Toa Mudo

*"I only brandish my fist for my own sake. To prove to the world... No... To the heavens above, that I am the strongest."*
— Toa Mudo to his brother Rona Mudo

**Toa Mudo** (トア・ムドー, *Toa Mudō*), also known as **The Beast of Destruction** (破 (は) 壊 (かい) 獣 (じゅう) , *Hakai-jū*), is an A-list Purgatory gladiator and the former openweight champion of Heroic Tales. He fights in the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament as one of Purgatory's 13 representatives.

## Appearance

Toa is a humungous, musclebound dark-skinned man with light-colored hair styled into an upright little ponytail, mustache, and goatee. He also has tribal tattoos that are present throughout his body.

## Personality

Toa is a serious man who firmly believes in his strength and ideals. He looks down on people he doesn't deem worthy opponents.

He dismisses his heritage as a Maori warrior. He instead deems himself a Seeker who pursues the title of the strongest. His ambition to prove himself as the strongest has led him to declare that he will even surpass even his ancestor, Jonah Mudo.

Toa's most significant weaknesses are both his ego and pride. Those flaws were why he lost his fight against Julius Reinhold when he believed that he could take on his opponent's fully enhanced strike instead of trying to avoid it. As Rolón Donaire puts it, Toa's passivity costs him the victory.

## History

A member of a Maori tribe in New Zealand, Toa Mudo is the descendant of the legendary Maori hero, Jonah Mudo.

Thanks to his monstrous strength, Toa shaped the terrain of the Fiordland National Park.

At some point, Toa became Heroic Tales's openweight champion and was later scouted by Toyoda Idemitsu for Purgatory, albeit not without trouble on Idemitsu's end.

After joining the Underground world of martial arts, Toa fought his older brother, Rona Mudo and won, to Rona's shock. Knowing that his brother joined the underground matches, Rona tried to talk sense to him using their ancestor's power in underground matches would disgrace the Mudo name. However, Toa couldn't care less about his legacy. Instead, he intended to prove himself as "the strongest," arrogantly declaring that he will surpass even "God."

Toa would eventually come to fight Rolón for the title of King. Despite his superior strength and power, Toa lost.

## Plot

Toa commented on the first round of the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament with Arashiyama Jurota.

He entered the stage in the third round to face off against Julius. As the fight began, though they were initially even in regards to strength, Toa's techniques allowed him to knock down Julius twice throughout the match. Upon the second knockdown, Toa received a powerful blow that circumvented his defenses. Recovering, Toa prepared to counter his attack in a final clash, only realize too late that Julius' explosive release of his muscles prevented his counter, getting knocked out and losing the match.

After getting treated in the infirmatory, Toa came back to his gate with Falcon and Jurota before the final match of the tournament to comfort Liu Dongcheng over the deaths of Naidan Mönkhbat and Fei Wangfang.

## Powers and Abilities

Toa is a mighty fighter who is strong enough to become an openweight champion in an underground martial arts promotion, shape the terrain of the Fiordland National Park and be able to fight on par with someone of Julius's caliber. Unlike Julius, Toa inherited his strength from Jonah Mudo, a legendary Maori hero who defended his country from foreign invaders.

Toa fights using the traditional martial art passed down the Mudo family, centered around defense and counters. It has two forms: **Wai** (水, *Mizu*; lit. *"Water"*), where the user goes limp to disperse the impact, and **Hau** (風, *Kaze*; lit. *"Wind"*) which consists of bending and diverting the flow of an attack. Fundamentally, the two are similar to the Water Kata and the Redirection Kata of the Niko Style.

### Maungamanawa

The **Mudo Family Secret Technique: Maungamanawa** (ムドー家 (か) 秘 (ひ) 奥 (おう) 義 (ぎ) 呼吸する山 (マウンガマナワ) , *Mudō-ka Hiōgi: Maungamanawa*; lit. *"Breathing Mountain"*) is a combination of Hau and Wai. Toa shifts the flow of the power of his enemy's blow to reduce the damage and then returns the attack to the opponent. Though not stated outright, Wakatsuki Takeshi and Tokita Ohma notes that the move is very similar to the Niko Style's Ultimate Secret Technique, Demonsbane.

Unlike Demonsbane, Maungamanawa lacks the use of a Flame and Adamantine Kata equivalent. Without a Flame Kata equivalent, the user cannot recheck and readjust their counter's position to still achieve its goal. Without an Adamantine Kata equivalent, the counter is only as powerful as the blow it receives. Therefore, while it's still a powerful counter, Maungamanawa lacks Demonsbane's versatility and strength.

## Trivia

* Toa's sport of experience is rugby. He also has a special hairstylist that handles his signature haircut.
* Toa is modeled after All Blacks player Jonah Lomu.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 73 (Omega)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Toa Mudo's character profile
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 72 (Omega)
4. ↑ *Presumably a numerous amount of other wins as the openweight champion of the Heroic Tales underground martial arts promotion, plus wins as an A-list gladiator for Purgatory.*
5. ↑ *1 loss to Rolón Donaire prior to the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament(ΩCh133)*
6. ↑ *1 loss to Julius Reinhold in the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament(ΩCh75)*
7. ↑ Chapter 74 (Omega)