Kenshiro

**Kenshiro** is the main protagonist of the *Fist of the North Star* series. He fought Ryu from Street Fighter in episode 2 of Mini Rumble Season 2.

## Description

Kenshiro was originally an orphan and apparently a descendant of the Hokuto Sōke bloodline. As a baby he was adopted by a man named Ryuken, the 63rd successor of Hokuto Shinken style, who would name Ken after Ryuken's older brother: Kenshirō Kasumi as they both shared a Big-Dipper-shaped scar.

Kenshiro would watch his other adoptive brothers train in Hokuto Shinken, and one day even decided to join them.

This would eventually lead up to a fight to who would be Ryuken's successor, and despite how young and naive he was compared to the others he was an ultimately promising student and successfully earned the title of Ryuken's successor.

A nuclear war broke out and created a nuclear fallout, Ryuken died as well so Kenshiro ended up leaving with his fiancée Yuria to find a future for themselves in this new post-apocalyptic world. Unfortunately, some Lord named Shin from another rival school of Hokuto Shinken called Nanto Seiken decided to take Yuria for himself.

During this abduction, Shin was able to beat Kenshiro and give him the seven scars we see on his chest today. After a year of ravaging wastelands, Kenshiro would gain cunning and killer instincts needed for survival in this new world.

## Trivia

* Given the time period of Kenshiro's birth in 197X and the apocalypse started in 199X, his true age is up to debate among the readers. If Kenshiro was born in late 1970 and the Apocalypse started in the early 1990s Kenshiro was probably a young teenager and thus the world that Kenshiro lived as a saviour happened later. However if Kenshiro was born in the mid 1970's and the apocalypse started in the mid 1990's Kenshiro was in his early 20's when he first met Lin and Bat. According to Han, Kenshiro was sent to the mainland 25 years prior to his and Kenshiro's battle, implying that Kenshiro is 25-27 years of age around this time, but this has not been confirmed.
* According to Buronson, Kenshiro is specifically based on the martial artist Bruce Lee.
	+ Kenshiro pays numerous tributes to Bruce Lee, ranging from his jumping stance to his fighting style and high-pitched battle cries, as well as similar scenes as the ones in which the icon himself appeared in numerous films, such as the fight against Mad Sarge and his men.
	+ Kenshiro's appearance during the first three seasons of the *Hokuto no Ken* anime closely resembles that of Lee.
* The setting of the series is based on the film *Mad Max*, along with some influence from the earlier 1970s post-apocalyptic manga *Violence Jack*. Kenshiro's standard outfit looks similar to *Mad Max* protagonist Max Rockatansky, whereas his topless battle outfit looks similar to Bruce Lee. Kenshiro also often finds himself fighting enemies similar to ones fought by Max and Violence Jack; for example, his brother Jagi resembles Lord Humongous from *Mad Max*.
* Kenshiro's character model can be swapped with Kazuma Kiryu (protagonist of *Yakuza*/*Ryu ga Gotoku*) in *Hokuto ga Gotoku*.
	+ This is a reference to him having the same Japanese voice actor as Kiryu.
* Kenshiro is given the nicknames "Ken" (by his friends), "The Man With Seven Scars" (by both antagonists and minor characters) and "Man of Hokuto" (by his enemies).

### XVX

* Kenshiro's the first anime/manga character to appear in Mini Rumble Season 2.