Myōjin Yahiko

Myōjin Yahiko
Rurouni Kenshin character
Myōjin Yahiko on the cover of Rurouni Kenshin Kanzenban Volume 20
First appearance	Rurouni Kenshin Act 3: Tokyo Samurai
Created by	Nobuhiro Watsuki
Voiced by	Japanese Minami Takayama (drama CD) Miina Tominaga (anime) English Brianne Siddall (Samurai X version) Elyse Floyd (anime) Derek Wade (OVAs) Blake Shepard (New Kyoto Arc) Alison Viktorin (Live-action film trilogy)
Portrayed by	Taketo Tanaka Kaito Ōyagi
Profile
Aliases	Yoshi Myojin (anime, Samurai X version only)

Myōjin Yahiko (明神 弥彦^?), known as Yahiko Myojin in the Media Blasters English-language dub and Yoshi Myojin in the English Sony Samurai X dub, is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin manga and anime series authored by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The character of Yahiko is based on the author's childhood experiences practicing kendo; since Watsuki's experienced frustration during kendo classes, the author wrote Yahiko as experiencing frustration with his kendo skills. Watsuki liked Yahiko, and while writing the manga, he began to develop the character so that readers would enjoy him.

The fictional setting takes place during the pre-Meiji period of Japan. Yahiko is an orphan from a samurai family who was forced to work as a thief to repay the debt he had presumably owed, as his parents died before they could repay it. When he is rescued by the main character of the story Himura Kenshin, he decides that he will grow up to be just like Kenshin. But because of his strong beliefs, Kenshin will not teach the sword style he had learned. Therefore, Kenshin arranges for Yahiko to be trained by Kamiya Kaoru, the teacher of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū (神谷活心流^?, lit. "Gods' Valley Alive Heart Style"). As the series progresses, Yahiko becomes skilled at swordsmanship and faces many opponents.

Yahiko appears in the featured movie of the series, as well as other media relating to the franchise, including a wide range of electronic games and an original video animations (OVAs) series. His character has been very popular with readers from Rurouni Kenshin, ranking near the top of the series' popularity polls. His character is featured in various types of merchandising developed for the series, such as figurines and key-chains. Several publications have commented on his character. While he was initially criticized for his lack of action in the plot, his further development in the series has been praised.