American Wrestler John Cena has said that Fist of the North Star is his favourite anime movie.
The Internet memes, "Omae wa mou shinderu", literally meaning "You are already dead", and "Nani" meaning "What" emerged to the non-Japanese world.
One of the gangs is known as Warriors, likely in reference to the Walter Hill film of the same name.
The first opening, "Ai wo Torimodose", is used as entrance music in the PRIDE Fighting Championships by Josh Barnett, a confessed fan of the series.
Buronson cited Bruce Lee and Mad Max as the two biggest influences on Fist of the North Star. He stated that Kenshiro and the martial arts were inspired by the martial artist Bruce Lee and his 1970s Hong Kong action kung fu films, while the post-apocalyptic setting was inspired by the Mad Max film series