Ijincheon

WARNING! This article may contain major spoilers for the Hero Killer manhwa series. Please read at your own risk!

Ijincheon (이진천), also known as the Sword Hunter, is the Executioner of the Silver Forest (一刀殺) of the Four Swordsmen and a former disciple of the first late Executioner, as his youngest pupil.

He was once known by the nickname of "The Incompetent One" due to his nonexistent abilities with the sword and being the weakest one of the Executioner's students ^[1], but he never once gave up on becoming a strong swordsman. This tenaciousness was enough for the Executioner to acknowledge and provide him with a chance to become strong as he was sealed away in Sword Purgatory, a realm ruled by spirits of swordsmen driven mad. By the time of his emergence, Ijincheon had already surpassed his master and quickly became one of the strongest warriors in the world as the second person to hold the title of Executioner.

Ijincheon was revealed to be the father of Hero Killer and her late older sister, Yeon ^[2] that was forced to abandon his daughters after deciding to choose their mother over them.^[3]

Ijincheon was introduced in The Torch Arc, where he met with Yushin and learned about Yeon's death. Like his daughter, he has set out to avenge her death as he travels the world and occasionally showed up to protect Ihwa from the shadows as he protected her from the likes of Jintae Yang's attempt to steal Nenya and warned Engen, the Smiling Man that he will crush the villain and his ambitions should they bring about her death.

Appearance[]

Ijincheon is a rather shredded muscular man on the tall side with his skin being a pale hue of gray tone that's covered in multiple scars from years of being around blades and fighting that surround his entire body including his face and arms. He has messy but formalized dark grayish hair with the front slightly angled away from his eyes.

His eyes have pale red irises with a thin black ring separating the iris into an inner and outer, which his daughters both inherited. For clothing, he is seen wearing a beige medieval-looking peasant's shirt with string tying up the front and wears mud brown pants with dark brown boots that go up to his knees since his debut. In his youth, he used to wear the standard uniform associated with the Executioner's students.

He carries a multitude of weapons, Shards, swords, etc. collected from numerous battles and wears a large broadsword as his main weapon.

Personality[]

Ijincheon is a straightforward and bold man, a trait his daughters both clearly and greatly inherited, as he shows little concern in facing the danger of the Hero Clan, Villains, or even the possibility of the Elders to protect Ihwa and avenge Yeon's death. He cares very deeply about his family, having a great amount of regret in leaving his daughters and showed potent rage after learning about Yeon's death to the point that he almost drew his sword against Yushin. He would also even warn Engen that he will utterly crush the Smiling Man and his ambitions should his plans for Ihwa bring her harm or death, but Ijincheon is realistic in his relationship with his children knowing that he has little right to meet with his daughter let alone fight along her side. This was shown when he didn't reveal his true identity to Ihwa after they accidentally met for the first time since she was a baby.

Ijincheon greatly respects the relationship between a mentor and student as he cherished his late master, the Executioner, showing a deep sadness for his teacher as he was near death. He even scolded the likes of Jintae Yang for his disrespectful actions against his teacher, The Master of the Glassblade

Aside from that, Ijincheon is a first-rate warrior with the mindset to match it. Whenever in combat he maintains a complete focus on defeating or killing his opponent without a shred of remorse with ruthlessness that outpaces his daughter Ihwa's coolheaded coldness, first showing it when he gave out a greater form of punishment for Jintae when he forced the villain to blind himself and showed a complete lack of interest in how many lives may be lost in the face of Villains like Engen but he can be surprisingly merciful having spared lives of Jintae's Gang after seeing Sapphire's determination in protecting Jintae.

He also has an envious side which he openly expressed in his fight with Jintae after seeing the young villain's swordsmanship, wishing if he had such talent in his youth, he could've better protected those dear to him.

As a sword wielder, Ijincheon fully understands the romanticism associated with wielding a sword regardless of having other extraordinary abilities or talents.^[4]

Battles & Events[]

Etymology[]

• 이 (Lee, 李): A Korean surname meaning "plum tree," symbolizing resilience and perseverance.
• 진 (Jin, 眞 or 振 or 珍): Meaning "truth," "precious," or "flourishing."
• 천 (Cheon, 天 or 川): Meaning "heaven" or "river," symbolizing greatness or natural continuity.

Trivia[]

• Like his daughter Ihwa, Ijincheon likes collecting weapons, particularly swords, with his nickname showing it to be extensive.
• His Clan I Blade techniques is pronounced "EE" as in bee. This is a reference to Kkulbeol, the writer of the series.
• Ijincheon is one of the most muscular male characters in the series aside from Prosecutor, Sledgehammer, and Paladin.

References[]

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