Iwanbou

Iwanbou initially displays very little recognizable personality beyond his constant grin, apparent stupidity and willingness to follow instructions. He rarely speaks and does not display the ideological commitment seen in Shishio's closest followers.

His behavior is deliberately strange. He seems almost indifferent to attacks and frequently reacts in ways that make him difficult for opponents to understand.

This apparent personality is misleading because Iwanbou is not an independent human combatant at all. His behavior reflects the artificial body and the person secretly controlling it.

Iwanbou possesses enormous physical strength and a highly unusual body. Attacks can sink into his flesh without inflicting the kind of damage expected against a normal opponent, and he can trap weapons within it.

He uses his size and weight to overwhelm opponents at close range. Conventional cutting attacks are unreliable because of his body's construction.

Iwanbou is actually a mechanical puppet operated from within by Gein. The Kyoto version is one of Gein's experimental combat bodies, explaining its unnatural durability, exaggerated proportions and limited behavior.

Iwanbou joins the Juppongatana attack on the Aoiya, where Shishio intends his forces to destroy the Kyoto Oniwabanshū while Kenshin and the strongest fighters are occupied elsewhere.

He initially creates serious problems because the defenders cannot damage him normally. Rather than completing the battle, however, Iwanbou abruptly abandons the confrontation and disappears.

The Jinchū Arc reveals that Iwanbou was a mechanical puppet controlled by Gein, one of Enishi Yukishiro's Six Comrades. Gein later employs more advanced versions of the same puppet technology during Enishi's campaign against Kenshin.

Makoto Shishio includes Iwanbou among the Juppongatana during the Kyoto campaign.

Gein is the puppeteer concealed within and controlling Iwanbou, making the apparent Juppongatana member one of his artificial combat bodies.

Enishi Yukishiro later employs Gein as one of the Six Comrades during his campaign of Jinchū against Kenshin.

Misao Makimachi, Kaoru Kamiya and the Aoiya defenders encounter Iwanbou during the Juppongatana attack.