Tobi

Tobi (トビ) is one of the main characters of the OAV Shin Hokuto no Ken (新・北斗の拳, 2003-2004), an adaptation of the novel Jubaku no Machi (呪縛の街, "The Cursed City") written in 1996 by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara. A wandering adventurer known as an information broker, he devotes his life to helping the civilian populations of the devastated lands while desperately searching for his younger brother Bista, exploited by the tyrant Sanga as a religious idol in Lastland. His encounter with Kenshiro and his secret love for Sara trace the tragic path of a hero corrupted by power.

Adventurer and information broker

By the time Kenshiro arrives in the Lastland region, Tobi has already earned a reputation as a resourceful, knowledgeable man deeply committed to helping the weakest. His contacts in every settlement make him a valuable intermediary for poor villagers and travelers alike. His encounter with Kenshiro takes place during an ambush set by Sanga's scouts against a group of villagers who had ventured beyond the borders of the Village of Freedom to fetch water.

It is Tobi who introduces Sara to Kenshiro, a young healer capable of healing through the vital points of Hokumon no Ken. Her resemblance to Yuria immediately unsettles the successor of Hokuto Shinken. Tobi secretly harbors romantic feelings for Sara, but will never confess them.

The quest for Bista

Tobi's personal mission is to find his younger brother Bista, a young magician specializing in illusion and sleight-of-hand tricks. Struck with amnesia since the nuclear war, Bista was taken in by Sanga, who installed him in Lastland under the name Lord Doha (ドーハ, Dōha), a false living god used to subjugate the population through fear of the sacred.

When Sara is kidnapped by Sanga's men, Tobi accompanies Kenshiro in infiltrating Lastland. It is there that he finds Bista again after years of separation, and that Sara, after being freed, manages to cure the young man's amnesia through acupressure.

The rebellion of Lastland

After the death of Sanga at the hands of Kenshiro, and with Bista gravely wounded, Kenshiro's departure for Cliffland to find a serum leaves Lastland unprotected. This is the opportunity for Seiji, Sanga's disowned son and expert in Hokumon no Ken, to seize power over the city.

Tobi then helps Bista escape through the palace sewers and rallies the inhabitants of Lastland by exploiting their religious devotion to Doha. He launches a full-blown jihad against Seiji, using every means at his disposal: sermons, propaganda, archers positioned on the ramparts. The rebellion initially overwhelms Seiji's soldiers.

Corruption and downfall

Power, however, transforms Tobi as he establishes himself as a pontifical figure at the head of the revolt. Having started out defending the oppressed, he gradually takes on the trappings of a self-proclaimed pope, exploiting popular faith and family ties with his brother to consolidate his own authority. This drift blinds him to the real dangers.

When the forces of Seiji counterattack, Tobi is ambushed from behind by Ches, Seiji's right-hand man, who impales him through the back with his twin scimitars. Mortally wounded, he has just enough time to offer his apologies to Kenshiro, who has returned to Lastland, and to beg him to save Bista from Seiji's clutches.

Voice acting and creation

Tobi is voiced by Akimitsu Takase, in the OAV series released between 2003 and 2004 and produced by OB Planning under the direction of Takashi Watanabe. The character is original to Shin Hokuto no Ken and does not appear in any other branch of the franchise. His trajectory, which sees him go from idealist to religious tyrant and then to redemption through death, makes him one of the most complex figures in the post-canon universe of Hokuto no Ken, in a storyline that replays, on a smaller scale, the dynamics of power and instrumentalized faith that the original series had explored with Souther and the Holy Cross.