Sanjou Isao

— Sanjou Isao officially announcing his future retirement.

**Sanjou Isao** (三條 勲さんじょう いさお, *Sanjō Isao*; "*Isao Sanjou*") is the boss of Lança Mortal and the biological father of Aguri, Sanjou Ichiri and Legba. He is widely praised as the living reincarnation of the legendary Besouro Mangangá. He is considered as one of the most powerful criminals in Brazil, both in terms of territorial power and martial abilities.

To the surprise of everyone in Lança Mortal, Isao announced his future retirement and only the fittest of his children would be allowed to inherit of his posssessions, assets and legacy, setting the beginnings of the Inheritance War.

## Appearance

Isao is a handsome and subtly powerful looking individual with fair skin, Asiatic eyes with kitsune-like eyebrows, subtle tear troughs and dark hair set into styled braided dreadlocks. He has always been seen wearing a smart pinstriped suit. His eyes' irises are unique, displaying motifs and details different from the average human, a trait his children inherited as well.

His appearance is uncannily similar to the famous capoeirista Besouro Mangangá, mostly due to his dreadlocks. He also seems to have the same height as Besouro, with a similar body type. Prior to the events of the manga, Isao's haitcut was much different and had shorter hair.

Image Gallery

## Personality

He is assumed to have an influential and magnetic personality, having been able take over a rival gang after initially been held hostage by them. Though not fully mentioned, Isao seems to have faith in Ichiri: the fact he was angered when Aguri claimed to be his "only daughter" proves he still cares for Ichiri.

— Isao when he meets Icchi for the first time in years.

This was furthermore proven when Isao meet Ichiri for the first time in years, seemingly rushing to see her face and suddenly triggered a heartwarming memory of him holding her as a baby. In his memory, Isao surprisingly expressed great joy and happiness, a very rare side of him as he mostly known for his stoic and emotionless attitude.

— Isao explaining to Amoroso why he made the Inheritance War.

Though not implied, it is obvious Isao does not feel any remorses for creating the Inheritance Battle and witnessing his children killing each others. He views his assets as "power" and consider his inheritances above all else, including his children. Isao only wanted children for the sake of his legacy to continue in good hands, he never aimed to have a family as he stated that only a strong person can make good uses of his assets. He believes distributing equally his assets as the potential "seed" to cause problems such as inheritance disputes, thus distributing "power" and weaken it as a result. When Ichiri stated she was not interested in winning his assets and wants to be forgotten by him, Isao expressed likely disappointment.

## Biography

### Past & Youth

Sanjou Isao's origins are unknown, though it is possibly he was part of the criminal underworld prior to the series' beginning. At some point in his life, he meet an unnamed woman and become the father of Aguri but would leave his first lover for unknown reasons.

Isao was also the lover of Sanjou Hiromi, the daughter of Carlos Manoel, the boss of "Bandeira de Bahia" (a rival gang to Lança Mortal). Manoel wanted to keep her away from the organization, so he allowed the two to marry and sent them to Japan; there they gave birth to a child they named "Sanjou Ichiri". Lança planned on kidnapping the two to gain an advantageous position over Bandeira, so they sent B.J. However, the Sanjous resisted, B.J. was ordered to capture Ichiri and asked Pedro and Aruna to raise her as a hostage in order to force the Sanjous into obedience. It took several months for the fake family to wait for the Sanjous to answer.

During Isao's forced work with Lança, they found out he was a capoeirista who was a student of the revered Mestre Cobrinha Dourada, the former disciple of the legendary Besouro Mangangá. With the fact he is a student of Cobrinha and with his influential personality, Isao started to gather and attract people around him at a startling rate, eventually culminating in him dominating and leading Lança Mortal.

Because B.J. had been the one to kidnap him and his daughter, Isao had the man's left leg cut off after he became the boss of Lança Mortal. Because Ichiri was taken to Japan by her new caretakers, Isao believed his daughter was deceased and would meet another woman to make another child.

### Present

At some point during the storyline, Isao announced that he would be retiring in 5 years and would endow all of his money and properties to his children; however, he would only give his possessions to the strongest of his children, thus igniting the Inheritance War.

In the favelas of Brazil, Isao dropped out of the sky and ambushed a gang rival alongside his eldest daughter Aguri. He asked why she acted without his permission and Aguri replied that she was only helping to increase their wealth, adding that it would soon be hers. Isao replied that it would have to wait until she had won the inheritance ceremony eliciting Aguri to state that she couldn't possibly lose and that she was his only daughter now; with Isao glaring at her furiously for the comment, she quietly apologized.

## Abilities

### Mental Abilities

Due to his enigmatic and influential personality, he has managed to rise up from a captured man into one of Brazil's most powerful crime lords with his intelligence and cunningness alone and managed to influence Lança Mortal's gangsters to join his cause. It is possible he resort to manipulative skills and deception, as he knows the very definition of Malandragem since he learned it from Capoeira.

### Physical Abilities

Being a direct-line disciple to the legendary Besouro Mangangá, it can be assumed that Isao is a very powerful capoeirista. Back in the favelas of Brazil, he was shown to able to deftly descend from a hang-glider and gun down the men attacking him without any visible effort, even landing on his feet after dropping from the hang-glider from several meters high without any injuries. When falling from the hand-glider, he was able to shoot all the enemies below him using pistol firearms only with great accuracy.

### Fighting Style

Isao's fighting style is capoeira, though the extent of his skills and techniques remains unknown so far. It is not known which style of capoeira he uses, possibly a "street-fighting" style. Since most praises him as the "living reincarnation", it's possibly due to his capoeira skills are deemed to be strong.

### Weapons

* **Firearms**: Isao is capable to wield two pistols and use them with great accuracy against multiple foes.

### Others

* **Hand-glider**: Was seen using it once, seems to be proficient in it's use.

## Relationships

### Family

* Unnamed first wife: This woman was Aguri's mother. It is unknown why Isao decided to either divorced or leave her. She sports a striking similarity to her daughter, who inherited her genes and appearance as well physical abilities.
* Aguri: His eldest child, whom she tends to be playful with him at times. Aguri likes to cause troubles and do things at her own will, much to his annoyance.
* Sanjou Hiromi: His second wife, Isao looked very happy with her according to Ichiri's memories.
* Sanjou Ichiri: Isao seems to put a lot of thrust to his second daughter, as he explained to Bernardo how much he loves Ichiri despite being distant.
* Gila Iantha: Isao's third and current wife, who is known for her wicked and possessive personality. It is unknown what Isao sees and thinks of Gila, though she seems to express an incredibly possessive love toward him. Iantha despises Hiromi for personal reasons and plotted to get Hiromi killed via poison.
* Legba: His third and final child, from the union of him and Iantha. It is unknown how Isao sees Legba and how his son sees his father, though Legba is quite enthusiastic to be part of the Inheritance War.

### Friends & Allies

* Mestre Cobrinha Dourada: His master who taught him capoeira and acts as a guide for Aguri's progress in strength.

### Rivals & Enemies

* B.J.: Isao bore a grudge against B.J. for kidnapping him and his daughter and eventually had the man's leg cut off after becoming the boss of Lança Mortal. B.J. in return also bore a grudge against Isao to the point he will make Sanjou Ichiri part of the Inheritance War as a revenge against Isao.

## Quotes

— Isao explaining to B.J. the definition on Malandragem.

— Isao giving an "advice" to Bernardo Joker, which became B.J.'s plan to have his revenge against Isao.

— Sanjou Isao tauntingly asked Bernardo if he could've predicted the outcome of his punishment.

— Isao upon meeting Mestre Amoroso.

## Notes & Trivia

* Because of his actions and decisions on creating the Inheritance War makes him a dangerous and unpredictable man, which also led to a series of events that put Ichiri into suffering for a part of her life, he is considered as the central antagonist of the series.
* Isao has three children, all of whom have different mothers:
	+ Aguri, his daughter who he fathered with his first ex-wife before Hiromi. She was 15 years old at the announcement of Isao's Inheritance War.
	+ Sanjou Ichiri, his second child who he fathered with Sanjou Hiromi.
	+ Legba, born from him and Gila Iantha. Legba was born after Pedro and Aruna went into hiding with Icchi and was 10 years old at the announcement of Isao's Inheritance War.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 17 (page 17)
2. ↑ Chapter 17 (page 6)
3. ↑ Chapter 17 (page 7)
4. ↑ Chapter 17 (pages 15-17)
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 18 (page 1)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 29 (pages 15-16)
7. ↑ Chapter 18 (page 11)
8. ↑ Chapter 29 (pages 5-14)
9. ↑ Chapter 29 (pages 5-6)
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 18 (page 10)