Ukyo & Haohmaru (Samurai Shodown)

Ukyo Tachibana is one of my favorite characters in the Samurai Shodown series (2D fighting games featuring samurai warriors). His character is based off of the historical Sasaki Kojiro who was Musashi's greatest foe. Like Kojiro, his weapon in SS is the Drying Pole (a really long sword) and his special move is the Swallow Swipe. One special characteristic of Ukyo is that he always has his back towards his opponent. It was this odd but stylish mannerism that caught my eye when I first stumbled upon Samurai Shodown. He's definitely one of the most stylish samurai around.




My second favorite character in the Samurai Shodown series is Haohmaru. His character is based on the historical Miyamoto Musashi. Since Musashi and Kojiro were historic rivals, Haohmaru is Ukyo's rival in Samurai Shodown. Musashi is widely regarded as the greatest samurai of all time. He never lost a duel (won over 50 matches), he invented his own style of 2 swords, wrote the famous swordplay manual Book of Five Rings and was awarded the title Sword Saint in his later life. So as expected, Haomaru is the most well-rounded samurai in the game (and its main protagonist). He's basically the Ryu/Ken of Samurai Shodown. I like his victory animation when he launches his sword high up into the air and then having it fall neatly back into his sheath. Haohmaru (like Musashi) is the perfect ideal samurai.