Ikki Kurogane

"Here, with my greatest weakness, I'll defeat your greatest strength!"

- Ikki Kurogane's catchphrase

Ikki Kurogane is the main male protagonist of Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan. Despite him hailing from a well-respected clan that has produced superior Blazers for generations, Ikki is considered to be a failure even for an F-Rank Blazer and known as the Worst One. He studies in Hagun Academy as a repeat student, as a result of the previous staff ensuring that he couldn't attend classes.

After Kurono Shinguuji took the position as the Director and fired all the other staff involved in it, Ikki was promised that if he were to win the 62nd Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, then she would allow him to graduate. In the finals, Ikki became one of the three Desperados of Japan and became the current Seven Stars Sword King. He also is participated in the tournament between Vermillion and Cradleland as a part of Team Vermillion.

Appearance
"There was beauty and kindness in your face, yet one could also clearly see strength within that straight-backed, clean-cut figure… and to add on to that, a robust musculature, honed and trained to unblemished perfection, it's just wonderful. You are, without a doubt, my ideal man."

- Sara Bloodlily's explanation of Ikki Ikki is a young man of average height with spiky black hair and gray eyes. He is described as having a lean but well-built toned physique as well as a cute face, which makes him popular with both girls and ladies. His physical features, as well as his gentle looks, is one of the reasons why Sara wants Ikki as her nude model. He looks very similar like his older brother Ouma in terms of height and visage, however, Ikki isn't so sturdy like him and his expression is gentle unlike Ouma´s sharp and cold.

There have been situations where Ikki has worn several clothes in the series based on the time or event, he is mostly seen dressed in the standard uniform for Hagun Academy.

After dying at the hands of Or-Gaule and being revived by Shizuku using Aoiro Sekai, Ikki returned to the appearance of a ten-year-old and as such has the physical and features abilities of a child.

Personality
Despite his harsh childhood, Ikki has shown to be a strong-willed and noble young man with a caring personality, which has been shown throughout the series as he when he helped others like his classmates improve on all of their abilities with their devices despite everyone prior treating him like a failure. This holds true for those struggling to become better on their own, as he understands what a hard road it was. Though Nagi has stated that this is can also a bad thing since Ikki was too used to being hurt that he wouldn't be able to hear the screams of his own heart, a fact proven before his fight against Kirihara after he had a panic attack and during when Ikki couldn't see through the situation first.

Ikki is shown to be quite calm in even the most arduous of the situation, as seen when he stayed calm the entire encounter with Kuraudo even brushing off the fact that he was hit with a bottle, trying to avoid the fight even after he was spat on. He can also be cold in battle and doesn't mind enjoying a heated battle with a strong opponent, which is shown several times in the Selection Matches and Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.

When it comes to dealing with women of his age and the whole academy in general Ikki is clumsy because Ikki has no prior experience with them outside of respect towards a superior or as a knight. This is shown when he confronts Stella on that subject. Due to his years of being discriminated against for being an F-Rank, Ikki is not entirely used to his sudden rise in popularity and often doesn't know how to best deal with his many female fans.

Despite situations implying otherwise, he is not very perverted. He usually tries his hardest to show restraint and respect to the woman who acts lecherously around him, such as Stella and Shizuku. He also chose not to have sex with Stella at the log cabin they were staying, even though she suggested it, knowing he needed her family's approval first.

Abilities
Desperado: During the finals of the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival against Stella, Ikki reached his Brute Soul and became a desperado, a being whose broken the chains of fate that binds them. Like others, he can increase his magic power based on his training, a feat that no normal Blazer can do. Ikki can also influence fate and exert an aura that is able to intimidate others using his presence. During his fight with Iris, he was able to influence the causation of "Killing" and could cut through her Orichalcos using his final secret sword.

Doubling Physical Power: Ikki's ability as a Blazer. He is able to double his physical abilities, however, this is a power that has been considered useless as other Blazers are able to enhance their physical abilities up to five to six times using their natural magical power as such he gained the title of Worst Knight. Though Ikki was able to use his superhuman body control and willpower in order to ignore his survival instincts, which resulted in his own Noble Arts, Ittou Shura and later Ittou Rasetsu.

Immense Strength: Due to his rigorous training regimen in order for him to make up for his low magic power, Ikki has an exceptionally strong physical condition that has been given an A-ranking. The force that he applies into his swordsmanship lets him counter the most powerful of attacks from the strongest Blazers with minimal effort. As a result of Ikki is able to ignore the survival instincts that prevent people from drawing out their actual full strength, it is possible for him to draw out huge strength to where he could beat someone of huge stature in arm-wrestling.

Immense Speed: Ikki is remarkably fast due to his daily 20-kilometer run. He can avoid high-speed attacks from powerful Blazers without any wasted movements. After he had stolen Edelweiss's swordsmanship, Ikki became able to move so fast that most people can't even see him.

Immense Reflexes: Alongside his remarkable speed, Ikki also has outstanding reflexes, which he honed to near perfection making them much sharper than others. He has proven a number of times to be able to react to, dodge and even counter extremely fast Noble Arts, bullets, and several more. After he stole Edelweiss' Swordplay, Ikki's reflexes have been heightened even more letting him utilize his Raikou without using Ittou Shura.

Immense Stamina: As a result of his continuous physical training, Ikki has incredible amounts of stamina above that of most people. Even when heavily injured, Ikki is able to keep fighting efficiently enough to win. This is most highlighted as he was able to survive several weeks of being fed poisoned food bars and continuing his matches for the preliminaries, but he was still able to walk to his match with Tohka and used Ittou Rasetsu. Before Ikki had entered Hagun Academy, his stamina and endurance, as well as his pain tolerance, was greater than that of even adults, as he endured the Violet Pain of Yuuri Oreki, which shares her pain with others, an incredible feat as even the pain from her sickness made multiple selection candidates and trained guards to collapse seconds later, while Ikk didn't even flinch.

Master Swordsmanship: Ikki is an extremely skilled and versatile master swordsman due to continuous training in order to make up for his lack of magic power. His skills are self-taught through sheer observation by analyzing all of the techniques of swordmasters like Kaito Ayatsuji and challenging dojos in middle school. He could fight on an almost equal level with the most powerful Blazers relying on his swordsmanship. He even received praise from Torajirou Nangou, a Legendary Blazer and God of War who admitted that Ikki was greater than his former rival in swordsmanship and Edelweiss, the Twin-Wings and World' Strongest Swordsman. She herself admitted that Ikki has the potential to become a worthy rival after he was able to wound her despite their age difference. During the Vermillion Empire Arc, Edelweiss admits there wasn't much she could teach him. Ikki was able to handle fighting against Iris Ascarid, the 4th Rank Blazer and was able to injure her despite her Orichalcos, after defeating her, he earned the nickname Sword God.


 * Seven Secret Swords: Ikki's seven original sword techniques


 * Ten'i Muhou (天衣無縫, Heaven-Clad Null Shroud): Ikki learned the ultimate move of the Ayatsuji Itto-ryu, in which the user counters the opponent's attack with minimal movement. Ikki used an imperfect version of this move on Kuraudo.


 * Mutou Dori (無刀取り, Weaponless Catch): Ikki can use one of the techniques of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, which uses the power of his fingers and wrist movement to catch the opponents weapon and snatch it away. Though Ikki used this alongside Ittou Shura, making it unclear how well he can utilize Mutou Dori without it.


 * Edelweiss' Swordsmanship: After his initial encounter with Edelweiss through Blade Steal and utilized it at the last moments to wound her before passing out. After being able to recall it again, it boosted his speed to where Yuuda, the former Seven Star Sword King couldn't react to his speed despite hearing him and he has evolved to where he could use his Seven Secret Swords without Ittou Shura. Edelweiss herself even stated that he started to make her swordsmanship into his own adapting it to better fit him.


 * Tsunoou/Harmonic Bullet: A unison attack between Ikki and Stella, in which he jumps forward and attacks using Saigeki, then Stella sends him forward using a powerful swing sending him forward with much greater strength than normal. It was named Tsunoou by Ikki and Harmonic Bullet by Stella.


 * Amatsu Raikou (天津雷光, Heavenly Lightning): This is an evolved form of Amatsukaze, a secret technique among the Kyokujitsu Isshin-ryuu of the Kurogane Household, where he delivers a continuous one-hundred and eight slashes that is almost like lightning striking.

Master Hand-to-hand combat: Ikki is very adept in various styles of martial arts in order to make up for his lack of magic power. He was able to deal with five Blazers wielding their Devices without using his own while holding black enough to injure them. Ikki has also shown to be skilled in Ukemi, a martial art, which focuses on receiving blows and strikes, then dispersing the force through his body, and surviving deadly blows.


 * Trackless Step (抜き足 Nukiashi): Ikki is able to use the ancient martial art technique, which combines both his breath control and footwork, thud letting him seep into the unconsciousness of his opponent thus making them difficult to perceive until it's too late for them to avoid. Ikki can utilize the same concept on a crowd of civilians looking for him was able to walk and weave through them undetected after reading their blindspots.

Expert Weapon Specialist: Ikki has shown skills in wielding kodachi, spears, and even archery. Enough that he been able to teach these skills to others. Stella said the reason why Ikki learned so many different fighting styles was to help him better make up for his lack of magic power.

Master Marksmanship: He has shown incredible skill in throwing projectiles with a great deal of accuracy, often being able to disable an opponent's weapon. In his fight with Manabe, Ikki flicked an eraser that bounced off the ceiling and was wedged in between his gun's hammer and its percussion cap, disabling the large-caliber revolver Device efficiently. He was able to kick a small object on the ground with such amazing precision letting Ikki use a tube of lipstick to knock a knife out of man's hand and kicked a small rock into the scabbard of Narukami, thus it prevented Touka from using Raikiri.

High Intellect: Ikki has proven to be highly knowledgeable and quick to pick up on a lot of details in the midst of battle. He has proven to know a lot about the workings and strong points of the human body and brain, which let him fix the stance of Ayase so that she could use her feminine build in a correct manner thus improving her own Ayatsuji Itto-ryu to a better extent. Ikki has shown to be able to understand the details about ones' fighting styles, abilities, and strength after seeing or fighting them. This is highlighted as he was able to figure out the Marginal Counter of Kuraudo, which combined his inborn superhuman reflex and reaction. Ikki was able to figure out the workings of Trackless Step. He can figure out even the most mysterious of Blazer abilities after just seeing them once using whatever hints he has, even the rare causation manipulation. In battles, Ikki usually tries to outsmart his opponents because he understands he always at a natural disadvantage. A prime example of Ikkis' cunning was how he was able to defeat Iris Ascarid, the 4th Ranked Blazer in the KOK League without being in danger.

Insight: As a result of being neglected over the years, Ikki has mastered the skills to see through his opponent's techniques by observation. He can read his opponent's next move simply through their muscle movement. Ikki's insight has even allowed him to properly sense how dangerous someone really is on the first meeting, such as being able to tell that Amane Shinomiya was more dangerous than he appeared, something few others notice. Complete Body Control: Ikki can control his body at will as a result of his training and is able to perform various superhuman feats, such as being able to turn off his other senses, as shown when he transferred the acuity of his color sense to his motion perception to better read the movements of his opponent. As well as being the basis for all his Secret Swords, Ittou Shura, and Ittou Rasetsu. Having learned Edelweiss' Swordplay, his control has been honed to the point of being able to make his heart beat after being stopped by Nameless Glory, but it still requires him to move all of his bodies' muscles in unison as well as being able to raise his metabolism, blood circulation if he desires to utilize it. He sharpened his control after his warmup for his fight against Stella in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival Finals, Ikki was able to see every strand of her hair and hear the sound of his bloodstream as well as being able to understand every muscle inside of himself and count the dust on his skin.
 * Perfect Vision : Ikki is able to see through his opponent moves by fully grasping their fighting style using his incredible insight to fully understand their personality and tendencies. Through this, it is possible to figure out their thought processes and as a result, Ikki is able to predict their moves and attacks in advance. It's as though he can see everything about the person in question.
 * Blade Steal : Derived from his Perfect Vision, Ikki is able to use his great insight to analyze and steal his opponent's techniques, then further improve it with his swordsmanship. According to him, he is able to grasp most syles after a minute of exchanges and seconds to surpass it, it isn't limited to sword styles and applies to other styles. As soon as he is able to understand sword styles enough, Ikki is shown to be able to grasp their deepest secrets, even reproduce their advanced techniques though he has never seen it before and trained in it as shown when he learned Ten'i Muhou through training with Ayase.

Magic Control: Ikki has enough control over his magic to be able to consciously use mana emission, a technique that is able to accelerate a person's movements, which all Blazers are able to use unconsciously. As a result of his low magic, he doesn't use it, though if he does choose to use it, then he can do so twice before running out of magic. After his training with Edelweiss, Ikki greatly improved his magic control, letting him utilize the same mana defense as other Blazers to such a degree that he could block a strike from Edelweiss and improved his usage of Ittou Shura. Having better control of his magic has allowed Ikki to better use Ittou Rasetsu, through pouring power into the needed parts instead of his whole body and pouring the excess power, which would've damaged him into Intetsu letting him continue fighting without the usual backlash.

Device
Intetsu (陰鉄, Shadow Iron): Ikki's Device takes form as a raven black katana. It is called forth at times whenever using the command: Come Forth, Intetsu.
 * Ittou Shura (一刀修羅, Single-Bladed Shura): Ikki's Noble Art and strongest technique. Through amassing all of his bodies' vigor and stamina as well as ignoring his natural survival instincts, Ikki is able to bring out his full power, then he further magnifies it using his Doubling Physical Powers granting him tremendous power for one minute. Training with Edelweiss to improve his magic control, he was able to improve his Ittou Shura but hasn't yet shown to what degree.


 * Ittou Rasetsu (一刀羅刹, Single-Bladed Rakshasa): An improved version of Ittou Shura, in which Ikki shuts down all his five senses and his bodies' functions for as well as mustering all of his strength for one second instead of one minute boosting his power a hundred-fold, but this could be used for one swing. Although the burden that it puts on him is far greater than Ittou Shura since it forced him to remain in bed for a week after using it for the first time. Having improved his magic control, Ikki could concentrate the power granted to the parts needed, while the excess power was focused on Intetsu.

Trivia

 * His given name (一輝) means "One Gleam". A name that Ikki interprets as the true words his father wanted to say, However, limited you are, may you shine brighter than any other. Despite him knowing about his low magic power from birth.
 * Like the Kurogane Family, his surname means "Black Iron".
 * In the anime, it is called forth by Ikki by using the command phrase: Come to me, Intestsu after striking his left palm with his right fist and pulling out the sword as if it came out of his left hand.
 * Throughout the series, Ikki is most known for his lines, which beings with With my…weakness… I'll.... based on the situation before facing a superior opponent.
 * Ikki does not like sweet foods.
 * Ikki isn't that good with technology, and, as a result, he didn't realize how popular he became after his mock battle with Stella, which was shared all over the Internet.
 * Ikki is often referred to as "Senpai" by his classmates (especially the female ones) since if he wasn't forced to repeat a year, then he would have been a second-year.
 * Befitting his F-Rank, Ikki has shown to have terrible luck, as shown when he had to fight Shizuya Kirihara in the first round of the Selection Battle Arc; the World's Strongest Swordsman, Edelweiss during the attack of Akatsuki Academy; the previous Seven Stars Sword King, Yuudai Moroboshi; and against the former fourth rank, Iris Ascarid who was close to the Top in the World.
 * Kurono had hinted that through the harshest struggles, Ikki has achieved a kind of enlightenment, which has granted him true harmonization of mind, body, and weapon. As such, Ikki is able to cut down enemies faster than his thoughts to form and his body was able to react to his surroundings without conscious will. This lets Ikki fix himself after Nameless Glory had attempted to make him fail.