Кенширо: Герой «Кулака Северной Звезды»

Fictional character from Fist of the North Star

the Japanese professional boxer

Kenshiro (ケンシロウ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Fist of the North Star manga series created by Tetsuo Hara and Buronson. In the story, Kenshiro is the rightful successor of an ancient art of assassination called Hokuto Shinken, which allows him to defeat his adversaries through the hidden meridian points. Kenshiro's appearance and characteristics were primarily based on martial artist and actor Bruce Lee and action film star Yūsaku Matsuda, while his outfit was loosely based on Mel Gibson's costume from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Through the course of the original manga, Kenshiro fights against various ruffians who threaten the lives of the post apocalyptic survivors, as well as numerous rival martial artists, including his three honorary brothers trained in the art of Hokuto Shinken.

Manga artist Tetsuo Hara was a fan of Hong Kong martial artist Bruce Lee as well as action manga series and the Japanese action film star Yūsaku Matsuda. He combined the appearance and character traits of Lee and Matsuda when he came up with the character design of Kenshiro. Hara and his editor Nobuhiko Horie realized they needed a secret signature martial arts technique, but were at a loss for ideas until Horie browsed a used Chinese book store on Suzuran Street in Jinbōchō, Tokyo. He found an anecdote of a medical student in China, who, after overstimulating an acupressure point in order to help an eye issue, had instead made the condition worse. In this setting, Kenshiro is the 23rd successor of Hokuto Shinken, preceded by his unnamed father, who in turn learned the art from the 21st successor, Master Liú Zhèng (劉正). This Kenshiro is much more cheerful than the Kenshiro of the serialized manga, having yet to experience the same hardships at the start of the story. After Kenshiro's girlfriend, Yuki is murdered and he is framed for her death, Kenshiro becomes a wanted fugitive who sets out to overthrow the Taizanji organization. The character was revised by author Buronson when Fist of the North Star was picked up for weekly serialization. Now turned into a full grown adult, Buronson has stated that he based the revised Kenshiro primarily on Bruce Lee. He also cites the Mad Max film series as an influence. Buronson had asked Hara to give Kenshiro seven scars in the shape of the Big Dipper for no reason other than their cool aesthetic. But when they then began thinking of Kenshiro's backstory and the reason he wanders the wasteland, Buronson devised that they came from the guy who stole the woman he loved.

Kenshiro has been voiced by numerous voice actors in different media. Akira Kamiya voiced him first in the original anime television series and movie, as well as in a few video games. He is voiced by Takehito Koyasu in the original video animation series New Fist of the North Star, Kunihiro Kawamoto in the Fist of the North Star arcade game and CGI short Hokuto no Ken: Legend of Heroes, Hiroshi Abe in The Legends of the True Savior film series, Hideo Ishikawa in the video game version of Ten no Haō, Katsuyuki Konishi in the video games Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage, J Stars Victory VS, Jump Force and Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star, and Takaya Kuroda and Robbie Daymond in the video game Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. The child version of Kenshiro is voiced by Ryō Horikawa in the original anime series and by Yūko Gibu in the Legends of the True Savior film series.

In a survey conducted by the Oricon in 2007 among 1,000 people, Kenshiro ranked third place as the "strongest manga character of all time," behind only Dragon Ball protagonist Son Goku and Doraemon who ranked first and second, respectively. A "wedding ceremony" for Kenshiro and Yuria was held at the Nippon Seinenkan on September 13, 2008, the date of the 25th anniversary of Fist of the North Star. Tetsuo Hara, Buronson, and other staff who worked on the series attended the ceremony planned by an actual wedding planner, 3,000 fans were applying for the 777 invitations that were available to fans via various outlets. Makoto Yukimura said he was impressed by the handling of Kenshiro's character; while Kenshiro kills several enemies in the manga, he is never proud about his accomplishments. In truth, he is a character who would rather never resort to violence, But, as the story takes place in a post apocalyptic world, he is forced to fight with his fists to protect the innocent. As a result of that, Yukimura believes that Kenshiro is an appealing hero.

In the 2010s, Kenshiro's catchphrase "Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru" ("You Are Already Dead") became a popular Internet meme. In September 2017, music producer deadman 死人 (Noah Ryan Murphy) released the song "Omae Wa Mou" which references the meme and samples the Japanese song "Tiny Little Adiantum" (2013) from the Touhou Project video game music album Toho Bossa Nova 2. Rapper Lil Boom produced his own version of the song called "Already Dead" three months later. In 2019, "Omae Wa Mou" went viral on TikTok and topped Spotify's Viral 50 chart, before being taken off the chart after being struck with a copyright claim. In 2022, game publisher Wizards of the Coast featured a playing card titled "You Are Already Dead" in its new Japanese themed Magic: The Gathering set, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.