Nagoriyuki
Run.
― Nagoriyuki to Chipp Zanuff[src]
Nagoriyuki is a playable character in the Guilty Gear series who makes his first appearance on Guilty Gear -Strive-. He is described as a noble vampire samurai who wields a bloodsucking blade.
Design
Nagoriyuki is a tall, heavily built, dark-skinned man with blue eyes and thick, shoulder-length Dread-locks tied into a ponytail. He wears a white coat with purple lining decorated with silver studs and snaps in the style of a haori, with only his right arm through the sleeve; the back of the jacket is emblazoned with a red kanji 心 (kokoro?, heart) and the word "HEART" beneath. This is worn over a simple orange robe cinched at the waist by a red obi and three leather belts, which is likewise half-removed. Beneath this is a long white waist cloth matching his jacket, with several purple and blue straps embroidered with crosses and the phrase "KEEP OUT." He also wears white fingerless gloves, black leggings, and simple gray sandals.
His white mechanical helmet resembles a hannya mask with elongated horns and a rictus grin. In place of eyes and a nose is a featureless white surface marked with the same red kanji that appears on his coat. The helmet can automatically disassemble, retracting behind his head. He also carries a traditional daishou pair of swords sheathed at the hip, with the oodachi locking into its scabbard via a mechanical apparatus in the hilt.
Personality
Nagoriyuki is a kind man, honest and sincere by nature. While he will remain steadfast during battle, he is generally concerned for his opponent's well-being, and he'll often provide advice to them either during battle or after he is victorious, much akin to Slayer. He's not one to mince words, especially when it comes to combat. As such, the advice he gives can sometimes come off as rather harsh and judgmental.
While Happy Chaos was able to control and manipulate Nagoriyuki's physical actions, he either didn't or couldn't control Nagoriyuki's consciousness. As a result, Nagoriyuki was fully aware of his actions while being controlled by Chaos, and during that time, he frequently expressed regret and no ill-will towards others when Chaos forced Nagoriyuki to confront whomever Chaos desired.
Another trait he shares with Slayer is that at he practices Dandyism, a form of chivalry in the world of Guilty Gear. Either Zato-1 or himself will mention the lifestyle practice during their battle outro quotes with one another.
He is willing and eager to learn from those that take the time to teach him something. In Guilty Gear Strive, he mentions or implies that he has studied under multiple masters and tutors over the course of his life during battle intro dialogue with Sol and Chipp, and also expresses a desire to study under Baiken during intro quotes with her as well. Likewise, he's also not opposed to teach those who are willing to learn from him, as evidenced by his Strive player 2-side battle intro quote with Elphelt, where she asks him to teach her how to free herself from temptation.
Story
Backstory
Nagoriyuki is a Nightless samurai and the retainer of a man named Kazusanosuke, who taught him the Koretou style of swordsmanship.[2] He has been under the tutelage of multiple masters and teachers over the course of his life, including an unnamed Nightless mentioned during his battle intro dialogue with Sol, as well as the former sensei of Chipp Zanuff, Tsuyoshi, who he mentions by name during his battle intro dialogue with Chipp. He also at some point came to learn about and practice the Dandyism lifestyle, which is mentioned during the battle outro dialogue with Zato-1, though he does not state where he learned it or who he learned it from.
During the Crusades, his strength and unstable nature caught the attention of Happy Chaos, who used his powers to force Nagoriyuki to do his bidding. At some point after these events, Nagoriyuki paid a vast sum to rent out the basement level of a luxurious high-rise in Illyria, where he spent the next several decades in meditative hibernation.
Guilty Gear -Strive- Main Story
Nagoriyuki is found and awakened by Chaos, who once again uses his binding magic to force him to be his bodyguard, since he is the only person who knows his weakness. During the ensuing events he is forced to fight on behalf of Chaos and I-No, and Chaos also copies the unique properties of his blade to create bullets that slows health regeneration's speed for short periods. His ability to use Gamma Blade surprises Chipp Zanuff during their first encounter.
Through these battles, he develops a rivalry with Sol Badguy, telling him his flaws in battle as they fight. However, in their final battle, Nagoriyuki praises him and breaks free of Chaos's control, allowing Sol to defeat him, but sadly have no time to ask him about Chaos' weakness, as Sol is in hurry with US President Vernon E. Groubitz, and the Gear Maker Asuka R. Kreutz to escape from Chaos, but instead, tricking him into being trapped inside the air ship White House's PEOC escape pod and got rid of him.
However, when the real Chaos is revealed to still be aboard the airship, and uses the Tome of Origin which fused with Asuka to fuse the former with I-No, to restore the witch's full godlike power, Nagoriyuki is properly freed from Chaos' control.
In the final battle against a godlike I-No, he returns to help Sol (now simply a 'human' named Frederick Bulsara), Ky and Axl Low find and expose her weak point, allowing Sol to destroy her with his Outrage cannon. With Chaos and I-No gone, Nagoriyuki's whereabouts are unknown.
Abilities
Like Slayer, Nagoriyuki is a vampire, and thus endowed with immortality, superhuman speed, extreme durability and godlike strength. Unlike Slayer, however, Nagoriyuki fights using a wakizashi along with a large, magical katana that is styled akin to an ōdachi or a tachi relative to his own size that is customized to prevent wounds inflicted by it from healing, as seen in the Story Mode of Strive, where several of his attacks temporarily negated Sol's accelerating regeneration. The katana also has the ability to absorb the blood of his opponents, which helps to mitigate his vampiric cravings for blood. The mask he wears also helps to restrain the his cravings.
When Nagoriyuki is in a heated state, such as during combat, he will go into a Blood Rage. While in Blood Rage, his fangs will extend and his combat abilities are increased even further.
He has the ability to cause his attacks to send energy waves, with the same effect as being hit with the katana itself, making him dangerous even from afar.
He can sense the weak points of his opponents, which is how he knows the weak point of Happy Chaos.
Gameplay-wise, Nagoriyuki is a character with very high range and damage, which is balanced by low mobility: he can't dash forward or backwards, both on ground and on the air. Instead, he has access to a teleporting command dash known as Fukyo, which is similar to Slayer's ground dash in previous games. He also has access to the Blood Gauge, a unique resource which fills by using his special moves, and is depleted by hitting the opponent with his Slash and Heavy Slash normals, or by successfully landing his command grab special move Bloodsucking Universe, which drains the Blood Gauge of the majority of it's accumulated Blood. The more filled the Blood Gauge is, the more damage, speed and range his Slash/Heavy Slash normals have. However, filling the gauge completely causes Nagoriyuki to enter the Blood Rage state. During Blood Rage, his Slash/Heavy Slash normals will reach their maximum range, speed and damage, and he has access to the immensely damaging Overdrive Zansetsu. This comes at the cost of not being able to use his special moves while also losing up to 50% of his max health until the Blood Gauge fully drains, or he attacks with Zansetsu.
Music
- What do you fight for - Guilty Gear -Strive-
Quotes
Allusions
- Nagoriyuki's name may be an homage to the famous 1975 folk song "Nagori Yuki" (なごり雪?) by IRUKA, originally performed in 1974 by the band Kaguya Hime. The song has been covered by many prominent Japanese pop and rock artists in the decades since it was written.
- Before Nagoriyuki performs Wasureyuki, an image of Gashadokuro appears as a reflection on his odachi; upon finished, a fragment of The Great Wave off Kanagawa appears in the background, and a text appears: 至誠通天 ("shisei tsuuten"), which roughly means "sincerity passing heaven": it is based on a Chinese proverb/precept that made its way to Japanese martial arts in the form of 至誠天に通ず ("shisei ten ni tsuusu"; "sincerity moves through heaven", describing that it can touch/move the heavens), particularly to the likes of kenjutsu and kendou.
- Nagoriyuki refers to his master using the name Kazusanosuke, one of the pseudonyms of Oda Nobunaga.
- When discussing Nagoriyuki's inspiration, Ishiwatari said that he is based on a historical figure;[3] this is most likely Yasuke, a samurai of African descent who was one of Nobunaga's retainers.
- His theme, What Do You Fight For, pays homage to "Come Together" by The Beatles, and its chorus resembles that of "Junkyard Dog" by Winger.
Trivia
- Nagoriyuki (名残雪?) is Japanese for "lingering snow," a sentimental phrase referring to out of season snowfall during the spring. Likewise, all of his techniques have a snow-term-naming motif, with his Zansetsu being the only named-technique of his written in on'yomi instead of kun'yomi.
- In a special interaction Nagoriyuki can have with Chipp before a match, the two imply that Nagoriyuki had some relationship with Tsuyoshi. In the Story Mode, Chipp is also surprised to see Nagoriyuki using a technique (his Zarameyuki) resembling his own Gamma Blade.
- Nagoriyuki's horned mask bears a strong resemblance to the rabbit-headed minions Happy Chaos brainwashes, with the horns also resembling Happy Chaos' own.
- Nagoriyuki has made a guest appearance in Elemental Story.
- Nagoriyuki's in-game voice lines when getting an afro from Faust imply that he wore his hair in an afro in youth.
- He is extremely fond of onigiri. During one of his Respects in Strive, he will chow down on some while he gives his opponent one of multiple lectures regarding their convenience and health benefits.
Gallery
External links
References