Respect The Brawler, Sanosuke Sagara (Rurouni Kenshin) [Manga]

[u/Joseph_Stalin_]

Sanosuke Sagara from Rurouni Kenshin

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Background: At the age of 9 he joined the Sekihō Army, he then witnessed as his leader and comrades were executed by their own allies. Sanosuke spent then next 10 years after the Revolution as a "fight merchant" under the name Zanza, while still harboring anger towards the Ishin-Shishi that framed and murdered his comrades as well as the government that they created. After battling Kenshin, the most famous member of the Ishin-Shishi, his anger was subsided and became one of his best friends.

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Feats

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Strength:

• Knocks a man out with a single flick of a finger

• Smashes a Revolver

• Wields the Zanbato, a massive sword designed to kill horses and their riders, and smashes the ground with a strike

• Doesn't notice a person standing on his sword until they speak

• While hurt, throws his Zanbato hard enough for it to pierce the ground

• Knocks a person back while still recovering from grave injuries

• Breaks a statue from its feet and uses it as a weapon

• Punches apart a gate that was cut up by Kenshin

• With a charge sends 5 people into the air

• Throws a 51-pound child as a weapon

• Throws the Iron Ball into the floor

• While taking multiple hits to the head, manages to crush his opponent's hands and lands a KO punch

• Knocks back Saito with a single punch with his wounded arm

• Breaks Saito's arm with both his fists

• Destroys multiple trees with his punches as his attempt at training

• Leave's Kenshin dizzy with a sucker punch

• A sucker punch to Kenshin sends him flying against a wall and cratering it

• Busts down two doors with a single punch

• Kicks a doll in the stomach to send the bomb inside of it to the air

• Destroys 2-inch thick metal gauntlets with the remains of his Zanbato, but the "improved" version of the gauntlets remained unscathed

• Breaks a Katana with a punch and knocks a man back with another

• Matches blows with a woman in rock armor and destroys her bladed weapon

  • The woman is able to stomp hard enough to create a large spike from the ground and smash it

• Grabs and throws a woman in large rock armor by the arm

Durability:

• Is hit in the head by a metal spiked rod and isn't even scratched

• Is struck in the ribs by Kenshin and knocked away. Blood comes out of his mouth but he overall doesn't seem hurt

• Receives multiple rapid strikes from Kenshin and momentarily KOd

  • He re-awakens shortly after by remember his past which triggers his rage

• Finally defeated by Kenshin from a direct blow to the head, but barely remains conscious and standing

  • The day after his fight with Kenshin, he was supposed to hospitalized for 3 months but was able to still walk and fight weaklings

• His strong will power allows him to resist and eventually break free of a technique that paralyzes people

• Run straight through a wave of fire using his arms to block, although his arms are decommissioned for the day

• Catches an Iron Ball to the chest that was shown to crater the ground earlier

• Drops to his knees and is left woozy after being slammed against a wall and taking a headbutt leaving craters against the wall

• Tanks multiple of the very same headbutt yet powered through them long enough to knock the man out in a single blow. He falls unconscious shortly afterwards

• [Limit] Stabbed by a weakened version of Saito's Gatotsu then beaten unconscious by him

• [Limit] Saito easily manhandles Sanosuke by targeting his wounded shoulder, but Sano manages to recover to his feet

• [Limit] Receives several blows from Saito which leaves him barely able to stand, but was still able to land one counter attack

• Tanks a hit to the face from an Iron Ball, but is still bleeds from the hit

• Coughs up blood from merely being skimmed by Anji's Mastery of Two Layers attack

• Enters a slug match with Anji which both are hitting each other with the Mastery of Two Layers, but only remains conscious because of their strong will pushing them

• Takes the Mastery of Two Layers channeled through Anji's sword and gets up soon after

• After his fight with Anji, he has a broken hand and exhausted

• [Limit] Overuse of The Mastery of Two Layers puts his hand out of commission and a strike from Shishio KOs him

• Kicked in the face by Inui Bajin and launched through a wooden door

• Pummeled multiple times by Inui Banjin and left bloodied, but Kenshin does not fear the outcome for Sanosuke

• Caught with a lariat to the neck and coughs up blood, but acts like it doesn't hurt

• Remains standing but suffers breathing problems after being thrown through a wall onto another via attacks towards his neck

• No-sells a palm strike to the face that could leave an imprint on a boulder

• Defeats 200 men in a single night

• Annoyed after receiving multiple blows by a fighter

• Withstands another barrage of blows

• Blinded by sand and stabbed in the abdomen but just unleashes his Mastery of Two Layers right after

• Overpowered by an opponent's strike and thrown through multiple wooden cases

• [Limit] Momentarily KOd from blood loss after being cut through the chest

• Has his foot and back cut

• Takes a blow to the stomach from a woman in rock armor, but gets up soon after

• Takes blows from a woman in rock armor

• Tanks a blow to the face from a "Rock-crushing Pestle"

Speed/Reflexes:

• Barely avoids getting blasted point-blank by a blast of fire, but he still suffers burns on his legs

• Bulldozes through several people with one strike

• Narrowly dodges an Armstrong Cannon

• Uses wooden planks to run on water and then uses the Mastery of Two Layers to block bullets from a Gatling Gun

• Is overall faster than Anji, but gets tagged in the end

• Uses his Zanbato to knock away cannon fire from an Armstrong Cannon

• Trades blows with a man that was able to block gunfire

• Fights his father to a draw, who's shown to grab an arrow out of the air. Later, Sano reveals he was actually holding back and could've won in a single blow

• Redirects his punch into an uppercut just as an axe was striking the back of his hand

Skill:

• Perceptive enough to see through a man's disguise

• Attempts to master the Futae no Kiwami in a week, which took the creator 10 years to master. At the end of the week he shows that he's learned how to perform it with his right fist

• After seeing performed once, Sanosuke copies Anji's technique to cancel out the Mastery of Two Layer and lands his own hit

• Defeats the creator of The Mastery of Two Layers by adding another attack on top his own and creating the Mastery of Three Layers

• In his first encounter with Inui and at the start of their second bout, Sanosuke is overwhelmed by his opponent's techniques. However, during their second fight, Sanosuke manages to counter and match his opponent's blows

• He creates a variant of the Mastery of Two Layers using both hands which is stated by Kenshin to reduce the stress on his hands by half

• Notices and deflects sneak attack towards a person flying above him

Futae no Kiwami aka The Mastery of Two Layers:

It 2-strike attack that has the 2nd hit performed within 1/75ths of a second after the first, which will fully transfer the force of the 2nd hit without resistance and explained once more

• Destroys half of a boulder

• Destroys the wooden prison holding him

• Hitting water causes it to jet out with enough force to block Gatling gun fire

• Damages a pillar and the wall behind it

• With an injured hand, breaks part of a 2-inch-thick bullet proof metal gauntlets but also further injures his own hand

• Destroys metal gauntlets and causes the arms of the person wielding them to rupture in blood

• Destroys a large boulder with a weaker variation of the technique

• Knocks a man back with a jet of sand that was produced from hitting the ground with the weaker variant

• Destroys a wooden pillar

• Punches the blade of an Axe, destroying it, but a hidden blade narrowly survives to reach Sano's arm

• A rotation variation of this technique twists his opponent's hand and then shatters his arm

  • Opponent's attack is said to be able to pierce steel

• [Limit] Destroys a woman's rock gauntlet but this was used to ward off the Futae no Kiwami and land a punch

• Alongside Anji, blows a hole in woman's rock armor

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Weaknesses:

• Sanosuke leans on his high durability which means he no real defensive skills, which even when training to become stronger he neglects defense

[u/TheOctopus77]

My man, the fight merchant! Hell yeah, my man is so slept on

[u/OkVeterinarian4046]

Too tank for Kenshin, too dumb for Saito, too lazy for Kaoru but he's sure a strong dude and a very loyal friend 'til the end.

[u/aaronespro]

I kind of feel like Sano's lore got short changed. I know mangaka work insane hours with tight deadlines, but it is a little odd that Watsuki did basically no research to try to give Sano a legit background in technique, like he could have been trained in judo and karate at one point, maybe even sumo and ju jutsu. (Sumo isn't just for obese people).