Benkei

The Warrior Monk

Benkei was a warrior monk of twelfth-century Japan, a giant of immense strength remembered in legend for stationing himself at Gojo Bridge in Kyoto to collect swords from passing warriors. He had taken nine hundred ninety-nine before he was defeated by the young Minamoto no Yoshitsune, whom he then served with absolute loyalty for the rest of his life. He died famously at the Battle of Koromogawa, cut down by a hail of arrows yet remaining standing in death to guard his lord's retreat.