Dr. Saruta

Like Dr. Ochanomizu Saruta is visually identifiable by his large nose though in his case it is grotesquely spotted. Where Ochanomizu generally appears in light and uplifting roles Saruta is quite the opposite. His two main roles in Tezuka manga are both in extremely important series: Black Jack and Phoenix. In Phoenix he is arguably an overarching protagonist for the series as a whole alongside its title character. He appears in every story sometimes in a main role sometimes in a peripheral one sometimes with a new name and barely recognizable in his character but always present and important. He is also distinguishable by the sheer amount of suffering he undergoes over the course of his many lives and deaths as he demonstrates both the darker sides of human nature and the human capacity for perserverance and transcendence. In Black Jack he is featured as Dr. Honma Jotaro once a skilled and famous surgeon later thrown out of the medical community due to jealousy and doubt about his research who saved young Black Jack as a child was Black Jack039s principle father figure during his life and inspired him to become a doctor. Since Saruta is the character in Phoenix who best understands the system of reincarnation life and death it is appropriate that in Black Jack Dr. Honma is the figure who most frequently reminds Black Jack about the power of nature and the inevitability of death. Source: tezukainenglish.com