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 Richard Cansino (dub)

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.

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 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

His main role was to report Kenshiro's latest activities to Shin and carry orders to Shin's subordinate gangs on his behalf. When Balcom claimed that he and his men had successfully killed Kenshiro, Joker was dubious and visited the site of the battle to find Kenshiro's body. When Joker discovered that Kenshiro was still alive and well, he challenged him to one final battle. 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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