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Hien (飛燕, meaning Flying Swallow), also known fully as Strider Hien (ストライダー飛燕), is a boss character introduced in Strider 2. He later became a playable character in the PlayStation port's exclusive "Hien Mode", and appears as one of the "Fallen Striders" costume in Strider (2014).

Hien was a member of the Striders and Hiryu's comrade-in-arms[1], having worked together in several missions. Jealous of Hiryu's strength and status, Hien abandoned the organization and resurrected the Grandmaster, allying himself with Hiryu's enemy and becoming his devoted right-hand man. He's also rumored to be responsible for the sabotage that led to the extermination of Striders.[2]

Hien shows complete and total devotion to Grandmaster Meio, and describes him in the light of a god or deity, as the Creator of everything and everyone on Earth[3]. He still shows genuine concern about Hiryu and tries to convince him to stop opposing Meio and to join his side, which is met with Hiryu's stern negative response. While still considering him a comrade, however, Hien will not hesitate in fighting Hiryu with all his strength when the time comes.

Story

Strider 2

Hien sprite

Hien (ZN-2)

At Light Sword Cypher's behest, he sought out the tomb of Grandmaster Meio among the ancient ruins of "El Dorado". Leading an army of jungle soldiers, as well as a giant drill to excavate, Hien is able to find the burial chamber where Grandmaster Meio is sealed off, and release him. Hiryu appears just in time to witness this action, and engages in battle with Hien. Hien defeated, he pleads with Hiryu to stop and realize the mistake of opposing Meio, the "creator of everything in the world". Hiryu ignores his words and tells him to warn Meio that he is "the hunter and [Meio] the prey", and tells Hien to fight with his full strength next time they meet.

Hien is later seen during Light Sword Cypher's Round Table meeting, following Hiryu's destruction of the Antarctica Research Lab. He mentions that Hiryu's also a survivor of the Striders like himself, but the Chairman seemingly disregards him, deciding to simply watch Hiryu "and learn" before continuing with their agenda.

During Hiryu's infiltration of the Third Moon, Hien appears in front of him atop the Beraenavis, a flying segmented robot, ready to fight him. They both fight with their all, and Hien is defeated again. Hien's whereabouts, or even survival, following his defeat are unknown.

Strider (2014)

Strider Hien was a Special-A Class Strider, an all-around fighter and expert in the use of the Geometrical Cypher. He was a kind-hearted man, a trait said to be uncommon among the Striders[4]. Unlike the original, his emblem was the second kanji in his name, "En" (燕, swallow), instead of the first.

Out of all the Striders sent to infiltrate Kazakh City to kill Meio before Hiryu, Hien accomplished the most, having successfully infiltrated Meio's Tower and even faced the Grandmaster himself. He was, however, defeated by Meio's dreadful powers.[4]

Appearance

Hien wears an all white Special-A Class Strider outfit with brown accessories, with a brown kanji of the first character of his codename imprinted on the upper left of his chest.

Skills and Abilities

Hien cypher throw

Hien's Cypher Throw

As a Special-A Strider, Hien is among the strongest Striders on the group, and is likely close to be equal to Hiryu in ability. He possess similar agility and can perform most of Hiryu's acrobatic feats such as somersaults, cartwheels and sliding kicks, as well as using a Climb Sickle to move through any surface. But in where he differs greatly from Hiryu is in his weapon and style: Hien wields dual Geometrical Cyphers, an unique set of Cyphers which can be joined by the hilt and thrown like a boomerang to attack from long range. His mastery of the weapon allows him to join the cyphers in different forms, creating a wide variety of offensive and defensive techniques both for close and far combat. They are also seemingly stronger than Hiryu's Cypher, doing twice more damage to enemies.

When thrown, Hien's Geometrical Cypher homes-in and strikes at the closest enemy. Whether it hits or not, the cypher will fly off-screen and then return to Hien, hitting anyone standing on its path. While stronger than Hiryu's attack, only two can be thrown at a time (three when powered-up), leaving him vulnerable until they return to him. As a playable character, Hien can use all of Hiryu's physical attacks, but lacks the ability to use Boost mode.

Attacks

Note: This lists attacks used by Hien during boss fights.

  • Sliding: Hien rolls forward and performs a slide kick. Used to maneuver around Hiryu when cornered.
  • Hassou Jump: Hien propels himself off a wall in a mid-air dash. Like the slide kick, used to avoid Hiryu when cornered.
  • Cypher Throw: Hien throws his Cypher at Hiryu. If avoided, it can still hit him when it eventually returns to Hien. Hien usually throws one, thought occasionally he's seen throwing two consecutively.
  • Twin Style: Wielding his Geometrical Cypher separately, Hien swings once with each. Done only when Hiryu is in close proximity. Exclusively seen during the first boss fight at El Dorado.
  • Dash Slash: With both cyphers crossed in front of him, Hien quickly dashes forward. During the dash he clash his cyphers together, leaving behind a trail of plasma that can also damage Hiryu.
  • Plasma Beam: Hien winds up, lowering his body and raising both cyphers over him. He then rises up and crosses them in front of him, releasing a large beam of plasma at Hiryu.
  • Cypher Defense: Hien's defensive move. Joining the Geometrical Cypher together, Hien spins it quickly in front of him, creating an effective shield. Blocked attacks still push him back, though.

Design Notes

Hien was created after the concept of "a rival character" for Hiryu, and went by the codename "Dark Strider" (ダークストライダー) during production[5]. Initial design proposals were quite different from his final design, ranging from a more muscular "gentlemanly design" with long hair to a feral tiger-themed beast man. Some concept art shows that Hien's gameplay was planned to be quite different from Hiryu's, including a possible stance system and an unique Climb Sickle closer in function to a grappling hook.[6]

Initially, he was to be named Byakko (白虎, lit White Tiger), based on the notion that "a tiger must always oppose a dragon"[5], in reference to the Chinese symbolism of the tiger and the dragon as rival forces. For unknown reasons, however, the name was eventually dropped.

Other Appearances

Game Appearances

Namco x Capcom
Hien appears as one of the game's many non-playable boss characters, and as such has a limited set of techniques to use in battle. He's able to attack up-close using his Cyphers individually, or use his trademark boomerang attack from afar.

Nxc hien sprite

In the game's story, he serves Grandmaster Meio alongside Solo and the Kuniang M.A. Team. Hien is first seen looking for a rematch against Hiryu as he's infiltrating the Third Moon, in a reenactment of the final stage of Strider 2. Even though he's later joined by his allies, he expects a chance to fight alone against Hiryu. Later chapters has Hien attempting time and time again to convince Hiryu to stop fighting and to join the Grandmaster with him, but he's always turned down and defeated in battle. He starts wondering why Hiryu keeps becoming so powerful every time they battle.

During their final encounter, Hien has decided to stop attempting to talk Hiryu out of fighting, and confronts him directly. Hiryu eliminates him during this last fight.

Street Fighter × All Capcom
Hien appears as one of the 500+ character cards found in this crossover mobile phone game. He can be found in two different cards of rarity "R" and "SR+", as well as together with Hiryu in a card of "SSR" rarity.

Gallery

Trivia

  • Hien is the first playable character whose play style differs from Hiryu's. While he does play identical to Hiryu, including the use of most of his techniques (Slide, Savage Slash), his ranged attack make for different strategies when going through stages.
  • Hien is estimated to be ~160cm tall since he is half a head shorter than Hiryu who is half a head taller than Ryu (from Street Fighter) who is 175cm. He is also younger than Hiryu.
  • In the PlayStation port's "Hien Mode", all Hien boss fights remain identical, with the exception of "Boss Hien" being black-colored and with a darker skin tone (pictured above). No explanation is given for this.
  • In in-game cutscenes and official art, the "hi" kanji on Hien's clothes is replaced by a grey badge with a stylized red "S".
  • As explained above, Hien is given a passing reference in the 2014 Strider as one of the many collectible Strider outfits that allow the player to change Hiryu's color scheme; applying Hien's will turn the outfit to his signature all-white look. Unlike the original Hien, the Japanese Intel profile for the costume implies this time Hien died opposing Meio as a Strider instead of betraying them.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Capcom (2000). Strider Hiryu 1&2 Official Site (Japanese).
  2. Capcom (2000, PlayStation). Strider Hiryû 1&2 (Japanese). Instruction Manual, Pg. 10
  3. Capcom (2000; PlayStation). Strider 2. Stage 00: Investigate the Ancient Ruins
  4. 4.0 4.1 Capcom (February 2014, multi). Strider Hiryu (Japanese). Character Intel #13: Strider Hien
  5. 5.0 5.1 Capcom (1999). Capcom Secret File #26: Strider Hiryu 2 (Japanese). Pg. 4
  6. Staff (June 2000). "Strider Hiryu 2: Setting Document (Part 2)" (Japanese). Monthly Arcadia (06). Pg. 180.
Strider video game series
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