| Mount Toba | |
 | |
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Kanji Name | マウント斗羽 |
| Kana Name | まうんととば |
| First Appearance | |
| Anime | Opponent |
| Manga | The Giant's Advent |
| Information | |
| Origin | Japan |
| Age | About 50 |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Height | 209 cm (6'10") |
| Weight | 150 kg (330 lbs) |
| Fighting Style | Pro Wrestling |
| Original Dub | Yuu Shimaka (2001) |
| Relations | Rikigouzan (Coach) |
| “ | I'm coming into someone else's ring, so I expect a true fight. The spectators may not like what they'll see. | ” |
– Mount Toba to Baki Hanma. | ||
Mount Toba (マウント斗羽, Maunto Toba) is a fictional character from anime and manga series of Baki the Grappler. He is a veteran giant professional wrestler known all over the world. His born name is Shouhei Toba (羽正平, Toba Shōhei).
He was known as the "Giant Devil" (ジャイアント・デビル, Jaianto Debiru).
Personality[]
He is a relatively calm and composed person. Toba usually has a serious facial expression and does not seem to show too much emotions. He is a proud fighter, from whom the real devil comes out only in the ring (hence his nickname). During his battles, he is not an extremely brutal and ruthless person, but he is not trying to stop himself during a serious duel.
As a pro wrestler, it was very important for him to not disappoint his fans who loved him. Formerly, he used to treat pro wrestling as a form of game to entertain other people. After meeting with his master Rikigouzan, he started to look at wrestling differently and took it very seriously. When his master was murdered in a street fight, Toba found that his fighting workout were weak, and he started to training very hard. He decided that real pro wrestling should never lose, neither in the ring nor in the street. He very much appreciates Kanji Igari, with whom he had a competitive and friendly relationship. He also admitted to envying Kanji for having a less damaged body despite them being around the same age.
He is also a very honorable fighter. He knew there was no chance of winning at the end of his fight with Baki Hanma, but he couldn't give up. It was his will that Baki knocked him out. After the fight, Toba told him that there is no honor in surrendering. On the other hand, in the fight against Kaiou Retsu, Toba shows a different attitude. When Retsu brutally damaged Toba's knee, the pro wrestler decided to give up. He probably did it because from the beginning he intended to fight only a short battle at the tournament in view of his injured knee and treated this match as his job without following the rules of honorable battle. At the same time, it is possible that perhaps Mount Toba has already changed his approach to combat and started to look at his health with more reason.
Appearance[]
Mount Toba is a very tall pro wrestler. He is one of the tallest character in the whole series, of which he was very known. His body isn't as muscular as most of the other fighters in the series, but his muscles could look very impressive after Toba's tense and hard warm-up. He has short black hair. Toba doesn't wear facial hair. He has an elongated face and specific facial features.
History[]
Baki the Grappler[]
Past[]
In his youth, Toba was fascinated by pro wrestling. He loved the attitude of the legendary Rikigouzan in the ring. That is why he decided to join to his pro wrestling club. Toba told Rikigouzan that he doesn't want to practice wrestling for strength and that he just wants to give an entertainment to the other people. Then the legendary wrestler attacked him with a strong blow to the face and started screaming that pro wrestling is not fun and should be taken seriously, but after a while he also admitted that Toba was right, saying that pro wrestler must first of all entertain people and strength is not required to take part in it. Rikigouzan took him into his club and soon Toba became a popular fighter.
Toba after Rikigouzan's death.
Once upon a time Rikigouzan was murdered in a street fight. After this event, Mount Toba said a pro wrestler can't lose in any kind of duel and must always be the strongest. Then he started a very intensive training, thanks to which he became really strong and many other wrestlers were afraid to fight him in the ring. In the meantime, he has gained the nickname "Giant Devil".
Underground Arena Saga[]
For the first time, Toba appears in the series when Junichi Hanada is chosen to be the next opponent of Baki Hanma in the Underground Arena. Shortly before the day of the match, Hanada is attacked and brutally beaten by some mysterious fighter. It turns out that this mysterious man was Mount Toba and it was the secret plan of Mitsunari Tokugawa. He attacked him when Hanada was coming back from the gym on his bike at night. He told him that he was angry about Hanada's disregard for pro wrestling and that such people should not represent this fighting style. Eventually, he beat him by making his famous body drop.
Toba's debut in the anime.
In the anime, the selection of Toba as the opponent of Baki is shown in a different way. There is no mention of Hanada, but Baki's new opponent also remains a secret almost until the day of the fight. Kiyosumi Katou and Kanji Igari are attacked at night by some martial artists who think either Katou or Igari will be the next opponent of the champion and want to prove their worth in order to take the place of one of them and face Baki. Then some mysterious giant appears unexpectedly and easily defeats every fighter. That giant is Mount Toba. He doesn't just attack Katou and Igari. At the same time, it comes out that the new opponent of the champion is Toba.
On the day of the fight, Mitsunari Tokugawa talks to Mount Toba in the locker-room and is very excited about the match. When the giant wrestler enters the arena, the audience is shocked to see him. After a while, Kaneda, the taekwondo fighter, suddenly appears in the arena. He's angry and tells the wrestler that he was the one who was supposed to fight Baki next after Hanada, stating that Toba took his place. The wrestler says he just came to do his work. Kaneda gets even more nervous and attacks him with a surprise kick, but the attack does not work at all. After a while, Toba make a powerful spin kick and the taekwondo fighter immediately loses consciousness. After a while, Baki Hanma, the young champion of the Underground Arena, enters the ring. Baki is also very surprised, because his opponent was a secret to him until the day of the battle. The young champion tells the wrestler that he used to be a fan, and Toba says that he is going to fight seriously today and everyone will get to know him on the other side.
Toba fighting Baki Hanma.
The fight begins when Toba surprises Baki with a powerful karate chop. For a while the young champion is bombarded with various pro wrestler attacks. Baki decides to force Mount Toba to bend over to him. He manages to do this and starts attacking the giant's face, finding that this is Toba's weak spot. It turns out not to be effective enough to knock him out, and after a while Toba gets up and counterattacks him with a powerful jump kick. Later, he starts to perform various pro wrestling holds and locks against Baki, but eventually the young champion counterattacks by attacking the giant's limbs and leading him to knockdown. At some point, however, Toba decides to use his famous body drop, which is his strongest attack. Baki is lying on the ground for a while and Toba almost leaves the arena, but unexpectedly the young champion gets up and wants to continue their battle. The pro wrestler tries to do his body drop again, but this time Baki neutralizes it and the wrestler seriously damages his knee. Toba is no longer able to fight, but honor does not allow him to fall, and the champion simply performs a final attack out of respect for the opponent and the fight ends. After the battle, Toba thanks Baki for knocking him out and not forcing him to give up. All of a sudden, Yuujirou Hanma jumps into the arena and makes a fuss. Toba is very surprised to see him.
Later, Mount Toba is in the medical room of the Underground Arena. He talks to a doctor who tells him that Baki deals damage to his opponents in a unique way and does not cripple them. It turns out his knee will be back in shape in three months. Toba smiles heartily. In the anime it is even said that fortunately for him, Baki hits his knee in such a way that it will be stronger when it heals.
Maximum Tournament Saga[]
Toba and Baki Hanma.
When the day of the Maximum Tournament begins, Toba meets Baki and Kozue Matsumoto in the locker-room of the Underground Arena. The giant wrestler tells the champion that he is taking part in the tournament as a reserve. They talk for a while when suddenly Andreas Regan comes up to them and tells Toba that he is standing in his way, calling him a "midget". Regan is also a pro wrestler, but he's even taller than Toba. After a while, however, he turns around and goes away because he "is in a pretty good mood". In the anime in this scene, Toba starts to telling the champion after a while that Regan is a powerful pro wrestler who could never fight seriously in his life because his opponents were always too weak for him. Mount Toba tells Baki to take care of himself in the first fight, because it soon turns out that the first opponent of the champion is Regan.
When both Kiyosumi Katou and Raberto Gueran were eliminated from the tournament, Mount Toba enters as a reserve. There is a special show where some big car enters the arena and suddenly Toba falls on it from a great height. The car is completely crushed, and the pro wrestler gets up and he's fine. The audience is impressed by the power of the pro wrestler. In the anime, the scene takes place right before Toba's tournament match. The the manga, that show is right after Katou lost the fight and the pro wrestler's battle takes place much later.
During Kanji Igari's fight with Kinryuuzan, Mount Toba comments on the match and tells Baki and Katou about a uniqueness of the pro wrestling and the fact that Kanji Igari was once known abroad as the "Killer". Interestingly, during Mount Toba's later battle, Igari comes and tells them about Toba's pro wrestling past.
Toba fighting Kaiou Retsu.
The opponent of Mount Toba in the tournament is Kaiou Retsu, the powerful martial artist of Chinese Kempo. Before the fight begins, Retsu tells the wrestler that he wants to finish their match in a minute, and Toba answers that he plans to do the same thing. From the very beginning, the giant wrestler rushes by surprise. Toba throws his ring cloak at the Chinese fighter, so Retsu is covered up and can't see his opponent's upcoming attacks. But it doesn't make it harder for him to block the pro wrestler's attacks. Despite Toba's best efforts, the Chinese martial artist does not suffer any damage, and after a while he takes off the wrestler's apparel from himself. Toba kicks a sand out of the arena towards his opponent to blind him, but that doesn't work agianst him either. At some point the pro wrestler tries to use his body drop, but at the last minute Retsu redirects the force of the fall against Toba's knee. The pro wrestler starts to feel great pain and after a while decides to give up. The battle actually ends in about a minute, as the Chinese fighter planned.
After the fight, Igari comes to talk to Mount Toba in the locker-room of the Underground Arena. He tells the giant pro wrestler that this rush in the fight was very reckless. Toba tells him that he knew he couldn't fight too long because of his bad knee, but he wanted to have his own fight like Igari, admitting that he felt jealous of Igari being able to fight so freely. Igari says he felt complimented and goes away.
Abilities[]
He is a large pro wrestler known all over the world. He is not only big and strong, but also very agile. He can make a spin kick despite being very big. He attacked Baki Hanma and Kaiou Retsu with karate chop before they could even react. Mount Toba has high durability. During the Underground Arena Saga, he could withstand Baki's attacks like they were nothing.
Toba's strongest moves is a special throw. At the first, he grabs the opponent's arm from behind, then Toba jumps very high, and he uses a strong body slam, crushing his opponent with their full combined weight. His greatest weakness is his knee. Like Igari Kanji he also fights dirty going as far as to kick sand into Retsu's eyes as well as throw his cape over Retsu to bind him like a net.
Techniques[]
- Mount Toba's Pump Up – used before his encounter with Kaneda and Baki.
- 16 Mon Roundhouse Kick – used against Kaneda.
- Suplex – used against Baki Hanma, for example.
- Stomp – used against Baki Hanma.
- Tackle – used against Baki Hanma.
- Sleeper Hold – used against Baki Hanma.
- Chicken Wing Facelock – used against Baki Hanma.
- Jab – used against Baki Hanma.
- 150 Kilo Backflip – used against Junichi Hanada and Baki Hanma.
- Axe Kick – used against Kaiou Retsu.
- Nouten Karatakewari – used against Kanji Igari.
- Coconut Crush – used against Kanji Igari.
- 32 Mon Rocket Gun – used against Kanji Igari.
- Reverse Horizontal Chop – used against Kanji Igari.
- Kawazu Otoshi – used against Kanji Igari.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He is based on the real-life pro wrestler Giant Baba.
- His name is also a possible reference to the supervolcano Lake Toba.