Kenshin's original name was Shinta. His master upon taking him in as his pupil thought that his name was not suitable for a swordmaster, so thus he changed Shinta's name to Kenshin. When he Kenshin was 14, this was the era of the Bakumatsu, he felt that he as a swordsman should help the revution that was occurring in Japan. His master felt the other way, so Kenshin left his master to fight as the Hitokiri battousai. After the Bakumatsu, the battousai mysteriously disappeared. What had happened to the famed assassin? Kenshin had become a rurouni (a wandering samurai). He would then for the next 10 years, travel as a rurouni helping people along his way. He was in away trying to amend for his evils that he had committed during the Bakumatsu. Eventually, he would wander into Tokyo Japan in 1868, where the anime starts off. Obviously, this summary is not that great.