Chizuru Raikouji

Chizuru is spirited, outspoken and quick to become angry when she feels she is being dismissed. She contrasts with the calmer wandering swordsman by reacting openly to danger, frustration and her grandfather's stubborn behavior.

She is also grateful and hospitable toward people who help her. After being protected by Kenshin, she invites him home and attempts to repay his kindness despite her grandfather's initial suspicion.

Watsuki's later creation of Kaoru drew on some of the same character ideas. Chizuru's assertiveness, appearance and relationship with the wandering protagonist consequently resemble elements that would later become central to Kaoru.

Chizuru has no established supernatural powers or formal combat training. Her role in the prototype story is that of a civilian whose danger brings the wandering swordsman into conflict with armed criminals.

Her courage does not translate into the exaggerated martial ability possessed by many characters in the serialized manga.

Chizuru appears in the early prototype that preceded the serialized Rurouni Kenshin. She meets the wandering swordsman after being chased by armed men and later invites him to the Raikōji residence.

Her family history reflects the unrest surrounding Japan's transition into the Meiji era. Her parents were killed after becoming caught between opposing forces during the political violence of the period, leaving her in her grandfather's care.

Criminals later kidnap Chizuru and demand a large ransom from Muneiwa. The wandering swordsman intervenes, rescues her and defeats the kidnappers without killing them.

A separate version of Chizuru appears in Reflection. There she is depicted as a companion and apparent romantic interest of the teenage Kenji Himura.

Muneiwa Raikouji is Chizuru's grandfather and guardian.

Kenshin Himura, or the prototype swordsman who developed into him, protects Chizuru from the criminals pursuing her.

Kenji Himura is depicted as having a close, romantically suggestive relationship with Chizuru in the separate Reflection OVA continuity.