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Fist of the North Star, being a manly-ass series from the 80s about buff buff dudes punching the soul out of each other, is absolutely chock full of these moments, so much so that it is guaranteed the viewer will grow a beard by the end.


The manga and its anime adaptation:

  • The second and final fight between Ken and Shin ends when Shin tries killing "Yuria" (or rather, a mannequin in her likeness) in order to nip Kenshiro's newfound ambition in the bud. This instead really enrages Ken who takes one of Shin's knife-hand strikes through his hand...without flinching in the slightest, grabbing Shin's hand and hurting him instead. When Shin tries using his other hand to block Ken's next attack, Ken punches through said hand and lays Shin out with the Hokuto Juji Zan attack, punching a bloody cross onto Shin's chest in a brilliant Ironic Echo of Shin scarring the Big Dipper onto him before. After all is said and done, Ken let's Shin know that his ambition was nothing before Ken's rage.
    Kenshiro: My fury was what overcame all of your techniques. A fury more powerful than ambition.
  • After Kenshiro has learned that Jagi is the reason why Yuria and Shin are dead (with Shin being Killed Off for Real), Kenshiro makes sure that Jagi does not walk out alive this time.
    • Credit where it's due, while Jagi may have been a putz as a fighter, he knew just how to push people's buttons. First by manipulating Shin, and later Rei, into attacking Kenshiro and then Ken himself: just before Jagi dies he reveals that Toki and Raoh are alive. Ken is so shocked at the revelation that he has trouble processing it.
  • The scene where Ken destroys a freaking tank with his bare hands (well feet) Must be seen to be believed.
  • Many of Toki's moves are incredibly fun to watch, and are completely painless to experience. This move in particular, the North Star Humanist Face Breaking Fist, involves him firing pressure point-activating beams from his arms akin to Ultraman!
    • North Star Humanist Swift Judgement Fist. This graceful yet extremely powerful technique shows off just how strong Toki really is, even with the radiation sickness he is afflicted with having weakened him. It is quite clear from this scene alone that the part about him being the original successor rings especially true.
  • In the second storyline Kenshiro taking a huge chunk of out of a hill to plug a breached dam that was blown up by three mooks of Yuda (as high of the dam) and bitch-slapping two mooks who blew up the dam with it (after causing the Elite Mook leader of the group to asplode a short while before) then plugging the breach with said chunk of hill.
    • This was only a background event to Rei's epic showdown with Yuda. While Rei's death is by far the most Cruel and Unusual Death any of the heroes suffer in Fist of the North Star, inflicted as it was by Raoh and his Hokuto Shinken, his final three days on the planet were just enough for him to finally take down his longtime rival and nemesis and pull one of the most awesome Screw Destiny moments in the entire series on behalf of Mamiya, the only woman he's ever loved, giving his life so that the Star of Death (which is normally an inexorable Portent of Doom for anyone who sees it in the Fist of the North Star universe) no longer appears for her.
  • When Kenshiro, Rei, and Mamiya team up, Kenshiro takes a nap, while Mamiya questions his choice to nap at a time like this. Suddenly, Kenshiro snaps awake, reaches out to the side and catches a flying arrow headed straight for Mamiya's head.
  • Juza's last stand against Raoh. It's even more awesome in the anime where he, despite being killed by Raoh's Secret Technique, keeps on fighting (and even manages to wound Raoh with a single punch) until all of his blood starts to spill out, reflecting the clouds above in a big pool. What makes this all the more awesome is that he doesn't say a single word, but his eyes are very much open and alive. This is supported by his statement that his body moves by will alone, much like a cloud. Raoh is left in awe by this sudden final attack to the point that it humbles him; he goes on to order his men to respectfully bury his fallen opponent once it's all over.
    • Earlier in the fight, Raoh gets a moment of awesome of his very own that shows that the Theme Music Power-Up can affect anyone, not just the heroes; Juza attempts to break Raoh's arm by performing an arm bar, but Raoh counters it by lifting his arm and rips the muscles in Juza's shoulder with just a bicep curl!
  • The Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken- an iconic technique!
    • The scene in question from the vid, where Kenshiro rescues Lin from Zeed, is the first time that he busts out this move in the series, and it definitely qualifies as one of the first awesome moments of the series, as it establishes in a big way just what Kenshiro and his style of Hokuto Shinken can do.
    • Another iconic and awesome Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken moment is when Kenshiro delivered that to Uighur, all accompanied with the awesome iconic music "Sentoo!", which also lasts in 38 seconds full if we count the build up (23 seconds if we just count the Hyakuretsu Ken, props has to be given for Akira Kamiya for keeping up with such high pitched "ATATATA" for that many seconds). Guess that's where the modern Jojos Bizarre Adventure take inspiration when they did Jotaro's ultimate beatdown to Steely Dan for 20 seconds...
  • Toki and Raoh decide to be Vitriolic Best Buds for once and work together to wreck Souther's army of mooks.
  • Get up, Raoh! It's time for you to return to heaven!
    • The scene is even more awesome because Raoh started trembling in terror before the Musou Tensei, when until then he had treated Kenshiro as a capable but still inferior foe.
  • The first time Ken and Raoh confront each other. The first hint that Raoh is unlike anyone Ken ever faced is that he is an excellent practitioner of Hokuto Shinken. The second? The battle starts off with Ken and Raoh's spirits charging up and creating enough force to only...blow the two of them high up in the sky and start fighting there!
  • Kenshiro, beaten up by Souther, after having walked a desert for days, and receiving a sleeping pill, going to help Shuu and face Souther one more time as he recites again and again while killing mooks Shuu is calling me, Shuu is calling me...
  • OF THIS LIFE, I HAVE NOT, A SINGLE REGRET!
  • The first episode of Ten no Haoh (Legend of the Dark King) establishes Raoh's badassery by having Ken-Oh punch the boss of a vicious raider gang — and the building behind said raider — in half.
  • The battle between Rei and Raoh is one for Raoh. The series so far had established Rei as a very strong fighter, capable of giving Ken at least a run for his money, and not only Raoh gives him a Curb-Stomp Battle without even bothering to leave his horse or actually using his own hands (he punched Rei with his Battle Aura), but when Rei decides to use a suicidal attack that will kill Raoh at the price of his own life, the two fighters appear to die... only for it to be an Imagine Spot - Raoh had predicted it all! Raoh nullifies Rei's attack by throwing his Badass Cape on his face and sentences him to three days of agony before death with a single finger. Watch it if you can't believe it.
  • One of the most impressive moments in the manga was starred not by Ken, Rei or Raoh... but by Lin. When the troops of Raoh raided the village where she and Rei's sister were -giving everybody the choice to swear allegiance to Raoh and be marked like cattle or be literally cooked-, she played bait to protect the older woman. When she got caught and ordered into swearing allegiance, she refused firmly and started to walk at the grill on her own.
    Lin: I will not be loyal to you, demons! Never! No matter what you do to me! Ken once told me when you let yourself down in front of demons, you are no longer human...
    Villager: What a valiant girl! She'd rather die than become their slave!
    • And then Airi takes a level in badass and shoots at least two bandits with a crossbow and seeing a formerly blind girl who had just gotten over a kidnapping take up arms against Raoh's men (as well as Lin's own bravery) galvanizes the village's own men to start fighting back.
    • And lastly Rei shows up and—upon seeing Lynn bleeding—vows that the last thing their foes will see is their own gushing blood.
    Rei: WHAT KIND OF BLOOD FLOWS THROUGH YOUR VEINS?!
    • Lin consistently shows she has just as much courage as most of the anime's characters, moreso than most- when Shuu and his resistance have no leads to finding where Souther's forces are taking kidnapped children, she steps up and offers to become bait for the slavers, without even being asked.
  • Shin manages to get one is the dub version of the Hokuto no Ken movie. After he dies, Kenshiro acknowledges that SHIN loved Yuria more than Kenshiro did!
    Kenshiro: You loved her even more than I did, Shin. No one can love or hate with more passion than a madman.
  • Also from the dubbed movie, the totally kickass way that Kenshiro accepts Jagi's fight challenge:
    Kenshiro: Is that panic I hear in your voice? Don't worry, it'll all be over soon.
  • In their fist fight, Souther casually manhandled Kenshiro and beat him within a inch of his life, with Kenshiro surviving only because Souther wanted to kill him later. What's more, Souther praised Kenshiro for being faster and harder-hitting than himself before saying he'd win anyway and administering the beatdown.
  • Raoh sends his entire army running for their lives after they kill Fudoh instead of him. What was previously thought to be a Badass Boast by Raoh was later shown to be a serious instruction, and that he should have been killed by his army instead for stepping back and over the line.
  • When Raoh saw his soldiers abusing the villagers he regarded as his subjects in his absence, he was not happy with their shit. So he gave the biggest one, who was violently slaughtering women, a vicious slap that was enough to take off his head with one blow-and then, because he's awesome, he watched the rest lining up and kneeling down to receive their just execution and rode Kokuoh over them while his subjects cheered.
  • Tenshō Jūji Hō (Heaven-Soaring Cross Phoenix), the ultimate technique and only stance in Souther's Nanto Hōō Ken, is awesome to witness, involving him literally flying into the air and conjuring an image of a phoenix around him.
  • Give Kaioh props, during his first fight with Kenshiro he No Sells the friggin Musou Tensei.
  • In the final moments of their last battle, Kaioh attempts to get the upper hand on Kenshiro by using a jet of fire to throw himself into the air. As he comes down, Kenshiro practically spears Kaioh with one last punch, decisively ending the fight for good. And then, Ai Wo Torimodose begins to play.
  • Kaioh nets a Dying Moment of Awesome after being defeated and experiencing the redemption so many other characters in the series got to experience. Holding the dead body of Kenshiro's own brother, Hyo, in his arms, Kaioh stands perfectly still as a volcano erupts around him... turning him into a huge statue made of cooled lava. Just as Kenshiro saw Raoh as his elder brother, Hyo, despite all the pain he suffered as a result of it, saw Kaioh (who coincidentally is Raoh's own elder brother) as his brother too.
  • Zero Kenshiro Den has Kenshiro, in one hell of a He's Back! moment, not only one-shotting Gadess the Bear Slayer, but going up against Jugai's entire army. One would think that even a single martial artist, even one of Kenshiro's caliber, would not stand a chance against so many at once, but it is here that Kenshiro precisely proves just how powerful he has become, as he not only returns every arrow loosed upon him with Nishi Shinku Ha, but completely annihilates the entire army. Watch it if you can't believe it.
  • Doubling also as Heartwarming, the second half of the series starts with Bart and Lin battling against tyranny. In the first chapter of Part 2 they even fail in their mission to rescue some slaves (who were killed in the process in a gruesome death) and Lin had to confront a girl who was the daughter of one of the enslaved. They've been suffering nothing but setbacks and are so desperate as they don't even have Kenshiro along anymore to guide them..... In spite of that, they continue to battle to defend the weak and for the sake of justice in hopes of one day bringing true peace to the world. In the following chapters they both even willingly to walk into a trap to save some mere grunts. Just out of sheer respect for their fatherly figure and despite being regular human beings, they were willing to die. It was exactly the thing Kenshiro would have done, and this in spite of living for several long years even contemplating the possibility that Kenshiro might have been dead by that point.
  • In "Legends of the Dark King" Souther faces Raoh, sure of his victory thanks to his body being invulnerable to Hokuto Shinken... Only to show fear when he realizes Raoh's sheer physical might is enough to cause him grievous harm anyway. The scare was so great that the moment he had a honorable reason to do so, Souther proposed to become Raoh's subordinate for the time being rather than risk a mutual kill. Granted, he intended to kill Raoh the moment he became too weak to stop him (and flat-out admitted that), but nobody else ever managed that.
    • Leaving Souther in fear by just not caring of his "Emperor's Body" actually runs in the blood, as later Toki caused an almost equally terrified reaction when he declared he knew his secret.
  • Every time an apparent Mook manages to hurt Kenshiro is one for them. Especially as it only happened twice:
    • The first time it was Mr. Heart. When he sees him Kenshiro just punches him... And realizes he can't hurt him at all, not with physical strength or through pressure points, as he's so fat he absorbs all hits and his pressure points can't be reached, with only blades and Nanto Seiken being able to hurt him. He then slaps Kenshiro hard enough to throw him on the ground and make him vomit blood. Kenshiro still wins, but that was only because Hokuto Shinken happens to have a technique to just push away an opponent's fat.
    • When Kenshiro storms Cassandra he's confronted by Uighur, a master of the double whip. At first Kenshiro doesn't take him seriously, even tying together his whips just because... Then Uighur pulls out two whips with dozens of tails and proceeds to immobilize Kenshiro before striking him down with the mother of all shoulder tackles. Kenshiro got up and quickly turned the fight in his favor, but was still hurt.
      • After Kenshiro got in the actual fortress and started killing Raoh's personal guards sent as reinforcements, Uighur suddenly came out of the grave, having survived the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken, to shout orders to keep Kenshiro away from Toki. Then he finally dies, as Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken makes him explode again.
  • Toki has a subtle one during his final battle with Raoh. Much earlier, Amiba used a technique that made him bulk up to boost his strength and try to overpower the otherwise superior Kenshiro, only for his hands to explode and him to deflate like a balloon. When facing Raoh, Toki finds himself overpowered by Raoh's overwhelming strength... And casually uses the same technique as Amiba to match Raoh's strength without suffering any undue harm. He's still overpowered in the end, but managed to make the fight much closer.
  • Let's face it, Kenshiro is THE walking CMOA in general, taking on and defeating some of the most powerful and horrific villains ever put to paper.

The 1995 live-action film:

  • Ken saves a couple that gave him shelter from a trio of bandits. The first he kills by kicking his foot through a wall, the bandit's jaw is bent out. Much like a panel from the manga, the bandit tries to adjust it before dying. The second is punched in the back until his torso breaks. The last guy gets the 100 Cracked Fist move and while it lacks the traditional year or music power up it gets suspense as the bandit's head starts deforming and explodes off screen. Sadly, after that the filmmakers forgot they were making a Hokuto no Ken movie and Ken no longer has super strength and there are no special martial arts.

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