Other Key Characters
These characters are further discussed in other sections of the site
Yukishiro Tomoe
If you have only been watching the anime and never saw the OVA, then you would not know who Tomoe is. If you saw the OVA, you still would only know half of the story, for Tomoe's role in Kenshin's redemption comes in two parts.
Tomoe is a quiet, unsmiling woman who comes into Kenshin's life unremarkably and with very little drama. It is hard to tell what she is thinking behind her placid dark eyes, but there is something about her that calms the battle-weary Battousai.
Though not a warrior herself, she is descended from a warrior family, and came to Kyoto for one very specific reason: revenge. Against whom? Well, Kenshin of course.
However, things do not go as planned, and the betrayer becomes the betrayed as she realizes she has led the boy -- barely a man -- she has grown to love into a deadly snare.
There is very little expressly stated or shown about the character of Tomoe, perhaps because she is so inexpressive herself. However, a few things do come through clearly: she loved Kenshin dearly (for all that he was) and was, for a short time at least, truly happy.
Shishio Makoto
Shishio is known as Kenshin's successor as the Ishin Shishi's finest Hitokiri. After the battles were settled, the Ishin Shishi ordered him killed. So frightened were they of being connected with Shishio and his atrocious activities that they poured oil over his body, burned him, and left him for dead. Unfortunately for them, Shishio survived. And while he was probably already a violent monster, what they did to him only fueled his ambition and reinforced his point of view that the "flesh of the weak is the food of the strong." This incited him into setting up a bloody coup in Kyoto, which would threaten the still unstable Meiji government. Kenshin is forced to return to Kyoto and his past to find a way to put a stop to Shishio's plan.
Seta Soujirou
Shishio's right-hand...er...boy, Soujirou is the mentally unstable bastard son of some minor lord whom Shishio picked up while on the run from the Meiji authorities. Soujirou grew up thoroughly abused by his father's legitimate family, and has plenty of reasons to be angry with the world. Perhaps it would have been easier if he had, for Soujirou instead wound up totally devoid of emotion, apart from amusement.
Sou's motives are not as clear-cut as anyone else's in this series, but whatever he thinks or believes in, it is clear that the boy is one damn good swordsman.
Yukishiro Enishi
This poor guy is mentally unhinged, possibly even worse than Soujirou. Enishi is a good fighter, although his skills seem to be more of the "wild attack" sort than the fluid, well-defined forms and strokes of traditional Japanese kenjutsu. This may be attributed to his learning the way of the sword in China.
Anyway, Enishi is the younger brother of a certain Yukishiro Tomoe, and is out to wreak cruel vengeance upon the man whom he held responsible for his sister's death: Kenshin. Enishi is at heart, I suppose, a decent kid, as the final chapters of the manga will show, and is surprisingly soft-hearted in many ways. Like Aoshi, however, he became obsessed, willing to throw away everything to complete his revenge. Still, Enishi somehow falls short of becoming irredeemable, and the manga ends with some hope for him.