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"Mature Content Warning!" |
Raoh (in Japanese: ラオウ, Raō), also known as the King of Fists (in Japanese: 拳王, Ken'ō), is the main antagonist of Fist Of The North Star, a 1986 animated film loosely based on the homonymous manga and anime and set in a different continuity where events take place in different ways and where the roles and characterizations of the characters are sometimes different (as well as its anime comic adaptation). It is based on the character of the same name from the main series. Like the main version, he is Kenshiro's older half-brother and wants to conquer the world by proclaiming himself King of Fists and establishing a monarchy based on violence and terror but, unlike the original version of the character, he has a different and much more sinister and negative characterization.
What Makes Him Close To Pure Evil?[]
- He watches the fight between Kenshiro and Shin without intervening as his brother is defeated, injured and tortured to near death by Shin, who then kidnaps Yuria.
- He doesn't care in the least when he sees Kenshiro being tortured and nearly killed by Shin.
- He leaves the appointment of new successor of the Hokuto Shinken to the younger evil half-brother Jagi and allows him to give the coup de grace to Kenshiro, making him throw him into a ravine while he is unconscious.
- He goes to his dojo communicating Kenshiro's death to his adoptive father and master Ryuken, contesting his decision to have made him the heir of the Hokuto Shinken and announcing that he will use the arts he has learned to become the new master of the world and, when Ryuken , annoyed, decides to fight him to prevent his evil intentions, kills him.
- He establishes a dictatorial regime based on fear and violence, causing death and destruction wherever it goes.
- He exterminates the Fang Clan (which in this version is not a hostile clan and just wants to live in peace in its own territory), horribly personally killing Kiba Daioh, the head of the clan.
- In this continuity he is not in love with Yuria, and kidnaps her and imprisons her in Cassandra, his headquarters city.
- He challenges Shin after conquering Southern Cross and informing him of having kidnapped Yuria and then defeating him and causing her death several hours after the fight with her deadly techniques.
- He considers growing a flower a crime because hope in the dark ages in which the story takes place goes against his ideals.
- He considers love a useless and wrong feeling for the era in which he lives.
- He crucifies Yuria and promises to execute her if whoever grew the flower doesn't come forward and confess what he deems a crime.
- He takes no care of his soldiers and his Uighur second-in-command and feels no regret when they are killed. He doesn't even care when many of them die during the devastation caused by his fight with Kenshiro.
- He kills Rei (who intervened to save Yuria) by humiliating him by not dismounting from the back of his horse Koku-Oh, knocking him back with several ki blasts and finally hitting him with a tsubo, causing a horrific death in front of Kenshiro, Yuria, Bat and Rin.
- He brutally fights Kenshiro until he nearly kills him (in the home video version of the film, even though he still intended to kill his stepbrother, the fight between the two men ends in a stalemate).
- It is implied that he caused Yuria's death because, during the fight, the girl is thrown away by the violence of her Ki and disappears into thin air, forcing Kenshiro to look for her after recovering from the fight with him (Yuria's fate however remains ambiguous).
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He suffers somewhat from offscreen villainy, as many of the mass murders he is said to have committed are not shown in the film.
- Apparently he is unaware of Jagi's death. We don't know if she would have shown sorry for him or whether he would feel indifference to her death (although probably since she didn't feel any emotion to see Kenshiro being tortured and later tried to kill him himself, he wouldn't have cared about Jagi either).
- He doesn't realize that he probably killed Yuria during his fight with Kenshiro. We don't know if, if he had known that he might have caused the girl's death, he would have regretted it or not cared.
- He agrees to spare Kenshiro at Rin's request and, sensing an incredible power in her that will likely give her an important role when she grows up, shows her respect by deferring hostilities towards the child and Kenshiro until later.