Agni (アグニ, Aguni) is the titular main protagonist of the Fire Punch manga.
Appearance[]
Agni is an extremely tall, muscular, and handsome man with short blackish grey hair and yellow eyes.
For the majority of the series, his entire body is on fire, save for his mouth and the left side of his face, with his right eye constantly being exposed due to his eyelid always getting seared off. Because of the nature of Doma's blessing, Agni is unable to wear regular clothes, always walking around naked with the flames covering his privates while the rest of his body appears charred and raw. However, he did briefly wear a fireproof suit alongside a metal armor on his right arm.
During his crazed murder of Doma as well as his brief encounter with an older version of Sun, Agni's entire face would become completely engulfed in flames; the heat of which would end up burning away most of Agni's facial features, giving him a more demonic appearance.
History[]
Agni grew up with his younger sister, Luna, and his parents until a group of men broke into their home and murdered his mother and father to be used as food and kindling for the fire.
However, due to their ability to regenerate, the siblings were held prisoner by the men and repeatedly had their limbs cut off to be used for the same purpose as their parents.
Some time later, one of the men attempted to rape Luna, but Agni broke out of his shackles by breaking his own arm and killed the man with a butcher knife. He then proceeded to free Luna by cutting off her limbs, promising it'd be the last time she'd ever have to feel that kind of pain.
Agni and Luna wandered across the snowy wasteland in search of shelter and were on the verge of death; luckily, the pair were found by a group of people and brought to their village.
Three years later, Luna assists Agni in providing meat for the village by chopping off his right arm repeatedly.
When Luna suggests using her own arms at some point, Agni rejects it; refusing to let his sister go through any kind of pain. After delivering some of the meat to Granny Jishima, they go to visit a man named Bana, who turned out to have died from starvation, as he refused to eat human flesh. Agni feels responsible for Bana’s death, but Luna comforts him and suggests calling the Priest.
At dinner, Luna offers her brother some stew she made from his arm, but he declines, stating his Regeneration Blessing makes eating unnecessary for him; despite this, she still insists that he have some food whether he needs it or not, to which Agni gives in.
As the siblings prepare to sleep, Agni tells Luna how he remembers swimming in the lake on hot days before the world froze, and how the water was different from the cold of the present, Agni promises to show Luna the world once it gets warmer.
The next day, Agni returns home after hunting a deer when he sees a plane flying towards the village and, upon investigating, sees a large group of men rounding up the older members of the village at gunpoint. Agni tries to intervene, telling the men to leave the elders alone, but is then approached by a man called Doma, who explains they're searching for Blessed Ones to bring to the city of Behemdolg.
Upon hearing one of the soldiers report the village houses were filled with human meat and the villagers were cannibals, Doma orders the soldiers to return to the plane before setting the whole village ablaze with his Fire Blessing.
Engulfed by the flames, Agni finds that he's unable to die because of his own Blessing; surrounded by the blazing houses and charred bodies of everyone he knows, Agni just wishes he could die so this pain would end. However, while reminiscing about his family, a dying Luna shuffles towards him and, just before her body is reduced to ash, utters her final word: “Live”.
During the first year of Agni’s burning, he simply lays on the ground and screamed in agony as the blizzard rages around him; after three years, he manages to stand up and stumble across the wasteland before spitting up blood; upon the fifth year, Agni finally manages to ignore the constant pain and becomes extremely muscular as a result of moving, but is unable to properly breathe due to the flames; and finally, after eight years, Agni learns to control the flames on his body and focus them away from his face, allowing him to breath normally.
After this point, Agni begins his journey in search of Behemdolg in order to exact his revenge against Doma.
As he travels, he encounters a boy about to be executed by Behemdolgian soldiers, whom Agni quickly kills. After freeing the slaves captured by the soldiers, Agni states he had no intent of saving them, and asks where he should go to reach Behemdolg. As he heads for the city, the boy follows him in spite of his protests. The boy introduces himself as Sun, who was caught by the soldiers after he was ran out of his village. That evening, Sun makes a campfire, and asks Agni to light it. Agni states that his fire is too dangerous to be used, and tells Sun to find another way to light the fire to which Sun uses his Electricity Blessing. When Sun thanks Agni for rescuing him again, he states that he had no intention of saving the boy, and that he didn’t care whether he lived or not, but that he’d have difficulty sleeping if he saw someone die in front of him. After Sun falls asleep, Agni collapses as he begins to give in to the pain of his burns. He attempts to get his mind off the pain with the thought of exacting revenge on Doma. However, while he isn't paying attention Agni ends up getting shot in the head by a soldier from Behemdolg; of course, due to his Regeneration Blessing, he isn't killed by the bullet.
As the other soldiers prepare to rape Sun while waiting for Agni’s flames to die, one of the soldiers is set ablaze by him. The soldiers attempt to gun Agni down, but he kills them one by one with a flurry of burning punches. Throughout the fight, Agni thinks about how he feels pleasure from punching others whilst being shot, feeling the pain of his burns mellowing out. He stops, however, when he sees one remaining soldier holding Sun at gunpoint, threatening to kill him. Agni tells the soldier he doesn’t care what happens to Sun, as the boy followed him of his own volition. Sun thanks him for saving his life twice, and begs him to live for his sake should he die in that moment. As the soldier prepares to shoot Sun, he shocks the man. However, before Agni can move in, the three of them notice the snow beginning to pick up before getting caught in a massive avalanche.
When Agni emerges from the snow, he finds Sun is nowhere to be found. He begins calling for the boy as he digs through the snow. After a moment, he finds Sun’s arm sticking out of the snow. After rescuing him, he states that the boy’s safety was merely chance, as he happened to land near him.
The next day, Sun continues to follow Agni, despite the latter’s protests. While Sun goes to the bathroom, Agni leaves him behind to continue his journey. However, Sun catches up to him again with the help of a woman named Judah. It is quickly revealed that Judah is actually a soldier from Behemdolg, and decapitates Agni before swiftly cutting off her own arm to keep from burning, displaying that she also has a Regeneration Blessing. To prevent Agni from recovering, Judah orders her fellow soldiers to shoot his head regularly to slowdown his abilities while she goes to get a fireproof cloth. As Judah picks up her charred arm and removes her helmet, Agni is shocked to see that she has an uncanny resemblance to Luna.
As they wait for the cloth to arrive while shooting Agni’s head, he tries to remind himself the woman in front of him isn't his dear sister and that she died years ago. Suddenly, one of the soldiers runs out of ammo, and Agni uses the opportunity to spit a bullet at them, setting them ablaze, giving him enough time to regenerate his body and attack the remaining soldiers. However, just as Agni was going in for the kill, he's immediately struck with a blast of fire from Doma who, due to a mental illness he's developed, is unable to recognize Agni.
In his vengeful rage, Agni repeatedly charges at Doma, but is continuously knocked backwards by the forces of the latter’s flames. Frustrated, Agni screams at Doma for killing his sister only for the latter to state he didn’t ask him about that but if it was really him who killed Luna to which an enraged Agni attempts to strike Doma again, but is once again pushed back by the flames. Doma asks what he can do to atone for killing Luna, apart from his own death. Despite his surprise at Doma’s pleas, Agni still attempts to attack him.
It is later revealed that Agni’s body has been reduced to ash by Doma’s attacks, but still he regenerates. When Doma pleads for Agni to forgive him, he asks the former if he still remembers his name. After being weakened by another attack, Agni is decapitated again and his head is wrapped in fireproof cloth and placed inside crate to be put on a train headed for the sea, where the soldiers intended to dispose of him.
Fortunately for Agni, the train is disabled en route by Togata and Neneto, who steal the crate that Agni’s head is in. The crate is blown up with explosives, and Agni’s head falls into the water, where he regenerates. Shortly after, the trio encounter Judah, who Togata had defeated on the train prior to liberating Agni. When Agni asks if she is his younger sister Luna, as she looks and sounds exactly like her, Judah states that she has been alive for one-hundred and thirty years so she cannot be his sister. Afterwards, Togata decapitates her and tells Agni they should kill her. Despite Agni pleading with him not to do so, he takes Judah’s head and tries to drown her. After chasing Togata around, Togata states that he wants to make a deal with Agni: In exchange for leaving Judah alive, Agni has to be the lead actor in the movie he is filming to which he reluctantly agrees.
Fire Punch[]
Without Luna, Agni had nothing to live for. Upon hearing Luna's last words, he had to find something strong enough to keep him going so he cultivated his hatred for Doma, convinced himself he hated him and wanted him dead. To achieve this new arbitrary goal, Agni had to become a being capable of it; that alter ego is commonly referred to as "Fire Punch". He's often portrayed with a disfigured face.
Fire Punch
Appearances[]
The Flame Covered Man[]
Fire Punch is first alluded to in chapter 20, when Agni starts seeing visions of himself on his way to kill Doma.
> I know that even if I kill Doma, Luna won't come back.
> I hated him to distract myself from the pain... Eventually I forgot I was acting. Who was... the real me?
Flame Covering Man[]
His true entrance is at the end of chapter 45. As Agni thinks about the trauma and pain he had to endure throughout the years, he imagines his sister asking him to kill Doma for her. Upon hearing her request to be Fire Punch, Agni disfigures his face and becomes Fire Punch.
The following appearance is chapter 59 when he kills Behemdorg refugees posing a threat to the life of the girls he lived with. Especially Luna's (Judah). In this instance he lights his face on fire with a torch.
Flame Burdened Man[]
During Neneto's attack on the facility Agni and the girls were living in, Agni had to face the masked man. After being brutally sliced and pinned to ground with metal rods, he musters enough strength to stand up. As he rises, he imagines someone we can assume to be Luna or a delusion of his in the shape of Luna telling him to Become Fire Punch. Agni slices his face and becomes Fire Punch.
The last appearance occurs soon after the masked man defeat.
Tena begs him to not go after Judah and stay Agni for her, Oia and Lanou. When he hear this request, Agni reminisces about his past with Luna and the promise he made to her. He then declares to Tena he's not Agni but Fire Punch. After assaulting her, he's been cast into Doma's flames again by her son, Oia. Agni becomes both in image and spirit Fire Punch.
Powers & Abilities[]
Regeneration[]
Agni possesses the Blessing of Regeneration, a common Blessing which grants him the ability to quickly heal from any injury he receives and even regrow severed or damaged limbs.
However, of all the Blessed Ones in the series who've shown to have this power, Agni's version is arguably the most powerful; being able to regenerate his body instantly and even being able to heal from things which others with the Blessing of Regeneration cannot, like decapitation, as well as being the only person in the series who's been shown to survive being set aflame by Doma's powers.
This power also causes him to stop aging and makes it so he does not require sustenance, effectively making him immortal.
Flames of Doma[]
Due to a combination of Doma's inextinguishable flames and his own infinitely regenerating body, Agni's entire physical form is on fire all the time; because of this, anyone or anything Agni touches becomes engulfed in flames, burning them continuously until nothing remains.
Agni primarily uses the Flames of Doma for combat, taking advantage of their destructive characteristics to immediately kill his enemies, setting them ablaze with each strike he lands on them and leaving them to eventually be incinerated.
However, he can also utilize them for other, less violent purposes, such as keeping people warm so long as they don't get too close to him or as a light source for when it gets too dark to see.
Enhanced Strength[]
Having spent eight years on fire and continuing to move around in spite of the intense strain it put on his muscles, Agni has gained an incredible degree of physical strength, able to easily knock a man out with a single punch.
This incredible brawn, combined with his eternal flames and hyper regeneration, makes Agni an extremely deadly and frightening opponent for anyone to face head-to-head.
Weaknesses[]
Although he can regenerate from pretty much any fatal attack, Agni can still feel pain; as such, he's in constant and intense agony due to Doma's flames continuously burning his body faster than his Blessing can heal it.
The only way he can ignore the pain is for Agni to focus on something else, if he loses focus he'll quickly fall to the floor in pain as his body continues to burn.
Furthermore, continuous attacks to his head can slow down the regeneration process, as shown when his severed head repeatedly gets shot at to stop him from regenerating his whole body.
Also, because of the nature of Doma's blessing, even if Agni regenerates a new body, it'll still be covered in flames if even a single part of his flame covered form is in close proximity to the newly regenerated body part.
Psychological Issues[]
Because of the events which took place eight years ago, Agni is deeply traumatized, to the point where he'll sometimes begin seeing hallucinations of his younger self or his deceased sister, Luna. This trauma, especially in regard to his sister's death, has also seemingly impacted Agni's mental growth as well since, despite having the body of a fully grown man, Agni still possesses the mentality of a 15-year-old boy. Another issue of this can be seen in the fact Agni doesn't know a lot about certain subjects; case and point: Togata being transgender, something that confused Agni since Togata had breasts. However, while he's at least self-aware enough of his own stunted mental progress and willing to learn more about Togata's unique situation, what Agni seemingly cannot let go off is his beloved sister; continuing to fool himself into believing Judah is Luna despite being told that she wasn't and even during his attempt to kill her when she became the Tree. This escalates to the point where he tells an amnesic Judah that her name is Luna and that he's her older brother, essentially grooming Judah into his ideal version of what the actual Luna might've been like as an adult. His attachment to his sister, and her subsequent death at the hands of Doma, has also made it so that Agni will become consumed with rage at just the mention of his name, having committed him to killing the man that he goes as far as to agree to staring in Togata's film with him as the protagonist and Doma as the antagonist. This, coupled with his mental degradation because of these events, have also lead him to completely blank out and have murderous episodes of vengeful wrath brought on by an hallucination of Luna telling him to kill Doma, making him incredibly dangerous to anyone near him. While in this state, Agni isn't aware of his surroundings and immediately kills anything he perceives as a threat while single-mindedly hunting Doma, only being snapped out of this state by a dying Doma, who Agni had decided to ultimately spare, before realizing he'd not only gone back and killed him, but also slaughter all of the seventeen children Doma had been looking after and protecting as well, leaving Agni incredibly distressed.
Relationships[]
Luna: Agni deeply loved his sister and wanted to keep her safe and away from pain. He willingly breaks his arms to escape his shackles and attack a man who attempted to rape her and refuses to let her be used as a food source for their village. When Luna burns to death in front of him, Agni's driven to near madness and becomes consumed with rage towards Doma. However, this love for her also seems to manipulate his actions at times, as when he leaves Doma’s home in the forest, he sees a hallucination of Luna, telling him to “Become Fire Punch” and kill Doma. In response, he covers his face with fire and goes on a rampage in which he burns Doma’s house down and kills Doma, along with some of his children.
Judah: Agni's feelings towards Judah are very complex, as she bears the same face as Luna, but is not the same person. He confides in her appearance to believe that Luna is still alive within her, though deep down he knows that she is not. He bears a strong amount of hatred towards Judah for the first half of the series, but shifts to caring for her after she loses her memory and Agni reshapes her to be the ideal Luna. Later on, his façade of him playing as her older brother fades away and he begins to develop romantic feelings for her.
Doma: As the man that burnt his village to the ground, incinerating all it's inhabitants alongside his sister, and causing him to forever be on fire due to the nature of their Blessing, Agni holds an intense and deep hatred for Doma, and has been hunting him down for eight years to get revenge for what he did, wasting no time in attacking him as soon as he finds Doma, only to get beaten by him. When he finally encounters Doma again after their fight and discovers he's now trying to protect fourteen children, Agni ultimately decides that, while he can never forgive Doma, that killing him is not what Luna would want him to do, and chooses to spare him. Unfortunately, while walking away, Agni hallucinates Luna asking and telling him to kill Doma and he eventually gives in to his rage, returning to kill Doma, with the dying Doma snapping him out of his murderous rampage to also show he unintentionally killed the fourteen children as well.
Trivia[]
- Agni's name comes from the Vedic fire god of Hinduism.
- Togata has compared him to both the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four and Zoro from One Piece.
- Because no one is aware he was set on fire by a different blessing, many people assume Agni to have two blessings: regeneration and fire.