Shizuo Heiwajima is renowned as the strongest man in Ikebukuro. He works as Tom Tanaka's bodyguard and is friends with Celty Sturluson and Shinra Kishitani. Despite quitting the Dollars, he is still regarded as one of its most important members. Shizuo is a tall young man often seen wearing his trademark bartender suit and blue sunglasses. As a child he had brown hair, though he later dyes his hair blond as suggested by Tom Tanaka in middle school. He is noted by several characters to be a good-looking guy who resembles the actor Yuuhei Hanejima, who is actually his little brother Kasuka Heiwajima. Shizuo is introduced to the viewers in the first few episodes as a violent, no-nonsense tough guy, on equal footing with dangerous characters, such as Izaya Orihara and Simon Brezhnev. However, it is implied that most of the time, he is quiet and nondescript, simply following Tom around as his bodyguard. Shizuo apparently does not 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. This restive nature is why Masaomi Kida warns Mikado Ryuugamine to stay away from him, along with Izaya and the Dollars, telling him to 'not hesitate to run from him' in the manga. 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 hurt people he cared for. It is noted in the light novels that Shizuo seems to loathe both his strength and, by proxy, himself, despising both his short temper and inability to change his violent ways. As a boy growing up, it is mentioned that he simply endured the "eternal hell" that came with his power's toll upon his body as he felt it was simply a materialization of his own anger, and thus what he deserved. As noted in the light novels, Shizuo is extremely lonely, partially due to his own fear of hurting those he cares for accidentally and partially due to his strength pushing everyone away from him. It is revealed he had fallen for a woman in the past, but was unable to control his strength and ended up injuring her severely despite only trying to save her. His strength also gradually alienated everyone around him, leaving him isolated and fully aware of the fact that he could never be seen as a normal person and not something to be feared again. As he matured, Shizuo came to the realization that all he truly wanted was to be loved by someone, but because of his condition could not love anyone. He believed he may have been able to forgive himself had his power existed to protect something, but also knew fully well that no matter what he fought for the world would always label his efforts as "violence". Thus, when Shizuo states he hates violence, it is implied that what he truly means is that he hates himself, as due to his very nature he is the definition of violence. It is not until his run-in with the Saika Army that he is able to accept himself the way he is, since they claim to "love" him because of his strength—the first time anyone has told them they love him at all. He was able to use his strength to its fullest without holding back and still be loved and praised for it, and this gave him the motivation to begin to accept his violent ways, even assisting with his self-control to a degree and allowing him to stop a punch he had already thrown at the last second. Outsiders believe that the "slasher" incidents ended when he went after Shizuo, while it is actually when Anri Sonohara defeats Haruna Niekawa, but Shizuo still beat up many of Saika's daughter blades and only stopped fighting when they did. Despite his violent temper, and fierce attitude, Shizuo is shown to be kindhearted with a deep rooted sense of honor and cares deeply for those who are close to him, including Celty, Tom, Vorona, Akane and Kasuka; he is also shown to be protective of children, as with Akane Awakusu. 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; Shizuo doesn't have this limitation, and is capable of using his full strength, essentially he is able to exert 100% of the body's muscular strength, maximizing the capacity. He is strong enough to be able to chase after a truck while continuously kicking a car as if it was a soccer ball, he has multiple times tossed vending machines across a block. His power is described in the novels as the naturally unlimited form of human strength and endurance. Shinra Kishitani 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. His muscles'; build, flexibility and definition have all developed to perfection, he possesses a skeletal system completely unbreakable and a musculoskeletal system that is completely indestructible, even when shot multiple times at point blank range, rather than penetrating his body the bullets embedded into his skin. He can even neutralize his sensitivity to physical pain. Now, as an adult, he is able to use his power without destroying his body or any harm to himself. Shizuo is also capable of often superhuman parkour moves gained from years of chasing Izaya Orihara, 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 "Iiii-zaaa-yaaa!" after him.
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