Ninja Scroll - Characters & Cast

Initially money and survival, but shifts to personal honor and revenge for Kagero and his fallen comrades.

A former ninja who betrayed his clan to maintain his humanity, Jubei begins as a cynical wanderer. Through his interaction with Kagero, he confronts his past trauma involving Gemma. He moves from a mercenary who just wants to be left alone to a man who fights to avenge the dignity of a woman who was treated as a tool.

Duty to her clan, and later, the desperate desire for human connection and love.

She starts as a duty-bound tool of the Mochizuki clan, accepting her fate as a poison taster. Her journey is one of realizing her own desire to be treated as a human woman, not a weapon. Her death is a reclamation of her agency, choosing to die for love rather than duty.

Service to the Tokugawa Shogunate and political stability.

A manipulative government spy who uses everyone around him. He does not change morally, serving as a constant reminder of the cold, utilitarian world Jubei rejects. He represents the system that uses people like Jubei and Kagero.

Absolute Power and greed (to become the Shogun of the Dark).

Jubei's former leader who faked his death. He has shed all humanity for power and immortality. He is static in his evil, serving as the dark mirror to Jubei—what a warrior becomes when they lose their code.