The following article contains HEAVY SPOILERS! Read on at your own caution! |
- "The Niko Style's reached a dead end. I can't expect any further evolution from it. Not as it is now. So I'll use anything I can get my hands on, whether it comes from God or the Devil."
— The Other Niko to Edward Wu
This Tokita Niko (
Quick Answers
What is the significance of the 'Niko Style' in the character of The Other Tokita Niko?
How does The Other Tokita Niko differ from the Niko who trained Tokita Ohma?
Why did The Other Tokita Niko believe that the 'Niko Style' had reached a dead end?
What is the relationship between The Other Tokita Niko and Edward Wu?
Who are the Seven Nikos that The Other Tokita Niko is a part of?
Appearance[]
The Other Niko is a muscular man with menacing and wild facial features, almost like those of a tiger. He had long light hair swept behind his head and mild beard and moustache. His most notable features were his big eyes with light irises and narrow pupils.
In Agito's memories of him, he possessed a shorter haircut compared to when Ohma first encountered him.
As Six, he originally sported black hair that obscured his eyes for the most part. While they were occasionally seen in spars, once he revealed his traitorous nature, they became much more prominent.
Personality[]
The Other Niko is a ruthless and immoral martial artist known for his constant pursuit of greater power, though his full motivations remain mysterious. He takes a pragmatic and experimental approach to martial arts: adapting, creating, and discarding techniques as he sees fit, with no particular loyalty to any tradition or style. He is even willing to discard the Niko Style he was originally trained in, though he continues to use it with great proficiency up to the present day.
With little regard for the lives of others, the Other Niko has a particular habit of using his students as unwitting volunteers for his martial arts experiments. He teaches them dangerous, inherently self-harming techniques that he himself would not use so that he can observe the results, even if it results in their deaths. This can be seen in his planting of the Possessing Spirit within his involuntary "student" Ohma, and his teaching of the Fallen Demon and Guihun to Kiryu Setsuna and Lu Tian, respectively. The Other Niko also demonstrates a willingness to ruthlessly cull his students, often pitting them against each other in human Gu rituals that leave only the strongest alive. Ultimately, however, he cares little for even his most uniquely successful and loyal students, as he was unfazed by the death of Fei Wangfang, who had survived a Gu ritual and mastered the Other Niko's most dangerous techniques.
Despite his ruthlessness and brutality, the Other Niko also has a cultured side, as well as a sense of discretion and practicality. He enjoys fine dining and expensive wines, and prefers not to get into fights in public settings. He even tried to pacify Kiryu Setsuna by offering him some wine right after Setsuna had tried to kill him in a restaurant with a surprise attack. He initially didn't fight back despite Setsuna's provocations, and only became angry after Setsuna shattered the bottle of wine and began using the broken bottle as a weapon against him. Even then, he was mostly angered due to the expensive, ¥1,600,000 price of the wasted wine.
History[]
The Other Niko was one of the many orphans in The Inside who became students of Mukaku Gaoh, who was trying to unite the Inside through martial force. The Other Niko learned the Niko Style from Mukaku and adopted the name "Tokita Niko" as his own, referred to as Six.[2] According to Mukaku, the massacre of Gakigahara Forest was perpetrated by both him and Five, though Five would also die due to using Possessing Spirit whilst heavily wounded. Six would escape and promised that he would overcome Mukaku. The only other survivor was Four, while Three went missing.
Eventually, the Other Niko would abandon the Niko Style, but would subsequently discover the Formless stance.[3] He would later join the Worm, becoming an ally with his own faction, which included his students.[4]
Twenty-three years prior to the events of Kengan Ashura, The Other Niko had sealed away many of his students (among whom were Kanoh Agito and Lu Tian) in various human Gu rituals.[1] Xia Ji was also apparently meant to be in one such ritual, but escaped before it began.[5] For the second generation of students, he abandoned the Niko Style in favor of only teaching the Formless stance. In addition, he had also taught the secrets of Guihun, which he had paid off from Edward Wu. Out of all his students, the only known student who can handle the strain of unleashing one's latent strength was Lu Tian.[6]
Ten years later, The Other Niko secretly watched Ohma Tokita's training under his Niko's tutelage. He had also appeared before Kiryu Setsuna while the latter witnessed what had become of Ohma. With Setsuna believing Ohma's Niko to be the devil who had corrupted Ohma, The Other Niko told Setsuna that he'd give him the power to kill the devil. Telling Setsuna the "truth" of Tokita Niko, The Other Niko trained Setsuna in the Niko Style before sending him to Taira Genzan.[7]
Three years later, The Other Niko appeared before Ohma, telling him to forget about the Niko Style because he'd make him strong. Quickly overwhelming Ohma in a brief series of blows, The Other Niko then bestowed the Possessing Spirit upon Ohma before leaving, calling him a "Tiger's Vessel".[7] When Ohma's Niko stopped Ohma's Possessing Spirit-fuelled rampage, he challenged and fought The Other Niko in a brutal battle. While The Other Niko was able to land a fatal hit on Ohma's Niko, Setsuna claimed that he lost his life in exchange.[8] In truth, The Other Niko survived, and went into hiding.
Plot[]
Kengan Omega[]
During the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament, The Other Niko appeared when his last student Fei Wangfang took up the stage to fight Wakatsuki Takeshi. The Other Niko then killed the guards in the monitor room only to record himself to ask Wangfang to "release it", with his image appearing on all the monitors of the stadium. Then, as he was leaving remembering of his fight with Ohma's Niko, The Other Niko was ambushed by Muteba Gizenga, tasked by Toyoda Idemitsu to kill him. The Other Niko came out victorious in their bout, though left Muteba alive after losing interest. He mused the death of his "last test subject", while noting that he now had the data neccessary to evolve the Niko Style even further.
He did not appear again until some time later, when Kiryu Setsuna and Akoya Seishu attepted to ambush him at a restaraunt[9], though Akoya was intercepted by Gilbert and Willem Wu in the establishment's kitchen. The Other Niko dodged Kiryu's initial Rakshasa's Palm, and entered an exchange with him, dodging further attacks or resisting them with Indestructible while retaliating with Leech. A narrowly blocked Rakshasa's Sole: Air Rending ruptured Niko's semicircular canals, driving him to his knees with nausea and briefly giving Kiryu the upper hand. Nevertheless, after another brief exchange of blows, Niko appeared to initiate Possession and rendered Kiryu unconscious. Before he could strike a killing blow, however, Akoya attacked with a hand grenade, using it to cover his escape and dragging Kiryu with him.[10]
Power & Abilities[]
Although there is little directly shown or told of his fighting prowess, what evidence does exist indicates that the Other Niko Tokita is extremely strong, being a master of the Niko Style and proficient in it like the other Nikos. Gaoh Mukaku notes that Six unique strength is to 'notices things that the other Nikos dont'.While he didn't finish Muteba off due to not being serious about the fight, Muteba concluded that further pursuit would be too dangerous. Though he sustained significant injury in his fight with Kiryu Setsuna, the latter attributed this to an underestimation of him, and ultimately the Other Niko defeated him regardless.
Niko Style[]
The Other Niko is a master of the Niko Style; his proficiency with the martial art was enough to fight on par with Ohma's Niko. The Other Niko is also the creator of the Niko Style's secret technique, Fallen Demon. He eventually abandoned the Niko Style for the flaws it possessed.
Formless[]
Though it's unknown how this Niko learned or created this technique, Formless was recognized by his student, Lu Tian, as his "ultimate technique". It was the very reason that brought him to abandon the Niko Style, to perfect his technique and pass it on to whoever was able to survive the Gu rituals.
Guihun[]
Though he never intended to use it himself, The Other Niko was taught the basics of the secret technique by Edward Wu. His understanding of the technique allowed him to teach it to his students. Lu Tian is the only known student of the Other Niko who can handle the physical strain or, at least, disregard it to an extent.