Samurai Shodown games Nakoruru is featured as a player character in most game entries in the
Samurai Shodown series. She is also playable in various mobile spin-off titles, such as endless runner
Samurai Shodown Slash, action game
Samurai: Rougetsuki Densetsu, and rising simulation
Maid by Iroha. In the series, Nakoruru is a gentle and shy teenage girl serving
Mother Nature as a
shamanic priestess of the
Ainu religion, born on
Hokkaido island in 1771. Despite her usually pacifistic ways, she became a
Kamui warrior of her peaceful village Kamuikotan (神居古潭) after the death of her idolized father, and continues to fulfill this role throughout the series, fighting evil, often alongside the character
Haohmaru. She is killed in the second game in the series, sacrificing herself to restore the balance of nature. She eventually merges her soul with
Gaia and becomes "the holy spirit who wanders through time" in a form that resembles a
koro-pok-guru. In
Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage, the spirit of Nakoruru is an unplayable story mode character, but its
PocketStation mini game is centered around her. She also featured as a non-player character mentor to the protagonist in the spin-off game,
Nakoruru: Ano Hito kara no Okurimono, a 2001 visual novel adventure game which takes place between the first two games in the series. Nakoruru fights with a treasured ceremonial makiri (a type of Ainu dagger or short sword sometimes known as "Ainu
kodachi") called the Chichi-ushi (チチウシ, Father Bull). Depending on the form, she is aided by either a
mountain hawk-eagle named Mamahaha (ママハハ, in her "Slash" form) or a cross between
Hokkaido wolf and Siberian wolf Her powers include communicating with nature, fueling her blade with
ki energy, ability to reflect a projectile back to its sender using her cloak, and healing wounds with the power of nature. American ninja
Galford D. Weller is in love with her. The endings for
Samurai Shodown VI revealed that Nakoruru and an alter-ego of Galford traveled the world together.
The King of Fighters games In
The King of Fighters series, Nakoruru has appeared in a playable capacity in multiple games in the series in various non-canon roles. She also appeared as a non-playable character in ''
The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout, The King of Fighters 2000 (as a Special Striker for Yuri Sakazaki), The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match, and The King of Fighters XIII'' (in the Japan stage and in the Android/iOS versions as a tutorial instructor). Nakoruru made her canonical playable debut in
The King of Fighters XIV, as the leader of the "Another World Team." Nakoruru senses a new terrible evil known as Verse arriving through rifts in space and time. Nakoruru travels to the present and teams up with other characters to defeat Verse. Nakoruru returns as a playable character in
SNK All-Star, in which she and other characters from games set in the past awaken in the modern world and must team up with character
Kyo Kusanagi in a fight to seal away the
King of Fighters series antagonist
Orochi.
Other video games Nakoruru is playable in the fighting games
Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 (as an unlockable secret character),
Capcom vs. SNK 2,
SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (as rival of
Capcom's
Morrigan Aensland),
Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, ''
SNK Gals' Fighters, and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. She is also playable in various SNK games such as Neo Geo Tennis Coliseum
, Quiz King of Fighters
, and The Rhythm of Fighters.'' Nakoruru has also made collaboration event appearances in many portable and mobile games, including
AFK Arena,
Dai Shingeki RPG! Sister Quest,
Dark Avenger X,
Granblue Fantasy,
The King of Fighters All Star,
Kingdom Story: Brave Legion,
Kal Kal Kal All Together,
Kotatsu Mikuni Kansai Senki,
Might & Magic: Elemental Guardians,
The Samurai Kingdom,
Honor of Kings (
Wangzhe Rongyao),
Yamato Chronicle, and
You Are the Hero!. In
Blade Smash she was redesigned as a ninja, while in
Lost Saga she was made optionally male as well female. Nakoruru is furthermore a non-player character in the dating sims
Days of Memories: Oedo Love Scroll and
Kaze Maiu Miyako de Tsukamaete!, and has a cameo of
Rera as Nakoruru in
Sekai de Ichiban Atsui Fuyu. She appears in cards in
SNK Dream Battle and
SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS. She also appears as a spirit in
Nintendo's
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where a Mii Fighter costume based on her is available as downloadable content.
Other appearances Nakoruru appears in an anime film
Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture and in an anime OVA miniseries
Nakoruru: Ano Hito kara no Okurimono (as titular lead character) and
Samurai Spirits 2: Asura-Zanmaden (appearing along with Rera in both OVAs), also making a cameo in
Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (in a
cosplay of
Reiko Chiba), as well as in a number of manga releases (including as a co-protagonist of Kyoichi Nanatsuki and Yuki Miyoshi's adaptation of the first
Samurai Shodown, which was serialized in the West in an American magazine
Game On!). She is also featured in several of the series' drama CDs and is a member in SNK's character image band, Band of Fighters, starring in her own character image CD. Nakoruru further shows up in
pachinko slot machine systems, including prominently in "Samurai Spirits" and especially "Samurai Spirits Oni (Nakoruru)". She has dozens of figurines made in her image, and even a life-size figure, also being featured in various other merchandise such as T-shirts, and in an American collectible card game
Universal Fighting System. Keeping in key with her nature-loving persona, Nakoruru was used as a mascot for SNK's environmental awareness campaigns conducted together with city administrations in
Mitaka and
Kyoto in 1994. In 2007, SNK Playmore also created a social action program for children using Nakoruru and the
Fatal Fury star
Terry Bogard as their mascots. An image of praying Nakoruru was used to support the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami relief fund-raising.
Gameplay To compensate for Nakoruru's short weapon range, players must rely on her speed to punish their opponents' mistakes. Nakoruru's strengths lie in her air supremacy (including aerial throws) and ability to jump around the sides of the screen. She can also recover from her moves a little quicker than other characters, making it easier for her to hit-and-run during fights. To balance her out with the rest of the cast, her attack strength is slightly weaker than most fighters. Her move set usually incorporates slightly longer ranged attacks that project her or her animal companions to her foes so her attack range is not limited to her sword. Since
Samurai Shodown II, she can also reflect projectiles with the move "Kamui Ryusei". Mamahaha can be used by the player to attack opponents in a diagonal aerial attack, acting as Nakoruru's projectile and anti-air defense. The player may also command Nakoruru to use him as a mount for a limited time. Whilst she is in the air, players can command the pair to hover higher, drop, or use Nakoruru to attack foes; she may do so normally from Mamahaha's height or players may choose to drop her in a swirl attacking motion or use a diagonal nosedive attack. Her moves' names are written in
Hokkaido Ainu. Prior to
Samurai Shodown V Special, Nakoruru and Rimururu have been the series' two characters notable for being immune to the
Fatality-like bloody killing moves. In
Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny, Mamahaha does not appear in fights except in special moves. The presence of monkeys in Nakoruru's stage in the original
Samurai Shodown was a mistake of the background designer Tomoaki Fukui which confused many fans as there are no monkeys on Hokkaido. There have been attempts to add Nakoruru into the series
The King of Fighters already during the 1990s: a "Samurai Spirits Team" was originally scheduled to participate in ''The King of Fighters '95
and The King of Fighters '96'' as Nakoruru was intended to team up with Galford and Haohmaru. ==Critical reception==