History#
Kendo Rappa used to spend his days fighting in underground fighting rings. He did this as a rebellion over his strict parents.[1] In that fight club, fighters could go berserk with their Quirks. Kendo's battle prowess made him too powerful for all his opponents and he never got the death-match he always desired.
The Underground Masquerade#
One time Kendo, under the name "The Rapper", participated in the Underground Masquerade an underground fighting event that took place in Osaka. There, he was matched against The Ripper, who was the pro hero O'Clock in disguise. Kendo complained that their names sounded similar, and because The Ripper had a knife in his hands. Kendo explains that he thinks a real fight shouldn't involve weapons, but Ripper claims that the knife levels the playing field.
Once the bell is rung, Kendo sends a barrage of punches at Ripper, who is using his Overclock Quirk to make it seem he is barely dodging the attack, and drops his knife and mask in a way that seemed natural. Ripper gets up and declares that he will fight by Kendo's rules, delighting him greatly.[2] He continues attacking Ripper, who keeps up with Kendo's speed, until Ripper feigns getting hit by Kendo since he didn't need to be in the ring any longer. The announcer declares Kendo's victory, and the "unconscious" Ripper is taken to another room.[3]
Feeling that something wasn't right, Kendo heads for the sick bay, where he sees The Ripper leaving. Kendo gives him half of his prize money, along with the bonus, because he realized that The Ripper didn't put his heart into the fight and went down easily, so it didn't count. He gets excited for a rematch to the death, but Ripper swiftly declines. Kendo points out that Ripper loves to take part in fights like this, but Ripper denies, saying that he prefers one-on-one sneak attacks over long, drawn-out fistfights.
Kendo states that they had fun in the ring, but Ripper claims that was just for show, and that it's the first and last time he'll take part in something like that. Kendo tells him that life is not fun without a little recklessness, and that the soul decides hate and love, recognizing that even if The Ripper doesn't admit it, deep down he loves that stuff. Just then, The Ripper starts to hear loud noise seemingly riling up the crowd down in the arena.[4]
They both went to check the reason for the ruckus, only to find out that it had been caused by Tiger Bunny, know as Rumi Usagiyama, a teenage hooligan in a tiger mask who was fighting many of the attendes after having challenged everyone to fight her. The Ripper asked Kendo if he'll also be joining in, but he declines saying its not a proper death match, also because women don't get his manly philosophy. The Ripper tells him that even men would thinks his "philosophy" is a lot of crap. The Ripper decided to use the ruckus to try and slip out of the building, with Kendo close by still pestering about their rematch.
At that moment, an alarm went off, followed by gas that begins to pour into the sand. In the control room, All For One, who had been watching the fights, had decided to release a gas that makes the Quirks of those who breathe it went out of control. Chaos broke out in the room, and All For One took advantage of the pellmell situation to steal those Quirks that catch his attention with the help of Kurogiri.
Kendo and The Ripper managed to avoid breathing the gas, hiding behind a corner. The Ripper saw a mysterious dark mist that stole the Quirk from some of those affected by the gas, and when he saw that it began to form behind Tiger Bunny, he rescued her and took her to where they were. Then, The Ripper revealed to Kendo and Tiger Bunny his identity as the High Speed Hero: O'Clock.
Kendo and Tiger Bunny had an argument about whether "Kick Power" or "Punch Power" is most important in a fighter, and were annoyed O'Clock wasn't listening to them. The Hero requested their aid to escape the facility and contact the police force outside.[5] He asked them to open a way in addition to acting as baits against whoever was controlling the black mist. O'Clock also asked them do not use their full powers on the people transformed by the gas, since they are innocents, which they accept, Kendo reluctantly.[6]
O'clock also came up with a plan B, in case an unexpected threat showed up: One of them would have to run and escape from the scene, and contact Detective Eizo Tanuma outside to ask him to call in All Might as backup.[7] Kendo replied that he didn't look like a guy who runs away when faced a challenge, so the other two were in charge of plan B.
The three of them put the plan in motion, with Kendo and Tiger Bunny leading the way by beating everyone as O'Clock followed behind, destroying the security cameras after correctly deducing that whoever was controlling the dark mist wasn't currently there. When Kendo was about to reach the driveway, a mysterious hooded man sent by AFO appeared to stop them. Excited at the idea of fighting the Hooded Man, Kendo attacked him with a barrage of punches, but to his surprise, the Hooded Man easily dodged the strikes and stretched out his arm to land a massive punch on him.
Tiger Bunny tried to help him, but she was taken down too.[6] Then O'Clock confronted the Hooded Man, and when he realized that he is a tough foe to deal with, he ordered to proceed to plan B. As O'Clock held the Hooded Man as best he could, Tiger Bunny ran for the exit. Noticing it, the Hooded Man stretched out his arm as far as possible to catch her. He would have succeeded if it were not because Kendo attacked him again, taking advantage of the fact that he had focused his attention on Tiger Bunny, who managed to escape and warn Detective Eizo, asking him to call All Might.[7]
With Tiger Bunny having successfully escaped, O'Clock told Kendo All Might should be on his way and they should retreat, but Kendo declined, reiterating that if the Hooded Man was here for a fight, he was happy to indulge, forcing O'Clock to had to strick back to help him and fend off the creature before he arrives. But All for One had other plans, and making use of his powers, he turned several of the assistants into vicious villains, who left the place to rampage the city. With this action, All For One hoped to keep All Might busy long enough to get a chance to steal O'Clock's Quirk.[8]
Kendo and O'Clock continued to fight The Hooded Man, with Kendo keeping him busy with a head-on barrage of punches, while O'Clock O'Clock provided back-up with several subtle tricks. The Hooded Man decided to grab the piece of the ring cage and he used it as a weapon, managing to knock down Kendo, and he would have smashed O'Clock with it if not for the timely intervention of Rumi, who had decided to return after delivering the message. Both Kendo and O'Clock advised her to stay away, but Rumi refused, claiming that she is a practicing hero, and showing the battle-hungry personality that even impressed Kendo Rappa.
The three of them prepared to continue fighting, but since All Might had already defeated all the villains outside and was getting closer and closer to the place, Kurogiri used his Quirk to rescue the Hooded Man, just before All Might arrived. Kendo was dumbfounded to see that the creature had completely disappeared.[9]
As the cleanup outside the parking garage finished up, Kendo met up with O'Clock and Rumi to say goodbye and go their separate ways. Rumi is the first to go, and before leaving, she asked him what she was going to do. Kendo just replied that he's not sure given that all he knows is fighting, and she replied that if he continues as a villain, he will make sure to save his less deadly kicks for guys like him. After this kind of farewell, Rumi jumped away.
After hopping off, Kendo headed out too, ready to look for a new place where he can fight. O'Clock advised him to be cautious, warning that the masterminds behind the Underground Masquerade could restart back up with another name, And if what happened today happened again, he might not make it out alive next time. Despite his warning, Kendo just took off his mask, picked up his things, and replied that he can't wait, and that if they ever meet again, he's playing for keeps.
After this last exchange of words, Kendo Rappa walked away.[10]
Recruited by Overhaul#
At some point, Overhaul attended the underground fight club to recruit Kendo to the Yakuza and challenged him. Kendo accepted the challenge but during the combat he "died" at the hands of Overhaul, who used his Quirk to deconstruct Kendo's upper body, just to be repaired a few seconds later.
Having suffered in his own flesh the power of Overhaul, Kendo had no choice but to agree to join the Shie Hassaikai. However, he holds a grudge against Overhaul, and has challenged him to fight up to five times, only to being defeated in each and every one of them. Since then, he has followed Overhaul's orders but has no loyalty to him.[11]
Synopsis#
Shie Hassaikai Arc#
During the raid of Overhaul's hideout, Kendo is paired with Hekiji. When Joi Irinaka launches Fat Gum and Eijiro into another room, Hekiji and Kendo are already waiting for them. Launching a barrage of punches, Kendo manages to break through Eijiro's Unbreakable. Taishiro tries to punch Kendo, but Hekiji protects his partner with a Barrier.[12]
Kendo complains when Hekiji stops him from attacking Taishiro, to which Hekiji reminds him that Overhaul paired the two up because their Quirks have great synergy. Kendo replies by trying to attack Hekiji, which he blocks with his Quirk. A confused Hekiji asks Kendo what he is doing, to which Kendo replies that he does not care about Overhaul's plans and that he only wants to kill. Hekiji decides to let him do as he pleases, while also reminding him to address Overhaul properly.
As Taishiro prepares to fight back, Kendo orders Hekiji not to interfere, to which Hekiji assures him that he will not. Upon seeing Eijiro's fear, Hekiji notes that he has already given up and expresses pity for the young hero. After Kendo is done assaulting Taishiro, Hekiji notices that Taishiro is preparing for another counterattack and tells Kendo to finish things quickly.
As Kendo tries to finish Fan Gum off, Eijiro interferes, taking his attacks and attempting his own counterattack; however, Hekiji blocks it with a barrier. Hekiji simply notes how meaningless it was for Eijiro to take these attacks.[13]
Soon, however, he realizes that Eijiro's actions were not in vain as Taishiro emerges from the dust and releases all the impact he stored from Kendo's punches with a single powerful blow.[14] Hekiji however creates a barrier with maximum defense that absorbs most of the impact, which prevents the two from being knocked out.[15] Kendo stands up again and claims that it is a fight to the death and he is not dead yet.
Fat Gum gets nervous because he is not in a position to continue the fight, but to his surprise, Rappa asks Fat Gum to take Eijiro to the next room with first-aid supplies, where he can treat their wounds. Fat Gum questions about it being a trap, but Rappa denies it. Hekiji questions the selfish attitude of Kendo and demands that he follow his orders, but Kendo knocks out Hekiji by stomping on his chest and declares that he wants a fight to the death against Eijiro.
Fat Gum moves Eijiro to the first aid room, where he bandages him, managing to stop his bleeding. Seeing that they are opening up to each other even though they are on opposing sides, Fat Gum asks about the reason Kendo is following Overhaul. Kendo explains that he is only around to defeat Overhaul someday, because he has been the only one who has defeated him not once but several times and always without difficulty.
After hearing his explanation about Kai Chisaki, Fat Gum becomes concerned and proceeds to ask Rappa about Chisaki's plans. Kendo tells him that Overhaul wants to reinstate the Yakuza, although Kendo doesn't know exactly how.[11]
After Kai's defeat and Eri's rescue, he was apprehended by Centipeder and arrested.[16]