Shizuo Heiwajima (平和島 静雄, Heiwajima Shizuo) is renowned as the strongest man in Ikebukuro. He currently works as Tom Tanaka's bodyguard, and he is shown to be familiar with some of the major characters in the series, such as Izaya Orihara and Celty Sturluson. He was a member of the Dollars group. Shizuo is voiced by Daisuke Ono in the original Japanese anime, and by Crispin Freeman in the English dub of Durarara!!.
Characteristics
Shizuo is a often seen wearing his trademark bartender suit and blue sunglasses. As a child he had brown hair, and later dyes his hair blonde as Tom suggested it to him in Middle School. He is noted by several to be a good-looking guy who resembles the actor Hanejima Yuuhei (who is actually his little brother). He is introduced to the viewers in the first few episodes as a violent, unintelligent, no-nonsense tough guy, on equal footing with dangerous characters such as Walker. However, it is implied that most of the time, he is quiet and nondescript, simply following Tom around as his bodyguard. Shizuo apparently doesn't really like violence and has misgivings about his own strength; unfortunately, he has a very short temper and when angered, his body "acts on its own" and he fights with incredible strength. Masaomi warns Mikado to stay away from him, along with Izaya and the Dollars, telling him to 'not hesitate to run from him' in the manga.
Shizuo's great strength is explained this way: Normally, the brain restricts one's power, shutting down muscles in response to pain in order to prevent serious injury; unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), Shizuo doesn't have this limitation, and is capable of using his full strength. His power is described in the novels as the naturally unlimited form of human strength, and Shinra likens it to the incredible "adrenaline power" that people rarely display in times of emergency. Although he was chronically injuring himself as a child, over time his body quickly strengthened itself and caught up. Now, as an adult, he is able to use his power without destroying his own body.
Despite the fact that Shizuo used his power very often, he was (and to some extent remains) worried about it. This is probably the result of events in his childhood where his strength caused others to fear him, alienated him from others at school, and even at times inadvertently hurting people he cares for. It wasn't until his run-in with the Saika Army that he was able to accept himself the way he was, since they claimed to "love" him because of his strength, giving him a reason to stop holding back. Outsiders believe that the "Slasher" incidents ended when he went after Shizuo (it was actually when Anri defeated Haruna Niekawa, but Shizuo still beat up many of Saika's daughter blades and only stopped fighting when they did).
Shizuo is also capable of often superhuman parkour moves gained from years of chasing Izaya, who is very good at running away from him. They share an intense mutual animosity, and Shizuo simply seeing Izaya on the street usually results in Shizuo hurling a trash can, vending machine or other dangerous projectile at him, followed by Izaya fleeing and Shizuo giving chase while angrily yelling "I-za-ya!" after him.
Background
Shizuo stated that he grew up within a perfectly normal family and suffered no significant traumas during his childhood. His superhuman strength first surfaced when he got mad at Kasuka for eating the last cup of pudding. He managed to pick up the fridge but the strain was too much for him and he ended up in the hospital. As the years passed, Shizuo's body, after years of abuse, managed to build up enough strength to withstand Shizuo's outbursts and effecively give him unlimited strength with no negative consequences to his wellbeing.
Once Shizuo entered middle school, he quickly became friends with Tom Tanaka after saving him from some bullies. Tom gave Shizuo a lot of helpful advice on how to keep others from starting trouble with him such as bleaching his hair blonde so that he would be easy to recognize and earn a reputation. It manages to work until Shizuo entered highschool and encountered Izaya Orihara for the first time. Shizuo and Izaya hated each other almost instantly and have developed a fierce rivalry. Their battles would frequently cause thousands of dollars in collateral damage requiring the frequent intervention of the police, as well as fellow classmate Hajime Shishizaki who was one of the only ones capable of standing up to Shizuo's immense strength.
Around his second or third year of high school, Izaya became wanted for a crime and he framed Shizuo as being his accomplice. Shizuo, who was under 18 at that time, flung a vending machine at the cops who tried to arrest him. The policemen investigated more and Shizuo was cleared of all charges. However, this incident caused his hatred of Izaya to escalate.
After graduating, Shizuo drifted from job to job constantly getting fired from each one due to his temper or because of Izaya's plotting. He was also approached by a talent scout and instead nearly beat him to death for annoying him. Kasuka intervened and the talent scout approached him instead. After that, Kasuka visited him and gave Shizuo the bartender uniforms that he wears so frequently and asked him to settle down a bit. However, thanks to Izaya, he also got fired from that job. Eventually, Shizuo found a job working for Tom's debt collectors agency as a bodyguard. However, Shizuo usually went overboard when shaking down a client which would usually end with the company having to pay for any collateral damage
Relationships
Izaya Orihara:
Conflict is the very core and definition of the relationship between them. From the second they first met in highschool, the two of them have been at each others throats. Their constant battles have become common place in Ikebukuro to the point that even the police have long since given up trying to apprehend Shizuo for the destruction he causes simply because it happens so often.
The two of them are almost complete opposites of each other both physically and mentally. While Izaya is a calm and (mostly) collected individual who remains emotionally detached from most situations, Shizuo reacts impulsively on almost every single turn, causing him to go on a blind rampage. Where Izaya tends to use his superior agility and precise planning to get what he wants, Shizuo almost exclusively uses brute force to achieve his goals. While both methods have proven to be effective, Shizuo tends to leave a lot more destruction in his wake that causes problems for him in the long run.
While Shizuo frequently expresses a strong desire to murder Izaya in the most painful way possible, he is, ironically, the least agressive of the two of them. This is pointed out by Shizuo himself in Volume 9 of the Light novels where he explains that while killing him would be rather satisfying, he would be perfectly content if Izaya simply stayed out of his life completely. This is further evidenced by the fact that in almost all of their fights, It's Izaya who throws the first punch. Even when Shizuo is the one to attack first, it's usually because he believes that Izaya had provoked him in some way.
Izaya hates Shizuo about as much as Shizuo hates him, although he is a lot better at controlling it out in the open. It's made clear that he doesn't even consider Shizuo human by his standards, considering him closer to that of an animal than anything else. As such, he gets extremely annoyed when Shizuo actually shows some sign of intelligence or maturity. It also seems that, between the two of them, Izaya appears to be the most fixated on their rivalry. This is shown in that Izaya frequently goes out of his way to antagonize Shizuo in some way whether it be a simple prank or framing him for murder.
Mairu and Kururi Orihara:
Unlike their older brother, Shizuo's actually on friendly terms with the Orihara twins. This is most likely due to the mutual indifference they share towards Izaya. The twins even frequently cheer Shizuo on whenever they witness one of their trademark chase sequences. They often pester him to introduce them to his younger brother Kasuka Heiwajima, as they are major fans of his acting.
Tom Tanaka:
Shizuo and Tom have been friends since middle school. Ever since Tom witnessed Shizuo in action, he tried to get on his good side to avoid getting killed. It was Tom who suggested that Shizuo bleach his hair blonde so as to build up a reputation to keep the gangs away. After Shizuo got fired from his bartending job, Tom gave him a new one in the form of his bodyguard and the two have been partners ever since. Tom's also one of the few people who can calm Shizuo down after one of his rampages.
Vorona:
Although he wasn't aware of it at the time, Shizuo and Vorona first met during the battle at the Raira practice fields. Shizuo quickly gained Vorona's attention due to his inhuman strength and ferocity. Even though She technically failed her mission, she expressed nothing but excitment and joy at the prospect of fighting Shizuo again which becomes one of her primary motivations throughout the series.
Shizuo formally meets Vorona shortly after his boss hires her at Simon's reccomendation. Shizuo's boss assigns Vorona to work under Shizuo, the official reason being that Shizuo is supposed to act as her mentor and show her the ropes (a task he accepts with much enthusiasm). The real reason, however, is so that Vorona can act as a deterrent towards Shizuo's tendency to cause untold amounts of colatoral damage when angered. Basically, Vorona acts as the mussel when Tom begins to shakedown a client unless said client proves to be especially resilient. In which case, Shizuo is called in to take care of it.
Shizuo appears extremely excited with having a kouhai (underclassman/junior colleague) to work underhim due to the fact that Shizuo normally gets fired before he can gain any sort of seniority wherever he works. Shizuo takes his role as mentor very seriously and treats Vorona like a protege through most of their initial interactions. As the series progresses, Shizuo begins to regard Vorona as not just his kouhai but also as a close friend in the same way as Tom or Celty
Vorona appears to have a few more complications with regards to her relationship with Shizuo (most of which will be covered in the conflice section below). As stated earlier, Vorona's interest in Shizuo began with their fight at Raira. Since then, she has developed a strong, almost obsessive desire, to challenge him in combat once again. However, due to Vorona's naturally inquisitive nature, she also develops an interest in Shizuo as a person since he posesses many human and inhuman qualities. As such, she resolves to learn all that she can about Shizuo (personality traits, his past, as well as any weaknesses he might have) before finally killing him. As the two of them spend more time together and Vorona becomes more accostumed to life in Ikebukuro, this desire appears to grow less prominent in her mind as time goes on. She even discovers numerous likes and dislikes that she and Shizuo share, a primary example being their love of sweets. By the end of volume 10, it appears that Vorona seems to have developed a sense of gratitude toward Shizuo and Tom for welcoming her into their group. Izaya himself comments that the relationship between Shizuo and Vorona somewhat resembles the friendship between Kyohei and Walker and Erika.
CONFLICT:
As stated earlier, the primary conflict between the two stems from Vorona's desire to kill Shizuo in combat (something Shizuo remains oblivious to). Althoug the desire has dimmed somewhat since she started working with him, this goal still remains strong in Vorona's mind as one of her primary motivations. As stated by Izaya in Volume 10, Vorona's obsession has grown to the point where Shizuo has become the only opponent she could have that could give her any form of excitment.
Akane Awakusu:
Due to Izaya, Akane wanted to kill Shizuo at first since she believed him to be an assassin after her father and grandfather. Shizuo was initially annoyed at Akane but the two grew closer after Shizuo saved her from Vorona and Slon. Because of this, Akane's feelings toward Shizuo are mixed. While she believes that Shizuo isn't after her family anymore, she still thinks he's an assassin and is too dangerous to be left unchecked (No one has told her otherwise or even knew she thought that in the first place.) With this in mind, Akane decides that the easiest solution is to become stronger than Shizuo is. She starts training at the same dojo as Mairu and Kururi.
Celty Sturluson:
Shizuo and Celty have remained on friendly terms for several years. They would often talk to each other about the problems they have and the events that surround them. Celty notes that she is one of the few people who never annoy Shizuo, most likely because she doesn't talk. He also talked to her about his childhood of how his monsterous strength hurt himself and other people. Shizuo, on his part, already knows that Celty is the headless rider but couldn't care less. He considers her a good friend and even gets angry on her behalf, which is rare. Shizuo even went so far as to swear vengeance on the Slasher when Celty informed him of her attack.
Shinra Kishitani:
In volume 05, Shizuo states that Shinra is a "Bad acquaintance that stuck." Shinra considers Shizuo a friend but the feeling isn't entirely mutual. Still, the two remain on mostly good terms with one another although Shizuo is sometimes annoyed at Shinra's ramblings.
Kyohei Kadota:
In volume 10, when Shizuo learns that Kyohei has been injured in a hit-and-run, he angrily yells that he won't forgive the bastard that hurt his old acquainance. Shinra describes Shizuo and Kyohei as two of the most influential members in Dollars, even after Shizuo has left Dollars. Be it an external threat or an internal conflict, Shizuo serves as a deterrent in terms of physical force (anyone who wants to start a fight in Ikebukuro will be neutralized by Shizuo) while Kyohei serves as a deterrent in terms of leadership (members tend to unite and follow Kyohei since he is a decisive and reliable leader).
Characteristics
Shizuo is a often seen wearing his trademark bartender suit and blue sunglasses. As a child he had brown hair, and later dyes his hair blonde as Tom suggested it to him in Middle School. He is noted by several to be a good-looking guy who resembles the actor Hanejima Yuuhei (who is actually his little brother). He is introduced to the viewers in the first few episodes as a violent, unintelligent, no-nonsense tough guy, on equal footing with dangerous characters such as Walker. However, it is implied that most of the time, he is quiet and nondescript, simply following Tom around as his bodyguard. Shizuo apparently doesn't really like violence and has misgivings about his own strength; unfortunately, he has a very short temper and when angered, his body "acts on its own" and he fights with incredible strength. Masaomi warns Mikado to stay away from him, along with Izaya and the Dollars, telling him to 'not hesitate to run from him' in the manga.
Shizuo's great strength is explained this way: Normally, the brain restricts one's power, shutting down muscles in response to pain in order to prevent serious injury; unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), Shizuo doesn't have this limitation, and is capable of using his full strength. His power is described in the novels as the naturally unlimited form of human strength, and Shinra likens it to the incredible "adrenaline power" that people rarely display in times of emergency. Although he was chronically injuring himself as a child, over time his body quickly strengthened itself and caught up. Now, as an adult, he is able to use his power without destroying his own body.
Despite the fact that Shizuo used his power very often, he was (and to some extent remains) worried about it. This is probably the result of events in his childhood where his strength caused others to fear him, alienated him from others at school, and even at times inadvertently hurting people he cares for. It wasn't until his run-in with the Saika Army that he was able to accept himself the way he was, since they claimed to "love" him because of his strength, giving him a reason to stop holding back. Outsiders believe that the "Slasher" incidents ended when he went after Shizuo (it was actually when Anri defeated Haruna Niekawa, but Shizuo still beat up many of Saika's daughter blades and only stopped fighting when they did).
Shizuo is also capable of often superhuman parkour moves gained from years of chasing Izaya, who is very good at running away from him. They share an intense mutual animosity, and Shizuo simply seeing Izaya on the street usually results in Shizuo hurling a trash can, vending machine or other dangerous projectile at him, followed by Izaya fleeing and Shizuo giving chase while angrily yelling "I-za-ya!" after him.
Background
Shizuo stated that he grew up within a perfectly normal family and suffered no significant traumas during his childhood. His superhuman strength first surfaced when he got mad at Kasuka for eating the last cup of pudding. He managed to pick up the fridge but the strain was too much for him and he ended up in the hospital. As the years passed, Shizuo's body, after years of abuse, managed to build up enough strength to withstand Shizuo's outbursts and effecively give him unlimited strength with no negative consequences to his wellbeing.
Once Shizuo entered middle school, he quickly became friends with Tom Tanaka after saving him from some bullies. Tom gave Shizuo a lot of helpful advice on how to keep others from starting trouble with him such as bleaching his hair blonde so that he would be easy to recognize and earn a reputation. It manages to work until Shizuo entered highschool and encountered Izaya Orihara for the first time. Shizuo and Izaya hated each other almost instantly and have developed a fierce rivalry. Their battles would frequently cause thousands of dollars in collateral damage requiring the frequent intervention of the police, as well as fellow classmate Hajime Shishizaki who was one of the only ones capable of standing up to Shizuo's immense strength.
Around his second or third year of high school, Izaya became wanted for a crime and he framed Shizuo as being his accomplice. Shizuo, who was under 18 at that time, flung a vending machine at the cops who tried to arrest him. The policemen investigated more and Shizuo was cleared of all charges. However, this incident caused his hatred of Izaya to escalate.
After graduating, Shizuo drifted from job to job constantly getting fired from each one due to his temper or because of Izaya's plotting. He was also approached by a talent scout and instead nearly beat him to death for annoying him. Kasuka intervened and the talent scout approached him instead. After that, Kasuka visited him and gave Shizuo the bartender uniforms that he wears so frequently and asked him to settle down a bit. However, thanks to Izaya, he also got fired from that job. Eventually, Shizuo found a job working for Tom's debt collectors agency as a bodyguard. However, Shizuo usually went overboard when shaking down a client which would usually end with the company having to pay for any collateral damage
Relationships
Izaya Orihara:
Conflict is the very core and definition of the relationship between them. From the second they first met in highschool, the two of them have been at each others throats. Their constant battles have become common place in Ikebukuro to the point that even the police have long since given up trying to apprehend Shizuo for the destruction he causes simply because it happens so often.
The two of them are almost complete opposites of each other both physically and mentally. While Izaya is a calm and (mostly) collected individual who remains emotionally detached from most situations, Shizuo reacts impulsively on almost every single turn, causing him to go on a blind rampage. Where Izaya tends to use his superior agility and precise planning to get what he wants, Shizuo almost exclusively uses brute force to achieve his goals. While both methods have proven to be effective, Shizuo tends to leave a lot more destruction in his wake that causes problems for him in the long run.
While Shizuo frequently expresses a strong desire to murder Izaya in the most painful way possible, he is, ironically, the least agressive of the two of them. This is pointed out by Shizuo himself in Volume 9 of the Light novels where he explains that while killing him would be rather satisfying, he would be perfectly content if Izaya simply stayed out of his life completely. This is further evidenced by the fact that in almost all of their fights, It's Izaya who throws the first punch. Even when Shizuo is the one to attack first, it's usually because he believes that Izaya had provoked him in some way.
Izaya hates Shizuo about as much as Shizuo hates him, although he is a lot better at controlling it out in the open. It's made clear that he doesn't even consider Shizuo human by his standards, considering him closer to that of an animal than anything else. As such, he gets extremely annoyed when Shizuo actually shows some sign of intelligence or maturity. It also seems that, between the two of them, Izaya appears to be the most fixated on their rivalry. This is shown in that Izaya frequently goes out of his way to antagonize Shizuo in some way whether it be a simple prank or framing him for murder.
Mairu and Kururi Orihara:
Unlike their older brother, Shizuo's actually on friendly terms with the Orihara twins. This is most likely due to the mutual indifference they share towards Izaya. The twins even frequently cheer Shizuo on whenever they witness one of their trademark chase sequences. They often pester him to introduce them to his younger brother Kasuka Heiwajima, as they are major fans of his acting.
Tom Tanaka:
Shizuo and Tom have been friends since middle school. Ever since Tom witnessed Shizuo in action, he tried to get on his good side to avoid getting killed. It was Tom who suggested that Shizuo bleach his hair blonde so as to build up a reputation to keep the gangs away. After Shizuo got fired from his bartending job, Tom gave him a new one in the form of his bodyguard and the two have been partners ever since. Tom's also one of the few people who can calm Shizuo down after one of his rampages.
Vorona:
Although he wasn't aware of it at the time, Shizuo and Vorona first met during the battle at the Raira practice fields. Shizuo quickly gained Vorona's attention due to his inhuman strength and ferocity. Even though She technically failed her mission, she expressed nothing but excitment and joy at the prospect of fighting Shizuo again which becomes one of her primary motivations throughout the series.
Shizuo formally meets Vorona shortly after his boss hires her at Simon's reccomendation. Shizuo's boss assigns Vorona to work under Shizuo, the official reason being that Shizuo is supposed to act as her mentor and show her the ropes (a task he accepts with much enthusiasm). The real reason, however, is so that Vorona can act as a deterrent towards Shizuo's tendency to cause untold amounts of colatoral damage when angered. Basically, Vorona acts as the mussel when Tom begins to shakedown a client unless said client proves to be especially resilient. In which case, Shizuo is called in to take care of it.
Shizuo appears extremely excited with having a kouhai (underclassman/junior colleague) to work underhim due to the fact that Shizuo normally gets fired before he can gain any sort of seniority wherever he works. Shizuo takes his role as mentor very seriously and treats Vorona like a protege through most of their initial interactions. As the series progresses, Shizuo begins to regard Vorona as not just his kouhai but also as a close friend in the same way as Tom or Celty
Vorona appears to have a few more complications with regards to her relationship with Shizuo (most of which will be covered in the conflice section below). As stated earlier, Vorona's interest in Shizuo began with their fight at Raira. Since then, she has developed a strong, almost obsessive desire, to challenge him in combat once again. However, due to Vorona's naturally inquisitive nature, she also develops an interest in Shizuo as a person since he posesses many human and inhuman qualities. As such, she resolves to learn all that she can about Shizuo (personality traits, his past, as well as any weaknesses he might have) before finally killing him. As the two of them spend more time together and Vorona becomes more accostumed to life in Ikebukuro, this desire appears to grow less prominent in her mind as time goes on. She even discovers numerous likes and dislikes that she and Shizuo share, a primary example being their love of sweets. By the end of volume 10, it appears that Vorona seems to have developed a sense of gratitude toward Shizuo and Tom for welcoming her into their group. Izaya himself comments that the relationship between Shizuo and Vorona somewhat resembles the friendship between Kyohei and Walker and Erika.
CONFLICT:
As stated earlier, the primary conflict between the two stems from Vorona's desire to kill Shizuo in combat (something Shizuo remains oblivious to). Althoug the desire has dimmed somewhat since she started working with him, this goal still remains strong in Vorona's mind as one of her primary motivations. As stated by Izaya in Volume 10, Vorona's obsession has grown to the point where Shizuo has become the only opponent she could have that could give her any form of excitment.
Akane Awakusu:
Due to Izaya, Akane wanted to kill Shizuo at first since she believed him to be an assassin after her father and grandfather. Shizuo was initially annoyed at Akane but the two grew closer after Shizuo saved her from Vorona and Slon. Because of this, Akane's feelings toward Shizuo are mixed. While she believes that Shizuo isn't after her family anymore, she still thinks he's an assassin and is too dangerous to be left unchecked (No one has told her otherwise or even knew she thought that in the first place.) With this in mind, Akane decides that the easiest solution is to become stronger than Shizuo is. She starts training at the same dojo as Mairu and Kururi.
Celty Sturluson:
Shizuo and Celty have remained on friendly terms for several years. They would often talk to each other about the problems they have and the events that surround them. Celty notes that she is one of the few people who never annoy Shizuo, most likely because she doesn't talk. He also talked to her about his childhood of how his monsterous strength hurt himself and other people. Shizuo, on his part, already knows that Celty is the headless rider but couldn't care less. He considers her a good friend and even gets angry on her behalf, which is rare. Shizuo even went so far as to swear vengeance on the Slasher when Celty informed him of her attack.
Shinra Kishitani:
In volume 05, Shizuo states that Shinra is a "Bad acquaintance that stuck." Shinra considers Shizuo a friend but the feeling isn't entirely mutual. Still, the two remain on mostly good terms with one another although Shizuo is sometimes annoyed at Shinra's ramblings.
Kyohei Kadota:
In volume 10, when Shizuo learns that Kyohei has been injured in a hit-and-run, he angrily yells that he won't forgive the bastard that hurt his old acquainance. Shinra describes Shizuo and Kyohei as two of the most influential members in Dollars, even after Shizuo has left Dollars. Be it an external threat or an internal conflict, Shizuo serves as a deterrent in terms of physical force (anyone who wants to start a fight in Ikebukuro will be neutralized by Shizuo) while Kyohei serves as a deterrent in terms of leadership (members tend to unite and follow Kyohei since he is a decisive and reliable leader).