Hell’s Paradise: Is Gabimaru a Human & What Kind of Powers Does He Have?

And while the recently-premiered anime adaptation of Hell’s Paradise promises to be a big hit, fans have, naturally, begun to ask questions about the series’ protagonist, Gabimaru. Gabimaru is a truly intriguing character with numerous aspects to his story and personality that could easily intrigue fans, so we have decided to dedicate this whole article to him. We all know that Gabimaru has a very specific set of powers and abilities that make him seem immortal and invincible; he was, in fact, so powerful that even Zhu Jin, one of the Tensen (the first one that Gabimaru faced), asked him whether he was human. In this article, you are going to find out whether Gabimaru is indeed a human and what his powers and abilities are.

Gabimaru, whose real name is Tsuki, is indeed a human. He was a shinobi prodigy who trained with the ruthless Iwagakure shinobi, but he was still a human. These shinobi were known for their skills and abilities, which made them notorious all over Japan. Gabimaru possessed numerous superhuman traits and skills, but he was, ultimately, a human, which has been officially confirmed in the series.

The rest of this article will focus on Gabimaru and his skills and abilities in the Hell’s Paradise series. Gabimaru was introduced and shown to be an exceptionally powerful character, so much, in fact, that many characters doubted his humanity in the series. This is why we have decided to compose this article and explain everything you need to know about his powers and abilities in the series. This article will contain some spoilers from the Hell’s Paradise manga, so be careful how you approach it.

Gabimaru is human, there is absolutely no doubt about that

Gabimaru is the protagonist of the Hell’s Paradise manga and anime. He was raised in a killing culture and is the strongest ninja in Iwagakure. Due to his lack of feeling, he is called “Gabimaru the Hollow.” He is in love with his wife, the village chief’s daughter, who treats him differently than other people. To live a regular life with his wife, he intended to sever all links with his community, but he was falsely accused and taken prisoner by his allies. His elemental attribute is Fire.

Throughout the series, Gabimaru demonstrated some amazing feats and skills. Initially, he shocked everyone when he seemingly couldn’t be killed by the executioners (it turned out that he simply did not want to die and that Sagiri could’ve killed him had she wanted to), and also later, when he survived a brawl of the death row criminals without much effort.

To add, he did not want to fight, and his hands were tied at the time (interestingly enough, when they arrived on the island, Gabimaru showed that he could simply break the rope, showing that he opted to have his hands tied, rather than actually being forced to). But, it was actually on Kotaku that everyone saw just how powerful Gabimaru was.

The first major demonstration of his “inhuman” physiology was during his fight with Keiun. The depraved monk charged at Gabimaru with everything he had – and he had a lot of powerful weapons – on top of which, he was exceptionally powerful and a true powerhouse compared to the small and skinny Gabimaru. Yet, Gabimaru managed to break all his weapons and kill Keiun with his hands tied. This was the first sign that he might be superhuman.

Disregarding the short swordfight he had with Sagiri, the second important moment was his fight against Rokurōta, the gigantic man-eating criminal who was not only powerful as a mountain. He was tall as one as well. And while Gabimaru did take damage from Rokurōta, he – once again – managed to win. Gabimaru decided to use his special Ninpō: Hibōshi technique and combined it with several ninjutsu techniques, launching a series of flame attacks on the giant, which the latter deflected with ease.

The flames that Rokurōta deflected scattered around and burned the surrounding forest. This caused Rokurōta to start coughing and choking from the smoke, which ultimately forced him to get down on his knees, and at that moment, Sagiri used the opportunity to behead and kill Rokurōta.

He demonstrated some amazing abilities while chasing Mei as well, but he was also hit strongly by her own attack; this was a brief skirmish between future allies, so we’ll just disregard that as well.

But, the true test of Gabimaru’s humanity happened during his fight with Zhu Jin, the first Tensen that the characters actually faced, when he demonstrated some truly amazing skills. During this battle, Zhu Jin questioned whether Gabimaru was human, and as we’ve seen, it took Zhu Jin’s Kishikai Transformation to actually force Gabimaru to do something drastic. This is what happened.

Gabimaru was initially successful and incinerated Zhu Jin, who then transformed into their Yang form. Gabimaru was able to withstand that form as well, to which Zhu Jin wondered whether Gabimaru was human or not. While analyzing his opponent, Gabimaru managed to overwhelm Zhu’s Yang form, which also stopped the Tensen from regenerating quickly. At that moment, Zhu Jin resorted to their ultimate technique, the Kishikai Transformation, turning into a monstrous plant-like entity that finally managed to overpower Gabimaru.

Gabimaru stood no chance against the powerful Kishikai, especially after the monster fired numerous lightning bolts at him. Gabimaru wanted to set himself on fire and kill Zhu Jin at the same time, willing to sacrifice himself, but at that moment, Mei appeared and saved him.

Gabimaru was saved, but Zhu Jin was left wondering whether the shinobi was human or not, as Gabimaru was much more powerful than the enemies Zhu Jin had faced before. And to answer that question for everyone – yes, Gabimaru is human. The Iwagakure shinobi trained him as a prodigy, and knowing their rigorous training regimen, it is only understandable that he is stronger than the others.

This training taught him how to be a better fighter and also to use some special skills. He ultimately never lost his humanity, and while he is going to gain some additional abilities later in the series, he will remain a human.

He has an amazing set of various skills and abilities

Now that we have provided you with the principal answer let us tell you a bit about Gabimaru’s skills and abilities. Regarding regular human skills, we have to say that Gabimaru is above peak human conditioning in that aspect, as he has undergone the rigorous training regime of the Iwagakure shinobi.

He might look fragile, but he is exceptionally strong and durable, being able to take many hits before actually going down. On top of that, Gabimaru has amazing reflexes, and his speed is superhuman as well. He is also quite proficient with various weapons, as he was able to hold his own against an Asaemon. He is also good at stealth work and has excellent evasive skills.

He is a taijutsu master as well, and his known skills include:

• Iwagakure-ryū: Kibisuzume (Hidden in Stones Style: Heel Talon), a strong heel kick.
• Iwagakure-ryū: Kabutowari (Hidden in Stones Style: Helmet Splitter), a strong axe kick.
• Ninpō: Hebigarami (Hidden in Stones Style: Snake Twist), a defensive move that stops an attack aimed at the head.
• Iwagakure-ryū: Kamakubi (Hidden in Stones Style: Sickle-Shaped Neck), a strong roundhouse kick.
• Iwagakure-ryū: Katanatori (Hidden in Stones Style: Sword Capture), a special technique he used against Shija.
• Iwagakure-ryū: Gekishin (Hidden in Stones Style: Firing Pin), like above.
• Iwagakure-ryū: Kage Nui (Hidden in Stones Style: Shadow Sewing), like above.
• Iwagakure-ryū: Ōnata (Hidden in Stones Style: Broadsword), like above.

But, as we have said, on top of these basic human skills, Gabimaru also possesses some special supernatural abilities. These are his Ninpō skills, and Gabimaru showed us the following ones:

• Ninpō: Hibōshi (Ninja Art: Fire Monk), which consists of Gabimatu setting himself on fire. It consists of the following individual moves:
  • Ninpō: Ikari Tsubute — Hibōshi Bājon
  • Ninpō: Kaze Nui — Hibōshi Bājon
  • Ninpō: Toge Busuma — Hibōshi Bājon
  • Ninpō: Ōtsubute — Hibōshi Bājon
  • Ninpō: Oni Hotaru
  • Ninpō: Hibōshi Saidai Karyoku
• Ninpō: Ikari Tsubute (Ninja Art: Thunder Stones), which consists of Gabimaru sending stones at his opponent in quick fashion, like a rainstorm of stones. It has only one individual move, the Ninpō: Ikari Tsubute — Hibōshi Bājon.
• Ninpō: Shinariba (Ninja Art: Flexible Blade), which consists of Gabimaru using his belt as a blade.
• Ninpō: Noyumi (Ninja Art: Wild Archery), a ranged technique we know very little about.
• Ninpō: Arahari (Ninja Art: Rough Hook), like above.
• Ninpō: Hitōban (Ninja Art: Flying Savage Head), like above.
• Ninpō: Bakusui (Ninja Art: Explosive Water), which consists of unleashing a wave of flames on the opponent.
• Ninpō: Kaze Nui (Ninja Art: Wind Sewing), a technique whose original state is unknown because we’ve only seen it in its combined form, the Ninpō: Kaze Nui — Hibōshi Bājon.
• Ninpō: Toge Busuma (Ninja Art: Thorn Quilt), like above, is only seen in its combined form as the Ninpō: Toge Busuma — Hibōshi Bājon.
• Ninpō: Ōtsubute (Ninja Art: Giant Stone), like above, is only seen in its combined form as the Ninpō: Ōtsubute — Hibōshi Bājon.
• Ninpō: Hi no Hashi (Ninja Art: Fire Bridge), which consists of Gabimaru launching a large fire torrent at his opponent.
• Ninpō: Hanabari (Ninja Art: Blooming Needle), which consists of Gabimaru throwing a pebble at his opponent like a projectile.
• Ninpō: Kakashō (Ninja Art: Glorious Extract), which consists of Gabimaru surrounding himself by explosions.
• Ninpō: Yake Fuki (Ninja Art: Burning Blows), which consists of Gabimaru unleashing a surge of fire.
• Ninpō: Kaen Dan (Ninja Art: Flame Judgement), which consists of Gabimaru using a fire-imbued kick.
• Ninpō: Hanata Rin (Ninja Art: Flower Snake Ring), which consists of Gabimaru creating a ring of fire around himself.
• Ninpō: Tsuriwata (Ninja Art: Silken Strangle), a special technique used against Ran.

Later, he was also able to activate his Tao abilities, but we won’t be spoiling too much of that at this point since we’re going to talk about that later as the series progresses.