Baki: Does Jack Hanma Have Demon Back?
Baki Hanma faced a lot of strong fighters during the entire Baki manga and anime storyline. One such character that he faced during the events of the Maximum Tournament was Jack Hanma, who is his older brother. Jack is one of the strongest characters in the storyline, especially because he used artificial means to become stronger, as he wasn’t born the strongest Hanma in the storyline. But does Jack Hanma have the Hanma family’s demon back?
Jack Hanma doesn’t possess the demon face back even though he was born a Hanma. There is no exact explanation for why he doesn’t have this gift. But it may be because he had a frail body. Yuujirou, however, said that Jack had “impure” blood.
Even though Jack didn’t have the trait that made the Hanma family so strong, he was still strong enough to give Baki trouble during their fight. Of course, this was because he used artificial means to become incredibly strong, as he needed to do so. After all, he was born frail. So, with that said, let’s look at whether or not Jack Hanma has the demon back.
What Is the Demon Back?
If there’s one thing that has always been constant in the entire Baki manga and anime storyline, it’s the fact that the Hanma family is pretty powerful and possesses strength and innate physical abilities that allow them to become the strongest fighters in the world during their respective eras. Of course, we all know that Yuujirou Hanma is currently the strongest man in the world and has two sons that inherited his genetics. The first is Baki, and the second one is Jack.
Baki, of course, possesses the technique called demon face back, a trait passed down in the Hanma family. His father, Yuujirou Hanma, possessed this trait and obtained the title of the strongest man in the world due to this ability. But what exactly is the demon face back?
The demon face back is a secret technique that allows the user to flex his back forcefully so that the muscles form the face of a demon. This technique allows the user to become several times stronger compared to his previous level, as he gets massive boosts in physical strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and endurance. Yuujirou often used this power to tank hits that would have killed any other fighter in Baki.
On top of that, the user can dish out massive amounts of damage that can hurt someone like Biscuit Oliva, whose muscles are said to be so dense that they can tank shotgun shells.
While the demon face back is often seen as a technique, it actually is an innate ability passed down in the bloodline of the Hanma family. It is a pre-determined gift that is a product of genetics, and that’s why the only users we’ve seen are those from the Hanma family.
The only reason it is called a technique is that the user can activate it whenever he needs a power boost against a powerful enemy. In that sense, it is akin to the Super Saiyan transformation in Dragon Ball.
Why Was Jack Hanma So Skinny?
As mentioned, the demon face back is a pre-determined power passed down in the Hanma family. Yuujirou inherited it from his father, Yuuichirou. Meanwhile, Baki also possesses the ability because he is the son of Yuujirou. Of course, during his fight with his brother, Jack Hanma, Baki first used the demon face back.
Jack Hanma was strong enough to push Baki to his limit, as the younger Hanma needed to use the demon back to defeat his older brother. The reason why Jack is so strong is the fact that he used an experimental steroids-like drug that allowed him to transform his body from being so skinny to standing nearly eight feet tall and weighing more than 400 pounds. But before that, he was such a skinny young man. So, why was Jack Hanma so skinny?
The reason why Jack Hanma was so skinny was the fact that he trained his body beyond its limit and neglected to take care of it. While most of the other fighters in Baki trained hard to become strong, Jack tried to push his body past its limit without even thinking about whether or not he was taking care of it correctly. The other fighters ate well and rested whenever it was necessary. However, Jack neglected his body and once went 12 straight hours of punching without eating, resting, or drinking water.
In that regard, his body started deteriorating as he didn’t care for it well enough while training. Of course, his training sessions were fueled by his hatred for his father, as he hated what Yuujirou did to his mother and how he was a son born out of spite. As such, he was so angry while training that he neglected the needs of his body. And he only started becoming stronger when he took an experimental drug that enhanced his physical abilities.
Is Jack Hanma Pure Blood?
Of course, one of the things that Yuujirou Hanma hated about Jack was that he was weak and didn’t have the same potential as Baki. Even though Jack needed to resort to artificial means to become stronger, Yuujirou knew he was weaker than Baki because he thought his blood was impure.
The fact that Jack didn’t have pure blood came straight out of Yuujirou’s mouth. In that regard, his own father thought that Jack didn’t have blood that was pure enough for him to gain the power and strength of the Hanma family. Of course, we really don’t know what Yuujirou meant when he said that Jack’s blood was impure, considering that Baki’s mother wasn’t even a Hanma.
It is possible that Yuujirou was referring to the fact that Jack wasn’t Japanese, as Baki’s mother was Japanese. Jack may also be “impure” because he was a “mistake” that Yuujirou never meant to create, as he impregnated Jack’s mother out of spite and rage instead of lust.
What happened was that Yuujirou became companions with Jack’s mother, Diane Neil, during his time in Vietnam. However, Yuujirou eventually discovered that Diane was actually a Canadian spy trying to lure him into a trap so that the UN soldiers could kill him. Yuujirou raped Diane out of anger due to her betrayal.
The fact that Diane was Canadian and impregnated out of spite could be why Jack is “impure.” Basically, Yuujirou never believed that Jack had the genetic capacity that made the other Hanma family members strong.
Why Jack Hanma Doesn’t Have Demon Back?
That said, the storyline made clear that Jack Hanma didn’t have the same power and capabilities as the other Hanma family members. In short, he wasn’t born with the ability to use the famed demon face back that the Hanma family members had. And this was most likely due to him being “impure” in the eyes of Yuujirou.
Of course, there’s also a chance that Jack doesn’t have the demon back because he failed to develop it when he became so frail and skinny during his younger years. His poor health may have contributed to this, as we all know that he overtrained during his younger years to try to surpass his father. This was detrimental to him instead of beneficial, as we all know that Jack’s body became weak and frail. And this might have made it impossible for him to develop the demon back.
But Yuujirou also once said that Jack simply didn’t have the luck of the devil when he was born. Of course, we don’t really know what he meant by that, but the fact is that he believes that Baki was born with the luck of the devil, unlike Jack, who was born an unlucky young man due to the circumstances surrounding his birth.
