Kaidan: The Rengoku Legends - Hotaro Kanzaki

Created for 5th Column for our project; https://kaidanuniverse.com
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The Obake are born with the ability to skinshift – embodying the physical properties of their chosen animal avatar. Among them, Hotaro is famed for his might, the great white ape coming time and time again to the forest’s aid.

Hotaro is one of that fabled species, the Obake, shapeshifters who are deeply connected to the spirits of the forest. Gifted with the power of transformation, his form can become that of a great ape, a wild manifestation of the fury of the untamed woods. This form strikes out against corrupters and destroyers, with a fury that his Yasei brothers sometimes struggle to quell. But quell it they must, as they believe that should he die, the wildwood itself will wither and rot, for the two share the same heartbeat. They call him the Master of the Wildwood, a force of nature, the Storm in the Forest.

Hotaro bristles with muscles, a hint of the fury contained within his otherwise placid exterior. The devotional items that ground his shifted form weigh heavily upon him: the ceremonial face mask becomes a shield that deters any would-be attacker. In his non-human form, he is near twelve feet tall, all muscle and fur, the tattoos that stain his skin writ large upon his fur.