When you hear of “Kengan Ashura”, the first question that will likely pop in your mind is “Who is the strongest among the characters?”
With so many top-tier characters competing in boxing, karate, grand bouts, and many other tournaments in the series, it’s no wonder why many fans are having a hard time ranking characters on top of one another.
So, let us take this opportunity and clear this issue today. I have listed 20 characters below whom I think are the most powerful and strongest according to the manga.
So, if you wanna know the power levels, techniques, and fighting abilities of each character, let us explore each character!
20Kaolan Wongsawat (“Gaolang” or “Gaoran”)
If you combine boxing and martial arts, what would you get? When Gaolang combined the two, he transformed into the “Thai God of War”!
Gaolang has bragging rights about these because he has been practicing his infamous “Hitman” or “Flicker” boxing styles (which eventually send knocked-out enemies 10 meters away from the boxing ring)!
In any case, it’s impressive to think that Gaolang practiced boxing in Thailand for over two decades! And to top it all off, he can arm wrestle and blow regular jabs on his opponents, earning him the title of “Fist of a God”!!
19Koyasu Shingoro
Shingoro is “The Lion King among” his peers! When you saw him fight head-to-head with his opponents, you’ll immediately be reminded of a lion!
It is because of the sideburns, long beard, and thick eyebrows that glorify and emblazoned his facial features as if he were truly a “King of the Jungle”!
And Shingoro deserves this title rightfully so because he won tournament after tournament in karate.
Although he is not the brightest bulb in the tool shed, he can tell whether his opponents are making the right karate moves and stances. What he lacks in the brain department, he makes up with fighting intuition.
And that is why his “Lance of Hades” reverse punch technique is befitting him! He is the only one who can wield this powerful punch, which enabled him to win again in the Meido Kaikan karateka Tournament!
18Julius Reinhold
Julius is the embodiment of brute strength. Because of the steroids he has been taking, there is not an inch on his body that is not covered in muscles!
As a fighter, he is also known as “The Monster” because he went all out to pummel his enemies during the Annihilation Tournament!
To refine his muscular control, Julius executes his “Godkiller Rock Drills” to amplify the scope of his powers. That is why his durability, speed, and strength are next to no one’s!
What’s impressive is that Julius also uses his brains while fighting. He’s well-versed in the medicine and science of sports including kinesiology, physiology, physics, and psychology. Awesome, right?
17Bando Yohei
Bando is “beyond striking” as a fighter and combatant. His most skillful ability is his ability to flex his body like a gymnast. But comparing him to a gymnast is an understatement, though.
The “Joint Motion” — his most elastic technique — puts Bando in a 140° lateral position (an insane type of flexibility that is even difficult for real life gymnasts)!
But apart from bending his body backwards, Bando can still snap his enemies’ necks despite sustaining heavy damage.
And when I say, “heavy damage”, I am emphasizing how Bando continues to fight despite enduring gouged and bleeding eyes, broken arms, and a smashed and wounded body! He truly lives up to his nickname as “The Bloody Tusk”!
16Kuroki Gensai
I have hardly any words to describe the mindset and power that Gensai — The Devil Lance — possesses. His power is not insurmountable even if he became a master karateka of the Kaiwan Style.
But what makes Gensai a frightening combatant is that he has mastery of the assassination art!
I can’t compare Gensai to Light Yagami of Death Note, Norman of The Promised Neverland, and Lelouch of Code Geass. All these characters must adapt strategically to every unique environment they’re put in.
But as a renowned assassin who’s bred and trained in a criminal underworld, Gensai’s actions are unprecedented! On top of that, Gensai is the embodiment of the “Wisdom King” because he is very careful with his words even when he’s utilizing his iron-steel hands during battle!
15Chiba Takayuki
So far, Chiba is the most handsome guy in this list. Just look at his smile! It’s as if an angel descended from the heavens. This description fits him perfectly and ironically because Takayuki has the ability to copy his opponents’ moves!
And because he is so well-versed in mimicking the fighting styles and movements of his enemies, Chiba is nicknamed as the “The Faceless Man” —an experienced actor of the underworld!
The only downside to Chiba’s talents is that he cannot copy the physical traits nor the unique or special abilities of his opponents. But with such expertise in acting, the enemies mistook Chiba’s movements as his own!
The truth of the matter, however, is this: 60% of Chiba’s moves are mimicked because he rehearses the combinations of fighting moves for a good 2 hours!
14Tatsuyoshi Katsuya
Okay. Here are three things that stood out to me in examining Katsuya: 1) his piercing eyes (particularly his black sclera eyes); 2) he’s the strongest Mongoloid out there; and 3) he’s married.
Yes, I know. The third one seems kinda out of place but listen to this: if the strongest Mongoloid can still bask in romance and love despite being a powerful fighter (including karateka), then he’s a winner! It only tells me that Katsuya is a husband and a lover.
He even may be a family man despite wielding his strongest technique, the “Hammer of Myo’o”. Katsuya also strikes his opponents with the “Buddha’s Palm”, a power that overwhelms heavy-weighted opponents!
And although Katsuya doesn’t speak much, his efforts to go up against Koyasu Shingoro is commendable. It’s as if Shingoro and Katsuya are evenly matched in terms of combat and in power!
13 Yamashita Kazuo
He may not look like it, but family man Kazuo is hiding something beneath his office-looking demeanor. Although he doesn’t have any combat experience, he’s number 13 in this list because he inherited “The Fist Eye” from one of his ancestors — Yamashita Ichinosin.
When he debuted in the series, Kazuo is a pushover. But him being bullied paves way for his transformation since he’s constantly exposed to constant blood lust through numerous fights! It’s as if he became desensitized, but he became braver and eventually lost his fear after witnessing the most horrific scenes!
Kazuo is very observant. In fact, it’s thanks to his genial 20/20 kinetic vision (through his inherited powers) that he can analyze power levels and stats of his opponents!
12Yamashita Ichinosin
When Yamashita debuted in Chapter 217 of the manga, the first thing that came to my mind is that he’s a delinquent because of his power: “The Fist Eye” (otherwise known as “ultimate eyes”).
The power he possessed in his eyes gives off a mean demeanor that suits his strong, healthy, and samurai-trained body. 😁
And I quote, “samurai-trained body” because Yamashita grew up in an esteemed samurai family (even though his family was burdened with an insurmountable financial debt)!
In any case, this boy has had tough times. To get out of the family debt, he became a servant to his one and only creditor: Nogiya Eikichi. Eikichi supported Yamashita financially. So, to repay him, Yamashita followed him, and became Eikichi’s loyal servant.
Despite the mess he got himself into, he fought the good fight with his “Fist Eye” (or Kengan)! After all, with a 20/20 kinetic vision, Yamashita possessed powers that are equivocally like that of a god!
11Nakata Ichiro (“Lihito”)
At first, I thought Lihito’s character design is strongly akin to that of Kyojuro Rengoku (the Fire Hashira / Fire Pillar) from Demon Slayer.
Despite their physical resemblances, their powers are polar opposites! Kyojuro practices fire, but Lihito is skilled in ice magic (hence, becoming the president of Super Frozen Cold Storage)! 😁
But ice isn’t the only power going on with Ichiro. From Razor’s Edge to Kaiwan Style, enemies will get a surprise attack when Ichiro hits them with his mighty brute force!
Two A-list Gladiators even commended Lihito for his battle prowess and unorthodox moves of his fists! With his “Razor’s Edge”, he can tear the human skin up to their bone marrows.
If that ain’t creepy enough, I don’t know what is. And moreover, he can use the Kaiwan Style in a hybrid manner (he can upgrade it using his battle prowess via the “Nakara Ichiro Style”)!
10 Kiryu Setsuna
Talk about organ harvesting, child prostitution, and abuse. That’s the kind of environment this “Beautiful Beast” encountered from childhood to adulthood! Despite his ephemeral face, he has a tragic background that, sadly, only a few manga readers can sympathize with.
In any case, Kiryu fights like a savage genius! He eradicates his enemies even before they breathe their last breaths! Some of the martial arts and flash-fire techniques he uses are the Koei Style and the Niko Style.
And when he combined these fine techniques, it’s as if Kiryu unleashed the devil itself!
These techniques are powerful because their origins are martial arts. Kiryu is flamboyant, so, it makes sense why his powers are just as flashy and explosive as he is. One of his Niko Style techniques is even called “flash-fire”! He is a powerful man indeed to his very core!
9Hassad
No one in the Kengan-universe is as magnetic and mesmerizing as Hassad, “The Arabian Whirlwind” himself. 😊 Not only is he the prince of a small Middle Eastern nation; but he’s also a patriot who travels the world to expand his knowledge so he can find ways to help his Muslim nation.
His greatest fighting techniques are the ones he inherited from the royal family: the “Desert Palm” and the “Shuri-te”.
These fighting styles equipped Hassad to fight like a swift martial artist (kind of like how Aang from the Avatar franchise fights but without the elemental powers).
Executing the whip-like “muchimi” blows enabled Hassad to become one of the five successful people during the preliminaries of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament.
Apart from his strength, booze and beer are his “energy drinks”. He’s also not very devout even if he is a Muslim himself. 🤣
8 Muteba Gizenga
Talk about gory. No fighter is as gory and frightening as Muteba! He lusted two things: women and manhunt. If you think his desire for women is bad, wait until you know that he joined an orgy!
Yes. He is that kind of man; but at the same time, it gave him the energy boosts that he needs to fuel his cold-blooded assassination skills as a manhunter.
Muteba was blinded and is deaf; he is now using artificial eyes or implanted eyes to sense creatures’ vibrations and infrareds around him. What’s amazing about this “Genocider” is his lethal combatant skill to “Heart Jab”.
One strike against his enemies’ bodies, and they’re not only plummeted, but their hearts are actually “jabbed” as soon as Muteba’s fingers touch the human organ that pumps oxygen to the body.
He is that frightening and scary! That’s not even mentioning his proficiency in applying the assassination techniques that were passed down from the Chinese. Despite his African mercenary persona, Muteba is ruthless down to the core!
7Narushima Koga
Koga is like a young, arrogant, muscular man with an arrogant air around him. One look, and you can tell that this man is like a gangster man in real life!
And he truly emits that gangster vibe the moment you learned that he entered the Underground Marial Arts Industry.
Koga hungers for violence and power. This can be seen through his brashness when he defeated every member of a hybrid karate school! He still retained some injuries when beating up the karate students. However, he still came out almost unscathed by the end of it.
Even if Koga didn’t undergo real combat training outside of gyms, karate schools, and tournaments, his primary strength lies in speed and footwork.
He had to be trained under a pro wrestler to accomplish the magnificent feat of conditioning his muscles to respond swiftly and severely to his enemies’ punches.
6Wakatsuki Takeshi
At first glance, Takeshi reminds me of Reiner Braun (from Attack on Titan) because of Takeshi’s blond hair, muscular body, and goatee. But Takeshi is known for one and one thing alone in the Kengan universe, and that’s the nickname of “The Wild Tiger”!
Takeshi possesses high muscle density since the day he was born. When he became an adult, he utilized this physical strength so he can execute his “Blast Core” phenomenally!
The “Blast Core” is a technique which concentrates all the muscular force in Takeshi’s core (possibly his abdomen, chest) so that when he releases his punch, it’ll throw and pummel his opponents!
What’s impressive about Takeshi is that he grew up in a lab — Furumi Pharmaceuticals! He was not experimented (if you’re thinking about that).
Instead, he was raised by a scientist until the age of 7 years old and Takeshi grew up inside the lab. Furumi Heihachi is the scientist who became the father figure and future employer of Takeshi.
He helped Takeshi overcome his muscle abnormalities by training him through strength regulation (via punching).
5Kiozan Takeru
When it comes to Takeru, his greatest asset lies in his hands (“open hand strikes”) and muscular legs (“thrusts” or tsuppari) because he’s a professional a sumo wrestler.
And having trained his body day in and day out, 365 days a year, we see how Takeru rose to the title “The Brawler of the Sumo Ring”.
By using his expansive knowledge, Takeru applied a dangerous form of sumo against his enemies — the Raging Vigour. It’s a technique that combine strength and speed.
Basically, Takeru “sumo squats” and charge at his opponents. But the way he charges is full of force so that when he tramples his enemies, they will be flat out squatted as if they’re nothing but flies!
Takeru became a powerful fighter or sumo wrestler so that his “yokozuna” older brothers can give him the respect and awe he desires.
4Tokito Ohma
Ohma is one of the unique characters in the series because he was a child who was not given a name while growing up on “The Inside”.
“Harsh” doesn’t even begin to describe this unlawful Japanese territory where drugs, prostitution, and violence are ubiquitous and free-for-all! Kids must survive on their own without absorbing and forms of education (hence, their illiteracy) nor parental love.
The above description alone moulded Ohma to be a fighting-lover guy. His lust for fighting is so immense that even while he is asleep, he is performing “image training”! It’s basically a condition where his physical body is at rest while his mind constantly trains.
And because he puts himself in constant stress, all his power stats (endurance levels, battle speed, strength, etc.) escalates compared to an average fighter.
He’s known as the “The Asura” because of his ability to execute “The Advance” and the “Niko Style” (two fighting styles that complement one another that when it’s fully mastered, will bring about extensive damage to the other party.)
3Kure Raian
“The devil is a saint compared to Raian of the Kure Clan.” This sentence is true to the very core because Raian is not just a monster. He is a sadistic assassin who preys and torments his enemies.
And because he was raised in the Kure Clan, he learns all sorts of assassination techniques only from the clan’s best combatants. He loves showering himself in a bloody siege using different martial arts fighting techniques that rivals even his masters!
There’s no doubt that that Raian will kill instantly to satisfy his bloodlust. He can also easily dominate his enemies with simple but forceful herculean strength. He’s a killing machine and even wished that he be allowed to kill all the members battling in the tournament.
Raian does not show any remorse against his opponents. And that’s what makes him terrifying! He literally became a monster inside and out.
There’s no stopping Raian when it comes to his aggressive, violent, and offensive actions. You can even see his psychopathic nature when you look deep into his black sclera eyes!
2Imai Cosmo
If it were not for his title, “The King of Stranglers”, I would never have guessed that Cosmo is a man. At first glance, he seems like a woman because of his small facial features and bob hair cut!
But the moment he flexed his muscles, I was certain that Cosmo deserves to be one of the strongest men among in Kengan universe.
If you watched “Men in Black”, that’s the initial vibe I get on Cosmo! He’s not all brute strength, but brains and strategy as well! And that’s what made him one of “Nishihonji’s Seven Fists”!
He was only a young adult — a teenager — when he resolved to go up against Adam Dudley and Akoyo Seishu! Wounded, Cosmo ended up in a terrible condition (in a wheelchair for a day)!
Being in a wheelchair wasn’t the worst thing that happened to Cosmo, though. Furthermore, his stubbornness and tenacity that kept him going against a bloody coup d’état that invaded the Kengan Dome.
Cosmo had to challenged Okubo and Ohma in a bloody battle just to defend his position as a fighter.
Cosmo barely made it, but you can tell from his resolve why he deserves to be in this spot. Although he doesn’t have any special superpowers, his tenacity and tactical abilities give him strength to overcome his challenges.
1Toa Mudo
Pride. Strength. Ambition. These are the three words that sum up Toa Mudo, a martial arts gladiator so destructive that he’d be nicknamed as “The Beast of Destruction”! When it comes to Mudo, his sole ambition is to become the strongest creature.
And with the monstrous strength and fist he possess, it’s no wonder he keeps pushing and pushing towards his ideals. He is an explosion of ego and pride, but at the same time, demeans others because of his goal to become the strongest “Seeker”.
Mudo also doesn’t care for his tribe. As a matter of fact, even if he possesses a Maori warrior heritage (which means he’s destined for greatness), he’d likely put that aside just to pursue his goals to surpass Jonah Mudo (a man worshipped as if he were a god and who happens to be Toa’s ancestor)
Mudo’s “Breathing Mountain” or Maungamanawa is one of his family’s secret technique. Toa inherited this technique and used it on most of his battles.
This technique reduces his enemies to splinters after Toa blows them off for good. Mudo isn’t unbeatable with this fighting style. And what’s more, he couldn’t care less about the legacy he’d be leaving into the world even if he has a tribe that takes pride in him.
For all the years he has lived, becoming a Purgatory gladiator is his pride and joy. And that’s why he is the strongest characters in the Kengan universe.
About Kengan Ashura
Kengan Ashura is a Japanese manga series written by Yabako Sandrovich and illustrated by Daromeon. It was serialized on Shogakukan’s Ura Sunday website from April 2012 to August 2018. A sequel, titled Kengan Omega, began in January 2019.
Beginning two years after the game changing Kengan Annihilation Tournament on Ganryu Island, we follow the paths of aspiring fighter Narushima Koga and the mysterious Gaoh Ryuki as they are tangled up in the underground world of the Kengan matches.
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