I would like to draw your attention to one of my favorite characters. She is one of the protagonists of Bushido Blade and I have several posts I'm going to make about her.
A shrine maiden at the Tatara Shrine, member (turned acting head) of the Narukami shinto school, and (former) assassin of Kage. Her design is rather straight-forward, sure.
In 1997, the dojo master, Hanzaki, went mad (got possessed) and had to be put down. The other major players went their separate ways, but Mikado stayed to continue the organization's true purpose: protecting the last descendant of the Kagami family.
In 1998, the rival school Shainto saw the weakened Narukagami and launched their attack. Mikado, however, had foreseen this and had called most of the old team back, plus a few new friends. The Shainto had overplayed their hand and Mikado saw the chance to bring the 800 year feud to its end, once and for all.
Isohachi is an angry old man and his lungs are a weapon.
POV: Some little girl is in the way of the repose of your ancestors.
Isohachi's yell has limited "ammo" shall we call it. It's actually in the code separately from sub-weapons, actual gun ammo, and the gun reloads. Unlike Chihiro's frog, Isohachi's yell startles everyone.
POV: This dam woman is in your dam way.
Down into the darkness the party did travel, climbing down by hand. One of Kalyani's staves carried a spell that allowed Maraja to imitate Ling's natural climbing.
"Do you really do thhiss every week?" asks Kalyani, carrying her entire weight on her hands alone, "Care to ssay why, dear?"
"Plant research," says Ling, climbing slow enough to keep pace while also carrying the priestess' bag, "I'm experimenting with biolumies in the Cave."
"Bio loomies?" asks Kalyani.
"Rocks and shrooms that glow down there," says Ling, "Trying to find a way to farm in the dark."
"For what purposse?" asks Kalyani, "The food crississ issn't from lack of light."
J: It is odd that you started there. L: Well, it's all I could afford at the time.
"If food can grow in the Caves," answers Ling, "That's a reason to get those b*****ds down there to stop raiding other parts of the Glow."
"Iss thhat why you moved here?" asks Kalyani, "And from where?"
"From Ozzel," says Ling, "Went to Lemonbum's Wiz School. Thought my accent would make it obvy. Where ya from, Sister? Ya don't sound local either."
"Her eyess led me here from thhe cloudss of Shheshhaparvata," says Kalyani, her voice more melodic, "Every few yearss, I-"
"Breathhe, dear," says Kalyani, "Move one limb at a time."
The light from above suddenly ceases to be; Bobbobo had closed the dome.
J: Why didn't you have any light with you? L: Ya think seeing how far down it was would help? Or seeing the light be swallowed by the abyss? The temptation of looking down would've killed her. J: Point taken.
"Mate, panicking is just making ya slower," says Ling, "Which means ya're up here longer. I'd be bottomside already if I weren't watching ya. Remember why ya're here."
"Then I'll jump after ya," says Ling, "I'm a wizard; I've a spell to save ya."
"If I use it too soon, it won't work."
"Remember, what shhe ssaid yessterday," says Kalyani, "Disstractsion. Tell uss more about thhiss lady we're following."
"Okay, okay," says Maraja, trying to calm her breath, "I can... do that."
As Pokemon had already proven, tank plus animal is top tier design.
Here’s the best fighting game character of ALL TIME….. Beartank! 🌻🧸💣
This stage is the Tatara Shrine, where the Last Descendant of the Kagami Family, Kagami Izuna, is kept, hidden away from the Shainto who seek to kill her. (Izuna is not to be confused with the young priestess Suzuka, who gives the players their weapons in the first game. Common misconception on the English net.)
While this is the final boss stage for the Shainto, it is also the stage you'd fight Mikado in the Vs CPU gauntlet mode. You normally cannot select the stage, but I'm a dirty little hacker.
Normal jumping while your opponent is down automatically does an attack in BB2.
Multiple attacks can connect at once. Getting hit in the legs is far less dangerous in the second game, since it only slows you down instead of breaking your leg (which makes combat nigh impossible).
Notice how her legs are shaking in her victory pose, that's because she got hit.
Here are some some details and pictures from the games' official manuals.
Mikado and her Shainto counterpart Kaun face off.
The manual pairs her with Jo as speed-type. The stats the ladies have are similar with the four swords, but the polearms are a different story. The Shainto spear is Jo's worst weapon, but the Narukagami naginata is Mikado's best. Mikado and Kaun have the maximum speed and power with the big pointy sticks!
Mikado's stats with each weapon, if you're curious are:
Weapon-----Power----Speed
Naginata----22/22----15/15 Same as Kaun with Yari (Jo is 15 and 12)
Broadsword-15/22-----12/15 Same as Jo
Katana-------12/22-----14/15 Slower than Jo
Nodachi-----15/22-----13/15 Much weaker than Jo (18)
Longsword--10/22----14/15 Slower than Jo (Tied for the weakest Char/Weapon combo in the game.)
Notes: The lowest normal power is 10 and speed is 12. NPCs and the secret duo are above the limit. Mikado is weaker and slower than Kaun with all swords except being as fast with the katana.
In the original game, Mikado and Black Lotus (aka Kokuren, aka James, aka Highwayman) are the medium characters. Sadly, I haven't found the character stats in BB1 yet.
Also, that codename: Gate of the God's Descent. That's even cooler than my nickname for her: the Empress.
Mikado and Tatsumi face off, back when she was balance and he was speed.
These scans came from Archive.org, so that's why the text is scrunched like that.
Ling follows Melandria through the dark and hollow castle. "So new idea: the sand outside is hot, so maybe we can try to create geothermal plants. I'll need to bring water, unless ya know of any sources down here."
Melandria shakes her head. "Just using magic. That's not dangerous, is it? Like the food?"
"Standard create water spells just convert vapor into liquid, safe to drink." Ling's eye light up. "A gate to the the Plane of Water! That's what we could use."
J: You were just filled with fantastic ideas, weren't you, Mum? L: Seems like it runs in the family.
As the two climb the stairs, Melandria asks, "Aren't elementals... extremely territorial?"
"Don't worry 'bout that," laughs Ling, "I know a girl." Ling straightens up. "The real probo is how the wildlife'll be affected. We'd need to raise natural defenses alongside anything we're growing." Ling thinks for a moment. "Thrashing worm-eaters might be a good deterrent."
"Giant worms do pass through this desert," Melandria nods. She leads Ling into a corridor. "We'll have to give this more thought. First, let's get everyone together."
Melandria knocks on a door. "Kirono, are you awake?" There is no answer. "Kirono, are you feeling well?"
L: Since I wasn't sure if Maraja had left already, I decided to use my wizardly cunning.
Ling stumbles into the door, pushing it open. "Oops, sorry, mate," she says, "I'm a clumsy b******d." Her eyes spy two figures lying in the bed. She recognizes one of them. "Good onya, Maraja!" she says too loudly, "I knew ya'd root her out."
"Who is that?" shouted the Shadow Queen, the darkness around her agitating, "Why is she in my house!?" Her fury awakening the duo.
L: I calmed her down and we sorted the details out for the plan later, but that's a yarn for another time. D: So Maraja and Kirono got together and you started a farm with a queen? J: Yes, yes, everyone lived happily ever after. The End. Now, how about I tell you a story, Dalini: a story about how I met the Shadow Queen. D: But what happened to the priestess and the tallgoblins. L: Kalyani went back home- J: And the tallgoblins are in my story.
I like the idea of a marilith (or any multi-arm) wielding a random assortment of weapons at once. Practical? Probably not. Cool? Hell yes.
Hi everyone! I wanted to show you some monsters I've been doing for MorvoldPress' project: my takes on a Copper Dragon, a Marilith, and a Storm Giant.
You can get the full-resolution images for your own use on their Patreon patreon.com/morvoldpress
And you can commission me directly on my ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/haclif/commissions
Let me know what you think!
"We'll be right outside," says Jevoi to Dalini, "If you need me, just speak up." She exits the room and scowls at Ling.
"Sorry, I don't have fancy pipes," mocks Ling, "Apocalypse is happening."
"It's not about the toilet, Mum," snaps Jevoi, "You're a wizard; you have magic."
"Always thinking magic'll solve everything." Ling shakes her head. "Never thinking about the consequences."
"You don't think it's terrible conditions you were raising her in?" asks Jevoi.
Ling walks over to the little table and stares at the mock tea set. "Better conditions that Nana Ning had... minus the eternal freezing night. At least I've done a better job than Nana Ting."
"Ting?" Jevoi's caught off-guard. "You've never told me anything about Ting."
"How could I?" laughs Ling, "I never met her."
Suddenly, the door from the hall opens and six-armed elf-esque woman with a serpentine lower body slithers into the room. She's wearing a green sweater and, for the brief moment that she was entering the room, a smile. But then, she saw Ling. Now, the smile is gone; replaced with rage.
"YOU!?" yells the raven-haired demon, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!? I"LL KILL YOU!" She conjures six swords and advances toward the wizard. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
Ling sighs in resignation. "Not expecting to be forgiven, demon."
Jevoi jumps in front of the swordswoman. "Calm down, Angustias, my queen."
"Why are you stopping me?" asks Angustias, her eyes still trained on the wizard, "Why did you bring her here?"
"You know why," says Jevoi, pushing the swords down, "I want her dead too, but do you want to explain to your daughter why Nana Ling had to die?" Jevoi grabs the bronzed amazon's face and forces their eyes to meet. "She doesn't even know you yet. Don't lose sight of what matters, my queen."
Angustias drops her weapons, which fade away, and picks up Jevoi in six-armed hug. "Of course, my empress." The demon's eye briefly twitches in pain and she makes a threatening gesture toward Ling with one hand.
"Mum!" yells Dalini from the bath, "What do I do now?"
Jevoi dismounts her wife and races to the door. She hops quickly in place, alternating legs. "Oh, I'm going to help my daughter get dressed for the first time!" she squeals before calmly walking the door.
"She's stoked about this mum s***e, isn't she?" asks Ling.
"Don't f*****g talk to me," says Angustias, trying to figure out how to pose her arms in loving, motherly way.
This has been the first, and only, Mikado Monday. I don't think any other character is going to get this much love from me, but I'm thinking of who to post about next.
Mikado has taken back the Yugiri.
It can be hard to tell, since it's a palette-swapped nodachi, but if you look close, you can see the hilt is red.
L: Less than a year after the worm incident, I's in my lab working. Jevoi was off playing with Gank, when I had a visitor.
In the lab-cum-store sits twenty potted pepper plants across four tables with protective domes. Each table has the same arrangement of five different types pepper. Between each set, stands a different colored glowing crystal; between the tables, a cross wall containing safely coated lead plates.
Dr. Ling sits at her counter with a red pepper cut open on a tray, seeds carefully extracted in a pile. Her writing notes for each plant's current condition and exposure schedule next to it.
"After three weeks, the peppers appear to be unchanged externally under the red light," she mutters to herself, "But the seeds have grown in size. Taste testing will need to be redone."
She sighs, for she is unable to taste a difference in these supposedly hot peppers. The capsaicinoids have no effect on her, nor her current assistants, but to the mammals it was intended to repel, its flavor is valued highly. If the taste is too different, or worse, unpalatable, her work will never be accepted; it's already hard enough to assure most people that her food is safe. Sure, goblins will eat anything, but elves and dwarves? They have standards, traditions. No matter what affects she's had politically, she still had to fight for every plant, for every scrap of funding. Three steps forward, two steps back, until she dies. A never-ending-
The sudden rapping on her door awakens Ling from her thoughts. The stress is getting to her again. She walks to the door, preparing how she'll react. Is this for passage or medicine? 'Or maybe love?' hopes Ling. She opens the door slowly. "Who's it?"
Standing outside Ling's house is a uniformed gnome woman. The curly haired cutie is someone Ling vaguely recognizes, "Good eve~ning~, Dr. Ling," she says.
"Tanglepork?" Ling asks, "I already gave your boss my files. Did ya come just to come?" She licks one eye in her approximation of a wink.
"That's Deputy Tanglepork, now," says the gnome, gesturing to her badge. "I need to ask you a few questions; it's serious. May I?"
"Come on in, Porky," says Ling, "Need a break from plants."
Old enough to remember the NES. Pathfinder 2E DM. Fascinated by folklore, religion, mythology, and occultism. World's biggest Bushido Blade 2 fan. Really liking what's happening with indie animation lately.
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