***********************************

.:: Hokuto no Ken and the World of Fighting Games ::.

last edited: 3rd February, 2007

***********************************

For any one worth being called an anime fan, Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) is THE fighting manga. Originating in 1983 HNK has since then originated a never-ending legacy that has successfully endured almost three decades.  Some "so-called" anime lovers who go around trying to act like they have a very special, acquired taste, or elites going around calling it stupid and lame. Of course, like all jackasses they look at it in comparison to what is coming out today and judge HNK as a bad anime since it looks old. Which is exactly what it is: an old anime that came out in 80's. Some of these morons happen to be (guess?) Street Fighter fans. But then again, some of the dumbest, most retarded fans out there ARE Street Fighter fans.

And so I take it upon myself to explain and explore the origins of the so-believed "most innovative game" in the world. But the basis of this theory, is not Street Fighter oriented but is in fact, going to show the influences of Hokuto no Ken on fighting games:

 

Characters & Stories

Ryu, Ryo and Kenshiro

for those of us who have play and love SF (don't we all, anyway?) we know Ryu as the mostly stoic, dedicated martial artist dedicated to and proud of his art (a thus far unnamed karate form but which is an Ansatsuken). A loner in nature and mostly silent, Ryu shows little to no emotion most of the time his mind almost always set at perfecting his art. Back in the day when Ryu was first introduced in the the promotion ad for Street Fighter 2, Capcom showed him walking in the desert in a head turban and a sheet covering his whole body. As Street Fighter the game introduced him Ryu was a projectile user (see the next part) who threw ki at his opponents channeled through his body and out of his hands. Needless to say, we know the drill: tetsumaki senpukyaku and a shoryuken are the other two moves.

sorry about the bad quality but you get the idea of course.

Kenshiro, however, did all that more than a decade before Ryu. Yes, you're reading correct. Not only is Kenshiro a stoic, no nonsense dedicated practitioner of his an Ansatsuken (Hokuto Shin Ken) but Kenshiro has moves that involve him hitting his opponents (amongst other things) with a projectiles that are his spiritual energy channeled through his hands at his opponents in the form of beams of ki or balls of ki. Then there is the part where he jumps in the air with a powerful punch that sends his opponents flying in the air. But wait...it doesn't end there. He has a move where he jumps in the air and spins rapidly hitting his opponents around him with an extended leg. In fact, it was common for Kenshiro to do this move when surrounded by opponents. Even in terms of appearance Ryu and Kenshiro are pretty similar. Both have pretty bushy eyebrows for Asian men and stone faced features. And of course, they tend to smile so often don't they? *sarcasm*

This was taken another step by the director of Art of Fighting (who happened to be the same guy who directed Street Fighter1) when he made Ryo--he even gave him Kenshiro's 100 crack fist. What is the 100 crack fist? It is a rapid succession of punches with the leading arm (or both arms) to the upper body of the opponent that is done with so much speed and power that it levitates the opponent in the air. Finally, after several punches are delivered the combo is finished off with a powerful uppercut or a straight to the chest (or face). Sounds familiar? And guess what the 100 crack fist is called in Japanese?

Hyaku-retsu-ken...while Ryo's move is called Zan-retsu-ken.

Here is the legendary 100 Crack Fist of Kenshiro along with Ryo's version:

       

"AA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA...AA-TAAAA"!

Please note that Kenshiro performs the alternate version of this move by using his leg instead of his fists. He stands on one leg and rapidly kicks at various pressure points on the body with his other leg. Guess who does THAT? Yes her name is Chunli along with King, Robert and various other fighters. As a matter of fact, anytime you see a character punching or kicking in rapid succession know that it is either a parody or a homage to the man who started it all: Kenshiro

 

Ryo and Rei

Ryo's appearance is almost immediately similar to Rei's complete with the spiked long hair, and similar facial features. The only difference is that Ryo's hair are a little shorter than Rei's and are not black or white like Rei's (his hair change over the course of the anime...don't want to spoil it for you people). Of course, the best thing to do was combine the HNK elements with Dragon Ball elements so Ryo gets an orange karate gi and blonde hair like Goku's. Notice also that Rei was introduced in Hokuto no Ken as a fierce, hot-blooded fighter searching for his sister and her kidnapper. Sounds familiar?

Now compare Rei's appearance to Ryo's:

 

Hadou-ken and the projectiles

first seen in Street Fighter we see a guy channel is ki into his palm and shoot at his opponent. The hadou-ken has been wrongly associated with Dragon Ball series but the fact that ki projectiles first came in HNK. Also HNK came before Dragon Ball series...another fact often overlooked.

 

The Dark Hadou

The dark Hadou originated with Akuma back during the SF Alpha series. When the stories and FAQ's came out we found out that Akuma basically travelled the dark path of absolute power. It is shown that the karate style of Ryu and the rest actually has two forms: one the killing style which is called Ansatsuken and the toned down (nameless) version which Gouken taught Ryu and Ken. Ansatsuken is basically an inherently evil style, as Gouken believed since he was against killing, and that is the reason why he didn't teach it to Ryu and Ken.

Now let's flash rewind 30 years ago. After the tragic first arc of HNK came to a close with Raoh's defeat at the hands of Kenshiro (the protagonist of HNK) we have the second arc of the storyline begin anywhere from 5 to 10 years. Kenshiro once again returns as the no-nonsense, stoic and anguished successor to his "Ansatsuken" fighting style called Hokuto Shin Ken. Towards the middle of the "Asura" arc we learn of the origins of Hokuto Shin Ken. Lo and behold!

Hokuto originally has two styles:

But it doesn't end there. Hokuto Ryuken when practiced to perfection turns the user into a demonic entity whose features begin to change. His eyes become blood red, his skin darkens, his teeth become sharp, he stops distinguishing between family, friend or rival and lives a life dedicated to a constant struggle to hone the demonic power till it is unsurpassed. If not locked away immediately the users can become an obsessive blood thirsty person and need to fight stronger opponents. We see it all in the character known as Jukei.

Now pay attention to the detail I list. After dedicating his life to learning this art he eventually transforms into a "majin" (roughly translated to demon). As the transformation starts he firstly winds up killing his son and wife without knowing. He then walks to the Hokuto Shin Ken dojo and on the way his transformation further turns his skin to a dark complexion, his hair spike upwards, his eyes become narrowed and reddish and evil purple ki flames appear on his hands. His muscle mass also increases well beyond human level. Eventually just before he completely transforms he starts teleporting with a fighting aura that amassed as he moved around.

Notice that both Jukei and Akuma were defeated (at least the first time around) by the practitioner of the other art. In Jukei's case he came to Hokuto Shin Ken dojo at a time when he hadn't completely been consumed by the power of Hokuto Ryuken. He challenged and fought Ryuken, Kenshiro's benevolent master, and was handed his ass to him.

Akuma also came to Gouken's dojo and challenged him at a time when he hadn't honed the dark arts as much as he had now. Akuma too was handed his defeat by Gouken, Ryu's master. The resemblance between Jukei and Akuma is also remarkably the same. This whole story of Dark Hadou is a painfully obvious inspiration from Hokuto no Ken. Compare the pictures:

               

 

The Mishima Family History and the Shin Hokuto No Ken story

Imagine my shock when I was watching the OVA's for HNK which take place after a gap of another several years. Still wandering the desert like world where innocent people try to survive a harsh world of tyrants and thugs, Kenshiro comes upon a town despotically ruled by Sanga. Living in a fortress with abundant water supply, Sanga rules over the city by exploiting the people of the surrounding area. Shown as coldhearted and ambitious we later discovered that Sanga is a just man (in his own twisted way) who believes in the end-justifying-the-means. Drunk on power being his tragic flaw, Sanga has a son (Seiji) who he wants to surpass him in martial arts so that he can be strong enough to take Sanga's place. In a flash back sequence we see Sanga standing over a cliff with Seiji held over it. He tells Seiji that he is weak and unworthy of being his successor and throws him down the cliff. Seiji would eventually return as a hatred filled fighter who excels at martial arts. Seiji eventually becomes the main villain of the OVA's becoming even more ambitious and sadistic than his father. His saving grace, however, happens to be a women with healing powers (Sara) who manages to bring out his good side prior to his death. At one point Seiji is even about to rape Sara but in the end his goodness wins and he stops. Sara is shown as a pure woman with a healing, empathic nature who would rather get in harm's way than see people get hurt. In the beginning she is even touted as a chosen one and Sanga even tries to expose her as the new "kami" of the city (her special power being her healing).

Now anyone who is even remotely familiar with the Tekken storyline knows the basics. Heihachi is a power hungry old moron who will stop at nothing to attain absolute power like Sanga. Like Sanga he is shown as a peerless warrior (though Kenshiro did rape him over...but then again there are not many martial artists who can hang with Kenshiro. For those who want to know, Kenshiro can literally kill people with a touch of his finger). Like Sanga, Heihachi threw his own son (Kazuya) off a cliff in order to make him strong enough to take his place. Like Seiji, Kazuya returned as a scarred hate ridden warrior who then takes his father's place and becomes even more ruthless and violent and sadistic than his father. Kazuya and Seiji even share personalities as arrogant but deeply troubled anti-heroes whose tragic flaw is their own hatred. Like Seiji and Sara, Kazuya's saving grace happens to be a pure woman known, Jun Kazama (who is called the Chosen One) who brings out his goodness prior to his death.

 

Wolfgang Krauser and Hyo

Compare the pictures below. The only difference between their appearance is that Krauser has a mustache (which he didn't in the anime by the way) and that his hair are purple and not maroon like Hyo's. Notice the armor and the similarity in their color schemes too. They even have an X-shaped scar on their forehead!

(Notice the color scheme and the cross-shaped scar. Just make his hair purple and his put a mustache there)

Geese, Souther and Yuda

Geese and Souther not only look alike but both share the same power hungry, wont-stop-at-anything attitude. Both of them are insanely arrogant are almost always grinning. Blonde and blue eyed? But of course. They even have the same pose as they sit on their "throne". Oh and they both killed their own masters (only Geese killed many more and out of no regret unlike Souther). Compare the pics of Souther and Geese (heck even their expression and the color scheme of their THRONES is the same!)

Yuda is a gay-ass character from the series and in my opinion was pretty lame in terms of character and story. However, the similiarity is a fairly obvious one. One of Yuda's special attacks is a fast ground travelling (can be done on water too) that he does with a whipping action of his open hand that creates a powerful cutting projectiles made of air. Sounds familiar? Yes it does since Geese's famous "repuu-ken" is just that: a projectiles that travels over ground after a cutting motion of the arm. The only time we see Yuda doing it is when he fights Rei in a river and so we never got to see what it looks like on land. However, Kenshiro would later perform the same attacks on his opponent a few episodes later. Now check out the similarities. Please note that in later reincarnations of Reppu-ken (used by Rugal and Adelheid) the reppu-ken is literally cutting air travelling over ground. And just wonder what "reppu-ken" means? it means "furious wind punch".

(pics to come soon)

Zangief and Gouda:

this one is so painfully obvious that I'm just going to post the pics from a site that will speak for itself.

   

taken from: http://fightingstreet.com/folders/variousinfofolder/ripofffolder/ripoffpage5.html

 

Yuda and Vega/Amakusa

Maybe not so obvious but the basic personality is the same: good looking guys who want to take it to the next level by wearing lipstick and dress up like women and even sound like women. Oh and if you hit their face they throw a big hissy fit. Amakusa and Yuda even look alike with red hair, and bad tastes for eyeliners, eye lashes and lipstick (blue and purple, not-so-respectively).

more to come soon!

*******************************

Back to Theories

Back to Mainpage

© 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved. Active since March 29, 2006. Webmaster (Sado)