History FistOfTheNorthStar / TropesQToZ

** One of the Golan commandos wields this. At one point he stretches its taut and runs past a man, which cuts the man in half. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard This is later used against himself when Kenshiro paralyzes him and makes the Commando strangle himself with his own garrote wire until he lops his own head off]].

** Joker is a clear shout to the [[SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker the DC villain of the same name]], as is Jakoh since his facial features are closely modeled after the same character.

* RunningTheGauntlet: A minor example- the Nanto Seiken school held a Kumite before the war where someone had to face ten fighters in a row. Kenshiro went through it when he was a boy and nearly won, sadly losing to Shu in the final round.

** Averted with the troops serving Amiba: You see, most of them were under the impression that they were serving ''Toki'', but it's let slip that the man claiming to be Toki is actually Amiba. Disgusted with this deception, they stop following Amiba's orders, and let their remaining captives go. That Kenshiro ''and'' Rei were there may have been an additonal motivation for them to wise up.

** A ''lot'' of glaring villain examples in the filler episodes, in particular a BadBoss known as David who has just witnessed Kenshiro ''demolish his fifteen-feet tall henchman'' Glen (whom he brainwashed as a slave since childhood) ''with ONE hand.'' When Kenshiro took pity on Glen and gave him a second chance to be a good person, David just '''had''' to murder said-giant in cold-blood, '''then''' taunts Glen for being a weakling complete with EvilLaugh in front of the horrified-and-angry STILL PRESENT Kenshiro.

** One of the Golan commandos wields this. At one point he stretches its taut and runs past a man, which cuts the man in half.

** Kenshiro and Raoh are sometimes represented by a dragon and a tiger, respectively. Kenshiro is stoic and does not seek power, Raoh is more hot-blooded and ambitious.
** It also comes up when Kenshiro and Rei fight each other to save Airi and Mamiya, as Rei uses a technique called Nanto Tiger Destroying Dragon and Kenshiro uses Hokuto Dragon Attacking Tiger.
** Ryuken and Koryu were known as the Dragon and the Tiger of Hokuto.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Kenshiro kills mooks without remorse but will often try to spare their boss because of a freudian excuse.

* UnproblematicProstitution: In Rei's side-story manga, the city of Azgarzul is a city of women ruled by women that makes most of its income from prostitution. But they have choice in whom they service, and there's rules about being reasonably polite and courteous to the working girls. It still comes off as incredibly sexist, since there's a heavy implication that prostitution is the ''only'' way for a woman to be empowered and independent.

%%* UnflinchingWalk

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Pel, Rin's beloved PreciousPuppy, who appears only in the anime series, disappears mysteriously after episode 63 without any explanation, only to make one last cameo during episode 70.

* UpdatedRerelease: The manga has several collected editions in addition to the initial Jump Comics releases published during its serialization throughout the eighties. Most notably the ''Kanzenban'' edition published by Shogakukan in 2006, which condenses the original 27 volume run to 14 volumes and reprints all the colored art from the ''Weekly Jump'' serial, as well as all the opening pages that were omitted in earlier editions. The 18-volume Ultimate edition published throughout 2013 and 2014 has a new story in the beginning of Vol. 11 that details how Kokuoh lost his eye between the first and second half of the manga.

* StayInTheKitchen: One of the franchise's hang-ups is that it is written to portray women in a particularly patronizing way, even women (such as Mamiya, or Reina from the movies) who are way more competent than the average male villager, mooks, and villain of the week. The sad thing is that the show clearly thought it was pro-woman in some episodes, but it was just incredibly paternalistic. A good example is the case of the Six Nanto Masters, the greatest practitioners of Nanto Seiken. [[TheSmurfettePrinciple There's only one female Master]], and whilst the rest of them are godlike kung fu experts who can slice off your face with their feet, she's a spiritual leader with no combat abilities whatsoever.

* RefrainFromAssuming: The opening theme "Ai o Torimodose" is often shortened to its GratuitousEnglish phrase "You wa Shock."

* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Any time an instrumental version of "[[ThemeSong Ai o Torimodose!]]" cues up.

* WideEyedIdealist: Kenshiro is an idealist who lives in a CrapsackWorld where people daily dies and kills over a scrap of food or a sip of water. Still he believes it is easy to be despicable in this age, but that it takes a true HERO keep your humanity and keep being a good person when everything and everyone around seems suggesting to you otherwise. In the first chapter, Bat asks him bluntly how he has survived so far if he would not even try break himself out of jail because it could get a little girl in trouble. Not long after, Bat finds out Kenshiro is idealistic because ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes he can afford]] [[{{Badass}} to be.]]'' Behaving like scum and harming helpless people in front of him is a very, ''very'' bad idea. Like in "he WILL disintegrate you" bad idea.

* {{Retcon}}: The plot was written as it went along by Buronson's own admittance, as he had no clear outline when serialization started. This is particularly evident with the Southern Cross arc, which was written to provide the manga with a semblance of a conclusion in case it got axed early. As a result, Kenshiro and Shin are written as if they were the only Hokuto Shinken and Nanto Seiken practitioners at this point, with no mention of Kenshiro's older brothers that were later introduced or any of the other Nanto Seiken styles or practitioners outside Shin and his own brand (hence why his branch, Nanto Koshuken, was never named in the story). The retcons would pile up as the manga went along, whether it's Toki's changing hair color, the revelation of the Last General of Nanto's identity and the fact that Raoh's mother is buried in two different countries.

* {{Retcon}}: The original series had Kenshiro, the 64th Hokuto Shinken successor, be the very second Hokuto Shinken praticioner to perform the ultimate ''Musou Tensei'' art, the first was the Hokuto Shinken founder himself, and the third to use it was Raoh. Comes ''Manga/FistOfTheBlueSky'' and Kenshiro's uncle Kasumi, the 62nd Hokuto Shinken successor, briefly performs the ''Musou Tensei'' while unconscious against Liu Zong-Wu, being created by the original authors themselves it didn't get pushed into AlternateContinuity territory.

** Chapter 3 of Volume 27 is tragic as hell -- but ends with an ''incredible'' shout-out to the opening of the manga [[spoiler:staggering through the desert, begging for water -- but this time, with Bat and Lin right there]].

** Whenever a major villain manages to draw Kenshiro's blood, he has a tendency to taste it and spit it out, just as Creator/BruceLee did while fighting the BigBad in ''Film/EnterTheDragon''.

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Ken, Shin, and Yuria, at least in the flashbacks and the beginning of the series. For a bit it's Ken, Rei, and Mamiya, but with a far, ''far'' more tragic ending.

* UpdatedRerelease: The original manga has several collected editions in addition to the initial Jump Comics releases published during its serialization throughout the eighties. Most notably the ''Kanzenban'' edition published by Shogakukan in 2006, which condenses the original 27 volume run to 14 volumes and reprints all the colored art from the actual ''Weekly Jump'' serial. The 18-volume Ultimate edition published throughout 2013 and 2014 has a new story in the beginning of Vol. 11 that details how Kokuoh lost his eye between the first and second half of the manga.