that no ordinary blade could. Before he explained this story, he showed his students what it could do: the illusions it could cast, the doppelgangers it could leave of himself or others, and of course, the sheer ferocity of the blade in armed combat. This weapon was powerful and dangerous, yet it was created as a masterpiece of art.
Each had their time with the blade, although none seemed to master it. None understood it. Dubaku was the greatest among them in combat, Aadesh was far beyond any of them in manipulating his chi and none of them could compete with Tamako in unarmed combat. Benjamin had something different, though. Not something that sparked the blade, but something that constantly sparked his adversaries. He saw each one of them as just another stepping stone to Katana, to being the hero he wanted to be, and he constantly pushed himself - and that constantly pushed them.
Not long after a new prodigy, Nikos from Greece, joined the fray, Benjamin and his dynamic with Tadashi changed immediately. An attempt was made on the life of his father all the way back in Gotham. Threats had been made before, but this was no threat. This was a shot from a high-powered sniper rifle that resulted in the loss of James’ right arm. This was a true assassination attempt. And, the next threat from the shooter was on the life of Benjamin’s older brother. A threat that had his restaurant chain in Gotham on edge. In that moment, Benjamin didn’t care about iron sharpening iron. He didn’t care about becoming greater or the elements or chi. He wanted to protect his family. He wanted to seek out vengeance.
Tadashi intervened. No words he could tell Benjamin would sway him. No, it took something different than that. Tadashi told Benjamin that all he had to do to leave was defeat each of the others. If he could do that, he would be accepted back when he returned. Benjamin couldn’t defeat Tadashi; he tried… and failed. So he fought. He fought each of the others. The first was Dubaku; he defeated the African swordsman after a long, arduous conflict. The next was Aadesh, whom Benjamin just barely defeated in a surprise; the chi-empowered techniques Aadesh used had diminished effect on Benjamin. His spirit held strong through their fight.
In the end, though, even Benjamin could not defeat so many prodigies. His body failed him against Nikos, the youngest of his peers. In armed combat, he was too exhausted to continue. Tadashi made his point. Benjamin was not ready to take on his quest, but something inside him had sparked. An entirely new part of his being. He found deep inside that his desire to protect his family pushed him even farther than he pushed the others. Tadashi still refused to allow Benjamin to leave, but Benjamin had a new passion. This wasn’t about his childhood fascination with Katana anymore. This was about making a real difference.
While the next year continued on and his training grew more and more intense, a single event shocked the whole world and inspired Benjamin even more. The Battle of Alcatraz. The news showed video footage of the League of Assassins and their assault on the island. Many of their black-clad warriors were impressive, but most of them would be of no match for the five of them. Benjamin began asking Tadashi why they didn’t fight and make a difference. Why they only trained in their dojo or went on journeys to meet exotic mentors. He was always pushed aside until Benjamin absolutely demanded an answer.
And, it was simple. Just like when his family was in danger… he wasn’t ready. None of them were ready.
Benjamin was furious.
Tadashi told him over and over that he had not the skill, strength or temperance. He told him that no proper blade like Hachiman would accept him. Benjamin demanded others. Tadashi told him only Hachiman was to be chosen. They bickered and bickered and Benjamin even took up a blade against Tadashi, testing the incredible skill of the old man - and losing. But, his loss wasn’t as great as his first one. Nor the last one. No, this one was different.
Benjamin told Tadashi it wasn’t about the blade, a title, a name or being ready; Benjamin screamed that they needed to do something.
Tadashi stated him that he would just get himself killed trying.
Benjamin said it didn’t matter. Benjamin screamed, that they might as well be dead sitting around doing nothing until they were old men like him.
Their swords clashed finally, but Benjamin was on the losing in less and less.
Tadashi told Benjamin that he didn’t understand what was going on. That he couldn’t see through his rage and insecurity.
Benjamin told Tadashi that the only insecurity between them was his own. He told his teacher that he was so afraid his students would be hurt or killed that he was holding them back.
Then silence. In that moment, Benjamin was truly angered Tadashi.
But, far more than that happened. Tadashi was thrown into a world of illusion. He fell prey to the Hachiman. Tadashi once held all three blades at once, but the strain on him was becoming too much. He needed a worthy successor. Until now, no one had ever made him break down like this. No one had ever made him fall prey to one of his own blades.
Tadashi took Hachiman off the rack that held it and placed it on the ground in front of Benjamin before withdrawing one of his other blades: the Ōkuninushi. Benjamin took the blade and the two did true battle. Immediately, Benjamin took to Hachiman and understood what Tadashi meant when he repeated himself so many times prior.
Benjamin could see the countless forms his mentor and he could take. He saw a realm he never saw before. He saw the flow of chi and life energy. He saw how fire flowed with their movements, how wind danced around them when they moved, how the Earth was there when they needed to land. Hachiman gave Benjamin insight to the world around him after he earned it, and he did so by breaking the illusion of control Tadashi felt he had over his students.
Benjamin created illusion after illusion to throw off his mentor, but each one was swept through with the magical blade he held. Benjamin even created illusions of himself to throw off his mentor, but his mentor could feel the life energy inside Benjamin. Despite all that he had gained, he was still losing to his mentor. What it took, finally, was an entirely new technique. Benjamin altered the perception his mentor had of his own blade, causing him to miss a single slash and allowing Benjamin to disarm him.
It was a victory, but a short and small one. In no more time than the blade left Tadashi’s hand, he had vanished from the field to reclaim it, then had Benjamin pressed back into the wooden panels of the dojo. There was still so much more for him to learn, and the situation showed it.
What mattered more, however, is that Hachiman had chosen Benjamin as its new heir. The blade that was designed to be the final piece of art willed itself to a man that desired to protect the world like his hero before him and after the fear of losing his family. Benjamin was now the holder of one of the rarest relics in the world. And, he was given the graces of Tadashi.
Benjamin spent time learning to control Hachiman and how to fight with it in the beautiful dance that he saw Katana performing so long ago. Hachiman was never a blade of war. It was a blade of beauty. A piece of art. If it was a weapon, it was one to be used with grace. If it was to be used in battle, it would be to protect. It would be to preserve the beauty of the world. That is what Benjamin learned in his last months training with Tadashi. And, while he would return to Japan to meet his former mentor, the next stage of his life was about to begin…
Return to Gotham and current mission
His return to Gotham. It had been nearly a year since the assassination attempt on his father. A year of guilt, too. Not once in that time had he been able to visit his father. Or, his brother. He even missed his little sister on her wedding day. Benjamin had missed a lot while becoming the man he was, and while he caught up with his family, he took to the streets soon after, cleaning them up under the alias of Hachiman.
His actions, however, often left him on the wrong side of the law and the wrong side of the Justice League. Deemed a vigilante on the streets, and using excessive force alongside the brutal methods of the blade, Benjamin as Hachiman decided that the justice for his father and against organized crime in Gotham would be best left in his hands, even if he had to remain a public enemy.
Benjamin didn’t know wealth his entire life, but he did grow into it. The second son of a construction supervisor, James Pearson. Benjamin, his older brother and his mother often moved from site-to-site with his father, making friendships far and few between and life somewhat lonely for him. His brother tended to be the more popular of the two; he matured quickly, defended Benjamin in his time of need and often played the role model for young Ben. Most of this changed, however, when his younger sister was born. His parents decided it was time to settle down and it was a greater benefit for his father to take larger projects and work while mobile, accepting per diem for room and board instead of living in apartments near work sites.
The change in lifestyle was rough for the whole family, but none more than James himself. While his income was sufficient at first, the companies he worked for began to cut away at his hours, diminish overtime, overwrite his comments and ignore his suggestions. At times, it was even discussed that Theresa, Benjamin’s mother, take a part-time job, but with their young daughter, that proved next-to-impossible as transportation and daycare costs outweighed and profit. That was when James began to write letters and reach out not just to his superiors, but their superiors, the media, the companies that his worked for, and eventually, he was answered.
James Pearson became the pioneer for a revolution in Unions in Gotham. He became an overnight celebrity and short-term poster boy for worker’s rights in Gotham. By the time his daughter had started classes, he was making fair money for his work, even more as the head of his labor union and was endorsed by several companies that supported his endeavor. These movements would only grow larger and larger in Gotham, helping to formally abolish some of harsh, unsafe work conditions skilled tradesmen and hired hands alike were exposed to just to make a decent living.
By the age of nine, Benjamin had shifted from living in a nearly-impoverished state to a relatively well off life and it was only going to get better from there. James was made the official head of the formalized he helped create: Gotham Skilled Trade Union, or GSTU. Not only did his salary increase several fold over, but he shifted from the heavy-equipment operator he began as to a suited man fighting for the rights of the men he worked with. Meanwhile, his eldest son was an honors student in the top of his class and Benjamin wasn’t far behind.
What changed his life forever, however, wasn’t the shift in wealth or placement in society, but a whole new outlook on it. Just a few years later, at the malleable age of twelve, Benjamin witnessed a robbery take place. Now, Benjamin had seen violence before. He had even been in a few fights. But, what he saw on this day was entirely different. He saw Katana, the successor to the title to be specific, halt this robbery and end this violence with her raw, nearly-inhuman skill. She was powerful. She was a storm. A tempest. She blew in like the rough winds of a hurricane, yet she slashed her sword with the grace of a swan on a gentle breeze. Every clang of metal, every slice through the air, every movement she made seemed to be perfect.
Every little thing seemed to be in sync. Now, Benjamin grew up in Gotham. He grew up seeing different vigilantes on the screens, but never had he saw this. Never had he saw crime-fighting as nearly an art. What snapped him out of his trance was the sight of one of the gunman crawling back to his knees to take a shot at Katana. Instinctually, Benjamin tackled the man, making him miss, but at the same time, subjecting himself to the wrath of a criminal. The struggle wasn’t long as Katana disposed of the thug on top of him, then pushed him behind a nearby car until she finished clearing the scene.
When she returned to check on him, he was full of nothing but excitement. No fear. No anxiety. Just excited to see this woman, this woman who stole the entire role of hero from his older brother and whom in just a few moments he idolized more than his own father. He whispered ever-so lightly, “You’re like a ninja…”
She laughed. “Maybe,” she replied, “but you’re brave. Like a Samurai.”
Inspiration of the sword
This captured Benjamin. Everything about it. He wanted to be like her. He wanted to push himself to save people like her. He convinced his father to pay for kendo lessons. Not only did he excel, he expanded. He took martial arts and fencing, but kendo is where he really excelled. Beyond excelled, actually. Something about Benjamin made him a natural. Not just his determination, but something inside him that was almost shaped to wield a sword. An odd, ancient weapon of the past, but it was natural in his hands. Mean while, he also started take an interest in Japanese culture, he read out their tradition, their history, and of course about their legendary warfare hero - the Samurai. And the more he read about it, the more he was amazed.
Benjamin competed in fencing in his school, but it was outside of school that consumed him. He trained with his mentor day after day until… he beat him. Benjamin was just seventeen when he was able to consistently defeat his kendo master, a Kyōshi (a 7th dan; a very high rank in Kendo), in both formal and informal sparring. This skill was unprecedented and it merited a recommendation: a transfer to his mentor in Japan to further this.
The recommendation was scoffed at in the beginning… but his father was invited to see his son practice this skill and even given chances to speak with the International Kendo Federation (FIK) whom supported this decision, all levied by some outside forces. With a year of convincing, Benjamin was allowed to make this transfer. While his older brother went to a large University for Business Administration, Benjamin was training among some of the greatest kendo practitioners in Japan.
Of them all, however, one was far more renown than the others. Tadashi, a kendoka (a 10th dan; originally, only five were ever acknowledged, but history allowed three more), was considered the greatest living practitioner with a blade. Not just a master of kendo, but of various forms of armed and unarmed combat. All forms of Koryū, including ancient kenjutsu techniques from hundreds of years prior to the Meiji restoration to the present forms of Iaido and Shinbudo. Tadashi was the one that first pressed the FIK to convince James Pearson to allow Benjamin to join him and it was his vision that saw a spark inside of Benjamin… a seemingly random American with a crush on a vigilante with a cursed blade.
Benjamin was not alone, however. Tadashi had his students sieve the world over for talent beyond talent. Benjamin was met with Aadesh whom was two years his senior; Dubaku whom was just fourteen and on his skill level; and, Tamako, the only female to ever be trained by Tadashi. His students came from across the world; America, India, South Africa and even southern Japan. Benjamin was in constant competition where iron sharpened iron and the heat never dropped.
The next four years were intense. Benjamin and his companion were not only graded on their skill, but their spiritual development. Tadashi taught them far more than just how to use a blade. He taught them about life and the elements. He made them understand chi. He taught them how fire, the element of uncontrolled destruction, only is so because it is alive just like all other creatures. He taught them how water was patient and carved the Earth; how time made it an unstoppable force. He taught them how mountains could not move because they were inconvenient. He even taught them how the wind was always unattainable, uncatchable, untouchable - yet it was something we relied every second of every day.
Tadashi taught them to temper their pride and use the heat of their ambition to do so. He taught them about honor. He taught them that samurai were only romanticized as men of great morality. In true history, samurai began as men of great skill in combat on the battlefields and over generations became little more than the bodyguards of nobility, swiping their forged swords on wandering strangers at night to test them. He taught them not to invest themselves in a title, but to invest in themselves and their very soul; how to better the world by bettering themselves.
The successor of Hachiman and the Alcatraz Incident
All of his effort was intended to find a suitor for one of five great blades of Kyoto: Hachiman. The blade was in a family of five, three owned by Tadashi himself. Each blade had a story of its own, and Hachiman told a story of deception and clarity. The elegant blade was made by an upcoming smith some time after the great age of blades in feudal Japan. The blade smith, one of the last of his kind, wanted to make a sword comparable to the great legendary blades before him. He spent years acquiring all of the highest quality materials he could; iron far greater in quality than what was in Japan.
The story went, as Tadashi told his students, was that Hachiman was never a blade meant for killing or combat. It was a blade meant to be admired. A blade of incredible beauty, balanced perfectly, to be used not as a weapon, but to complete an art that no ordinary blade could. Before he explained this story, he showed his students what it could do: the illusions it could cast, the doppelgangers it could leave of himself or others, and of course, the sheer ferocity of the blade in armed combat. This weapon was powerful and dangerous, yet it was created as a masterpiece of art.
Each had their time with the blade, although none seemed to master it. None understood it. Dubaku was the greatest among them in combat, Aadesh was far beyond any of them in manipulating his chi and none of them could compete with Tamako in unarmed combat. Benjamin had something different, though. Not something that sparked the blade, but something that constantly sparked his adversaries. He saw each one of them as just another stepping stone to Katana, to being the hero he wanted to be, and he constantly pushed himself - and that constantly pushed them.
Not long after a new prodigy, Nikos from Greece, joined the fray, Benjamin and his dynamic with Tadashi changed immediately. An attempt was made on the life of his father all the way back in Gotham. Threats had been made before, but this was no threat. This was a shot from a high-powered sniper rifle that resulted in the loss of James’ right arm. This was a true assassination attempt. And, the next threat from the shooter was on the life of Benjamin’s older brother. A threat that had his restaurant chain in Gotham on edge. In that moment, Benjamin didn’t care about iron sharpening iron. He didn’t care about becoming greater or the elements or chi. He wanted to protect his family. He wanted to seek out vengeance.
Tadashi intervened. No words he could tell Benjamin would sway him. No, it took something different than that. Tadashi told Benjamin that all he had to do to leave was defeat each of the others. If he could do that, he would be accepted back when he returned. Benjamin couldn’t defeat Tadashi; he tried… and failed. So he fought. He fought each of the others. The first was Dubaku; he defeated the African swordsman after a long, arduous conflict. The next was Aadesh, whom Benjamin just barely defeated in a surprise; the chi-empowered techniques Aadesh used had diminished effect on Benjamin. His spirit held strong through their fight.
In the end, though, even Benjamin could not defeat so many prodigies. His body failed him against Nikos, the youngest of his peers. In armed combat, he was too exhausted to continue. Tadashi made his point. Benjamin was not ready to take on his quest, but something inside him had sparked. An entirely new part of his being. He found deep inside that his desire to protect his family pushed him even farther than he pushed the others. Tadashi still refused to allow Benjamin to leave, but Benjamin had a new passion. This wasn’t about his childhood fascination with Katana anymore. This was about making a real difference.
While the next year continued on and his training grew more and more intense, a single event shocked the whole world and inspired Benjamin even more. The Battle of Alcatraz. The news showed video footage of the League of Assassins and their assault on the island. Many of their black-clad warriors were impressive, but most of them would be of no match for the five of them. Benjamin began asking Tadashi why they didn’t fight and make a difference. Why they only trained in their dojo or went on journeys to meet exotic mentors. He was always pushed aside until Benjamin absolutely demanded an answer.
And, it was simple. Just like when his family was in danger… he wasn’t ready. None of them were ready.
Benjamin was furious.
Tadashi told him over and over that he had not the skill, strength or temperance. He told him that no proper blade like Hachiman would accept him. Benjamin demanded others. Tadashi told him only Hachiman was to be chosen. They bickered and bickered and Benjamin even took up a blade against Tadashi, testing the incredible skill of the old man - and losing. But, his loss wasn’t as great as his first one. Nor the last one. No, this one was different.
Benjamin told Tadashi it wasn’t about the blade, a title, a name or being ready; Benjamin screamed that they needed to do something.
Tadashi stated him that he would just get himself killed trying.
Benjamin said it didn’t matter. Benjamin screamed, that they might as well be dead sitting around doing nothing until they were old men like him.
Their swords clashed finally, but Benjamin was on the losing in less and less.
Tadashi told Benjamin that he didn’t understand what was going on. That he couldn’t see through his rage and insecurity.
Benjamin told Tadashi that the only insecurity between them was his own. He told his teacher that he was so afraid his students would be hurt or killed that he was holding them back.
Then silence. In that moment, Benjamin was truly angered Tadashi.
But, far more than that happened. Tadashi was thrown into a world of illusion. He fell prey to the Hachiman. Tadashi once held all three blades at once, but the strain on him was becoming too much. He needed a worthy successor. Until now, no one had ever made him break down like this. No one had ever made him fall prey to one of his own blades.
Tadashi took Hachiman off the rack that held it and placed it on the ground in front of Benjamin before withdrawing one of his other blades: the Ōkuninushi. Benjamin took the blade and the two did true battle. Immediately, Benjamin took to Hachiman and understood what Tadashi meant when he repeated himself so many times prior.
Benjamin could see the countless forms his mentor and he could take. He saw a realm he never saw before. He saw the flow of chi and life energy. He saw how fire flowed with their movements, how wind danced around them when they moved, how the Earth was there when they needed to land. Hachiman gave Benjamin insight to the world around him after he earned it, and he did so by breaking the illusion of control Tadashi felt he had over his students.
Benjamin created illusion after illusion to throw off his mentor, but each one was swept through with the magical blade he held. Benjamin even created illusions of himself to throw off his mentor, but his mentor could feel the life energy inside Benjamin. Despite all that he had gained, he was still losing to his mentor. What it took, finally, was an entirely new technique. Benjamin altered the perception his mentor had of his own blade, causing him to miss a single slash and allowing Benjamin to disarm him.
It was a victory, but a short and small one. In no more time than the blade left Tadashi’s hand, he had vanished from the field to reclaim it, then had Benjamin pressed back into the wooden panels of the dojo. There was still so much more for him to learn, and the situation showed it.
What mattered more, however, is that Hachiman had chosen Benjamin as its new heir. The blade that was designed to be the final piece of art willed itself to a man that desired to protect the world like his hero before him and after the fear of losing his family. Benjamin was now the holder of one of the rarest relics in the world. And, he was given the graces of Tadashi.
Benjamin spent time learning to control Hachiman and how to fight with it in the beautiful dance that he saw Katana performing so long ago. Hachiman was never a blade of war. It was a blade of beauty. A piece of art. If it was a weapon, it was one to be used with grace. If it was to be used in battle, it would be to protect. It would be to preserve the beauty of the world. That is what Benjamin learned in his last months training with Tadashi. And, while he would return to Japan to meet his former mentor, the next stage of his life was about to begin…
Return to Gotham and current mission
His return to Gotham. It had been nearly a year since the assassination attempt on his father. A year of guilt, too. Not once in that time had he been able to visit his father. Or, his brother. He even missed his little sister on her wedding day. Benjamin had missed a lot while becoming the man he was, and while he caught up with his family, he took to the streets soon after, cleaning them up under the alias of Hachiman.
His actions, however, often left him on the wrong side of the law and the wrong side of the Justice League. Deemed a vigilante on the streets, and using excessive force alongside the brutal methods of the blade, Benjamin as Hachiman decided that the justice for his father and against organized crime in Gotham would be best left in his hands, even if he had to remain a public enemy.
Personality:
- As a person, Benjamin is quite calm and silent. He rarely tells anyone what's really on his mind unless it's relative to the mission.
- In combat, he fights with patience, Benjamin tends to take his time considering and calculating before engage combat, to minimize the damage and the same time achieve his goal.
- Hachiman takes the justice of Gotham to his own hand, despite the J.L or the Bat family and his methods sometimes aren't as merciful as their.
- As a vigilante, he sometimes takes things very serious when it's come to people near to him. Despite of being a vigilante, Benjamin prefers to keep his family and friends safe and secure from the darkness of Gotham first. This seem to be a weakness to be exploit, Benjamin knows it but there is no other way for him.
- Benjamin honors the code of a samurai, which is sometimes he becomes very complicated to someone.
- He doesn't slay an opponent who've lost it's ability to fight.
- He doesn't like any unneeded violence. The same time when there are situations that require strict, all-the-way methods, Benjamin wouldn't likely to hold back., even though this mean lives are lost.
- Anyone on his side who doesn't take it's responsibility serious is likely to make him unhappy.
- Hachiman fights fair and honor his opponent, he doesn’t enjoy using trick or back up to win, though in needed situation, he won’t complain.
- Any act of betrayals to him is something hard to forgive.
Abilities/weaknesses:
Abilities & Weapons:
- Master Sword-wielding Skill: Dedicated his life to training swordsmanship, Benjamin is no doubt one of the best in a sword fight. He is not only strong in kenjutsu, but also familiar with other swords techniques in different culture, from fencer, Chinese swordsmanship and more.
- Master Martial Art Skill: Though he isn't fancy of it, Benjamin can handle himself well in a fish fight.
- Master Weaponry Skill (Mostly Melee Weapon): During his training, his not only trained with sword but also different weapons. He's quite handy with knives, axes, staff, spear, projecting weapons, even bow and arrows. On the other hand, Benjamin dislikes firearm, he sees them as unsportsmanlike.
- The Sword Of Hachiman: Also known as the Protector Sword, is an ancient artifact from Japanese history that was hidden away from the world, until it's given to Benjamin as the new successor of Hachiman. This sword gives Benjamin the ability to create clones and illusions. The clones also have physical contact to object, though weaker than the host. This ability is useful in many combat or non-combat situations where he has to avoid someone or make distraction. Benjamin wields this sword masterfully and usually mix his skill with the following abilities:
Weakness:
- Mortal: Though he has a superpower, it come from his mystical sword. Without it he's a normal man, which can be attacked physically, manipulated or even killed.
- Follow a strict code of honor: This sometimes makes him do something illogical, to himself and to his partner.
- Independent: Ever since he has operated in Gotham, Hachiman's known to work alone and difficult to be bound down to a team or an organization.
- Master Sword-wielding Skill: Dedicated his life to training swordsmanship, Benjamin is no doubt one of the best in a sword fight. He is not only strong in kenjutsu, but also familiar with other swords techniques in different culture, from fencer, Chinese swordsmanship and more.
- Master Martial Art Skill: Though he isn't fancy of it, Benjamin can handle himself well in a fish fight.
- Master Weaponry Skill (Mostly Melee Weapon): During his training, his not only trained with sword but also different weapons. He's quite handy with knives, axes, staff, spear, projecting weapons, even bow and arrows. On the other hand, Benjamin dislikes firearm, he sees them as unsportsmanlike.
- The Sword Of Hachiman: Also known as the Protector Sword, is an ancient artifact from Japanese history that was hidden away from the world, until it's given to Benjamin as the new successor of Hachiman. This sword gives Benjamin the ability to create clones and illusions. The clones also have physical contact to object, though weaker than the host. This ability is useful in many combat or non-combat situations where he has to avoid someone or make distraction. Benjamin wields this sword masterfully and usually mix his skill with the following abilities:
- Create one clone of himself, the longer this clone exist the more stamina he costed.
- Create more than one clones, or even a field of illusions, the more clones he create the more stamina it cost him.
- Create a clone version of someone else, this ability is very limit, can only cast on a person near him and the clone is difficult to maintain.
Weakness:
- Mortal: Though he has a superpower, it come from his mystical sword. Without it he's a normal man, which can be attacked physically, manipulated or even killed.
- Follow a strict code of honor: This sometimes makes him do something illogical, to himself and to his partner.
- Independent: Ever since he has operated in Gotham, Hachiman's known to work alone and difficult to be bound down to a team or an organization.
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