Fist of the North Star

After a long time wandering in the desert, Ken is taken prisoner while wandering into a village looking for water. There, he shares a cell with a young thief named Bato (Bart), and befriends his cell guard, an orphaned girl named Rin (Lynn). Shortly afterwards, a biker gang attacks the village and their leader Zeed takes Rin hostage. Ken breaks out of his cell and defeats Zeed, rescuing Rin. Ken leaves the village with Bato following him, while Rin stays behind.

Ken rescues an old man named Smith from Spade, a member of the Four Jacks working for the King organization. The old man seeks to deliver a bag of rice seeds to his village, hoping to harvest them for the future. Ken and Bato take Smith to his village, unaware that Spade and his men are following them. Spade, who lost his eye during his initial encounter with Ken, attacks the village and kills Smith in retaliation. Unable to rescue Smith, an angry Ken kills Spade with a technique that makes their victim feel remorse before dying. After the battle, Ken plants Smith's seed over his grave.

Bato spots Rin in a truck full of captured villagers being taken to the village of Dorado, which is occupied by the King gang. On their way there, Ken encounters two of remaining Jacks, Diamond and Club, who are torturing the villagers of Dorado. With Bato's help, Ken is reunited with Rin.

Ken learns that the prisoners that were transported with Rin were taken to a prison camp in a nearby valley. Ken manages to break the imprisoned villagers free, but during their escape they're all slaughtered in an ambush led by Mr. Heart, the last of the Four Jacks. While Heart's excess flesh proves resistant to his attacks, Ken eventually uses a techniques which penetrates through his body. From his battle with Heart, Ken learns an important clue which reveals to him the identity of King.

Having learned that King is none other than his old friend turned nemesis Shin, Ken remembers how a year ago Shin defeated him in combat, engraved the seven scars on his chest, and kidnapped his fiancee Yuria (Julia). Ken arrives at a local castle where Shin was staying, but only finds Shin's right-hand man Joker, who reveals that Shin and his gang has already left the castle, taking Yuria with him. Joker escapes and sets the castle ablaze with Ken inside, but Ken manages to escape, swearing to find Shin.

Ken and his friends arrive at an oasis under the surveillance of God's Army, a fanatical military group composed of former special forces members. Ken becomes a target for this group after Ken kills one of the security officers in battle.

Ken is recruited to serve as guardian of a village threatened by the Fang clan and becomes acquainted with their female leader Mamiya, who is a deadringer for Yuria. Elsewhere, a man named Rei, master of the Nanto Suichōken style, is killing numerous bandits while seeking the Man with Seven Scars.

Rei is hired by the Fang Clan to infiltrate Mamiya's village as a spy, where he meets Ken and his friends. However, he becomes attracted to Mamiya and switches sides.

When Mamiya's younger brother Ko is captured by the Fangs and publicly executed, Ken and Rei sets out to punish the ones responsible. Rei reveals his motive for searching for the Man with Seven Scars.

Ken, along with Rei and Mamiya, venture into Night Fog Valley in order to confront Boss Fang, the leader of the Fang Clan. Boss Fang orders his right-hand man to do a background check on Ken and Rei.

Ken, Rei, and Mamiya arrive at Boss Fang's lair, only to find out that the gang has tracked down and captured Airi, Rei's long-lost sister.

While pretending to be Ken's fiancee, Mamiya allows herself to be captured by Boss Fang under the condition that he releases Airi. However, Boss Fang does not keep his side of the bargain and forces Ken and Rei to fight each other for the safety of the women.

With Rei now dead, only three of the Six Sacred Fists of Nanto remain and Kenshiro sets off to find the remaining ones. One of them, a man named Souther, has proclaimed himself to the "Holy Emperor" and seeks to conquer the world as well.

Kenshiro meets a blind martial artist rebelling against Souther named Shu, who is also one of the Six Sacred Fists.

While saving a group of children slaves from Souther's troops, Ken remembers that he once fought Shu in the past, back when he was still a child.

When a young member of Shu's resistance is killed, Ken must protect the fallen rebel's fiancee from Garzus, one of Souther's men.

Ken finally comes face to face with Souther. However, the Holy Emperor stands immune to Ken's Hokuto Shinken techniques.

Defeated by Souther, Ken is captured so he could be used as a sacrifice for the completion of Souther's Holy Cross Mausoleum. However, Shu's young son Shiva sets off to infiltrate Souther's lair and save Ken, even at the cost of his own life.

Ken, Bato, and Rin continue their journey and find themselves at a village ruled by a follower of Ken-oh named Bugal, a neat freak who has monopolized the town's water supply for himself.

While infiltrating one of Ken-oh's enlistment groups, Kenshiro confronts Glen the Killer Machine, a man raised to be a fighting machine. After Ken defeats Glen, Glen renounces his evil ways only to be betrayed by his master David, who has his men to kill Glen. David and his men flee from Ken, only to be slaughtered by Hyui and his Wind Brigade, who then challenges Ken to a sparring match.

Hyui of the Wind launches a war campaign against Ken-oh and his troops on behalf of the Last General of the South Star and attempts to lure Ken-oh to him by wiping several of troops. Hyui is eventually found by Ken-oh and is defeated with a single strike.

Vowing to avenge his brother star's death, Shuren lights a funeral pyre for Hyui and burns down his home castle, leaving him and his Crimson Army with no home to return to, while Kenshiro goes after Morgan, the chief of Ken-oh's vanguard force, for destroying Bato's buggy.

Shuren of the Flames confront Ken-oh and uses the Five Chariots Passionate Flame Fist as he attempts to sacrifice his life to defeat Ken-oh by engulfing himself in flames. Kenshiro, Bato, and Rin befriend a gentle giant named Fudo after saving him from a group of Ken-oh's soldiers

Kenshiro fights a gang of four led by a man named Gokure, which causes Fudo to reveal his true nature as one of the Five Chariots sent on behalf of the Last General of the South Star.

Years has passed since Kenshiro disappeared following his final battle with Raoh and in the years since he's been gone, the Army of the Celestial Emperor has began to expand their territory through threat and oppression. Bat and Lin, Kenshiro's former companions, are now grown up and are leading a resistance movement known as the North Star Army.

A mysterious drifter wanders into a town where the remnants of the Red Dragon Party, a resistance movement that once opposed the Celestial Emperor's army in the past.

An innocent woman is mistaken for Lin and is sentenced for public execution by General Bask in an attempt to demoralize the North Star Army. The real Bat and Lin attempt to risk their lives until a familiar face arrives to intervene.

After being reunited with Bat and Lin, Kenshiro decides to join their cause, giving the North Star Army a needed boost in morale. A bounty is placed on Kenshiro's head and a man named Ein decides to take the offer.

As the North Star Army begins to liberate another one of the Celestial Emperor's areas, Kenshiro is forced to return to Mamiya's village to confront Solia of the Purple Light, a master of Gento Kōken who has been ordered to annihilate anyone associated with the Hokuto and Nanto schools.

While attempting to catch up with Bat and Lin, Kenshiro is confronted by Shoki of the Red Light, a man who once helped Kenshiro in the past, while Bat and Lin lead a desperate battle against the Golden General Falco, the strongest of the Gento warriors.

Jakoh has been defeated, but Kenshiro must continue his journey when Lin is kidnapped and taken to the Kingdom of Shura, a country populated by ruthless warriors said to be the birthplace of the Hokuto, Nanto, and Gento arts. In order to reach Shura, Ken must cross the Sea of Death, the last remaining ocean on Earth.

Having been taken to Shura by the Pirate Akasachi, Ken finds a dying Falco, who has traveled ahead to rescue Lin, while Lin is captured by Shura warriors and bribed off as a bride in a tournament.

Ken faces Alph of the Hourglass, a Shura who has won 105 death matches in less than two minutes, while Lin is rescued by Shachi the Rakshasha, a master of the Hokuto Ryūken style.

Shachi challenges General Kaizel, whose style allows him to remove an opponent's internal organs without leaving an open wound. Meanwhile, Kenshiro is taken to meet Shachi's former lover Leia, who preaches the value of love and friendship to the children of Shura.

Shachi, in his plot to manipulate Kenshiro into destroying the Rashō, the three main rulers of Shura, begins taking Lin to the castle the third ruler, Han, who also practices the Hokuto Ryūken styles.

As Kenshiro and Han begins their battle, Shachi tells Lin of how he began his Hokuto Ryūken training and the importance of Raoh's legacy to the commoners of Shura.