History YMMV / FistOfTheNorthStar

** Despite only appearing in two chapters, Mr. Heart has has a place alongside major villains and heroes. He's appeared in the Arc System Works fighting game, the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 beat-em-up game, and the [[Film/FistOfTheNorthStar 1995 film]] thanks to his off-the-wall style, even by the show's standards: he's a Clinically "super obese" martial artist whose mighty gut keeps Kenshiro from hitting his pressure points, and the sight of his own blood makes him flip from from "effeminate man-glacier" to "rampaging murder machine." Due to his name, Mr. Heart has been quite popular for troll pics involving him replacing someone with a cutesy feel ({{Magical Girl}}s, cute girls, or someone with a Heart in their name (like VideoGame/{{Arcana Heart}}ino) to make a high-caliber LOL {{Squick}}. He is also a [=VTuber=] in Japan when Virtual YouTubers became a thing in late 2019 to early 2020's.

** Due to not securing the ''FOTNS'' license for Western gamers, the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis game was retooled into a new game known as ''Last Battle''. The characters were all renamed (Kenshiro became "Aarzak", for instance) and most of them recolored, along with the blood being removed (except for boss battles, where it was recolored green or purple), but by and large, the plot is largely the same. The OpeningScroll even spoils most of it!
** The UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem game had it even worse. It was retooled into a generic kung fu-based sidescroller known as ''Black Belt'', but {{Mooks}} still explode when hit with an attack.

** A lot of people consider Raoh more badass than Kenshiro... even though it was a plot point from his introductory flashback that he wasn't. TheFilmOfTheSeries went with "[[AscendedFanon Sure, Why Not?]]" and had Raoh win his duel with Kenshiro.[[note]]Changed to a stalemate in the Japanese home video ending[[/note]] This seems to be especially apparent in the final mission of his [[ForWantOfANail Dream Mode]] in ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarKensRage'', where he takes on every single character in the game except for those who, by that point, would be dead, [[OneManArmy and wins]]. Even Koku-oh, his ''horse'' is a memetic badass in and of itself.

* AwesomeEgo: [[SmugSuper Raoh]], {{S|mugSnake}}outher, [[InsufferableGenius Amiba]] and [[ManipulativeBastard Jagi]] all have this in spades. Despite the fact that each of them is a brutal sadist with a rather large InferioritySuperiorityComplex on the side, they all display enough badassery to make them some of the most popular characters in the series, with Raoh arguably being ''the'' most popular character in the series.

* ContestedSequel: ''Fist of the North Star 2''. FirstInstallmentWins is definitely at play here with the first manga being much more well-known and much more liked; with its characters receiving the bulk of supplementary material. Though most agree that the post Shura chapters are a case of SeasonalRot, fans are divided on the Celestial Empire and Shura arcs (which do comprise most of the sequel and the entirety of the animated adaptation of the sequel). Some were happy to see a continuation of the story and feel that there're a lot of good moments within these arcs and iconic characters in their own right (Ein, Falco, Shachi, etc.). Kaioh especially is considered to be a cool threatening villain that invokes Raoh but is different enough to stand out. Others feel that the addition is unnecessary and choose to believe it ended after Raoh's defeat. They tend to cite an unnecessary amount of retcons (Lin's secret twin-sister, Kenshiro Raoh and Toki being from Shura and having an even bigger family) and more {{Ass Pull}}s than normal; and view it as a PostScriptSeason that dips in quality.

** Despite only appearing in two chapters, Mr. Heart has has a place alongside major villains and heroes. He's appeared in the Arc System fighting game, the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 beat-em-up game, and the [[Film/FistOfTheNorthStar 1995 film]] thanks to his off-the-wall style, even by the show's standards: he's a morbidly obese martial artist whose mighty gut keeps Kenshiro from hitting his pressure points, and the sight of his own blood makes him flip from from "effeminate man-glacier" to "rampaging murder machine." Due to his name, Mr. Heart has been quite popular for troll pics involving him replacing someone with a cutesy feel ({{Magical Girl}}s, cute girls, or someone with a Heart in their name (like VideoGame/{{Arcana Heart}}ino) to make a high-caliber LOL {{Squick}}. He is also a [=VTuber=] in Japan when Virtual YouTubers became a thing in late 2019 to early 2020's.

** Amiba, despite his relatively minor role in the overall scheme of things, he gets a bit of added exposure in the ''Gaiden'' spin-offs, particularly in the manga version of ''Raoh Gaiden'', as well as in ''Toki Gaiden'' and ''Rei Gaiden''. He even becomes Jagi's best buddy in the Dream Mode of ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarKensRage''

** Mamiya also has quite a fan following, if only for the fact that she's the only female character of the series actually able to ''do'' something useful. Added to that her being one of the most heroic females of the 80's animés.
** Jagi has a bit of a following of his own for being the only Hokuto brother who was a [[CompleteMonster total irredeemable bastard]], his AwesomeEgo, and his fighting style. His EnsembleDarkhorse status even extends beyond the fans as [[WordOfGod Buronson himself]] has said that Jagi is his favorite character. [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter Many felt that despite being one of Ken's brothers, he ultimately became an afterthought after]] his death.
** Thouzer, too. Partially because of his DracoInLeatherPants JerkassWoobie appeal, partially because his story arc signalled a change of pace from the Raoh storyline. That and he's one of the toughest opponents Kenshiro has ever faced. He might have been a brutal tyrant, but boy did he ever give Kenshiro one hell of a fight (not to mention, he's the first opponent to give the more seasoned Kenshiro a brutal defeat).

** Ein is easily one of the most popular characters from the contested second series. He's especially popular with Americans with his fabulously exaggerated stars and stripes design. Beyond that, he had an endearingly laid back personality and a strong love for his adopted daughter making for an engaging companion for the Celestial Emperor arc.
* EscapistCharacter: Kenshiro, seriously; this guy is almost certifiably the epitome of this trope: [[{{Hunk}} Handsome, muscular guy]] with lots of {{Shirtless Scene}}s? Check. Awesome fighting skills? Check. A major badass good guy that gets to [[OneManArmy mow down villains by the hundreds]] while still being considered a borderline {{messia|nicArchetype}}h? Check. Known to most of his enemies as "the Man with the Seven Scars", and mentioning this nickname is sometimes enough to make the mooks run in terror? Check. Widely praised as "the savior of the post-apocalyptic world" by many people without even ''trying'' to gain their respect? Check. Typically portrayed as utterly invincible? Check. Performs such feats include bending open prison bars, wielding a steel I-beam like a broomstick, stopping the charge of a 500 kg man with six fingers, and plugging a burst dam by carrying a huge chunk of a mountain to it? Check. Always leaves the most powerful of bad guys cowering in terror? Check. [[ImplacableMan Can relentlessly, inexorably pursue all forms of evil and oppression without anything slowing him down]]? DOUBLE CHECK. Yes, you totally want to be him. And if not: YouAreAlreadyDead!
* EvilIsCool: Since Kenshiro is a total badass, any villains that could somehow get Kenshiro on the ropes and make him put more efforts than usual CurbStompBattle earn the points of coolness in the eyes of fandom. Case in points include: Raoh, Kaioh, Jagi, Shin, Mr. Heart, Ryuga and Thouzer.

** The Jesus Beam, or, Rainbow Jesus Beam, for Toki's ''Hokuto Ujouhaganken ("Merciful Face Break Fist"), due to his resemblance and similar nature to Jesus.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Because of the vastly inferior quality, the enormous amount of contradictions and removing what would be an happy ending for Kenshiro and the entire world, most fans prefer to consider only the first part as canon, disgregarding anything post-Raoh. It helps that the story was meant to end there, and therefore reach a complete ending, and that other medias barely acnowledge anything regarding the second part, making it borderline CanonDiscontinuity as well.
* FashionVictimVillain: Most of the bad guys dress like ''Conan the Barbarian'' characters, only more colourful. See any grunt who has twin ponytails... on an otherwise bald head.

* TooCoolToLive: Rei, Toki, Shuh, Juda, Ryuga, Thouzer, Hyui, Shuren, Juza, Fudoh, Haz, Shoki, Solia, Ein, Shachi, Hyo, Kaioh, Kokuoh, and Falco. It's especially pronounced with Rei and Toki, who act as Kenshiro's [[TheLancer Lancer]] and BigBrotherMentor respectively for several story arcs, and with Falco, who is [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed off immediately after undergoing his HeelFaceTurn.]]

** It is widely believed by the fandom that 'ALL' material after Raoh's death, both in the manga and ''Hokuto no Ken 2'' anime series, is garbage and the story is 'NOTHING' without Raoh. All other depictions have concluded their timelines with Raoh's death, though ''Kenshiro Den''[='=]s opening goes slightly further and essentially serves as an epilogue.

** It's not a coincidence the ''Hokuto no Ken 2'' anime series was the only adaptation of the Shura/Kaioh stories, period. All other depictions have concluded their timelines with Raoh's death, though ''Kenshiro Den''[='=]s opening goes slightly further and essentially serves as an epilogue.

** Shin has a lot of potential as a long-term villain or the possibility of pulling a HeelFaceTurn. It's not a coincidence that [[TheLancer Rei]], [[BigBad Raoh]], and [[ArcVillain Thouzer]] all take a handful of cues from him. This carries over to flashbacks - while Shin's character is fleshed out through stories told by Jagi, Rei, and Fudoh, despite being Kenshiro's childhood rival and close friend prior to his FaceHeelTurn, he never appears in flashbacks where he logically should.
** After his arc Jagi is almost completely dropped from the story and we go from the 4 Hokuto brothers to 3. Many lament the loss of him, being one of the comic's most despicable and yet also popular villains. Future flashbacks to Ken's childhood downplay his presence severely and we never see him interact with any of his other brothers in any meaningful capacity.

** Falco's stint as Kenshiro's ally was painfully short. After pulling a HeelFaceTurn, he departs to save Lin and then immediately has [[DroppedABridgeOnHim a bridge dropped on him]] and dies 2 episodes in to the Shura arc. Even with the show trying to hand wave it with WorfHadTheFlu it was a waste of a potentially interesting ally especially seeing as previous characters like Rei, Shew, and even Ein had more screen time and things to do.

* TooCoolToLive: Rei, Toki, Shuh, Juza, Fudoh, Raoh, Ein, and Falco. It's especially pronounced with Rei and Toki, who acts as Kenshiro's [[TheLancer Lancer]] and BigBrotherMentor respectively for several story arcs, and with Raoh and Falco, who are killed off immediately after undergoing a HeelFaceTurn.

** Juda's dying moments were meant to give him some [[AlasPoorVillain sympathy]], but it's hard to feel sorry for him when he spent his arc acting like a vain sociopath, wanting to kill Rei over a petty grudge, and the heavy implications that he was a rapist.
** Thouzer's flashback is meant to humanize him and give him a tragic angle that he UsedToBeASweetKid and it was because he loved so much that [[FallenHero he fell hard from being a decent person.]] Since his response for that is being a supremely EvilOverlord that enslaves children with no tinge of regret and murdering a lot of people without batting an eye, some considered his flashback to be not be enough even for a FreudianExcuse.

** Another source of dissonance for Western audiences can arise from Ken's [[EasilyForgiven forgiving of villains]] because of their {{Freudian Excuse}}s, even if they're mass murderers (Thouzer, Ryuga), serial rapists (Yuda), or [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinist]] tyrants (Raoh, Shin, Kaioh) who have ''killed'' many of Ken's TrueCompanions (Raoh with Rei and Fudo, Thouzer with Shu, Ryuga with Toki, Kaioh with Shachi). In Japan, criminals who show remorse for their crimes are often treated less harshly, so Ken's forgiveness can seem less misguided if seen from that perspective. Although, it should be noted that said forgiveness comes after they've been inflicted with fatal wounds and/or doesn't stop Kenshiro from [[DeadlyEuphemism neutralizing]] their threat.
* ValuesResonance: Despite being four decades old, the series has managed to stay fresh and relevant thanks to its universal moral of goodness and the portrayal of extremely masculine men which aren't just pure badasses but also possess a big heart and are very emotional, something that even today most battle shonen don't do.

** This was made for preteen boys in Japan. In fact, it's the {{Trope Maker|s}} for most of the tropes used by ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'', ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', ''Manga/DragonBall'' (the TropeCodifier for most of them), and ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. Not to mention it's a type of series where characters go around exploding heads, slicing them to pieces with their fingers, tear people apart with black magic, so on and so forth. Oh, and an AntiVillain with a hugeass horse that literally curb-stomps random mooks, even the BigBad's corrupted henchmen.

* Rei's gesture of [[StayInTheKitchen dissuading Mamiya from taking part in the Fang Clan raid]] and then [[DefeatByModesty stripping her]] carries with it loads of {{Subtext}}. For many readers, its not nearly as demeaning and disrespectful of a gesture as it seems like on the surface, and serves more as an affirmation of Mamiya's womanhood, if a rather blunt one.

** With the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series as well, due to both being highly emotional melodramas packed with [[TragicHero Tragic Heroes]] and [[TragicVillain Villains]] while still being RatedMForManly.

* GenreTurningPoint: This is widely regarded as the first significant long-form Shonen series that revolved around larger-than-life characters duking it out with SupernaturalMartialArts.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged.]] This is ''the'' {{Trope Maker|s}} for ''Magazine/ShonenJump'' series as we know them today (''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' being the {{Trope Codifier}}s), and it was groundbreaking in its time... but [[TheEighties that was decades ago]], which leads to several of the tropes used seeming stale to modern audiences. However, ''Fist of the North Star'' also features a good deal of UnbuiltTrope; there's no DeathIsCheap, DefeatMeansFriendship, ThouShaltNotKill, or TrainingFromHell to be found here, making it feel fresh even today despite playing straight many tropes that have gotten discredited.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Bat’s BrattyHalfPint antics are either welcome comic relief or a mood-breaker that disrupts the series’ melodrama.

* EvilIsSexy: Pretty boys Shin and Ryuga, and the more classically handsome Thouzer.

** [[TheHero Kenshiro's]] [[YourHeadAsplode explosive]] [[YouAreAlreadyDead killing]] [[RapidFireFisticuffs of]] [[StarterVillain Zeed]] in the first chapter/episode. "[[{{Kiai}} ATATATATATATATA]]! [[CatchPhrase Omae wa mo]] [[YouAreAlreadyDead Shinderu]]."

** Lin is either liked for being a brave little girl who has been through a lot for her age and thus deserves a hug or is hated for being a cute little girl in a series about manly macho men doing manly macho men things.

** Of the major martial artists, [[CreepyCrossdresser Juda]] probably gets the least amount of love. Reasons for this include being a [[AgentPeacock vain]] [[CreepyCrossdresser cross-dressing]] [[EffeminateMisogynisticGuy serial]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapist]], having a pathetic FreudianExcuse (he was jealous of [[TheLancer Rei's]] martial art being more beautiful than is own), and lacking any personality traits like [[BigBad Raoh]] and [[AntiVillain Ryuga's]] NobleDemon qualities, [[RivalTurnedEvil Shin]] and [[TroubledAbuser Thouzer's]] TragicVillain appeal, or [[ManipulativeBastard Jagi]] and [[MadDoctor Amiba's]] AwesomeEgo trappings. The fact that [[BlowYouAway his]] [[RazorWind martial art]] is one of the series' less realistic ones (which is really saying something) does not help his cause either.

** The French dub by AB Productions from when the series was broadcast on ''Series/ClubDorothee'' is also (in)famous for being intentionally SoBadItsGood. It cracks so, so many bad puns... ''and manages to run with it''. ''Ken le Survivant'' is quite possibly the only foreign dub of an anime to '''get it's own separate subs''' since it was pretty much a different show altogether.

** ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarLostParadise'' has gotten a lot of love for telling an original story in the vein of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' games.

* VillainDecay: Happens to Raoh post-"BreakThemByTalking" and CurbStompBattle. The sting is slightly put off by his last-minute conversion to AntiVillain. That was intentional on the part of Fudou, who was giving that Speech.

** Of the major martial artists, [[CreepyCrossdresser Juda]] probably gets the least amount of love. Reasons for this include being a [[AgentPeacock vain]] [[CreepyCrossdresser cross-dressing]] [[EffeminateMisogynisticGuy serial]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapist]], having a pathetic FreudianExcuse (he was jealous of [[TheLancer Rei's]] martial art being more beautiful than is own), and lacking any personality traits like [[BigBad Raoh]] and [[AntiVillain Ryuga's]] NobleDemon qualities, [[RivalTurnedEvil Shin]] and [[TroubledAbuser Thouzer's]] TragicVillain appeal, or [[DirtyCoward Jagi]] and [[MadDoctor Amiba's]] AwesomeEgo trappings. The fact that [[BlowYouAway his]] [[RazorWind martial art]] is one of the series' less realistic ones (which is really saying something) does not help his cause either.

** With the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series as well, due to both being highly emotional melodramas packed with [[TragicHero Tragic Heroes]] [[TragicVillain and Villains]] while still being RatedMForManly.