Tohru is one of the main characters in the Jackie Chan Adventures series. As an Enforcer of the Dark Hand, he is an antagonist throughout the whole series.
Appearance[]
Tohru is portrayed as a large Japanese man, weighing approximately 480 pounds and standing taller than most of the characters in the series. His size even dwarfs taller characters such as El Toro Fuerte, Ratso, and Hak Foo. His main outfit consists of a white T-shirt with black or gray overalls and brown sandals. He has black hair in a chonmage hairstyle, which is the traditional hairstyle of sumo wrestlers.
Personality[]
Tohru is generally a rather slow person, both physically (because of his great bulk) and mentally. During his time with the Dark Hand, Tohru is ruthless and would carry out any orders by Valmont to the limits of his efficiency and, if possible, beyond that.
History[]
Background[]
Little is known of Tohru's past with many details of his early life such as his childhood, adolescent years or even his surname and the identity and status of his father or other family being relatively unexplored. It is known that he was born a native Japanese citizen and, even as a child, is shown to have been very large. As an adult he moved to America at some point and became an enforcer for Valmont but did not especially desire such a life, only doing so because he was in need of money (which indicated he either did not receive a full education, or was unable to make enough money through legitimate means to support himself). Tohru is the best enforcer for the Dark Hand who led Valmont's Enforcers during most of the talisman hunts on behalf of the dragon sorcerer Shendu, and a personal servant to Valmont. Despite his formidable size and strength, he proved to be no match for Jackie's martial arts skills and Jade's cunning.
Powers and Abilities[]
Tohru's fighting style is rather unique from the other characters in the series because of his large size, and combines the use of thrusts and tackles. He is not agile (and as such is unable to dodge attacks as well as Jackie or Jade). However, he has demonstrated fast reflexes at certain times, which is evidenced at one point when he blocked a swordfish Jade threw at him by using the Rooster Talisman. He is not afraid to use his weight to his advantage (such as when he used it to break the table to tilt in order to prevent Jackie from escaping). Tohru can also withstand extremely cold temperatures as he was the only member of the Dark Hand Enforcers to not wear any protective clothing while they were in the Himalayas in search for the Horse Talisman.
Out of all the members of the Dark Hand, Tohru possesses the greatest amount of physical strength and endurance. He is able to lift a sumo wrestler who was 1/3rd larger than him completely off the ground, which means that he is able to lift more than 500 pounds. He is also able to withstand devastating attacks that could potentially kill a normal human but he was able to survive these attacks albeit with injuries or being knocked unconscious.
While working for the Dark Hand, Tohru would use more lethal attacks that could potentially kill his enemies, such as felling a large tree with a single punch, throwing a swordfish at someone like a large javelin, or choking his target with a vice grip.
Tohru has a habit of picking up from his environment anything he can and using it as a weapon, like a giant boulder or box of tennis balls. In The Warrior Incarnate, Tohru shows that he can use a nunchaku to the point of twirling it around himself with surprising ease.
Weaknesses[]
Due to his weight, Tohru can only get to places if it is strong enough to support him. He also gets seasick on cruise ships easily. Ironically, he showed no signs of such prior in Season 1, as shown in the episode of The Jade Monkey where he battled Jackie on a boat normally. His feet are very ticklish.
Trivia[]
- Tohru weighs 480-485 pounds which he says is too small for a sumo, but in fact the average Japanese sumo weighs 330 pounds. However, the sumos in the same episode he says this were shown to be about 50% bigger than him.
- The sumo he faced in the competition closely resembles King Of Fighters character Chang Koehan, although without the chain and iron ball.
- Like Jackie and Uncle, Tohru has a background theme that plays occasionally. His theme involves the use of a bass drum.
- Tohru is featured in the first season opening sequence as the large, opposing figure that Jackie knocks to the ground with a single punch.
- Tohru's favorite food is cookies and his favorite drink is grape soda.
- It is revealed that Tohru has no reservations about eating bugs should the need arise.