The Four Kings is a collective name used to define four young men who will become the leaders or strongest fighters in their generation of Suzuran, Housen, The Front of Armament, and formerly The Kurotaki Alliance.
After the Kurotaki Alliance's disbandment, their name still remained throughout Toarushi as a moniker for their former territory. Regardless, a fourth king still usually emerges from this area, but this isn't always the case, which sometimes rendered The Big Four to a Big Three of Suzuran, Housen and The Armament. The last group to have control of Kurotaki's old turf was Rindow High's Amachi Army.
Together these four act as pillars that keep up the balance in the town and it's said that these four practically rule Toarushi.
History
The Four Kings
Harumichi Bouya, Bulldog, Tatsuya Bitou, Kunou Ryuushin.
The term Four Kings or Big Four originated with this generation of Heads. Each man obtained power at different points in time during the series Crows. Harumichi Bouya is the first one introduced as a transfer student at Suzuran High and gains infamy for allying with the Ebizuka Trio to destroy the Bandou Ippa faction, later beating their boss Hideto Bandou who had connections to The Front of Armament.
Since Bandou lost , The Front of Armament's third generation Head Kunou Hideomi sought to eliminate Bouya for sullying their reputation, which sparked the fury of the Armament's Vice Head Kunou Ryuushin who was recognized as the true strength behind T.F.O.A. regardless of his crooked elder brother's leadership. This in turn would lead to Bouya's complete decimation of the Armament's third generation. Defeated by Bouya, Ryuushin later reestablishes the Armament, becoming the Head of it's fourth generation and returning to the once valued foundations T.F.O.A. was previously built upon.
When Osamu Furukawa is introduced he is known as Takiya Commerce's Bulldog,and considered the strongest fighter in the schools history, He was in the middle of a war with Kurosaki Industrial's duo Maruken and Kakuken because of an age old rivalry between their schools. However due to the possible threat of Suzuran High, Bulldog purposes the two schools join forces thus creating the powerhouse faction that would come to be known as the Kurotaki Alliance.
Tatsuya Bitou was a second year, and the true leader of Housen Academy, who was hell bent with taking revenge on Suzuran for his elder brother untimely murder by one of their students three years earlier. He managed to take out all of the Harumichi Family's top members, ordering the Housen Killer Corps to ambush Pon and Mako then personally defeating Kirishima, He even severely injures Bouya by kicking him down a flight of stairs. After Bouya's recovery he easily defeated Tatsuya in a fair fight. When he was beaten by Bouya, Bitou decided to take a position underground and passed over leadership to his younger brother Hideyuki Bitou.
The war between P.A.D and the Snake Heads gang resulted in the murder of their leader Jinnai Kouhei. The ramifications of this would lead to two of the Four Kings retirement. Kunou Ryuushin ,who quit the Armament to pursue a Boxing career and Tatsuya Bitou , who moved to another School in Tokyo. Leaving Bulldog and Bouya as the only two remaining kings in town which wouldn't last long because Bull retired after deciding to run his Father's company. Bouya would become the last king to leave Toarushi. But after having to repeat his third year at Suzuran, Bouya left town and no one has heard from him since, his current whereabouts are unknown.
Second Generation
Zetton, Nakajima Shinsuke, King Joe, Takeda Kousei.
This generation of Four Kings came to fruition during the waning days of the original four's reign. They were the strongest freshmen fighters in their schools or gangs and they each took their power in different ways. During Suzuran High's First Year War ,an old junior of Harumichi Bouya's from middle school nicknamed Zetton was a finalist along with the favorite to win it all, Mad Dog Katou Hideyoshi, whom he defeated to stand above all of the first years in Suzuran. Zetton was dubbed the School's strongest man after Harumichi left.
As a freshman, King Joe was already the top first year at Housen Academy but was tired of the peace brought upon by the Four Kings status, so after being acknowledged by Tatsuya Bitou he fought and defeated the younger Bitou brother, Hideyuki,thus becoming the leader of Housen.
When Kunou Ryuushin suddenly retired ,Takeda Kousei ,who was a long time apprentice of the fourth generation under vice head Juuzou, became the fifth head of The Front of Armament which in the beginning were only three members strong. On Takeda's first night as Head they repelled an attack by thirty members of HYAKKI.
In his first year Nakajima Shinusuke defeated Kawada 2nd's boss Ishikawa, one of the Kurotaki Alliance's leaders, which prompted Bulldog to invite him to join their ranks. He would later succeed Bull as the second president of the Kurotaki Alliance, earning the respect of his fellow first year Kurotaki leaders by challenging Bouya Harumichi. At the height of their power they were considered the strongest fighters in the city.
All four members of the Four Kings lost their status of leadership or being the strongest for different reasons. Zetton lost to Hanaki Guriko and thus Guriko became the strongest man in Suzuran. Nakajima moved away so he lost his status as head of Kurotaki,thus the alliance disbanded. King Joe retired from being Housens leader after being pressured into the war with Suzuran by The Moonlight Brothers. Takeda Kousei was forced into retirement as Head of The Armament because he had a cerebral infraction and Yanagi, his vice head, told him that the leaders of the Fifth Generation of The Armament decided to retire, forcing Kousei to retire also, Kawachi Tessho would later succeed him as the head of the Sixth generation.
Third Generation
Tsukishima Hana, Hisashi Amachi,Tsukimoto Mitsumasa, Murata Shougo.
By the time Tsukishima Hana enters Suzuran as a freshmen the Kurotaki Alliance disbanded and its district has become lawless. Because of this, and Zetton being defeated by Hanaki Guriko, who had no interest in ruling Suzuran, the balance in Toarushi becomes disrupted. In front of the entire student body Hana proclaims he will unite Suzuran and would go on to win the First Year War by defeating Hisashi Amachi. His fellow Umehoshi Household members Mutou Renji & Sakota Takefumi hand pick certain men from their generation and form a faction named the Hana Family with the intention of helping Hana conquer Suzuran. The group would later change their name to Hana-Gumi in their second year. During their time at Suzuran the Hana-Gumi has amassed a notable number of achievements including integrating the largest faction at Suzuran into their ranks, the FBI formerly led by Butcher,and halting the Amachi Army's rise to power, Hana himself has defeated most of Toarushi's toughest delinquents. In his third year Hana challenged Hanaki Guriko to a fight in Suzuran's gymnasium, who is known as the strongest man in town. After losing a very close fight to Guriko, Hana finally unites Suzuran High, becoming the first Boss in the school's history.
As a first year Tsukimoto Mitsumasa already had an influence in Housen due to his status as one of the Moonlight Brothers. This did not stop him from spilling blood to become Housen's top first year by defeating Matsuo Daisuke. At first Mitsumasa saw his position In Housen as a nuisance, always skipping the meetings meant for Housen leaders held in the Judo hall, which often made him give off a spoiled attitude, to the disdain of some of his peers. When The Moonlight Brothers pressured King Joe into a War with Suzuran, Joe complied despite knowing what the outcome would be if the two schools went head to head. He led Housen during the battle at the Monsters Forest, where he went toe to toe with Suzuran's Katou Hideyoshi. Even though King Joe defeated Hideyoshi, Housen suffered a four to one loss to Suzuran. Joe didn't allow Mitsumasa to participate in the one on ones with Suzuran due to his careless behavior of neglecting his duties as Housen's first year leader. After they lost to Suzuran Joe took the opportunity to relinquish his reign of Housen to the Moonlight brothers, under the leadership of the third youngest Mitsumasa. Joe's actions during the War had a profound effect on Mitsumasa's demeanor, who now takes his position as the general of Housen very seriously. Eventually winning over what little opposition he had left with his charisma and pure tenacity he displayed during his fight with King Joe, Mitsumasa would go on to reestablish Housen as the strongest army.
Even during his early days as a member of the fifth generation, Murata Shougo was said to be a man who would one day carry the Armament on his shoulders. As the younger brother of the fourth generation's Murata Juuzou he had much to live up to and he desired to see what kind of man he was in "his brother's world". Knowing that the Armament values men with both brain and brawn, Shougo sought to recruit his old friend Fujishiro Takumi who at first was hesitant to join TFOA due to his commitment with his roomates of the Umehoshi Household. When the sixth head of the Armament, Kawachi Tessho lost his life in a tragic motorcycle accident, Murata Shougo went missing for a short time, traumatized by his mentor's early demise. Later when Takumi finally joined the Armament, Shougo came to terms with Tessho's passing and he would go on to succeed him as the seventh head of TFOA. Under Shougo's leadership and Takumi's intelligence the Armament has attained various victories and alliances during their rein, including versus the Scorpions, the KKK Demons,EMOD and the Manji Empire. Later the EMOD became their brothers in arms and the KKK demons work as TFOA's Flying Column. Today the seventh generation is recognized as the strongest incarnation of the Armament in history.
After losing Suzuran's First Year War to Hana, Hisashi Amachi transferred to Rindow High, with new conviction he secretly formed the Amachi Army and slowly took over the Kurotaki Alliance's former territory by defeating many of the surrounding high school bosses like Kawada 2nd's Sera Naoki. Amachi's intention was conquering all of the High Schools in town with Suzuran as his prize. Waging a long bloody war with the top factions in Toarushi, Amachi's power was a force to be reckoned with and he was close to ruling the entire town until his operation was exposed by The Armament's Takumi, then followed by being defeated by the Hana-Gumi, this eventually led to another one on one with Hana in their sophmore year, which Amachi again lost despite his improved strength. Since being defeated by Hana and the Hana-Gumi for a second time, Amachi and his Army's officers decide to reestablish his crew on more honest foundations and promised each other that they'd never lose again.
All Four Kings were temporarily united when TFOA and the EMOD went to War with the strongest gang in Japan, the Manji Empire. Recognizing their opponent's superiority in sheer manpower prompted the Armament's Murata Shougo and Fujishiro Takumi to plead with their rival factions in town to aid in fighting against Manji, even Suzuran and Housen. A war some of Toarushi's toughest factions were involved in, including Kawada 2nd High, Yuri South High, the Black Marked Tigers and Rindow High. This is a very rare occurrence in town and only tends to happen when a common enemy has united each of Toarushi's powerhouses such as Harumichi Bouya's generation when three of the Town's Four Kings united to form P.A.D.
Soon after the conclusion of the War with Manji, the kings of this generation would go on to either graduate or retire.