"The heavens are polarized into two different sides. They are Hokuto (North Star) and Nanto (South Star). These sides are the cosmic forces of man and woman -yin and yang. And the deadly martial arts, Hokuto Shinken and Nanto Seiken -these two groups are not allowed to fight each other. If they did, the world would be destroyed. But a savior will manifest itself."


HOKUTO NO KEN

(Fist of the North Star)



The beautiful Earth -a place of fantastic landscapes, such as the mountains, the forests, the beaches and the seas...but...

"Year 199X. The Earth was devastated by a nuclear war."



Mankind destroyed his own world. Nuclear bombs were used and they wiped out the population - millions of people died in an instant. The ones to survive the countless bombs would later succumb to the radiation.



Cities were obliterated and technology was destroyed. Lin, a little girl we'll see more of later, walks on surrounded by a technicolor aura, as the narrator explains that there were survivors of the war. All these people can do now is battle themselves for such basics as food and water, whilst trying to keep themselves alive.



What used to be an ocean is now dried up badlands. Two people are walking through it: Kenshiro, who is a master of Hokuto Shinken and Yuria, Ken's girlfriend. As they move on Yuria says she wants to see the Earth green again with the return of the seas...



...but nothing will be able to grow in wastelands like this, which are now all over the Earth. Kenshiro says little as it isn't like he can do anything about it, but they both see that a group of men are nearby. A man in purple starts to walk towards the pair. This man is Shin, a master of Nanto Seiken and Kenshiro's friend. But his words are chilling: he says that it is a great age to live in now, as the strong can take whatever they please.



As Shin reaches them he says that the strong can have what they desire and he desire Yuria. He takes her hand and starts to walk off with her, but is stopped by Kenshiro. Shin lets go and then swipes at Kenshiro, cutting his face.



Hokuto and Nanto aren't suppose to fight! Yuria reminds Shin that his master told him this, but Shin doesn't care -in fact he forgot the garbage his master taught him a long time a go! He knows that Kenshiro was chosen as the successor to Hokuto Shinken, but doesn't believe he can defeat his Nanto Seiken. He leaps up to attack.



Kenshiro also jumps upwards and the two clash in the air with kick attacks. As both fighters land, Shin turns around and laughs, as he knows he has won. Seconds later Kenshiro's arms and legs are sliced open, making him bleed heavily and fall to the ground. "Nanto Goku Satsu Ken" (South Star Hell Murder Fist), Shin's attack, disables the opponent in this way.



As Yuria rushes to Ken's side, Shin just watches and then starts to walk towards them. Nobody has seen, however, that two other people are watching the battle. They are Raoh and Jagi, two warriors who also studied Hokuto Shinken, but were not chosen to become the successor. Jagi is angry as he doesn't believe Kenshiro should have been chosen, and that now he has been beaten it is clear he is weak. Raoh doesn't say anything.



Shin's men grab Yuria whilst Shin himself lifts Ken's head up and tells him that the reason he lost is because he had no ambition -and now he can die for it. Yuria again tries to tell Shin that Hokuto and Nanto must not fight against each other and that they especially shouldn't be like this as they are friends, but all Shin can say is that she is also part of the Nanto bloodline, making her an ideal wife for him. He says that he has loved her ever since he first laid his eyes on her.



Jagi continues to get more and more annoyed, he hates the fact that someone as weak as Kenshiro became the successor and doesn't think much of Shin's snobbery either. He tells Raoh to go down there now and crush Shin, as the two will no doubt have to fight each other at some point. And whilst he's down there he could finish off Kenshiro, meaning he would become the successor to Hokuto Shinken. They have to do something, as Jagi has heard that anyone who fails to become the successor will have their fists destroyed or their memories erased! But still, Raoh says nothing.



Shin tells Ken that he is too weak to live in this age and that he will take Yuria now. Yuria says she will never be able to love him as she loves Kenshiro, but Shin believes that he has a way of changing her mind. Shin's men rip Ken's shirt off and then Shin puts one of his fingers on his chest...



..and begins to stab him, repeatedly. This is a Nanto Seiken execution technique, one stab would be enough to kill a normal man. Shin tells Yuria that he'll stop if she just says that she loves him. Ken knows he will die at this rate, but would rather have that happen then to have Yuria admit to loving Shin. He tells her that she must live on -live on for his sake.



Shin says that if he's so eager to die then he'll oblige him and stabs him four more times, giving him a total of seven wounds on his chest. As Ken screams in pain Yuria cannot take it any more and tells Shin to stop, before whispering that she loves him. Shin says that he isn't convinced and that she'll never move his heart like that, and continues to torture Ken. Yuria then screams that she loves him and that she'll follow him anywhere, but only if he lets Kenshiro live.



Shin just laughs and is amused that he just managed to convince the woman who said she would never love him will now follow him anywhere. As Yuria goes to Ken once more she doesn't have long to stay with him, as Shin's men grab her. As they drag her to Shin, a bag falls out of her pocket and lands near Ken. Shin then takes her by the arm and they all start to walk away, leaving Kenshiro to die.



Raoh has seen enough and says that Kenshiro is finished. He then offers Jagi the title of the successor and starts to walk away, not interested in Jagi's concerns over whether he is being serious or not. Meanwhile, Kenshiro has just enough strength to get the bag Yuria dropped. He remembers that Yuria kept some flower seeds in the bag, and she hoped to plant them in a place where they could grow.



Later on though Jagi is dragging Ken's body across the barren lands and stops at the side of a cliff. Hoping to do away with him for good, he tells the unconscious Kenshiro that he is now the successor to Hokuto Shinken and that Kenshiro was too weak to live in this world, just as Shin and Raoh had stated. He then throws Kenshiro over the cliff, and he falls down into the chasm.



Jagi laughs and then stabs into the ground with his fist to create a quake which sends some of the cliff down below, to cover Kenshiro's body up. With Ken dead, Jagi resumes laughing, as he is now the successor to Hokuto Shinken.



In the ruins of a forest, a single building remains. Raoh opens the main doors as it is the Hokuto Shinken dojo, where his master, Ryuken, awaits. Ryuken wants to know why Raoh has returned here but Raoh tells him that he made a poor choice with Kenshiro, as now he is dead. He also challenges Ryuken to try and shatter his fists of take away his memories, if he can. Raoh then proves his strength to Ryuken by destroying the two massive statues at the front of the dojo.



Raoh catches the heads of the statues and then crushes them both to pieces, telling Ryuken that anyone who dares to try and destroy his fists will suffer the same fate. He then reveals his plan: he is going to conquer the heavens, and he will need the Hokuto Shinken style to accomplish this.



Ryuken says that this cannot be allowed and in the tradition of the style, he will seal Raoh's fists away forever. Outside the dojo, the calm air suddenly turns into a storm as trees and rocks are blown away before things return to normal once more. The front doors of the dojo open once more, and one man walks out.



Raoh has survived -Ryuken has not and we see him kneeling in a trickle of his own blood. As lightning strikes, Raoh walks up to the edge of a cliff and sees the storm brewing. He calls out to the heavens, saying that his eyes are upon them and he will battle any Gods of Devils that try to stop him. He will rule the world.



With Raoh's goal set, the narrator then reminds us about the other people on the planet, and how the strong rule over the weak. A band of travelers are walking across another barren landscape when several men burst out of the ground and attack -killing the lot of them, even the women and children. The bandits are simply after food and water, with stuff like jewelry and money being tossed aside as it is now useless.



Meanwhile, a car is going at top speeds to get away from some bad guys -it's Bat and Lin! Bat is going at crazy speeds, much to Lin's dismay, but he has to because they're been chased by four punks on bikes.



The bikers want the kids dead and force Bat to take drastic action when he crashes into a building. The car is still going though and this leads to a chase through the wreckage of the skyscraper, but as they smash through another wall Bat loses control of his car and crashes.



When the bikers arrive they don't see the kids anywhere, but they take a look in the car and find food, so that's something. They then decide to go and raid the village that the two brats left from, but Bat suddenly appears and tells them to get out of his car -he doesn't mind if they take the food, but leave his wheels out of it.



One of the bikers finds a bag but is disappointed to find just seeds in it, so he throws them away. Almost as soon as he does this he gets hit on the head with a stick and turns to see Lin. The men get fed up of these brats and decide to kill them, so Lin is thrown to the ground and then stomped on. But somehow, she manages to stop her attacker...



Energy begins to pulsate out of her which heads up into the sky, which acts as a signal. A signal that someone or something has received as in the distance, explosions can be heard and buildings begin to crumble.



The derelict skyscrapers begin to fall down and all of this destruction is being caused by just one man! Just one punch is enough to make structures collapse and he makes his way over to the bikers, who aren't sure what to do.



The bikers lose interest in the kids and turn their attention to this stranger. Who is he?