“It’s a metaphor, saying we are all the same. Look different on the outside, but we can choose for ourselves what are insides look like.”—Sumo delivering an inspirational and philosophical speech to the residents of Kakamucho.
Sumo is the supporting antagonist turned supporting protagonist of the 2022 computer-animated film Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. He is a gigantic, muscular tabby cat that wasn’t well received by the residents of Kakamucho at first, but by the end of the film is welcomed into the town alongside Hank (who becomes his best friend).
Personality[]
At first glance, Sumo is an aggressive, violent, temperamental, destructive and hostile brute with a ruthless demeanor, as evidenced during his fight with Hank and Emiko. However, after Hank’s victory over him, due to his subsequent compassion towards him, the sumo wrestler is touched by the gesture, becoming an ally for the rest of the film. It is implied during his dialogue with Hank, “No one ever nice before,” may imply that his initial harsh demeanor was due to mistreatment from others, and Hank was the very first person to ever show him any kindness, thus explaining his loyal attachment to the dog.
Now, having finally found happiness for perhaps the first time in his life, Sumo is now quite friendly, peaceful, and joyful. He contentedly enjoys pastimes such as origami and likes cuteness, such as butterflies. While rather dim-witted, he’s surprisingly philosophical, as he describes himself as being a “prawn in the sea of life” at one point. This is also shown when he gives an inspirational speech to the town’s residents, which they find more sensible than Hank’s own inspirational speech. Having come to genuinely and fiercely care for his new friends, especially Hank, he proves to be truly heroic, brave and protective, as he does everything he can to aid Hank and Jimbo in protecting the town from Ika Chu’s forces.
Appearance[]
Sumo is a gigantic, muscular and enormously obese tabby cat who is 7’8” (2.4 m) in height and is 1000 pounds (453 kg) in weight. He has thick orange fur, with darker orange stripes along his arms, cheeks, legs, back and short, stubby tail, small blue eyes with pale yellow sclera, a tiny pink nose, a cream-colored muzzle with small, sharp teeth, a like-colored patch of lighter fur on his large tummy and on his paws with dark rectangular paw pads, a tiny crop of black hair braided into a small bun and a black unibrow. Like most sumo wrestlers, Sumo is dressed in traditional sumo garb, wearing only a dark blue sumo belt.
Role in the film[]
After hearing that Hank is improving his newfound skills as a samurai-in-training, which could hinder his master plan, Ika Chu sends Sumo to the town of Kakamucho to finish off the dog and destroy the town. Upon arrival, he proceeds to lay waste to the town saloon. Emiko brings this emergency to the attention of Hank, who intends to put a stop to it, only to be stopped by an incredibly reluctant Jimbo, who believes that Hank is not ready to take on such a formidable adversary. Frustrated, Emiko decides to take on Sumo herself. Despite being able to battle him just fine, Hank finally steps in and rescues the little girl. He attempts to place Sumo under arrest, only to get brutally pummeled in response. The blow sends a small bowl of edamame beans flying, one of which lands on Sumo’s cheek, causing it to swell. Hank points this out, and Sumo immediately dunks his head in a pot of water, causing the swelling to go down. Sumo seems grateful to Hank for practically saving his life, and the latter attempts to shake hands, only to get pummeled once more. The giant sumo wrestler proceeds to beat up the would-be samurai dog relentlessly, until Jimbo helps Hank out by shooting an edamame bean into Sumo’s mouth, causing him to choke and allowing Hank to overpower him, much to the cheers of the townsfolk.
That night, after the battle, Hank is compassionate enough to get a doctor to cure Sumo. Touched by this gesture, Sumo then befriends the dog. The next morning, the reformed sumo wrestler is seen sitting on a bridge while watching Emiko teach Hank origami and playing peacefully with a butterfly.
Unfortunately, after Hank is tricked by Ika Chu into temporarily abandoning his training and responsibilities to attend a fancy party (all a ruse to keep him distracted), the town is ransacked by Ika Chu’s ninja goons. Sumo, despite trying to fend them off, is ulitimately captured, taken away to Ika Chu’s palace, and imprisoned. The next day after the attack, Jimbo and Hank attempt to storm Ika Chu’s palace in hopes of freeing Sumo. They find him locked in the dungeon and free him, to which he gives the duo a grateful bear-hug. The trio try to unescaped undetected, but are ultimately surrounded by Ika Chu’s guards. Sumo aids Jimbo and Hank by steamrolling through the army of guards and kicks open the palace gates. However, before they all can escape, one of the guards begins to close the palace’s portcullis, which Sumo tries desperately to keep up. Hank is able to escape, but an insistent Jimbo stays behind to fend off the guards, despite Hank’s pleas. A saddened Sumo pulls Hank away from the portcullis, knowing that there’s nothing they can do to save Jimbo.
Upon hearing about Sumo’s escape, Ika Chu recruits an army of thugs to destroy Kakamucho once and for all. Hank and Sumo return to Kakamucho, and the former then explains his plan to defeat Ika Chu’s army. During the battle, Sumo saves Hank from one of the thugs shooting at him, by biting off the barrels of his gatling gun and spitting the bullets back at the thug. Near the end of the battle, Jimbo returns just when Hank is about to be killed, which Sumo and the townsfolk all cheer over.
After Ika Chu’s treachery is exposed by Ogha’s dim-wittedness, he flees to his palace while being pursued by Hank, Jimbo and Sumo, the latter of whom (in a comedic fourth wall break) falls out of the movie screen and frightens the theatre patrons away, much to his confusion. Hank battles Ika Chu atop his giant jade toilet, which overflows and threatens to flood Kakamucho. Hank warns the townsfolk of the oncoming flood, then leads them in the digging of a channel to safely divert the water around the town, with Sumo playing a vital role in the plan. Using his super strength, when he sees the flood getting closer, he tosses the townsfolk onto solid ground and furiously digs as quickly as he can. When Emiko and the other cat children are washed away by the river, Hank, Jimbo, Sumo, the Shogun Toshi, and the townsfolk form a chain to save them, with Sumo clinging onto a craggy tree. Just when it looks as though he’ll lose his grip, Ogha catches him and helps him pull the villagers to safety.
Sumo is last seen among the crowd, cheering on the election of Emiko as the new samurai, as Toshi initially appoints the position to Jimbo, who in turn gives it over to Hank, who ultimately gives it to Emiko as he feels he’s not ready for it yet.
Gallery[]
Promotional[]
Trivia[]
- Sumo is based on the character Mongo from the 1974 live-action Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles.