Solia

Solia (ソリア) is one of only two practitioners of Gento Kōken in the original manga, alongside Falco, and the first representative of this art that Kenshiro directly faces. Nicknamed Solia of the Violet Light (紫光のソリア, Shikō no Soria) due to the color of his aura, this general of the Imperial Capital is a loyal disciple of Falco, whose life was shaped by a sacrifice made by his own master. In the 1984 anime, he is voiced by Michihiro Ikemizu.

The eye torn out by Falco

According to the backstory elements developed in the official guides (notably the Hokuto no Ken : Kyūkyoku Kaisetsusho - Seikimatsu Haō Retsuden), the young Solia once wanted to join his brother to repel an invading army, at the risk of his own life. To prevent him from rushing to his doom, Falco reportedly tore out his right eye during a training session, rendering him unable to go into battle in time. This paradoxical sacrifice sealed an absolute loyalty between master and pupil: from that point on, Solia fought only for Falco's Golden Light.

Confrontation with Kenshiro: manga and anime

The account of the fight between Solia and Kenshiro differs significantly between the two media.

In the manga, Solia mobilizes his unit to confront Kenshiro in the middle of the desert, on the road he is traveling to rejoin Bat and Rin. He deploys his luminous energy circle techniques, notably the Gento Ryūrin Kōzan and the Ha no Rin, capable of slicing through an opponent at the cellular level, and manages to land several blows on Kenshiro (to the point of making him cry out in pain, which is rare). Kenshiro ultimately breaks his left arm by countering one of his attacks. Solia continues fighting with only one arm before Kenshiro paralyzes him with a strike to a vital point on the neck and finishes him off with the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken. Before dying, he proclaims that he gave his life for Falco and the Golden Light, and announces that all practitioners of Gento Kōken will henceforth hunt down the successor of Hokuto Shinken.

In the anime, the setting of the fight is moved to Mamiya's village, which Solia deliberately attacks to provoke Kenshiro. It is he who destroys the monument erected to the warriors of Hokuto and Nanto and who murders the elder, roles taken in the manga by Falco himself. Solia this time loses his right arm (not the left) and never mentions Falco in his last words: instead, he accuses the empress Rui of having ordered the extermination of Hokuto, and promises Kenshiro that all Gento practitioners will hunt him down.