| Demon Face | |
 | |
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Kanji Name | 鬼の形相 |
| Kana Name | おにのめん |
| Information | |
| Type | Offensive/Defensive |
| Fighting Style | Brute Force |
| User(s) | Yuujirou Hanma Baki Hanma Yuuichirou Hanma |
| Similar | None |
| First Appearance | |
| Anime | Head-On Collision |
| Manga | True Colors!! |
Demon Face (鬼の形相, Oni no Men) is a special fighting skill of the Hanma family.
Description
The Demon Face is a "technique" in which the user very forcefully flexes the back muscles to form the face of a demon. The user becomes many times stronger to their level prior to activation in every aspect, experiencing an increase in physical strength, speed, endurance, stamina, etc. The user can virtually absorb any hit, such as when Yuujirou Hanma ceased taking damage from Kaku Kaiou's Offensive Xiaoli strikes, which normally produce enough force to shatter walls. Additionally, the user can dish out massive amounts of damage in return. Baki Hanma is the only character in the series who can use this ability, forming the Demon Face on his back while also having the shape of the Demon Face on his brain.
In truth, the Demon Face is not so much a technique as it is a predetermined advantage such as height or muscle-building capacity, since it is a gift dependent on genetics and bloodline. However, it can be treated as a technique since it is only activated when the user decides to use it.
For the first time in the series, the Demon Face was seen during Yuujirou's battle with Doppo Orochi in the first manga series.
Known Users
The Demon Face is a gift seemingly exclusive the Hanma bloodline. It has three known possessors.
- Yuujirou Hanma – he uses his Demon Face on many occasions, as he is well aware that he is superior to all other fighters and does not see it as an unfair advantage, believing that anything you have at your disposal is fair in a fight - be it a gun, sword, or (in his case) genetic gift. As he is the image of evil or wickedness in the series, Yuujirou sees no problem with using it.
- Baki Hanma – he, being the son of Yuujirou, also possesses the gift of the Demon Face. However, due to his nature directly contradicting Yuujirou's and him being a kinder and more honorable fighter. Baki can probably only access this technique in times of extreme duress. He's only known to have used in few instances, when he first developed it in his fight with his half-brother Jack Hanma during the Maximum Tournament Saga to level the playing field and later on in his final battle with Yuujirou, which was a no-holds-barred fight and simply consisted of the two of them trading blows with one another. He was also briefly seen having it during his fight with Oliva, but it was unknown whether or not he actually put it into use in the actually conflict or just to quickly recover his energy from the beating he'd been receiving at that point. Also, not only Baki's back but also his brain shows the same demonic feature. In the Hanma Baki VS Kengan Ashura movie, Baki used this skill against Ouma Tokita.
- Yuuichirou Hanma – he is the first named possessor of the Demon Face. During Baki's second fight with Yuujirou, the manga illustrates Yuuichirou's past and fight against the United States. Yuuichirou appears on the deck of the Battleship Iowa displays the Demon Face to the crew before unleashing his Dress technique.
One member of the Hanma bloodline that is excluded for an unknown reason is Jack Hanma. Jack is Baki's half-brother, and has a different mother. He has never been known to have or have used the Demon Face, though it's ambiguous as to whether this is a result of him being born with a weak and frail body, constantly taking drugs that artificially enhanced his body, or just not inheriting the proper genetics to do so.
It is also shown that Prof. Chris and his research group discovered Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting a person who possibly appears to be a Demon Face user. The person is depicted as having a demon-looking back on one wall and having the swords of entire army pointed at the person on another wall. It is unclear if the person is a Hanma ancestor. It is also unknown whether this person was actually a Demon Face user or if it was a similar phenomenon that apparently once existed in Egypt.
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