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Yoroizuka Saw Paing (鎧塚 サーパイン, Yoroidzuka Sa-pain; "Saw Paing Yoroizuka"), also known as "The Howling Fighting Spirit" (吼える闘魂, Hoeru Tōkon), is the affiliated fighter of Village of the Dawn in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament.
Appearance
Saw Paing is a Burmese man who is slightly older than he looks with a youthful hairless visage, naturally spiky voluminous black hair, pale eyes and an overly determined expression painted on his face.
Personality
Saw Paing is the polar opposite of his self-proclaimed rival, Gaolang Wongsawat; while the latter is calm and apathetic, Saw Paing is hot-blooded, brash, and easily excitable. He is a frequent shouter, and yells loud enough to drown out the announcer on the mic in a crowded stadium.[3] His adoptive father, Sanemitsu, casually states that Saw Paing is not a very intelligent person. However, he does have (a certain degree of) common sense.[2]
His rivalry with Gaolang is seemingly one-sided; after he was beaten by Gaolang in a cross-border match, he frequently snuck across the border to challenge him to a rematch, even climbing up Gaolang's high-rise apartment to do so,[6] much to the latter's annoyance.[7]
History
At the age of 16, Saw Paing participated in the annual cross-border match between Myanmar and Thailand. There, he encountered Gaolang for the first time and was defeated in their fight by judge's decision.[7]
Plot
On board the S.S. Kengan, Saw Paing surprised an exasperated Gaolang by his presence as an affiliated fighter in the tournament. Over the course of the days leading up to the opening day of the tournament, Saw Paing hung around with a stoicly indifferent Gaolang.
During the first round, Saw Paing made a hot-blooded reply to Gaolang's unimpressed comment about Raian while watching the Kure Raian-Mokichi Robinson fight. Later, as the Murobuchi Gozo-Wakatsuki Takeshi fight was about to start, upon Gaolang asking what he made of the fight, Saw Paing replied that he was fired up. Before his first round match, Saw Paing told Sanemitsu he was all fired up. Being announced, Saw Paing leapt out into the arena, yelling so loud that he drowned out the commentator and the audience. Representing the Village of the Dawn in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament he fought against Karo Yoshinari. Tanking the powerful fisherman's assaults, Saw Paing was eventually victorious.
In the second round he fought against Mikazuchi Rei. Despite Rei's incredible speed, Saw Paing withstood his opponent's assaults with his incredibly strong skeleton by curling up, neutralising his weakpoints. Going on the offensive, Saw Paing attacked using his Hammer of Burma technique, but Rei countered using a Fa jin technique, causing Saw Paing to hit his chin onto Rei's head, injuring himself greatly. With Rei landing a second attack on to Saw Paing's chin, the Burmese man was consequently knocked out. After Saw Paing woke up from his fight, Gaolang tried to reassure him about his defeat, but he was left in utter disgust when Saw Paing told him he couldn't fight anymore. Soon after, he watched Gaolang's fight against Kanoh Agito while drinking a bottle of JD. Gaolang's powerfully determined display against the Fang served to reinvigorate Saw Paing's fighting spirit after the close of the second round.
After the second round, Saw Paing assisted Katahara Metsudo in stopping Hayami Katsumasa's "revolution", defeating some of the Guardians. He was later seen excitedly watching the final matches of the tournament along with the other fighters who had lost.
Power & Abilities
Saw Paing uses Lethwei, or Burmese kickboxing, which is similar to Muay Thai, but with the major difference that they do not use padding for their hands which makes fractures a more common occurrence. Due to a repeated process of breaking and healing bones over his entire life, Saw Paing's skeleton is as sturdy as metal, allowing him to withstand the most powerful of blows.[8] Saw Paing's strongest body part is his skull, which is like a steel helmet that can protect him from blows that would give a normal human a serious concussion; Gaolang Wongsawat notes that it is undoubtedly the hardest skull of humanity.[9] His hard skull also bestows upon him fearsome offensive power; prior to the tournament, of his 17 victories, 8 were won from a headbutt and 6 of those headbutts came as counters.[1] He remains the only fighter against whom Gaolang Wongsawat won by points, and not by knockout, purely due to his resilience.[7] Hanafusa Hajime also noted that, because of the sheer rigidity of his skeleton, his muscles are able to clench harder than ever without repercussion, enabling him to hit that much harder and nullify vital attacks; he won't come out of assaults unscathed, but the damaged will be halved at least.[9] Despite Saw Paing being a hot-blooded idiot, he has shown some tactical prowess when fighting.[10]
Technique(s)
- Hammer of Burma (ビルマの鉄槌, Biruma no Tettsui):[10] Saw Paing's most powerful attack is a headbutt which is strong enough to leave a hole in the ground because his skull is harder than steel.[10]
Notes & Trivia
- Despite being Gaolang's self-proclaimed rival, he hasn't actually fought him all that much, with Gaolang usually managing to weasel his way out of fighting him. Saw Paing doesn't actually mind that much however, and will wait for a time that suits Gaolang.[2][6]
- Incidentally, all of the fights the two have had after their first one has ended in a draw (because Gaolang keeps forfeiting the fight partway through, sick of Saw Paing's tenacity).[11]
- Burmese names consist of between two and four syllables, and when written in English, these syllables are usually spaced out. There are no surnames. Therefore, "Saw Paing" is his given name and full Burmese name, not his first name and middle name, and "Yoroizuka" is the surname given to him when he was adopted into a Japanese family.
- His family has supported Yoroizuka Sanemitsu for generations. Saw Paing's father, Pa Paing, was one of the greatest affiliated fighters in the 1980s and his late older brother, Ne Win Paing, was a mighty fighter in his own right before dying.[1]
- Saw Paing enjoys cooking.[2] He also does not shout when he is cooking as he has to concentrate.[12]
- He has been known to sing softer ballads at karaoke.[13]
- He has the ability to be able to sleep anywhere.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 148
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Saw Paing's profile
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 83
- ↑ 17 wins prior to the Kengan Annihilation Tournament(Ch83)
1 win during the tournament against Karo Yoshinari(Ch87) - ↑ After defeat to Mikazuchi Rei during the Kengan Annihilation Tournament(Ch151)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 0-3
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Chapter 84
- ↑ Chapter 85
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 150
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Chapter 149
- ↑ Gaolang Wongsawat's profile
- ↑ 4-koma: Lethwei Cooking
- ↑ 4-koma: Karaoke 2
