Shu

Shū
	; Shū as he appears in the manga.
Name in Kanji	シュウ
Name in Romaji	Shū
Alternate spelling(s)	Shuh, Syuu, Shuu, Shew
Fighting Style	Nanto Hakuro Ken
Allegiance(s)	Kenshiro
Family	Shiva (son)
Position(s)	Resistance Leader
Appearances	Manga (ch. 83-93), Anime (ep. 55-66), Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu, Rei Gaiden
Voice actor(s)	Katsuji Mori; Hochu Otsuka (Raō Den Jun'ai no Shō); Takahiro Yoshimizu (Hokuto Musou, Shin Hokuto Musou); Junichi Suwabe (Ichigo Aji); Steve Kramer (Hokuto Musou dub)

Shu (シュウ, Shū): The successor of the Nanto Hakurō Ken (南斗白鷺拳, "South Star White Heron Fist") style and one of the Nanto Roku Seiken. He carries the burden of the Star of Benevolence (仁星, Jinsei), who is destined to serve and protect the future generation.

Shu was originally Souther's second-in-command and was present during young Kenshiro's battle at the Nanto Junin Kumite. Raoh had brought Kenshiro to the Nanto dojo in order to test his ability, where he would have to defeat ten Nanto opponents or be killed. When Kenshiro reacted to Shu's ki, Shu volunteered to be the final opponent and handily defeated the boy. However, realizing that Kenshiro's potential would outshine them all, Shu's Star of Benevolence was awakened and he defied Souther's orders to execute the boy, clawing out his own eyes in exchange for Kenshiro's life. Shu carried the young Kenshiro from the temple and from that day forth learned to see with his heart.

After the nuclear war, Shu leads a resistance movement against Souther, saving the children of the wasteland from the Holy Emperor's wrath. When Kenshiro is beaten and imprisoned by Souther, Shu's young son, Shiva, sacrifices his life to rescue him. The guerilla hideout is then sieged by Souther and his troops in retaliation. With Kenshiro still unconscious while recovering from his wounds, Shu arranges his escape before challenging Souther himself. Souther slices the tendons in Shu's legs, crippling his Nanto Hakuro Ken, and forces Shu to carry the capstone of Souther's Holy Pyramid in order to protect the hostages.

Shu dies resting the capstone, but before his death he miraculously recovers his eyesight and witnesses the grown-up Kenshiro for the first and last time. When Souther is defeated by Kenshiro, the summit of the pyramid leaks Shu's blood, causing it to collapse under the weight of his sorrow.

Trivia

The path that Shu makes in order to rest the capstone on Souther´s Holy Pyramid is possibly based on the Via Crucis of Jesus. His son, Shiva, also shares a messianic appearance resembling Toki's youth.
In Rei Gaiden, Shu is revealed to have a goatee in Rei's flashback rise to successorship of Nanto Suicho Ken, and in events transpiring shortly before Rei's first appearance in Hokuto no Ken, has sported scruffy facial hair, contrary to his clean-shaven appearance in Hokuto no Ken, it can be presumed Shu shaved before his meeting with Kenshiro.
Like Kenshiro, Shu's appearance is based on Mad Max, albeit from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.^[1]^[2]