Wakatsuki Takeshi

Wakatsuki Takeshi ( ; "Takeshi Wakatsuki"), also known as The Wild Tiger (, Mōko), is the affiliated fighter of Furumi Pharmaceuticals; he represented the company during the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. Takeshi is the longest-serving active affiliated Kengan fighter and has the highest win record of all affiliated fighters. Two years later he entered the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament as a representative of the Kengan Association.
== Appearance ==
Takeshi is a powerfully imposing individual with dense well-defined musculature. He has short blonde hair, thick blonde facial hair on his chin, dark eyebrows, a chiselled cheek structure and discerning eyes. Takeshi tends to wear tight-fitting tops that accentuate his already muscular frame, as well as simple pants and footwear to finish off his outfits.
After his battle with Julius Reinhold, the right side of Takeshi's head was left shaved, and remained that way for the rest of the Kengan Annihilation tournament. His hair has since returned to its original state since then and the skin tone difference in the side of his face that had been grafted is still present.
In the past, Takeshi dyed his hair black, before reverting to his natural hair colour.
== Personality ==
Takeshi is quiet, yet easy to befriend. He's highly analytical, making observations some people wouldn't notice. When fighting, he's incredibly ferocious, according to his ephithet, but will change his strategy at the last minute if needed. This was shown during his battle with Julius, where he took all of Julius's blows, then defeated him with a vicious kick to the head, after he deduced he couldn't win through body strikes. He values strength above most other things, though he is also humble and modest, and honestly admits to being nervous when entering a fight. Despite his calm-and-collected personality, Takeshi is surprisingly sloppy.
Takeshi is also very cautious. He does not usually share his techniques and tends to keep them as a secret. He also doesn't like to show his injuries received in combat to avoid information leaking to his opponents, just like after his fight against Julius Reinhold, Takeshi refused medical attention so as not to disclose confidential information about himself to his next oponent.
He hides a side of himself that does not mind sacrificing his physical integrity in order to face Kanoh Agito and get his revenge, proving that he's also quite obsessive and thirsty for a rematch against his greatest obstacle.
== History ==
Takeshi was different from the moment he was born, having a birth weight of 12150g, due to his body's abnormally high muscle density. He was unable to live a normal life because of his condition, and lived inside Furumi Pharmaceuticals' secret laboratory until the age of seven, when his future employer Furumi Heihachi helped him learn to regulate his strength by encouraging him to punch him as hard as he could. As a child, he sent five judo club members to the hospital after they picked a fight with him, without taking a single scratch himself.
Takeshi has had the longest career out of any Kengan Association fighter, winning a total of 306 matches and earning over three trillion yen for Furumi Pharmaceuticals prior to the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. However, he has lost twice: once to Hatsumi Sen and once to Kanoh Agito. His loss to Kanoh 8 years ago resulted in an injured ankle which never completely healed, and remains quite literally his Achilles' heel to this day. Ever since then, Takeshi has been waiting for a chance to get his revenge against Kanoh.
== Plot ==
=== Kengan Ashura ===
Takeshi watched Tokita Ohma's first match against Lihito, and after being asked by Heihachi, he remarked that he might be able to defeat him.
Later, during Ohma's fight with Sekibayashi Jun, Takeshi explained to Imai Cosmo about what effects Ohma's transformative technique had. With Ohma defeating Sekibayashi, Takeshi was then surprised by Katahara Metsudo appearance and declaration of a Kengan Annihilation Tournament.
Onboard the S.S. Kengan, both he and Cosmo were confronted by assassins sent to defeat them and take their places as company representatives. Showing no restraint, he defeated the one that challenged him in a single strike, cratering the wall behind the strike. He then told Cosmo that he didn't know how to hold back.
Before his fight with Murobuchi Gozo, Furumi Heihachi found him with headphones in, assuming he was listening to music. Takeshi revealed that there's none being played, the headphones simply there to help focus his nerves. Representing Furumi Pharmaceuticals, Takeshi fought against Gozo and from the offset, he pulled no punches, opening the fight with a full-powered hit meant to defeat Gozo in a single strike. However, Gozo endured it and struck back with a furious rush, though his attacks proved ineffective as Takeshi easily blocked all of them. He then took Gozo's final strike and countered with a straight right that hurled Murobuchi across the entire arena, twisting his chest inwards from the force. After the fight, when Akiyama Kaede congratulated him for overwhelming his opponent, he replied that while Gozo was strong enough to make his hairs stand on end, he was stronger.
Takeshi fought Julius Reinhold in the second round. Their first strike at each other shook the entire arena but, despite closely matching Julius in a battle of full-powered punches, he was put on the back foot due to Julius' impressive durability. As a result, Takeshi was forced to use Blast Core, heightening Julius' caution and forcing him to keep his distance. However, Julius noticed Blast Core's weakness and countered Takeshi's next Blast Core with a bear hug. Despite breaking free of the bear hug, Julius inflicted a particularly savage chain of attacks upon Takeshi, including dragging his face across the arena wall. With Julius dominating, Takeshi feinted with Blast Core to distract Julius before knocking him out with a vicious kick to the head. After the fight, in spite of his severe injuries, Takeshi reflected that the biggest loss was that the other fighters, including Kanoh Agito, had seen his Blast Core, making it ineffective as an ace in the hole.
Takeshi was briefly shown attacking Hayami Katsumasa's Guardians during their attempted takeover of Ganryu Island, using Blast Core to punch a foot soldier.
Takeshi fought Muteba Gizenga in the third round. Opening the fight with a blow that cracked the arena floor, he used the moment to strike while Muteba was off balance, though Muteba danced around him. Takeshi then changed tactics to try and use his grappling against Muteba, but it failed to work. Switching back to karate, Takeshi rushed Muteba, and knowing that his most successful gambit was to let him strike first, Takeshi let Muteba strike him with a near-fatal hit to the neck. Using it to determine Muteba's position, Takeshi lands a hit with Blast Core and sent the mercenary flying into a wall and crushing his right arm in the process. With Muteba weighing up the situation, he promptly forfeited the match for fear of even greater damage.
Prior to his semifinal match against Ohma, Takeshi encountered his opponent to be in the corridors. The two determined that they'd settle who progressed to the finals their own way, regardless of what their employers were doing. When their match began, Takeshi immediately attacked Ohma with a relentless rush and quickly took the advantage, knocking Ohma away. As Takeshi struck again, Ohma countered with Demonsbane, but the imperfect form could only knock him back.
Returning to his feet, Takeshi resumed his relentless rush and continued to wear down Ohma's strength. Seeking to end the match, Takeshi feinted a left punch with a full-powered right. However, Ohma's Demonsbane formlessly readjusted to become a kick to the head, sending Takeshi destructively hurtling away from the both his and Ohma's power. Despite his injuries, Takeshi fruitlessly tried to continue fighting, but was soon defeated by Ohma. After the match, Takeshi told Furumi that he'd make sure he'd make him chairman next time.
Recovering from his loss, Takeshi watched the finals of the tournament with other fighters in the stands behind the commentators.
=== Kengan Omega ===
Along with Kaolan Wongsawat, Takeshi was one of the first of the thirteen fighters picked to represent the Kengan Association in the upcoming Kengan Association Versus Purgatory Tournament.
The day of the competition, he and the other representatives left for the tournament. While on the plane to the competition he confronted Akoya Seishu over Murobuchi Gozo's temporary retreat from Kengan matches due to Akoya's brutal beating. Akoya then swore to "execute justice upon Takeshi one day". He commented the first two rounds with the other fighters. As he was about to enter the third match to turn the tables into Team Kengan's favor he was stopped by Julius who entered to fight Toa Mudo. Takeshi and Ohma got amazed as Julius was knocked down by a techinque strikingly similar to Ohma's Demonsbane. Later he witnessed Julius's new skill and after the latter's win he complimented him with a high five.
After Kanoh's win against Lu Tian, he and the other fighters met the Purgatory gladiators in the middle of the ring to explain how the Worm was acting behind the scenes of the competition. After gladiator Rolón Donaire reminded everyone how also the Kengan side could have Worms among them, Takeshi and Ohkubo strated questioning their most suspicious teammate: Hayami Masaki.
Just before the eighth match, Takeshi wanted to go out as the next fighter to counter Arashiyama Jurota's judo with his sheer strength. However, he was stopped by Masaki, who decided to take his place; winning the match in his stead. Before the ninth match, after the elimination of the first pick rule, Takeshi reflected on when to use Akoya as their fighter, before relenting at letting Akoya be the next fighter, to avoid relying on him as the tiebreaker.
After Okubo Naoya's win against Terashi, Takeshi entered the ring for the twelfth round, facing Fei Wangfang. During their match, while Takeshi's power and toughness put Wangfang at an initial disadvantage, Wangfang's mastery of multiple styles evened the playing field. However, with Wangfang's master, The Other Tokita Niko, demanding that he utilized the Niko Style, Wangfang obliged by baiting Takeshi with the crane stance, before redirecting his attack with Weeping Willow, touting himself as "The Tiger's Vessel". Though confounded by Wangfang's repetoire of Niko Style techniques unique to him, Takeshi eventually found an opening and blasted Wangfang away with a powerful straight. Despite that, Wangfang maintained composure.
While Takeshi managed to get through Wangfang's defences, if only for a moment, the former attempted to bait Wangfang to use his Advance, only for it to backfire upon Wangfang revealing the Divine Devil technique. Takeshi struggled against Wangfang's enhanced abilities, and while he managed to land a few good hits even with him in that state, Takeshi was ultimately knocked out by Wangfang, while the latter would succumb from overuse of Divine Devil. Upon regaining consciousness, Takeshi was informed by both Lihito and Kanoh Agito that their match was considered a draw, with Wangfang on death's door.
== Power & Abilities ==
Takeshi has an abnormally high muscle density, 52 times higher than average, and weighs almost 200kg for his size, allowing him to deal extremely powerful blows. As a child, it allowed him to fight opponents much larger than himself. His muscles are so dense, it also serves as a means of protection for normally vulnerable spots like the back of his neck. He is one of the strongest fighters in the Kengan matches, having defeated countless opponents with big names.
His right straight punch is his strongest weapon; an example of its power is when he struck Gozo with it, the man's body was highly damaged as a result. Sekibayashi commented that one of Takeshi's normal punches equates to a knockout blow
While he originally fought with pure brute strength, after being defeated by Agito, he focused on improving his technique. In addition to Rokushin Kaikan karate, Takeshi added two "aces in the hole" in order to take revenge: the "Blast Core" and grappling.
The secret eight-year training Takeshi undertook gained him techniques on par with career grapplers. Muteba noted that on technique alone, Takeshi's grappling is a level below top-class at best, but his insane strength makes it overall 'barely' top-class. Since Takeshi is superhumanly strong, karate is usually enough to win a fight, but when he is in a situation that prevents him from using it at its maximum, he incorporates Blast Core and/or grappling to be able to fight more easily.
Despite valuing his physical strength the most, he is not a typical brute force user, being a very tactical person who can create and implement strategies and counterattack right in the middle of a match. After his fight with Julius Reinhold, Takeshi had to adopt a Southpaw Karate stance for his functioning eye have a larger range of vision. After the tournament, Takeshi started developing tactics that would counter the Niko Style and other similar styles.
=== Blast Core ===
Blast Core (, Bakushin) is a technique he invented as his "ace in the hole" for Kanoh Agito. This is a powerful punch which involves compressing all of his muscles to a single point in the centre of his body and then unleashing it; the form of this technique bears a striking resemblance to the no-motion reverse punch of traditional karate. While powerful, this technique places a lot of strain on his damaged right ankle, which keeps him from throwing it many times in succession. In addition, its range is shorter than a normal right straight punch. Takeshi has also shown to use this technique as a way to break Julius's bearhug by compressing his muscles which allowed him to explode his way out of the hold.
== Etymology ==
* Wakatsuki means "young, immature" (若) (waka) and "Zelkova tree" (槻) (tsuki).
* Takeshi means "samurai, warrior" (武士).
== Notes & Trivia ==
* Takeshi's muscle density is said to be due to the extremely rare condition known as "Superman Syndrome". In reality, "Superman syndrome" is a relatively common genetic condition that does not affect muscle growth or density. The more likely genetic mutation that was meant is probably myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy.
* Takeshi, Akiyama Sakura and Sekibayashi Jun often hang out together.
* Takeshi is modelled after World War II-era bodybuilder Wakaki Takemaru.
* Despite being a student of Rokushin Kaikan karate, he was formally expelled for taking part in underground matches. However, Takeshi still maintains a mentorship relation with his sensei Ao Kenji.
* He enjoys drinking at home.
* In Chapter 216, Sekibayashi mentions five powerful opponents Takeshi has defeated but gives no specific names; three of these figures are believed to reference real-life martial artists, with the bottom right figure representing Rickson Gracie, the figure in the middle of the top row representing Georges St-Pierre, and the top right figure representing Oyama Masutatsu.