 Whereas in "King Lear" the character of Gloucester had his eyes gouged out by Lear's enemies, in "Ran" it was Hidetora himself who gave the order to blind Tsurumaru.The role of the Fool has been expanded into a major character (Kyoami), and Lady Kaede serves as the equivalent of Goneril, but is given a more complex and important character.Kurosawa was concerned that Shakespeare gave his characters no past, and he wanted to give his version of "King Lear" a history.