Kai Szasazu

Kai Szasazu is the arch-rival of Ginta Hanabishi and the tritagonist of the manga/anime series, Demon Kings. Kai is the next heir to the throne of the Dragon Riders group, and the anti-hero of the series. Kai, along with his sister, Dew Szasazu, grew up in the care of his uncle, Rasen Szasazu, since the age of six. He had witnessed Rasen murder his parents, Hisui Szasazu  and Rua Szasazu. He was then raised by his uncle to be a fighting machine and groomed to gain the power of the dragon gods. Kai was scarred for life, transforming into an introverted, cold-hearted assassin. He is Rasen's ultimate weapon to making Project: Demolition come to fruition, as well as being the next sacrifice to grant Rasen the powers of the drags that he had been craving. Realizing this, Kai wanted to break free from his uncle's control. After his first confrontation with Ginta, Kai began to gain more of his humanity back. Ever since his defeat, Kai has since reluctantly joined the Spirit Warriors as the co team leader of the group, in order to get another shot at Ginta. Kai has swore on his life to kill Ginta and restore his wounded pride, officially overcoming the inner turmoil of his past that has been haunting him and eating away at his mind for years. Kai's struggles are tied to what he truly desires in life, a puzzle that still confuses him due to his desire to bury his past for good. Through his confrontations with Ginta, and his training under Kisara, Kai eventually manages to obtain the freedom he desperately seeks.

Personality
Cold, cool, and calculative, Kai is constantly shown throughout the series to be generally apathetic, insensitive, or straight up antagonistic towards people. In addition, he is also cold-hearted, callous, and extremely arrogant, often underestimating his opponents and peers (mainly the Spirit Warriors) due to his belief that they are subpar fighters. Kai's arrogance, along with his quiet yet cold nature are perhaps his most defining traits, as he is shown to be like this throughout the entire series. As an antagonist, Kai was heartless, not caring for anybody, and even showing hardly any interest in his teammates. He was introduced as a somewhat sadistic individual who on rare occasions could be quite trigger-happy. Kai could be quite malicious, causing harm to others because he viewed them as inferior. In addition, Kai relished in committing mass genocide, especially towards humans due to his misanthropic outlook on humanity. Kai developed a deep interest in Ginta upon first meeting him, realizing his potential as a fighter unlike he's ever witnessed. This interest grew into an obsession to prove his worth and dominance over Ginta, placing Ginta as humanity's savior. After suffering a pride shattering loss to Ginta, Kai's obsession with Ginta reaches new heights, so strong that he saved the Spirit Warriors from the Rare Hunters a year later so that he could track Ginta down and murder him. After the defeat of Yomi, Kai's desire for humanity's destruction simmered down, and he geared almost all of his attention towards his rivalry with Ginta.

When he joined the Spirit Warriors, he already had a deep loathing for each one of them, especially Ginta and Yusuke. He would primarily antagonize Ginta, Yusuke, and Souketsu, but only tried to make Yusuke feel worthless. Kai is shown to be a guy who spares nobody, relentless, and doesn't hesitate to kill anyone regardless of age or gender. Usually calm, introverted, and observant, Kai prefers to isolate himself from others, displaying a reserved attitude and state of mind. Mentally, he is one of the strongest characters in the series, shown as when he resisted the corruption his uncle placed into his mind. Kai's rather brutal and ruthless personality was created from the harsh treatment he was forced to endure from living with his uncle.

Kai's distant and aloof demeanor is a result of the fear he has of being trapped as his uncle's weapon. This had been scarred into Kai's personality for good; being used as a constant reminder to Kai of his horrible childhood. Kai's more respectable traits are his strong pride, and his code of honor. As an individual, Kai is extremely prideful, often taking a loss extremely seriously, resulting in a wounded pride. Kai's honor is expressed in a way that differs from others. Although he committed genocide and generall treats most people with contempt, Kai still has a sense of honor. This is shown several times throughout the series. For example, when Kai set out to kill Ginta after dealing with the Rare Hunters, he refused to do so because he couldn't bring himself to murder his lifelong rival. Kai felt it would be dishonorable to kill his most desired opponent when he couldn't even defend himself. The Dark Festival tournament forced Kai to cooperate with the Spirit Warriors, eventually developing respect for them. The Demon Kings conflict gave Kai the chance to earn the freedom he so desperately wanted. By the end of the series, he has come to respect the Spirit Warriors as not only his allies, but his equals. Despite this, Kai is only close to Ginta due to their rivalry.