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Hokuto (北斗) is the lead character of the Street Fighter EX series by Arika.
Story
Hokuto was born to a branch of the Mizukami (水神) family, which has held a tradition in the art of Kobujutsu. Originally known as "Shirase" (訃) during her childhood, Hokuto was entrusted to the head house at an early age and raised there. After her younger sister Nanase was born, the two trained together rigorously in the martial arts and were closely bonded as sisters. Hokuto trained in the martial arts since an early age, refining them into her personal style, eventually blooming her talent to become the "seiden" (正伝) of the ancient hand-to-hand martial arts of the Mizukami.
On the day Hokuto turned 17, she learned of the existence of elder brother named Kairi from her foster father, who disappeared when Hokuto was still an infant. Her brother was in fact, still alive and walking the path of the Shura (修羅). Hokuto sets off to a journey to stop him, which meant that she would have to face Kairi in a life or death confrontation. Eventually, Hokuto reached the end of her journey, and was reunited with her brother Kairi.
However, Kairi's presence triggered the Seal of Blood (血の封印 Chi no Fuuin?) implanted into Hokuto, turning her into an assassin whose only purpose was the erasure of Kairi's existence.
Bloody Hokuto
Bloody Hokuto (血の封印を解かれたほくと, Chi no Fūin Tokareta Hokuto?, Hokuto Awakened to the Seal of Blood) is an alternate version of Hokuto who appears as a hidden character in Street Fighter EX Plus' ', Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha, and Street Fighter EX3. Unknown to Hokuto, her true purpose of her mission to locate Kairi was to carry out his elimination. To ensure this, Hokuto was implanted with the Seal of Blood by the elders of the Mizukami clan, which was set to be unleashed whenever Hokuto would come into contact with Kairi. Bloody Hokuto can be distinguished from her regular counterpart by the red mark on her forehead.
Fighting Style
Naginatajutsu is one of the skills taught in kobudo, on which Hokuto's fighting style is based. Hokuto uses the naginata as part of her Meteor Combo, and is seen wielding hand fans as part of one of her Super Combos.
Gameplay
Hokuto's gameplay style involves moves that move towards the opponent before the attack, or for ducking under medium/high level attacks (One of her challenges in Trial Mode in EX2+ is to duck under a Hadoken to hit with Shinkyaku-Geki) and occasionally faking out an opponent (Her move Shin is a cancel of a lone Shinku-Geki or Shinkyaku-Geki). Her Kiren-Eki can be charged by holding down the punch button used in command input, making it a good move for juggling opponents. Her Meteor Combo, Shirasegatana, varies in strength depending on how far away she is from her opponent. If the Shirasegatana hits the opponent with the blade, the ground is torn up and the single hit does the most damage possible, making it hard to optimize damage in a close range combo. Hokuto can also perfom short, two-hard combos (For example, Chugeki-Hoh -> Shougekiha/Shinku-Geki/Shinkyaku-Geki depending on input) and can counter attacks. Her version of Kairi's Kyouja-Renbu is similar in the way that it is a grab attack.
Stage Themes
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Gallery
Trivia
- Her costume in the first and third EX games have a very similar color scheme to the Philippine flag.
- Hokuto's use of the naginata, combined with her noble and calm demeanor, is likely a reference to Sengoku Period noble women, who were expected to know the art of the weapon in order to defend their families. The naginata was also frequently used as a status symbol.
- Her secret alternate costume of her "bloody" form, in the console version of the first EX game, bears strong resemblance to that of the early designs of Reimu Hakurei, from the Touhou Project series of games.