Hayato | |
Hayato | |
Name | Hayato Kanzaki |
Gender | Male |
Weapon/Power | Energy Sword |
Affiliation | Hero |
First Appearance | Star Gladiator (October 1996) |
Game | Star Gladiator series |
Voiced By | Nobutoshi Canna (SG) Toshiyuki Morikawa (SG2 - MvC2) |
Company | Capcom/Arika |
Hayato Kanzaki is the main character of the Capcom series, Star Gladiator. He is a rebellious young Japanese bounty hunter from the year 2348, where mankind is capable of intergalactic travel and established contact with extraterrestrials. Living on his own and caring about others - especially the children living in the orphanage in which he was raised, and his close friends June, Saturn, and Gamof, this care for people is the driving force that prompts him to go against Dr. Edward Bilstein: a mad scientist bent on taking his revenge against Earth while attempting to conquer it and the rest of the universe. He is the only character in the series to cross over and become playable into another Capcom game; in this case, Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
Backstory
Abandoned on the streets of Neo Tokyo when he was a child, Hayato Kanzaki was taken in by a foster orphanage, owned by a loving caretaker. As he grew older, he noticed that the caretaker was in heavy debt, and wanted to clear it as means of repaying her for her kindness. Unable to find any form of work, Hayato was forced to become a bounty hunter- A line of work that he despised and knew that would go against his fierce sense of justice.
As Bilstein escaped from his orbital prison on Zeta and established the dreaded Fourth Empire, the Earth Federation would start Project: Star Gladiator as its last stand against the madman.
Hayato, hearing of this project, sets out to join Star Gladiator to save his home planet and everyone he loves.
In the sequel Plasma Sword, Hayato peacefully spends time rebuilding the orphanage with the many bounties he's collected, but sets out once more when he realizes that his girlfriend, June has gone missing.
Gameplay
Hayato's gameplay is often based on his plasma sword and energy attacks. In MVC2, he's strong on range and priority leading to great sword pokes, but the nature of his laggy normals makes his rushdown game unsafe. His Expansion assist is one of the best in the game however, and his Guren attack is not considered a good anti air. Hayato has too many weaknesses to put him on par with others.
Command Normals
- Hien (飛燕, "Flying Swallow"): A leaping spin slash command normal that can go over low attacks.
- Dokuryuu (独龍, "Single Dragon"): Running command normal where Hayato slashes outward. Has some lag that makes it unsafe. Can slash past the foe in order to follow up with Souryuu.
- Souryuu (双龍, "Twin Dragon"): Followup to Dokuryuu, Hayato swipes down on the foe from behind.
- Dai Oiuchi Kougeki (大追い打ち攻撃, "Big Pursuit Power Attack"): Hayato dive stabs downward in midair. Bounces off the foe if it hits, where Hayato can still perform midair attacks. Can chain into a Guren or Plasma Field if it hits.
Special Attacks
- Shiden (紫電, "Violet Electricity"): An outward slash followed by a downward cut in a forward moving motion, similar to his st.MP and st.HK attacks or his Dokuryuu. Can OTG and covers a large forward area, making it great in combos.
- Guren (紅蓮, "Crimson Lotus"): Hayato slashes upward in the air vertically with his plasma sword. Can be used in midair. The LP version makes him slash upward with small height. The HP version makes him dash forward a bit and rises higher. In the Balance assist version, when used as a Variable/Crossover Counter Hayato peforms the Guren briefly in his Black Hayato form instead.
- Byakkohou (白虎砲, "White Tiger Cannon"): A command grab where Hayato does a hooking arm motion to grab the foe, then smashes them upward with an upward angled elbow if it connects. Has the same range as a regular throw (not much). Lauches opponent a good distance.
- Plasma Combos: Taken straight from his original series (the first game to be precise). Hayato can attack the opponent with several combos depending on the buttons pressed. Five different combos are available to him. Different button presses will initate different attacks. All this requires you to hold back. This is Hayato's main combo tool, and many combo possibilities can stem from these moves.
- The kick portions of the combos hit low, and both the Kegon combos have finishing overhead strikes on their final inputs, which must be timed properly or they will not execute. However, Hayato can drop a Kegon combo to start link combos right afterwards.
- Suzaku Ranbu (朱雀乱舞, "Vermilion Bird Wild Dance"): (LP) x4
- Kegon 1 (華厳, "Avatamsa/Luster Stern"): (LP) x2, HP, HK, (LP) x2
- Kegon 2: (LP) x3, HK, (LP) x2
- Guren 1: HP, LP, (HP) x3
- Guren 2: HP, LP, HP, LK, KP
- The kick portions of the combos hit low, and both the Kegon combos have finishing overhead strikes on their final inputs, which must be timed properly or they will not execute. However, Hayato can drop a Kegon combo to start link combos right afterwards.
Assist Attacks
Type | Assist | Counter | Cross-Over | |
---|---|---|---|---|
α | Expansion | Shiden | Shiden | Rasetsuzan |
β | Anti-Air | Guren | Guren | Engetsu |
γ | Balance | Shiden | Guren | Engetsu |
Hyper Combos
- Rasetsuzan (羅刹斬, "Rakshasa Slash") (Level 1): A Hyper version of Shiden. Hayato gets ready for a assault then proceeds to do a series of seven slashes. Final hit will knock back the opponent. Both start-up and recover is long therefore unsafe if guarded.
- Engetsu (円月, "Circling Moon") (Level 1): Hayato raises his blade above his head and quickly slashes down on the ground creating pillars of shockwaves in front of him. This attack can hit the opponent OTG.
- Plasma Field (Level 1): Hayato gathers energy and releases a spherical energy field around him. If this move connects with a unguarded opponent he will enter in a state of unlimited hyper combo gauge. For roughly ten seconds Hayato can use any of his hyper combos without depleting his hyper combo gauge. Can also be done in midair.
- Black Hayato: Ura Rasetsuzan (裏羅刹斬, "Reverse Rakshasa Slash") (Level 3): This is Hayato's version of the Shun Goku Satsu. Hayato will proceed to grab his opponent with a deep stab, if he suceeds the entire screen turns black and he will slash the opponent multiple times. Once the screen turns back to normal with Hayato in his Black Hayato form as the final blow. Despite the looks, the attack is blockable.
- His Black Hayato form is Hayato's inner dark side from Plasma Sword, created from a genotype microchip implanted in his head by Bilstien. B. Hayato is shown to be a near complete opposite of Hayato in that he is emotionless and ruthless, but still dislikes Bilstien for what he did.
Trivia
- Hayato's plasma auto-combos are taken unaltered from the first Star Gladiator, adapted into this game's control scheme (Vertical is LP, Horizontal is HP and Kick is either LK or HK).
- Three characters from said game make cameo appearances in his win poses (Saturn, Ele and June Lin), all in poses seen in Star Gladiator artwork.
- Ura Rasetsuzan is oddly somewhat screen dependent, as Hayato rushes to the side where he first starts on a match after he completes the attack, no matter which side the move is performed from.