shirahama kenichi

First appearance: Battle 1
Age: 17
Type: Sei (also exhibits Dou-Type characteristics)
Type: Katsujin Ken
Martial Arts: Kenichi's Fighting Style (a blend of Karate, Jujutsu, Chinese Kenpo, Muay Thai, Kosaka Style weapons techniques, and Furinji Style)
Shirahama Kenichi is a kind-hearted, shy, and polite high school sophomore who enjoys gardening and reading books. Initially portrayed as a friendless loser at the start of the series, his life changed after meeting Furinji Miu. This pivotal encounter inspired him to stand up for himself and strive for true strength, or at least enough strength to protect those he cares about. Despite being seen as cowardly initially, Kenichi reveals extraordinary bravery when his loved ones are in danger.

When Kenichi was six years old, he and his friend Asamiya Ryuuto traded a cat-shaped pin for a yin-yang symbol pin with a then-six-year-old Miu at a local convenience store. They watched as Miu defeated some thugs attempting to rob the store and made a promise to become stronger as they grew older. While Ryuuto kept his promise, becoming the first fist of Ragnarok and a member of Yomi, Kenichi forgot about it and was frequently bullied.
One day on his way to school, Kenichi met Miu again (though he didn't recognize her), and they quickly became friends. He was part of his school's karate club but was relegated to menial tasks and used as a punching bag until he stood up to a large student trying to force him to quit. They agreed to a match where the loser would leave the club. With Miu's help, Kenichi won but decided to quit anyway, drawing unwanted attention from the club president whom he fought twice, winning easily the second time due to training received at Ryozanpaku dojo. However, trouble followed Kenichi as the club president had ties to the rising delinquent group Ragnarok, which began to take an interest in him. The manga follows Kenichi's journey as he trains and eventually lives at Ryozanpaku dojo while facing increasingly powerful adversaries.
Despite consistently being told he has no talent for martial arts, Kenichi compensates with his strong work ethic. His intense training regime transformed him from the weakest student in his high school to someone capable of defeating opponents with years of experience and even some with borderline superhuman abilities.
Kenichi is kind, compassionate, thoughtful, and moral to a fault. He opposes violence and studies martial arts solely to protect others. He adheres to a strict moral code, refusing to kill or hit women even if it means risking his own life. However, despite his high moral standards, Kenichi can be quite perverted, eagerly seizing opportunities to see Miu or Shigure bathing and buying pictures of them from Ma (which are mostly fakes). He also adopted a "fighting style" from Ma called "ecchi mode," where he tries to grope women, which surprisingly helped him out of sticky situations before. Due to his kindness, Kenichi has made many friends, some former enemies, and unknowingly won the affections of Ma Renka and Li Raichi.