Hien

Hien

The Hien (飛燕, Hien^? "Flying Swallow") is one of Ibuki's special attacks, introduced along with her in the Street Fighter III series. It was removed from her moveset in Street Fighter V.

Input

All appearances	+

Description

Hien in action

Executed by performing a "reverse Shoryuken" motion (back, down and down-back) and pressing kick, Ibuki jumps forward, kicks out and (if it comes into contact with the opponent) kick-jumps away to a safe distance. The amount of distance the jump covers and damage done are determined by the kick button pressed: Light Kick version has the least, Heavy Kick version has the most, and Medium Kick version is somewhere in between.

The EX Special version auto-targets the opponent's head for her, can travel the entire width of the screen, does more damage, knocks the opponent down and causes Ibuki to land behind them. The attack's safety varies on a matchup basis. This version only auto tracks the opponent when Ibuki starts the attack and does not adjust nor can be adjusted after Ibuki is in the air, making this attack rather weak against opponents with fast Walk Speed.

Street Fighter IV

Ibuki stomping Cammy with Hien.

Hien's can be used as a somewhat alternative to both of Ibuki's non EX Neck Breaker, Jump, and Hammer Kick. As Ibuki's Neckbreaker travels somewhat slowly and her jump is rather floaty Hien usually will make contact before any of these options. However Ibuki can't follow up with further attacks if a successful jump in connects, doesn't get her knockdown benefits from Neckbreaker, and has much more limited follow ups than Hammer Kick, only Kunai and Kasumi Suzaku can be used after this attack connects on hit and block. This is the easiest way to cancel into her super without more complicated jump motions and dealing with Height Restrictions. The biggest disadvantage is there is no practical way for Ibuki herself to combo into either incarnation of Hien.

While the EX version of Hien is significantly outclassed by EX Neckbreaker, it is floatier than her jump and rivals her Super Jump in terms of time to touch the ground. While Ibuki does score a hard knockdown upon a successful connection the time it takes her to touch the floor again significantly lowers her options after a hit. While this attack does auto track, it only takes into account where the opponent was when the player inputted the motion for EX Hien. This means Ibuki goes for where they were during the start up and opponents with fast Walk Speed or sudden movement options such as Yoga Teleport could make Ibuki miss her mark and be open for Punishes.

Street Fighter X Tekken

Ibuki stepping on Ling Xiaoyu's face twice as part of Hien in Street Fighter X Tekken.

In SFXT this attack works mostly similarly to her IV version of Hien with some changes. Similarly to the IV version Ibuki has no real way to combo into Hien on her own. However every version has a buff of some kind. The non EX versions have similar ranges but all of the non EX second stomps have much high Hitstun than they did in the previous game. This is Ibuki's best way to provide a grounded Switch Cancel as her incoming ally has enough time to set up a followup combo even if the player does the switch on the second stomp, though switching on the first one does provide a bit more time. On block this attack is safe depending on how far Ibuki's ally has to run in, so switch canceling in the corner isn't a good idea as Ibuki and her incoming ally can be punished at the same time. Since this attack travels a good distance and hits the ground faster than her jump this attack is a good way to punish Tags that were done without any precaution. Unlike her other switch cancel options such as Kazekiri, Hien provides a fully grounded follow up opportunity so her partner can even use their Launcher and bring back Ibuki so she could continue punishing the opponent. Which while Ibuki isn't a high damage character on her own, she still out damages some characters out of launcher such as Poison, or Ibuki can set up some Safe Jump and Option Select situations against characters with bad wake up games such as Ling Xiaoyu, Christie, or Jack X.

Ex Hien's Blockstun on display against Ling Xiaoyu.

The EX version was buffed in almost the opposite way. While it functions almost identically to the IV version on hit, on block EX Hien was buffed in terms of Chip Damage and blockstun/Screen Freeze caused. This makes EX Hien Ibuki's safest attack to Switch Cancel from on block (though on hit her ally can not follow up) and allows her ally more time to set up their next attack than even EX Tsumuji. Ibuki herself is rather unsafe but due to the amount of time her ally has to perform an action her ally should be able to protect Ibuki. Due to the odd angle Ibuki steps on her opponent it isn't uncommon for Ibuki to actually beat some Cross Cancel when they activate them. Though even with the massive blockstun buff EX Hien is still just as impractical to connect as it was in the previous game. Both Ex Tsumuji and Kazekiri are much easier to combo on hit and block making them more practical for switching on hit and block.

Trivia

• In the III games, this attack and her air throw Tobizaru used the same animation. Since IV it has been modified, while Ibuki still kicks her opponent similarly in her air throw Ibuki holds her opponent and the kicks are different while in Hien Ibuki simply steps on her opponent.

Gallery

Sprites

Gallery

Hard Kick Hien in Street Fighter IV.

Ibuki stomping her opponent with EX Hien.

EX Hien

Hien in 3rd Strike

Ibuki missing with her Hien in 3D Battle.

Ibuki stomping out Ling Xiaoyu knocking her down in Street Fighter X Tekken.