History FistOfTheNorthStar / TropesAToH

* FreddieMercopy: There's Han, the Third Rashou of Shura and one of the opponents Kenshiro has to fight with, who also appears in the episode 126 of the 1984 anime. He was modeled after Music/FreddieMercury sporting his look from TheEighties, but also seems based on Creator/ClarkGable and/or Andy Hug.

** There is still ome genuine red blood in the anime TV series, most notably when Shin cripples Kenshiro in their first fight. You will never see it when Kenshiro makes a random mook's head violently explode, however.

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: The anime removes how and why the nuclear war happened. Colonel's superiors were drunk while spending time with prostitues, and one of them stated they could start a nuclear war at any time. [[TooDumbToLive And they did]]. Their actions caused the world into a hellhole where people had to fight to survive. The anime doesn't bring this up when Ken confronts Colonel.

** The 1980s anime TV series, although it toned down some of the violence and had [[OvertookTheManga lots of filler]], also actually [[CharacterDevelopment develops many characters beyond what they were developed in the manga]]. Shin, in particular, is given a much more prominent role and exploration of his backstory and motivations, making him a much more sympathetic character. They also add in a lot of variations of the Nanto schools, many interesting min-bosses and civilians (including several [[BadassBystander Badass Bystanders]]), new towns (and even naming random locations visited in the manga), and show more of the daily lifestyles and cultures that emerged after the nuclear war.

* HeroesFightBarehanded: Kenshiro himself as well as almost all the other characters, except [[TheChick Mamiya ]] and [[TheCombatPragmatist Jagi]].

** Creator/ToeiAnimation attempted to avert this with the movie, with blood and guts flying everywhere, like above, it caught the attention of MoralGuardians, to the point major violent scenes are blurred, including the remastered version. Averted in the Italian copy.

* BringMyBrownPants: In the first chapter, after seeing Kenshiro fighting for first time -and making his adversaries' body explode-, Bat pisses himself.

* BattleStrip: It is kind of hard to ignore the fact how just about every time Kenshiro goes into [[LimitBreak Rage mode]] (usually for emotional reasons), his touki incinerates his shirt. This similarly applies to major villains in battle against them. Kinda makes you wonder how their [[LimitedWardrobe Clothing magically reappears]] at a later time, considering the post-apocalyptic nature of their world. The only thing in fact to change as such are Kaioh's or Raoh's helmets. Raoh tends to remove his cape when fighting, and one or more of his shoulder pads usually burst off his shoulders when the pressure points in them are activated.

* DefeatByModesty: Of the StayInTheKitchen type. Rei ripped off Mamiya's clothes to expose her body and "prove" that she had no place on the battlefield.
** The point Rei was trying to make is that if Mamiya had fully renounced her femininity, she shouldn't feel the need to cover up. If that was going to stop her, she should just plain not go get herself killed.

** Shew's loss of eyesight allowed him to "see" with his "heart", while Thouzer's [[spoiler:heart is on the right side of his chest, and his pressure points are symmetrically mirrored]].

* DramaticRedSamuraiBackground: The 1980s ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' anime occassionaly uses this whenever goons at the receiving end of [[YouAreAlreadyDead Kenshiro's blows]] promptly explode into chunky salsa, rendering them as black silhouettes in a bright red background.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Preceding the serial, there was a two-chapter, rarely-republished "{{pilot}}" done without Buronson's input. It took place in present-day ([=1980s=]) Japan and involved an evil AncientConspiracy known as the Taizanji Kenpō school. Kenshiro also has a DisposableWoman girlfiend who is not Yuria.

* ExactTimeToFailure: Or in Kenshiro's case, Exact Time Until Your Head Asplode. A mook tries it ON Kenshiro once. A head explodes perfectly on cue. The mook's, of course.

* FalseReassurance: Kenshiro and Rei just kill off a huge group of the Kiba gang, leaving the leader. Keshiro has this exchange after subjecting him to a technique.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* AnyoneCanDie: The only three completely safe recurring characters are Kenshiro, Rin, and Bat (and even they have their moments). Everyone else, in a manga spanning hundreds of chapters with a cast of hundreds if not thousands, is fair game. In some arcs, this is taken to KillEmAll levels. [[spoiler:The only character still breathing by the end of ''Kenshiro Den'' prequel movie is Kenshiro himself!]]

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: More like [[UpToEleven Alternative Foreign Soundtrack.]] Manga Entertainment's dub of the anime's first 36 episodes not only uses [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmr-Hwf8304 a new intro]], but replaces the original score in favour of techno beats and drum machines. There are even times it lays music over what would be [[FillingTheSilence scenes of quiet tension in the Japanese track.]]

** A filler episode has Uighur send a female martial artist (Bella) to assassinate Kenshiro, believing that he would never hurt a woman. Ironically, he actually did so in an earlier filler when he fought against Patra the Sorceress. ** The Jagi arc has a villager recognize Kenshiro as the man who defeated Devil Rebirth, despite nobody outside of Jackal's gang being aware of his existence (in the manga, the villager mentions Jackal instead).

* AfraidOfBlood: Mr. Heart goes batshit when he sees his own blood, attacking everyone in sight, friend or foe. Joker triggered this intentionally so he'd have an edge against Ken, whereas Shin in the manga did it not only to kill Ken, but also rub in his face that Hokuto Shinken isn't unbeatable.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: A filler episode has Uighur send a female martial artist (Bella) to assassinate Kenshiro, believing that he would never hurt a woman. Ironically, he actually did so in an earlier filler when he fought against Patra the Sorceress. Another episode has a villager recognize Kenshiro as the man who defeated Devil Rebirth, despite nobody outside of Jackal's gang being aware of his existence (in the manga, the villager mentions Jackal instead).

* FightingSeries: ''Fist of the North Star'' is probably the first major {{Shonen}} fighting series (albeit a quite violent and bloody one)[[note]] though it can be argued that Manga/{{Devilman}} and Manga/{{Dororo}} came first, before the [[UnbuiltTrope concept of shounen even existed]][[/note]], and proved to be quite influential for series to come.

* GlowingEyesOfDoom: For a ''hero'', Kenshiro has a seriously ''evil'' looking pair of ''red-glowing-eyes'' whenever a villains [[TooDumbToLive gets him]] [[WhatAnIdiot SERIOUSLY angry.]]

** A man named Hilka is one piece of work. He works for Ken-Oh, and decides to kidnap Fudo's children, two who are his ''actual sons''. No tears were shed when kills him.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The first series ends with Kenshiro defeating Raoh and riding off with Yuria...who is dying of radiation poisoning]].

* BolivianArmyEnding: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo7jH23J1h0&feature=related intro]] shows Ken [[spoiler:about to deliver a flying kick to a giant mutant gorilla thing]].

* DeusExMachina: Every few episodes, there's a ShockingSwerve, with an enemy that Kenshiro's ''"AHTATATA..."'' doesn't work on. The standard resolution? A ''new technique''[[note]]Generally ''"AHTATATA..."'' with slightly different animation.[[/note]] we've never heard of before that just happens to be custom tailored to his opponent's weak point! SoOnceAgainTheDayIsSaved!