Haragiri

As a man, Haragiri swept his long dark hair back over a pronounced widow's peak and wore the lined face of someone near forty. A sleeveless haori sat atop his kimono, and a sheathed katana hung at his left hip. When he turned monster, his skin went dark and a third eye split open on his forehead; his teeth grew keener, his hair faded to a pale shade and seemed to sprout into thick, outreaching vines, and veins traced plainly across his flesh.

Easygoing by nature, Haragiri cared for little beyond honing his blade. In his eyes the Council of Swordmasters had a single purpose, the perfecting of swordsmanship, and its chatter about the Hero Hunter Garou struck him as an idle distraction. So fierce was his craving for strength that he cast off his own humanity to obtain it. Once transformed, his arrogance swelled, and he grew certain he could slay every remaining member of the Council, Atomic Samurai included.

Haragiri met his end when the Council of Swordmasters gathered. As Atomic Samurai thanked its members for backing his hunt for Garou, Haragiri broke in to announce that he had thrown in with the Monster Association, an offer of power far beyond his own bought with his humanity. He produced three monster cells, changed shape on the spot to prove he had already swallowed one, and ordered the rest to eat a cell and turn monster as well. Charged with killing Atomic Samurai, he counted off three seconds and then swung at the hero. The blade never arrived; Atomic Samurai drew in a blink and loosed an Atomic Slash that carved Haragiri to pieces.

As a Council member he was a true master of the sword who, even before his change, could draw quicker than sound. Becoming a Mysterious Being pushed his strength and speed higher still and granted him the power to transform, though he kept the monstrous shape hidden until he faced the others. Eating a monster cell, as it does for every human, also handed him a far longer lifespan. None of it mattered against Atomic Samurai, who so outclassed him that he shattered Haragiri's katana in the very stroke that ended him.