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** He appears in the Action RPG game ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}'' for the NES under the name "Kensu", he is one of the four wise sages who must guide the protagonist into gathering four elemental swords to forge the Crystalis sword. In the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor remake, he is the one who forged the Thunder Sword.
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** He appears in the Action RPG game ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}'' for the NES under the name "Kensu", he is one of the four wise sages who must guide the protagonist into gathering four elemental swords to forge the Crystalis sword. In the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor Platform/GameBoyColor remake, he is the one who forged the Thunder Sword.
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* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Athena's independent and strong character is what makes Kensou look foolish in comparison, but when Athena does need help is where Kensou shows he is someone she can rely on. Kensou dropped the IdiotBall when he had to awaken his Dragon Spirit powers to save Athena in ''KOF '99''. Other situations can be found in Athena's exclusive game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation, ''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]'', where Athena is being constantly haunted due being quite a dark RPG; Kensou proves to be a great ally and support for Athena as he cheers her up in crucial events during the adventure.
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* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Athena's independent and strong character is what makes Kensou look foolish in comparison, but when Athena does need help is where Kensou shows he is someone she can rely on. Kensou dropped the IdiotBall when he had to awaken his Dragon Spirit powers to save Athena in ''KOF '99''. Other situations can be found in Athena's exclusive game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation, Platform/PlayStation, ''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]'', where Athena is being constantly haunted due being quite a dark RPG; Kensou proves to be a great ally and support for Athena as he cheers her up in crucial events during the adventure.
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** Used for comical effect in ''2000'', the special intro he has with Athena is Kensou proclaiming loudly he is Athena’s Knight, Athena doesn’t even get flustered like the similar Intro in 2001 where it is a Love Confession instead, she just strikes her usual Idol pose and starts the match as if she didn’t even notice Kensou’s presence, understandably Kensou drops his shoulders in depression.
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** Used for comical effect in ''2000'', the special intro he has with Athena is Kensou proclaiming loudly he is Athena’s Knight, Athena doesn’t even get flustered like the similar Intro in 2001 where it is a Love Confession instead, she just strikes her usual Idol pose and starts the match as if she didn’t even notice Kensou’s Kensou’s presence, understandably Kensou drops his shoulders in depression.
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trope disambiged
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* KansaiRegionalAccent: Despite being Chinese. It's actually a holdover from his origin game. This is lampshaded through the special "Kansai Dialect Team" in '''98'' (him, Robert and Choi).
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* AllGuitarsAreStratocasters: Kensou is in fact a guitarist, and every once in a blue moon can be seen rocking out on a red stratocaster, as he did in the credits of the original ''Psycho Soldier'' game. In ''King of Fighters'', he's only seen playing guitar in the Team Psycho Soldier special credits for ''KOF 95'', but he briefly cameos with Chin in Athena's DreamSequence from ''SNK Heroines'' doing the same.
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* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Despite the way it's Romanized, his name is pronounced "shee ken-soo."
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* PunnyName: According to [[https://itsfantastic.moe/all-about-the-king-of-fighters-94-developer-interview/ a developer interview]] for ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters 94'', Sie Kensou's name is actually a pun on "sequence" and was decided by the programmer who put the "sequence" (the automatic control program) together.
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* SidekickGlassCeiling: Kensou's been Athena's Player Two since ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', but he had a starring role in the Dragon Spirit MythArc of KOF ''99'', ''2000'', and ''2001''... until SNK retrieved the rights to the game from Eolith (who produced ''2001'' and ''2002'') and sidelined Kensou ''hard''. He was PutOnABus for ''2003'' and when he returned for ''XI'' he was DemotedToComicRelief. ''XIII'' {{Retool}}ed Kensou into being JustAKid and brought the Dragon Spirit thing up a few times in dialog, but ''XIV'' all but ignored it.
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* {{Sidekick}}: In ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', Kensou was the optional Player Two backing up Athena's Player One in the game's CoOpMultiplayer.
* SidekickGlassCeiling: Kensou's been Athena's Player Two since ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', but he had a starring role in the Dragon Spirit MythArc of the NESTS Saga in KOF ''99'', ''2000'', and ''2001''... until SNK retrieved the rights to the game from Eolith (who produced ''2001'' and ''2002'') and sidelined Kensou ''hard''. He was PutOnABus for ''2003'' and when he returned for ''XI'' he was DemotedToComicRelief. ''XIII'' {{Retool}}ed Kensou into being JustAKid and brought the Dragon Spirit thing up a few times in dialog, but ''XIV'' all but ignored it.
* SidekickGlassCeiling: Kensou's been Athena's Player Two since ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', but he had a starring role in the Dragon Spirit MythArc of the NESTS Saga in KOF ''99'', ''2000'', and ''2001''... until SNK retrieved the rights to the game from Eolith (who produced ''2001'' and ''2002'') and sidelined Kensou ''hard''. He was PutOnABus for ''2003'' and when he returned for ''XI'' he was DemotedToComicRelief. ''XIII'' {{Retool}}ed Kensou into being JustAKid and brought the Dragon Spirit thing up a few times in dialog, but ''XIV'' all but ignored it.
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* AllLoveIsUnrequited: In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kensou is flagrantly head-over-heels for his teammate Athena, who constantly manages to somehow avoid the subject. While one could reasonably expect that Athena thinks they're BetterAsFriends and this is her way of not hurting Kensou's feelings, character dialog in ''XIII'' casts doubt on the situation by pointing out that Athena's feelings are an AmbiguousSituation; Love Heart (in ''XIV'') and Luong (in ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'') are each a ShipperOnDeck for them.
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* AllLoveIsUnrequited: In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kensou is flagrantly head-over-heels for his teammate Athena, who constantly manages to somehow avoid the subject. While one could reasonably expect that Athena thinks they're BetterAsFriends and this is her way of not hurting Kensou's feelings, character dialog in ''XIII'' casts doubt on the situation by pointing out that Athena's feelings are an AmbiguousSituation; King, Love Heart (in ''XIV'') Heart, and Luong (in ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'') are each are a ShipperOnDeck for them.them in ''XII'', ''XIV'', and ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'' respectively.
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Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kensou is flagrantly head-over-heels for his teammate Athena, who constantly manages to somehow avoid the subject. While one could reasonably expect that this is Athena thinks they're BetterAsFriends and this is her way of not hurting Kensou's feelings, character dialog in ''XIII'' casts doubt on the situation by pointing out that Athena's feelings are an AmbiguousSituation; Love Heart (in ''XIV'') and Luong (in ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'') are each a ShipperOnDeck for them.
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* AllLoveIsUnrequited: In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kensou is flagrantly head-over-heels for his teammate Athena, who constantly manages to somehow avoid the subject. While one could reasonably expect that this is Athena thinks they're BetterAsFriends and this is her way of not hurting Kensou's feelings, character dialog in ''XIII'' casts doubt on the situation by pointing out that Athena's feelings are an AmbiguousSituation; Love Heart (in ''XIV'') and Luong (in ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'') are each a ShipperOnDeck for them.
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* AbortedArc: Despite SNK developing a MythArc around the Kensou's Dragon Spirit in KOF ''99'' and ''2000'' (and Eolith likewise in ''2001''), once SNK regained the series from Eolith after ''2002'', the company abandoned any prospect of bringing the arc to a climax and has mostly ignored it since.
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* AbortedArc: Despite SNK developing a MythArc around the Kensou's Dragon Spirit in KOF ''99'' and ''2000'' (and Eolith likewise in ''2001''), once SNK regained the series from Eolith after ''2002'', the company abandoned any prospect of bringing the arc to a climax and has mostly ignored it since.
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* AbortedArc: Downplayed; Kensou's dragon spirit was ''promised'' an arc, but the idea has been stuck in limbo. The Dragon Spirit was set up in ''2001'' to be especially powerful and to be the focus of an arc involving Ron of the Hizoku, only for ''2002'' to be a plotless DreamMatchGame, which was followed by SNK finally reclaiming the rights to ''KOF'' from Eolith and sending Kensou away for a year in ''2003'' -- the start of the "Tales of Ash" saga -- only to bring him back in ''XI'' and joke about [[StatusQuoIsGod how he hadn't really changed]] (both games had ending cameos by Ron). ''XII'' was also plotless, and not until ''XIII'' -- ''five games and eleven years later'' -- did SNK get around to acknowledging the dragon spirit regularly, though only in a few bits of dialog. ''XIV'' has also neglected to do much about it. He doesn't even show up in ''XV'' as Athena forms Team Super Heroines with Mai and Yuri.
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* AbortedArc: Downplayed; Despite SNK developing a MythArc around the Kensou's dragon spirit was ''promised'' an arc, but the idea has been stuck in limbo. The Dragon Spirit was set up in ''2001'' to be especially powerful KOF ''99'' and to be ''2000'' (and Eolith likewise in ''2001''), once SNK regained the focus of an arc involving Ron of the Hizoku, only for ''2002'' to be a plotless DreamMatchGame, which was followed by SNK finally reclaiming the rights to ''KOF'' series from Eolith after ''2002'', the company abandoned any prospect of bringing the arc to a climax and sending Kensou away for a year in ''2003'' -- the start of the "Tales of Ash" saga -- only to bring him back in ''XI'' and joke about [[StatusQuoIsGod how he hadn't really changed]] (both games had ending cameos by Ron). ''XII'' was also plotless, and not until ''XIII'' -- ''five games and eleven years later'' -- did SNK get around to acknowledging the dragon spirit regularly, though only in a few bits of dialog. ''XIV'' has also neglected to do much about it. He doesn't even show up in ''XV'' as Athena forms Team Super Heroines with Mai and Yuri.mostly ignored it since.
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* AllLoveIsUnrequited: He likes Athena. She cares for him greatly [[JustFriends as a friend]], throughout the series she has feelings for series protagonist Kyo, who in turn [[OfficialCouple is already in a relationship with Yuki]] ([[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy which Athena respects]] since she's friends with Yuki as well). A slight twist: Athena ''is'' well aware of his feelings for her (as evidenced in ''2000'' and ''2001'': the former has Kensou blatantly proclaim his love; the latter has Kensou fuming at the fact that Athena didn't give him an answer the last year and then crying when he defeats her; her profile in ''Maximum Impact 2'' also notes that she knows of Kensou's feelings), but as said above she views their relationship as BetterAsFriends and seems to either be embarrassed by his advances (as seen in ''XIII''[='s=] Story Mode) or outright ignores them.
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* AllLoveIsUnrequited: He likes Athena. She cares In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kensou is flagrantly head-over-heels for him greatly [[JustFriends as a friend]], throughout his teammate Athena, who constantly manages to somehow avoid the series she has feelings for series protagonist Kyo, who in turn [[OfficialCouple subject. While one could reasonably expect that this is already in a relationship with Yuki]] ([[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy which Athena respects]] since she's friends with Yuki as well). A slight twist: Athena ''is'' well aware of his feelings for her (as evidenced in ''2000'' and ''2001'': the former has Kensou blatantly proclaim his love; the latter has Kensou fuming at the fact that Athena didn't give him an answer the last year and then crying when he defeats her; her profile in ''Maximum Impact 2'' also notes that she knows of Kensou's feelings), but as said above she views their relationship as thinks they're BetterAsFriends and seems to either be embarrassed this is her way of not hurting Kensou's feelings, character dialog in ''XIII'' casts doubt on the situation by his advances (as seen in ''XIII''[='s=] Story Mode) or outright ignores pointing out that Athena's feelings are an AmbiguousSituation; Love Heart (in ''XIV'') and Luong (in ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'') are each a ShipperOnDeck for them.
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* ButtMonkey: If something bad and/or embarrassing happened to the Psycho Soldiers, Kensou was the most usual target.
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* ButtMonkey: If something bad and/or or embarrassing happened happens to the Psycho Soldiers, it's probably happening to Kensou was the most usual target.in particular.
** In ''VideoGame/SNKGalsFighters'', Kensou cameos as Athena's hapless HumanShield AssistCharacter.
** In the Team Story for ''XI'', after [[TheBusCameBack Kensou returns from his year-long training journey]], his crush Athena barely notices his return.
** In the Team Story for ''XI'', after [[TheBusCameBack Kensou returns from his year-long training journey]], his crush Athena barely notices his return.
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** Kensou’s Meat Bun is Athena’s PRETTY CHARGE ability in ''VideoGame/SNKGalsFighters'', it refills her health.
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** Kensou’s Meat Bun is Athena’s PRETTY CHARGE ability in ''VideoGame/SNKGalsFighters'', it refills her health. Kensou himself also appears directly... as Athena's HumanShield.
* ChromaticArrangement: The classic Team China arrangement features Athena in red, Kensou in blue, and Chin in green.
* ColorMotifs:
** In ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'' Kensou's main colors are green and red next to Athena's pink and blue.
** In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' Kensou is nearly always the blue to Athena's red in the classic Team China ChromaticArrangement, save for ''XII'' and ''XIII'', which were RevisitingTheRoots and briefly revived their ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'' aesthetic.
** In ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'' Kensou's main colors are green and red next to Athena's pink and blue.
** In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' Kensou is nearly always the blue to Athena's red in the classic Team China ChromaticArrangement, save for ''XII'' and ''XIII'', which were RevisitingTheRoots and briefly revived their ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'' aesthetic.
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* CompositeCharacter: In ''XIV'' he maintains his more serious Kung-Fu introduced in ''XII/XIII'' (stance, walking, running animation, etc.) but Kensou’s looks is a throwback to the casual wear he wore upon debuting in ''King of Fighters 94''. Most of his move set in ''XIV'' is pretty much a direct copy of what he had in ''KOF 2002''.
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* CompositeCharacter: In ''XIV'' he maintains his more serious Kung-Fu introduced in ''XII/XIII'' (stance, walking, running animation, etc.) but Kensou’s looks is are a throwback to the casual wear he wore upon debuting in ''King of Fighters 94''. Most of his move set in ''XIV'' is pretty much a direct copy of what he had in ''KOF 2002''.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: In ''XIII'', Kensou occupies an unusual spot in which most non-villain characters treat him as JustAKid (with notable exceptions like Andy Bogard), but he receives neutral to respectful comments from villains like Ash and Saiki for his power and threatening potential.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide:
** Kensou has a colossal romantic streak.
*** From KOF ''94'' to ''97'', his official "likes" consisted of RealLife idol Yū Hayami's debut album (''And I Love You'', which as the name suggests is filled with love songs).
*** In early games his hobby was reading ''Seito Shokun!'', a RealLife SliceOfLife RomanticComedy {{Shoujo|Demographic}} manga.
*** Kensou's romantic feelings for Athena tend to be expressed in very public displays of affection.
** From ''98'' to ''2002'' and in ''XII'', Kensou's likes were the stuffed animals his fans sent him.
** There were some efforts to dial this back in later installments. In ''XI'', he was given a more masculine item for his likes--a soccer ball autographed by RealLife player Alessandro Del Piero--and his hobby was generalized from reading ''Seito Shokun!'' to reading manga in general.
** Kensou has a colossal romantic streak.
*** From KOF ''94'' to ''97'', his official "likes" consisted of RealLife idol Yū Hayami's debut album (''And I Love You'', which as the name suggests is filled with love songs).
*** In early games his hobby was reading ''Seito Shokun!'', a RealLife SliceOfLife RomanticComedy {{Shoujo|Demographic}} manga.
*** Kensou's romantic feelings for Athena tend to be expressed in very public displays of affection.
** From ''98'' to ''2002'' and in ''XII'', Kensou's likes were the stuffed animals his fans sent him.
** There were some efforts to dial this back in later installments. In ''XI'', he was given a more masculine item for his likes--a soccer ball autographed by RealLife player Alessandro Del Piero--and his hobby was generalized from reading ''Seito Shokun!'' to reading manga in general.
* MorphicResonance: In ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', the Kensou's dragon form has green scales to match Kensou's clothes and red horns and claws to match his bandanna.
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* MythicalMotifs: [[OurDragonsAreDifferent The dragon.]] A likely ShoutOut the fact that he [[VoluntaryShapeshifting could transform into one]] in ''Psycho Soldier''. Exemplified with his hidden mystic power Dragon Spirit.
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* MythicalMotifs: [[OurDragonsAreDifferent The dragon.]] A likely ShoutOut the fact that he [[VoluntaryShapeshifting could DragonsUpTheYinYang.
** In ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', Kensou can transform intoone]] a Chinese dragon that can fly, breathe fire, and be ridden by Athena.
** In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' installments from ''99'' to ''2001'', Kensou starred in''Psycho Soldier''. Exemplified with his hidden mystic power a MythArc featuring a powerful Dragon Spirit.Spirit, a coveted PowerSource inhabiting his body.
** In ''XII'', ''XIII'', and ''XIV'', his clothes feature Chinese dragon stencils.
** In ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', Kensou can transform into
** In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' installments from ''99'' to ''2001'', Kensou starred in
** In ''XII'', ''XIII'', and ''XIV'', his clothes feature Chinese dragon stencils.
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* {{Shotoclone}}: His projectile is the Choukyuudan (at least in the games where he has it), his uppercut move is... well, see directly above, and his rush-forward move is either Ryuu Renga (older games) or Shikkuu Zanryuu Kyaku (''XIII'').
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* {{Shotoclone}}: His projectile is the Choukyuudan (at least in the games where he has it), his uppercut move is... well, see directly above, is a both a {{Shoryuken}} and HurricaneKick at once, and his rush-forward move is either Ryuu Renga (older games) or Shikkuu Zanryuu Kyaku (''XIII''). (''XIII'').
* SidekickGlassCeiling: Kensou's been Athena's Player Two since ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', but he had a starring role in the Dragon Spirit MythArc of KOF ''99'', ''2000'', and ''2001''... until SNK retrieved the rights to the game from Eolith (who produced ''2001'' and ''2002'') and sidelined Kensou ''hard''. He was PutOnABus for ''2003'' and when he returned for ''XI'' he was DemotedToComicRelief. ''XIII'' {{Retool}}ed Kensou into being JustAKid and brought the Dragon Spirit thing up a few times in dialog, but ''XIV'' all but ignored it.
* SidekickGlassCeiling: Kensou's been Athena's Player Two since ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', but he had a starring role in the Dragon Spirit MythArc of KOF ''99'', ''2000'', and ''2001''... until SNK retrieved the rights to the game from Eolith (who produced ''2001'' and ''2002'') and sidelined Kensou ''hard''. He was PutOnABus for ''2003'' and when he returned for ''XI'' he was DemotedToComicRelief. ''XIII'' {{Retool}}ed Kensou into being JustAKid and brought the Dragon Spirit thing up a few times in dialog, but ''XIV'' all but ignored it.
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[[quoteright:350:[[''KOF XII-XIII'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensou_kofxiii.png[[/labelnote]]]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:From ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2000 KOF 2000]]'']]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click to see his original design]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensoupsychosoldier.png\\
From ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier''[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click to see his ''KOF XII-XIII'' design]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensou_kofxiii.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click to see his original design]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensoupsychosoldier.png\\
From ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier''[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click to see his ''KOF XII-XIII'' design]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensou_kofxiii.png[[/labelnote]]]]
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[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Psycho Soldier]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensoupsychosoldier.
From ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier''[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click to see his ''KOF XII-XIII'' design]]https://static.
[[quoteright:350:[[''KOF XII-XIII'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensou_kofxiii.png[[/labelnote]]]]
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
Changed line(s) 60 (click to see context) from:
** Taken UpToEleven in ''KOF: G'', where his very first scene has him constantly distracted during his and Athena's training and getting punished by the monks that supervise both of them ''because his pants were ripped''.
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** Taken UpToEleven in In ''KOF: G'', where his very first scene has him constantly distracted during his and Athena's training and getting punished by the monks that supervise both of them ''because his pants were ripped''.
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TRS cleanup
Deleted line(s) 38 (click to see context) :
* AbsenteeActor: He's absent from ''KOF 2003'' despite having perfect attendance up until then.
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* ThrowTheDogABone: His DoggedNiceGuy schtick finally pays off in ''Maximum Impact 2'', as there it is mentioned that Athena's now dating him. Unfortunately, considering that's an AlternateContinuity, he hasn't had such luck in the mainline series... yet.
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Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
* AbortedArc: Downplayed; Kensou's dragon spirit was ''promised'' an arc, but the idea has been stuck in limbo. The Dragon Spirit was set up in ''2001'' to be especially powerful and to be the focus of an arc involving Ron of the Hizoku, only for ''2002'' to be a plotless DreamMatchGame, which was followed by SNK finally reclaiming the rights to ''KOF'' from Eolith and sending Kensou away for a year in ''2003'' -- the start of the "Tales of Ash" saga -- only to bring him back in ''XI'' and joke about [[StatusQuoIsGod how he hadn't really changed]] (both games had ending cameos by Ron). ''XII'' was also plotless, and not until ''XIII'' -- ''five games and eleven years later'' -- did SNK get around to acknowledging the dragon spirit regularly, though only in a few bits of dialog. ''XIV'' has also neglected to do much about it.
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* AbortedArc: Downplayed; Kensou's dragon spirit was ''promised'' an arc, but the idea has been stuck in limbo. The Dragon Spirit was set up in ''2001'' to be especially powerful and to be the focus of an arc involving Ron of the Hizoku, only for ''2002'' to be a plotless DreamMatchGame, which was followed by SNK finally reclaiming the rights to ''KOF'' from Eolith and sending Kensou away for a year in ''2003'' -- the start of the "Tales of Ash" saga -- only to bring him back in ''XI'' and joke about [[StatusQuoIsGod how he hadn't really changed]] (both games had ending cameos by Ron). ''XII'' was also plotless, and not until ''XIII'' -- ''five games and eleven years later'' -- did SNK get around to acknowledging the dragon spirit regularly, though only in a few bits of dialog. ''XIV'' has also neglected to do much about it. He doesn't even show up in ''XV'' as Athena forms Team Super Heroines with Mai and Yuri.
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* OutOfFocus: To add insult to injury with his ButtMonkey portrayal over in the ''KOF'' series, it's not uncommon for Kensou to straight up not appear in favor of [[BreakupBreakout Athena forming a new team of her own]].
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* PlotRelevantAgeUp: The two ''Days of Memories'' games Kensou appears he is a borderline different character; he was aged up to his mid-twenties, he is Athena’s Producer instead, and has no romantic feelings for her; what was kept for him was his Kansai accent and easy going personality, leaving the way completely free for the Player Character to win Athena’s heart. Funny enough this older Kensou looks nearly identical to Kyo.
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* PlotRelevantAgeUp: The two ''Days of Memories'' games Kensou appears he is a borderline different character; he was aged up to his mid-twenties, he is Athena’s Producer instead, and has no romantic feelings for her; what was kept for him was his Kansai accent and easy going easy-going personality, leaving the way completely free for the Player Character to win Athena’s heart. Funny enough this older Kensou looks nearly identical to Kyo.
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No longer a trope
Deleted line(s) 102 (click to see context) :
* FingerlessGloves: In ''XI''.
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Not an in-universe list?
Changed line(s) 125 (click to see context) from:
* KamehameHadoken: Kensou's forward throw, the ''Sunda'', or "Inch Blast", (originally ''Hakkei'', "Release", in '''94'') technique, is Kensou nailing the enemy in the face with a burst of psychic power from his palm. Later games gave him the ''Senki Hakkei'', "Hermit Power Release", super move, which is a quick succession of about five Inch Blasts, and a powered up version of a dozen [[BlownAcrossTheRoom that sends even Kensou flying]], though he's mastered it by ''XI'' and can stand his ground. His final desperation move in ''XIII'' is the ''Seigan: Senki Hakkei'', "Waking Eye: Hermit Power Blast", technique, which, [[PowerGlows due to the light show]], [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers resembles a buzzsaw more than anything else]].
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* KamehameHadoken: Kensou's forward throw, the ''Sunda'', or "Inch Blast", (originally ''Hakkei'', "Release", in '''94'') technique, is Kensou nailing the enemy in the face with a burst of psychic power from his palm. Later games gave him the ''Senki Hakkei'', "Hermit Power Release", super move, which is a quick succession of about five Inch Blasts, and a powered up version of a dozen [[BlownAcrossTheRoom that sends even Kensou flying]], though he's mastered it by ''XI'' and can stand his ground. His final desperation move in ''XIII'' is the ''Seigan: Senki Hakkei'', "Waking Eye: Hermit Power Blast", technique, which, [[PowerGlows due to the light show]], [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers resembles a buzzsaw more than anything else]].else.
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[floatboxright:
'''Profile'''
* MODE OF COMBAT: Psychic powers + Chinese kung fu
* BIRTHDAY: September 23
* HEIGHT: 172cm
* WEIGHT: 61kg
* BLOOD TYPE: Type B
* BIRTHPLACE: China
* HOBBY: Reading comic books
* PERSONAL TREASURES: Stuffed animals from his fans
* FAVORITE FOOD: Meat dumplings
* DISLIKES: Training
* FORTE IN SPORTS: Soccer
]
'''Profile'''
* MODE OF COMBAT: Psychic powers + Chinese kung fu
* BIRTHDAY: September 23
* HEIGHT: 172cm
* WEIGHT: 61kg
* BLOOD TYPE: Type B
* BIRTHPLACE: China
* HOBBY: Reading comic books
* PERSONAL TREASURES: Stuffed animals from his fans
* FAVORITE FOOD: Meat dumplings
* DISLIKES: Training
* FORTE IN SPORTS: Soccer
]
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-->'''Voiced by:''' Eiji Yano (''94' to XIII''), Yuki Ishii (''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]''), Yuto Kaname (''XIV'', ''The King of Fighters: Destiny''), Josh Keller (''XII'', English)
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->[[quoteleft:75:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/china_292.png]]
->'''Fighting style''': Psychic powers + Kung Fu
->'''Voiced by:'''
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Turns out the leaks were fake
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* MinorMajorCharacter: Kensou isn’t someone who has been in the center of every conflict during the Orochi Saga, NESTS Saga and and the Ash Saga, and up until 99, wasn't that important at all. However, the introduction of the Dragon Spirit made him a lot more noticeable, as did how one shady figure, Ron Hizoku, kept appearing to foretell his antagonist status by only showing interest in Kensou’s powers. [[spoiler: And if the leaks for XIV are to believed, the upcoming arc is going to be all about the Dragon Spirit and its' Dragon Power, which means that Kensou in all likelyhood is going to go from a MinorMajorCharacter to a straight up [[AscendedExtra Major Character]].]] All of this shows how much Kensou is truly worth when considering the larger scope of things, despite constantly getting overshadowed by Athena and everyone else.
to:
* MinorMajorCharacter: Kensou isn’t someone who has been in the center of every conflict during the Orochi Saga, NESTS Saga and and the Ash Saga, and up until 99, wasn't that important at all. However, the introduction of the Dragon Spirit made him a lot more noticeable, as did how one shady figure, Ron Hizoku, kept appearing to foretell his antagonist status by only showing interest in Kensou’s powers. [[spoiler: And if the leaks for XIV are to believed, the upcoming arc is going to be all about the Dragon Spirit and its' Dragon Power, which means that Kensou in all likelyhood is going to go from a MinorMajorCharacter to a straight up [[AscendedExtra Major Character]].]] All of this shows how much Kensou is truly worth when considering the larger scope of things, despite constantly getting overshadowed by Athena and everyone else.
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* BigWhy: Certain KO animations have him yell this out.
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* AbsenteeActor: He's absent from ''KOF 2003'' despite having perfect attendance up until then.
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[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/china_292.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charaimg_kensou.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charaimg_kensou.png]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:From ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2000 KOF 2000]]'']]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click to see his original design]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensoupsychosoldier.png\\
From ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier''[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click to see his ''KOF XII-XIII'' design]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kensou_kofxiii.png[[/labelnote]]]]
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[[WMG:[[center:[-'''''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier''''' | [[Characters/PsychoSoldier Main Index]]\\
[[Characters/{{Athena}} Athena Asamiya]] | '''Sie Kensou'''\\
'''Related Series'''\\
''Characters/TheKingOfFighters''-]]]]]
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/china_292.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charaimg_kensou.png]]
[floatboxright:
'''Profile'''
* MODE OF COMBAT: Psychic powers + Chinese kung fu
* BIRTHDAY: September 23
* HEIGHT: 172cm
* WEIGHT: 61kg
* BLOOD TYPE: Type B
* BIRTHPLACE: China
* HOBBY: Reading comic books
* PERSONAL TREASURES: Stuffed animals from his fans
* FAVORITE FOOD: Meat dumplings
* DISLIKES: Training
* FORTE IN SPORTS: Soccer
]
->''"New threads. New attitude. The new Kensou's coming at you!"''
-->'''Voiced by:''' Eiji Yano (''94' to XIII''), Yuki Ishii (''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]''), Yuto Kaname (''XIV'', ''The King of Fighters: Destiny''), Josh Keller (''XII'', English)
->The other half of the Psycho Soldiers main face, Sie Kensou is a lively young man born with PsychicPowers, referred to as Psycho Powers in-universe, for this reason he caught Chin Gentsai’s attention who then took him in to be his disciple; Chin believes his students must be honed to face any future threat the world may face, he uses the King of Fighters Tournaments as a mean to improve Kensou and the others.
->Kensou is mainly [[ButtMonkey the source of comic relief]] and relaxing moments for the Psycho Soldiers, however he has [[MinorMajorCharacter his own serious sub-plot]] that has been developing since ''99''; he is also in love with Athena, going to great lengths to confess his love and declare that he is her knight, [[AllLoveIsUnrequited however Athena seemly only sees Kensou as a friend]], getting extremely embarrassed each time Kensou confesses.
->In ''99'' Kensou [[BroughtDownToNormal mysteriously lost his powers]], seemly destroying Chin’s hopes for his future, but Kensou still participated in that editon of KOF; at the end of it the powerless Kensou [[EleventhHourSuperpower awakens an immense new power]] in desperation for Athena’s life was at risk, that power would be called the "Dragon Spirit" which Kensou somehow shares with Bao, meaning when Bao has powers Kensou doesn’t and vice-versa.
->After some ins and outs with his powers Kensou decides to pass up the ''2003'' tournament in order [[TrainingFromHell to master the Dragon Spirit]], eventually coming back in XI seemly having mastered his powers. In ''XII'' Kensou is [[TookALevelInBadass graced with a complete overhaul]] in his fighting style, sporting a more serious kung-fu and donning his Classic Attire from his original Psycho Soldiers appearance, in ''XIII'' he is eager to show everyone how much capable he has become and try to confess to Athena once more of course.
->The Dragon Spirit apparently is [[BewareTheNiceOnes one of the greatest powers in the King of Fighters universe]], Ron of Hizoku clan expressed great interest in taking it for himself, claiming that all of NESTS is nothing compared to said power, later he would even warn Saiki that the Dragon Spirit is something that could be a threat to Those From the Past.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-G]]
* AbortedArc: Downplayed; Kensou's dragon spirit was ''promised'' an arc, but the idea has been stuck in limbo. The Dragon Spirit was set up in ''2001'' to be especially powerful and to be the focus of an arc involving Ron of the Hizoku, only for ''2002'' to be a plotless DreamMatchGame, which was followed by SNK finally reclaiming the rights to ''KOF'' from Eolith and sending Kensou away for a year in ''2003'' -- the start of the "Tales of Ash" saga -- only to bring him back in ''XI'' and joke about [[StatusQuoIsGod how he hadn't really changed]] (both games had ending cameos by Ron). ''XII'' was also plotless, and not until ''XIII'' -- ''five games and eleven years later'' -- did SNK get around to acknowledging the dragon spirit regularly, though only in a few bits of dialog. ''XIV'' has also neglected to do much about it.
* AbortedDeclarationOfLove:
** Tries to confess his feelings for the umpteenth time to Athena in ''XIII'', only to be cut off by her. On ''two'' separate occasions. Poor guy.
** In ''XIV'' it reaches the point where Kensou technically interrupts himself; in yet another chance to confess his feelings for Athena, in a match against her, Kensou mutters to himself he is really going to do it this time, but Athena thinks Kensou is somehow worked up over her eating his Meat Bun earlier that day, apologizing and promising to cook a serving of meat buns just for Kensou later; that makes Kensou so happy for being graced with Athena’s home cooking that he completely forgets about confessing.
* AdaptationalComicRelief: ''King of Fighters: KYO'' (both the game and manga) depicted him as Athena's obnoxious and whiny fanboy, which traits [[RecursiveAdaptation quickly found a place in the games]].
* AllChinesePeopleKnowKungFu: Kensou’s Kung-Fu imparted on him by Chin, clearly based around the famous Northern Shaolin Style, often seen in {{Wuxia}} films, packed with many acrobatic movements and jumps.
* AllGuitarsAreStratocasters: Kensou is in fact a guitarist, and every once in a blue moon can be seen rocking out on a red stratocaster, as he did in the credits of the original ''Psycho Soldier'' game. In ''King of Fighters'', he's only seen playing guitar in the Team Psycho Soldier special credits for ''KOF 95'', but he briefly cameos with Chin in Athena's DreamSequence from ''SNK Heroines'' doing the same.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: He likes Athena. She cares for him greatly [[JustFriends as a friend]], throughout the series she has feelings for series protagonist Kyo, who in turn [[OfficialCouple is already in a relationship with Yuki]] ([[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy which Athena respects]] since she's friends with Yuki as well). A slight twist: Athena ''is'' well aware of his feelings for her (as evidenced in ''2000'' and ''2001'': the former has Kensou blatantly proclaim his love; the latter has Kensou fuming at the fact that Athena didn't give him an answer the last year and then crying when he defeats her; her profile in ''Maximum Impact 2'' also notes that she knows of Kensou's feelings), but as said above she views their relationship as BetterAsFriends and seems to either be embarrassed by his advances (as seen in ''XIII''[='s=] Story Mode) or outright ignores them.
* AmazonChaser:
** One of the reasons why he likes Athena is her BadassAdorable charm. In ''XIII'', his win quote against her has him explicitly saying "You're so strong, I couldn't hold back!"
** He's also rather impressed by Leona's looks in ''XIII'' and by Luong's HeroicSeductress charms in ''XIV''
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Kensou's got a long and storied history with this trope.
** In ''KOF 2000'', Kensou confesses outright, only for Athena to blatantly and clumsily avoid the subject. He remains frustrated with her refusal to answer him in ''2001'', and in ''2002'' she starts off with an apology, which [[AllLoveIsUnrequited terrifies him]], only for her apology to actually about stealing his meat bun earlier, which makes [[WallBang him collapse to the floor]]. In his win quote against her he ultimately gives up.
** It was dropped for a couple of games, but he tries confessing yet again in ''XI'' only for her to apparently not pick up on his intentions. In ''XIII'', however, the intro to a Team Psycho Soldier match against Team Women Fighters includes Mai teasing him for being in trapped in "'JustFriends' Jail", prompting him to try again... only for Athena to tell him "Not in front of everyone!", which Yuri ''[[AmbiguousSituation immediately]]'' latches onto.
* AscendedExtra: Kensou in his classical Psycho Soldier getup, it was first seen in the Special Team: Classic Characters Ending (Ralf, Clark, Athena) in ''97'', where the classic trio is seen in their original appearances from their debut games, although Athena is dressed like Goddess Athena; Kensou is seen on the side asking to not be forgotten. In ''2000'' Psycho Soldier Kensou became a Striker, resulting in ''XII'' and ''XIII'' where it became his main look.
* AssistCharacter: For Athena in ''Gals Fighters''. Kensou was playing the leading lady's hapless HumanShield before [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Toad made it cool]].
* AwesomeButImpractical: The most prominent new move Kensou had in his comeback for ''XI'' to signify his mastery over the Dragon Spirit, the DM Seigan Rairyu, Kensou fires an energy dragon that comes back to him, making Kensou glow for about 10 seconds boosting his damage output for every attack; unfortunately it isn’t much practical since the move can be easily cancelled (flooring Kensou before the Dragon comes back to him), probably being the reason it didn’t come back for Kensou’s full badass overhaul in the two following entries.
* BadassAdorable: An earnest, somewhat child-like, spirited, slightly clumsy young man who can pack an ''incredible'' punch with his kung-fu skills and PsychicPowers.
* BadassNormal: Kensou did not pass down the chance of participating in the tournaments when he lost his powers, he canonically went through three editions: ''99'', ''2000'' and ''2001'' completely powerless, still carrying his own weight with raw skill on Kung-Fu. The only time Kensou passed a tournament, ''2003'', was to train in order to control his Dragon Spirit.
* BattleAura: Extreme usage of the Dragon Spirit gives one to Kensou. As shown in ''KOF '99'', it also doubles as a force field.
* BattleCry: "NIKUMAAANNNN~!!!" upon being selected in ''XIII'', he really loves those Pork Buns.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Towards Bao, who more or less is his adoptive brother.
* BigEater: To the point that one of his old DM techniques has him ''eating'' pork buns to recover health (and sometimes ''choke'' on them). His intro animation in the older games also had him stuffing down a pork bun before entering battle.
* BroughtDownToNormal: Lost his powers temporarily, after Bao was taken in by the Psycho Soldiers. It's later revealed that they share said powers; whenever Bao's using the Dragon Spirit, Kensou loses his psychic abilities and vice versa.
* ButtMonkey: If something bad and/or embarrassing happened to the Psycho Soldiers, Kensou was the most usual target.
** Taken UpToEleven in ''KOF: G'', where his very first scene has him constantly distracted during his and Athena's training and getting punished by the monks that supervise both of them ''because his pants were ripped''.
* CallBack: The fact Kensou has a fandom in-universe for ''KOF'' doesn't sound that weird when one takes in consideration his ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'' incarnation; there Kensou actually acted as a guitarist for Athena's concerts and shows. With him being on stage from time to time performing along with Athena, this would eventually help the guy gather some devoted fans.
* CallingYourAttacks: The only attack Kensou has consistently called in all the iterations in which he had the move, the Choukyuudan. Kensou calls it out with that heavy Kansai dialect of his ("''Choukyuudaya!''"); you are not to blame if you can’t discern what Kensou is calling it while pulling the move.
* TheCameo:
** He appears in the Action RPG game ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}'' for the NES under the name "Kensu", he is one of the four wise sages who must guide the protagonist into gathering four elemental swords to forge the Crystalis sword. In the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor remake, he is the one who forged the Thunder Sword.
** Kensou’s Meat Bun is Athena’s PRETTY CHARGE ability in ''VideoGame/SNKGalsFighters'', it refills her health.
** In the end [[ThePowerOfLove expect to see him]] in any game Athena has a major role or is TheProtagonist herself; with very few exceptions.
* CannotSpitItOut: While in earlier games, Kensou was downright ''loud'' with his feelings for Athena, in ''XIII'' he has to force himself to get confessions out, and even then Athena's quick to avoid shut him down as quickly as she can. Maybe all those early years of rejection did a number on his confidence.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
** Kensou has always been a ButtMonkey, but it was most prominent in the art from the [[NoExportForYou Japanese]] ''Psycho Soldier'' [[AllThereInTheManual manual]], while the only clue in-game was the easily-missed fact that he'd land on his face in the drop between each level. His official art didn't depict much personality outside of [[ArrogantKungFuGuy confidence]].
** Then he came to ''King of Fighters'' and he became ([[{{Flanderization}} from '96 to '98]]) laid-back PluckyComicRelief. Throw in his perennially frustrated attempt to be LadyAndKnight with Athena (up to and including a straight-up ''ignored'' LoveConfession), and you have the laughingstock characterization that defined him through ''KOF XI''.
** ''XII'' and forward moved him back towards his roots, putting him in a green and red kung fu uniform much like his original incarnation and re-characterized him as JustAKid still finding his way and learning to deal with the Dragon Spirit, with several characters offering patronage and commenting on him "[[WeDontSuckAnymore coming out of his slump]]". (Not that his silliness is ''entirely'' gone -- use his RapidFireFisticuffs attack for too long and Kensou becomes exhausted).
** ''XIV'' has nudged him back in the direction of his early ''KOF'' days, blending his old street clothes with some of the dragon stylings of his ''kung fu'' uniform.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Kensou simply does not exist in almost all ''Days of Memories'' games, understandably since he is quite literally the most prominent character in the whole series about proclaiming his love to another major character, only Ramon comes close; Kensou had to make way for the Player Character to win Athena’s heart. The two ''[=DoM=]'' games Kensou appeared he was pretty much a completely different character who had no feelings for Athena.
** They pretty much do that as well in the Isekai spin-off "The King of Fantasy" so they can pair up Athena's expy...with Iori of all people. [[ChewToy Talk about bad luck]].
* CombatParkour: Kensou’s Kung Fu is extremely acrobatic, Chin likely disciplined him in Northern Shaolin Style; the range of Kensou’s maneuverability is best seen when couldn’t tap into his powers, his moveset was adjusted with more jumping kicks and punches, backflips as well.
* CommonalityConnection:
** He gets along pretty well with Robert Garcia of the ''Art of Fighting'' team, as they're both chasing specific girls and speak Japanese in ''Kansai-ben''. Robert's even [[ShipperOnDeck asked Kensou for updates on him and Athena a couple of times]].
** Being themed after Dragons and loving Meat Buns couldn't have ended any other way, SNK had Mui Mui and Kensou have a Special Intro; Mui Mui says this world's Meat Buns aren't as good as the ones in her world, Kensou begs to differ, telling Mui Mui he will take her to a place that serves some really good Meat Buns.
* CompositeCharacter: In ''XIV'' he maintains his more serious Kung-Fu introduced in ''XII/XIII'' (stance, walking, running animation, etc.) but Kensou’s looks is a throwback to the casual wear he wore upon debuting in ''King of Fighters 94''. Most of his move set in ''XIV'' is pretty much a direct copy of what he had in ''KOF 2002''.
* CompressedVice: In the backstory of ''XI''. Kensou, who has been around since '''94'' and is therefore well-acquainted with a number of powerful women, and who is on a team ''led by'' a girl, brings up Momoko's sex in a list of objections about adding her to the team, [[StrawMisogynist presumably so the story can discredit his otherwise accurate criticisms]] of [[KiddieKid her character]].
* CostumeEvolution: He gets [[VideoGame/PsychoSoldier new-old]] Chinese duds in ''XII'' to show his advancements in his power. He went back to a blue casual getup in ''XIV'' although it's a different design compared to his clothes in earlier games.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Athena's independent and strong character is what makes Kensou look foolish in comparison, but when Athena does need help is where Kensou shows he is someone she can rely on. Kensou dropped the IdiotBall when he had to awaken his Dragon Spirit powers to save Athena in ''KOF '99''. Other situations can be found in Athena's exclusive game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation, ''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]'', where Athena is being constantly haunted due being quite a dark RPG; Kensou proves to be a great ally and support for Athena as he cheers her up in crucial events during the adventure.
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: The Dragon Spirit is used for vastly more dramatic and impressive things in the ending sequences of ''KOF '99'' and ''2000'' than anything in the games themselves; in the first Kensou is able to rescue Athena from the inferno of the collapsing NESTS base and in the second, he's able to absorb the Dragon Spirit from Bao, who nearly died after absorbing the power of a KillSat, without any sign of pain at all.
* DanceBattler: His SignatureMove all the way back to '''94'', the ''Shinryuu Tenbu Kyaku'' (roughly "Dragon God Sky-Dancing Kick"), consists of him doing a flying spin-kick during a handstand. The official translation is ''Holy Serpent Breakdance''.
* DeathFromAbove: his Ryuusogeki special is him doing a diving palm strike from above.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: His attacks tend to be weak, but he's got some long combos with multiple hits, especially in ''XIII''.
* DeclarationOfProtection: Kensou declares himself to be Athena’s Knight, even though he sees her as someone strong enough to fend for herself; it has more to do with Kensou wanting to be someone whom Athena can always rely on when things get too tough, however there are times Kensou just wants to be strong enough to protect Athena from something he considers too much.
** A straighter example comes with the team’s Special Ending in ''99'', where Kensou awakens his latent abilities to save Athena from imminent death, her telling him to go and save himself alone didn’t tick well on Mr. Knights’s mind and his desperation awakens the Dragon Spirit in its fullest.
** Used for comical effect in ''2000'', the special intro he has with Athena is Kensou proclaiming loudly he is Athena’s Knight, Athena doesn’t even get flustered like the similar Intro in 2001 where it is a Love Confession instead, she just strikes her usual Idol pose and starts the match as if she didn’t even notice Kensou’s presence, understandably Kensou drops his shoulders in depression.
* DemotedToExtra: Happens to Kensou in some of Athena's games, specially the DatingSim ones where the player character assumes the role of her manager or just an average guy seeking for love. Since said games are from the player character's POV, Kensou serves only as a cameo, in a continuity where apparently he won't compete with the given player character regardless of his feelings, or actually such affections aren't romantic at all. Exception goes ''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]'', as mentioned in this page before, Kensou gets the chance to be a great support to Athena.
* DistractedByTheSexy: The Credits Roll for ''2002'' is composed of funny bloopers made with the cast’s animations repurposed for completely different situations, Kensou’s shocked animation is used to represent him being completely mesmerized by Shermie’s provocative taunts, following her at every angle; Kensou showing interest in any other girl but Athena is non-canon of course as it is the case for ''2002''.
* DoggedNiceGuy: To Athena, though it happens more in the ''KOF: Kyo'' related media.
** In ''XIII'', he's ''this'' close to confessing in his intro with her. Too bad Athena is ''way'' more concerned with their fight. In the Story Mode he also attempts to confess his feelings to Athena, causing an understandably embarrassed Athena to promptly cut him off. Cue the Women Fighters Team expressing their sympathies to him... which in turn leads to the ladies getting catty with each other over ''their'' love lives.
** It should be noticed that, even when he does follow Athena like a borderline puppy and [[BerserkButton is very upset]] at the possibility of [[CrazyJealousGuy losing her to someone else]], [[UndyingLoyalty his affections for her are very genuine otherwise.]] He helps her when she needs it but '''NEVER''' [[EntitledToHaveYou demands love or sex from her in return]], and he ''does'' show affection and care towards other people (Chin, Bao, Kaoru, Momoko, etc.) as well. (In ''XIII'' he shows ''next to no jealousy'' against Athena's crush Kyo, instead telling him to relax and take care of himself.)
* DrunkenMaster: Averted. One of the images from ''XIII'', "Drunken Fighters", features Kensou being used as a HumanShield by King, who is holding a wine glass, against Hwa Jai, Big Bear, and Chin himself, who are carrying apparently harder liquors. Kensou himself is hunched over one of Chin's gourds and stark-white in the face, though it's uncertain whether he CantHoldHisLiquor or drank a GargleBlaster unwittingly.
* DubNameChange: In Japan, the ''kanji'' making up his name are pronounced known as ''Shii Kensuu''.
%% Don't add Expy here. It's already in the ShoutOut page.
* EatingContest: The only Special Intro he ever had with Chin, Kensou will chow down on many Meat Buns, while Chin chugs down many doses of sake from his Urns.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: In the Psycho Soldier Team's special ending for ''KOF '99''. Kensou triggers his Dragon Spirit after Athena is in danger of being left for dead at the crumbling site, he saves her with a dose of PowerOfLove and UndyingLoyalty. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation This doesn't actually do much for Kensou, game-wise, until he trains to control the Dragon Spirit's power several games later.]]
* EnergyBall: Kensou's Choukyuudan. Originally the attack was a projectile Hadoken type (''[='94=]'' to ''[='98=]'', ''XI'' and ''XIII''); Kensou performed a crouching stance and fired the ball of energy from above. After losing his powers and later training to get them back, Kensou changed his to way to fire the Choukyuudan. From ''XII'' and on the attack evolved; his normal Choukyuudan becomes larger and he gets its more powerful version, Shinryuu Choukyuudan, as a DM.
* FingerlessGloves: In ''XI''.
* {{Flanderization}}: According to WordOfGod, Kensou was originally meant to be cool and particularly appealing to women. ([[CharacterizationMarchesOn We know, surprised us, too]]). In sequence:
** Originally, the only thing he had to say about Athena was that while the ladies of Team England were cute, Athena was cuter.
** Then ''96'' happened, introducing his love of meat buns and his habit of eating them too quickly and creating promotional art depicting him dreaming about being Athena's boyfriend, and ''KOF: KYO'' happened simultaneously, extrapolating it into [[AllLoveIsUnrequited a crush Kensou had on Athena while she liked Kyo]]. (Hell, the ''KOF: KYO'' game had Kensou make such a nuisance of himself that Athena actively and openly tried to distance herself from him).
** And then ''98'' happened after ''that'' and had him flagrantly and showily demonstrate his affection for Athena, much to her embarrassment, and it's only gotten worse from there. (A character story for Kensou set prior to ''XII'' [[NoExportForYou on the Japanese website]] featured him [[StalkerWithACrush spying on what he assumes was a date between Athena and Kyo]] and getting arrested for it).
** At this point, his love for Athena is such a huge RunningGag that at times it risks eclipsing every other aspect of him; if Kensou didn’t have his "Classic" SNK character status and the dragon spirit plot on the back burner, his love for Athena would basically be his whole character.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: His use of the Dragon Spirit, in story it can make Kensou fly, generate impregnable force fields, boost his powers to astonishing levels if Ron is to be believed, and when Bao used it could stop a KillSat instantly; now it is said that Kensou has total control over the Dragon Spirit. In gameplay, however, the Dragon Spirit has no significance whatsoever compared to how godly it is portrayed in cutscenes.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Basked in the power of the Dragon Spirit to save Athena in ''KOF '99'', Kensou gets nice glowing eyes of blue energy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:H-Z]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: As mentioned above, he and Athena made their debuts in VideoGame/PsychoSoldier.
* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum: Kensou's Dragon Spirit powers by the time he mastered it in ''KOF XI'', as by Kensou's own explanation for this in WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity below (if we go by Ron's words in the NESTS Saga that the Dragon Spirit at full power can make SNKBoss Igniz and all of NESTS look like nothing in comparison) then Kensou does have a good reason not to show off his powers recklessly.
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Done through his Niku Man O Kuu DM: he eats one of his meat buns and it recovers some of his health. There is a SDM variation where he chokes on it and ''[[EpicFail loses]]'' [[SubvertedTrope health]].
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Downplayed. In the Team Story for '''99'', Kensou is afraid that the loss of his PsychicPowers means he no longer has any business being part of the Psycho Soldiers and considers it a lucky break that the newest tournament allows ''four'' members to a team so he still gets to participate.
* TheIdiotFromOsaka: SNK has yet to be forthcoming on why the decidedly Chinese Kensou speaks with the accent, but he's been doing it as far back as the original ''Psycho Soldier'', which means he has seniority over Robert and Choi in this category.
* ImagineSpot: In the Psycho Soldiers ending for XIII, they are congratulated all around, some reporters say companies are competing to get the rights to make a show out of the Psycho Soliders, Kensou thinks of how great this could be and starts day dreaming of them being in a {{Sentai}} show.
* InconsistentDub: Although Kensou's ultimate energy attack is called ''Senki Hakkei'', he will sometimes call it ''Choukyuudan'', which isn't that strange since the Senki Hakkei is just a more powerful and close ranged Choukyuudan. In ''XIII'' Kensou's new and improved DM is the ''Seigan: Senki Hakkei'', but still he says Chouryuudan in the end.
* InformedAttribute:
** The fact he has ''fans''. He hangs around Athena much of the time, even when she's on tour (which might be a MythologyGag to him being a guitarist in ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier''), which might have helped Kensou gather his own fandom. He even has a collection of plushies and stuffed animals alike received from his fans. In the '''97'' Psycho Soldier [[AllThereInTheManual Team Story]], he got exactly one (1) fan letter for his performance in the previous tournament, and a pile of razor-filled hate mail from Athena's male admirers.
** The Dragon Spirit. It gave him some CutscenePowerToTheMax in ending sequences twice (once in ''[='99=]'' and again in ''2002''), but the way Ron says the Dragon Spirit can make Igniz and all other {{SNK Boss}}es that NESTS created look like ''nothing'' in comparison has yet to be substantiated; by ''XI'' and beyond Kensou should at least be referred as a PsychicPowers [[PhysicalGod Master]], even if he is holding his powers back.
** Related to the Dragon Spirit, Kensou was supposedly on a training journey for a whole year during ''2003'', but his return showed [[StatusQuoIsGod no real change]], which is [[LampshadeHanging repeatedly joked about]]. Athena's win quote against him in ''XI'' chastises him for accomplishing nothing, and the ending jokes about how Chin's training was to teach Kensou how to ''[[ExactWords not]]'' use his power... though it also tries to have its cake and eat it, too, by also having Ron praise Kensou from afar for mastering the spirit in only a year. Some characters indicate he's been training with Chin again in ''XIII'', though if they beat him they'll note his new training ''also'' didn't accomplish much.
** Occasionally he gets hit with an InformedFlaw -- supposedly he hates training, but while that would normally imply his skills are prone to atrophy, he's always been a viable contender against everyone else in the cast.
* KamehameHadoken: Kensou's forward throw, the ''Sunda'', or "Inch Blast", (originally ''Hakkei'', "Release", in '''94'') technique, is Kensou nailing the enemy in the face with a burst of psychic power from his palm. Later games gave him the ''Senki Hakkei'', "Hermit Power Release", super move, which is a quick succession of about five Inch Blasts, and a powered up version of a dozen [[BlownAcrossTheRoom that sends even Kensou flying]], though he's mastered it by ''XI'' and can stand his ground. His final desperation move in ''XIII'' is the ''Seigan: Senki Hakkei'', "Waking Eye: Hermit Power Blast", technique, which, [[PowerGlows due to the light show]], [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers resembles a buzzsaw more than anything else]].
* KansaiRegionalAccent: Despite being Chinese. It's actually a holdover from his origin game. This is lampshaded through the special "Kansai Dialect Team" in '''98'' (him, Robert and Choi).
* KissOfLife: [[spoiler:In the team's ''2000'' ending, this is how he recovers his powers]].[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/neogeo/b/kof2kpsy.htm More exactly:]] [[spoiler:Bao [[TakingTheBullet has taken]] a ''massive'' energy beam from a NESTS KillSat to protect the team and Kaoru and is laying in ''great'' pain [[BridalCarry in Kensou's arms]], seemingly very close to suffer a SuperpowerMeltdown. [[IntimateHealing Kensou gives this to Bao and absorbs the remaining energy through his own body]], which unleashes the Dragon Spirit and saves Bao's life; from then on his powers are restored, but Bao is BroughtDownToNormal.]]
* LoveConfession: Blurts out loud, echoes included, on the Special Intro he has with Athena in ''2000'', Athena gets fidgety and dodges an answer by trying to start the fight, Kensou gets down in the slumps because of it.
* MagicKnight: While he's had PsychicPowers like Athena as far back as the first game, Kensou's moveset has always been dramatically more physical than hers, and plot developments related to the Dragon Spirit forced him to do spend a few games purely as a BareFistedMonk. After he returns from his training abroad, he's back to using a blend of both.
* MartialArtsHeadband: For ''XII'' and ''XIII'' as a nod to his ''Psycho Soldier'' incarnation.
* MinorMajorCharacter: Kensou isn’t someone who has been in the center of every conflict during the Orochi Saga, NESTS Saga and and the Ash Saga, and up until 99, wasn't that important at all. However, the introduction of the Dragon Spirit made him a lot more noticeable, as did how one shady figure, Ron Hizoku, kept appearing to foretell his antagonist status by only showing interest in Kensou’s powers. [[spoiler: And if the leaks for XIV are to believed, the upcoming arc is going to be all about the Dragon Spirit and its' Dragon Power, which means that Kensou in all likelyhood is going to go from a MinorMajorCharacter to a straight up [[AscendedExtra Major Character]].]] All of this shows how much Kensou is truly worth when considering the larger scope of things, despite constantly getting overshadowed by Athena and everyone else.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Downplayed. From ''XIII'' forward, Kensou has taken a distinct dislike to facing Athena in combat, and he absolutely ''hates'' winning in terror of having gone overboard.
* MythicalMotifs: [[OurDragonsAreDifferent The dragon.]] A likely ShoutOut the fact that he [[VoluntaryShapeshifting could transform into one]] in ''Psycho Soldier''. Exemplified with his hidden mystic power Dragon Spirit.
* MythologyGag: During his cameo in Athena's dream sequence in ''SNK Heroines'', Kensou is playing a guitar for the first time since the original ''Psycho Soldier'' back in 1987.
* NextTierPowerUp: Subverted. With its immense CutscenePowerToTheMax, the Dragon Spirit looked almost certain to bestow one on Kensou, but even after supposedly training extensively to "master" it, the only visible sign is SNK [[PowerUpLetDown tinkering slightly with Kensou's moveset]], which it does to everyone on a game-by-game basis. Worse, given that the cast has started treating him like JustAKid in ''XII'' and ''XIII'', Kensou's effectively suffered a narrative ''downgrade''.
* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Athena tells Kensou to escape by himself when she got her leg stuck underneath fallen debris, during the team’s Special Ending in 99; Kensou of course isn’t fond of the idea, his frustration for being without his powers at the time and the fear of Athena dying is so great that he awakens his Dragon Spirit, saving both of them in the process.
* NoRespectGuy: His ReTool in ''XII'' and ''XIII'' recast him as JustAKid still in the midst of training, which got him some fairly patronizing comments from other members of the cast, who don't particularly care to acknowledge that he's been on even footing with them since the very first game. This occasionally crops up in other games, but not to the same extent as in ''XIII''.
* NumberTwo: Tried to be this in ''XI'', during Gentsai’s absence, trying to be a (un)wise mentor for Momoko as well, Athena doesn’t put her foot down just letting Kensou have his fun and Momoko sort of goes along with it but only trusting what Athena says.
* OlderThanTheyLook: It's less noted than Athena and Yuri because they changed drastically, but Kensou has also been hit by this with the new character designs, or arguably he was always this. Kensou is 19 years old, and yet looks ''much'' younger than Kyo who is only one year older than him (20 years old); also there's Leona, who at 18 years old, in comparison to Kensou, looks like a mature woman in her early twenties whereas he seems more like a teenager.
* OutOfTheInferno: Kensou’s first and most extreme usage of the Dragon Spirit, he is seen by Chin, Bao and Kaoru carrying Athena on his arms while walking away from a NESTS’ Base in flames.
* PlotRelevantAgeUp: The two ''Days of Memories'' games Kensou appears he is a borderline different character; he was aged up to his mid-twenties, he is Athena’s Producer instead, and has no romantic feelings for her; what was kept for him was his Kansai accent and easy going personality, leaving the way completely free for the Player Character to win Athena’s heart. Funny enough this older Kensou looks nearly identical to Kyo.
* PluckyComicRelief: Ever since his debut in ''Psycho Soldier'', Kensou has fallen into this role. In ''KOF'' it usually pops up in the form of wardrobe malfunctions and hijinks involving his meat dumplings.
* PowerFloats: In his most extreme usage of the Dragon Spirit yet[[note]]''The King of Fighters '99'', Psycho Soldiers special ending by defeating Krizalid with Kensou[[/note]], Kensou could float around.
* PowerGlows: Kensou glows during the 10 seconds power boost from the Seigan Rairyu he had in XI.
* PowerLossMakesYouStrong: The power loss that hit Kensou for three tournaments straight made him rely solely on his Kung-Fu skills to get by; it consequently made way for Kensou to discover his Dragon Spirit and get serious about his training, it resulted in him getting his powers back and since then sporting a more serious Kung-Fu style.
* PowerStrainBlackout: Kensou faints after he takes Athena to safety out of the fallen NESTS base; he took the toll from awakening the Dragon Spirit, it extended to Bao who also fainted at the same time.
* ProductPlacement:
** Kensou’s favorite Manga, ''Seito Shokun'', is a real series; quite possibly why it hasn’t been mentioned by name as the years went by, lately it is just said Kensou likes reading Manga / Comic Books.
** He also had the debut album of J-Pop singer Yuu Hayami as a prized possession early in the series.
** Kensou’s hoodie for ''XIV'', it’s clearly an Adidas hoodie; it has one of the brand logos upside-down. Given his love for soccer, it is definitely intentional on SNK’s part.
* PsychicPowers: Shared with Bao. When he has them, Bao doesn't, and when Bao can use them, Kensou can't (which partially explains why Kensou is only able to use projectile attacks in certain games).
* PutOnABus: Kensou, Chin, and Bao are all absent from the ''2003'' tournament, presumably on a year's journey for Kensou's training. Athena teamed up with Hisako and Malin, instead.
* RapidFireFisticuffs: Kensou’s new move introduced in ''XIII'', Ryuubokko, he breaks into a storm of mid-punches, continuous usage will tire him out in a comic manner; the EX Ryuubokko however has Kensou performing all the possible hits without getting tired, ending it knocking down the opponent. His Shinryuu Seioushou DM is its more powerful version.
** Before that there's his Ryuu Renda special, which looks much less refined.
* RealMenWearPink: Kensou is proud and not afraid of showing his plushie collection which was mounted from the stuffed animals he received from his fans, and of course he is always open for more items to add to the collection. Additionally, his favorite manga, ''Seito Shokun!'', is a classic {{Shoujo|Genre}} romance comedy.
* SealedBadassInACan: Kensou is apparently carrying around a very powerful spirit, which has been a data point going almost completely unexplored for about twenty years now. It would almost be an AbortedArc, except it keeps getting offhand mentions in ''XI'' and ''XIII''.
* SelfProclaimedLoveInterest: Drifts in and out of this depending on the continuity. Of course, his success rate currently rests at a respectable 0%.
%%
%% Don't add ShoutOut here. There's already a page for KOF ShoutOuts: ShoutOut/TheKingOfFighters.
%%
* ShapingYourAttacks: The ''Seigan: Rairyuu'' (roughly "Waking Eye: Returning Dragon", officially "Dragon Awakening") technique, which in ''2002 UM'' is a variant of the Choukyuudan that returns to Kensou after being released -- at its higher level the returning energy will take the form of a dragon, hence the name. In ''XI'', the move works essentially the same, though Kensou instead unleashes a shockwave through the ground and the attack always returns in dragon form. If Kensou is able to collect the returning energy, he gets a PowerUp.
* {{Shoryuken}}: His Ryuugakusai special is this, mixed with HurricaneKick. There's also his Senkyuutai special in older games, although it's more to juggle an opponent.
* {{Shotoclone}}: His projectile is the Choukyuudan (at least in the games where he has it), his uppercut move is... well, see directly above, and his rush-forward move is either Ryuu Renga (older games) or Shikkuu Zanryuu Kyaku (''XIII'').
* SignatureMove: His Ryuugakusai, Ryuusogeki, Choukyuudan (though he doesn't always have it) and Senki Hakkei.
* SingleTargetSexuality: Zigzagged. Kensou has acknowledged on several occasions that there are many attractive women (the Women Fighters team, Leona, Luong) around... but he considers Athena to be the only one for him.
* TheSlacker: [[InformedFlaw If the bio is to be believed]], he actually hates training. But starting in 2003, he starts taking his training more seriously to master his Dragon Spirit.
* SmugSmiler: Kensou has put on all kinds of smiles through the many artists who penciled him, from innocent good spirited ones to these clear smug ones to show his (over)confidence; XIV has a text book overconfident smug in Kensou’s hand drawn draft, shown in 3D for his Winner Screen, packed with a raised eyebrow to complete the smug expression.
* SpectacularSpinning: Many of Kensou's special moves invoke circular motion in some way. His repertoire of {{Hurricane Kick}}s speaks for itself, but he also has a few high-powered KiManipulation that are initiated with Kensou making a large circle with his hands. One or two of the latter even launch [[BlowYouAway a tornado]].
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Being a Chinese character in a Japanese game will do that to you. The characters that make up his name have a Mandarin pronunciation of "Chui Quanchong", but in Japan are read as "Shii Kensuu", the latter of which is re-rendered into English as "Sie Kensou", which is the most common result in games translated into English. However, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness games released before that standardized translation]] would sometimes refer to him as "Kensu" in a fairly direct transliteration of his Japanese name, such as when he cameoed in ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}''.
* SphereOfDestruction: Earlier in the series, Kensou had a DM (Senki Hakkei) of the same type that needed to be activated up close. The force of the SDM version was so great, that the recoil sends him ''[[LawOfInverseRecoil flying into the corner]]''. There's also its more powerful version, [[https://youtu.be/a_bWgBOypY8?t=580 Seigan Senki Hakkei Neo MAX]] in ''XIII'', which is very similar to [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Chun-Li's]] Kikoushou.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Kensou's suffered his second-stringer status and humiliating lack of success in love for years, and what hope he did have of rising to prominence (''i.e.'' the Dragon Spirit) is on the verge of becoming a RunningGag itself, having been on the sidelines for nearly as long.
* SuperMode: Kensou’s exclusive move for ''2002'' and later (canonically) ''XI'', the HSDM/LDM Seigan Rairyu, which if it connects will grant Kensou a super mode that increases the damage he can deal for 10 seconds.
* ThreeStrikeCombo: his Ryuu Renga special in older games hits 3 times by default. In ''XII'', his new special Ryuu Touda is a classic 3-hit rekka chain special move.
* TookALevelInBadass: After sitting out the ''2003'' tournament, Kensou returns in ''XI'', having improved drastically by mastering his control over the Dragon Spirit. Ron seems to be very pleased by this. Many fans see his new look in ''XII'' as another level.
** ''XIII'' is the next logical step in his badassery progression. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n0CE8rEBxY Holy...]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Meat buns. Has a tendency to choke on them occasionally, though. He also has a Trademark Unfavorite Food, too -- ''pizza''. One of his joke specials is to actually scarf a "pizaman" and gag on it.
* TranslationStyleChoices:
** Kensou’s name in China would actually be ''Chui Quanchong'', Sie Kensou is his name being rendered to its Japanese reading.
** Kensou’s favorite food has been translated in just about every way possible: ''Baozi'', Meat Dumplings, Meat Bun, Pork Bun, “Kensou’s Lunch”; ''XIV'' goes an extra mile and just calls it Dim Sum, which is actually the name of varied bite-sized Chinese dishes of which a Meat Bum is one type. In Japan though it has always been called ''Nikuman''.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Kensou awakened his Dragon Spirit when Athena was likely to die stuck in a crumbling NESTS base; it is the most impressive and seemly most powerful usage of his latent ability so far.
* TrophyRoom: Where Kensou keeps his collection of plushies and stuffed animals recieved from his fans, comic books (''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seito_Shokun! Seito Shokun!]]'' in particular), and his beloved autographed ball from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Del_Piero Alessandro Del Piero.]]
* VerbalTic: Continuous usage of “~ya” at end of his sentences to outright warping certain words and ending them with ''ya'', this is Kensou’s trade mark Kansai Dialect.
-->Kensou: "CHOKYUDAYA!" (Chokyuudan!)
* VocalDissonance: Kensou always had a good spirited young boy’s voice, despite debuting on the series as a 18 years old guy then stopping at 19 years old as the series progressed, it doesn’t fit someone of his age but it does fit his easy going personality; with ''XIV'' retiring the voice Kensou had for a good two decades, SNK still didn’t stop with the theme, Kensou still sounds like someone way younger than he actually is, arguably sounding younger than ever before.
* VocalEvolution: Around ''[='96=]'', Kensou's TenorBoy-like voice became ''quite'' high-pitched for a guy past puberty. It has been toned back down around ''XII''/''XIII'', however.
* UndyingLoyalty: Towards Athena, Kensou’s love is sincere and being shot down, more than once, did not manage to make things go sour between them, Kensou declares himself to be Athena’s Knight without asking anything immediate, just quietly hoping one day Athena will return his feelings, to top it off the fear of Athena dying in ''’99'' was enough to make Kensou awake a power he never knew he had to avoid the seemingly inevitable fate at the time.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The only explanation so far why Kensou didn't become, canonically, one of the most powerful members of the cast after supposedly mastering the Dragon Spirit. Kensou himself, albeit comically and even suspiciously, said that he is consciously holding back his powers because of what happened to other powerful beings in the cast who tapped into their great powers too much, mostly final bosses like Rugal who all turned insane and/or died.
[[/folder]]
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[[Characters/{{Athena}} Athena Asamiya]] | '''Sie Kensou'''\\
'''Related Series'''\\
''Characters/TheKingOfFighters''-]]]]]
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/china_292.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charaimg_kensou.png]]
[floatboxright:
'''Profile'''
* MODE OF COMBAT: Psychic powers + Chinese kung fu
* BIRTHDAY: September 23
* HEIGHT: 172cm
* WEIGHT: 61kg
* BLOOD TYPE: Type B
* BIRTHPLACE: China
* HOBBY: Reading comic books
* PERSONAL TREASURES: Stuffed animals from his fans
* FAVORITE FOOD: Meat dumplings
* DISLIKES: Training
* FORTE IN SPORTS: Soccer
]
->''"New threads. New attitude. The new Kensou's coming at you!"''
-->'''Voiced by:''' Eiji Yano (''94' to XIII''), Yuki Ishii (''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]''), Yuto Kaname (''XIV'', ''The King of Fighters: Destiny''), Josh Keller (''XII'', English)
->The other half of the Psycho Soldiers main face, Sie Kensou is a lively young man born with PsychicPowers, referred to as Psycho Powers in-universe, for this reason he caught Chin Gentsai’s attention who then took him in to be his disciple; Chin believes his students must be honed to face any future threat the world may face, he uses the King of Fighters Tournaments as a mean to improve Kensou and the others.
->Kensou is mainly [[ButtMonkey the source of comic relief]] and relaxing moments for the Psycho Soldiers, however he has [[MinorMajorCharacter his own serious sub-plot]] that has been developing since ''99''; he is also in love with Athena, going to great lengths to confess his love and declare that he is her knight, [[AllLoveIsUnrequited however Athena seemly only sees Kensou as a friend]], getting extremely embarrassed each time Kensou confesses.
->In ''99'' Kensou [[BroughtDownToNormal mysteriously lost his powers]], seemly destroying Chin’s hopes for his future, but Kensou still participated in that editon of KOF; at the end of it the powerless Kensou [[EleventhHourSuperpower awakens an immense new power]] in desperation for Athena’s life was at risk, that power would be called the "Dragon Spirit" which Kensou somehow shares with Bao, meaning when Bao has powers Kensou doesn’t and vice-versa.
->After some ins and outs with his powers Kensou decides to pass up the ''2003'' tournament in order [[TrainingFromHell to master the Dragon Spirit]], eventually coming back in XI seemly having mastered his powers. In ''XII'' Kensou is [[TookALevelInBadass graced with a complete overhaul]] in his fighting style, sporting a more serious kung-fu and donning his Classic Attire from his original Psycho Soldiers appearance, in ''XIII'' he is eager to show everyone how much capable he has become and try to confess to Athena once more of course.
->The Dragon Spirit apparently is [[BewareTheNiceOnes one of the greatest powers in the King of Fighters universe]], Ron of Hizoku clan expressed great interest in taking it for himself, claiming that all of NESTS is nothing compared to said power, later he would even warn Saiki that the Dragon Spirit is something that could be a threat to Those From the Past.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-G]]
* AbortedArc: Downplayed; Kensou's dragon spirit was ''promised'' an arc, but the idea has been stuck in limbo. The Dragon Spirit was set up in ''2001'' to be especially powerful and to be the focus of an arc involving Ron of the Hizoku, only for ''2002'' to be a plotless DreamMatchGame, which was followed by SNK finally reclaiming the rights to ''KOF'' from Eolith and sending Kensou away for a year in ''2003'' -- the start of the "Tales of Ash" saga -- only to bring him back in ''XI'' and joke about [[StatusQuoIsGod how he hadn't really changed]] (both games had ending cameos by Ron). ''XII'' was also plotless, and not until ''XIII'' -- ''five games and eleven years later'' -- did SNK get around to acknowledging the dragon spirit regularly, though only in a few bits of dialog. ''XIV'' has also neglected to do much about it.
* AbortedDeclarationOfLove:
** Tries to confess his feelings for the umpteenth time to Athena in ''XIII'', only to be cut off by her. On ''two'' separate occasions. Poor guy.
** In ''XIV'' it reaches the point where Kensou technically interrupts himself; in yet another chance to confess his feelings for Athena, in a match against her, Kensou mutters to himself he is really going to do it this time, but Athena thinks Kensou is somehow worked up over her eating his Meat Bun earlier that day, apologizing and promising to cook a serving of meat buns just for Kensou later; that makes Kensou so happy for being graced with Athena’s home cooking that he completely forgets about confessing.
* AdaptationalComicRelief: ''King of Fighters: KYO'' (both the game and manga) depicted him as Athena's obnoxious and whiny fanboy, which traits [[RecursiveAdaptation quickly found a place in the games]].
* AllChinesePeopleKnowKungFu: Kensou’s Kung-Fu imparted on him by Chin, clearly based around the famous Northern Shaolin Style, often seen in {{Wuxia}} films, packed with many acrobatic movements and jumps.
* AllGuitarsAreStratocasters: Kensou is in fact a guitarist, and every once in a blue moon can be seen rocking out on a red stratocaster, as he did in the credits of the original ''Psycho Soldier'' game. In ''King of Fighters'', he's only seen playing guitar in the Team Psycho Soldier special credits for ''KOF 95'', but he briefly cameos with Chin in Athena's DreamSequence from ''SNK Heroines'' doing the same.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: He likes Athena. She cares for him greatly [[JustFriends as a friend]], throughout the series she has feelings for series protagonist Kyo, who in turn [[OfficialCouple is already in a relationship with Yuki]] ([[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy which Athena respects]] since she's friends with Yuki as well). A slight twist: Athena ''is'' well aware of his feelings for her (as evidenced in ''2000'' and ''2001'': the former has Kensou blatantly proclaim his love; the latter has Kensou fuming at the fact that Athena didn't give him an answer the last year and then crying when he defeats her; her profile in ''Maximum Impact 2'' also notes that she knows of Kensou's feelings), but as said above she views their relationship as BetterAsFriends and seems to either be embarrassed by his advances (as seen in ''XIII''[='s=] Story Mode) or outright ignores them.
* AmazonChaser:
** One of the reasons why he likes Athena is her BadassAdorable charm. In ''XIII'', his win quote against her has him explicitly saying "You're so strong, I couldn't hold back!"
** He's also rather impressed by Leona's looks in ''XIII'' and by Luong's HeroicSeductress charms in ''XIV''
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Kensou's got a long and storied history with this trope.
** In ''KOF 2000'', Kensou confesses outright, only for Athena to blatantly and clumsily avoid the subject. He remains frustrated with her refusal to answer him in ''2001'', and in ''2002'' she starts off with an apology, which [[AllLoveIsUnrequited terrifies him]], only for her apology to actually about stealing his meat bun earlier, which makes [[WallBang him collapse to the floor]]. In his win quote against her he ultimately gives up.
** It was dropped for a couple of games, but he tries confessing yet again in ''XI'' only for her to apparently not pick up on his intentions. In ''XIII'', however, the intro to a Team Psycho Soldier match against Team Women Fighters includes Mai teasing him for being in trapped in "'JustFriends' Jail", prompting him to try again... only for Athena to tell him "Not in front of everyone!", which Yuri ''[[AmbiguousSituation immediately]]'' latches onto.
* AscendedExtra: Kensou in his classical Psycho Soldier getup, it was first seen in the Special Team: Classic Characters Ending (Ralf, Clark, Athena) in ''97'', where the classic trio is seen in their original appearances from their debut games, although Athena is dressed like Goddess Athena; Kensou is seen on the side asking to not be forgotten. In ''2000'' Psycho Soldier Kensou became a Striker, resulting in ''XII'' and ''XIII'' where it became his main look.
* AssistCharacter: For Athena in ''Gals Fighters''. Kensou was playing the leading lady's hapless HumanShield before [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Toad made it cool]].
* AwesomeButImpractical: The most prominent new move Kensou had in his comeback for ''XI'' to signify his mastery over the Dragon Spirit, the DM Seigan Rairyu, Kensou fires an energy dragon that comes back to him, making Kensou glow for about 10 seconds boosting his damage output for every attack; unfortunately it isn’t much practical since the move can be easily cancelled (flooring Kensou before the Dragon comes back to him), probably being the reason it didn’t come back for Kensou’s full badass overhaul in the two following entries.
* BadassAdorable: An earnest, somewhat child-like, spirited, slightly clumsy young man who can pack an ''incredible'' punch with his kung-fu skills and PsychicPowers.
* BadassNormal: Kensou did not pass down the chance of participating in the tournaments when he lost his powers, he canonically went through three editions: ''99'', ''2000'' and ''2001'' completely powerless, still carrying his own weight with raw skill on Kung-Fu. The only time Kensou passed a tournament, ''2003'', was to train in order to control his Dragon Spirit.
* BattleAura: Extreme usage of the Dragon Spirit gives one to Kensou. As shown in ''KOF '99'', it also doubles as a force field.
* BattleCry: "NIKUMAAANNNN~!!!" upon being selected in ''XIII'', he really loves those Pork Buns.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Towards Bao, who more or less is his adoptive brother.
* BigEater: To the point that one of his old DM techniques has him ''eating'' pork buns to recover health (and sometimes ''choke'' on them). His intro animation in the older games also had him stuffing down a pork bun before entering battle.
* BroughtDownToNormal: Lost his powers temporarily, after Bao was taken in by the Psycho Soldiers. It's later revealed that they share said powers; whenever Bao's using the Dragon Spirit, Kensou loses his psychic abilities and vice versa.
* ButtMonkey: If something bad and/or embarrassing happened to the Psycho Soldiers, Kensou was the most usual target.
** Taken UpToEleven in ''KOF: G'', where his very first scene has him constantly distracted during his and Athena's training and getting punished by the monks that supervise both of them ''because his pants were ripped''.
* CallBack: The fact Kensou has a fandom in-universe for ''KOF'' doesn't sound that weird when one takes in consideration his ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'' incarnation; there Kensou actually acted as a guitarist for Athena's concerts and shows. With him being on stage from time to time performing along with Athena, this would eventually help the guy gather some devoted fans.
* CallingYourAttacks: The only attack Kensou has consistently called in all the iterations in which he had the move, the Choukyuudan. Kensou calls it out with that heavy Kansai dialect of his ("''Choukyuudaya!''"); you are not to blame if you can’t discern what Kensou is calling it while pulling the move.
* TheCameo:
** He appears in the Action RPG game ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}'' for the NES under the name "Kensu", he is one of the four wise sages who must guide the protagonist into gathering four elemental swords to forge the Crystalis sword. In the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor remake, he is the one who forged the Thunder Sword.
** Kensou’s Meat Bun is Athena’s PRETTY CHARGE ability in ''VideoGame/SNKGalsFighters'', it refills her health.
** In the end [[ThePowerOfLove expect to see him]] in any game Athena has a major role or is TheProtagonist herself; with very few exceptions.
* CannotSpitItOut: While in earlier games, Kensou was downright ''loud'' with his feelings for Athena, in ''XIII'' he has to force himself to get confessions out, and even then Athena's quick to avoid shut him down as quickly as she can. Maybe all those early years of rejection did a number on his confidence.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
** Kensou has always been a ButtMonkey, but it was most prominent in the art from the [[NoExportForYou Japanese]] ''Psycho Soldier'' [[AllThereInTheManual manual]], while the only clue in-game was the easily-missed fact that he'd land on his face in the drop between each level. His official art didn't depict much personality outside of [[ArrogantKungFuGuy confidence]].
** Then he came to ''King of Fighters'' and he became ([[{{Flanderization}} from '96 to '98]]) laid-back PluckyComicRelief. Throw in his perennially frustrated attempt to be LadyAndKnight with Athena (up to and including a straight-up ''ignored'' LoveConfession), and you have the laughingstock characterization that defined him through ''KOF XI''.
** ''XII'' and forward moved him back towards his roots, putting him in a green and red kung fu uniform much like his original incarnation and re-characterized him as JustAKid still finding his way and learning to deal with the Dragon Spirit, with several characters offering patronage and commenting on him "[[WeDontSuckAnymore coming out of his slump]]". (Not that his silliness is ''entirely'' gone -- use his RapidFireFisticuffs attack for too long and Kensou becomes exhausted).
** ''XIV'' has nudged him back in the direction of his early ''KOF'' days, blending his old street clothes with some of the dragon stylings of his ''kung fu'' uniform.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Kensou simply does not exist in almost all ''Days of Memories'' games, understandably since he is quite literally the most prominent character in the whole series about proclaiming his love to another major character, only Ramon comes close; Kensou had to make way for the Player Character to win Athena’s heart. The two ''[=DoM=]'' games Kensou appeared he was pretty much a completely different character who had no feelings for Athena.
** They pretty much do that as well in the Isekai spin-off "The King of Fantasy" so they can pair up Athena's expy...with Iori of all people. [[ChewToy Talk about bad luck]].
* CombatParkour: Kensou’s Kung Fu is extremely acrobatic, Chin likely disciplined him in Northern Shaolin Style; the range of Kensou’s maneuverability is best seen when couldn’t tap into his powers, his moveset was adjusted with more jumping kicks and punches, backflips as well.
* CommonalityConnection:
** He gets along pretty well with Robert Garcia of the ''Art of Fighting'' team, as they're both chasing specific girls and speak Japanese in ''Kansai-ben''. Robert's even [[ShipperOnDeck asked Kensou for updates on him and Athena a couple of times]].
** Being themed after Dragons and loving Meat Buns couldn't have ended any other way, SNK had Mui Mui and Kensou have a Special Intro; Mui Mui says this world's Meat Buns aren't as good as the ones in her world, Kensou begs to differ, telling Mui Mui he will take her to a place that serves some really good Meat Buns.
* CompositeCharacter: In ''XIV'' he maintains his more serious Kung-Fu introduced in ''XII/XIII'' (stance, walking, running animation, etc.) but Kensou’s looks is a throwback to the casual wear he wore upon debuting in ''King of Fighters 94''. Most of his move set in ''XIV'' is pretty much a direct copy of what he had in ''KOF 2002''.
* CompressedVice: In the backstory of ''XI''. Kensou, who has been around since '''94'' and is therefore well-acquainted with a number of powerful women, and who is on a team ''led by'' a girl, brings up Momoko's sex in a list of objections about adding her to the team, [[StrawMisogynist presumably so the story can discredit his otherwise accurate criticisms]] of [[KiddieKid her character]].
* CostumeEvolution: He gets [[VideoGame/PsychoSoldier new-old]] Chinese duds in ''XII'' to show his advancements in his power. He went back to a blue casual getup in ''XIV'' although it's a different design compared to his clothes in earlier games.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Athena's independent and strong character is what makes Kensou look foolish in comparison, but when Athena does need help is where Kensou shows he is someone she can rely on. Kensou dropped the IdiotBall when he had to awaken his Dragon Spirit powers to save Athena in ''KOF '99''. Other situations can be found in Athena's exclusive game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation, ''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]'', where Athena is being constantly haunted due being quite a dark RPG; Kensou proves to be a great ally and support for Athena as he cheers her up in crucial events during the adventure.
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: The Dragon Spirit is used for vastly more dramatic and impressive things in the ending sequences of ''KOF '99'' and ''2000'' than anything in the games themselves; in the first Kensou is able to rescue Athena from the inferno of the collapsing NESTS base and in the second, he's able to absorb the Dragon Spirit from Bao, who nearly died after absorbing the power of a KillSat, without any sign of pain at all.
* DanceBattler: His SignatureMove all the way back to '''94'', the ''Shinryuu Tenbu Kyaku'' (roughly "Dragon God Sky-Dancing Kick"), consists of him doing a flying spin-kick during a handstand. The official translation is ''Holy Serpent Breakdance''.
* DeathFromAbove: his Ryuusogeki special is him doing a diving palm strike from above.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: His attacks tend to be weak, but he's got some long combos with multiple hits, especially in ''XIII''.
* DeclarationOfProtection: Kensou declares himself to be Athena’s Knight, even though he sees her as someone strong enough to fend for herself; it has more to do with Kensou wanting to be someone whom Athena can always rely on when things get too tough, however there are times Kensou just wants to be strong enough to protect Athena from something he considers too much.
** A straighter example comes with the team’s Special Ending in ''99'', where Kensou awakens his latent abilities to save Athena from imminent death, her telling him to go and save himself alone didn’t tick well on Mr. Knights’s mind and his desperation awakens the Dragon Spirit in its fullest.
** Used for comical effect in ''2000'', the special intro he has with Athena is Kensou proclaiming loudly he is Athena’s Knight, Athena doesn’t even get flustered like the similar Intro in 2001 where it is a Love Confession instead, she just strikes her usual Idol pose and starts the match as if she didn’t even notice Kensou’s presence, understandably Kensou drops his shoulders in depression.
* DemotedToExtra: Happens to Kensou in some of Athena's games, specially the DatingSim ones where the player character assumes the role of her manager or just an average guy seeking for love. Since said games are from the player character's POV, Kensou serves only as a cameo, in a continuity where apparently he won't compete with the given player character regardless of his feelings, or actually such affections aren't romantic at all. Exception goes ''[[VideoGame/AthenaAwakeningFromTheOrdinaryLife Awakening from the Ordinary Life]]'', as mentioned in this page before, Kensou gets the chance to be a great support to Athena.
* DistractedByTheSexy: The Credits Roll for ''2002'' is composed of funny bloopers made with the cast’s animations repurposed for completely different situations, Kensou’s shocked animation is used to represent him being completely mesmerized by Shermie’s provocative taunts, following her at every angle; Kensou showing interest in any other girl but Athena is non-canon of course as it is the case for ''2002''.
* DoggedNiceGuy: To Athena, though it happens more in the ''KOF: Kyo'' related media.
** In ''XIII'', he's ''this'' close to confessing in his intro with her. Too bad Athena is ''way'' more concerned with their fight. In the Story Mode he also attempts to confess his feelings to Athena, causing an understandably embarrassed Athena to promptly cut him off. Cue the Women Fighters Team expressing their sympathies to him... which in turn leads to the ladies getting catty with each other over ''their'' love lives.
** It should be noticed that, even when he does follow Athena like a borderline puppy and [[BerserkButton is very upset]] at the possibility of [[CrazyJealousGuy losing her to someone else]], [[UndyingLoyalty his affections for her are very genuine otherwise.]] He helps her when she needs it but '''NEVER''' [[EntitledToHaveYou demands love or sex from her in return]], and he ''does'' show affection and care towards other people (Chin, Bao, Kaoru, Momoko, etc.) as well. (In ''XIII'' he shows ''next to no jealousy'' against Athena's crush Kyo, instead telling him to relax and take care of himself.)
* DrunkenMaster: Averted. One of the images from ''XIII'', "Drunken Fighters", features Kensou being used as a HumanShield by King, who is holding a wine glass, against Hwa Jai, Big Bear, and Chin himself, who are carrying apparently harder liquors. Kensou himself is hunched over one of Chin's gourds and stark-white in the face, though it's uncertain whether he CantHoldHisLiquor or drank a GargleBlaster unwittingly.
* DubNameChange: In Japan, the ''kanji'' making up his name are pronounced known as ''Shii Kensuu''.
%% Don't add Expy here. It's already in the ShoutOut page.
* EatingContest: The only Special Intro he ever had with Chin, Kensou will chow down on many Meat Buns, while Chin chugs down many doses of sake from his Urns.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: In the Psycho Soldier Team's special ending for ''KOF '99''. Kensou triggers his Dragon Spirit after Athena is in danger of being left for dead at the crumbling site, he saves her with a dose of PowerOfLove and UndyingLoyalty. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation This doesn't actually do much for Kensou, game-wise, until he trains to control the Dragon Spirit's power several games later.]]
* EnergyBall: Kensou's Choukyuudan. Originally the attack was a projectile Hadoken type (''[='94=]'' to ''[='98=]'', ''XI'' and ''XIII''); Kensou performed a crouching stance and fired the ball of energy from above. After losing his powers and later training to get them back, Kensou changed his to way to fire the Choukyuudan. From ''XII'' and on the attack evolved; his normal Choukyuudan becomes larger and he gets its more powerful version, Shinryuu Choukyuudan, as a DM.
* FingerlessGloves: In ''XI''.
* {{Flanderization}}: According to WordOfGod, Kensou was originally meant to be cool and particularly appealing to women. ([[CharacterizationMarchesOn We know, surprised us, too]]). In sequence:
** Originally, the only thing he had to say about Athena was that while the ladies of Team England were cute, Athena was cuter.
** Then ''96'' happened, introducing his love of meat buns and his habit of eating them too quickly and creating promotional art depicting him dreaming about being Athena's boyfriend, and ''KOF: KYO'' happened simultaneously, extrapolating it into [[AllLoveIsUnrequited a crush Kensou had on Athena while she liked Kyo]]. (Hell, the ''KOF: KYO'' game had Kensou make such a nuisance of himself that Athena actively and openly tried to distance herself from him).
** And then ''98'' happened after ''that'' and had him flagrantly and showily demonstrate his affection for Athena, much to her embarrassment, and it's only gotten worse from there. (A character story for Kensou set prior to ''XII'' [[NoExportForYou on the Japanese website]] featured him [[StalkerWithACrush spying on what he assumes was a date between Athena and Kyo]] and getting arrested for it).
** At this point, his love for Athena is such a huge RunningGag that at times it risks eclipsing every other aspect of him; if Kensou didn’t have his "Classic" SNK character status and the dragon spirit plot on the back burner, his love for Athena would basically be his whole character.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: His use of the Dragon Spirit, in story it can make Kensou fly, generate impregnable force fields, boost his powers to astonishing levels if Ron is to be believed, and when Bao used it could stop a KillSat instantly; now it is said that Kensou has total control over the Dragon Spirit. In gameplay, however, the Dragon Spirit has no significance whatsoever compared to how godly it is portrayed in cutscenes.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Basked in the power of the Dragon Spirit to save Athena in ''KOF '99'', Kensou gets nice glowing eyes of blue energy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:H-Z]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: As mentioned above, he and Athena made their debuts in VideoGame/PsychoSoldier.
* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum: Kensou's Dragon Spirit powers by the time he mastered it in ''KOF XI'', as by Kensou's own explanation for this in WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity below (if we go by Ron's words in the NESTS Saga that the Dragon Spirit at full power can make SNKBoss Igniz and all of NESTS look like nothing in comparison) then Kensou does have a good reason not to show off his powers recklessly.
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Done through his Niku Man O Kuu DM: he eats one of his meat buns and it recovers some of his health. There is a SDM variation where he chokes on it and ''[[EpicFail loses]]'' [[SubvertedTrope health]].
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Downplayed. In the Team Story for '''99'', Kensou is afraid that the loss of his PsychicPowers means he no longer has any business being part of the Psycho Soldiers and considers it a lucky break that the newest tournament allows ''four'' members to a team so he still gets to participate.
* TheIdiotFromOsaka: SNK has yet to be forthcoming on why the decidedly Chinese Kensou speaks with the accent, but he's been doing it as far back as the original ''Psycho Soldier'', which means he has seniority over Robert and Choi in this category.
* ImagineSpot: In the Psycho Soldiers ending for XIII, they are congratulated all around, some reporters say companies are competing to get the rights to make a show out of the Psycho Soliders, Kensou thinks of how great this could be and starts day dreaming of them being in a {{Sentai}} show.
* InconsistentDub: Although Kensou's ultimate energy attack is called ''Senki Hakkei'', he will sometimes call it ''Choukyuudan'', which isn't that strange since the Senki Hakkei is just a more powerful and close ranged Choukyuudan. In ''XIII'' Kensou's new and improved DM is the ''Seigan: Senki Hakkei'', but still he says Chouryuudan in the end.
* InformedAttribute:
** The fact he has ''fans''. He hangs around Athena much of the time, even when she's on tour (which might be a MythologyGag to him being a guitarist in ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier''), which might have helped Kensou gather his own fandom. He even has a collection of plushies and stuffed animals alike received from his fans. In the '''97'' Psycho Soldier [[AllThereInTheManual Team Story]], he got exactly one (1) fan letter for his performance in the previous tournament, and a pile of razor-filled hate mail from Athena's male admirers.
** The Dragon Spirit. It gave him some CutscenePowerToTheMax in ending sequences twice (once in ''[='99=]'' and again in ''2002''), but the way Ron says the Dragon Spirit can make Igniz and all other {{SNK Boss}}es that NESTS created look like ''nothing'' in comparison has yet to be substantiated; by ''XI'' and beyond Kensou should at least be referred as a PsychicPowers [[PhysicalGod Master]], even if he is holding his powers back.
** Related to the Dragon Spirit, Kensou was supposedly on a training journey for a whole year during ''2003'', but his return showed [[StatusQuoIsGod no real change]], which is [[LampshadeHanging repeatedly joked about]]. Athena's win quote against him in ''XI'' chastises him for accomplishing nothing, and the ending jokes about how Chin's training was to teach Kensou how to ''[[ExactWords not]]'' use his power... though it also tries to have its cake and eat it, too, by also having Ron praise Kensou from afar for mastering the spirit in only a year. Some characters indicate he's been training with Chin again in ''XIII'', though if they beat him they'll note his new training ''also'' didn't accomplish much.
** Occasionally he gets hit with an InformedFlaw -- supposedly he hates training, but while that would normally imply his skills are prone to atrophy, he's always been a viable contender against everyone else in the cast.
* KamehameHadoken: Kensou's forward throw, the ''Sunda'', or "Inch Blast", (originally ''Hakkei'', "Release", in '''94'') technique, is Kensou nailing the enemy in the face with a burst of psychic power from his palm. Later games gave him the ''Senki Hakkei'', "Hermit Power Release", super move, which is a quick succession of about five Inch Blasts, and a powered up version of a dozen [[BlownAcrossTheRoom that sends even Kensou flying]], though he's mastered it by ''XI'' and can stand his ground. His final desperation move in ''XIII'' is the ''Seigan: Senki Hakkei'', "Waking Eye: Hermit Power Blast", technique, which, [[PowerGlows due to the light show]], [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers resembles a buzzsaw more than anything else]].
* KansaiRegionalAccent: Despite being Chinese. It's actually a holdover from his origin game. This is lampshaded through the special "Kansai Dialect Team" in '''98'' (him, Robert and Choi).
* KissOfLife: [[spoiler:In the team's ''2000'' ending, this is how he recovers his powers]].[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/neogeo/b/kof2kpsy.htm More exactly:]] [[spoiler:Bao [[TakingTheBullet has taken]] a ''massive'' energy beam from a NESTS KillSat to protect the team and Kaoru and is laying in ''great'' pain [[BridalCarry in Kensou's arms]], seemingly very close to suffer a SuperpowerMeltdown. [[IntimateHealing Kensou gives this to Bao and absorbs the remaining energy through his own body]], which unleashes the Dragon Spirit and saves Bao's life; from then on his powers are restored, but Bao is BroughtDownToNormal.]]
* LoveConfession: Blurts out loud, echoes included, on the Special Intro he has with Athena in ''2000'', Athena gets fidgety and dodges an answer by trying to start the fight, Kensou gets down in the slumps because of it.
* MagicKnight: While he's had PsychicPowers like Athena as far back as the first game, Kensou's moveset has always been dramatically more physical than hers, and plot developments related to the Dragon Spirit forced him to do spend a few games purely as a BareFistedMonk. After he returns from his training abroad, he's back to using a blend of both.
* MartialArtsHeadband: For ''XII'' and ''XIII'' as a nod to his ''Psycho Soldier'' incarnation.
* MinorMajorCharacter: Kensou isn’t someone who has been in the center of every conflict during the Orochi Saga, NESTS Saga and and the Ash Saga, and up until 99, wasn't that important at all. However, the introduction of the Dragon Spirit made him a lot more noticeable, as did how one shady figure, Ron Hizoku, kept appearing to foretell his antagonist status by only showing interest in Kensou’s powers. [[spoiler: And if the leaks for XIV are to believed, the upcoming arc is going to be all about the Dragon Spirit and its' Dragon Power, which means that Kensou in all likelyhood is going to go from a MinorMajorCharacter to a straight up [[AscendedExtra Major Character]].]] All of this shows how much Kensou is truly worth when considering the larger scope of things, despite constantly getting overshadowed by Athena and everyone else.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Downplayed. From ''XIII'' forward, Kensou has taken a distinct dislike to facing Athena in combat, and he absolutely ''hates'' winning in terror of having gone overboard.
* MythicalMotifs: [[OurDragonsAreDifferent The dragon.]] A likely ShoutOut the fact that he [[VoluntaryShapeshifting could transform into one]] in ''Psycho Soldier''. Exemplified with his hidden mystic power Dragon Spirit.
* MythologyGag: During his cameo in Athena's dream sequence in ''SNK Heroines'', Kensou is playing a guitar for the first time since the original ''Psycho Soldier'' back in 1987.
* NextTierPowerUp: Subverted. With its immense CutscenePowerToTheMax, the Dragon Spirit looked almost certain to bestow one on Kensou, but even after supposedly training extensively to "master" it, the only visible sign is SNK [[PowerUpLetDown tinkering slightly with Kensou's moveset]], which it does to everyone on a game-by-game basis. Worse, given that the cast has started treating him like JustAKid in ''XII'' and ''XIII'', Kensou's effectively suffered a narrative ''downgrade''.
* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Athena tells Kensou to escape by himself when she got her leg stuck underneath fallen debris, during the team’s Special Ending in 99; Kensou of course isn’t fond of the idea, his frustration for being without his powers at the time and the fear of Athena dying is so great that he awakens his Dragon Spirit, saving both of them in the process.
* NoRespectGuy: His ReTool in ''XII'' and ''XIII'' recast him as JustAKid still in the midst of training, which got him some fairly patronizing comments from other members of the cast, who don't particularly care to acknowledge that he's been on even footing with them since the very first game. This occasionally crops up in other games, but not to the same extent as in ''XIII''.
* NumberTwo: Tried to be this in ''XI'', during Gentsai’s absence, trying to be a (un)wise mentor for Momoko as well, Athena doesn’t put her foot down just letting Kensou have his fun and Momoko sort of goes along with it but only trusting what Athena says.
* OlderThanTheyLook: It's less noted than Athena and Yuri because they changed drastically, but Kensou has also been hit by this with the new character designs, or arguably he was always this. Kensou is 19 years old, and yet looks ''much'' younger than Kyo who is only one year older than him (20 years old); also there's Leona, who at 18 years old, in comparison to Kensou, looks like a mature woman in her early twenties whereas he seems more like a teenager.
* OutOfTheInferno: Kensou’s first and most extreme usage of the Dragon Spirit, he is seen by Chin, Bao and Kaoru carrying Athena on his arms while walking away from a NESTS’ Base in flames.
* PlotRelevantAgeUp: The two ''Days of Memories'' games Kensou appears he is a borderline different character; he was aged up to his mid-twenties, he is Athena’s Producer instead, and has no romantic feelings for her; what was kept for him was his Kansai accent and easy going personality, leaving the way completely free for the Player Character to win Athena’s heart. Funny enough this older Kensou looks nearly identical to Kyo.
* PluckyComicRelief: Ever since his debut in ''Psycho Soldier'', Kensou has fallen into this role. In ''KOF'' it usually pops up in the form of wardrobe malfunctions and hijinks involving his meat dumplings.
* PowerFloats: In his most extreme usage of the Dragon Spirit yet[[note]]''The King of Fighters '99'', Psycho Soldiers special ending by defeating Krizalid with Kensou[[/note]], Kensou could float around.
* PowerGlows: Kensou glows during the 10 seconds power boost from the Seigan Rairyu he had in XI.
* PowerLossMakesYouStrong: The power loss that hit Kensou for three tournaments straight made him rely solely on his Kung-Fu skills to get by; it consequently made way for Kensou to discover his Dragon Spirit and get serious about his training, it resulted in him getting his powers back and since then sporting a more serious Kung-Fu style.
* PowerStrainBlackout: Kensou faints after he takes Athena to safety out of the fallen NESTS base; he took the toll from awakening the Dragon Spirit, it extended to Bao who also fainted at the same time.
* ProductPlacement:
** Kensou’s favorite Manga, ''Seito Shokun'', is a real series; quite possibly why it hasn’t been mentioned by name as the years went by, lately it is just said Kensou likes reading Manga / Comic Books.
** He also had the debut album of J-Pop singer Yuu Hayami as a prized possession early in the series.
** Kensou’s hoodie for ''XIV'', it’s clearly an Adidas hoodie; it has one of the brand logos upside-down. Given his love for soccer, it is definitely intentional on SNK’s part.
* PsychicPowers: Shared with Bao. When he has them, Bao doesn't, and when Bao can use them, Kensou can't (which partially explains why Kensou is only able to use projectile attacks in certain games).
* PutOnABus: Kensou, Chin, and Bao are all absent from the ''2003'' tournament, presumably on a year's journey for Kensou's training. Athena teamed up with Hisako and Malin, instead.
* RapidFireFisticuffs: Kensou’s new move introduced in ''XIII'', Ryuubokko, he breaks into a storm of mid-punches, continuous usage will tire him out in a comic manner; the EX Ryuubokko however has Kensou performing all the possible hits without getting tired, ending it knocking down the opponent. His Shinryuu Seioushou DM is its more powerful version.
** Before that there's his Ryuu Renda special, which looks much less refined.
* RealMenWearPink: Kensou is proud and not afraid of showing his plushie collection which was mounted from the stuffed animals he received from his fans, and of course he is always open for more items to add to the collection. Additionally, his favorite manga, ''Seito Shokun!'', is a classic {{Shoujo|Genre}} romance comedy.
* SealedBadassInACan: Kensou is apparently carrying around a very powerful spirit, which has been a data point going almost completely unexplored for about twenty years now. It would almost be an AbortedArc, except it keeps getting offhand mentions in ''XI'' and ''XIII''.
* SelfProclaimedLoveInterest: Drifts in and out of this depending on the continuity. Of course, his success rate currently rests at a respectable 0%.
%%
%% Don't add ShoutOut here. There's already a page for KOF ShoutOuts: ShoutOut/TheKingOfFighters.
%%
* ShapingYourAttacks: The ''Seigan: Rairyuu'' (roughly "Waking Eye: Returning Dragon", officially "Dragon Awakening") technique, which in ''2002 UM'' is a variant of the Choukyuudan that returns to Kensou after being released -- at its higher level the returning energy will take the form of a dragon, hence the name. In ''XI'', the move works essentially the same, though Kensou instead unleashes a shockwave through the ground and the attack always returns in dragon form. If Kensou is able to collect the returning energy, he gets a PowerUp.
* {{Shoryuken}}: His Ryuugakusai special is this, mixed with HurricaneKick. There's also his Senkyuutai special in older games, although it's more to juggle an opponent.
* {{Shotoclone}}: His projectile is the Choukyuudan (at least in the games where he has it), his uppercut move is... well, see directly above, and his rush-forward move is either Ryuu Renga (older games) or Shikkuu Zanryuu Kyaku (''XIII'').
* SignatureMove: His Ryuugakusai, Ryuusogeki, Choukyuudan (though he doesn't always have it) and Senki Hakkei.
* SingleTargetSexuality: Zigzagged. Kensou has acknowledged on several occasions that there are many attractive women (the Women Fighters team, Leona, Luong) around... but he considers Athena to be the only one for him.
* TheSlacker: [[InformedFlaw If the bio is to be believed]], he actually hates training. But starting in 2003, he starts taking his training more seriously to master his Dragon Spirit.
* SmugSmiler: Kensou has put on all kinds of smiles through the many artists who penciled him, from innocent good spirited ones to these clear smug ones to show his (over)confidence; XIV has a text book overconfident smug in Kensou’s hand drawn draft, shown in 3D for his Winner Screen, packed with a raised eyebrow to complete the smug expression.
* SpectacularSpinning: Many of Kensou's special moves invoke circular motion in some way. His repertoire of {{Hurricane Kick}}s speaks for itself, but he also has a few high-powered KiManipulation that are initiated with Kensou making a large circle with his hands. One or two of the latter even launch [[BlowYouAway a tornado]].
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Being a Chinese character in a Japanese game will do that to you. The characters that make up his name have a Mandarin pronunciation of "Chui Quanchong", but in Japan are read as "Shii Kensuu", the latter of which is re-rendered into English as "Sie Kensou", which is the most common result in games translated into English. However, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness games released before that standardized translation]] would sometimes refer to him as "Kensu" in a fairly direct transliteration of his Japanese name, such as when he cameoed in ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}''.
* SphereOfDestruction: Earlier in the series, Kensou had a DM (Senki Hakkei) of the same type that needed to be activated up close. The force of the SDM version was so great, that the recoil sends him ''[[LawOfInverseRecoil flying into the corner]]''. There's also its more powerful version, [[https://youtu.be/a_bWgBOypY8?t=580 Seigan Senki Hakkei Neo MAX]] in ''XIII'', which is very similar to [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Chun-Li's]] Kikoushou.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Kensou's suffered his second-stringer status and humiliating lack of success in love for years, and what hope he did have of rising to prominence (''i.e.'' the Dragon Spirit) is on the verge of becoming a RunningGag itself, having been on the sidelines for nearly as long.
* SuperMode: Kensou’s exclusive move for ''2002'' and later (canonically) ''XI'', the HSDM/LDM Seigan Rairyu, which if it connects will grant Kensou a super mode that increases the damage he can deal for 10 seconds.
* ThreeStrikeCombo: his Ryuu Renga special in older games hits 3 times by default. In ''XII'', his new special Ryuu Touda is a classic 3-hit rekka chain special move.
* TookALevelInBadass: After sitting out the ''2003'' tournament, Kensou returns in ''XI'', having improved drastically by mastering his control over the Dragon Spirit. Ron seems to be very pleased by this. Many fans see his new look in ''XII'' as another level.
** ''XIII'' is the next logical step in his badassery progression. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n0CE8rEBxY Holy...]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Meat buns. Has a tendency to choke on them occasionally, though. He also has a Trademark Unfavorite Food, too -- ''pizza''. One of his joke specials is to actually scarf a "pizaman" and gag on it.
* TranslationStyleChoices:
** Kensou’s name in China would actually be ''Chui Quanchong'', Sie Kensou is his name being rendered to its Japanese reading.
** Kensou’s favorite food has been translated in just about every way possible: ''Baozi'', Meat Dumplings, Meat Bun, Pork Bun, “Kensou’s Lunch”; ''XIV'' goes an extra mile and just calls it Dim Sum, which is actually the name of varied bite-sized Chinese dishes of which a Meat Bum is one type. In Japan though it has always been called ''Nikuman''.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Kensou awakened his Dragon Spirit when Athena was likely to die stuck in a crumbling NESTS base; it is the most impressive and seemly most powerful usage of his latent ability so far.
* TrophyRoom: Where Kensou keeps his collection of plushies and stuffed animals recieved from his fans, comic books (''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seito_Shokun! Seito Shokun!]]'' in particular), and his beloved autographed ball from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Del_Piero Alessandro Del Piero.]]
* VerbalTic: Continuous usage of “~ya” at end of his sentences to outright warping certain words and ending them with ''ya'', this is Kensou’s trade mark Kansai Dialect.
-->Kensou: "CHOKYUDAYA!" (Chokyuudan!)
* VocalDissonance: Kensou always had a good spirited young boy’s voice, despite debuting on the series as a 18 years old guy then stopping at 19 years old as the series progressed, it doesn’t fit someone of his age but it does fit his easy going personality; with ''XIV'' retiring the voice Kensou had for a good two decades, SNK still didn’t stop with the theme, Kensou still sounds like someone way younger than he actually is, arguably sounding younger than ever before.
* VocalEvolution: Around ''[='96=]'', Kensou's TenorBoy-like voice became ''quite'' high-pitched for a guy past puberty. It has been toned back down around ''XII''/''XIII'', however.
* UndyingLoyalty: Towards Athena, Kensou’s love is sincere and being shot down, more than once, did not manage to make things go sour between them, Kensou declares himself to be Athena’s Knight without asking anything immediate, just quietly hoping one day Athena will return his feelings, to top it off the fear of Athena dying in ''’99'' was enough to make Kensou awake a power he never knew he had to avoid the seemingly inevitable fate at the time.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The only explanation so far why Kensou didn't become, canonically, one of the most powerful members of the cast after supposedly mastering the Dragon Spirit. Kensou himself, albeit comically and even suspiciously, said that he is consciously holding back his powers because of what happened to other powerful beings in the cast who tapped into their great powers too much, mostly final bosses like Rugal who all turned insane and/or died.
[[/folder]]
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