Joker

Joker
Joker, as he appears in the anime.
Name in Kanji	ジョーカー
Name in Romaji	Jōkā
Fighting Style	Nanto Shōten Ken
Allegiance(s)	Shin
Family	Unknown
Position(s)	KING's Staff Officer
Appearances	Anime (ep. 4-21)
Voice actor(s)	Shigeru Chiba (Japanese) Richard Cansino (English)

"The stars have brought us together. You and I were fated to fight each other someday." — Joker, before fighting Kenshiro

Joker (ジョーカー, Jōkā)

Joker is Shin's primary henchman in the TV series. He served as the staff officer of the KING gang and was a master of the Nanto Shōten Ken style. He was a master illusionist, who also carried unlimited throwing cards which were strong enough to cut through stone. Joker also had a pet hawk, which could lift him away whenever he needed to escape. His main role was to report Kenshiro's latest activities to Shin and carry orders to Shin's subordinate gangs on his behalf.

Appearance

He is a green-haired man around Kenshiro's height who wears a pink shirt, a purple tunic with a feathered collar, green vambraces, a yellow pair of pants with a pair of dark orange kneepads and greaves, and a brown pair of shoes.

Personality

He is a clever, cautious, and crafty man who prefers to fight strategically and defensively, as he moves around constantly while using projectile attacks and illusory tricks, and, when he believed Kenshiro to be dead, he made sure to check if he had actually died.

Although Joker is a fighter who is based on the use of optical illusions and who always tries to avoid direct confrontation, it can be seen that he is a warrior with a sense of honor, since he preferred to die than to be Kenshiro's messenger.

Abilities

He is shown to have top-notch agility, speed, and stamina, as he is shown to be able to repeatedly leap about at high speeds to both incredible heights, and great distances without getting visibly exhausted.

He is also implied to be skilled at training and domesticating animals, as he has a domesticated a large hawk who he uses as an escape method.

He is capable of tossing projectiles in both high speeds and at great qualities, and is also skilled enough at stealth to the point where he was able to sneak up on Kenshiro, who possesses all around incredible senses when he was fighting Heart.

He is also able to teleport, an ability which presumably stems from either his great speed or is a technique of his Nanto Shōten Ken style.

TV Series

Joker was watching Yuria and Shin's conversation, waiting for Yuria to leave so he could inform them that the man with the seven scars had attacked the valley prison and  Heart was on his way. Shin orders him to do whatever it takes to finish off Ken. Soon after, during Kenshiro and Heart fight, Joker threw one of his cards at Heart's cheek, cutting him off and making him see his own blood, activating his berserker state. After Mr. Heart was defeated, Joker retreats.

After Kenshiro infiltrated Shin's fortress, Joker set him the trap that his boss has ordered: first he sent four thugs to entertain Kenshiro, giving him time to make gasoline fell down the stairs, hitting the ground, to later turn fire on. As soon as the fire starts, Ken jumped up, trying to catch Joker. He followed him to the roof of the fortress and there, Joker fled with the help of his hawk.

Before Kenshiro could finish off Jackal, Joker appeared from nowhere, throwing several of his cards at Kenshiro, taking advantage of the distraction to rescue Jackal.

Safe in a building, Joker advises Jackal to kill Kenshiro, because, if he doesn't kills him, not only Kenshiro will chase him: KING gang would do it as well. To accomplish this mission, Joker tells him to use Devil Rebirth, giving him a medallion with the portrait of his mother. Then, he fly away in his hawk.

As Shin watched his city alongside Yuria, Joker informed him that Dante had just returned from crushing a peasant rebellion. He was next to Shin in his throne room, and before Dante and his gang left to find Kenshiro and his companions, Joker gave them instructions on where Ken was going.

With the intention of ending Kenshiro again, Joker forged an alliance with Baron and Junk, two rival gang leaders, to unite and finish him off. That doesn't ends pretty well.

Joker kept watching and listening from the shadows to Shin's meeting with his generals. He surprised Saki listening, but he let her go.

He was present with Shin when Balcom returned, claiming to have killed Kenshiro. Joker didn't trust his words and went to see in person if Kenshiro was alive or not.

Surprised that he was still alive, Joker decides once and for all to face him in a duel. Kenshiro outfoxed Joker and used the Hokuto Zankai Ken technique on him. Faced with being Kenshiro's messenger to Shin, Joker declined and chose death instead.

Trivia

• Joker can be compared to The Joker from the Batman series, since both are antagonists, dress in purple, have green hair, & sometimes fight with cards.
• Joker's image appeared during the finale of the anime, with Kenshiro's other fallen friends and foes. Joker is one of the few anime only characters to be given this honor.
• Like Shin's other generals, Joker's name references the playing card of the same name, being the wild card next to the four other suites.

Gallery

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  Joker attacks with his cards.

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  Joker dies.

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  Joker watches Kenshiro fight Heart.

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  Joker's first apparition

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  Joker convincing Baron and Junk to join forces