Nakoruru: The Shrine Maiden Who Gave Her Life to Protect Nature

Among Samurai Shodown's rowdy swordsmen, Nakoruru stands out for being quiet. She's a shrine maiden of the Ainu people, a hawk named Mamahaha perched on her shoulder, fighting with a short blade and the forces of nature. Her goal was never to cut people down — it was to protect nature itself.

Her weapons are the wind, the hawk, nature

Nakoruru can speak with animals and fight using nature's power. Mamahaha is both her partner and her eyes, diving down to strike fast and hard. Playing her in a fighting game feels "light" in a way no other character does — she doesn't crush you with a blade like Haohmaru; she drifts around you like the wind.

An ending that broke a generation

Samurai Shodown II's ending is one of the saddest in the series. After Rashōjin falls, nature has been wrecked beyond recognition. Ignoring Galford's pleas, Nakoruru chooses to sacrifice herself so the world can recover. She dissolves into a pillar of light, leaving behind only a blade and a hawk.

Galford can only watch from a distance as the woman he loves fades into light. Players gripped their joysticks a little harder at that scene.

She died, and she didn't

Fortunately, Nakoruru's soul didn't truly vanish. She lingers in her blade and entrusts her younger sister Rimururu with carrying on the duty of protecting nature. Later she returns in a "sacred spirit" form — even crossing time and space to guest-star in The King of Fighters XIV, linking the two SNK worlds together.

A shrine maiden who willingly gives her life for nature; a character with an almost divine quality rare in fighting games. It's no wonder Nakoruru became one of SNK's mascots.