I've never really been a fan of the sterotypical "berserker (barbarian)" crab samurai, however some of my favourite characters in the game are the "unique" crab personalities, specifically Sozen and Benjiro.

I'm going to be playing in a 4th edition RPG campaign soon, making a character similar to one of these two crab is something I'm considering. However because they are not typical crab samurai I'm not sure how to correctly build the characters (schools, skills, advantages/disadvanges).

Just looking for suggestions

Looks like the wiki has meta articles on both characters, so those might be useful. They don't seem to be built all that differently from "typical" Hida, though.

One of the weaknesses of the system is that it's difficult to build a character that's mechanically atypical for his family and still remain effective. It's probably better to try to make your character unique via roleplaying, rather than mechanics.

One way to stay "Crab" and not feel like a berserker is to try out some of the less used schools instead. I'm not sure if they exist in the 4th edition, but a Kaiu Engineer, a Yasuki Taskmaster or a Toritaka Hunter are all Crab "stereoypes", but raarely seen as player characters. And they are not berserkers.

I only really got a strong 'traditional barbarian' berserker feel from later editions. Perhaps it was just an artefact of looking back at something I wasn't there for, but Hida Amoro seemed relatively unique.

If you like Crab bushi but not heavy armoured berserkers try an Hiruma Bushi (L5R4 Core Rules) or an Hiruma Scout (Imperial Histories).

Not a Berserker but still a survivor and staunch opposer to the Shadowlands (maybe even more than the Hida).

They are somehow even more tragic in their opposition to Fu Leng, given the tragic history of their lands.

The Hida Bushi isn't exactly a Heavy Armored Berserker school unless you pick the Hida Berserker path at Rank 2. I understand the point of the "Berserker" idea, which is: "Getting hit, but I'm hitting stronger.". However, I feel more like a berserker is someone that will toss himself into the battle, going all in. The Berserker Path is exactly that, otherwise, you may have your own personality without going against the Clan. If all Hida had a berserker mentality, I really doubt they would have survived... I never saw the Hida Family as "barbarians", but defenders, doing everything they can to hold the line, a little like the kind of person that will say: "Go ahead guys, I'll stay behind to hold them off and give you enough time, I'll catch you up."

Also there's a few path here and there that's really interesting and creates a different feeling. For example, in Sword and Fan, there's the Tsuru's Legion (rank 2 path), which is a mounted path, so it requires a pony.

Like LucaCherstich said, there's always the Hiruma's schools and they also have really nice paths to give them your very own story and playstyle.

As Fumi said: "It's probably better to try to make your character unique via roleplaying, rather than mechanics." I made a Hida Bushi NPC in a game where he was always seemed to be smiling or laughing, always trying to find the positive way of the situation. Sure, his school was the Hida Bushi, but that's a way to fight, not a personality mold.

I just find that strange because Sozen is an Hida Berserker, which shows that you shouldn't based your personality on the school.