Kenshiro

Kenshiro
Fist of the North Star character
Kenshirō, as illustrated by Tetsuo Hara.
First appearance	Fist of the North Star manga chapter 1
Created by	Tetsuo Hara, Buronson
Profile
Nicknames	Ken
Aliases	The Man with the Seven Scars, The Savior of the Century's End
Date of birth	197X
Title	64th Successor of Hokuto Shinken
Known relatives	Hyou (biological older brother) Raoh (adoptive older brother) Toki (adoptive older brother) Jagi (adoptive older brother) Yuria (fiancee) Ryuken (adoptive father and sifu) Kenshiro Kasumi (adoptive uncle and namesake)

For the musician, see Kenshiro (musician)

Kenshiro (ケンシロウ, Kenshirō^?), or just Ken as he is often called, is the central character of the Fist of the North Star manga, anime, and other related works. He is the 64th successor to the Hokuto Shinken after his adopted father, Ryuken. He is considered "one of the greatest" successors in Hokuto Shinken history, due to his knowledge of certain legendary techniques like "Musou Tensei". He has been voted the "third strongest manga character" in a survey conducted by the Oricon, losing only to Son Goku and Doraemon. [1]

Concept and creation

Artist Tetsuo Hara originally depicted Kenshiro as a teenager who fought against the rival martial arts school of the Taizanji Kenpō during 1980's Japan in his two-part prototype version of Hokuto no Ken. This version of the character was given the full name of Kenshiro Kasumi (霞 拳四郎, Kasumi Kenshirō^?, his given name roughly means "Fourth Son of the Fist"). In this setting, Kenshiro was the 23rd successor of Hokuto Shinken, preceded by his unnamed father, who in turn learned the art from the 21st successor, Master Liú Zhèng (劉 正, Ryū Shō^?). This Kenshiro was a lot more cheerful than the Kenshiro of the serialized manga, having yet to experience the same hardships at the start of the story and lacking his iconic seven scars. After Kenshiro's girlfriend Yuki is murdered and Ken is framed for her death, Kenshiro becomes a wanted fugitive who sets out to overthrow the Taizanji organization.

The character was revised by Buronson when Hokuto no Ken was picked up for weekly serialization. Now turned into a full-grown adult, Buronson has stated that he based the revised Kenshiro on actor Bruce Lee and the character Max Rockatansky from the Mad Max series. The character is only referred by his given name in the series, which is always written in katakana in Japanese. The full name Kenshiro Kasumi was reused for the main character of Fist of the Blue Sky, a predecessor of the Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, although his given name is spelled slightly differently (拳志郎 instead of 拳四郎).

Voice actors

Akira Kamiya was the voice of Kenshiro during the entire run of 1980s TV series, as well as in the 1986 movie version. Kamiya was the sole Japanese voice actor of the character for nearly 18 years, voicing Kenshiro not only in the anime, but in numerous video game versions that were produced afterwards, as well as voicing Kenshiro's namesake, Yan-Wang, in a 2001 drama CD of Fist of the Blue Sky given away in the Weekly Comic Bunch. Ryō Horikawa voiced Ken in the series as a child.

After 2003, the role of Kenshiro would be given to new voice actors. Kenshiro was voiced by Takehito Koyasu in the 2003 OVA series New Fist of the North Star and by 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.

English voice actors that had 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 in ADV Films dub of New Fist of the North Star. Gary Daniels played Kenshiro in the 1995 live action movie.

Characteristics

A strong and mostly stoic character, Kenshirō is compelled to punish evil-doers and can perform feats not possible for most people. His mastery of the ancient martial art Hokuto Shinken allows him to kill or cripple with a mere touch. The results tend to be very messy -- as this usually causes parts of the victim to explode -- but the art also includes several other means of killing. He can also use this art to heal or to alter people's behaviour. Later in the series Kenshirō learns parts of other martial arts.

When angry his spiritual powers reach their peak, normally culminating in the dramatic destruction of his shirt and jacket (which—despite the obvious lack of a wardrobe or clothing store—are always replaced in the next episode or story arc) to expose his muscular torso.

His catchphrase is Omae wa mō shindeiru (おまえはもう死んでいる), meaning "You are already dead", which he usually says before a villain's head is about to explode.

Due to the symbolic scar in the pattern of the Big Dipper given to him by Shin, Kenshirō is frequently referred to as "the man with seven scars" by those who do not know his name.

Fictional history

Kenshiro,as depicted in the 1980s TV series.

According to flashbacks during the latter half of the Fist of the North Star manga, Kenshirō was originally born in the fictional land of Shura. After a war broke out in the country, he was sent to Japan along with a young Raoh and Toki to be trained by Ryūken in the arts of Hokuto Shinken. However, in the first chapter of Fist of the Blue Sky he is shown being born in Japan during the 1970's and brought to Ryūken (Ramon Kasumi), who named him Kenshirō after his older brother (the protagonist of Fist of the Blue Sky) due to the Big Dipper-shaped birthmark on his head.

Only one could be allowed to be the new Hokuto Shinken master and Kenshirō trained alongside his three adopted brothers Raoh, Toki, and Jagi for this role. This would set the stage for intense rivalry which only got worse after Kenshirō was eventually chosen by Ryūken as the 64th successor.

This rivalry was put on hold after a nuclear disaster devastated most of the world, turning it into a lawless wasteland. The brothers split up and Kenshirō tried to start a new life with his girlfriend Yuria. Sadly, their happiness was short-lived as Kenshirō's old friend Shin confronted them, almost killing him while giving him the seven scars on his chest which would become his trademark.

Shown in flashbacks to be a strong yet somewhat more pleasant person, this betrayal and loss, culminating in the abduction of his girlfriend, arguably created the brooding, stone-faced character who permeates the story afterwards.

Wandering the wasteland, Kenshirō eventually came to a village where he met the young, innocent Lyn, and the young, not-so-innocent Bat. Together, they formed a team which traveled the land, meeting many people including Shin, Kenshirō's brothers, Toki, Jagi and Raoh, and a host of other thugs and martial artists. As well as allies, like the noble Rei, the benevolent Shuu, the kind giant Fudo, and the honorable Falco. However, in the Land of Shura, he was hated and cursed by much of its people as many saw his name as a bad omen; as well as the fact that many from there saw Raoh as their destined savior, as well as other crimes made in his name thanks to Raoh's brother, Kaioh.

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