Kuro Hazama, or widely known as Dr. Black Jack, is the main protagonist in both the manga and anime series. He is known as an unlicensed master surgeon who charges ridiculous fees to many. He lives with Pinoko (and Largo in the 2004 TV series) in a house on a cape in Japan, overlooking the beach.
Personality
Many people assume that Black Jack is a rude and soulless person because of his appearance, but in reality he can be a very compassionate and dedicated person. Although he charges absurd amounts of money for his procedures, he performs free surgeries on people who touched him with their kindness or struggles in life. He is very perceptive and able to diagnose a patient with only one look. Those who witness how he operates sometimes comment that his work is divine. Since Pinoko came into his life, he cares for her deeply as if she were his daughter and he is willing to do anything for her.
Throughout his life, Black Jack learned some harsh lessons and has to face the reality that there are times he cannot go against the forces of nature. In difficult and tricky situations, he is a quick thinker and is able to fool others easily (mostly with good intentions). Besides being an expert in surgeries, he is also a skilled combat fighter who makes use of his surgical tools (notably the scalpel) that he hides underneath his cape. He also shows that he is highly responsible for his patient's safety and well-being, which explains his high pricing. He cares for and is deeply appreciative of people who change his life.
Appearance
Nearly half of Black Jack's hair is white, supposedly due to shock and stress as the remaining half of his is black. (Most of it from being in such intensive care for most of his early life, and the emotional strain of having his mother dying and his father leave him and his dying mother. This is not neccesarily medically accurate, but is the supposed story). The fringe from his hair hangs low enough on his face to cover the side of the face which has the large patch of mismatched skin. He hides it due to the fact some find this to be unsettling and give him an "unpleasant appearance". On the back of his head, it curls upwards. He has piercing brown eyes that also may appear to have a red tint. He is usually seen wearing a black cape that is nearly as long as he is tall. Under this, he wears a white collar shirt, a black vest, black dress pants and black dress shoes. He is almost always adorning himself with a blue, purple, or red ribbon in place of a tie. He is almost never shown without this signature outfit. Despite his scary appearance, he is considered very attractive by those who get to know him better, especially women. Especially Pinoko.
History
Early Life
21 years ago, Black Jack (as a kid) along with his mother, Mio Hazama were at a beach. While playing around, he found a half-buried bomb and accidentally triggered it, leaving him and his mother shredded almost to pieces. Even though the chances of surviving were quite slim, Dr. Jotaro Honma thought otherwise and began to operate. Black Jack also had lost a chunk of his face and therefore needed a skin transplant. At the time, there were no donors in the hospital, so Dr. Jotaro Honma called upon his classmates to donate skin. All of them refused, except for one. An interracial child named Takashi. He donated skin to Black Jack, helping him out greatly. Although, Takashi had a darker complexion than Black Jack, thus giving Black Jack his signature two tone face (in the manga, he has a light blue side of his face instead. In later iterations, he is given a light brown half). Black Jack miraculously survived but unfortunately for Mio, she began to die after losing most of her organs and all four limbs. Moments away from death, Mio's last request was for Black Jack to forgive his father, Kagemitsu Hazama. Kagemitsu ran away to China with his new wife after the incident, leaving Black Jack growing up filled with rage and hatred towards his father. While Black Jack is treated at the hospital, he works hard to regain the use of his limbs without any help from the hospital staff and learns the meaning of struggle. Since that incident, he was feeling quite depressed, but determined to become a doctor just like Dr. Honma.
Schooling Years
After being discharged from the hospital, Black Jack returns to school but is disappointed to find Takashi gone. Dr. Honma raised Black Jack and eventually, he became Dr. Honma's best student. During his high school years, he skips classes and became somewhat of a delinquent, often playing darts behind the school building. Nobody befriends him during that time due to his "cruel" appearance and aloof attitude; even his teachers gave up on him. He was lonely until one day, he made friends with the school joker. Thanks to that, Black Jack was able to smile again for the first time since the incident. Still inspired by Dr. Honma, he pursues the study of medicine. During this time, his girlfriend contracted cervical cancer and he decided to operate on her, which got his medical license revoked by the head surgeon. After graduating, Black Jack opened his own clinic in a house on a cliff, overlooking the beach. This beach was home to a killer whale that Black Jack eventually named Triton.
Present
He is currently living with his adoptive daughter Pinoko (and Largo the dog in the 2004 TV series), treating and performing miraculous surgeries on people while charging them with extremely high fees.
Trivia
- His real name is actually Kurō Hazama (間 黒男 Hazama Kurō).
- The name "Black Jack" is translated from his real name, Kuro (which means black if written with Japanese characters), and Jack (a common name for a man).
- Many people say Black Jack resembles Captain Harlock due to the scars across the side of their faces.
- Even though Black Jack has shown no interest in falling in love, he used to have a relationship with a woman. She then had to have her ovaries removed due to a cancer, causing her to want to change genders because she believed she was no longer a woman. She and Black Jack chose not to stay together, and she (living as a he), refers to herself in the times when she was a "biological" woman as a completely different person. She had been found out by a young sailor, hinting at the fact that she didn't pursue any surgery for sex change. She's also commonly referred to as "she" and "Megumi" by Black Jack
- In the 2004 TV series, Black Jack mentioned that the reason he didn't want to marry is because he didn't want any women to be criticized for loving a man with his looks and personality.
- He met with his father again in the Black Jack 21 series as well as the manga, with the same burning hatred he had previously had.
- In the manga, during his lie-detector test in the story "U-18", it is said that his father ran away with his new wife to Hong Kong instead of Macau, China.
- He was especially good at darts during his high school years. This precision aids him in both surgery and combat.
- His blood type is O.
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