Kenshiro (Hokuto no Ken)

Kenshiro is the main protagonist from the Hokuto no Ken anime and manga.

Kenshiro was originally an orphan from Taiseiden, Shura and a descendent of the Hokuto Sōke bloodline. He was sent to the mainland by Jukei as a baby to be adopted by Ryuken, master of Hokuto Shinken. Ryuken named him after his older brother Kenshirō Kasumi, since they shared the same Big Dipper-shaped birthmark on their heads.

Kenshiro watched his adoptive brothers train in the art of Hokuto Shinken and decided to join them in the fight to become Ryuken's successor. Despite being younger and more naive than his older brothers, Kenshiro was a promising student who ultimately earned the title of successor.

Personality
Although still emotionally repressed and stoic like many male heroes in 1980s media, Kenshirō is notable in manga/anime culture of the time for being a sensitive and kind-hearted man who broke the established "men don't cry" cultural stereotype. He is famous for openly lamenting, if not outright despairing over, the suffering of innocents and the deaths of his few noble enemies. He is also shown to be more openly unhinged on the rare occasions where he does get angry, and rather than deny or attempt to rationalize it, he fully accepts his rage and his wish for revenge, along with the motivation they give him, disregarding any moral ambiguity.

Abilities
Hokuto Shin Ken is an ancient Chinese martial art, dating back 1,800 years from China. It is notably the martial art that defines the protagonists of the Hokuto no Ken series, who are its heir to the school's succession.

"Hokuto Shin Ken" is named after the asterism Hokuto Shichi Sei, which is the Japanese name as the Big Dipper. Kenshirō states that it is the incarnation of Indra when fighting Devil Rebirth.

Techniques

 * Kentō Shadan (Fist Stealing Discarding Resolution): A technique Kenshiro used to penetrate through Kaioh's defense, which weakened his arms.
 * Dan Kotsukin (Cutting Bone and Tendon): Killed Scorpio in the manga. Causes an opponent's muscles to self-destruct.
 * Enkan Zanshū Kyaku (Ring Beheading Layered Leg): Anime-only technique in which Kenshiro defeats a group of enemies with a spin kick.
 * Ganzan Ryōzan Ha (Rocky Mountain Splitting Wave): A knife-hand strike that crushes the victim's skull. Noteworthy only because it is used more than once by Kenshiro and is an extremely straightforward maneuver in spite of its elaborate name. Does not even use any of the body's pressure points. Kenshiro uses this attack at least three times: once against one of Shin's men, a second against Taki's murderer/ambusher and the last time against Kiba Daiō.
 * Gedokujutsu (Antidote Technique): Cures venom in one's body.
 * Gekitsui Shi (Strike-Down Fingers): Kenshiro strikes his opponent's forehead with four fingers. When he moves his fingers the opponent is left with 3 seconds to live. Kenshiro used this on Targel after he killed Bella.
 * Gōkin Bundan Kyaku (Steel Muscle Cutting Kick): Weakens muscles; used on Burō.
 * Goshi Retsu Dan (Five Finger Violent Bullets): Explodes fingers. Used on Madara and Club.
 * Hachimon Kudan (Eight Agonies Nine Breaks): A technique that induces eight sensations of pain, before the body dismembers into nine parts. This technique was cancelled against Jagi during a flashback.
 * Hagan Ken (Face Breaking Fist): Caves in face, used on Madara, only named in anime series.
 * Hakkei no Hō (Method of Internal Energy Release): Stops projectiles thrown towards one's body.
 * Hichō Kūzan Pa (Flying Bird Empty Beheading Wave): A flying kick that Kenshiro used to counter the Nanto Komori Ken.
 * Hiei Ken (Flying Defense Fist): A flying kick used to counter Shin's Gokuto Ken. Named in the TV series.
 * Hikō Fūji (Pressure Point Sealing): Resists pressure points, used to break Amiba's pressure point hold.
 * Honsha Bakuretsu Ken (Spilling Wheel Exploding Fist): Anime-only technique which defeats a large group of thugs at once. Used in episode 58 against a group of Souther's men.
 * Hyakuretsu Dan (Hundred Crack Snap): A prototype version of the Hyakuretsu Ken from the series. Kenshiro uses this technique as a finishing move against the Taishan Temple assassin Baiken Kinbu.
 * Hyakuretsu Ken (Hundred Crack Fist): Kenshiro's trademark technique; the one most frequently associated with him. It is characterized as a strike of over a hundred blows, delivered at rapid speed to the designated 708 Keiraku Hikō (Pressure Points) on the adversary's body. Each attack is usually accompanied by shouting, "Atatatatatatatatata!! Ho wata!".
 * Hyappō Zan (Every-Way Beheading): An enhanced version of the Four Way Slash which kills several more enemies. Depicted only in the anime series as well.
 * Jarai Kō (Snake Thunder Bite): A rushing punch.
 * Jūha Zan (Soft-Breaking Slash): A technique Kenshiro used against Heart that allowed him to penetrate his gummy flesh and strike his vital points.
 * Jūji Zan (Cross Slash): Kenshiro used this technique to defeat Shin during their rematch, striking his vital points in the cross-shape of Shin's emblem. The victim is given only minutes to live.
 * Jūretsu Ha (Column Break) Anime-only technique in which Ken destroys a single line of thugs.
 * Kaikotsu Ken (Bone Crushing Fist): Two fingers to the forehead which causes the skeleton to explode from the body; used to kill the Colonel.
 * Kokū Zan (Void Slash): Kenshiro developed this technique to counter Shin's aerial flying kick, but it was also used to counter the South Star Human Cannonball technique. In the latter case, the adversary was left completely paralyzed (Afterwards, Kenshiro fires this enemy out of a cannon).
 * Kōretsu Ha (Steel-Rending Grasp): Destroyed Uighur's shoulder with six fingers only.
 * Kōshu Gyakusetsu (Hanging Reverse Break): Twisted head around on a Taisan Guard.
 * Kōshu Hagan Ken (Neck Twisting Face Breaking Fist): A knee kick to the face used against Diamond, causing his head to split open in half.
 * Kōshu Hatō Ken (Successive Neck-Breaking Head Fist) A kick to the back of the opponent's head which causes the body to split in half. Depicted only in the anime series, where its used against Buckham, the leader of the God's Army Elite Forces.
 * Kūkyoku Ryūbu (Empty Polar Current Dance) An evading technique used to avoid the Golan Colonel's boomerangs.
 * Kyomu Shidan (Nothingness Attack): Erases memory; used on Jackal's Warriors.
 * Kyōsatsu Shitotsu Ken (Chest Murder Thrust Fist): Anime-only technique in which Kenshiro strikes the opponent's chest with hand thrusts, which then explodes.
 * Meidatsu Hōkai Ken (Life-Snatching Collapse Fist) Anime-only technique used by Ken to destroy an undead minion of Zaria.
 * Musō Tensei (Nil-Thought Rebirth): The ultimate Hokuto Shin Ken technique, which had never before been fully mastered by anyone in the 1800 year history of the style. Kenshiro was the first to master it, followed by Raoh. Ken achieved this by becoming consumed with sorrow to the point where he had achieved communion with the deathless absolute emptiness or void spoken of in Buddhism. At times it enables him to be at one with the spirits of deceased fighters (Toki, the Nanto Roku Sei warriors), and in the second series, it enables his spirit to fight Kaioh even though he is in a coma (following the first fight with Kaioh, after Shachi escapes with his body). Its mastery was perfected after Kenshiro learned the secrets of the Hokuto Soke in Taiseiden, Asura, in the second TV series.
 * Nishi Shinkū Ha (Two-Finger Nil-Space Grasp): Deflects arrows back at attackers. This technique took Spade's eye.
 * Rakan Geki (Arhat Attack): A series of rapid hand-thrusts.
 * Rekka Gyakuryu Ken (Raging Flame Reverse-Flow Punch): This technique causes the opponent's throat to close, preventing the escape of air (or in one victim's case, fire). The adversary chokes for a few moments before exploding. This technique is administered in the same manner as the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken.
 * Renkan Kumite (Surrounding Exercise): Defeats a group of enemies using only basic techniques.
 * Ryū Geki Ko (Dragon Attacks Tiger): Like the Nanto Ko Ha Ryū, it puts the victim in a false state of death. Used by Kenshiro on Rei.
 * Ryūsei Hagan Kyaku (Meteorite Face Breaking Kick): A head-splitting kick that killed Denki Saitō.
 * Seiei Kō (Sobering Sharp Hole): Kenshiro strikes his opponent's Ryugan, located in the chest. This causes the victim's body to become like a mass of bare nerves, causing extreme pain with the slightest touch. Kenshiro uses this technique on Jagi as revenge for Yuria before finally killing him with a blow to the head.
 * Seikyokurin (Saint Zenith Ring): A stance used to signal an unwilling opponent in case of an emergency.
 * Senjukai Ken (Thousand Hand Destruction Fist): A more powerful and devastating version of the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken, the technique increases the severity of pain by increasing the number of punches to one thousand; Kenshiro used this punch on Kemada after he pried Ko's necklace from his neck.
 * Shichishi Kihei Zan (Seven Death Cavalry Kill): A flying technique against enemies on horseback. Ken first wounded Raoh with this, cutting his face and breaking his helmet.
 * Shichishi Seiten (Seven Star Points of Death): Kenshiro uses this to strike Devil Rebirth's vital points in the shape of the Big Dipper and defeat him.
 * Shichishi Tōki Dan (Seven Death Aura Cut): Tōki no Aura gathering. Frightened Kokuō. This technique was only named in 1986 movie promotional materials.
 * Shihō Zan (Four Direction Beheading): A spin kick which kills four surrounding enemies.
 * Sōkin Jizai Ken (Reeling Muscle At-Will Fist): Anime-only technique which causes two rival gang leaders, Baron of the Scorpions and Junk of the Snakes, to embrace each other literally to death.
 * Sōkin Jizai Kyaku (Tendon Pulling Will Kick): Kenshiro performs a series of two kicks at the pressure points in the neck, sending a wave of paralysis to the enemy, unable to move.
 * Sōryū Ha (Twin Dragon Wave): Both fists hit chest and destroy. Used on Gōda.
 * Suieishin (Water Reflection Spirit): A technique stealing stance. After watching somebody use a special technique, the Suieishin allows Kenshiro to replicate it. The moves he replicated with this were Yuda's Densho Reppa and Shu's Nanto Rekkyaku Zanjin.
 * Tenha Kassatsu (Heaven Breaking Life or Death): A secret technique, similar to Hokuto Gōsho Ha, in that the aspect of the fighter's Tōki being expelled through their hands. However, with the Tenha Kassatsu, their Tōki is transmitted via the fingertips into the adversary, penetrating the body and causing tōki to erupt from the body in the pattern of the "Big Dipper" constellation, piercing even solid objects behind them. This technique was used by Kenshiro against Souther during their final battle atop the Pyramid of the Holy Emperor.
 * Tenha no Kamae (Heaven Breaking Stance): A stance that resembles the Hokuto constellation. In Souten no Ken, this technique is revealed to be one of the secrets Shuken learned from the Seito Gekken style.
 * Tenkai Senretsu Shō (DubheBreaking Palm): A powerful series of punches that sends waves of Tōki before a palm strike that sends a finishing explosive blast. This technique is only used in the game, Hokuto Musō.
 * Tenki Shō (Return to Heaven Palm): Right fist against palm stance; used to signal an honorable match.
 * Tenryū Kokyū Hō (Art of Dragon's Breathing): A method of breathing that allows the  Hokuto Shin Ken  practitioner to tap into their body's full potential. A normal human uses but 30% of their body's strength so Tenryū is used to tap into that other 70%. A technique of utmost secrecy, anyone who sees it being performed must be killed to protect one of Hokuto Shin Ken's greatest advantages over other styles. Use of this technique causes Kenshiro's jacket to burst. He only announces this technique twice during the series, however it is assumed that he uses it every time his jacket explodes when fighting against a strong opponent.
 * Zankai Ken (Remorse Fist): This technique is used by Kenshiro against Spade. Kenshiro inserts his thumbs into the temples of his enemy. Upon removal of Kenshiro's thumbs the enemy is left with just three seconds to live. In these three seconds, Kenshiro advises them to meditate on the folly of their wicked ways, before being split in half vertically and exploding.
 * Zankai Sekiho Ken (Burden of Regret Walk Fist): By striking the power-point known as Shitsugen, Kenshiro triggers the involuntary locomotion of the adversary's legs to walk backwards, and the adversary is helpless to stop the legs' motion.

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.
 * The series bases itself heavily from Mad Max, and the character of Kenshiro is certainly no exception. Not only is his appearance and clothing almost identical to Mad Max's protagonist Max Rockatansky, Kenshiro often finds himself fighting enemies very similiar to the ones Max fights, such as his brother, Jagi, who also resembles Max and Lord Humongous.
 * 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 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 also goes by Ken or The Man With Seven Scars.