Personality: Hiko is shown to be very sarcastic, egotistical and a punishing taskmaster, often referring to Kenshin as “My idiot apprentice,” and bringing up Kenshin’s past to provoke him into training harder. Despite this rough exterior, he has a deep sense of responsibility to Kenshin and those he protects, in the rare cases when he does get involved in a situation (usually at his own will). He has also been shown to be highly respectful and polite towards those he considers to be a true warrior, while at the same time condescending on those he considers to be weak. He loves sake, himself, and teasing Kenshin, although this is a testament to his excellent skill and powerful body. Master and student frequently have bouts of slapstick conflict between them. He dislikes socialization, and in order to avoid having to work with people, he makes his living as a pottery artist.
Background: The thirteenth successor to the sword art of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, Hiko Seijūrō saved young Shinta from marauding bandits who killed his companions. Hiko then took care of Shinta, and renamed him Kenshin (”Heart of Sword”) after claiming that Shinta was not a good name for a swordsman. Hiko would then train Kenshin in Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū for the next six years. He became angry and disappointed with Kenshin, because he ran away to join the rebellion against the Tokugawa regime at age 14, knowing that although Kenshin displays extraordinary skill in swordsmanship, he was not prepared in mind and spirit for dealing with the conflicts of the outside world. Hiko isolates himself from the rest of the world, reasoning that he does not have to deal with the ills of society by living as a hermit/potter in a forest near Kyoto.
Techniques: Hiko, a master of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, is the strongest swordsman in the series, vastly superior even to Kenshin, Saitō, Shishio, and Enishi. During Kenshin’s second training, Kenshin strikes at Hiko with his “entire body and soul” at one point (devoting so much attention that he fails to land properly and passes out), and manages to graze one of Hiko’s bracers. Although the two are comparable in speed when Hiko suppresses his true strength beneath his cloak, Hiko possesses a superior sense of judgment in combat and the superhuman strength (hidden, and even suppressed, underneath his heavy cloak) to wield Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū to its maximum.