History
1684, Edo-Era Japan
Gokiburi was born a rice farmer and bore the name Tanaka Daisuke. His life was restrictive and he did not leave his village until after he discovered he had inborn mastery of the Iron Body Technique. He could become impervious at will and it was thought that he was destined to become a great warrior. This attracted the attention of his daimyo and Daisuke was sent to study in the regional hanko, a school for the samurai class.
Being of the peasant class, his enrollment was not well-received and it was here that he earned the name Gokiburi. Roach. For all his classmates and teachers attempts to drive him off, he always returned, at first out of desperation to not fall back to his wretched beginnings, then, as he grew more and more skilled, surpassing his peers, deep, unrelenting spite.
Though he was taught the all-important bushido, it did not stick with the young man. As he grew and suffered the abuses of his peers and mentors, he simply didn't care to uphold the honor of the warrior caste. He cared only for his skill with the blade and very soon, he became unbeatable.
He left the school at 15 and went on to become a ronin, spitting in the face of his lord, the daimyo and his masters at the hanko. His intention was to become the greatest samurai in Japan, without care for masters or castes. He retained the name Gokiburi, finding it fun and ironic to take the insult as a title.
1705
At 21, Gokiburi sought out Rushi Liu, a sellsword rumored to know ancient and secret techniques with the blade. At the time, he did not have high hopes for the encounter, seeing as how she was Chinese, a noble, and a woman, but he was quickly and fiercely proven wrong upon meeting her. Not only did she overwhelm him and his Iron Body technique with both incredible strength and stunning technique, she then proceeded to feed on him, an act he found both monstrous and amazing.
In the days that followed, he put to rest what he thought he knew of the Jiangshi, the Chinese vampire, and came to understand that should he become the greatest swordsman in all of Japan, he would need the power that Rushi had. He humbled himself and petitioned her for the honor of being made into Jiangshi so that he may pursue his dream. In return, he would set aside his pride, he would shed the title of ronin and become samurai, swearing his fealty to her, his daimyo, for eternity, so long as he was allowed to continue practicing with the blade.
1895 to Current
From that moment, Gokiburi has not gone back on his word. He has followed Rushi on every endeavor, and when she left Japan, he followed her around the world, doing as she bid (though not always without a little bit of belly-aching). The world went on around him but he gave little care to current events. Even when they returned to Japan in the wake of the bombings, his focus was forever on his skills and serving his lady.
To this effect, he has been sending yearly letters to the Olympic board ever since he discovered them (nearly two centuries ago!), petitioning them to add kenjutsu to the sports line-up. He is deeply disappointed that the 2020 Olympics are being held in Japan, but kendo is not a part of the line-up.