Bamboo Hatted Kim

Personality Bamboo-hatted Kim speaks rarely, though when he does, he does so in a rather solemn, verbose tone. Even when facing certain death or under influence of the Monolith, he continues to speak calmly, showing no sign of hesitation when in any of his battles. From his battle text and Key Page in his reception seen in Library Of Ruina, he speaks rather cryptically and often sees those without scars or sign of former injury in battle as a sign of cowardice, and does not permit them to join or train them in the Blade Lineage.

As a Distortion, his lack of emotion is more apparent. He purely shows his battle instinct as his only course of action is to strike and battle anything that comes within his sword's range.

When not under duress, however, he is far more casual than initial impressions of him seem. He describes himself as someone who simply goes with the flow, and is very lazy in temperament, often joking around and taking opportunities to slack off instead of working. However, he is also very observant, with a knack for intuition and identifying problems so he can nip them in the bud before they escalate. In truth, his actions are also a coping mechanism for the guilt he feels at his failure to make change in S Corp. and his perceived responsibility for the Blade Lineage's decimation, as well as his fear of continuing to carry on living with his dishonor.

In the past, Kim had a sharp wit and was adept at deliberately annoying his conversation partners, a trait he still possesses to a lesser degree in the present. He was also more diligent despite retaining his lackadaisical attitude, strictly abstaining from drink whenever on duty.

Story Prior to Limbus Company Like his followers in the Blade Lineage, Bamboo-hatted Kim originally came from S Corp.'s Nest. Originally a pursuant of the "path of the Brush", he passed the Royal Examination with flying colors but did not take up an official position, instead going into self-imposed exile in the Backstreets. The popular view was that this was because he had become disgusted by the corruption of his forebears.[1] However, his actions may have been driven more by the events of the examination, where he inadvertently shamed himself by writing an essay condemning a historical traitor to S Corp., whom Kim later realized was his own ancestor.[2]

At some point, he learned the Swordplay of the Homeland and managed to get back into the Nest, having been found by the Right State Councilor and hired as his bodyguard. Kim shared the councilor's ideals, wishing to undo the inequality that plagued S Corp. During his service, Kim met Im Gyeong-eop, the Military Commissioner of the Sal Circle, who found him throwing rocks at corrupt officials that she was hunting down. Despite coming from different Circles and Kim's attempts to aggravate her, the two would become friends and drinking partners.

One night, the Right State Councilor was beset upon by an army of assassins sent by the Left State Councilor. Kim killed many of them, but failed to stop them from breaching into the Councilor's private quarters. However, it would be revealed by one of the conspirators, Han Ho-bae, that the entire thing had been a set-up that the Right State Councilor had been in on: using a forged note and the Left State Councilor's private forces posing as assassins, they framed Kim for attempting to assassinate the Right State Councilor and slaughtering the "assassins", who were publicly declared as guards sent to protect the Right State Councilor's life. Betrayed by his councilor as part of the collusion to remove a threat to the Left State Councilor's plans, Kim was arrested and branded with the Mark of a Nobi, sapping his strength and robbing him of much of his swordplay prowess.

In prison, he was discovered by Im Gyeong-eop, who discreetly freed him and allowed him to flee, urging him to one day return to S Corp. with new allies and help uproot the Wing's corruption. Im herself would remain in S Corp., attempting to promote change and waiting for Kim's return to serve as a valuable ally from within the Wing's inner circle. Kim would flee S Corp. and eventually join the Blade Lineage, a Syndicate largely comprised of fellow S Corp. refugees. He would eventually become the Mentor of the Blade Lineage.

With his "spirit broken," and seeing that they had become little more than wandering vagabonds, Bamboo-hatted Kim tried to provide for his followers by finding a territory to settle down in, but all the places they went to were already occupied by other Syndicates. Eventually, Kim led his group to the Backstreets of T Corp, where they ended up in conflict with the Kurokumo Clan. In the midst of the fighting, he received an invitation from the Library. Believing it to be a better option for his followers, he accepted it only for all of them to be defeated in the Library's reception and turned into books.

Intervallo III: Yield My Flesh to Claim Their Bones Like other victims of the Library, Bamboo-hatted Kim returned from his book form back to the Backstreets of District 20 alongside Aeng-du and his other Blade Lineage followers, seemingly not long before the events of Intervallo III. Coincidentally, Bamboo-hatted Kim returned near the top floors of the Yong-jin Building, where a large number of Kurokumo Clan members were standing guard waiting to transport a Monolith as per orders of the Thumb. Surprised by their sudden appearance, the Kurokumo Clan engaged the Blade Lineage in fierce battle. Despite Bamboo-hatted Kim's prowess, the Blade Lineage members were overwhelmed by numbers and cut down one by one until only Kim and two others remained. Seeing his allies defeated and being in a vulnerable, traumatic position that "shook him to the core" (reminding him of his past failure in S Corp.), Bamboo-hatted Kim distorted. It is revealed by Jun that Kim proceeded to slay every living person in the room indiscriminately, excluding Jun himself, who escaped Kim's wrath and stood guard in front of the door to the room where the Monolith and Kim lay dormant in order to protect the rest of his men.

The Sinners eventually encountered Aeng-du, who was fighting the Kurokumo Clan elsewhere in T Corp's Backstreets and was looking for her mentor. The Sinners accompanied her, as they had been ordered to recover the Monolith. They eventually reached the Yong-jin Building and encountered Jun, who explained what has happened and refused to let them enter. Shortly after Jun was defeated, Aeng-du and the Sinners entered the room. Injured, Kim escaped to his fathoms, where his traumatic memories from S Corp. were manifested. After facing the Sinners and being defeated once more, dispelling the dungeon, the Monolith's influence on Kim weakened. With Dante successfully retrieving the Monolith, Bamboo-hatted Kim reverted to a normal human, yet was stabbed by Aeng-du behind a sofa as she could not bear to see Kim slaughtering his own students. After Meursault swiftly knocked out Aeng-du while she was beginning to distort, the LCA retrieved Kim and Aeng-du to be brought to the LCD to study them as both subjects of the Distortion and returnees from the Library.

Intervallo V: LCB Regular Check-up According to Marton and Alyssa, Kim has since recovered while under the supervision of the LCE. He remained in the LCE's custody as of the events of Intervallo V.[3]

Canto IX: The Unsevering Though absent from the events of Canto IX, according to Aeng-du, Kim has physically healed, but is still under Limbus Company's custody until he has recovered mentally. Vespa later mentions that Kim is a junior of LCD, like Aeng-du. However, it is revealed that during the House of Spiders' raid on the LCE, Kim was present and had drifted off on his own to the infirmary, where there was no alarm system set up, fighting off The Ring Nursefather's Automanikins, though he was left far from unscathed, not having recovered fully yet, thus causing his abscence during the fall of the House of Spiders.

Intervallo VII: Mnestic Experience Tasked to deal with a Distortion in District 14 (Nagel und Hammer)'s Backstreets alongside the LCB, Bamboo-hatted Kim makes his appearance alongside Ezra and his student Aeng-du, now having recovered from the events of Intervallo III: Yield My Flesh to Claim Their Bones. His true, non-Distorted and aloof self is revealed to Dante and the Sinners, shocked due to their initial impression and Aeng-du's own description of the man.

Initially not of much help in combat during most of the investigation of the Distortion's Inflection Point, he wandered off on his own- much to Ezra's dismay- and eventually found himself reunited with the other Sinners, avoiding engaging in combat with N Corp.'s personnel and the Ch'unokkun created by the Distortion.

As the group investigated further, they were overwhelmed by N Corp.'s staff, forcing Dante to open the Distortion's Fathoms, which took on the appearance of S Corp., and Kim's memories of it. As they ventured deeper into the fathoms, fighting off imaginary Salsus and Ch'unokkuns, Kim's memories of his prior life in S Corp. are explored, until he was confronted by the imaginary Im Gyeong-eop at the depths of the fathoms. At the climax of the fight, a certain voice reached out to him again. However, this time, Kim manifested his own E.G.O, defeating the imaginary Im Gyeong-eop afterward.

Trivia Bamboo-hatted Kim is in part based on Kim Sakkat, a famous Korean poet from the late Joseon dynasty. One of the Dungeon Events featured in A Blade Fiend's Fathoms is a reference to the poem "Song of Right and Wrong" by Kim Sakkat and, in art depicting the poet, he is often wearing a similar style hat to the one Bamboo-hatted Kim wears. During the Distortion fights, Kim retains most of the skill names from his deck from Library of Ruina. The only missing attack is Acupuncture. Despite this, Blade Lineage Mentor Meursault has Acupuncture as his Skill 2. His Assist Unit version, however, does have access to the Skill Acupuncture. While he is not given a classification code during the distortion fights, LCA refer to him as T-267-1. Following the classification rules of Lobotomy Corporation, this would indicate that he is the first minion or creation of T-267, which would likely be the Monolith. His distorted design features elements seen in traditional depictions of Dokkaebi though specifically the bamboo hat being reminiscent of a farmer, which may be a reference to Kim Seobang Dokkaebi, a Dokkaebi that takes the form of a farmer. The logo of S Corp. is visible in the Battle Background of Distorted Bamboo-hatted Kim.

Appearance: General Information Gender: Male Occupation: Blade Lineage Mentor Affiliations: LCD, Blade Lineage, S Corp.(Former Bodyguard of the Right State Councilor), Relations, Moses (Team Leader), Ezra (Coworker), Vespa (Coworker), Aeng-du (Student, coworker), & Im Gyeong-eop (Close companion)

Appearance Bamboo-hatted Kim is a tall man whose actual features remain hidden behind his clothing, and by his namesake, his signature bamboo hat. He wears the standardized Blade Lineage robes, which remain untied. Underneath the robes he wears a gray buttoned dress suit, white dress shirt, and a tucked red tie. He wears black gloves while carrying a Blade Lineage jikdo which is usually unsheathed, holding it in his right hand. He also wears gray dress pants and black dress shoes. His signature bamboo hat is damaged near the left side, revealing a blazing azure eye.

Under his bamboo hat, Kim has long, dark blue hair kept in a ponytail & azure eyes. Notably, and contrary to the Blade Lineage's pride, Kim has no visible scars on his skin. As a member of the LCD, his outfit remains the exact same, only with an employee card attached to the left side of his coat.

Under the influence of the Monolith as a Distortion, his form noticeably changes. His robes and dress attire grow more elongated, bloodied and ragged. His bamboo hat is now more damaged and there is a more notable intensity coming from his blazing blue eye. There is a more notable dark aura surrounding him as a Distortion, with his sheathe to his jikdo no longer present, as his sword is more elongated, bloodied and now shows cuts along the blade. He is also wearing a metal mask beneath his hat, with a resemblance to the face of a Dokkaebi (Korean goblin). His distorted form has several other qualities that allude to Dokkaebi, including the blue flame and his hat.

His E.G.O manifests as his signature bamboo hat, with his blade becoming significantly longer and curved, though worn and dirtied aswell. He also gains a new, blue scabbard with gold ornamentation. The blade is partially covered by a shifting, azure aura.

Meeting Scenario: Encounter with Bamboo-hatted Kim