Haru (Beverly Hills Ninja)

Haru or The Great White Ninja is the main protagonist of the 1997 comedy film Beverly Hills Ninja. He is an American male, who was raised in Japan by a group of skilled Ninja. He is the adopted son of the the dojo's sensei and adopted brother of Gobei. He is portrayed by the late Chris Farley, who famously portrayed Matt Foley on Saturday Night Live, Tommy Callahan in Tommy Boy (1995), and Mike Donnelly in Black Sheep (1996). Haru was born sometime prior to the events which take place, having lost his parents at sea and ending up on the shores of Japan. There, a clan of skilled ninja discover Haru in a wooden chest, taking the boy in and training him to become a ninja. Haru would learn alongside his adopted older brother Gobei in the arts of combat and ninjutsu, but grew up to become a rather overweight, clumsy and inept individual, struggling in his training to become a ninja. While others of his class become ninjas successfully, including his own brother, Haru is given the task to watch the dojo while the others are away on a mission. While training himself rather unsuccessfully, Haru is met by a beautiful woman who is under the alias of Sally Jones. She seeks a ninja to follow a man named Martin Tanley, in hopes of finding out if he is up to no good. Haru accepts the assignment and tracks Tanley in Japan, where he discovers that he is a criminal, operating a counterfeiting ring with members of the Yakuza. With this information, he attempts to inform Sally, only to find she has left before hand and he must now venture forth to Beverly Hills in order to find her. Saying goodbye to his family, Haru leaves for America, where he finds the customs of western culture differ significantly from those in the east. Nevertheless, Haru is determined to find Sally and inform her of what he's learned.