Hsien-Ko

Hsien-Ko (Japanese: ヒシェンコー, Hepburn: Hishenkō) (Chinese: 何仙姑; pinyin: hé xiān gū), known in Japan as Lei-Lei (レイレイ, Rei-Rei), is a fictional character from Capcom's Darkstalkers fighting game franchise. She was introduced in Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge in 1995. Her character is based on vampires of Chinese folklore known as jiāngshī, into which she was transformed when she was magically merged with her twin sister Mei-Ling (Chinese: 美玲; pinyin: měi líng), known in Japan as Lin-Lin (リンリン, Rin-Rin). Together, they fight to free the cursed spirit of their dead mother and to destroy the monsters preying on the people of China.

Hsien-Ko has since become one of the franchise's more popular characters, garnering positive fan and critical reception. She has also appeared on official Darkstalkers merchandise and as a playable character in several games outside the series.

Appearances

In video games

According to her Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge backstory, Hsien-Ko and her twin sister, Mei-Ling, were born in 1730s China (Qing dynasty), at a time when undead spirits arose and attacked a rural village. When their mother was killed in her attempt to save the village, the twins, both teenagers, fought to release her soul from the dark by using a forbidden spell called "Igyo Tenshin no Jutsu."^[2] This in turn converted them into a jiāngshī ("hopping corpse"), a type of Chinese zombie.^{[note 1]} Mei-Ling is actually the fú ("ward-paper"), a parchment-like talisman that is attached to the front of Hsien-Ko's hat. While the conversion infused Hsien-Ko with magical powers, they are formidable enough that Mei-Ling's presence as the ward-paper is required to keep them in check. The twins' transformation results in them fighting as a Darkhunter as a combined single unit of mind and body. In Hsien-Ko's Darkstalkers' Revenge ending, the girls free their mother's soul, albeit at the cost of their own lives, but their mother, as a reward, enables them to be reborn as infants in a new life.

In Hsien-Ko's Darkstalkers 3 storyline, which makes no mention of the twins' mother, they discover that they are connected psychically after experiencing the same dream on the night of their sixteenth birthday, but the very next night they both suffer a nightmare and fall into a coma, which in turn sees their collective consciousness transported into Majigen. After awakening in this foreign territory, they find they have gained new powers simply from unleashing the power of an unspecified forbidden spell and team up to fight their way out of the realm.^[3]

Hsien-Ko has made several other appearances in crossover titles. She appears as a playable character in Namco × Capcom,^[4] and is paired with Fong Ling from Resident Evil: Dead Aim as a single unit, while in Project X Zone she is paired up with Frank West from Dead Rising.^[5] Hsien-Ko is also playable in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo,^[6] Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix,^[7] SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash, SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition, SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (where Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling arrive to ask Doctor Strange to help them save their mother's soul^[8]),^[9] Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3,^[10] and Onimusha Soul (redesigned into a feudal Japan setting^[11]).^[12]

Hsien-Ko featured under her Japanese name in her own mobile game, Lei-Lei's Magical Hammer, which was released in the West as just Magical Hammer.^[13] She was originally planned to be playable in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but was dropped due to time constraints.^[14] She also makes cameo appearances: in some versions of Marvel Super Heroes where she can be summoned by Anita;^[15] in Capcom vs. SNK 2 as a restaurant patron in the Shanghai stage; and in Street Fighter Alpha 2 as one of the party guests, along with her sister, in Ken's stage.

Gameplay

Hsien-Ko's fighting stance. Saturn Power said she "scared us all with her ... strange movement."^[16]

In the games, most of Hsien-Ko's powers "involve floating on air and pulling an impossibly huge collection of deadly items out of their sleeves."^[17] According to Sega Saturn Magazine, unlike the other Darkstalkers characters, Hsien-Ko "is a mostly defensive character and hence spends most of the game blocking attacks and storing special gauges. She is excellent for countering moves and combos and a number of projectile attacks give her the edge in long range attacks."^[18] She is one of the characters that can dash past an opponent and get behind them.^[19] Though Mei-Ling has never been a playable character in any of the games, a special move in Darkstalkers 3 involves her coming out to team up with Hsien-Ko.

A cheat code in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, where Hsien-Ko and the other characters appear in a super-deformed state, allows access to Mei-Ling as a playable.^[20] According to GamesRadar, the Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two World version of Hsien-Ko (an unlockable character^[21] capable of interacting with Chris Redfield^[22]) is "an extremely unorthodox character with a number of strange moves and weird mobility." She was judged not good for beginners as her "weird normal attacks and bizarre movement options" and attacks are likely to confuse new players.^[23] The DLC Evil Twin Costume Pack includes Mei-Ling as an alternate skin for Hsien-Ko's model in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.^[24]

Other appearances

Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling make their first appearance in the second episode of the 1997 anime miniseries Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge. The twins travel Earth in an old T-bucket-style convertible with a trailer resembling a covered wagon attached. Their personalities, and speech patterns in the English dub of the program, differed considerably; Mei-Ling is the more sensible of the pair and speaks eloquently, whereas Hsien-Ko has a more childlike disposition, and her dialogue often contains modern colloquialisms or improper grammar (often saying "don't" in place of "doesn't"). In the 1995 cartoon, Hsien-Ko's backstory was altered like those of several characters, in her case her transformation having resulted from her accidentally consuming a substance she mistook for rice that was hidden under a floorboard inside a hut.

The character also appaears in the other Darkstalkers media, namely the comic and manga adaptations and the American cartoon series that is loosely based on the games (in the episodes "Ghost Hunter" and "Darkest Before Dawn"), as well as in the card game Universal Fighting System. Hsien-Ko figures and resin garage kits were released by several manufacturers, including Clayz, Ensky, Grimrock, Mobydick, Modeler's High, Red Fox, T's System, Yousei no Hakoniwa, Vixen, and Yujin; Banpresto released a series of mascot key chains.

Reception

Hsien-Ko was well received by critics as one of the most notable characters in the series,^[25] and was noted as a popular fan favourite by outlets such as Complex,^[26][27] Eurogamer,^[28] Hardcore Gaming 101,^[29] and Siliconera.^[30] GamesRadar described her as "scary but also sort of hilarious, a highly tactical fighter."^[31] GameDaily named Hsien-Ko one of their favorite female Asian video game characters, opining she "definitely has good looks, despite her oversized hands."^[32] In 2013, Retro Gamer chose her one of the 19 "coolest fighters from the last 30 years", stating: "Felicia, Demitri and B.B. Hood are equally well known, but Lei-Lei is a more unusual example of a popular character as she's so unorthodox and difficult to use effectively."^[33] The Skullgirls character Peacock was partially inspired by her.^{[34][35][36][37]}

Notes

See also

• List of Darkstalkers characters

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hsien-Ko.

• Hsien-Ko's Darkstalkers entry at StrategyWiki