Ghostblade

Ghostblade is a swordsman and deuteragonist of the webcomic GhostBlade. He is a member of The Six and an infamous killer who kidnaps Yan and begins to take her with him on his travels. Kain, Mars, and Lenia join him later in the slums. He claims to want to exchange Yan for something that Ostin has in his possession.

Background
Ghostblade is a dreaded killer, first rising to notoriety by slaying the famed Kui in the Battle of Black Mountain. He had cut through thousands of soldiers, resurrecting them with the power of his black sword to fight by his side. The most famous assassin of the time, whose name was Shillings, couldn't survive more than three of his moves in a duel. Ghostblade had fought against Hong Du on the shores of the Waterlight River, which caused a section of the river to clog. In the end, Hongdo surrendered and Ghostblade won. At some point before the start of the story, Ghostblade saved Lenia's life as well, leaving her feeling indebted to him for most of her life.

Arrival in HaiQin
Some time later, when the kingdom was calling for Princess Yan to be turned over to Ostin, Ghostblade arrived in HaiQin and spoke with Mars about the situation. Once he was filled in, he requested Mars' assistance, specifically with horses, food, clothing and guidance to the castle. In return, he gave him a gold ingot.

Once the princess escaped and was turning herself in to bounty hunters led by a man named Slan, Ghostblade dropped from above and stated he was kidnapping the princess. This led to Slan charging Ghostblade with his sword, which Ghostblade easily caught mid-charge and bent the tip of. The bounty hunters ran away from him at the sight of this, leaving the princess with him. He proceeds to tell her that war is unavoidable now and she should hide so her people don't suffer because of her. When he was asked why he was helping her, he called her naive and corrected her by saying he was not helping her, but kidnapping her.

Once they began moving on horseback, Ghostblade offers Yan his coat, saying he can't afford to be slowed by her catching a cold. When she says she isn't affected by cold, he responds by saying the stories are true and seems to make light of the fact that a princess would be concerned by rumors like these. He then tells Yan that he has no interest in the safety of the people of HaiQin at all, and instead wants something Ostin has, and intends to exchange her for it. He then reveals his identity to her.

The Slums
The duo stops in the slums of HaiQin to eat and stay the evening. He tells Yan that a bowl of food she doesn't like would last a slum child 3 days, and to eat it since they still have a long way to go. When a nearby child mentions Angels, he states that they're a despicable race who led the world to a golden age only to decimate it. In response to Yan saying she thought humanity was punished, he responds by saying if that were a case, someone like him would have died a thousand times over. After a noble's thugs begin roughing up a mother for additional tax money for having a child, Yan requests he help, to which he says:"My little princess, you are so naive. Don't you know there are thousands of others in that woman's position right now? If I save this one, why not all the others? Should I dedicate myself to saving them all? And if I did save this one, what difference would it make? Would it make the world better? The answer is no. It will only improve your vision of yourself, which means little in the grand scheme of things. Or would you disagree? Sometimes, this misguided concept of 'saving' people only leads us to greater tragedies."After Yan gives them her necklace to keep the child from being taken from the mother, he seems confused by the fact that she gave them the only gift she had from her birth parents for people she never met. That night in a nearby inn, Ghostblade entered Yan's room while she was sleeping, and drawing his sword, he proceeded to cutting a candle from her side table horizontally and balance it on his blade before leaving the room.

Recovering the Necklace
That same night, Ghostblade hunted the thugs who had Yan's necklace. When they mentioned heaven and wanting to see it, a strong gust of wind blew through and Ghostblade appeared, still with the same candle on his shortsword. He replies by saying heaven is a long way away and he could give them a little ride before throwing the candle in the air, killing all of the thugs except their leader, and holding the sword to their leader's throat, at which point the candle landed squarely on the shortsword again. He demanded to get the necklace back as well as all of the money they had in exchange for sparing his life. When the leader gave Ghostblade the necklace and the location of their resources, he killed the leader, saying he is not someone a smart man would trust. He then collects the money and returns to the inn, placing the necklace on Yan's bed.

The next morning, upon Yan thanking him for retrieving her necklace, Ghostblade rejected the thanks, saying he is no better than the people she despises so much. He then tells her not to give the necklace away so recklessly, as she seems attached to it. When Kain and Mars find them, he tells Yan that he will be going to the Northern Kingdoms, and she will come with him if she wants to know the truth about her story. He says for Yan to meet him in the same area the next day.

Departing to the Northern Kingdoms
While he was on a rooftop waiting for Yan to arrive at the rendezvous location, Lenia tried to ambush him. He knew she was there, however, and asked if she was naive enough to think she could find him alone. She explains to Ghostblade that Ostin and Katalies had tried to commission her, a commission she had rejected. However, when she explains that had she not rejected, the princess would already be dead, Ghostblade makes a sizeable crack in the rooftop they're sitting on, taking it as a threat and saying she's either braver or stupider than she was before. She corrects him, saying that she only intended the statement to mean that now she may have what it takes to help him and repay her debt. Seeing Yan and her friends had arrived, he agrees, under the condition that if he ever thinks she's deviating from him, he will kill her. She then pledges to be his third sword, and they depart.

The Heavenly Sword
While in the Northern Kingdoms, he visits Nan and they play a game of Go. While playing, he says that it would be his last visit to SOUTH Mountain, and requested his help in his visit to Ostin. When Heavenly Sword says he is not leaving the tower or using the southern arts again, Ghostblade says it's a shame because they could have been friends. All the candles in the tower they were in are extinguished, and Ghostblade draws his longsword. He follows by saying this was their last game, and asks if Nan thinks he can beat him. Ghostblade yells that it's time to wake up, flips their game table, and swiftly lunges at Nan's nearby apprentice, Jade. He appears initially to stab her ; his longsword passed through her kimono, missing her flesh and passing out the other end, and he knocks over the tea in her hands so that his sword was covered in a red liquid. His bluff worked, Nan used the southern arts to wound Ghostblade in the back, at which point Ghostblade laughs and says even after all the time they spent playing games, Nan still can't win.

While they descend the mountain, Jade says she could never take her sister's place in Nan's heart. Ghostblade tells Jade that taking her sister's place isn't necessary, as Jade is just as irreplacable as her sister was in her own way. He followed that even though Nan may be the Heavenly Sword, she is the only one who can wield that sword. He continued that the SOUTH Mountain is no holy land, and that Nan would not have the luxury of sitting on the fence forever, posing the question to her of where she would go when the time comes. When she says that no one has fooled Nan's instincts and asked how he he pretended to have the intention to kill, he replies that he never pretends.

Hanging Crescent Arena
When Northern King Tindo challenges Lenia and Kain to a battle with him, Ghostblade tells them that they were no match and to step back. When Tindo tries to ask him his identity, Ghostblade interrupts and says if he fights him, he won't need to ask. They do fight, and notably, Ghostblade wins without even drawing his sword. He ends by catching Tindo's punch and using his grip to shatter the gauntlet the king was wearing and told him even after all this time, he remains a step behind his brother.

Waterlight City
After the events of the arena, he returns to Waterlight City with Tindo and speaks with him. Ghostblade sees Hong Du's axe Wildsand hanging on a wall and saying it seemed strange that it was on a wall, being as legendary a weapon as it was. Tindo states that it hangs there because no one seemed to be a suitable match except the former Northern King himself.

Appearance
Ghostblade appears to be wrapped in gray and gold-colored burial wrappings, which have loose ends streaming off him on several occasions. He also has 2 shackles on his wrists, both of whose chains are broken after 5 links. Despite the wrappings, his facial features are still very well defined, even in the eye region. This is uncommon in traditional burial wrappings, and suggests they may not be actual burial wrappings, but something similar. While he may look completely wrapped, his eyes and mouth are shown to be exposed when he speaks. He possesses 2 swords on his back, one being a shortsword, one being a longsword. When he raised the dead to fight by his side, the runes on his sword glowed purple. He has glowing, purple eyes and no visible hair.

Personality
Ghostblade initially seems cold and emotionally distant, especially in his interactions with Princess Yan, openly admitting to kidnapping her for his own purposes. However, some emotion begins to shine through soon after, when he attempts to give her his cloak to fend off the cold. This is further shown when he collects the Iceblue stone pendant from a noble's men after Yan gave it to them to keep a family together. Ghostblade seems to be very intelligent, and has a relatively broad perspective on the world compared to other characters, shown by several conversations he had with Yan. He is also shown to be very assertive.

He is, however, ruthless when he has to be in order to further his own agenda, even claiming no one understands death better than he does. His ruthlessness is shown by his attempt to slay Heavenly Sword's apprentice Jade in order to force his fellow member of The Six to use his power to stop him. He is also shown to be bloodthirsty, sometimes killing gratuitously and needlessly. He also shows himself to be distrustful, seeming conflicted at times as to weather to kill Yan (presumably due to her alleged descent from the feather race). Ghostblade also considers himself a villain, going as far as to say he is not someone a smart man would trust. He even says to Yan he is no different from the people she despises. He is very guarded, seeming to never leave openings for surprises, whether they be ambushes or otherwise.

Abilities
Ghostblade is a gifted swordsman. He also has the power to raise the dead to fight by his side by channeling power through his black sword. After their rise, he then forces the dead to do his bidding.