The 64,000 Yen Question : is Usagi a serial killer ? :p

[Cosmo]

A reproach often made to comic books is violence. Though this reproach is rarely adressed to it – certainly because of its numerous qualities – Usagi Yojimbo is a violent comic, which depicts a violent era.

By the way, I had the idea of calculating how violent UY really is. Hence, the 64,000¥ question : HOW MANY PEOPLE DID USAGI MIYAMOTO KILL DURING HIS TRAVELS ?

So, I counted how many. Beware, I'm not giving exact figures : everyone can acknoweldge how difficult it is, in a comic book like UY, to evaluate the precise causes of the deaths and distinguish the dead from the severely wounded and from the runaways. I wanted to give some ideas as regards the amount.

In my count, I established a distinction between humans… sorry, « anthropomorphical characters » or « humanoids », demons and beasts – reptilians, fish, birds…

The sign + means the casualties are probably higher, but it is impossible to say in what extent.

I'm counting only the casualties from Book One to Ten. Feel free to count the latest victims.

BOOK I

1."Le Lutin d'Adachigahara" (The Goblin of Adachigahara)
1 demon

2. "Le lapin solitaire et l'enfant" (Lone Rabbit and Child I + II)
18+

3. "La confession" (The Confession)
12+

4. "Le chasseur de primes" (Bounty Hunter)
13

5. "Le voleur de chevaux" (Horse Thief)
8

6. "Le village de la peur" (Village of Fear)
1 demon

7. "Un repas tranquille" (A Quiet Meal)
7 flies

8. "Le cochon aveugle fine lame" (Blind Swords-Pig)
1 (non-ninja) turtle

9. "De retour chez soi" (Homecoming Part I-II)
5+

10. "Le chasseur de primes II" (Bounty Hunter II)
6

TOTAL BOOK I :
64 humanoids or demons
8 beasts

BOOK II

11. "Samouraï" (Samurai Part I, II, The Test, Samurai Part III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII)
7+, 1 dragonfly

12. "Kappa" (Kappa)
0

13. "Zylla" (Zylla)
1

14. "La foire de la soie" (The Silk Fair)
8

TOTAL BOOK II :
16 humanoids
1 beast


BOOK III

15. "La tour" (The Tower)
0

16. "L'amour d'une mère" (A Mother's Love)
5 (including a violation of the Good Samaritan laws resulting in the suicide of an old lady )

17. "Le retour du cochon aveugle fine lame" (Return of the Blind Swordspig)
0

18. "La lame des dieux" (Blade of the Gods)
0 (Jei doesn't count : when somebody kills him, he's still there...)

19. "La tasse de thé" (The Tea Cup)
8

20. "Le présent du shogun" (The Shogun's Gift)
0

21. "Soupe de tortue et ragoût de lapin" (Turtle Soup and Rabbit Stew)
6+

TOTAL BOOK III :
19+ humanoids


BOOK IV

"Les nuages s'amoncellent" (The Clouds Gather)
0

"Les vents mugissent" (The Winds Howl)
0

"L'averse" (Downpour)
7

"Foudre et tonnerre" (Thunder and Lightning)
0

"Au cœur de la tempête" (The Heart of a Storm)
5+

"Les nuées se dispersent" (Storms Clouds Part)
0

"Le destin du cochon aveugle fine lame" (The Fate of the Blind Swordspig)
0

TOTAL BOOK IV :
12++ humanoids


BOOK V

23. "La glace et le feu" (Frost And Fire)
0

24. "Le cerf-volant" (A Kite Story)
0

25. "Les ailes de sang" (Blood Wings Part I-II)
6+

26. "La voie du samouraï" (The Way of the Samurai)
3+

27. "Le bouc solitaire et son petit" (Lone Goat and Kid)
7

TOTAL BOOK V :
16 humanoids


BOOK VI

28. "Le pont" (The Bridge)
1 demon

29. "Le duel" (The Duel)
2

30. "Yûrei" (Yurei)
8

31. "La fille de mon seigneur" (My Lord's Daughter)
12 demons

32. "Cercles" (Circles Part I-IV)
"Du vent sur les tombes" (Wind Over the Tombstones)
5

"Souvenirs" (Remembrances)
0

"Un voile sur la montagne" (A Shroud Over the Mountain)
0 (here again, Jei doesn't count…)

"Le cercle se referme" (Closing the Circle)
0

TOTAL BOOK VI :
15 humanoids
13 demons


BOOK VII

33. "Kitsune" (Kitsune)
2

34. "Gaki" (Gaki)
0

35. "Rituel inachevé" (Broken Ritual)
1 ghost

36. "La bobine de fil emmêlé" (The Tangled Skein)
3

37. "Gen" (Gen)
3+, 1 tokage

38. "Le retour de Kitsune" (The Return of Kitsune)
0

39. "La dernière histoire d'Ino" (The Last Ino Story)
3

TOTAL BOOK VII :
12 humanoids (including one dead)
1 beast


BOOK VIII

40. Shades of Green I
5

41. Shades of Green II
5+

42. Shades of Green III
8+

43. Jizo
5

44. Shi
3

45. The Lizard’s Tale
0

46. Usagi’s Garden
0

47. Autumn
0

48. Battlefield
0

TOTAL BOOK VIII :
26+ humanoids


BOOK IX

49. The Music of Heaven
1

50. The Gambler, the Widow and the Ronin
1

51. Slavers
8+

52. Daisho I
0+

53. Mongrels
0

54. Daisho II
6+

55. Runaways
19

56. The Nature of the Viper
0

TOTAL BOOK IX :
35+ humanoids


BOOK X

57. Origin Tale
1+

58. Kaiso
0

59. A Meeting of Strangers
25

60. Black Soul
0

61. Noodles
5, including one seppuku

62. The Wrath of the Tangled Skein
2 demons

63. The Bonze’s Story
0

64. Bats, the Cat and the Rabbit
2+

65. The Chrysanthemum Pass
4

66. Lightning strikes twice
0

TOTAL BOOK X :
38 humanoids
2 demons


Conclusion : With 267 casualties, including 17 demons, 9 beasts and one consenting ghost, Usagi Miyamoto is the most lethal rabbit in Occidental culture, even outnumbering the formidable Creature of Caerbannog. Fortunately, Usagi is considerably more accommodating.

NOTE : This work is not to be taken seriously... no, really...

[tayocham]

USAGI: It was them or me...

[estee]

Actually this was done before...

Check this out!

You can probably tack on about another 100 dead people by now.

As for being a serial killer. Usagi never killed anyone who didn't deserve it.

[MikeM]

Yes, but they were all bad

[Cosmo]

As for being a serial killer. Usagi never killed anyone who didn't deserve it.

Yes, but they were all bad

That's what Jei says too. The difference is that Usagi pretends not to be an agent of the gods.

[MikeM]

Yes, but do we know that Jei is NOT an agent of the gods?

MikeM

[Robweiller]

Do we know it for sure?

[Robert Wetherelt]

All those that Usagi has dispatched to the netherworlds either deserved it or it was against his will. As for Jei...evil...pure evil. Some of his "victims "were innocents, And he seemed to delight in his killings. He was a monster! And now that his "soul" has passed into another...the killing will continue.