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This anime and manga-related article or section describes an aspect of the series in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. |
| Raoh | |
|---|---|
| Fist of the North Star character | |
 Raoh, as illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. |
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| Created by | Tetsuo Hara, Buronson |
| Profile | |
| Aliases | Ken-Ō ("Fist King"), The Emperor, The Conqueror of the Century's End |
| Title | The Eldest of the Four Hokuto Brothers. |
| Known relatives | Unnamed mother Kaioh (biological older brother) Toki (biological younger brother) Sayaka (biological younger sister) Ryuken (adoptive father and sifu) Jagi (adoptive younger brother) Kenshiro (adoptive younger brother) Ryu (son) |
Raoh (ラオウ Raō?, also transliterated as "Laoh"), or Ken-oh (拳王 Ken'ō?, lit. "Fist King"), is a fictional character and the central antagonist of Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's Fist of the North Star manga, anime, and other related works. He is also the protagonist of Youkow Osada's manga, Ten no Haō - Hokuto no Ken: Raō Gaiden. Raoh is the eldest of four adopted brothers who were trained in Hokuto Shinken, though they are not related by blood.
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Voice actors
Raoh was originally voiced by Norio Wakamoto in episode 32 of the TV series, although in this episode Raoh's character was still unnamed and his appearance is covered in darkness. From his first full appearance in episode 43 and onward, Raoh was voiced by Kenji Utsumi. Kenji Utsumi would become Raoh's most prominent voice actor in the franchise, voicing the character in the 1986 movie adaptation, posthumous flashbacks in Hokuto no Ken 2 series and video game versions of the series. Utsumi also voiced Raoh's estranged brother, Kaioh, in Hokuto no Ken 2. Nobuo Tobita also voiced the character as a child in the series. Raoh was voiced by Tesshō Genda in the 2006 CG animated short film Hokuto no Ken: Legend of Heroes. In the Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu movie series, Raoh is voiced Takashi Ukaji and as a child by Shigeru Shibuya. In the Streamline Pictures dub of the 1986 movie, Raoh was voiced Wally Burr, who remains the only English voice actor to play Raoh.
Fictional character biography
Youth
Raoh and his younger brother Toki were robbed of their parents at an early age. They decided to focus on training in martial arts in hopes of becoming the "strongest brothers" and were sent across the Dead Sea along with a baby Kenshiro by Jukei and promised Hyo, Kenshiro's biological older brother, to take care of him. Those from the Land of Shura expected Raoh to be the the Successor of Hokuto and the destined savior; which many from Shura saw Raoh more of a threat than Kenshiro and made many attempts to discredit his name; which included destroying or enslaving villages who supported Raoh. One day while Raoh and Toki were talking in a cave they stored their training equipment, Ryuuken of the Hokuto Shinken school approached them asking where he could find Raoh. Ryuuken informed them he would only take one brother to train as a successor. As a test, Ryuuken traps both boys on the bottom of a ravine and says he will take the first boy who makes it up the cliff. Toki is injured in the fall and unable to climb. Raoh defies the odds and hauls Toki up the cliff with his other hand, yelling he will only go if Ryuuken takes them both. Ryuuken catches them both as they pass out from the exhausting climb, thinking that Raoh will surpass his wildest imaginations.
Training
Raoh completely devoted himself to the perfection of his fighting technique. He spared his younger brother no quarter in sparring, and later claimed he would never cry again, for tears were useless. Instead they should be transformed into ambition and strength. He also told Toki to stop him in the future if his power would ever run amuck. After Toki's relinquishment of successor, he and Kenshiro were the final participants. Raoh killed the tiger when it tried to attack him, while it didn't try to attack Kenshiro because of that, it made Ryuken realize that Raoh hasn't truly mastered the assassin skill of Hokuto; while it was true that he was strong in technique and in body, he lacked the proper ability of Hokuto Shinken, thus choosing Kenshiro over him. Upon hearing that Kenshiro would be the next successor to Hokuto Shinken, Raoh broke tradition and did not relinquish his Hokuto style. The original Hokuto no Ken manga appeared to depict Raoh killing Ryuuken after his master tried to prevent him from misusing and soiling the name and tradition of Hokuto. The fight between the two was dominated by Ryuuken until he suffered a heart-attack and Raoh supposedly took his chance to strike the fatal blow. The recent Raoh spin-off manga instead shows Raoh leaving Ryuuken to die of his heart attack.
Legend of the "Ken-Oh"
After leaving the dojo, Raoh assumed the name "Ken-Ō" (拳王 King of the Fists) and raised a giant army to slowly conquer the world. He built the "City of Wailing Demons" and its infamous "Cassandra Prison." In it, Raoh imprisoned thousands of martial artists, including his own brother Toki, in order to steal their centuries-old techniques. More than 3 meters tall, Raoh is seen as a brutal and, most of the time, cruel man who cares for nothing but world domination in the wasteland, as Kenshiro described his personality to Rei "After the fall of civilization his ambitious dream is finally fulfilled". He is referred as the Sinister Star of Chaos (暴凶星 Bōkyōsei?, lit. "Violent Evil Star") by Rihaku. Although Raoh shows no mercy on the battlefield, he does respect strong or brave enemies that he fights. He requested an honorable burial to Juuza after their battle. Also, most of the atrocities that were committed under his name towards civilians can be attributed to his low ranking thuggish soldiers acting on their own. Raoh does order the executions of soldiers who commit atrocities towards civilians. No matter how brutal and cruel he may be, Raoh is set to conquer but not to destroy, unlike other self-serving warlords in the wasteland. This makes him more popular among the civilian population, and there are numerous towns and peoples who praise Raoh as their saviour or as a benevolent dictator figure. However, he did personally murder defenseless civilians. An example of this is in one incident where he killed a peaceful village chief because the chief believed that using forced smiles and good will instead of armed resistance will lead to fewer causualties. Rei of the Nanto Suichō Ken tried to stop him but was dealt a fatal blow that killed him slowly and painfully over the next few days. Raoh's anticipated fight with Kenshiro resulted in a stalemate and would have killed both fighters if it wasn't stopped by Toki. After the fight with Kenshiro, Raoh spent time recuperating before beginning his quest for world domination once again. He watched alongside Toki as Kenshiro battled Souther and later fought Toki for the promise they made in their adolescence. Raoh spared Toki’s life after Toki failed to kill him due to his illness. Kouryuu then tried to stop him but was no match. At the final showdown with Kenshiro, he captured Yuria and used her as a bait to lure Kenshiro out, Raoh revealed his love to Yuria. He was fatally injured by Kenshiro with a strike to his heart while using the "Musou Tensei" technique, however they both reconciled with each other before Raoh took his own life without regret.
Aftermath
Though Raoh was dead, his legacy continued. Most of the villains introduced in the post-Raoh chapters had some kind of connection to Raoh. In the "Gento Tentei" arc, the character Falco lost his leg to Raoh. Kenshirō later takes a pirate ship to Raoh's birthplace, the Land of Asura, where Raoh is revered as a and his brother Kaioh is feared. Later, Raoh's son Ryū is introduced.
Personality
A firm believer in power and strength, Raoh will do whatever it takes to be the strongest warrior of all. Determined to surpass his own limits, Raoh would let no one stand in the way of his goals, not even the gods themselves. He admires similar striving in other martial artists, particularly from his fellow Hokuto Shinken practitioners Toki and Kenshiro. Raoh has little tolerance for what he perceives as weaknesses, such as cowardice, compassion, or even friendship (since Raoh also believed in self-sufficiency). For example, Raoh disliked Jagi for his cowardly ways and underhanded tactics in battle. In fact, Raoh was pleased when he heard that Kenshiro killed Jagi, despite the fact that Jagi was one of his own subordinates. While not completely selfish, Raoh has endangered the lives of many for his ambitions, including his brother Toki. As the "Ken-Oh", he encourages order through discipline and fear - qualities reflected in his own personality. People admired him for his ability to instill order in a time when the world was in chaos. Raoh is one among many who loved Yuria, whose heart belonged to Kenshiro. Initially seeing Yuria as an object of conquest, Raoh refused to believe that he actually loved Yuria, since he believed that love was a useless emotion. However, Toki pointed out to him that his thoughts towards Yuria were a sign of love. Later on, Raoh grew to admire the strength of Yuria's compassion, which endured despite the hardships she suffered. Realizing that he truly loved Yuria, Raoh learned how to feel love for the first time in his life. When Raoh contemplated killing Yuria in order to realize true sadness, and thus fully master the "Musou Tensei" technique (the final secret technique of Hokuto Shinken), he ultimately did not do so. Instead, Raoh infused some of his own qi into Yuria, extending her life by several years (at this time, Yuria was dying of severe radiation poisoning). This wasn't Raoh's only show of mercy. After defeating Koryu, Raoh spares his vengeful sons as he thinks of his relationship with Toki. He advises them to take separate paths, otherwise they will become enemies. One woman who is known to have truly loved Raoh is Tou, the daughter of Rihaku (leader of the Nanto Goshasei). Raoh did not return her feelings in any way, resulting in Tou committing suicide. Afterwards, Raoh claimed that Tou should have killed him instead, so that no one else could have him. Presumably, this was the reason why many people feared Raoh killing Yuria, since Yuria returned only Kenshiro's feelings. By the end of his final fight with Kenshiro, Raoh finally begins to understand that power is not the only admirable quality in the world. He takes his own life and declares that he holds no regret in his heart, reflecting the strength of his convictions. Beginning as a ruthless, violent dictator, Raoh's personality developed as the Hokuto no Ken story continued. By the end of his life, Raoh was depicted as a strong, dedicated person with a manner befitting a hero.
Relatives
Raoh is the eldest of Ryuken's adopted sons in the series, followed by Toki, Jagi and Kenshiro. At first, it is stated that none of the brothers are blood related, but later it is revealed that he and Toki are the only biological brothers in the group. Later in the series, it is revealed that Raoh had two additional blood siblings: his older brother Kaioh (who Raoh was aware he was alive, but never really knew him), a Hokuto Ryu Ken master who bears a striking resemblance to him, and a younger sister named Sayaka, Hyou's fiancee. Raoh is also revealed to have fathered a son named Ryu, who is later adopted by Kenshiro. All members of Raoh's bloodline are descended from Ryuoh, the founder of the Hokuto Ryu Ken style.
Trivia
- A real-life funeral was held for Raoh on April 18, 2007. [1] [2] [3] A video of this funeral is on the bonus disc of the Raoh Den Gekitō no Shō deluxe DVD.
