This article is about the member of the Shie Hassaikai. For the former Class 1-B student, see Itsuka Kendo.
Kendo Rappa, also known as The Rapper, is one of the Eight Bullets who serves Overhaul and the Shie Hassaikai.
Appearance#
Kendo is a huge, muscular man with long, light brown hair.
His face is hidden beneath the plague mask given to him by the Shie Hassaikai, and he dons a tattered t-shirt and dark pants covered by a light blue tunic and decorated with two belts. Kendo also sports his signature gloves, which cover his hands and wrists with several leather straps and his knuckles with metal.
While participating in the Underground Masquerade, Kendo wore a mask similar to his current one, barring the beak, and lacked his tunic. His gloves were also much more crudely fashioned, consisting of simple plating bound haphazardly by sports tape.
Personality#
Kendo is a very hot-blooded man who thrives on violence and bloodshed. He has a warrior-like mentality, and he only cares about seeking a battle that can satisfy him. Kendo believes it's unbecoming for a fighter to use weapons and that everyone should fight with the power of their bodies.[2]
Unlike most of the Eight Bullets, Kendo only serves Overhaul because he hopes to one day defeat him. Kendo's entire mindset revolves around provoking others into a fight to the death where he can put his life on the line. If someone cannot satisfy that interest, Kendo wants nothing to do with them. If someone can give him the thrill he seeks, Kendo shows them great respect.
Despite his hot-blooded personality, Kendo possesses a sense of honor. He would rather fight alone and win with his own strength than fight alongside Hekiji Tengai. He even allowed Fat Gum to take Red Riot to heal after their battle so they could fight again sometime, and went as far as to reveal Overhaul's long-term plan of reinstating the Yakuza's position of power.[3]
Kendo also appears to be a good judge of character, as shown during his encounter with Iwao Oguro in the Underground Masquerade. Kendo was able to discern that Iwao would enjoy a good fistfight despite the latter's conscious preference to use his Quirk for more calculated attacks.[4] Kendo's judgment came to fruition after Iwao lost his Quirk and resorted to his brute strength as Knuckleduster.
Abilities#
Overall Abilities: Being an Eight Bullets member of the Shie Hassaikai, Kendo is a very formidable individual. He is highly skilled in close-quarters combat and employs that art in every battle. Hailing from the world of MMA, Kendo's hand-to-hand combat prowess was forged by his experiences in the ring, adapted and changed due to the hard knocks of cage fighting. Kendo's fighting style relies exclusively on powerful punches, which his Quirk, Strongarm, can amplify in speed. When duelling, the precise, repetitive motions of Kendo’s brawling technique, combined with his reflexes and Quirk usage, don't leave any openings, even for experienced combatants such as O'Clock.
Before joining the Shie Hassaikai, Kendo was a brawler who participated in the Quirk-permitted underground fight club, the Underground Masquerade. In the matches he partook in, Kendo either defeated his opponents with a single strike or yielded due to his superior aptitude. He remained undefeated until his encounter with Overhaul, who wanted to recruit Kendo into the yakuza due to the brawler's abilities. Kendo propositioned that to gain his servitude, Kai had to defeat him in battle, but just as Kendo launched an attack, the yakuza leader effortlessly disassembled Kendo, before reassembling him. Even after becoming a member of the Eight Bullets, Kendo had the mettle to challenge Kai 5 more times but was overhauled and defeated with each attempt. Due to his direct combat efficiency, Kai paired Kendo with Hekiji Tengai, an individual who excels at defense. When the pair tag-teams in battle, Kendo assaults the opponents with powerful bullet punches, whereas Hekiji utilizes his barriers to protect Kendo should the former meet his match.
During the Shie Hassaikai Raid, Kendo and Hekiji were pitted against Fat Gum and Eijiro Kirishima, both of whom are highly capable and excel in defense and melee combat, just as Kendo himself does in the latter case. Kendo first sent a body-hardened Eijiro flying into a wall with a single punch before repeatedly barraging Fat Gum with a volley of punches throughout their battle. Fat Gum surmised that getting in close doesn't yield the opportunity to dodge Kendo's assault, and due to the amount of strength behind the brawler's attacks, the BMI Hero's Fat Absorption couldn't absorb all of the damage. With these deductions, Fat Gum concluded Kendo would wear him down until the hero was out of might. Once Eijiro regained his resolve and stepped in to endure Kendo's flurry of punches even more than he did at the beginning of the bout, the red-haired hero and the masked brawler attempted to engage each other, but Hekiji intervened with a barrier, believing Eijiro's final attack was strong enough to counter, if not damage, Kendo. However, these interferences bought Fat Gum enough time to transfer all of the accumulated energy he absorbed from the impact of Kendo's attacks into one final punch to defeat the yakuza dyad.
- Immense Strength: Befitting his muscular stature, Kendo exhibits great physical strength. During his days as an underground cage fighter, Kendo defeated his opponents with a single strike blow each, while those who survived his blows conceded defeat. His fists were powerful enough to penetrate Eijiro's "Unbreakable" technique with a single blow that also sent his opponent flying, proving that Kendo's punches are strong enough to penetrate objects that are as hard as a stone. The pure shock of Kendo's blows could injure Fat Gum, despite the hero's bodily fat, and nearly defeat him in 1-on-1 combat. Fat Gum and Eijiro are known for excelling at defense and can only withstand Kendo's attacks by pushing past their limits.
- Enhanced Speed: In spite of his hefty physique, Kendo possesses exceptional speed. He could contend with the notoriously fast O'Clock while in the confined space of a fighting ring, matching the immense acceleration abilities of hero's Overclock Quirk and still leaving no openings in their close-range bout.
- Enhanced Durability: Kendo has proven to be reasonably durable, as he was able to rise to his feet after enduring Fat Gum's final, energy-stockpiled punch that was able to penetrate Hekiji's Barrier, which cushioned the BMI Hero's blow. While he could still move sufficiently, albeit limply, Kendo's arms were put out of commission.
Tactical Intellect: Kendo seems like a battle-crazed brute but is relatively astute. In combat, Kendo focuses on breaking down his opponents with strategically placed punches structured around his present understanding of the fighting capabilities of himself and his opponents. He was keen enough to recognize the significance of Fat Gum's final attack, realizing the latter had stockpiled the impact of his punches to release a mighty blow that would breach Hekiji's barrier.
Quirk#
Strongarm:[5] Kendo's Quirk allows him to rotate his shoulders at extreme speeds, allowing him to attack his targets with a near-endless barrage of bullet punches. His Quirk can only stay active for a few seconds at a time, but this is all the time Kendo needs to wear down his opponents.
Stats#
Equipment#
Battle Gloves: Kendo wears a pair of padded metal gauntlets on his arms to augment his punches.
Battles & Events#
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- Kendo Rappa vs. Overhaul (Several times)
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Chapter Appearances#
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Anime Appearances#
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Vigilantes Chapter Appearances#
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Trivia#
- Kendo's last name means thug or villain. His first name contains the kanji for shoulder and movement.
- With his bloodthirsty nature and violent Quirk, Kendo seems to represent a corrupted version of the first tenet of the actual eight precepts of Buddhism: do not kill other living things.
- According to his Volume 16 profile:[5]
- Kohei Horikoshi considers him very fun to draw.
- He joined the world of street fighting as an act of rebellion against his overly strict parents.
- During his debut in the Vigilantes spin-off series, Hideyuki Furuhashi quickly decided for Kendo to make a cameo during the Underground Masquerade Arc. Due to his face never being fully seen in the original series, Furuhashi gave Kendo a pro-wrestling-style mask to compensate and was happy that readers quickly recognized him.[6]
- Betten Court also stated that he found it difficult to imbue Kendo with the same intensity that he has in the original series.
- His first name is a homophone of Itsuka Kendo's last name as they are pronounced the same but spelled with different kanji.
- Kendo is the only one of the Eight Bullets who is not a C-Rank Villain.
- Kendo's Japanese voice actor, Shōhei Kajikawa, also voices one of Gang Orca's Sidekicks.