Kaze (character)

Kaze is the main character of the Kaze: Ghost Warrior series, the pilot episode of which was written, produced and made solely by Timothy Albee of Timothy Albee Animation. Timothy also did all of the voices for that episode, including Kaze. It is not clear, as of 26 March 2006, whether Timothy will voice Kaze for the prequel and/or additional episodes.

Kaze is an anthropomorphic tiger who was Captain of the elite House Guard when the royal family, one by one, was murdered, including 'Bay whom Kaze loved (and was loved by). A trap set to capture the murderers somehow identified Kaze himself as its main leader, and he was slain upon discovery. A dark time set in for the kingdom that had known peace and prosperity, as men such as Lord Soshi took control, sending Enforcers to the towns across the kingdom to collect hefty taxes and uphold their rulings. They regularly visited Itsua, for instance, demanding payment else they break up his tavern.

A small handful of citizens, especially Itsua, did not believe Kaze was behind the Royal Family's death and, in fact, held out hope that somehow the rumors of a shape moving through the shadows on the far shore of the Kitsune river were true, and that the shape was, in fact, Kaze returned from the dead to tear down the evil regime and restore peace to the kingdom.

Kaze is a warrior at heart and from his tiger heritage, is social and tends to be a loner. 'Bay's is a sore spot for him, a weakness he is not accustomed to that leads him to tremble when he is reminded of 'Bay (note that Timothy Albee himself, as of 26 March 2006, has not decided on 'Bay's actual gender and thus, this article will clumsily use the proper name instead of a pronoun to avoid even clumsier he/she double pronouns). He breaks down to tears thinking of 'Bay, considering himself to have failed 'Bay.

Despite his mastery with swordsmanship and combat, Kaze regrets having to kill. He tries to ward off an enemy intent on killing him by humiliating them at first ("Now, live with your shame ..."), and occasionally cracks jokes whilst in combat (to an enemy after having slain his enemy's accomplice: "You've lost your weapon, here's one; your friend isn't going to be using it anymore.") but also, after defeating a ringleader, tries to guide his vanquished foes to a better life with a blessing ("May your next life be filled with peace ...") before finally executing them.