King of Wolves (Ou Rou 王狼 literally, Wolf King) is a short historical/sci-fi manga drawn by Kentaro Miura and scripted by Buronson, of Fist of the North Star fame. The manga ran from March to May 1989 in the seinen magazine Animal House.
1999, on the Silk Road, in China: historian and Kendo enthusiast Iba has vanished without a trace, while exploring the region. His girlfriend, Kyoko, tries to search the desert for a sign of his presence, but suddely, a funnel of black clouds appear above her, and she's sucked inside it, finding herself in Mongolia, 1212 A.D. There, Iba is forced to fight as a slave for the Mongol army, but Kyoko's arrival causes a series of events which end with the death of his superior and jailer. This death leads to the encounter with the leader of the Mongols, Genghis Khan... who's revealed to be none other than the historical samurai Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, who, along with his trusted Benkei, plans to forge an empire of Japanese rule in Asia. Confronted with this events, Iba must find a way to return to his age while, at the same time, make sure that History follows its rightful course, but things are nebulous and less predictable than expected for our heroes, especially when Iba finds himself forced to assume the mantle of Genghis Khan...
King of Wolves was the first main work by Miura upon receiving his doctorate degree, as well as his first cooperation with Buronson. A sequel manga, Ou Rou Den (Legend of the Wolf King) would follow suit in 1990, the following year.
Most spoilers will be unmarked, read at your own risk!
This manga contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Invoked trope by Iba, who decides to be harsh and train his artistically-inclined son so that he'll be ready to become Kublai Khan.
- Anti-Villain: Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune. He plans to Take Over the World and give birth to a pure-blood Yamato dynasty, but his loyalty to his deceased spouse Shizuka is so strong he opts for forcibly adopt Iba and Kyoko's child and have them killed.
- An Arm and a Leg: This version of Benkei got out of the siege at the cost of his left arm. This doesn't stop him from being a top threat in combat.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Iba got to be one of Genghis Khan's commanders by proving his combat skills over and over again until he killed commander Yan and was awarded with his rank. Meanwhile, his son got the respect of the unruly Red Wolves battalion by beheading their gigantic leader on the spot after he dissed him.
- Bad Boss: Yoshitsune. The birth of Iba's son pushes him to order his death so that he could adopt the child and raise him as his own.
- Badass Normal: Iba is just an historian who happens to be an ace in Kendo and quite strong. He ends up leading one of the strongest and most bloodthirsty armies in history.
- Barbarian Longhair: Yoshitsune has a wild, massive mane of hair which nearly doubles the size of his head.
- Barbarian Tribe: The Northern Tribe Iba is forced to subdue is composed by ugly, ape-like barbarians clad in pelts and armed with stone axes. The Uighur tribe forming the Red Wolves is also composed by wild, long haired/bearded brutes.
- BFS:
- Iba's weapon of choice in the past is a rather massive katana (one could say it's an oodachi), which he later passes to his son. Yoshitsune employs a similar sword.
- Benkei fights with a large Naginata. Despite being a polearm, he can still use it in one hand without problems.
- An enemy commander fought by Iba is armed with a massive Dadao whose blade is as broad as Iba's body.
- Inverted with Wan: he's a huge man whose weapon of choice is a compararively small trident.
- Big Brother Instinct: Kublai Khan grows very fond of the young Rissho.
- Bittersweet Ending: Kyoko returns to the future, but Iba is forced to stay and impersonate Genghis Khan, apparently losing his life to kill the Chinese soldiers from the future. However, it's later shown that he is riding a boat to Japan, implying that he'll be able to return to his time.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Downplayed (since she's rather modest proportions), but still invoked by Benkei, who jests that Kyoko's ample busts and butt means that she'll become a prosperous mother. Iba and Benkei then laugh, while she pouts angrily at them.
- Cool Helmet: All over the place:
- Commander Yan, for all his faults, has a cool helm with a crest shaped like a clutching claw.
- Yoshitsune as Genghis Khan wears an awesome-looking helmet ornated with the head of a dragon.
- Kublai Khan wears a samuraiesque helmet with a metal crest and a tuff of white hair.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: By the time the Horde reaches the Khworezim city, the Red Wolves (1000 soldiers, mind you) have routed the enemy army and sacked the place.
- Deus ex Machina: When Kublai and Rissho are surrounded by the rebellious soldiers, the ground suddenly cracks below them, and suddenly they're in front of a giant cliff where a Buddha is carved. After "talking" with the Buddha, Rissho decides to preach Buddhism in Japan.
- Diabolus ex Nihilo: Granted, the randomly-appearing Time Travel portals were there since the beginning, but still, when the conquest is almost complete... a small army of modern Chinese soldiers armed with guns and tanks show up, throwing the Empire into disarray.
- Diagonal Cut: How Iba finally kills Commander Yan.
- Double Weapon: Yan wields a rather creative one as his weapon: it's a large, hexagonal pole with a set of flail heads on one end and large bifurcated spearhead with a serrated blade on the other end.
- Driven to Suicide: Even after Iba spares his life, Yoshitsune impales himself on his own sword rather than suffer defeat. This forces Iba to take his place.
- Expy: Iba is surprisingly similar to a young Gatsu. The wild barbarians in the north, meanwhile, look eerily like Wyald, again from Berserk.
- Fighting Your Friend: Benkei ends up doing this when Yoshitsune orders him to take Iba's son and kill his parents. While he does obey, he tells Iba it really hurts him. Fortunately, Iba can't bring himself to kill Benkei, his best friend in this age.
- Final Boss: The commander of the Chinese Corps from the future.
- Gentle Giant: Benkei is huge and intimidating, but he's surprisingly friendly and amiable, and easily moved to tears.
- Get Back to the Future: The goal of the protagonists. Only Kyoko manages to return to 1999 Japan though.
- Gladiator Games: When Kyoko finds Iba, he's forced to fight for his freedom in the local arena.
- Graceful Loser: Commander Wan claims it's an honor to be killed by someone as skilled as Genghis Khan as he's felled.
- Handicapped Badass: Benkei's arm loss didn't do a thing to prevent him from carving people to pieces with his Naginata or to fight for an entire day without tiring.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: When Kyoko catches Yan's attention, he has her caught and taken to his apartments, where he goes as far as ripping her shirt. He relents when she threatens to bite her own tongue off if he touches her.
- Historical Domain Character:
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune: He survived his final battle, went to Mongolia and soon united the tribes as Genghis Khan. Unlike typical depictions, this Yoshitsune is a muscle-bound giant of a man.
- Musashibo Benkei: Yoshitsune's loyal right-hand man, unlike many depictions he has only one arm left. He's surprisingly affable and kind.
- Genghis Khan: None other than Yoshitsune. Iba ends up taking his mantle and reenacting his life.
- Rissho, the man who introduced Nichiren Buddhism in Japan, appears as an infant who was kidnapped and taken to Persia.
- Historical In-Joke: The basic premise is that the rumor that Genghis Khan wasn't Temujin, but rather Minamoto-No-Yoshitsune is true.
- Interesting Situation Duel: Iba figths Wan with one hand while holding his scared infant son to his chest. Wan even asks if it's supposed to make him hold back.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Played very straight, as Iba and his skills with Kendo paired with a massive katana allows him to defeat pretty much everyone he runs across. The same goes for Yoshitsune and later Kublai Khan.
- Kill It with Fire: Iba defeats the Chinese Tanks and army by tricking them into entering a valley, bombarding them with sacks of oil and setting them ablaze.
- The Lancer: Benkei is this to Yoshitsune and later Iba, though in the latter's case, he's also his best friend.
- Large and in Charge: If someone's in command of something, expect it to be at least a head taller than his subjects. Kublai Khan averts this, being Young and in Charge.
- Manly Tears: Benkei tends to have them.
- Master Swordsman: Iba, thanks to the knowledge of Kendo. He's even able to outmaneuver Yoshitsune thanks to his Kendo skills.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Benkei is extremely loyal to his master, and when Yoshitsune orders him to kill Iba and take his child, he obeys, though he's torn by grief.
- Nerf Arm: Iba won all his battles in the arena using the blunt of his blade.
- Off with His Head!: How Iba kills the commander of the Chinese Corps as he's trying to shoot him.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Benkei, when he realizes that the "500" enemies were actually "5000". Luckily, his prowess and Kublai's arrival saves him.
- Iba, when he sees that the Chinese "Rebels" he's been told of have tanks and modern guns.
- One-Man Army: Commander Yan sends Iba to fight against the rebellious northern barbarians, expecting him to fail. Except that Iba not only succeeds, but ends up challenging and killing Yan.
- Portal to the Past: Whan enables the time travel, taking the form of a massive black vortex of clouds in the sky. Subverted in that they also allow to go back in the future.
- Red Baron: Genghis Khan goes by the name of Ou Rou, the Wolf King, proving a Title Drop.
- Rock Beats Laser:
- Averted. When the unstoppable Mongolian cavalry is pitted against rifles and tanks, they're easily dispatched.
- At first averted, but played straight when Iba manages to destroy the tank-riding enemies using inflammable oil to engulf them in fire.
- Rubber-Band History: The main plot of the story, relying on Genghis Khan's life and conquests.
- Tank Goodness: The bad guys in the final act ride modern day Japanese Tanks in combat, having traveled through the cloud portal.
- This Is My Boomstick: Downplayed, Iba still uses his knowledge of Kend to become a deadly swordsman.
- Time Travel: Caused by a mysterious portal of clouds in the sky.
- Training from Hell: When Iba realizes that his son is more oriented towards arts and literature, he forces him to endure a hellish regime to make sure he'll grow strong enough to carry his historical legacy as Kublai Khan.
- Smug Snake: The Chinese Commander. Being struck in the past with modern weapons which makes your opponent harmless does that to you.
- Starter Villain: Commander Yan, the brutish man who imprisoned Iba and later Kyoko.
- Villainous Breakdown: Not much, but still, the Chinese commander looks Iba with a look of pure despair as his small army of tanks is destroyed by a fire attack and Iba is about to chop his head off.
- Wham Line:
- Genghis Khan revealing himself as Yoshitsune.
- Yoshitsune ordering Benkei to take the child of Iba and Ryoko and kill Iba.
- Iba being told that they found a Yamato boy in the Khworezim prison.
