| Yasha-Zaru | |
 | |
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Kanji Name | 夜叉猿 |
| Kana Name | やしゃざる |
| First Appearance | |
| Anime | The Beast of Yasha Crag |
| Manga | The Beast from the Yasha Craig |
| Information | |
| Origin | Japan |
| Age | 150 |
| Hair Color | Gray |
| Height | About 200 cm (6'6") |
| Weight | About 200 kg (441 lbs) |
| Fighting Style | Brute Force |
| Original Dub | Eiji Yanagisawa (2001) |
| Relations | Yasha-Zaru Jr (Son) |
Yasha-Zaru (夜叉猿, Yashazaru) is a giant ape from the Baki the Grappler anime and manga series. He was a two-meter tall simian that Baki Hanma encounters while training in the Hida Mountains. His wife was once murdered by Yuujirou Hanma. Later Yasha-Zaru became Baki's friend.
Personality
At first appearing animalistic in nature, the Yasha ape lives a simple life on the mountainside hunting prey, but doesn't easily scare away from the challenge of fighting a human even as big as itself, however it doesn't like being set on fire as it retreated back into its cave after Baki set it alight.
Later on after its fight with Baki we learn that the creature is in fact actually more complex. It respects those who can best it in combat, rewarding them with a trophy, and even has its own culture as within its home. It keeps the skeletons of its ancestors lined across the wall, mourning and respecting them and their legacy.
Appearance
Gigantic in size, the Yasha ape is roughly the same size as Reiichi Andou, who in his own right is a giant of a man himself. Similar looking to a gorilla but incredibly muscular, it has dark green skin with white fur, and elongated hair upon his head. Menacing glowing red eyes look out from dark eye sockets which pairs well with the dangerous set of prolonged canine fangs sitting within its mouth.
History
Baki the Grappler
Childhood Saga
At thirteen years old Baki Hanma climbed up the mountain towards Yasha Crag to visit his fathers old friend, a giant man by the name of Reiichi Andou, and to train just as his father did. It is within this mountain area it is shown the Yasha-Zaru for the first time hunting a wild bear from the bushes, and as the bear charges towards it, he takes the bear down in one strike with his claws and begins devouring it.
Later on while training the Yasha-Zaru surprises Baki by picking up and bending his training weights, but suddenly Andou comes to Baki's rescue by chucking his axe and hitting the ape from behind, but the ape doesn't seem fazed by it. Andou picks up his axe and charges towards the ape, and Yasha grips it by his teeth shattering the axe's blade. When Andou punches Yasha-Zaru to his mouth, Yasha wounds Andou but is chased off by Baki after being set on fire with the help of gasoline. In the manga series, it is shown that Yasha-Zaru bites off Andou's fingers. The giant man is later evacuated to a hospital by helicopter and the Yasha-Zaru can be seen howling into the night sky alerting Baki to his presence.
After spending some time training Baki eventually goes back once more to fight the creature. This time Baki creates a large circle of fire, wanting to prepare a special ring for himself and the ape. During the fight, Baki discovers that standard martial arts techniques do not work on Yasha-Zaru and that he must fight such a monster like a wild beast. Although the battle for the boy is extremely hard, he manages to inflict damage on the ape. The fight is intense and Baki even gouges out the eye of the Yasha-Zaru. Blows are landed back and forth and Andou eventually shows up with his shot gun and tells Baki he'll finish the creature off, however Baki refuses to let him do so claiming that this is his battle to fight and not Andou's. Eventually Baki manages to pull out the creatures wind pipe and after an intense but respectful stare off, the Yasha-Zaru walks back into his cave yielding to Baki.
The next day while meditating, Baki expresses to Andou about how unsure he is that he won the fight, questioning whether he can truly call it winning considering that he beat up a creature who just wanted to live a peaceful life on the mountainside. Andou tells Baki that he should visit the creature because he's earned its respect, asking him to also deliver something that he has long awaited to give to the Yasha-Zaru.
Andou takes Baki to the ape's home and it is here that is shown the skeletons of the creatures ancestors lining the cave walls, which explains that the ape is actually no mere creature but actually has some intelligence and isn't entirely far off from being human like. Baki hands the package to the ape which turns out to be the skull of Yasha's long dead wife who was bested by Baki's father, Yuujirou Hanma. The ape returns the skull to the rest of the skeleton of his wife and Baki begins to cry, bowing down to show respect towards the creature, and also thanks him for having helped to better himself. Yasha in return gives Baki his canine fang which fell out after their fight. As Baki prepares to leave the mountain side it is shown the Yasha-Zaru sitting on a cliff and watching Baki leave. It is shown that the Yasha-Zaru has several children, as they crawl over their father whimpering and playing within his fur.
Sadly however, Yuujirou later decides to go to the Yasha Crag again and fights Yasha-Zaru. Their battle is not shown, but it reveals that the Yasha was killed by Yuujirou and his head is used in a taunting fashion towards Baki to make him mad. Baki becomes enraged when he sees this and begins to lament. Later, in solitude, he remembers his ape friend and eats the tooth that Yasha-Zaru gave him as a souvenir.
Abilities
As an animal, Yasha-Zaru has no martial arts skills, but is an extremely powerful beast among other apes. It has even been shown that he is able to kill a bear. During the fight with Baki, the young boy proved that standard martial arts techniques were ineffective to Yasha-Zaru and the boy had to start fighting like a wild animal to inflict any damage on Yasha-Zaru. Nevertheless, his fighting style is very unusual and original, as he often uses various flicks, during which he attacks with his claws, for example.
Yasha-Zaru was able to easily defeat a big and strong man like Reiichi Andou, while he posed no serious threat to Yuujirou Hanma, who murdered him and his wife.
Techniques
- Bite – used against Reiichi Andou and Baki Hanma.
Gallery
