Souther

Souther
	; Souther, as he appears in the manga.
Name in Kanji	サウザー
Name in Romaji	Sauzā
Alternate spelling(s)	Thouzer, Thouther, Souzer
Fighting Style	Nanto Hōō Ken
Allegiance(s)	n/a
Family	Ōgai (adoptive father/sifu)
Position(s)	Holy Emperor (聖帝 Seitei)
Appearances	Manga (ch. 85-97), Anime (ep. 58-68), Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu, Ten no Haoh and others.
Voice actor(s)	Banjō Ginga; Akio Ōtsuka (Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu); Nobutoshi Canna (Hokuto Musou)

Souther (サウザー, Sauzā): Souther is the sole successor of the Nanto Hōō Ken (南斗鳳凰拳, "South Dipper Phoenix Fist) style and one of the Nanto Roku Sei Ken. He bears the destiny of the Star of Leadership (将星, Shōsei), also known as Polar Star (極星, Kyokusei) and Star of the Southern Cross (南十字星, Minami Jūji Sei). The Star of Leadership rules over the Nanto constellation; therefore, none of the other Nanto successors can defeat him.

Souther establishes himself as the Holy Emperor (聖帝 Seitei) after Raoh's injury and becomes feared as a merciless tyrant, kidnapping children to construct his Holy Cross Mausoleum. Souther was once a warm and loving child, adopted by the previous master of Nanto Hō-ōken, Ōgai. However, because of Nanto Hō-ōken's awful legacy, Ogai tricked Souther into killing him in order to be surpassed by his student. Souther was traumatized by his master's death and over time became hateful and inhuman.

When Souther is confronted by Kenshiro, his immunity to Hokuto Shinken allows him to emerge victorious. He later executes the rebel leader, Shu, atop the holy pyramid and engages in a rematch with the vengeful Kenshiro. This time, Kenshiro discovers that Souther has dextrocardia situs inversus totalis-- his heart is on the right side and the positions of his vital points are reversed. After losing his protection, Souther makes one last stand but is defeated by Kenshiro's merciful Ujō Moshō Ha technique. Overwhelmed by his opponent's compassion, Souther spends his final moments reconciling with the shrine of his beloved master. Shortly afterwards, the holy pyramid comes crashing down under the weight of Shu's sadness, whose spirit wept for someone as misguided as Souther.

Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken

In both the movie and novelization of Raoh Den: Junai no Shou, Souther's death scene is different to the original manga and TV series. There is no reference to his sensei, Ougai, or the motivation behind the pyramid. Refusing to die from Kenshiro's Hokuto Shinken, Souther rejects his pity and stabs himself in the chest.

Character Rating

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

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

Trivia

The word souther means "A strong wind from the south".
Geese Howard (from SNK's "Fatal Fury" and "King of Fighters" fighting video game series) is possibly based on Souther.
In the Touhou-based fighting game Touhou Hisoutensoku, the character Reiuji Utsuho has a combat style heavily-based on Souther's. Many of her moves share animations or have similar appearances to Souther's moves (sprite comparison here). Humorously, Utsuho herself is also a reference; she is a Yatagarasu (hell raven) with power over fire, ergo providing a humorous indirect homage to Souther's phoenix motif.
The fighting style of Menace (from the "Queen's Blade" franchise) and some aspects of her personality are possibly based on Souther. Justified, since Menace's VA, Yuko Goto, is a big fan of Souther, not to mention being the producer of the HokutoMusou game.

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