Heart

Heart
Heart, as he appears in the manga.
Name in Kanji	ハート
Name in Romaji	Hāto
Alternate spelling(s)	none
Fighting Style	Kenpo Goroshi (The Destroyer of Fists)
Allegiance(s)	Shin, Jagi (1986 movie)
Family	none known
Position(s)	Retainer of KING
Appearances	Manga (ch. 4-7), Anime (ep. 3-4), Movie, Video Games
Voice actor(s)	Shōzō Iizuka (TV series) Junpei Takiguchi (movie) Takahiro Fujimoto (Hokuto Musou) Joe Romersa (anime dub) Dave Mallow (movie dub)

Heart (ハート, Hāto)

Heart is one of the Four Chief Vassals of the King Organization led by Shin, along with Spade, Diamond, and Club. A hulking fat man, Heart's stomach was composed of a rubber-like substance which absorbs the impact of most martial art techniques, earning him the nickname The Destroyer of Fists (拳法殺し, Kenpō Koroshi). It was said that only Nanto Seiken was capable of defeating him through brute force.

While normally calm and more merciful than his fellow Kingsmen, his personality changes to that of a homicidal maniac at the sight of his own blood, such as when he murdered several of his own men and a bartender after pricking his hand on a shard of broken glass.

Heart fought Kenshiro within Shin's palace at Southern Cross as the last of the Four Lieutenants. Heart would normally be immune to the effects of Hokuto Shin Ken, but using the Hokuto Jūha Zan technique, Kenshiro was able to penetrate Heart's flesh and cause his body to explode. His iconic death cry was "HIDEBU!"

TV series

In the television series, Heart along with the other three lieutenants are addressed as the "Four Jacks", with Heart being addressed as "Heart J". Thus, the "K" tattoo on his forehead is replaced by a "J" tattoo. He speaks in an effeminate manner when in "calm" mode, but masculine when in "crazed" mode. The battle between him and Kenshiro is set near a valley, in which Heart orders his troops to slaughter a group of escapees from a nearby prison leaving them gravely wounded shortly before fighting Ken. Instead of Shin, it is Joker who watches the fight and throws a playing card which cuts Heart's face, sending him into a momentary frenzy before Kenshiro kills him.

In the English dub, after his blood-crazed rampage in the bar he has a short conversation with a voice that sounds exactly like the bartender, implying that the bartender survived despite Heart's attempt to crush him in his palm. This conversation does not occur in the original Japanese audio, implying Heart killed the bartender.

1986 movie

In the 1986 movie, Heart's role is changed to being a henchmen of Jagi along with Fox and Jackal. In an early movie trailer, his name appears listed as Elephant (エレファント, Erefanto). He is once again killed by Kenshirō, this time at Jagi's hideout.

Notes

• Heart was originally called a "crazed butcher" (狂乱の屠殺人, Kyōran no Tosatsunin). This was later censored to "crazed murderer" (狂乱の殺人者, Kyōran no Satsujinsha) so as not to offend butchers.
• Similarly, Kenshiro's original insult to Heart, "A pig belongs in a slaughterhouse!" (ブタは屠殺場へ行け!, Buta wa Tosatsujō e Ike!) was censored to "A pig belongs in a pigpen." (ブタはブタ小屋へ行け!, Buta wa Botagoya e Ike!).
• His appearance is believed to be based on wrestler Abdullah the Butcher.

Character Rating

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

• Level: C
• Power: 3
• Speed: 1
• Skills: 2
• Looks: 1
• Charisma: 3

Gallery

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  Heart in the TV series

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  Heart dies

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  Heart in the 1986 movie

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  Heart in the manga

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  The offending "slaughterhouse" line by Kenshiro and its censored variants.