Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple/Characters

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There are several characters in Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple.

Ryōzanpaku Dojo

Kenichi Shirahama

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (JP), Josh Grelle (EN)

A 16-year-old boy who is currently in his second year of high school. On his way to school one day, Kenichi meets a girl named Miu, and the two soon become friends. At the start of high school, Kenichi joins the school's karate club, hoping to become less weak, but he is forced to do menial chores and is used as a punching bag. One day, he finally stands up to a hulking student, and the two agree to a match in which the loser will quit the club. With Miu's help, Kenichi manages to win, but he quits the club anyway. He joins the Ryozanpaku dojo, which Miu's grandfather nominally runs, and begins an intense training regime in several different types of martial arts.

Kenichi is kind, compassionate, thoughtful, and moral to a fault. He is against violence and studies martial arts to protect others, and he adheres to a strict code of morals, which includes a refusal to hit women. Because of his kindness and empathy, Kenichi has made many friends, most of whom are former enemies.

  • Accidental Pervert
  • Badass Normal: His masters blatantly tell him that he has no talent, but make up for it by all-but beating the lessons into him. The results have been staggeringly successful, as attested by out-classing Berserker.
  • Beware the Nice Ones
  • Big Damn Heroes: Has several moments of it throughout the series.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows
  • Boring but Practical: Kenichi doesn't have the kind of advanced moves or styles that many of his opponents have, and while he has his awesome moments, strictly speaking he's just using the basics of martial arts. However, this is precisely the kind of martial artist Bruce Lee stated was the most fearsome.
    • Eventually averted when he starts relying on Ryūsui Seikūken and Mubyoshi.
      • Your Mileage May Vary here, Mubyoshi is a fanciful name for an application of basic understandings from four martial arts and the Ryusui Seikuken is similarly an exaggerated basic skill.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: As a result of training at Ryōzanpaku.
  • Clueless Chick Magnet: While his sights are firmly set on Miu, that hasn't stopped him from unknowingly picking up a small harem of interested girls, including Izumi, Renka, Raichi, and possibly even Shigure.
  • Cowardly Lion: Scared stiff more often than not, though it won't stop him fighting. It's his master's training that really scares him. Through the wonders of character development, this is less and less the case.
  • Covert Pervert: He does buy stuff from Ma Kensei.
  • Determinator: Unconsciousness won't stop him, by the end of the D of D tournament. In fact, that just worsens your chance of keeping him down, since he then surpasses the speed of thought and perfectly demonstrates the techniques that (nigh literally) have been beaten into him by Ryouzanpaku.
  • Expecting Someone Taller: No one he fights can believe he's as good as he is because of his looks and general demeanor.
  • The Fettered
  • Fight Magnet
  • The Hero
  • Kung Fu Clairvoyance: Courtesy of Seikuken.
  • Love At First Punch: Unintentional but still.
    • His meeting with Miu is related to this trope but not quite it, since neither have Jerkass tendencies, and it was her attempt to befriend him that got him to notice her attractiveness. Plus, the real reason she did so is because she recognized him from their childhood.
  • Made of Iron
  • Martial Pacifist
  • Morality Chain: To Miu.
  • Muscles Are Meaningless: Much stronger than his slim physique implies.
    • Gradually moves away from this later on by showing his development, when Kenichi begins to show a physique just as ripped, if not more so, than most of his generation of fighters.
    • Kenichi indeed gets extremely muscular: he's just still rather short. Compare to Edward Elric of Full Metal Alchemist.
    • It is stated in the anime that Akisame's training alters the slow twitch/fast twitch muscle ratio in Kenichi's body, creating a lean look, with very strong muscles.
  • Nice Guy: Would MUCH prefer reading and tending flowers than what he's called upon almost daily to do.
  • Not So Weak: One of the earlier thugs that beat him down got grabbed on the ankle before kicking him off. The thug then pulled up his pant-leg, revealing a bruise in the shape of Kenichi's hand. Kenichi has since grown much, much stronger.
  • Oblivious to Love: Not as of 423. He finally makes his feelings known to Miu, revealing that it's not so much a case of this as it is Single-Target Sexuality.
  • Ordinary High School Student: When fighting Tanimoto, he thinks something along the lines of "My name is Kenichi Shirahama, a normal high-schooler that loves manual books and gardening... so why is it that I'm now fighting on the roof of a speeding bus!?"
  • Pointless Band-Aid: Chikage tends to call him "Bandaid", because of it.
  • Thanks for the Mammary: how Kenichi broke Miu out of her Unstoppable Rage. Subverted in Chapter 459 where he tries to pull it off again to Miu to get her out of her Brainwashed and Crazy state, but he still gets a brutal beat down in the end.
  • This Loser Is You: In the beginning.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Took hundreds. A few volumes, and he can drop his former tormentors. A few arcs, and he's accidentally hospitalizing them by the dozen. All thanks to the sheer fortitude to survive Ryozanpaku.
    • To put things into perspective. At the start of the series he was terrified stiff of guys with small knives. Or just guys who wanted to beat him up. Now he can even take on guys armed with huge swords and firearms.
  • Training from Hell: Driving Kenichi into the ground and scaring his reflexes into gold are standard for the masters of Ryouzanpaku, but the most hellish comes from Koetsuji, who builds simple and complex machines to wring the skill from his disciple's bones. Some intrinsic consequences from failing these machines include (but are not limited to only): burning alive, electrocution, being trapped for hours in one position, and impalement. If they didn't know what they were doing (or if Apachai hadn't learned to hold back), he would be long gone by now. Since they do, Kenichi can actually consider it "training" and gain immense results...though he did actually die once or twice. Good thing two of his masters are also medical geniuses.
    • Kenichi actually grows to like it, going so far as to increase his regimen while his masters are absent in Chapter 423. Try to imagine the Kenichi from 200 chapters ago doing that.
  • Unskilled but Strong: Kenichi's earlier battles were based more on getting a single hit on his foes, that his inhuman strength gained from training at Ryōzanpaku would turn into a devastating, one-hit KO, than actual combat ability. Akisame even addresses this shortly after Kenichi starts learning actual techniques.
  • Unusual Eyebrows
  • Warrior Therapist: His advances in the Sei style have offered him some very telling insights on some of his opponents.
  • Will They or Won't They?: With Miu.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: This attitude angers several female opponents and wins the affection of some others.

Miu Fūrinji / Bulu Indah

Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (JP, TV anime), Rie Kugimiya (JP, OVA), Carrie Savage (EN)

A 16-year-old girl who attends the same school as Kenichi and is currently in her second year. She is the granddaughter of Hayato Fūrinji, the leader of Ryōzanpaku Dojo. Despite being attractive, smart, athletic, and kind, Miu is very socially inept, to the point of having no friends before meeting Kenichi and practically no social life. Miu's social ineptness stems from her upbringing, during which she never had any time to make friends, and also from her home life, in which she is practically a live-in maid.

Miu has proven herself to be an immensely skilled fighter. While her exact martial arts disciplines have not been stated, she has shown knowledge of several styles. Her fighting style is graceful and fluid, taking advantage of her agility, coordination, and flexibility, and makes heavy use of kicks. Her skills have been honed to the point where she will reflexively throw anyone who sneaks up behind her.

Hayato Fūrinji

Voiced by: Hiroshi Arikawa (JP, TV anime), Yuzuru Fujimoto (JP, OVA), R. Bruce Elliot (EN)

Miu's grandfather and the undefeated elder of the Ryōzanpaku Dojo. He is very tall, very muscular and possesses tremendous vitality despite his advanced age. Hayato is a kind old man but still possesses a reckless streak and can be very arrogant, the former of which is shown by his tendency to spend the dojo's money and to get carried away whenever he has a chance to showcase his strength.

Hayato is considered by many to be the most powerful man alive. Even when he uses only 0.0002% of his power, keeps his eyes closed, and splits his concentration and body movements, Akisame comments that he still is the most powerful man in the world.

Akisame Kōetsuji

Voiced by: Jurota Kosugi (EN), Kent Williams (EN)

A 38-year-old philosophical Jujitsu master who was the first master willing to train Kenichi. He is an old friend of Miu's father, Saiga. Despite his seemingly small physique, he is known for having muscles built to perfection. He also has very good insight, often knowing if people are troubled or hiding something; he sometimes even knows what a person is thinking, which scares Kenichi.

  • The Ace: Not only is he a Martial Arts Master, but he's also considered a genius in multiple academic fields, can bring people back to life with his medical knowledge, is said to have "the perfect body", is always calm and composed, is the main breadwinner of the group, manages to turn a group of school children into emotionless fighting machines in an afternoon, and can outsmart any of the other masters (Kensei spent YEARS using a false Rock-Paper-Scissors pattern until he really needed to win, and Akisame saw through it immediately). If there is something he isn't good at, he'll learn it almost instantly. If that doesn't happen, he learns instantly by watching somebody else do the same.
    • The "perfect body" part is actually achieved through intense training. Whether that adds to the trope is up to the reader.
  • Badass Mustache: He actually argues about whether or not it is with James Shiba.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: He's one of the more cultured and approachable Ryozanpaku masters, and can usually keep his cool in stressful situations. If you do anything that could potentially harm Kenichi or any innocent bystanders, though, he'll show you no mercy.
  • Catch Phrase: "Naive!"
  • The Comically Serious: Especially when green peppers are involved.
  • Cultured Badass: There's a reason he's called the "Jujitsu Philosopher."
  • Does Not Like Green Peppers: Doubles as his Weaksauce Weakness
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Low-level, but he loves to invent new torture training devices.
  • Genius Bruiser: So much so that some visitors to the dojo seemed to know of him as a master artist and philosopher instead of a martial arts master.
  • Martial Medic: Started out as a notable chiropractor thanks to jujitsu's knowledge of joints & bones, but becomes an Open Heart Dentist by the D of D arc, capable of performing miracles with a borrowed knife, needle & thread, and booze.
  • Martial Pacifist
  • Muscles Are Meaningless: While much slimmer than some of the other masters, he has built his body to perfection via Art Major Biology.
  • Prophet Eyes: Subverted in that Akisame is clearly not blind (or if he is, it would come off as a major asspull at this point).
  • The Reliable One: There is a reason why he was chosen to be the main Kenichi's trainer. Always cool and collected, rather serious, a good organizer, and possesses the best technological and medical knowledge of all Ryozanpaku masters. Compared to him, Hayato (the eldest and strongest and the owner of the dojo) sometimes looks like a mischievous teenager.
  • Unusual Eyebrows: It's like a lightning symbol drawn sideways.
  • Warrior Poet

Shio Sakaki

Voiced by: Unsho Ishizuka (JP), Christopher Sabat (EN)

A 29-year-old master of karate who claims to hold 100 dan. Sakaki is a very intimidating person even when he tries not to be, something that he does not seem to realize and is put off by whenever someone points it out. He has a kind and caring nature and is a very bad liar, which is shown when Akisame asks why he suddenly decided to teach Kenichi a fighting technique, and Sakaki replied that it was the anniversary of the creation of judo.

He is an incredibly powerful martial artist. He his well-versed in multiple forms of karate and possess superhuman abilities, most evident in the fact that he can survive a fall from one of the top floors of a tall building without any noticeable injury.

  • Alliterative Name
  • Anti-Hero: Type II, and Sakaki tries to give a hard cynical impression, but he isn't fooling anybody, as people he meets keep being amazed at and telling him what a nice and Wise Beyond His Years fellow that he is. The "worst" that he ever does is drag along Apachai on harebrained Get Rich Quick Schemes, and although he worked as a mercenary for a while he never liked it, or accepted immoral missions, and when his old partners did, he immediately turned on them. He mostly earns a living by catching career killers for Interpol and similar.
  • Badass Biker: When he uses his motorcycle, he definitely counts.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows
  • Berserk Button: Anybody seriously harming Kenichi. While he can control himself (with difficulty) when its done by another disciple, when its a Master class... well
  • Berserker Tears: He didn't take it well when Hongo killed Suzuki.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Easily the character who does the most shouting in Ryozanpaku.
  • Bruiser with a Soft Center: Is pretty much the biggest softie of the masters. Most of his character's humor comes from his (increasingly desperate) assurances that this isn't the case.
  • The Cape (trope): Honorable, kind, refuses to kill and is ready to do what is right to help defend the defenseless no matter what. There is a reason why the Trope beneath happened.
  • Childhood Marriage Promise: Variation as he wasn't a child, but earlier in his life, he promised to marry Jennifer Grey. He claimed he was drunk, but she still wants him to make good on that promise.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: He's a Dou-style user and very vicious in combat (in fact, the karate school he uses is an art developed and used by YAMI), but he's probably the nicest member of the Ryozanpaku dojo.
  • Defector From Decadence: It was revealed in Chapter 439 that he was actually groomed by his master to be a powerful follower (and possibly eventual Fist) of YAMI, but he rejected the philosophy of Satsujiken in response to the death of Suzuki.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Well, you had to expect him to have a hidden heart if he's voiced by Alex Louis Armstrong, Roronoa Zoro and Ritsu Kasanoda.
  • Eating the Eye Candy: More so than any other member of Ryozanpaku
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: So much so that some have wondered just how much of his image and habits are genuine or are carefully cultivated so as to appear from looking too kind and soft.
  • Hypocrite: Says this and this then lets this happen.
  • Hypocritical Humor: In chapter 422 he shared with Kenichi some tips for fighting when you're wounded: don't let your opponent know you're hurt, avoid unnecessarily large movements, and don't let rage overtake you. Guess what he does.
    • Gets another moment in chapter 434 when Kenichi and Miu follow him against his wishes, he exasperatedly wonders who taught Kenichi to so flagrantly disregard his masters wishes. Cue placard of him acting in the exact same manner towards his master.
  • Martial Artist In Shining Leather
  • Luminescent Blush: Mostly at being proud of Kenichi and trying hard not to show it.
  • Martial Pacifist
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Seriously, had any of his fight hasn't ended like this? He's so brutal Kenichi and Miu took pity on his opponent after he beat him straight through several rooms, walls and all. He also managed to give all of Kenichi's True Companions the shivers (literally) on another occasion...where he claimed to be holding back. And he may actually be telling the truth.
  • Papa Wolf: To Kenichi.
  • Obviously Evil: He looks like the archetypal bad guy and half of his dialog comes out sounding like a bad guy or The Dragon. Lampshaded by Kenichi when Sakaki promised the Elder to "bring their heads as trophy"; he was joking but still...
  • Rated "M" for Manly: Is there any doubt?
  • Scars Are Forever: Has one across his nose. Chapter 429 hints, and Chapter 431 confirms, that he got it from a fight with Akira Hongo, YAMI's God Fist. In Chapter 443 they gave each other they're scars at the same time. Also looks like he's gained a few more during his latest battle with Hongo...which also serve as a Shout-Out.
  • Sensei for Scoundrels: A lot of his advice is delivered while at least a little drunk.
    • Strangely his best advice, on life in general if not fighting, is when he is drunk, and he won't remember saying it all. Of course, he may be faking it.
  • Shirtless Scene: He likes to channel Kenshiro.
  • Shout-Out: See Shirtless Scene above, plus His latest battle with Akira Hongo has left him with a rather familiar-looking set of finger-poke wounds on his chest.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: This seems to be the attitude Sakaki and Akira have towards one another.
  • Tsundere: Yes, Sakaki, you want to teach Kenichi, not because you want to, but because it's your birthday. Riiight.
    • Or in the dub, because it was supposedly the day Judo was created.
    • And despite being ENEMIES he is also one for Hongo.
  • Up to Eleven: The 100-dan karate master. Dan rankings don't go above 10 in karate or other Japanese martial arts.
    • Which he's probably well aware of, but nobody's brave enough to call him on it.

Apachai Hopachai

Voiced by: Hiroya Ishimaru (JP), Sonny Strait (EN)

A 28-year-old master of Muay Thai and is known as the "Death God" of the Muay Thai underworld fighting circuit. Despite his incredible size and strength, Apachai is very kind and gentle. He enjoys playing with children and animals and is very childlike himself. He has a habit of saying the phrase "apa" when he speaks and sometimes yells it while training or fighting.

Apachai has been trained in martial arts since he was very young. He is extraordinarily strong, able to shatter stone statues and kick down trees without any apparent difficulty. Despite his incredible size, he is blindingly fast, able to dodge bullets while fighting.

Shigure Kōsaka

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (JP), Trina Nishimura (EN)

A 22-year-old weapons master. Shigure is a very mysterious person. She speaks very little and has a habit of falling asleep on the rafters of the ceiling and also traverses atop them more than she uses the floor. She has little knowledge of most things outside of weapons and has trouble interacting with normal people due to her blunt personality and the fact that she always carries a weapon.

Even as a young child, Shigure had incredible potential, which Akisame noticed immediately. She was incredibly fast and was able to defeat Sai Kagerou, a sword master, so quickly that he didn't even realize that he had moved. Despite her lithe frame, she is very strong and can cut weapons made of metal to pieces using something with a dull edge, such as a spoon. She once cut a cannon off of a tank and then jammed it through its side.

Kensei Ma

Voiced by: Issei Futama (JP), Vic Mignogna (EN)

A 41-year-old lecherous master of Chinese Kenpō. Kensei is a sly and perverted man, who tries to take pictures of attractive women, particularly Shigure and Miu. He often sells these pictures to Kenichi in the form of "data books", which usually turn out to be pictures of anything but the two of them. Ma seems to have a plethora of spying equipment at his disposal to aid him in such endeavors. In spite of his perverted and deceptive tendencies, he and Kenichi become quite close, forming a father-son-like bond.

Ma is a very experienced martial artist, having been trained since he was very young, and purportedly knows all martial arts indigenous to China. In spite of his size, he is very strong, able to destroy a small bridge with a single kick and to rend the flesh of Diego Carlo, a man said to possess a body hard as steel, with his bare hands. He is very agile, capable of jumping from atop one moving cars to another. Ma is also skilled in the field of medicine; he runs an acupuncture clinic and usually, along with Akisame, mends the wounds of Kenichi and the others.

The Eight Fists of Ragnarok

Odin AKA Ryūto Asamiya , Flow


Berserker

  • Blood Knight
  • The Dragon
  • The Gift: So naturally talented at fighting that he rose to the second in command of Ragnarok without ever having had training.
  • The Stoic: Remains completely stone-faced until the moment he decides to live up to his nickname.
  • Unskilled but Strong
  • Unstoppable Rage: Practically his fighting style, and thus the codename. The moment before he is defeated in the Ragnarok Arc, he is using his broken, snapped-in-the-wrong-way arm to try and land a blow on Hermit.

Freya AKA Kanname Kugatachi

Loki

  • Cool Shades/Goggles Do Nothing: Except hide his eyes
  • Evil Genius: Seems to consider himself one and his position as the strategist suggests this, but he's not nearly as good as he thinks.
  • Kick the Dog: Kidnapping Kenichi's little sister.
  • Heel Face Turn: Shown to be gathering information for Niijima much later.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • Smug Snake
  • The Starscream: He even builds a team that will comprise the new Eight Fists, himself included. In the end, though, he had about as much success as this trope's namesake. Notably, he didn't see himself as leader, but rather Berserker.

Siegfried AKA Hibiki Kugenin

  • Anti-Villain
  • Badass Long Hair/Long-Haired Pretty Boy
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer/Cloudcuckoolander: His logic is not like our Earth logic. He travelled to Tibet to find a master, and he did - in the form of a prayer wheel.
  • Determinator
  • Heel Face Turn
  • Implacable Man
  • Let's Get Dangerous: At first you could think that he's plain crazy. After a second thought... he's still crazy. But in combat, he's one of the most powerful members of Shinpaku Alliance.
    • He may be the strongest member of Shinpaku Alliance since the masters mentioned in the D of D Tournament that he is almost a master at martial arts, something that has never been said about any other teenager, not even Miu and she has always been shown as the one stronger than just about anyone else.
    • This interpretation is almost certainly incorrect however, when taken in context of the series as a whole. Firstly, Sakaki refers to Siegfried as a near-master of his Go No Sen technique, not a complete martial art such as Karate or Judo. Secondly, the odds that Siegfried is considered by the Ryōzanpaku Masters to be a superior fighter to Miu is fairly ridiculous. The most likely explanation is that none of Kenichi's teachers bother taking her into account when discussing the abilities of the members of his age group, the fact that she's the best would generally go without saying.
  • Musical Assassin: Though not necessarily one, he will kick your ass while singing and composing.
  • Make Me Wanna Shout: Not concussive, but definitely powerful enough to knock you out at point-blank, with his head facing backwards.
  • Nice Hat
  • No One Could Survive That: Siegfried's style of fighting is to literally roll with the punches; in his fights he seems to always absorb one's finishing moves with ease and he even uses these skills to survive detaching his parachute at least 5 stories off the ground by falling through tree branches and landing face first. Even when he can't avoid the impact,he gets up when he really should not.
  • Took a Level in Badass: By spinning around in circles for 40 days non-stop.
  • The Lancer: To Niijima. He sees himself as The Dragon, instead.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy

Hermit AKA Natsu Tanimoto, Moon

Voiced by: Ryo Horikawa (JP), Jason Liebrecht (EN, season 1), Eric Vale (EN, season 2)

Tanimoto:Stupid Kenichi. It's not like I gave you advice because I like you or something. I just wanted you to disappear as soon as possible.

Thor AKA Yūma Chiaki

Valkyrie AKA: Kisara Nanjō

Vocied by: Minami Takayama (JP), Colleen Clinkenbeard (EN)

Shinpaku Alliance

Haruo Niijima

Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki (JP), Todd Haberkorn (EN)

Ikki Takeda

Tanimoto: "Hey, don't emit that aura behind me carefree boxer!!"

Kōzō Ukita

Renka Ma

YOMI

Kajima Satomi, Shadow

Raichi Li/Spark

Shō Kanō, Sky

Why are you just lying down there...Kenichi Shirahama?

Radin Tidat Jihan, King

Tirawit Kōkin, Flame

Ethan Stanley, Void

Rachel Stanley, Steel

  • Attention Whore: Has gone as far as to claim Kenichi killed her someone\did something naughty to her\ both at the same time to get everyone's attention.
  • Clothing Damage: Happens in nearly every battle. If it doesn't occur naturally, she'll make it happen.
  • Defeat by Modesty: Subverted. Not only does she have no modesty, but she welcomes Clothing Damage.
    • Also doubly subverted in the tag team match with her mentor. This not only helps her master when it happens to her by distracting Master Ma, but it also fails hard when she tries use this trope against Renka only to get her master hurt when Ma doesn't leer at his own daughter.
  • Even the Girls Want Her
  • Foreign Fanservice: She does it on purpose. Being attractively exotic and giving the in-universe audience a nice eyeful are top priority. She doesn't have to try very hard, by most standards.
  • Friendly Enemy: Gets along pretty well with Kenichi and the others ever since Kenichi attempted to help her brother rescue her.
  • Omniglot: In addition to Japanese she also demonstrates her knowledge of French and German
  • Shameless Fanservice Girl: Definitely
  • Stripperiffic
  • Wrestler in All of Us: You know all those 'moves' the adults stopped you from doing before someone got hurt or fatally embarrassed? She makes them work and makes them work well.

Boris Ivanov, Ice

Ryūto Asamiya, Flow

Chikage Kushinada, Water

Rimi

Yami

Saiga Fūrinji, Shadow

A man like you is worth trusting.

Isshinsai "Kensei" Ogata, Flow

Tenmon Li

Alexander Gaidar, Ice

Silkwat Junazard, Yudis, King

  • Badass: How Badass? It's pointed out by Sakaki that he managed to not only not lose (and was doing quite well) but to hurt the Elder going all out.
  • Badass Boast:

Silkwat: So what? If you are a King, then I am a GOD.

  • Blood Knight: So much so that he'll do whatever it takes to keep Tidat Kingdom a war-torn hellhole just so he can make good use of his martial arts ability.
  • Dark-Skinned Blond
  • Combat Pragmatist: It's the only way a death match against one of the Nine should be done.
  • The Ditz: Seriously, you find birds with more attention span that Silkwat. Also, he seems to had an embittered feud with kitchen utensils and plates.
  • Didn't Think This Through: To the point of becoming his defining characterization. In kidnapping Miu for his attempt to obtain a disciple, he gets Sakaki, Hongo, AND Hayato PISSED.
  • Died Standing Up
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Was bewildered that Miu tried to heal his mortal wound even in a brief state of mind-controlled bloodlust.
  • Evil Mentor: To Radin Tidat Jihan.
    • He sought to train Miu.
  • Fair Weather Mentor: Actually, averted. While harsh and brutal and with low attention deficit, it shows that he was in fact a very "competent" mentor, very thorough in his teaching and no different that the Ryozanpaky kind, if a little more evil. But don't you dare to disappoint him or soil the Pencak Silat for your petty reasons or he will end you.
  • Fallen Hero: Helped out his country to break through the UN Soldiers but soon finds victory boring and it gets worse from there.
  • Go Out with a Smile
  • Make Me Wanna Shout: His debut has him setting off an avalanche by screaming at a mountainside.
  • Malevolent Masked Man: Never shown without his stylized monster mask. That is outside his village.
  • Mind Manipulation: Managed to do this to Miu.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: His last name means "corpse" in Malay or Indonesian.
    • His epithet, "Demon Fist," is not the nickname of a man you want to stick too close to, either. Literally so as of Chapter 463--Akira Hongo reveals that Junazard took a third option in martial arts and went down the path of "Gedou" (which literally means "path of the demon").
  • Oh Crap: He managed a silent one out of Hongō by posing.
    • Just by destroying his mask we find out EXACTLY why he was able to give Hayato Furinji a difficult fight.
  • Older Than He Looks: Underneath his mask he looks way too young for a guy who fought in a war 23 years ago. Perhaps he exchanges tip with Kushinada
  • Red Right Hand: His habit of swallowing bulky pieces of fruit. In one scene he is even shown biting a pineapple together with the crust.
  • Sink or Swim Mentor
  • Spirit Advisor: He was called the Guru and apparently he served as an spiritual guide as much as a mentor to Radin... until he crossed the line. In chapter 454 it revealed that he would have probably killed him regardless.
  • Talking Is a Free Action: But Averting Inaction Sequence. It's pointed out that it's suicidal to do this in a real fight... unless you are a Master, which then becomes basic etiquette in a Death Match. Hongō is just being rude.
  • Victory Is Boring: The reason he continued to have war in his own nation.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy

Diego Carlo, Steel

The loser should obey the winner

Akira Hongō, Sky

  • Badass: In his fight with Sakaki, he fixed his dislocated finger by using his thigh as anvil... while in the air. And without stopping their Pummel Duel. Successfully defeats Silkwat Junazard, who even exceeds his own skills.
  • Beard of Evil
  • Berserk Button: Sakaki is the only one who had managed to piss him off by wanting to impose his desires in others. As far as Hongo is concerned, is the greatest crime in the world.
    • He really doesn't like anyone speaking badly about Kanou, as Chapter 471 shows.
  • Boring but Practical: Since his opponent is so strong and his martial art so complex, he decided to use the most basic Karate katas Averted since he was doing (sonic) high kicks at 30m of the ground by holding himself of the walls with his feets and was only a ruse to beat Silkwat with one of his most complex moves.
  • Cross Counter: How he and Sakaki got there respective scars.
  • The Determinator: As a flashback in Chapter 474 reveals, Hongo was invoking Beyond the Impossible even as a young man due to this character trait. On one occasion, he got shot with a semi-automatic weapon while protecting a hostage, was hurt badly enough to warrant being put into surgery, and yet he left the hospital and went to win a karate tournament he'd previously been signed up for--all while still being badly injured, bandaged and bleeding from his wounds.
  • Duel to the Death: Sakaki fight, regardless of what Sakaki might believe.
  • Enemy Mine: Due to the trope immediately below.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In Chapter 429, he refuses to fight Apachai and Shigure, the former because he's injured from his earlier fight with Agaard, and the latter because she's a woman (despite them attacking him first).
    • He was absolutely pissed when Silkwat tricked him into attacking Kenichi while he was unconscious. If he hadn't pulled himself out of the attack at the last second, it WOULD have killed the boy. To follow that up, he kidnapped Miu when she tried to avenge him by attacking Silkwat. Sakaki, Hongo, and ELDER, are going after the man with a vengeance.
    • While he follows the path of Satsujinken, he would never follow the path of Gedou.
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. Until the present day Suzuki Hayime memory still hunts them down and motivated to fight to the bitter end.
  • Genre Savvy: Upon being defeated by Hongo, Junazard asks to see the face of the man who bested him up close...but Hongo doesn't comply because he realizes it would give the other man ample opportunity to deliver a killing blow to him even in his crippled state. Subverted when it comes out that Junazard implanted a hidden murderous suggestion in Miu's mind for just such an event...then double-subverted when Miu tries to heal Junazard's wound instead of attacking Hongo.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Several of his techniques rely on him using stabbing arm-thrusts to deal damage this way. It's also how he defeats Junazard.
  • If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten: The entry to YAMI was to kill the other participants, since there could be only one. Played straight with Sakaki, who refused to kill no matter what and was sickened by the challenge but subverted with Suzuki, who wanted to die in exactly that way. Sakaki was not amused.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As revealed in a flashback about Shou Kanou at the end of the D of D tournament arc.
  • Noble Demon
  • Pet the Dog: Kenichi earns a small degree of his respect in Chapter 429 for defending Shou Kanou's earlier sacrifice to save Miu in the D of D tournament.
    • In Chapter 463, he advises Sakaki to go support Kenichi because, to quote him: "I don't want any more disciples to lose their lives.".
  • Pointy Ears
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Technically is not this. It only looks like this because they attack so unbeliavable fast as to exchange dozens of techniques in a matter of a second.
  • Rival Turned Evil: To Sakaki, judging from Chapter 429.
  • Scars Are Forever: Courtesy Of Sakaki in Chapter 443 and vice-versa.
  • Sinister Shades
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: This seems to be the attitude Sakaki and Akira have towards one another.
  • Tranquil Fury: When taunted about his disciple's death, he doesn't go berserk, he just gets FASTER and starts going for the kill strikes more often.
  • Villainous Rescue: Saves Miu and Kenichi from the leader of Yami's chivalrious order and teams up with Sakaki and Hayato against Silkwat.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Judging from his brief skirmish with Shigure (one-sided on her part) in Chapter 429.


Mikumo Kushinada, Water

  • Absolute Cleavage: Possibly because her breasts are so big that they prevent her robe from closing.
  • Boobs of Steel
  • Clothing Damage: She gets very little of this compared to the other girls in the series. However, at the final arc her top got ruined so much till it barely covers her.
  • Dating Catwoman: It's implied that she and the Elder were once involved.
  • Defeat by Modesty: She was stripped naked by Ma Kensei after the Eternal Setting Sun plan failed, however she manages to escape before Ma could bound her.
  • Evil Mentor: To Chikage Kushinada
  • Flash Step: She is fast, even by Ryouzanpaku's standards. She can create semi-solid speed-clones and use them in combat against both Shigure and Sakaki while picking up Chikage from a different rooftop.
  • Gag Boobs: She has the largest breast in the whole series.
  • Hellish Pupils: Of the horizontal variety.
  • Lady of War
  • Older Than They Look: Seems to be about as old as Hayato, but according to Silkwat, Kushinada Style slows the aging process to the point that she's physically 20.
  • Perpetual Frowner
  • Psychotic Smirk: She usually has an emotionless or frowned face, but when she (rarily) uses this trope, she looks very scary.
  • Rapunzel Hair
  • Shameful Strip: She was stripped naked at the end of the Eternal Setting Sun arc, as even though she manages to escape, Ma was able to strip her naked as a last insult.
  • Shipper on Deck: Amusingly seems to ship herself and the Elder. In one fourth-wall straining scene, she makes a suggestive comment only for the Elder to dismiss it in such a way to suggest that she was deliberately misleading the readers.

Mikumo: "...Even though we once felt the hot fires blazing between us."
Hayato: "Stop saying misleading things. The things that were burning were forts and tanks!"

  • Statuesque Stunner: She's tall enough to make Sakaki look short and Chikage look like a baby and shapely enough to make Shigure look underdeveloped. Sakaki is about two meters tall and Shigure has melons the size of actual melons.
  • The Stoic
  • Vapor Wear
  • Weak but Skilled: Apparently Kushinada Style involves 0% strength and 100% skill.

Agaard Jum Sai, Flame

  • Affably Evil: Literally hasn't stopped smiling since his introduction, enjoys spreading random encouragements and praise around anyone nearby, and seems like a generally nice guy except for the whole 'Yami' thing.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Used to be this to be this to Apachai. Still is, in a way.
  • Dark-Skinned Redhead: Was revealed as such in a recent color spread.
  • Evil Mentor: To Tirawit Kōkin
  • Evil Redhead
  • Friend to All Children: Taught children the martial arts back in Thailand, and was quite popular with them. Apachai might even have picked it up from him.
  • Friendly Enemy: Despite being Apachai's lifelong rival and Evil Counterpart, he seems to have nothing but respect and admiration for Apachai and his skill, and even expressed genuine remorse at the thought of killing him. Confessing this has been pretty much the only time Agaard has stopped smiling.
  • Hellish Pupils: They're shaped like starbursts.
  • Perpetual Smiler: To rival Laughing Fist Diego.
  • Pet the Dog: When he saw Kenichi win against Koukin, he congratulated Kenichi on the win and told Koukin there was no shame in his losing to such a skilled opponent. Gets another next chapter when he assists Kenichi with directions when the Weapons Master he faced tries to kill him.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: Caused one in a Flash Back, he deliberately lost the title to a challenger only for the said challenger to die in the middle of the ring after his victory.
  • Stepford Smiler: a milder variant.

Sehrul Rahman, Void

Sougetsu Ma, Moon

Others

Kenichi's Parents (Mototsugu Shirahama and Saori Shirahama)

ARISE, SEBASTIAN!

  • Hot Mom: Saori.
  • I Call It Vera: Kenichi's father calls his shotgun "Sebastian". His double barreled over-and-under shotgun, that is. He has a pump shotgun he calls "Maximillian". And a hunting rifle he calls "Rotowski".
  • Papa Wolf: Mototsugu.

Honoka Shirahama

Christopher Eclair

James Shiba


Jennifer Grey

Tsutomu Tanaka

Kei Retsumin, the Human Calamity

Assassin for the Black Tiger White Dragon Alliance

  • Ax Crazy: Got his nickname by calmly wiping out a whole village to avoid having to find his target's hiding place. Said to have killed more people than any plague.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: Fights with Pisuke, a Myna bird, in a cage on his head.
  • Head Pet: Pisuke
  • Morality Pet: Subverted. Pisuke isn't a pet. It's there to die to serve as a warning that he's going too fast and risking his health.
  • No, I Am Behind You
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: The basis of his martial art, Honshiken.
  • Red Baron
  • Speed Blitz: His fight is hard for non-master level fighters to even see.

Sakaki's Elder Sister

Don't know her name, so sue.[please verify]

Suzuki Hajime

Sakaki and Hongo friend and refreee.

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