Kusuriuri

A mysterious, wandering man with a vast knowledge of the supernatural, Kusuriuri (薬売り - literally "Medicine Seller") lives a nomadic lifestyle, dedicating himself to bringing the end of the mononoke, spirits that transform into powerful monsters after being influenced by human emotions and actions.

Appearance
Kusuriuri is slightly taller in height compared to other people, with pale white skin, pointy ears, and light blue eyes. He has gray-blond hair which he keeps tucked inside his purple bandanna, keeping a good chunk of it hanging down the sides of his face in tassels. The outsides of his eyes are outlined by red markings with the ones underneath forming the appearances of teardrops. It appears that he is always smirking, but that is actually because of the purple mark on Kusuriuri's upper lip. He also appears to possess a pair of canine teeth.

His outfit consists of a light teal-colored kimono with psychedelic pictures on the ends of his sleeves and a dark red obi wrap with swirling gold marks on his waist. On his neck are several necklaces with intricate, small jewelry, including a golden amulet. He wears black, billowing pants underneath that drop just below his knees and his lower legs are wrapped with leg bandages. Kusuriuri also wears a pair of red socks, with his main footwear being a pair of wooden geta sandals with two teeth.

Kusuriuri is usually seen carrying around a large wooden box filled with medicine and holy tools, including paper ofuda charms, scales that detect a supernatural presence, and a secret collection of feudal pornography (called shunga in Japan). The large box also holds a smaller, personal box containing a strange, powerful sword that is used to slay mononoke (demons in the English dub); the sword is enchanted so that in order to use it, the Medicine Seller must find the Katachi (physical shape), Makoto (truth or origin of something), and Kotowari (reasoning behind an action) of a particular mononoke he wishes to exorcise.

Once the sword has been unsheathed, he transforms into a mystical and powerful being that is more or less an inverted version of himself. This being wears a golden kimono with a bright red obi wrap and dark purple pants. His hair is long, unrestrained, and white, and his skin turns into a dark tan. The being's eyes are red with black sclera, and the simplistic red markings on Kusuriuri's face become more detailed and wrap around the being's entire body with a golden color. He also wears large circle earrings with bangles hanging on it.

Personality
Kusuriuri is, in a literal sense, a walking contradiction. He claims to be "uninteresting" to other people, yet his strange appearance makes him stick out when in a crowd, making for easy identification (strangely enough, he had been mistaken for a delivery man or merely a merchant of some sorts). He doesn't reveal much of his own history, but his profession involves revealing the history of others in order to identify the mononoke he hunts.

Always calm and cool-headed even in dire situations, Kusuriuri is observant and analytic, careful to scrutinize every detail of a larger scenario. His moods range from the usual deadpan manner he is often seen with, to slight amusement and irritation if pushed. In extreme cases, he can exert a moment of intense emotion, but that is rare and far in-between. He is also revealed to be a pervert as he has several "marriage charms" and pornography books in his possession, and gets embarrassed when it is brought up. Kusuriuri is quick-witted and somewhat snarky in response, and to those who generally get on his nerves, or don't believe in the mononoke, he resorts to subtly insulting them. However, those who accept the unknown and him overall are treated more kindly, like Kayo.

In Mononoke, the spinoff/sequel to Bake Neko focusing more on Kusuriuri, it is revealed in the three-episode Umibozu arc that his worst fear is discovering a place in the world that does not have form, truth, or reasoning at all, thus causing him to lose his reason to exist.

Trivia

 * Kusuriuri's seiyuu in the Japanese dub is Takahiro Sakurai, while his English VA is Andrew Francis, who voices various roles in anime.


 * It is slightly implied that Kusuriuri might be a kitsune (Japanese fox) because of his supernatural abilities, his pronounced canine teeth, the appearance of his alter "self", and, in Mononoke, a white fox mask in the Noppera-boh episode arc. The fox mask has the same markings that Kusuriuri has.
 * It is possible that he is left-handed, as both of his forms wield the sword of exorcism with their left hand.