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PLAYER INFO

Name: Sam
Age: 34
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CHARACTER INFO

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Name: Keisuke Ootori
Age: 35
Canon: Hakuouki
Canon Point: Beginning of Chapter 9 of Hijikata's route, when Chizuru arrives in Ezo.

Canon World

Here is a wiki page, but since it discusses specifics more than the general setting: Hakuouki takes place in late nineteenth century Japan, except there are demons. The characters are mostly (fictionalized) historical figures, the plot centers around the Bakumatsu and the Boshin War, but in this version of Japan there are some creepy experiments and demonic activity and grudges lurking under the surface and influencing historical events.

History

Nobody cares enough about Ootori to give him a page on the series wiki. My disappointments are ceaseless!

Minor character that he is, Ootori doesn't appear until late in Hakuouki, and his background is never clearly outlined. There are things here and there that add up to give the general idea, however - the discussion he and Hijikata have about their common-born heritage, as well as comments about his strengths lying in military theory rather than in having the sheer amount of experience that Hijikata and his men do. He pursued education, he was good at it, and he went on to immerse himself much more deeply in western studies and culture than most men of his time. He entered the shogunate army and made his reputation as an instructor in infantry tactics, made a point of studying western tactics rather than just sticking to the strategies the Japanese had been using for generations, and was promoted to Infantry Magistrate (about on par with a four-star general in a modern army), which is the position he holds when he first appears in canon.

Ootori first appears when Hijikata regroups with the rest of the shogunate forces, after Kondou turns himself in to buy the rest of the Shinsengumi time to escape. Ootori is friendly, if slightly awkward, and Hijikata is utterly unimpressed and kind of rude, but Ootori mostly just shrugs it off, tries to put Hijikata in charge of the advance guard (although Hijikata is still kind of a jerk about it) ...and when they then find that the castle in their path, Utsunomiya, has been taken by the imperialists, they have an argument about tactics, as Hijikata wants to immediately strike and take it back whereas Ootori wants to wait for the bulk of their forces to catch up and reinforce them.

Hijikata attacks with the advance guard alone, sends morale skyrocketing by taking the front line himself, and manages to take the castle, but is badly wounded in the process. The castle is lost a few days later, and by then the imperialist forces outnumber them too badly to even think of retaking it. Ootori and Hijikata do manage to put themselves on the path to a better working relationship in the aftermath, however, as Ootori inadvertently manages to echo the words of one of Hijikata's dead men in the dressing-down he gives him for the risks he took.

Ootori continues to work (though largely offscreen) towards a shogunate counterattack, planning to mass forces in Sendai for one large-scale strike - and takes his own units to the front to try and hold back the imperialists' advance to buy everyone else time to get there. The Sendai counterattack is doomed by politics before it takes place, leaving them to pull back to Ezo, where government elections are held and Ootori is appointed Minister of the Army.

This is the canon point he'll be coming from; the Ezo forces are facing no immediate threat of action, but Ootori and Hijikata both privately agree that even if the rest of the Ezo government would like to avoid further battle, there will be no avoiding it - and as such, Ootori is currently embroiled in the political side of things, trying to prepare the fledgling nation for when their enemies come for them.

Personality

Ootori is not quite what most people would probably expect to see from the highest ranking authority in a nation's ground-based military forces.

He's a friendly, positive person, and even in the face of rudeness or apathy his reaction isn't to get offended so much as to brush it off and try again later. He has slightly excitable facial expressions, he usually seems happy to see other characters whenever he's greeting them, and even when he's giving a subordinate a well-deserved dressing-down, he completely fails at seeming mean about it. He's good at finding the silver lining, or at just having a good attitude even if there's no silver lining apparent for him to find.

He has a bit of an awkward streak. His appreciation for western culture is off the charts and he tends to use or refer to western concepts quite often without realizing that he's talking to people who have never encountered them before in their life, at which point he usually gets a little awkward "oh, you don't know..." and then enthusiastically explains or demonstrates, even if his audience is clearly indifferent.

On the other hand, even if he's kind of a cheerful dork, he has the traits that really count for his position. He's smart; in his initial appearance he's clearly got a more bookish intelligence that doesn't always lend itself to making the calls that demand savvy and experience rather than rote knowledge, but by the time Chizuru meets up with him again in Chapter 9, he's more weathered and has more presence, so he's clearly able to get over himself and adapt instead of clinging stubbornly to only what he's been taught the old-fashioned way. In the aftermath of Utsunomiya, he shows himself to be able to admit that he's wrong about some things, but nor does he roll over entirely and act like he never had a point at all. He does acknowledge the strong points of Hijikata's performance, particularly with regards to the boost it gave to the army's morale - but also criticizes his recklessness in nearly getting himself killed, lectures him on the importance of a commander to an army and how you can't cut the head off and expect the body to keep moving, and manages not to back down mid-lecture despite the fact that he's clearly none too comfortable with trying to yell at Toshizou "I Bite Heads Off For Breakfast" Hijikata. Although Hijikata initially criticizes him for holding back and playing it defensive, by the time they're preparing for the Sendai campaign, Hijikata instead expresses his approval at Ootori for having the guts to bet everything on one counterattack. Ootori's not perfect, but he's smart enough for his position and wise enough to know when smarts alone aren't enough, and he's capable of some level of self-improvement - and he has plenty of courage, even if it takes him some time to really seem like he's settled into it.

That capacity for self-improvement can't really be emphasized enough, because in a sense, it's what his whole life has been about. Self-improvement is what got him into the position to become a leader in the first place - the fact that he latched onto what he knew he could be good at and went after his education with everything he had, and it brought him from humble origins to being the highest authority in the Republic of Ezo's army. He explicitly states that where you come from isn't as important as what you make of yourself, and it's clear that he doesn't just believe it, he lives it. (Although it's never mentioned in Hakuouki canon, the historical Denshuutai - the company he founded and led - made a point of selecting members purely on merit, rather than by social class.) Although it hasn't happened yet at his current canon point, Ootori's part in the ending of the game also ties in well with his beliefs about what you make of yourself and your life; although Enomoto wants to fight to the bitter end, Ootori is the one to convince him to surrender and end things peacefully, saying that it's better to live and see the future than to die and be denied it - a message that both underscores his positive personality and suggests that he still sees room for them to make something of themselves in the new world...or maybe to make something better of Japan, even under the rule of the faction they fought against.

Overall, Ootori is cheerful, positive, and a little bit of an awkward dork, but despite the somewhat disarming first impression, he's got a solid head on his shoulders and balls of steel to back it up.

Special Abilities

Although he has no powers in canon (in fact, Ootori is one of the few characters in Hakuouki who is and remains completely in the dark about the supernatural goings-on in the plot), Ootori is highly educated - both in eastern and western subjects, which is uncommon in his time. He's proficient in both the eastern military classics and in modern western military strategy and infantry tactics, has a good understanding of western culture (he teaches the rest of his cast about exciting things like shaking hands and handkerchiefs), and also has some background in medicine (where a lot of the most exciting western advances were happening) and the Dutch and English languages.

Canon doesn't actually address his personal combat skills, but as an army officer, it's a safe bet to say that he does have them (though certainly not to the level of the more battle-hardened Shinsengumi); given his inclination towards all things western, and the fact that he founded the Denshuutai, which was basically Elite Shogunate Gun Badasses, I assume his expertise and preferences run towards firearms.

Basically: nineteenth century Japanese Renaissance man, but very much a squishy, normal human.

SAMPLES

In which Ootori is absolutely delighted to educate his subordinate officer about western cooking gadgets.
In which two cute nerds are cute and nerdy.
In which Ootori bleeds from the throat and knees a homicidal demon in the balls.