Kamiya Kaoru

Kamiya Kaoru is the young proprietor and acting instructor of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū kenjutsu dojo in Tokyo and the female lead of the Rurouni Kenshin series. After meeting and being rescued by the rurouni Himura Kenshin, Kaoru allows him to stay in her dojo and effectively puts an end to his ten years of wandering with her kindness. Though their relationship initially begins as one of mutual gratitude and respect, Kaoru essentially serves as Kenshin's primary motivating factor and the anchor to his shattered self-worth, slowly becoming a love interest.

Appearance
Kaoru is slender with a youthful, girlish face but has the lean build of a young woman engaged in regular physical activity. She has large blue eyes and her sleek, black hair (usually accented with a bluish or purple shine in the anime) hangs to mid-back length when worn down, but is usually tied in a high ponytail so as to accommodate her kenjutsu practice. Additionally, Kaoru sports a thick fringe of slightly curled bangs which hang past her eyebrows and are parted neatly in the middle as well as a few strands of shoulder-length hair in front of her ears. In training or combat, Kaoru dresses rather simply with a slightly worn, off-white uwagi and a hakama of a darker color (usually navy blue) while a sarashi wrapping covers and supports her upper torso.

In normal social settings, however, Kaoru displays a great fondness for fashionably colorful, patterned kimonos and always ties her ponytail with a large, colorful ribbon--her favorite of which is apparently a vibrant indigo-blue.

At the end of the manga series, Kaoru has cut her ponytail so as to carry herself with a more motherly demeanor.

Personality
Obstinate and strong-willed, Kaoru carries with her all the pride and strength of her samurai lineage and, as such, is often quite a force to be reckoned with. Fiercely independent, she will gladly put her blood, sweat, tears and even life on the line in order to protect her father's legacy, her hard-earned belongings, and her precious friends with her own hands. Believing wholeheartedly in the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū's ideal of katsujin-ken (swords that protect life), Kaoru has great faith in the potential, honor and artistry of kenjutsu and rejects with equal fervor the idea that swords exist only to do harm and take life--satsujin-ken.

Kaoru also has a fiery, violent temper which she displays without restraint when she feels that she has been slighted or insulted, often flying into a wild frenzy if her first blow does not settle the matter. Unfortunately, she is also quite childish and largely incapable of coming up with witty verbal retorts if struck with an insult that hits too close to her true shortcomings, further prompting her to violence. Even so, her most unique personal trait is that she is quick to see the good in others, even when it is hidden deep beneath the surface, and is always ready with a kind word of encouragement when she sees an opportunity to help. Her strength, like her father's kenjutsu philosophy, exists for the sake of the people around her and she will not hesitate to lend her samurai spirit to others in need. Though some may call her naïve for sticking to such a credo while surrounded by more selfish people in such trying times, her sense of duty and honor will not let her give up under any circumstances.

Despite her compulsion toward swords and her rough-handed nature, Kaoru also has a strong feminine side. She has a great appreciation for fine clothes and art as well as a strong taste for good food (particularly Western gyūnabe). Kaoru is unapologetic about her masculine athleticism, but worries about her looks, thinking herself too plain to be attractive. She becomes embarrassed and flustered when drawn into adult conversations and, though she waves aside the idea of being in a romantic relationship, she is particularly possessive of Kenshin and becomes markedly jealous when it appears another woman may be getting close to him. However, Kaoru remains shy and uncertain about her true feelings for Kenshin for much of the series, either becoming emotionally overwhelmed or putting on a thin mask of indifference whenever it is suggested that she and he may be an item. More than anything, Kaoru fears that Kenshin's hitokiri nature may resurface, forcing him to return to his wandering and leave her all alone once more. Faced with this possibility, Kaoru often finds herself at a loss when the "Battōsai" peeks through, her willpower giving way to despair and a sense of helplessness. With the help of her friends, however, she regains her strength in short order and discovers that she is the one who can have the biggest impact on Kenshin, and that she must be the one to keep his violent past in check. In the story, Kaoru is often compared to a tanuki (raccoon dog).

Friends and Allies

 * Kamiya Koshijiro: Father and Kenjutsu teacher who trained her as his student until his death leaving Kaoru as owner
 * Himura Kenshin: Moving gradually from dear friends to love interests to husband and wife, Kaoru and Kenshin share a relationship that serves as one of the largest focal points of the series. Having initially been rescued from death, dishonor and loneliness, Kaoru greatly values Kenshin's company after he appears in her life and is rather insistent that he stay. Though Kenshin at first sees Kaoru as being equally important to any other person, her remarkable assertion that Kenshin's past is unimportant in relation to his present self convinces him in short order that Kaoru is particularly special. On the other hand, his expressed hope that Kaoru's philosophy of katsujinken will someday become the reality for all Japanese swordsmen gives her the confidence she needs to face the hardships in her path. Later on they marry and have a son named Kenji, who, as an infant, loves his mother, but hates his father (often pulling his hair, to which Kenshin simply smiles). Kenji looks a lot like Kenshin.
 * Myojin Yahiko: Kaoru and Yahiko have a brother-and-sister-relationship, thus the two of them are often seen butting heads with each other, and when that happens, Yahiko often calls her "ugly girl", or "raccoon". Despite that however, the two of them have a lot of respect for each other and for their respective skills and are very protective of one-another.
 * Takani Megumi: Megumi and Kaoru had a very rocky relationship at the start of the series. This mostly because the two of them both had strong feelings for Kenshin and thus, they both wanted him. Despite that though, Kaoru has a lot of respect for Megumi due to her abilities as a doctor. Kaoru states, during the final part of the manga, that she has a lot of admiration for Megumi, due to her strong willed personality.
 * Sagara Sanosuke: Sanosuke and Kaoru get off to a bad start when he becomes a freeloader at her dojo after he was utterly beaten down by Kenshin and quit his gig as Zanza, a fighter-for-hire. However, in time the two grow to care for each other as close friends, and Sano makes it a point for Kenshin and Yahiko both to make sure to attend to the timid Kaoru while becoming extremely enraged when she is apparently "killed" by Enishi. This even drives him to search Kenshin out after he had fallen to a state of grave despair to find and kill Enishi to avenge her, and Kaoru in turn feels similarly for Sanosuke and worries for his safety just like Megumi and the others.
 * Makimachi Misao: Although they are fairly close in age, Misao's upbeat, jovial and quite immature personality contrasts with the more mature Kaoru. However, as time goes by the two share a sisterly bond, and it was only through Misao's assistance that Kaoru was able to defeat the Jupongatana member Kamatari. Just as with Sano and Yahiko, Kaoru's false death tremendously affected even the thick-headed, happy-go-lucky Misao and Aoshi's discovery of Kaoru being alive after all was just as much of a relief to her as it was to the rest of the Kenshin-gumi.

Enemies

 * Udō Jin-e : She was kidnapped by Udo in order to re-awaken the Hitokiri within Kenshin.
 * Hiruma Brothers (Gohei and Kihei): Though initially in the pretense of Kaoru's friend and housekeeper, Kihei eventually reveals his true colours, telling Kaoru (with Gohei holding her at sword-point) that his plan all along was to acquire the Kamiya Dojo for himself, due to the fact that the land's value would magnify in the years to come. At the last minute, Kenshin intervenes and saves Kaoru from these two villains.
 * Yukishiro Enishi: Kaoru learns from Kenshin that his deceased wife (Yukishiro Tomoe) had a younger brother named Enishi, who sought to avenge his sister's death by making Kenshin suffer as much as possible. Enishi kidnapped Kaoru and made Kenshin believe she was dead (via a puppet doll created by Gein, which looked completely identical to Kaoru on the outside). Enishi is unable to kill Kaoru, however, because every time she's near him, he is reminded of Tomoe. He even ends up saving Kaoru's life from Woo Heishin.

Abilities
Though diligent in maintaining her own sense of duty and discipline, Kaoru is evidently quite unskilled at domestic practices like household chores. In both cooking and cleaning, she is decidedly inferior to Kenshin and, in particular regard to her culinary skills, several characters have remarked that she has absolutely no cooking talent.

Indeed, all of Kamiya Kaoru's abilities and talents lie in the realm of the martial arts. In keeping with her position as interim master of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū style of kenjutsu, Kaoru's swordsmanship is highly regarded by all the other dojos in the Tokyo area and it has been stated by the creator that, while her combat skills are dwarfed by fighters of Kenshin or Sanosuke's caliber, they are at a level equivalent or superior to that of a "national-level champion". Her high comprehension of her father's style and kenjutsu in general lends itself to her proficiency with improvisational tactics, basic hand-to-hand combat and kenjutsu instruction.

As the interim master of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū,  she is naturally proficient in the succession techniques of the style, Hadome (Sword Halt) and Hawatari (Sword Crossing). She showed enough skill in the techniques to catch Yahiko's sword and disarm him simultaneously. However, by her own admission, her skill in the techniques are rudimentary as she has never managed to use them successfully in a dojo match, much less in an actual fight. Despite this, she has shown considerable ability in the use of other Kamiya Kasshin-ryū techniques, to the extent where she could defeat Kamatari Honjo, one of the Juppongatana, by breaking his kneecap with the Tsuka no Gedan: Hiza Hishigi.

She has also shown to be very analytical in battle, to a point where she rivals Kenshin's own keen perceptions. She is able to quickly deduce the mechanics of an opponent's technique and use it to her advantage. This was shown on many occasions, such as when she figured out Henya's Hiku Happa was done by conditioning his body down into skin and bones to make himself light enough to fly with his wings, when she attempted to exploit the weight of Kamatari Honjo's scythe and also when she figured out how Otowa's Bishamonken worked using magnetic force.

In battle, she has shown herself to be extremely resourceful and uses her intelligence along with her ability in kenjutsu to gain the upper hand in combat. Apart from her ability in swordsmanship, Kaoru has also shown herself to be extremely agile, being able to leap over two attcking Hishimanji Gang members with ease and even used her sword to help her flip over Kamatari's chain scythe by using it to push her off the ground.