Kenshirō

Kenshiro
	; Kenshiro, as depicted in the manga.
Name in Kanji	ケンシロウ
Name in Romaji	Kenshirō
Alternate spelling(s)	Kenshirow; Kenshiroh; Kenshirou; Kensiro
Fighting Style	Hokuto Shin Ken; Hokuto Sōke no Ken
Family	Hyō (older brother); Raoh (adoptive older brother); Toki (adoptive older brother); Jagi (adoptive older brother); Yuria (fiancée); Ryuken (adoptive father/sifu); Ryu (adoptive nephew); Kenshiro Kasumi (uncle)
Position(s)	64th Successor of Hokuto Shin Ken
Appearances	Manga (ch. 1-onward); Anime (ep. 1-onward)
Voice actor(s)	Akira Kamiya; Takehito Koyasu (Shin Hokuto no Ken); Kunihiro Kawamoto (Legend of Heroes); Hiroshi Abe (Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu); Katsuyuki Konishi (Hokuto Musō, Ichigo); Takaya Kuroda (Hokuto Ga Gotoku); Lex Lang (TV series dub); John Vickery (1986 movie dub); Robert Kraft (Shin HNK dub); Kaiji Tang (Ken's Rage dub); William Winckler (WW dub)

"You are already dead."

— Kenshiro's iconic pre-mortem catchphrase

Kenshirō (ケンシロウ)

Kenshiro (Ken for short) is the main character of the Hokuto no Ken manga, anime and related media. He is the 64th successor of the Hokuto Shinken style and considered one of the greatest successors in its 1,800 year history.

His famous catchphrase "You are already dead" (お前はもう死んでいる Omae wa mou shindeiru) is delivered to many an opponent he has killed before they even know it.

Origin

Kenshiro was originally an orphan from Taiseiden, Shura and a descendent of the Hokuto Sōke bloodline. He was sent to the mainland by Jukei as a baby to be adopted by Ryuken, master of Hokuto Shinken. Ryuken named him after his older brother Kenshirō Kasumi, since they shared the same Big Dipper-shaped birthmark on their heads.

Kenshiro watched his adoptive brothers train in the art of Hokuto Shinken and decided to join them in the fight to become Ryuken's successor. Despite being younger and more naive than his older brothers, Kenshiro was a promising student who ultimately earned the title of successor.

History

After the nuclear war of 199X and the death of Ryuken, Kenshiro left with his fiancée, Yuria, to find a future for themselves in the post-apocalyptic world. However, this was curtailed by Shin, a rival from the Nanto Koshū Ken school, who defeated Kenshiro and engraved the trademark seven scars on his chest, before kidnapping Yuria for himself.

Kenshiro survived his ordeal and spent the next year wandering the wasteland for revenge. During this time, he developed the killer instinct needed to survive in the war-torn age and befriended two young orphans, Bat and Lin, who followed him on his journey. He discovered that Shin had assumed the title of 'King' and was leader of the eponymous KING organization. After defeating Shin's four generals ('Four Jacks' in the anime), he infiltrated his capital city, Southern Cross, to settle things once and for all. Driven by his new strength, Kenshiro soundly defeated Shin but he was too late to rescue Yuria. Before his death, Shin revealed that Yuria had already committed suicide to stop his violent ambition. Refusing to die from Kenshiro's technique, Shin leapt to his death from his palace balcony, as Yuria did before him.

The grieving Kenshiro continued to journey the wasteland, never staying at one place for long, as the curse of Hokuto leaves only chaos in its wake. He made a career of destroying those who preyed on the weak and innocent, such as the Golan, Jackal and the Fang Clan, and built a reputation as a 'savior' among the people. He also discovered that his three older brothers and fellow Hokuto Shinken practitioners: Jagi, Toki and Raoh, had all survived the nuclear holocaust. Jagi, the second-youngest, had long hated Kenshiro and was now committing acts of carnage in his name. It was also revealed that Jagi manipulated Shin into taking Yuria, as well as kidnapped Rei's sister, Airi, and murdered their parents. Kenshiro caught up with Jagi and subjected him to a gruesome death. Kenshiro then fought against his second-oldest brother, Toki, who had succumbed to madness after the apocalypse, but this was in fact Amiba, a jealous rival of Toki's who was impersonating him. The real Toki was imprisoned at Cassandra by Raoh, the eldest brother, who had taken the title Ken-Oh (拳王 King of Fists) and aimed to bring order to the world by any means necessary. With the help of Rei and Mamiya, Kenshiro toppled the great prison and was reunited with Toki. He would go on to become a valuable ally to Kenshiro in his journey and intervened during his first fight with Raoh, as they were on the verge of killing one another.

Kenshiro joined forces with Shu, leader of a guerilla outfit against Souther, the Holy Emperor and master of Nanto Hōō Ken, who enslaved children to build his empire. Kenshiro was defeated by Souther when his vital point attacks had no effect on Souther's body. On the brink of death, Kenshiro was rescued by Shuh's son, Shiva, who gave his life to aid his escape. However, in retaliation, Souther stormed the rebel hideout and had Shu executed at the summit of the Holy Pyramid. Kenshiro recovered from his wounds and this time he uncovered Souther's secret: his heart was on the opposite side and the position of his vital points were reversed. Kenshiro took pity on Souther's tragic past and killed him with a merciful technique, bringing an end to the Holy Emperor's reign.

With the final battle with Raoh drawing ever closer, the mysterious Last Nanto General emerged to challenge Raoh's conquest. It turned out the General's identity was none other than Yuria, Kenshiro's betrothed. In actuality, she had been saved by the Nanto Goshasei after attempting suicide at Shin's palace and her survival was kept a secret to protect her from Raoh. Kenshiro fights Raoh using the ultimate Hokuto Shinken technique Musou Tensei, drawing on his profound sadness to make Raoh tremble in fear. However, Raoh kidnaps Yuria during his escape and prepares to kill the woman he loves if it will imbue him with the same sorrow. Kenshiro and Raoh have their final battle at the Hokuto Renkitōza, with Raoh having killed Yuria to unlock Musou Tensei. Kenshiro's greater understanding of life and death gives him the edge over his older brother and leads him to victory. Yuria awakens after the battle, as Raoh had actually put her in a false state of death when he realized she was terminally ill. After Raoh's death, Kenshiro spends his next few years living in peace with Yuria, whose disease had been subdued by Raoh's power.

The latter half of the manga (and the corresponding Hokuto no Ken 2 anime adaptation) involves Kenshiro joining forces with the grown-up Bat and Lin, who have formed the Hokuto Army to oppose the tyrannical Jakou and his Imperial forces. The story eventually takes Kenshiro to his birthplace, the Land of Shura, where he learns of his heritage and fights against the warlords who oppress the land. This includes his estranged blood-brother, Hyoh, and the nefarious Kaioh, Raoh's other blood-brother. The final story arcs of the manga (which were not adapted for the TV series) see Kenshiro taking Raoh's orphaned son, Ryu, under his wing before continuing on his own where he settles the love triangle between himself, Bat and Lin. At the end, Kenshiro heads into the desert alone to fulfill his destiny as the Hokuto Shinken successor.

Personality

Although still emotionally repressed and stoic like many male heroes in 1980s media, Kenshirō is notable in manga/anime culture of the time for being a sensitive and kind-hearted man who broke the established "men don't cry" cultural stereotype. He is famous for openly lamenting, if not outright despairing over, the suffering of innocents and the deaths of his few noble enemies. He is also shown to be more openly unhinged on the rare occasions where he does get angry, and rather than deny or attempt to rationalize it, he fully accepts his rage and his wish for revenge, along with the motivation they give him, disregarding any moral ambiguity.

Voice actors

Kenshiro was voiced by Akira Kamiya in the TV series and 1986 movie, Ryō Horikawa voiced the child Kenshiro in flashbacks. The role of Kenshirō was recast to Takehito Koyasu in the 2003 OVA series New Fist of the North Star and then given to Kunihiro Kawamoto in the 2005 Fist of the North Star arcade game and the 2006 CG animated short film Hokuto no Ken: Legend of Heroes. In the Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu movie series, Kenshirō is voiced by Hiroshi Abe and by Eiji Hanawa as a child. For the Ten no Haoh PSP game, Kenshiro is voiced by Hideo Ishikawa. He is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi in Hokuto Musou. In Hokuto ga Gotoku, a spinoff of the Yakuza series, Kenshiro is voiced by Takaya Kuroda.

English voice actors that have voiced Kenshirō includes John Vickery in the Streamline Pictures dub of the 1986 movie, Lex Lang in the Manga Entertainment dub of the TV series and Robert Kraft (voice actor) in the ADV Films dub of New Fist of the North Star. In the English version of Hokuto Musou (Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage), he is played by Kaiji Tang. Gary Daniels played Kenshiro in the 1995 live action film.

Reception

In a survey conducted by the Oricon in 2007 between 1,000 people, Kenshiro ranked third place as the "strongest manga character of all time", behind only Dragon Ball protagonist Son Goku and Doraemon who ranked first and second, respectively. ^[1]

A "wedding ceremony" for Kenshiro and Yuria was held at the Nippon Seinenkan on September 13, 2008, the date of the 25th anniversary of Fist of the North Star. Tetsuo Hara, Buronson, and other staff who worked on the series attended the ceremony planned by an actual wedding planner, with 3,000 fans applying for the 777 invitations that were available to fans via various outlets.

Character Rating

From Hokuto no Ken: Kyūkyoku Kaisetsusho: Seikimatsu Haō Retsuden.

Level: AAA
Power: 4
Speed: 5
Skills: 5
Looks: 5
Charisma: 5

Top 50 Secrets

Translated from the 1986 magazine Hokuto no Ken Special: All About the Man.

Head Volume = 59cm
Hearing Ability = Can hear a whisper from 2km away
Height = 185cm (6'1")
Eyesight = Can see the aura of a living creature in pitch black darkness
Kinetic Vision = Can intercept a quick arrow the moment it is shot
Sense of Smell = About as good as a hound
Neck Thickness = 45cm
Bust = 132cm
Arm Thickness = 48cm
Waist = 90cm
Weight = 100kg
Hip = 105cm
Reach = 187cm
Leg Thickness = 63cm
Leg Length = 92cm inseam
Shoe Size = 29cm
Body Characteristics = Index and middle fingers are forged by doing two finger handstands in order to better pierce vital points
Sense of Taste = Sensitive enough to detect poisonous food and such.
Voice = Can mimic many sounds, including animal cries.
Breathing Capacity = 8700 c.c.
Grip = Unmeasurable
Arm Strength = Unmeasurable
Walking Ability = Unmeasurable
Strength of His Back = Unmeasurable
Muscle Strength = Can repel the bullet of a small caliber gun when its strained
Leg Speed = Can move 100m in 9 seconds in steps
Fist Speed = Throws 50 punches in three seconds while performing the Hundred Crack Fist
Jump Strength = 9m a step
Punching Strength = Can split a rock that has 5m of thickness
Kick Strength = Can send a 200kg man flying 25m into the air
Diving Time = 53 minutes
Resistance to Poison = Can endure five times the dose of Potassium Cyanide required to kill an ordinary man
Fasting Resistance = Body can remain strong for three months without eating
Sleep Resistance = Can spend an entire week without sleeping
Memory Capacity = Can memorize up to 50,000 words after reading them once.
Birthdate = 1970s (20 or so years before the Nuclear War)
Blood Type = Unknown
Favorite Techniques = Can use techniques from the 108 sects of Nanto Sei Ken in addition to Hokuto Shin Ken
Favorite Weapons = Nunchaku, six-sectioned staffs, throwing knives and such
Special Skills = Has an internal biological clock with a margin of error of more than three seconds in a month
License = Initiated into the secrets of Hokuto Shin Ken passed between a single line of successors
Habit = Cracks his fingers before a fight
Talking Habit = Unknown, because he is too taciturn
Hobby = Developing new secret techniques
Favorite Food = There's not much of a room for likes and dislikes at the end of the century (or the post-apocalyptic world)
Esteemed Acquaintance = Ryuken, Raoh, Toki and Shu
Ideal Woman = Yuria
Favorite Clothes = Strong leather jeans that allows him to move easily
Clinical History = None
Academic Background = Well-versed in the super specialized education received from Ryuken. His specialty is in the field of Chinese medicines

Trivia

Given the time period of Kenshiro's birth in 197X and the apocalypse started in 199X, his true age is up to debate among the readers. If Kenshiro was born in late 1970 and the Apocalypse started in the early 1990s Kenshiro was probably a young teenager and thus the world that Kenshiro lived as a saviour happened later. However if Kenshiro was born in the mid 1970's and the apocalypse started in the mid 1990's Kenshiro was in his early 20's when he first met Lin and Bat. According to Han, Kenshiro was sent to the mainland 25 years prior to his and Kenshiro's battle, implying that Kenshiro is 25-27 years of age around this time, but this has not been confirmed.
The series bases itself heavily from Mad Max, and the character of Kenshiro is certainly no exception. Not only is his appearance and clothing almost identical to Mad Max's protagonist Max Rockatansky, Kenshiro often finds himself fighting enemies very similiar to the ones Max fights, such as his brother, Jagi, who also resembles Max and Lord Humongous.
Kenshiro pays numerous tributes to Bruce Lee ranging from his jumping stance to his fighting style and high-pitched battle cries, as well as similar scenes as the ones in which the icon himself appeared in numerous films, such as the fight against Mad Sarge and his men.
Kenshiro's character model can be swapped with Kazuma Kiryu (protagonist of Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku) in Hokuto ga Gotoku.

Gallery

References

↑ "1000人が選んだ！漫画史上“最強”キャラクターランキング！" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-10-28.

[oricon-1] "1000人が選んだ！漫画史上“最強”キャラクターランキング！" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-10-28.

[1]