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 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 jikido 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.
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.
Story
Prior to Limbus Company
Like his followers in the Blade Lineage, Bamboo-hatted Kim originally came from S Corp's Nest. He was the devoted bodyguard of an official who was attempting to root out corruption in the Wing. Bamboo-hatted Kim shared his protectee's ideals, believing it honorable to be a "protector of the virtuous" who killed those seeking to do them harm. However, in the end, Kim was unable to save his protectee from assassins sent by the corrupt officials, though he himself survived. Kim possibly took revenge on the corrupt officials, or left them alive with a warning that he would return for them one day.[1] Regardless, he was forced to take his Blade Lineage followers (similarly feathers of S Corp.) and flee the district in order to escape the Ch'unokkun, who were sent by S Corp. to stop this from happening.
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.
Like other victims of the Library such as Olga, Mika, and Rain, 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 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 was happened and refused to let them enter.
Shortly after Jun was defeated, Aeng-du and the Sinners entered the room. Injured, Kim escaped to a Mirror Dungeon 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 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.
Observation Logs
Log Writer: Outis
Performing the post-mortem report as ordered by the Executive Manager. Just as I expected, entering the fathoms seems to have intensified the Distortion of this 'Bamboo-hatted Kim'. Here are a few pieces of evidence supporting that notion: the unidentifiable black tendrils pouring out of his body, further intensified blue glow from his eyes, and the inability to communicate properly via verbal means. ... Though the last part was always true, I suppose. Even from a quick observation, however, it is obvious that this individual holds great sorrow in his heart. They call it 'han'... a resentment of sorts. It is a certain kind of resentment born when intense grief turns into wrath. Allowing it to grow would affect its combat capabilities. If you would allow me to express my opinion... Someone called a 'mentor', presumably someone in a leadership position, should not maintain such an emotional state for a prolonged period of time. If he has lost his mind as well, then... I suppose he is worthless as a leader of men. It doesn't matter how famous he used to be, how powerful they say he used to be. We can more than easily handle such a weak-willed commander. Concluding the report Thank you.
Gallery
Story Log Portrait
Prior to distorting
Distorted
Battle Background (Fathoms of Ego)
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 Ruina. The only missing attack is 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.
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