Character Profile: Jiro Mochizuki

Jiro Mochizuki is an Old Blood vampire that was born in Japan during the 19th Century. Originally an officer in the Japanese Navy, he happened upon the vampire Alice Eve in London when she was being pursued by Kowloon Children while on a horse drawn coach. Upon this chance meeting, Jiro, along with the vampire Cassa, joined Alice in her battle against the Kowloon Children. However, during one battle, Jiro was fatally wounded by a Kowloon Child in battle. Not wishing to see her friend die, Alice offered her blood to turn Jiro into a vampire. Jiro remained with Alice and Cassandra Jill Warlock, a.k.a. Cassa, for the better part of a century after that. During that time, Alice, who just happened to be the oldest vampire on Earth, used that time to impart some of the wisdom she had learned to the young man, and in time both Jiro and Alice fell in love.

Sadly, that happiness ended during the Kowloon Shock, a war which destroyed Hong Kong, when Alice was killed by Cassa, who had become a Kowloon Child herself. However, because Alice was a Source Blood, she had reincarnated into the young boy Kotaro. Jiro, still grieving over Alice's death, took it upon himself to raise Kotaro as his brother. It was ten years after that that Jiro decided to take Kotaro into the Special Zone, a city built near Japan's Yokohama to secretly house the remaining vampires on Earth.

Jiro is named 'the Silver Blade', as well as 'the Kin Killer', mostly because of his great skill with the katana, and his prowess in destroying the Kowloon Children. He is incredibly devoted to protecting Kotaro, mostly because of his memory of Alice. In time, when Kotaro reaches adulthood, Jiro, as keeper of Alice's bloodline, will give back the blood Alice had given him to Kotaro, in which time he will cease to exist. Oddly, while most vampires are tolerant to running water, Jiro is vulnerable to it, as well as rain. He is also rash to act, often putting himself and others in danger in protecting Kotaro, as well as Mimiko Katsuragi later on.