Kenshirō

Kenshiro
	; Kenshiro, as depicted in the manga.
Name in Kanji	ケンシロウ
Name in Romaji	Kenshirō
Alternate spelling(s)	Kenshirow, Kenshiroh, Kenshirou, Kensiro
Fighting Style	Hokuto Shin Ken
Allegiance(s)	n/a
Family	Hyō (older brother); Raoh (adoptive older brother); Toki (adoptive older brother); Jagi (adoptive older brother); Yuria (fiancée); Ryuken (adoptive father/sifu); Ryu (adoptive nephew); Kenshiro Kasumi (uncle)
Position(s)	The 64th Successor of Hokuto Shin Ken
Appearances	missing data
Voice actor(s)	Akira Kamiya; Takehito Koyasu (Shin Hokuto no Ken); Kunihiro Kawamoto (Legend of Heroes); Hiroshi Abe (Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu); Katsuyuki Konishi (Hokuto Musou)

Kenshirō (ケンシロウ) (Ken for short) is the main character of the Hokuto no Ken manga, anime and related media. He is the 64th successor of the Hokuto Shin Ken style and considered one of the greatest successors in its history — due to mastering legendary techniques such as Musō Tensei. His body is distinguished by the trademark seven scars on his chest in the shape of the Hokuto Shichisei (Big Dipper) which were inflicted by his rival Shin. Kenshiro is the fiance of Yuria, but after they were tragically separated he journeyed the wasteland and became a savior of the people through his acts of bravery.

His famous catchphrase 'Omae wa mo shindeiru!' (You're already dead!) is dealt to many an opponent he has killed before they know it.

Origin

In the 1970s, Kenshirō was born in Taiseiden, Land of Asura to the Hokuto Sōke family. Ryūken named Kenshirō after his older brother, Kenshirō Kasumi, because both had a Big Dipper-shaped birthmark on their heads. The identity of his parents has never been made clear, but he has an older brother named Hyō. Hyō and Kenshirō were caught in a fire and were rescued by Kaiō's Mother, at the cost of her life.

With the Land of Asura in political turmoil, Jūkei sent the baby Kenshirō away to Japan with Raoh and Toki to be raised by Ryūken.

Character overview

Kenshiro is characterized as the youngest of four adopted sons trained by the previous Hokuto Shinken successor, Ryuken. His origin is revealed during the latter half of the Fist of the North Star manga, in which he was sent to Japan, along with his future nemesis Raoh and Raoh's brother Toki, to escape from their homeland, the war-torn Land of Asura. A different origin is depicted in the first chapter of Fist of the Blue Sky: a newly-born child is brought to Ryuken's dojo in Japan, who names the infant after his older brother (Kenshiro Kasumi, the protagonist of Blue Sky), due to the Big Dipper-shaped birthmark on his head, although later chapters of the manga makes references to Kenshiro's escape from Asura with Raoh and Toki.

Kenshiro is trained in the art of Hokuto Shinken along with Raoh, Toki and a fourth student named Jagi, and is eventually named successor by Ryuken. After surviving the nuclear war, he tries to live in peace with his fiancee Yuria, until Jagi instigates Shin, a jealous rival from the Nanto Seiken school, to challenge and defeat Kenshiro. Shin then engraves the iconic seven scars on Kenshiro's chest and leaves him for dead. Prior to this event he was more forgiving of his enemies, as shown in a flashback of Jagi's failed assassination attempt against him, in which Kenshiro chooses to spare Jagi's life after defeating him rather than end it. When Kenshiro later fights his old rivals in the present, particularly Shin, Jagi, and Raoh, they all remark on Kenshiro's newfound ruthlessness.

The initial story arc centers around Kenshiro's quest to reclaim Yuria from Shin. In the very first chapter, he meets a pair of orphans who follows him in his journey: Bat, a thief; and Lin, a young girl rescued by Ken. Thorough the course of the series, Kenshiro protects the weak and innocent from the numerous gangs roaming the post-apocalyptic wasteland, eventually gaining his reputation as the "Savior of the Century's End". Kenshiro's skills improve through his encounters with members of the Nanto Roku Seiken and his Hokuto Brothers. At the end of the first part, he eventually confronts and defeats his eldest brother Raoh and is reunited with Yuria, and lives with her until she eventually dies from a terminal illness.

The later half of the manga (and the corresponding Hokuto no Ken 2 anime adaptation) sees Kenshiro joining forces with the now grown Bat and Lin, who have formed the Hokuto Army to fight off the now-corrupt Gento Kōken warriors. The story eventually takes Ken to the Land of Asura, where he learns of his Hokuto Sōke heritage and fights against the Warlords who controls the Land of Asura: his estranged blood brother Hyoh; and Kaioh, Raoh's other blood brother. The final story arcs of the manga (which were not adapted for the TV series) sees Kenshiro taking Raoh's orphaned son, Ryu, under his wing, before continuing on his own.

Although still emotionally repressed and stoic like most male heroes in 1980s media, Kenshiro is notable in anime culture for being a sensitive and kind-hearted man who broke the established "men don't cry" cultural stereotype. He is famous for openly lamenting, if not outright crying, for the suffering of innocents and the deaths of his few noble enemies. This trait is unfortunately downplayed in the 1980s anime adaptations, but returns to the franchise in the modern adaptations.

Voice actors

Kenshiro was voiced by Akira Kamiya in the TV series and 1986 movie, Ryō Horikawa voiced the child-aged Kenshiro in flashbacks. The role of Kenshiro was recasted to Takehito Koyasu in the 2003 OVA series New Fist of the North Star and then given to Kunihiro Kawamoto in the 2005 Fist of the North Star arcade game and the 2006 CG animated short film Hokuto no Ken: Legend of Heroes. In the Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu movie series, Kenshiro is voiced by Hiroshi Abe and by Eiji Hanawa as a child. For the Ten no Haō PSP game, Kenshiro is voiced by Hideo Ishikawa.

English voice actors that have voiced Kenshiro includes John Vickery in the Streamline Pictures dub of the 1986 movie, Lex Lang in the Manga Entertainment dub of the TV series and Robert Kraft (voice actor) in the ADV Films dub of New Fist of the North Star. Gary Daniels played Kenshiro in the 1995 live action film.

Reception

In a survey conducted by the Oricon in 2007 between 1,000 people, Kenshiro ranked third place as the "strongest manga character of all time". ^[1]

Top 50 Secrets

Translated from the 1986 magazine Hokuto no Ken Special: All About the Man.

Head Volume = 59cm
Hearing Ability = Can hear a whisper from 2km away
Height = 185cm
Eyesight = Can see the aura of a living creature in pitch black darkness
Kinetic Vision = Can intercept a quick arrow the moment it is shot
Sense of Smell = About as good as a hound
Neck Thickness = 45cm
Bust = 132cm
Arm Thickness = 48cm
Waist = 90cm
Weight = 100kg
Hip = 105cm
Reach = 187cm
Leg Thickness = 63cm
Leg Length = 92cm inseam
Shoe Size = 29cm
Body Characteristics = Index and middle fingers are forged by doing two finger handstands in order to better pierce vital points
Sense of Taste = Sensitive enough to detect poisonous food and such.
Voice = Can mimic many sounds, including animal cries.
Breathing Capacity = 8700 c.c.
Grip = Unmeasurable
Arm Strength = Unmeasurable
Walking Ability = Unmeasurable
Strength of His Back = Unmeasurable
Muscle Strength = Can repel the bullet of a small caliber gun when its strained
Leg Speed = Can move 100m in 9 seconds in steps
Fist Speed = Throws 50 punches in three seconds while performing the Hundred Crack Fist
Jump Strength = 9m a step
Punching Strength = Can split a rock that has 5m of thickness
Kick Strength = Can send a 200kg man flying 25m into the air
Diving Time = 53 minutes
Resistance to Poison = Can endure five times the dose of Potassium Cyanide required to kill an ordinary man
Fasting Resistance = Body can remain strong for three months without eating
Sleep Resistance = Can spent an entire week without sleeping
Memory Capacity = Can memorize up to 50,000 words after reading them once.
Birthdate = 1970s (20 or so years before the Nuclear War)
Blood Type = Unknown
Favorite Techniques = Can use techniques from the 108 sects of Nanto Sei Ken in addition to Hokuto Shin Ken
Favorite Weapons = Nunchaku, six-sectioned staffs, throwing knives and such
Special Skills = Has an internal biological clock with a margin of error of more than three seconds in a month
License = Initiated into the secrets of Hokuto Shin Ken passed between a single line of successors
Habit = Cracks his fingers before a fight
Talking Habit = Unknown, because he is too taciturn
Hobby = Developing new secret techniques
Favorite Food = There's not much of a room for likes and dislikes at the end of the century (or the post-apocalyptic world)
Esteemed Acquaintance = Ryuken, Raoh, Toki, and Shuh
Ideal Woman = Yuria
Favorite Clothes = Strong leather jeans that allows him to move easily
Clinical History = None
Academic Background = Well-versed in the super specialized education received from Ryuken. His specialty is in the field of Chinese medicines

Gallery

Kenshiro as he appears on the cover of Hokuto no Ken Vol. 1 (Jump Comics edition)
Kenshiro in Toki Gaiden
Kenshiro in the first manga
Kenshiro in the begin of the anime series
Kenshiro in the anime series Hokuto no Ken 2.
Kenshiro fights his older brother, Hyoh
Kenshiro in Hokuto no Ken 3 for Family Computer, as depicted in regular battles.
Kenshiro in Hokuto no Ken 3 for Famicom, as depicted in boss battles.
Kenshiro in Hokuto no Ken 4 for Family Computer.
Kenshiro in Hokuto no Ken 5 for Super Famicom.
Kenshiro in Hokuto no Ken 6 for Super Famicom (face shot).
Kenshiro in Hokuto no Ken: Shinpan no Sōsōsei Kengō Retsuden (illustration)
Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star: Legend of Raoh - Chapter of Love in Death
Kenshiro in Hokuto Musou (game original outfit)
Kenshiro in Hokuto Musou (source material outfit)
a spirit that appears to help Kenshiro against Kaioh.

References

↑ "1000人が選んだ！漫画史上“最強”キャラクターランキング！" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-10-28.

[oricon-1] "1000人が選んだ！漫画史上“最強”キャラクターランキング！" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-10-28.

[1]