Haohmaru

Haohmaru (, Haōmaru; also can be written as "Haoumaru") is the main protagonist of the Samurai Shodown series and one of the series's most known characters, the other being Nakoruru. He was introduced in the first Samurai Shodown and continues to appear in every title of the series. His official nickname is The Ronin Vagabond (さすらいの Sasurai no Kengō).

Though he is a swordsman with no loyalties to any lord (rounin, lit. a wanderer), Haohmaru has a "samurai spirit" which is often stressed in the series. He is also often accredited to defeating most of the series's villains.

Development
His character origin was originally based around the famed swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, a duelist who claimed to have never lost a match. He is visually modeled after Hyakkimaru from the manga Dororo.

According to the Q&A page for Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, developers admitted that no matter what the fans wanted, they wanted to include Samurai Shodown characters and made Haohmaru's inclusion one of their top priorities in development. A "Samurai Spirits Team" was originally scheduled to participate in The King of Fighters '95 and The King of Fighters '96. This idea was eventually dropped due to time constraints. The developer notes that Haohmaru would've been on the team alongside Nakoruru and Galford.

He also makes regular appearances in the series's merchandise and has at least two action figures.

Personality
Confident in his abilities, Haohmaru enjoys the thrill of fighting against strong opponents. Seeking enlightenment with each encounter, he constantly journeys in order to improve himself while also taking it upon himself to fight against typical evil-doers. As he gets older, he feels less inclined to fight and will try to avoid it if possible.

Outside of battle, Haohmaru is a crude but easy-going man, caring only for sake and food. He has a romantic interest in a simple girl named Oshizu ("O" added as a honorific prefix).

Powers

 * Hurricane Attack: He can create a small hurricane with a slash of his sword. Upon contact, the hurricane sends the enemy flying.
 * Energy Slash: He can use ki energy to increase damage of his slashing attacks.
 * Deflection: His jug can somehow be used to deflect projectiles of all sorts with proper timing.

Fighting Style
Much of his fighting style revolves around power-based swordplay, and seems to be personalized by himself, focusing on wide slashes and fierce-two-handed swings, along with some occasional bare-handed brawling. He can use his sake jug to hit the opponent or to reflect projectiles. His trademark moves are Kogetsuzan (Arc Moon Slash), a crescent shaped uppercut, and Senpuu Retsu Zan (Whirlwind Rending Slash), a whirlwind projectile which can launch targets up into the air with a vertically-expanding tornado on hit. In Samurai Shodown II, he also gained a somersault slamming slash known as the Resshin Zan (Violent Quake Slash), which could cause massive damage upon crouching foes and giving him a bit of a mixup game.

Most of his special moves have the term ougi (secret skill) put before them (save for his fake Senpuu Retsu Zan, where the "gi" is the kanji for "fake/imitation" as a pun). He is also one of the few characters to sport a special move that can only be done while dashing, namely his Shippuu Kogetsu Zan (Hurricane Arc Moon Slash), which has normally possesses afterimages and more forward momentum to differentiate from its stationary counterpart.

When his style splits in Samurai Shodown III, his Slash/Shura form retains several strategies used in previous games, being a balanced and easy-to-master mid-ranged combatant. By contrast, his Bust/Rasetsu form (which becomes the basis for Rasetsumaru) alters several moves, granting him access to aggressive close-combat fighting which includes shoulder charges (his Gouha/Strong Blast), a proximity counter (Nagi Yaiba/Calm Blade) and wind splash wave that goes a small distance (Senpuu Ha/Whirlwind Wave) in the place of his feint. His appearance in Warriors Rage also combined some elements from Genjuro's fighting style such as his stance and crouching strikes.

One thing is certain, Haohmaru is a shotoclone who alters the archetype by being mainly more power-based compared to most beginner-type characters, with his infamous standing Hard Slash, the Zantetsusen (Slashing Iron Flash) being one of the series' longer-reaching and strongest attacks (even with the Zankousen/Slashing Steel Flash being an even stronger version of it). Said Hard Slash even in Capcom vs. SNK 2 deals a massive amount of hitstop on a connected hit, which even slows the frame-rate of the game down somewhat for dramatic effect. Haohmaru's gameplay himself serves as one of the primary introductions to the overall gameplay of the series (heavy-whiff punish focus with less emphasis on combos and more emphasis on hard reads).

In Soul Calibur VI however, Haohmaru not only gains a plethora of extra moves with using his latest animations as reference, but also now gains the skills of both his Shura/Slash and Rasetsu/Bust attacks (even with additions from the 64 games), and also gains his low sliding move shared with Genjuro (the Nagiashi/Calm Leg) from Sen. He also has a bare-handed stance known as Sude Kenka (Bare-Handed Brawling), a nod to his home series' ability to fight unarmed (as well as the act of deliberate self-disarming in certain titles).

Music

 * Tune of the man - Day (男節 日, Obushi - Hi) - Samurai Shodown
 * Path of the man (男道, Otoko michi) - Samurai Shodown II
 * Sake of the man (男酒, Otoko Zake) - Samurai Shodown III
 * Path of Shura (修羅道, Shuradou) - Samurai Shodown IV, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
 * Zeal (精進, Shoujin) - Samurai Shodown 64
 * Champion (覇者, Hasha) - Samurai Shodown 64-2
 * Meeting Haohmaru (覇王丸見参, Haoumaru Kenzan) - Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage
 * Legend (伝説, Densetsu) - Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage
 * Sakura (櫻, Sakura) - Samurai Shodown V
 * Way of the Overlord (覇王の道, Haō no Michi) - Samurai Shodown (2019)
 * Imperial Sundance (インペリアルサンダンス, Inperiaru Sandansu) - Samurai Remix VA
 * Tune of the man - Dual souls - Soulcalibur VI

Shurado is often used together with Bushido. Whereas Bushido represents discipline and moral code, Shurado represents walking a road of war and carnage without regrets. Shoujin can be translated as either zeal, devotion or concentration, and it is often used as term for advancing in quest for enlightenment. Sakura are also a common Japanese symbol used to describe the transience and beauty of life.

Voice Actors

 * Masaki Usui - Samurai Shodown ~ Samurai Shodown IV, Sen, Samurai Shodown VI (re-dub voice), Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * Dorio Takaya - Samurai Shodown V
 * Daiki Nakamura - 64 series, Warriors Rage, Samurai Shodown (2019); Capcom vs SNK 2, The King of Fighters All Star, Soulcalibur VI (Japanese voice)
 * Hiroyuki Koga - Samurai Shodown VI
 * Toshiyuki Morikawa - Samurai Spirits Oni
 * Shingo Katori - Samurai Shodown: Motion Picture
 * Milton Lawrence - Samurai Shodown: Motion Picture (English voice)
 * John Snyder - Soulcalibur VI (English voice)
 * Bin Shimada - Samurai Shodown Dengeki drama CD series

Game Appearances

 * Samurai Shodown
 * Quiz King of Fighters
 * Samurai Shodown II
 * Samurai Shodown III
 * Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden
 * Samurai Shodown IV
 * Samurai Shodown 64
 * Samurai Shodown 64-2 - his Shura/Slash form will not appear as a CPU opponent
 * Samurai Shodown!
 * Samurai Shodown! 2
 * Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage
 * SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium
 * Capcom vs SNK 2
 * Samurai Shodown V
 * Samurai Shodown V Special
 * Samurai Shodown V Perfect
 * Samurai Shodown VI
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * Samurai Shodown Sen
 * Samurai Spirits (pachinko)
 * Samurai Spirits Oni
 * Samurai Spirits Kengou Hachi-ban Shoubu
 * Samurai Shodown (2019) (also in Retro 3D graphics)
 * Soulcalibur VI - DLC Guest character

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (third and seventh titles) - unplayable
 * Neo Geo Tennis Coliseum
 * Samurai Spirits - Shimensouka
 * Samurai Spirits - Makai Rineki
 * SNK Dream Battle
 * SNK High School Collection
 * KOF x Fatal Fury
 * Granblue Fantasy
 * Yamato Chronicle
 * The SAMURAI KINGDOM
 * If World
 * Samurai Shodown Online
 * Kingdom Story
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * Samurai Shodown: Oborozuki Densetsu
 * Samurai Shodown Tenkadaiichi Kenkakuden
 * Might & Magic: Elemental Guardians
 * SNK All Star
 * The King of Fighters: All Star
 * Dark Avenger X
 * SNK Fighting Age
 * Puzzle & Dragons
 * Freestyle 2

Cameo Appearances

 * SNK Gals' Fighters - cameo in background of hot springs arena, together with Jubei
 * Nakoruru: Ano Hito kara no Okurimono
 * Samurai Spirits Gaiden: Cham Cham
 * The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2 - Ryo Sakazaki's Normal Outfit-Variation E
 * The King of Fighters XIII - DLC background cameo (NESTS Kyo); also in the Esaka stage (in the night)
 * The King of Fighters XIV - in Nakoruru vs. Chin pre-fight talk, mentioned as "sake bottle warrior", and in text-cameo in Nakoruru's win quote
 * Lost Saga - as a premium character skin
 * SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy - in Nakoruru's ending
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - As a spirit

Anime Appearances

 * Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture
 * Samurai Spirits 2: Asura-Zanmaden (OVA)

Similar Characters

 * Deku
 * Rasetsumaru

Trivia

 * When asked "The path of the sword is?", Haohmaru's response is "The path on which you must gamble your life and walk to the end."
 * His favourite type of mate is a Yamato nadeshiko.
 * Among all characters in the Samurai Shodown series, only Haohmaru has been ever voiced in English, from his appearance in Soul Calibur VI.
 * In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Haohmaru was tied with Ukyo Tachibana for 29th (out of 50) of the staff's favorite character rank. He was also voted as the second favorite character by the development team and fans in Samurai Shodown II.
 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves planner and The King of Fighters XIV producer Yasuyuki Oda states that Haohmaru and his rival Genjuro are his favourite characters from the Samurai Shodown series.

Cards