Kinnikuman/Characters
Note: Use this page for characters first appearing in Kinnikuman. If it involves something these characters did in Kinnikuman Nisei, please put it here rather than creating an entry on that page.
Seigi Choujin/Idol Choujin/Justice Choujin
Kinnikuman AKA Prince (later King) Kinniku Suguru (King Muscle in US)
"I won't even need the push from my farts!"
Voiced by: Akira Kamiya (original series), Toshio Furukawa (Nisei), Eric Stuart (dub)
- Adult Child: Oh so much. Meat's more of a babysitter than a second to him.
- Anti-Hero: Was a Type I at first, but grew out of it.
- Birthmark of Destiny: The "KIN" mark, located on his left butt-cheek.
- Bumbling Dad: In the sequel, he's become this to the point that Mantarou doesn't fear or respect him at all.
- Badass
- Butt Monkey:
"Why does this always happen to me? Dammit!"
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: Channelman
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: When not fighting, he's an idiot who farts around all day (literally!) and can't even tie his shoes. In the ring, Kinnikumanis a master tactician, a Determinator, and a nearly-unstoppable powerhouse.
- Dented Iron: Becomes this in the sequel. All of those years of performing those explosive moves did not fare well for his body in the intervening years, whether he wants to admit it or not.
Bibinba: "Look at you now! All those battles left you with bad knees, herniated discs, not to mention poor eyesight and hemorrhoids! King Muscle? More like King Gristle!"
- Determinator: His Burning Inner Strength essentially requires him to be one.
- Distaff Counterpart: Has one in the form of Kinnikuman Lady. As mentioned on the main page, it could be considered a subversion, as Lady Kin is much nicer than Kinnikuman and unlike Kin she's not a total idiot; just spacey at some times.
- Expressive Mask: So much so that it was years before it was revealed he was even wearing a mask.
- Facial Markings: Technically it's on his mask, but the kanji 肉 (niku), meaning "meat" (and part of kinniku, meaning "muscle"), is on his forehead.
- Fartillery: Not only would he use farts as a weapon, he would also use them to fly.
- Bring My Brown Pants: His bowels would break down so frequently that at one point Meat was considering bringing extra underwear for him.
- Finishing Move: Kinniku Beam (during the monster-hunting days), Kinniku Buster, Kinniku Driver, and the Muscle Spark.
- Five Moves of Doom: The FuuRinKaZan, four moves chained together.
- Gonk: Played with, as originally his bald, ugly mask passed as his real face, and his body was nowhere as fit. Then we start to get hints that his true face could be way different than his mask and the final volume reveals that Kin's real face is very gentle and very handsome.
- Henpecked Husband: In the sequel.
- Hot-Blooded
- Human Aliens: So much so that Suguru didn't believe he was an alien.
- Idiot Hero: Back when Goku didn't exist in media, Kinnikuman was the biggest example.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Moeru Champion Kinnikuman" (Burning Champion Kinnikuman)
- Japanese Pronouns: Ore, but he occasionally uses boku.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Normally a bumbling coward, when he finally decides to fight he gives it his all.
- Lovable Coward: Initially. Probably the first thing that would click to someone about him was how willing he was to run away from any villain that looked threatening.
- Meaningful Name: "Kinniku" means "muscle."
- Parental Abandonment: Was confused for a pig when his family was visiting Earth and was thrown out with the trash.
- Power-Up Food: Garlic in the early days allowed him to grow to kaiju size, gave him super strength, and enabled his fart attacks, among other things.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: In fact, he hates his royal duties.
- Spell My Name with an "S": In Japanese the name Kinniku is written as キン肉 rather than the two kanji that make the word "muscle" (筋肉).
- Underwear of Power: Usually only wore trunks and boots in and out of the ring.
- Weak but Skilled: In Nisei he shows that he can still pull off submission moves at his age. He even pulled off the Choujin Kousatsu Kei against Mantarou.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Kin just can't stand milk.
- Justified in that milk can reduce the effect of herbs and spices (specifically the burning sensation). Since Suguru was powered by garlic in those days, the milk canceled the garlic out.
Alexandria Meat
"Supporting the Justice Choujin...that's my life!"
Voiced by: Minori Matsushima(original series), Konami Yoshida(Nisei), Mike Pollock(Ultimate Muscle dub)
- Awesomeness By Analysis: In the only match he took part in, he managed to use moves from several other Choujin by just recalling them from his memory.
- Badass Adorable: Arguably.
- Cute Shotaro Boy: At least in-universe.
- Facial Markings: Has the hirigana characters にく (niku), meaning "meat," on his forehead.
- Fan Nickname: Almost always referred to Suguru as Ouji ("prince") and Mantarou as Nisei ("the second" or "junior").
- Human Aliens: Just like Kinnikuman, few even know he is an alien.
- Human Popsicle: It was revealed in Nisei that he willingly became this in order to preserve his mind.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Meatball no Meat-kun"(original series), "Meat ni Omakase"(Nisei)
- Japanese Pronouns: Boku.
- Kid Hero
- Morphic Resonance: He tends to physically berate Mantarou by turning into a popular wrestler (such as Giant Baba or Hulk Hogan) and performing that wrestler's trademark move. However, he always retains his square glasses and sometimes his height.
- Not So Above It All: He's usually the one to stop Suguru from fooling around, but sometimes he'll join in on the fun.
- Older Than They Look: Yes, you're reading this right. It's true that Meat's a child, but could you really tell from his height that he's fourteen years old?
- Smart People Wear Glasses
- Wise Beyond Their Years: If it wasn't for the fact that his age was stated in the manga, it would be quite easy to think that he was just a really short adult.
- His voice in the Ultimate Muscle US dub doesn't help things.
King Kinniku Mayumi (Grandpa in US)
- Abusive Parent: Played for Laughs. He's a good person, just not a very good parent.
- Bumbling Dad: Apparently it runs in the family.
- Facial Markings: Has the kanji 王 (Oh), meaning "king," on his forehead.
- Fridge Logic: Mayumi often complains about how stupid-looking Suguru's face is. Mayumi seems to forget that he picked out Suguru's mask in the first place.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Eikou no Daiou" ("Glorious King")
- The Rival: Harabote
Terryman
"Come to think of it, I've heard of this..."
Voiced by: Hideyuki Tanaka (original series, Nisei), Ted Lewis (dub)
- All-American Face: Probably the most well known example of this in Anime.
- Americans Are Cowboys
- Badass
- Berserk Button: Insulting the Justice Choujin is one for all of them in general, but it's probably the biggest one for Terryman.
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: Kinnikuman Great II (Lord Wrangler in US)
- Characterization Marches On: In his first appearance he was a Type 2 Eaglelander instead of a Type 1.
- Distaff Counterpart: Terrygirl is his counterpart. Just like Kin, it's possible that this can be considered a subversion because his counterpart is wilder and much easier to anger than he is.
- Eagle Land: Type 1.
- Expy: Of Terry Funk.
- Facial Markings: Usually confused for an asterisk, he has the kanji for America (米) on his forehead.
- Finishing Move: Texas Clover Hold, Spinning Toe Hold, Calf Branding.
- Handicapped Badass: Thanks to Kinkotsuman's failed attempt at killing Kinnikuman, Terryman got shot in the leg, which eventually had to be amputated.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Texas Bronco"
- Japanese Pronouns: Mii, the usual pronoun used by someone of Eagle Land status.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Kinnikuman.
- Underwear of Power: Wrestled in trunks, boots, and gloves.
- Weak but Skilled: He admits that he's not a powerhouse, but he easily matches Robin Mask in terms of skill and technique.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Was berated by Kinnikuman for refusing to fight monsters for free back in the monster-fighting days.
Robin Mask
Voiced by: Daisuke Gouri(original series, Nisei), Dan Green (Ultimate Muscle dub)
- Abusive Parent: In Nisei he pushed his son Kevin so hard in training and studying that Kevin ran away and became at best an Anti-Hero and at worst an Anti-Villain.
- The fact that he doesn't seem to be bothered by this doesn't really help matters.
- The Ace: Generally considered as this by the Justice Choujin.
- Adaptation Dye Job: The anime turned his silver armor into dark blue/black and had him wearing blueish-purple "undershirt" underneath, making him appear to have blue skin.
- Badass
- Bishonen: The anime shows Robin without his mask and he is quite the looker.
- Becoming the Mask: Back in the 20th Choujin Olympics, his trainer explicitly stated that he just pretended to be a gentlemen to hide the wild demeanor he had. Eventually, he did start to actually be one.
- Big Brother Mentor: Despite being just a few years older than everyone, he's still considered this by many of the Justice Choujin.
- Broken Pedestal: When people saw his true self in his match against Kinnikuman in the 20th Choujin Olympics they were absolutely horrified.
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: Mr. Barracuda, Warsman's trainer.
- Cultured Badass
- Easily Forgiven: It isn't as talked about as much when compared to characters like Kinkotsuman, but Robin also tried to kill Kinnikuman multiple times, the difference being that Robin was much better at doing so and a lot closer to doing so.
- Expy: of Billy Robinson.
- Fallen Hero: In the American Tag Team arc.
- Finishing Move: The Tower Bridge and the Robin Special.
- Heel Face Revolving Door: Up until the Seven Devil Choujin arc.
- Handicapped Badass: See below.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Nijiro No Kishi"(Rainbow Colored Knight)
- Japanese Pronouns: Watashi.
- Knight in Shining Armor: To the point where he has actual knight armor.
- The Fettered: The armor isn't used as protection, but as a Power Limiter.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His voice was a Sean Connery impression in the US dub of Ultimate Muscle.
- Training from Hell: Usually what he uses to train the new generation.
- Unexplained Recovery: Was stated to never fight in the ring again after his match against Kinnikuman in the American Tag Team arc, but by the Seven Devil Choujin arc he was perfectly fine.
Ramenman
"Fool! 10,000 years of Chinese history no lose to 300 years of Gyudon history!"
Voiced by: Eiji Kanie[1], Masaharu Satou[2], Banjo Ginga[3](original series), Kenichi Ono Nisei, Marc Thompsondub
- Ascended Meme: Was the first person to coin the term Kajiba no Kuso Djikara (Burning Inner Strength).
- Badass
- Banjo Ginga: Yes, he did voice Ramenman, but it was only for a few episodes and two of the TV movies.
- Characterization Marches On: When he was introduced in the 20th Choujin Olympics, he was basically a noodle-eating psychopath who described blood as tasty.
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: Mongolman (Lomienman in US)
- Deadpan Snarker: Had elements of his in the time between the 20th and 21st Choujin Olympics.
- Ensemble Darkhorse: Ramenman was so popular among fans that he has his own spinoff series: Tatakae!! Ramenman [4].
- Facial Markings: Has the kanji for China (中) on his forehead.
- Finishing Move: Camel Clutch, Kowloon Sen Drop, Leg Lariat
- Fridge Brilliance: Lomeinman is arguably a more fitting name than Mongolman, since lo mein is a popular Chinese noodle dish, like ramen. A rare case where a Dub Name Change could be considered an improvement.
- Handicapped Badass: Had his brain punctured by Warsman, leaving him in a vegetative state unless he covers the wounds with a special material. It's never revealed how he got over it for the sequel.
- Heel Face Turn: Was introduced as a Brutal Choujin, but turned to Justice after his match against Kinnikuman in the 20th Choujin Olympics.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Kung Fu Fighter", "Asia no Ookami" (Asian Wolf) as Mongolman
- I'm a Humanitarian: In the anime, instead of ripping Brockenman in half with his camel clutch, he instead makes noodles out of his body and eats him.
- Manly Tears: After coming in fourth in the first Choujin Olympics (via purposely disqualifying himself in his third place match against Terryman), he tearfully begs Kinnikuman to defeat Robin Mask in order to win the tournament and make the battle they had fought something he could be proud of. In the manga, he cried Tears of Blood.
- My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours: After all, Ramenman has "10,000 years of Chinese history" on his side.
- Noodle People: He believed in this back when he was a Brutal Choujin. By that, we mean that he believed that people are noodles.
"Noodles are people, people are noodles!"
- The Obi-Wan: To Mantarou at the start of Nisei. Ramenman even uses a small, flying, spherical robot to train him.
- Stereotypes of Chinese People
- You No Take Candle: In the anime, he spoke like this when he was a Brutal Choujin, which had the Unfortunate Implication of fans assuming that he was much stupider than he really is. The truth is that it's actually the Japanese stereotype of how Chinese people speak Japanese.
Canadianman (Manitoban in US)
- Butt Monkey: Never had much luck in the series.
- Canada, Eh?: No, really.
- Expressive Mask: Unless the white parts are his skin.
- Heterosexual Life Partners/Those Two Guys: With Specialman.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Has suddenly become a jerk in the latest story arc.
- Unskilled but Strong: He's an unfortunate case. He can match even Kinnikuman and Robin Mask in terms of strength and brute force. Problem is, the wrestling world is moving from a time where powerful people like him would rule the circuit to a time where one needs strength and at least some technique to be a good wrestler.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Or your entire body, in this case.
Specialman
- Butt Monkey
- Eagle Land
- Expressive Mask
- Facial Markings: His is...just an S.
- Flat Character: Doesn't really get much character development other than being "The other American representative besides Terryman and Pentagon."
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Canadianman.
- Those Two Guys: Also with Canadianman.
- Kenichi Ono
Brocken Jr.
"My father was a dirty fighter and got what he deserved, but I still cannot forgive you!"
- Adaptation Dye Job: His green uniform was turned black for the anime. Also, his skin was made white (or really pale).
- The Alcoholic: In the intervening time between Nisei and the original series, he becomes this.
- Avenging the Villain: His main reason of entering the 21st Choujin Olympics was to avenge his father's death at the hands of Ramenman.
- Badass Abnormal: See Charles Atlas Superpower.
- Banned in France: The fact that Brocken Jr. was a good Nazi kept the show from airing in France.
- When the figures were brought to the US as M.U.S.C.L.E., Brockenman's and Brocken Jr.'s were removed from the lineup.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: A really weird subversion. In the Throne Arc it was revealed that the Brocken family are born as humans and then are subjected to extremely harsh training. Once they make it through the training alive, they are given a skull insignia that gives them the power to become Choujin.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Yes, he wears a Nazi uniform, but just look at the way the guy acts throughout the series and just try to say that he displays Nazi-like behavior.
- Finishing Move: Berurin no Akai Ame/The Red Rain of Berlin (renamed The Red Rain Of Pain in US)
- Burokken no Kikan/Brocken's Repatriation - Like the Red Rain of Berlin, only now Brocken has a blade appear in his leg. Developed as a result of the Timey-Wimey Ball.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: It's the same name as his finishing move.
- Informed Ability: An early chapter had listed him as an up and coming power in the Choujin world. The thing is that he never had much wins (or battles) to prove this claim.
- Kill It with Fire: In the sequel, he states that his Finishing Move is incomplete and that Jade's version of the move (which is to also have your hand be engulfed in flames as well as having a blade protrude from your hand) is the true version.
- Memento MacGuffin: The skull insignia on his cap is a reminder for the harsh training he endured as a youth.
- The Obi-Wan: To Jade
- Putting on the Reich
- Spell My Name with an "S": Brocken or Blocken? Japanese media has used both when spelling his name in English.
- Those Wacky Nazis: Completely subverted. Brocken Jr. dresses like a Nazi, but doesn't hold any of their beliefs.
- Timey-Wimey Ball: In the latest story arc he lost his hand in a fight in the past. Now in the present he has a hook for a hand, which in turn rewrote how he trained Jade.
- Training from Hell: Has used the exact expression when referring to how he trained Jade.
- Weak but Skilled
Warsman
"Ko~Ho~..."
Voiced by: Ryoichi Tanaka [5] and Hideyuki Hori [6] (original series), Hideyuki Tanaka (Nisei), Maddie Blaustein (dub)
- Awesomeness By Analysis: One of the perks to having an electronic brain.
- Badass
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: Twice in Nisei: Kuroé/Chloe/Cloé (Lord Flash in US) during the Choujin Olympics Revival, and then Hell's Bear Belmond during the time travel arc.
- Ensemble Darkhorse: Scored 3rd in the first character poll in Nisei despite only having a cameo appearance in the series at that point.
- Finishing Move: Screwdriver/Double Screwdriver, Palo Special, Storm Elbow
- Fridge Brilliance: At first, it might seem odd that Warsman has a Palo Special as one of his finishing moves, considering the fact that the inventor of the Palo Special (Jackie Pallo) was British. But then in the 21st Choujin Olympics, it's revealed that the obviously British Robin Mask is Mr. Barracuda in disguise and taught Warsman everything he knew. This fridge brilliance is eventually made canon in Nisei, when Warsman recalls his training under Robin while mentoring Robin's son, Kevin Mask.
- Heel Face Turn: After his fight with Kinnikuman.
- Hollywood Cyborg
- Husky Russkie: Pretty much subverted. He's incredibly intelligent (being a living computer and all) and he's not even close to being the most muscular character.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Kanashimi No Bear Claw" ("Bear Claws of Sorrow")
- Mother Russia Makes You Strong
- The Obi-Wan: To Kevin Mask
- The Reveal: Seems fond of these.
- Russian Guy Suffers Most: The writers sure like dumping on Warsman, don't they?
- Slasher Smile: The only expression that appears on his mask, and it's damn scary! Fans call it the "creepy smile" for a reason.
- Shout-Out: His real name is Nikolai Volkoff.
- Vader Breath: AKA "creepy breath.
- The Voiceless: Never talked until after his match with Kinnikuman.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The man may have been a literal killing machine before his Heel Face Turn, but his life was an absolute hell when he was growing up because of his cyborg heritage. He even states that he turned to wrestling because it was the only way he could fight back.
Geronimo (Beetlebomb in US)
"Urara~!"
Voiced by: Kaneto Shiozawa (original series), Ohba Mahito (Nisei), Eric Stuart (dub)
- An Axe to Grind: He's almost always shown wielding tomahawks. Not that he uses them in battle...
- Ascended Fanboy: Strove to become a Choujin because one saved his life as a child.
- Badass Normal: He was shown to be pretty badass by saving the Seigi Choujin from having their life force drained by Akuma Shogun, going toe-to-toe with Sunshine and winning and saving the Seigi Choujin again from being trapped inside of Warsman's body.
- Badass Abnormal: And that's all before his ascension to Chojin.
- Bowdlerization/Blind Idiot Translation/Cut and Paste Translation: His character was completely changed in the US from a Native American to a British man with a bad Ringo Starr impression for a voice. His attack names in the US-released games remained the same, making things even more absurd.
- Came Back Wrong: Because he was a normal human at the time, he was comatose after the Perfect Mask revived all Choujin. Terryman fixed it by helping him become a Choujin.
- Determinator: Manually restarted his heart. By forcing it to pump. WITH HIS HAND.
- Finishing Move: Tomahawk Chop Tempest, Apache War Cry (Apache Yell in US, Wild War Cry in Throne Arc), Apache Death Yell (Nisei)
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Tamashii no Otakebi" ("War Cry From The Soul")
- Magical Native American: Sort of. He's a Native American who's a Choujin, so this probably counts. Also, one of these helped him become a Choujin.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: His Apache War Cry and later his Apache Death Yell.
- Took a Level in Badass: His ascension from human to Choujin.
Wolfman (Rikishiman in the anime; Sosumi in US)
"DOSUKOI!"
Voiced by: Masashi Hirose, Daisuke Gouri (episodes 98 & 100), Yasuhiko Kawazu (Scramble for the Throne), Yuki Sato(Nisei), Dan Green (dub)
- Death Is Cheap: Has died three times throughout the series.
- Defeat Means Friendship: He originally despised Kin before he was beaten by him in their match in the 21st Choujin Olympics.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Pulled one to bring Kinnikuman back to life in the Golden Mask arc.
- Hypocritical Humor/Irony: In his big introduction before the 21st Choujin Olympics, he said that he's the real "Muscleman" and that Kinnikuman should change his name to Flabbyman. Seeing as Wolfman is a sumo-wrestling Choujin, you can guess why this trope is listed.
- Monochromatic Eyes: His eyes have no pupils...for some reason. In the anime they're also yellow.
- Shout-Out: The name Wolfman references sumo wrestler Mitsugu "Wolf" Chiyonofuji.
- Worf Effect: Forget Canadianman, he got hit with this trope the hardest.
Chairman Harabote Muscle (Vance McMadd in US)
- Facial Markings: In the original anime only, has the kanji 委 (i) on his forehead. The character is part of 委員長 (iinchou), meaning "committee chairman."
- Fridge Brilliance: Constantly trying to belittle the protagonists because he doesn't like them and trying to find new people for Japan to recognize as their heroes? Sounds like a perfect candidate for having their name changed to be a parody of Vince McMahon.
- Jerkass
- Money, Dear Boy: His primary motivation for reviving the Choujin Olympics.
- Mythology Gag: In the US manga: "I'm Vance McMadd, dammit!"
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His attempt to replace Mantarou and his friends for slacking off on superhero duty did much more harm than good considering that one of the replacements was an Evil Choujin in disguise.
- The Rival: The entire Kinniku family, but especially Mayumi.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Again, Mayumi.
- Ungrateful Bastard: He's always berating Suguru and Mantarou despite the fact that they've saved the world multiple times.
American Choujin World
Prince Kamehame (Prince Lou Ow in US)
- Badass Grandpa
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: Kinnikuman Great I (Lord Muscle in US)
- Defeating the Undefeatable: Wins a match against Kinnikuman within seconds, just after the latter's victory in the Choujin Olympics.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Tetsujin Kamehame" (Iron Man Kamehame), "Idai na Tamashii" ("A Great Soul") as Kinnikuman Great I
- Killed Off for Real: Out of all of the Choujin, he is the only one that doesn't come back to life. Justified, as he was pretty old at the time, and probably would have died of old age sooner or later.
- The Obi Wan: To Kinnikuman
- Shout-Out: Named after the first Hawaiian king Kamehameha.
Jesse/Jessie Maivia
- Crippling Overspecialization: He can reverse any move with ease. Pulling off his own moves...not so much. In fact, it lead to his defeat when Maivia attempts to go on the offensive against Kinnikuman.
- Expy: Of "High Chief" Peter Maivia (Grandfather of The Rock)
Doros Phlears
Skull Bozu
- The Dragon: Technically, he works for Sheik Seijin. Actually, he's the main villain of the American Tour arc.
- Manipulative Bastard: Even his boss is frightened at Skull's plans.
- Spikes of Villainy: Can grow spikes all over his body, except his head.
Sheik Seijin
- Beard of Evil
- Expy: Of Ed "The Sheik" Farhat.
- Name's the Same: A kaiju with the same name appeared much earlier on.
Devil Magician
- Knife Nut: Has a knife hidden in his left arm.
- Number Two Guy: To Skull Bozu.
- Off with His Head: Does this to a superhero to enter the World Choujin Federation.
Beauty Rhodes
- Expy: Of "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes
- Heel Face Turn
- Worf Effect: Dispite his title as World Choujin Council Champion, he gets beaten pretty quickly by Kinnikuman, and then Skull Bozu.
Edith Harrison
God von Elric
- Badass Halted the brawl between the American Choujin world's factions with his presence alone.
- Expy: Of Fritz Von Erich
- Large and In Charge
Jean/John Steamboard
- Blind Idiot Translation/Gratuitous English: His name in Japanese is spelled ジャンヌ (Jannu). This makes no sense, since Jean or John can be spelled with ジャン (Jan). It's possible his name was supposed to be Johnny Steamboard (which better fits the Ricky Steamboat reference), in which case his name should have been spelled ジャンニ (Janni).
- Expy: Of Ricky Steamboat
- Heel Face Turn
Brutal Choujin
Kinkotsuman (Skullduggery in US)
- Abusive Parent: Played depressingly straight. In Nisei, it was revealed that whenever Kinkotsuman wasn't watching the Justice Choujin fight again the villains of the arc, he was venting his frustrations at his failures on his son, Bone Cold (who was very timid at this time). Said way to vent was to put Bone Cold through harsh training.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: The training ensured that Bone Cold became a competent fighter, but it also made him into a borderline Complete Monster, not to mention that he hated Kinkotsuman with every fibre of his being.
- The Atoner: He feels very guilty of what he did and tries to make amends, but Bone tells him it's a little late to do that.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: The training ensured that Bone Cold became a competent fighter, but it also made him into a borderline Complete Monster, not to mention that he hated Kinkotsuman with every fibre of his being.
- Big Bad Wannabe
- Dem Bones: To Kinnikuman's muscles.
- Evil Counterpart: As much as a villain as Kinnikuman was a hero.
- Facial Markings: Has the kanji 骨 (kotsu), meaning "bone," on his forehead.
- Finishing Move: He had none in the actual series, but in the video games he had the Shooting Lucky Strike, which was just to simply shoot the opponent with a blade, much like his son's finisher.
- Fridge Horror: Kinkotsuman stopped appearing in the manga from the end of the Seven Devil Choujin arc. Since the theory in the Abusive Parent entry has been made canon, one must really wonder just how much training could he have put Bone Cold through. It also makes you wonder how worse than regular training could it be since the methods of regular training for all Choujin in the world of Nisei qualify for Training from Hell.
- Jerkass Woobie: It's really hard to not feel sorry for the guy. He was probably the only person in the entire series not to get stronger, he's a laughingstock among supervillains, even with the fact that he abused his kid and with the fact that he treated Iwao like crap is cancelled out by the fact that he's filled to the brim with guilt for doing those things.
- Mad Scientist: Has created a plethora of gadgets to use against Kinnikuman, as well as the Black Shadow robot.
- Meaningful Name: "Kinkotsu" means "bone and sinew," or, roughly, "skin and bones," the opposite of kinniku.
- Secretly Royalty: It's easy to forget that he's a prince just like Kinnikuman.
- Villain Decay / Villain Forgot to Level Grind: started out fairly menacing, but as Kinnikuman and the series got more serious, he, well, didn't.
Iwao
- Servile Snarker: Being Kinkotsuman's sidekick doesn't stop him from making an occasion jab at his boss.
Seven Devil Choujin
Stecase King
- Ditto Fighter
- Finishing Move: Thanks to being a Ditto Fighter he can use the finishing move of anyone he's taped. His own finishers are Hell's Symphony and Symphony of the Devil. He created the latter on the spot in his fight against Kinnikuman, after he realized that Kin's mask acted as a sound barrier.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Marui Kasetto Dai Henshin".
- It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": His name is a portmanteau of stereo and cassette, so use those words as a pronunciation guide. Alternatively, one could think of his name as Stécasé.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Ultimately loses his fight when he uses a tape of Kinnikuman...from three years prior, mainly, his Hero with Bad Publicity days.
- Loud of War: His own finishers are definitely this.
- "Wake-Up Call" Boss: He was the weakest of the Devil Choujin but he still gave Kinnikuman a run for his money.
Black Hole
- Cosmic Abomination: The guy can create black holes.
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: In his fight, he knew better than to go easy on Kinnikuman because he's winning, due to being an avid reader of the manga. For a non-Fourth Wall Breaking example in that same fight, he convinced Kinnikuman that he had given him an advantage by making sure that the ring was surrounded by a solar panel. In reality, it was Black Hole who had the advantage because the light from the sun would allow him to manipulate the shadows formed.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin:
"So why do have a hole in my face?
Read my name, Black Hole!"
- The Faceless: Literally has no face.
- Gravity Sucks: His name is Black Hole.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Bermuda Mystery"
- Living Shadow: Becomes this during his fight against Kinnikuman.
- Squishy Wizard: Sort of. The guy can create black holes and manipulate shadows, but an elbow drop was all Kinnikuman needed to defeat him.
- What Could Have Been: He was supposed to have been the leader of the Seven Devils.
Mr. Khamen
- Finishing Move: "Mummy Package", probably the most disturbing finisher in the whole series.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Takes a bite out of Brocken Jr's shoulder, and later tries to suck out his innards.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Farao no Noroi" ("The Pharaoh's Curse")
The Mountain
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: He's a mountain peak with arms and legs.
- Finishing Move: "Mountain Drop", which is...just a body slam. But hey, who needs flashiness when you're literally a mountain?
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Jigoku no Sanmyaku" ("Mountains from Hell")
- Mighty Glacier: Well, with a name like The Mountain, what did you expect?
- It Only Works Once: Invokes this when Brocken Jr and Geronimo try to use Mongolman's spirit world door to help the Muscle Bros. fight the Devil Choujin spirits Sunshine and Ashuraman summon, similar to what happened during the Kinnikuman-Atlantis match. Mountain kicks them both out.
Atlantis
- Finishing Move: Atlantis Driver.
- High-Pressure Blood: His "Mount St. Helen's Eruption". It involves grabbing the opponent and drawing all the blood out of them from their wounds, in a way similar to how Mount St. Helens erupts.
- Making a Splash: He can control water, no matter what form it's in. He's basically the original Waterbender.
Springman
- And the Fandom Rejoiced: When he reappeared during the Demon Seed arc of Nisei, with a Badass Beard to boot.
- Badass Beard
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Like The Mountain, he's arms and legs stuck onto a spring.
- Facial Markings: Has an S on his "forehead."
- Fan Nickname: Slinky.
- Heel Face Turn: During the intervening years.
- Not So Harmless: You look at him and go, "Oh, look, a slinky-person." Then he uses his coils to kill Wolfman.
Buffaloman
- Awesomeness By Analysis: Developed a counter for the Kinniku Buster before his match with Kinnikuman.
- Badass Spaniard: He is born from Spain and his Image Song even has Spanish motifs as well.
- Bald of Evil / Bald of Awesome: Don't let the hair fool you...that's a wig.
- Deal with the Devil: Literally.
- Finishing Move: Hurricane Mixer, Choujin Cross Slam
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: One of the strangest plays on the trope ever.
- Heel Face Turn
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Akuma no Mougyuu" ("Devil Buffalo"). Oddly enough, this is still his Image Song after his Heel Face Turn.
- Jerkass Woobie: His backstory was already sad enough with the fact that he was a good guy who made a Deal with the Devil just to get more power in order to win matches for a change, but when he tries to Heel Face Turn it gets even worse, because after being killed by The Devil himself for failing to kill Kinnikuman and subsequently revived, he wants to help Kinnikuman and company but he's understandably too scared to oppose Akuma Shogun and the Devil Knights. Then the Throne Arc makes it worse, because the reason why he participated was in order to make sure that the true successor got to the throne, in order to prevent Kin's family from ending up like his: A clan whose members constantly started wars with each other until there were very few survivors.
- Unskilled but Strong: His schtick before his turn. He believed that enough power can overturn any technique.
Devil Knights
Sneagator (Shocodile in US)
- Evil Old Folks: In Nisei. He's the one that taught MAXman everything he knew in regards to transforming.
- That was his son, Sneagator Jr., using a book of techniques written by Sneagator.
- Generation Xerox: Played with. His son, Sneagator Jr., looks just like his humanoid reptile form, but was weak and sickly. His grandson, MAXman (The Pumpinator), looks pretty much like a normal human and only turns into a shoe.
- Meaningful Name: Yes, he is a sneaker-alligator hybrid. Who wears sneakers. And can transform into one.
- Taking You with Me: Tries to do this after Kinnikuman kills him. He succeeds, but it's eventually all for naught thanks to Wolfman's Heroic Sacrifice.
Planetman
- Finishing Move: Grand Cross
- Hollywood Voodoo: When the fight against Kinnikuman goes bad, he links the planets on his body with Kin's loved ones. He almost gets away with it, but Warsman offers to take a hit.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He gets decapitated by his own Planet Ring technique and then thrown into the same hole he made to his demise.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Kyoufu no Wakusei Balkan" ("The Dreaded Planet Vulcan")
Junkman
- Beware the Silly Ones: He may have a really mundane character design, but he nearly killed Robin Mask.
- Garbage Wrestler: If the name is any indication...
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How he fights, mostly.
The Ninja (Ninja Ned in US)
- Angst? What Angst?: You know when you have no angst when you become The Obi-Wan for someone that killed both you and the student that you were trying to avenge.
- Finishing Move: Binding Spider Web and the Waterfowl Feather Ring Jutsu
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Japanese Magic"
- Killed Off for Real: By Hanzo in Nisei.
- Ninja: It's true, I swear!
- The Obi-Wan: To Kokumo and Hanzo in Nisei.
- The Worf Effect: Despite being a former Devil Knight, he gets beaten by Brocken Jr., Satan Cross and Hanzo.
Sunshine
- Dented Iron: The intervening years haven't been kind to him either. He's noticeably thinner in the sequel, not to mention the fact that he now wears an eyepatch.
- Finishing Move: Hell D' Tour Arc(Blockin' Rockin' in US), Cursed Roller
- Fluffy the Terrible: Come on. You can't really say that you expected him to be a golem with a name like Sunshine, can you?
- Hero-Killer: He is the one who killed Prince Kamehame as Kinnikuman Great.
- Friendship Makes You Evil: He says that the reason why he went back to being evil was because it was the only time he had friends.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Sand Monster"
- Light Is Not Good
- Evil Mentor/The Obi-Wan: To Checkmate and Rex King
- Shout-Out: He's one to the Sunshine 60 building in Tokyo.
Ashuraman (Shivano in US)
- Adaptation Dye Job: Had a standard skin tone in the anime.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: He's the son of the demon world's royal family.
- Evil Laugh/Signature Laugh: Ka~ ka ka ka ka!
- Finishing Move: All variations of the Ashura Buster and the Izuna Drop.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Ashura no Jigoku" ("Ashura Hell")
- Jerkass Woobie: He was forced to be a Complete Monster by his parents (which pretty much killed any chance of him having a friend), but when it comes down to it, he just doesn't have it in him. The Dream Choujin Tag Team arc shows just how alone he is because of his high status in the Demon World, when Sunshine acknowledged him as a friend and he proceeds to break down in tears: that's the first person to consider him as a friend in his entire life.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: It's a shame that he had to be raised by parents like his...
Akuma Shogun (Rogue Shogun in US)
- A God Am I: No, this time it's not bluster.
- All Your Powers Combined: His body is made up of the rest of the Devil Knights. When he first appears, he claims to have Sunshine's power, Planetman's speed, The Ninja's technique, Sneagator's body, and Junkman's cruelty.
- Deal with the Devil: What kind of god would make one?
- Finishing Move: Hell's Guillotine
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "King of Devil"
- Nigh Invulnerable: Kinnikuman goes through hell trying to damage him.
Perfect Choujin
Screw Kid
- Finishing Move: Four Point Screw Torture, Jigoku no Nejimawashi/Hell's Screwdriver is his Tag finisher with Kendaman.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Kyoufu no Kaiten Drill" ("The Dreaded Spinning Drill")
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: His basic style. Kendaman adds his weight for increased pain.
- This Is a Drill: This is his entire "thing": even his Image Song revolves around this.
- Villainous Breakdown: He gets scared shitless once he and Kendaman lose to Mongolman and Buffaloman, due to the fact that losing a match as a Perfect Choujin is equivalent to the death penalty.
Kendaman (Mace in US)
- Evil Laugh: Next to Ashuraman, his evil laugh is the most memorable. Mostly because his laugh sound like he's stuttering and that it's goddamn awesome.
- Epic Flail: His head. No, seriously.
- Finishing Move: Kendaman Headbutt.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Kiken da Kiken da Kendaman" ("Danger! Danger! Kendaman!")
- The Jimmy Hart Version: The music for his Image Song sounds like a slightly altered version of Screw Kid's.
Neptuneman
- Adaptation Dye Job: His red vest was colored green in the anime. Also, Kinnikuman Generations (Galactic Wrestling Featuring Ultimate Muscle) gave his Kenkaman character brown hair, probably to keep him from looking exactly like Hulk Hogan.
- Brought Down to Normal: In their match Kinnikuman closes the Apollo Window, the phenomena that gives him(Neptuneman) and Big the Budo their Mask Power.
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: Neptuneman is this for Kenkaman (Street Scrapper in US). Later, he disguises himself as The Samurai.
- Expy: Of Hulk Hogan
- Finishing Move: Quarrel Bomber, Double Leg Suplex, Cross Bomber (Tag), Mask The End (Tag), Optical Fiber Cross Bomber (Tag)
- Heel Face Revolving Door: He can't seem to stop switching sides in order to find a Worthy Opponent. In the years before the original series he was a good guy who made a Face Heel Turn, then he makes a Heel Face Turn after Kin and Terry defeat him and Big the Budo and he makes another Face Heel Turn in Nisei.
- Heroic Sacrifice: At the end of the Choujin Dream Tag arc.
- Image Song/Leitmotif: "Tukan no Meiou" ("Uncrowned Emperor")
- Mask Power: Literally, his mask gives him magnetic control.
Big The Budo (Big Budo in US)
- Big Bad
- Broken Pedestal: Became this for Neptuneman. When he takes out an iron girder to use in their fight against Kinnikuman and Terryman, Neptuneman does not take it well.
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: Big the Budo is this for Neptune King (King Neptune in US).
- Finishing Move: Megaton King Drop, Cross Bomber (Tag), Mask The End (Tag)
- Large and In Charge
- Man Behind the Man
- Nigh Invulnerable/Won't Work On Me: It took THREE supreme attacks to finally defeat him.
Five Fated Princes
Kinnikuman Mariposa
- Finishing Move: Aztec Drop, Phony Muscle Revenger.
- I Have the High Ground
- In a Single Bound
- Playing with Fire: Thanks to Anoa Staff he stole from the Robin family.
- Real Men Wear Pink
Kinnikuman Big Body
- Curb Stomp Battle: Super Phoenix beat him and his team in about 15 minutes.
- Memetic Mutation: Fans joke that his Sacred Throne room is just to gallantly step into the ring (Muscle Step), due to it being the only thing he managed to do in his battle against Super Phoenix.
- Token Good Teammate: he's the only one of the Five Fated Princes who didn't want to usurp Kinnikuman's throne.
Kinnikuman Zebra
- Extremity Extremist: Averted. Despite specializing in boxing, he does have more attacks than punches.
- Finishing Move: Muscle Inferno, Saint Muscle Punch
- "Friend or Idol?" Decision: Was told that he could enter the Choujin world if he killed his childhood friend (and only friend), Zebra Kid.
- Jerkass Woobie: Yes, he was cruel. Yes, he was selfish. But there's a reason why he's quoted on the TearJerker page.
- Money, Dear Boy: He even paid his teammates to fight for him.
- Start of Darkness: Stopped believing in friendship after he chose to kill Zebra Kid and started believing that money was the only thing one needed to get by.
Kinnikuman Soldier
- Killed Offscreen: Subverted. Ataru injured him offscreen, but he died during the Super Phoenix - Soldier match
Kinnikuman Super Phoenix
- Driven by Envy
- Fan Nickname: Super Douchebag.
- Finishing Move: Raging Ox and Muscle Revenger. Also Zebra's Muscle Inferno thanks to the God Of Flight giving him power.
- Jerkass Woobie: The man may be a Jerkass, but you can't deny that you'd be as jealous of Kinnikuman as he is if you grew up completely poor and alone as he did, and you couldn't do anything to elevate your status.
- Kick the Dog: He worked pretty hard to get his Fan Nickname. First he shows off in his match against Big Body by telling Mammothman to mess up on purpose and double KO Cannonballer so he can curbstomp Big Body himself, then he tries to kill both Kinnikuman and Kinnikuman Soldier in one go by using the collapsing ring, starts burning the pages of the Muscle Prophecy that were related to Ataru, then he Insults Ataru for running away from home after killing him, starts burning the pages of the Muscle Prophecy regarding the roles of members in Kinnikuman's team and his own team, Hannibal Lectures Kinnikuman that he doesn't deserve to be the heir to the throne or have a nice girlfriend like Bibinba because he's not smart like he is and ultimately tries to kill Kin by using the Muscle Revenger on one of the iron posts supporting the ring.
- Noble Demon: In a rare moment of nobility, he stalls the out of ring 20-count in order for Kin to save Bibinba.
- The Resenter
- Villainous Breakdown: In the anime, his mother shows up ringside in the final to convince him to stop fighting because she's 100% sure that he's not the heir, said that the only reason he could use the face flash is because she bathed him in the royal baths of the Kinniku clan and finally says that she only told him about the hospital mix-up in order to cheer him up because he was so depressed about being poor. He handles it as well as you'd expect him to handle it.
Hawkman
- Everything's Better with Spinning: His Spiral Bullet technique.
Mr. VTR
- Reality Warper: Can alter anything he tapes.
Mixer Tate
- Defeating the Undefeatable: He's the second person to defeat Kinnikuman, but his victory is undercut by the fact that the Five Evil Gods helped him remove Kinnikuman's Burning Inner Strength, and Mr. VTR had to alter reality to get him out of a Kinniku Driver.
King 100 Ton
- Lightning Bruiser: He can make himself incredibly fast by taking off his weights.
- Shapeshifter Swan Song: How he meets his end.
Pinchman
Golemman
- Off with His Head: His fate when Mammothman decapitates him with Ghost Canvas.
Leopardon
- Curb Stomp Battle: The minute he enters the ring, Mammothman impales him with Nose Fencing.
Cannonballer
- I Let You Win: The only reason this guy managed to tie against Mammothman was because the latter let him.
Manriki
Motorman
- Shock and Awe
- Status Buff: His main role in Team Zebra is to power up Bikeman.
Bikeman
Parthenon
- Face Heel Turn: Can force this upon other people. Any Choujin who steps into his shadow becomes more Heel than Face.
Mammothman
- An Ice Person: Ice Rock Gyro.
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: In Nisei, as Hell's Bear Micheal
- Husky Russkie
- Really Seven Hundred Years Old: He's been alive since the last Ice Age.
Satan Cross
- Finishing Move: Triangle Dreamer
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He saved Ashuraman's life as a child...but lost his legs and became the Evil Gods' slave as a result.
Prismman
- Finishing Move: Rainbow Shower that can kill any Choujin, including his own captain.
- Glass Cannon: Literally.
Omegaman
- Gone Horribly Right: He channels Kamehame's ghost in order to defeat Kinnikuman's techniques, which Kamehame taught. However, he doesn't count on the channeling working too well...and helps Kinnikuman by teaching him his 52 submissions.
Perfect Large Numbers
Max Radial
Turboman
Crushman
Dalmatiman
Marvelous
Polarman
Jack Tea
Peek-a-Boo
Nemesis
Grim Reaper
Perfect Origin
Goldman
See: Akuma Shogun
Silverman
- Killed Offscreen: His death (Along with Goldman's first) dates back to before the creation of Justice and Devil Choujin.
Mirageman
Abyssman
Painman
Thingman
Ganman
= Justiceman
Psychoman
The Man
Others
Kazuo Nakano
- Canon Immigrant: The anime makes him a commentator. This actually happens in Kinnikuman Nisei
- Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: He even calls himself Kazuo of the Wig.
- Recurring Extra
Mari Nikaido
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She never was officially Put on a Bus in the original series, but in Nisei, she said that she left Japan to study overseas because she felt overshadowed by Bibinba.
- The Bus Came Back: In Nisei, we meet an Older and Wiser Mari who is also the adoptive mother of Rinko, Mantarou's love interest.
- Composite Character: She got a lot of Bibinba's characteristics from the manga in the anime (because the latter never even appeared in the anime until the very end), as well as her own characteristics from the manga.
- Hot Teacher: Was a kindergarten teacher.
- Shallow Love Interest
- Tsundere: Type B. She seems to be a patient and sweet girl, but she's got quite a fast temper when provoked.
Natsuko Shouno
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She won't allow anyone to lay a hand on Terryman. Not even Kazuo.
- Fiery Redhead
- Hot Scoop and Intrepid Reporter
- Kansai Regional Accent
- Morality Pet: For Warsman, at first. She was the first person to call him out on his ruthless behavior, which slowly started to get through...
- Ms. Fanservice
- Nice Hat
Horumon Bibinba
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Why she fell for Kinnikuman.
- Character Development: It's interesting how time has treated Bibinba. Before the original series was completed, there was absolutely nothing that Kin could do to make her reconsider becoming his wife - she was the one girl that the Casanova Wannabe couldn't disgust. In fact, Bibinba was probably the person that respected him the most as she addressed him as "Suguru-sama".Now, in Nisei, we see that 28 years of putting up with Suguru's bad habits and constantly having to remind him that he's not the Kinnikuman that he used to be have clearly worn her out, but she still shows that she loves him, with or without muscles.
- Chickification: Parodied.
- Hot Amazon
- Modest Royalty: It's easy to forget that she's the princess of the Horumon tribe.
Kinniku Ataru / Kinnikuman Soldier II
- Badass: His match with Kinnikuman Super Phoenix is a very good reason not to underestimate him. Hell, he might have defeated him if Mammothman never interfered.
- Becoming the Mask: In Kinnikuman Nisei, he keeps his Soldier Costume
- Charlie Brown From Outta Town: His Soldier identity
- Knight Templar Big Brother
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: His response to the incredibly spartan lifestyle being the Prince required.