Kaioh

"The last one alive will be... evil!!!" — HnK Chapter 196

Kaioh
Kaioh, as depicted in the manga.
Name in Kanji	カイオウ
Name in Romaji	Kaiō
Alternate spelling(s)	Kaiou, Caiou, Caioh, Kaio, Caio
Fighting Style	Hokuto Ryū Ken, Hokuto Sōke no Ken
Family	Ryuou (ancestor) Hahaja (unnamed mother) Raoh (younger brother) Toki (younger brother) Sayaka (younger sister) Jūkei (sifu) Ryu (nephew)
Position(s)	The First General of Asura (第一の羅将, Dai-ichi no Rashō)
Appearances	Manga (ch. 180-210), Anime (ep. 133-152)
Voice actor(s)	Kenji Utsumi Masaaki Okura (young) Unshō Ishizuka (Shin Hokuto Musou) Tessho Genda (Legends ReVIVE) Takashi Matsuyama (Shin Hokuto Musou (Mobile))

Kaioh (カイオウ, Kaiō)

Kaioh is the First Rashō (羅将, lit. supreme leader) that rules over the Land of Asura. He is sometimes referred as the Creator of the New Century (新世紀創造主, Shin Seiki Sōzōshu) or the Demon Kaioh (魔神カイオウ, Majin Kaiō). At first, his face is concealed in an iron helmet, but later he removes it to reveal his striking resemblance to Raoh, albeit with a "⅄"-shaped scar which covers his face.

Kaioh is in fact the long-lost older brother of Raoh and Toki, who remained in Asura while his two brothers left the country with Kenshiro. He wears a special armor that keeps his demonic aura focused. He hates the Hokuto Sōke ruling line and all it stands for, due to the fact that he was forced by Jūkei to lose his sparring matches with Hyoh as a child to encourage him, despite the fact that Kaiō was a more gifted fighter. Kaioh began losing his humanity when his mother sacrificed her life to save a baby Kenshiro from a burning building. Because of the immense pain of his mother's death, Kaioh vowed to never feel emotions again. To accomplish this goal, Kaioh began cutting or stabbing himself whenever he felt sadness as a form of negative reinforcement. Because of this, Kaioh ended up with countless scars all over his body as an adult.

Kaioh is the last and most powerful major antagonist in the manga and Kenshiro's final opponent in the TV series. After his defeat to Kenshiro, Kaioh reconciles with the dying Hyoh, and buries himself in a flux of lava, creating a statue of him holding Hyoh in his arms.

Personality

Kaioh is a broken man who has dedicated his life to evil and to rid himself and the world of any trace of love. Because of the death of his mother who saved an infant Kenshiro from a fire due to the love of her heart, Kaioh would scorn and wage war on love itself. This event coupled with how he was forced to lose his matches against a younger and more inexperienced Hyoh to encourage him, despite Kaioh being the better fighter, made him hate the Hokuto Sōke line, blaming it for the death of his mother and his repeated humiliations.

Turning to Hokuto Ryū Ken and fully embracing the evil within it, Kaioh would set his mind on destroying everything related to Hokuto Sōke and Hokuto Shinken therefore, ensuring the supremacy of Hokuto Ryū Ken on the new age, to further insult at the main Hokuto lines whom he believed had unjustly stepped upon the legacy of Hokuto Ryū Ken to cement their own status.

He is so commited to evil that on his first act of malice he killed his loyal pet dog in order to truly rid himself of his own humanity, thereby commiting a multitude of atrocities in the years to come. He had no qualms about killing his own sister in order to frame Kenshiro of her death, so that both Kenshiro and Hyoh would kill each other, therefore guaranteeing his dominance over the world. He is easily infuriated in the face of interference, particularly from those who despite being much weaker than him, still prove a hindrance to his plans pursuing the offenders with ruthless fervor. He displays terrifyingly sadistic tendecies as well, when he brutally tortured Kenshiro prior to his planned execution, and striking a pressure point on Lin that would cause her to fall on love with the first person she saw after waking up, purely to ridicule love itself.

Despite his nearly unlimited malice, Kaioh would still have some humanity within him, as he still treasured his mother and had a well kept tomb on her honor to which he addressed and treated very respectfully. When defeated, he allowed himself to be killed by Hyoh as penance for killing his fiance, yet when he's shown compassion instead, Kaioh feels genuine regret for all his actions, wishing to be reborn alongside Hyoh so that they can play like normal children.

Abilities

Kaioh was a practitioner of Hokuto Ryū Ken and the strongest user of the art, ruling as the first Rashō in the Land of Asura. He is notable for being the most powerful enemy Kenshiro ever faced in the series, and had the might to back it up. He was an incredibly skilled martial artists who mastered the signature Matōki to the point that he constantly exuded from his body, pouring from even his eyes and mouth as he breathed. So evil was his aura, that he needed to wear an armor to keep it focused and even then it could concentrate enough to create a visible demonic figure, which was used as a sign of his coming, dubbed the Genma Eirei (幻魔影霊, Evil Spirit Phantasm).

His mastery over the evil aura was such, that he could channel it into energy projectiles of great power. He could also use it defensively to shield himself from certain physical attacks, and could even erupt a geyser of such aura around himself injuring everyone around himself. Kaioh could also employ his aura to dispel Musou Tensei and could employ the deadly Anryu Tenha with which he could levitate and disorient his target, leaving them sitting ducks for him to slaughter. He was also knowledgeable of pressure points and was also able to strike them to cause destruction or other effects.

Character Rating

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

• Level: AAA
• Power: 5
• Speed: 4
• Skills: 5
• Looks: 3
• Charisma: 5

Gallery

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  Ken and Kaioh, in their final battle

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  Kaioh cries for the first time in years

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  Kaioh, carrying a now deceased Hyo

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  Young Kaioh

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  Unmasked

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  Kaioh in Shin Hokuto Musou

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  Kaioh displays his scars

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  Kaioh in Hokuto no Ken: Legends ReVIVE (illustration)