Himself
Kurogane (黒鋼) is one of the companions of Syaoran in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. A ninja from feudal Japan (Nihon), he sports a black outfit (which is part of the reason why Fay D. Flourite calls him "Mr. Black", additionally the first character of his name means 'black') and he carries around a katana named Ginryū (銀竜 kana:ギンリュウ,meaning Silver Dragon). He is one of the two original main characters in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, not having coming from any previous CLAMP work, the other being Fay D. Flourite.



~ kurogane-san is the one in black

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Kurogane is a ninja directly under the service of Princess Tomoyo (a crossover character from Cardcaptor Sakura's Tomoyo Daidōji) of Shirasagi Castle. While he is undoubtedly the most powerful warrior in Nihon (the Kingdom of Japan), he shows no mercy to any assassins who try to invade the castle, killing them on the spot, even though Tomoyo has asked him numerous times not to kill them. Short-tempered and overly familiar with Tomoyo, the princess eventually decides that he needs to be sent to Dimension Witch Yūko Ichihara in order to discover true strength. Before she sends him off, Tomoyo curses him such that whenever he kills someone needlessly, he will grow weaker.

Kurogane, upon his arrival in the shop of the Dimension Witch, is the least informed as to who she is, but the most certain about what his wish is: he wants to return to his own world. Like his soon-to-be travelling companions, he must pay with what he values most to gain the ability to traverse dimensions. For Kurogane, it was his sword Ginryuu. He reluctantly agrees to give up the sword, but asserts that he will come back for it someday.
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Character

Kurogane is serious and extremely perceptive, being able to quickly discern Syaoran's fighting ability (along with Syaoran's blind right eye) as well as Fay D. Flourite's true nature and fighting capabilities. While he seems rather irreverent, he is also very loyal, especially to Tomoyo. He is likely the most experienced fighter in the group and wiser than he appears. He becomes Syaoran's sword fighting teacher, presenting the boy with the same philosophy he believes in: a sword is used to cut only when needed and not used to cut anything if it is not necessary. While serious, Kurogane is very easily irked by others, especially by Mokona Modoki and Fay, who keep calling him ridiculously cutesy nicknames such as "Kuro-puu", "Kuro-wan-wan" or "Kuro-rin". However abrasive and ruthless Kurogane may seem, he has a compassionate nature and a desire to protect. An example of this would be how Kurogane continually questions Fay on his actions and character, and lets the wizard know that he should stop hanging onto his past and embrace the future with his new companions. Or, Kurogane's own statement that "If someone wants to take away the ones I want to protect, I'll kill them too."

He had told Syaoran in their first world, the Hanshin Republic, that the quest has nothing at all to do with him. In the next world they visit (Koryo Country) however, Kurogane offers his services to help raid the castle of an evil lord, and stays behind in battle to let Syaoran go on ahead. Eventually, he risks a loss in strength to avenge his comrades' "death" (they were of course still alive) by defeating their killer in battle. It is noted that after he finds out Fay and Syaoran are still alive, he lost his passion for the battle.

He obtained a new sword in Ōto called the Sōhi (Blue Ice) and taught Syaoran the skills of sword fighting and sensing attacks from the left. Thanks to Fay, Kurogane could summon his sword from his left hand in a similar way to Syaoran in case Mokona was not there to give him his sword. However, he sacrified this arm along with Sōhi to let Fay escape from Celes. Kurogane shows much more inner compassion from his actions in the latest chapters, such as the aforementioned rescuing of Fay from Celes.