Noroko

Noroko
私を助けて...
Stats
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Info
Type	Original
Author Name	Andres Borghi
Origin	The Black Heart
AI?	Yes
Date of first public release	2008
Version	Version 4.0 (20/11/2013)
Mugen Version	WinMUGEN (general Mugen version)

Noroko is an original character conceived, sprited and coded by Andres Borghi and part of the cast of The Black Heart fullgame, released in 2009. Her standalone character has continued to recieve updates ever since.

She takes inspiration from the Onryo ghosts of Japanese folklore. Often female, these spirits suffered violent deaths and now seek vengeance upon the living. She also takes inspiration from Japanese horror films as she shares characteristics from the ghost from Ju-on and the backdrop for her Super Moves and her Fatal move have a film grain effect exclusive to her.

Biography

She is a ghost who lies dormant within an ancient Japanese doll which is currently owned by an antique collector. When the king of the other world is murdered and his heart is ripped out, the power emanating from it was strong enough to awaken Noroko who escapes the doll and kills the collector. Noroko then travels through the worlds searching for the heart in hopes that its power can end her suffering and grudge, which are so powerful they drive her to attack and kill anyone she comes across.

Gameplay

Noroko is a fighter with great air combo potential, many tactical options and great mobility. Using her varied options of movement, Noroko can quickly close distance and perform a rushdown using a highly damaging string of combos and cancels into supers which more often than revolve around setting up for an air and corner advantage. Said mobility also helps her perform hit and run strategies. With an on-demand counter move and the ability to teleport when cornered, Noroko also has an edge against opponents who wish to pressure her against the corner, stopping their attempts dead on their tracks, forcing a change to the pace of the fight and even bait them into a disfavorable position. Her counter move also works along her projectile to predict and keep the opponent knocked over.

Noroko however suffers from not having a reliable poke and having poor range for her basic attacks; this forces her to be in close quarters if she wants to deal significant damage. This short range of effectiveness give her a hard time against fighters who specialize in zoning out with projectiles and long range basics (Dhalsim) or can punish her need to agressively close in on them (Kyosuke Kagami). In addition, this need to be up close and personal might get her in severe problems when fighting grappler like characters, but thanks to her Killer Mode and great mobility, she can deal with them better than previous matchups. Her lack of a command overhead move also limits her mixup capabilities by a great amount.

During Killer mode, she will turn gamestyle drastically into a slow but poweful projectile spammer. She will now rely on creating a gap rather than closing it in order to unleash her projectile attacks in safety, her now diminished size and tripping slide move helping her accomplish this. However, unlike Killer Modes from other Black Heart characters (Except maybe Shar-Makai) which only lose their ability to perform specials and supers, Doll Noroko will also lose those, her basic attacks, her jump and the ability to block. She cannot be grabbed or properly hit by a combo string while in this form, but the ease in which basic attacks can stun-lock her makes those advantages null, punishing Noroko harshly for being within hitting distance. Transforming while against characters with projectiles which travel across the ground (like Rock's Reppuken), would be a foolish move.

In general, Noroko has a versatile playstyle which rewards quick reflexes and good predictions. It can reward opportunities to punish and then go all in for a high-risk high-reward gamestyle or be highly unpredictable by making use of her Killer Mode

Movelist

Norkoko can press while airborne to jump again.

Her cancels work like this: Normals -> Specials -> Supers/Killer Mode

Normals

Whap	Hair Slap Command Notes Jab, can cancel into her other normals Description Noroko's head spins forcibly, making her hair slap the opponent .

	Claw Command Notes Knockup. End of chain, cannot be cancelled into another basic. Description Noroko swipes upwards shooting enemies slightly upwards if it connects .

	Hand Kick Command Notes Can be cancelled into a stronger kick or punch Description A hand comes clawing out from Noroko's skirt.

	Strong Hand Kick Command Notes Can be cancelled into a strong punch or special Description Another Noroko comes out from her Skirt and extends her claw forward

	Air jab Command (AIR) Notes Overhead. Jab, can cancel into her other normals Description Noroko strikes with her claw .

	Air Claw Command (AIR) Notes Knockup. Can be followed up by her strong punch to firther knock opponent into the air Description Noroko swipes both of her hands ,shooting enemies slightly upwards if it connects.

	Air Hand Kick Command (AIR) Notes Overhead. Jab, can cancel into her other normals Description A hand comes clawing out from Noroko's skirt

Oh hai	Skirt surprise Command (AIR) Notes Overhead. Knocks down standing opponents and smashes airborne ones into the ground Description Another, freakier Noroko comes out from her skirt and extends downwards

	Crouching hair slap Command Notes Hits low. Jab, can cancel into her other normals Description Noroko 's hair flaps by itself in the air .

	Double claw Command Notes Knockdown. End of chain Description Norko extends both hands outwards. The forward hand hits a few frames before the back one

	Crouching Hand Kick Command Notes Hits low. Can cancel into her other normals Description A hand comes clawing out from Noroko's skirt

	Crouching strong hand kick Command Notes Hits low Description Two hands extend from Noroko's skirt and extend forwards

Command moves

	Run Command Notes Can be done in midair Description Noroko rushes forwards in a very threatening manner. If done in the air, she can stay afloat for up to 3 seconds

	Vanish Command Notes Backdash. Teleport. Frames grant brief invincibility Description Noroko moves backwards, disappearing and reapprining a few steaps further back. If performed against the wall or corner of the screen, Noroko will teleport to the opposite side of the screen. This move won't corner Noroko against the edge again, preventing her from teleporting back and forth in succession.

	Claw Face Command + (near opponent) Notes Grab. Changes direction Description Noroko grabs her opponent, her face turns black and a bloody hand pops out from it, tossing her foe far awasy from her.

	Telekinesis Command + (near opponent) Notes Grab Description Noroko grabs her opponent and both turn pitch black. She levitates her victim and repeatedly slams him/her against the ground before tossing them aside

Special moves

Bloody End Command + Notes Projectile. Knockdown Description Noroko slits her wrist and blood comes gushing out. A short range projectile that hits once and goes roughly 1/3 of the screen. It knocks down opponents and breaks projectiles with lesser or equal priority. The hitbox encompasses the entire animation, so if timed correctly, you can knock down an opponent who is just getting back up. is quicker to perform than but does less damage.

Okiku's Cry Command + Notes Counter. Knockdown Description Noroko cries in dispair. If she recieves a hit while sobbing, she will scream, knock the attacker far away from her. Projectiles and grabs will not trigger the counter move, this will leave her wide open for more punishment. Variations modify the duration of the counter state, with lasting 1 second and lasting roughly 2.5 seconds. Both variations deal the same amount of damage

Kwaidan Command + Notes Dash. Knockup Description Noroko lunges forward and if the move hits, she damages again and knocks her opponent upwards. Despite feeling like a grab move, Kwaidan can be blocked. Since the second instance of damage originates from a helper, parrying the first instance will likely not protect from the second. travels a shorter distance, deals less damage but is faster and enables Noroko to cancel into "Snow Woman" shortly after. is stronger and travels farther but doesn't allow for special cancel.

Snow Woman Command + Notes Knockup. Overhead. Stance. Can be performed while airborne. Description Noroko flips and ascends to the ceiling, damaging and knocking the opponent upwards with her. While in the ceiling , she can choose to do three things: Lunge downwards to deal damage and knock the opponent into the ground and towards the direction of the lunge. and lunge away from the opponent while and lunge towards the opponent. This attack is an overhead. Stay up in the ceiling and crawl with or for up to 5 seconds. Noroko cannot guard against attacks while in this stance, characters with good anti-aerials will try and punish her for avoiding a fight this way. Drop down pressing . She can perform Snow Woman again everytime she drops, good for baits, evasion and most importantly, extension of her air combo

Super moves

Emma o Mask Command + (+) or Prerequisites At least 1 Power stock. Notes Projectile. KnockDown. Channelled Description Noroko dons a frightening mask sends forwards a flurry ghostly beings which travel across the screen. Each mask does individual damage and can knockdown the opponent. Interrupting her will stop any further ghosts from appearing but will not stop current ones. With proper timing, it can catch a waking opponent offguard

Soul Punishment Command +(+) or Prerequisites At least 1 power stock. Notes Cinematic. Dash. Priority over normals Description Norko lunges forward and forces her opponent's soul to leave the body, which she will then ravage several times, dealing great amounts of damage. Like Kwaidan, this move can be blocked. Certain opponents, mainly those who cannot be grabbed, will be immune to this Super (Phantom Of The Server's Bison oddly enough is an exception) This move has priority over regular attacks (tentative,further testing required)

	Funeral Command +(+) or Prerequisites At least 1 power stock. Notes Knockup. Overhead. Multi-hit. Description An "EX" variation of Snow Woman, Noroko will summon several after-images of herself to mimic the regular move, each will do damage.

FATAL: Onryou Command +(+) or Prerequisites 3 power stocks and opponent's lifebar at 1/3 or less. Notes Cinematic. Fatality. Dash Description Noroko turns pitch black and lunges forward, if the move connects, it will trigger a cinematic which will end with the opponent being literally scared to death, suffering an instant KO. Connecting this move is smilar to that of Kwaidan or Soul Punishment but travels a bit slower and like said moves, it can be blocked.

Killer Mode

I do love you mommy	Possession Command + or + Prerequisites At least 2 power stocks. Notes Drains power bar over time. Input command again to exit Killer Mode Description Noroko ´returns to the doll she once haunted, losing her ability to do basic moves, super moves, jump or guard but gaining acces to a variety of new moves, mostly projectiles.

	Huge Mask Command + or + Prerequisites At least 2 power stocks. Must have been activated as part of a combo chain Notes Projectile. Knock Down Special condition Description Upon activating Killer Mode, Noroko fires 3 enromous ghost masks, each doing heavy damage and knocking over enemies

	Mask projectile Command Prerequisites Killer Mode. Notes Projectile. Knockdown. Description Noroko summons and fires one ghostly mask

	Spin Command Prerequisites Killer Mode. Notes Dash. Knockdown. Hits low Description Noroko spins around, knocking down opponents she passes through.

	Four Masks Command + Prerequisites Killer Mode. At least 1/2 of a power stock. Notes Projectile. Knockdown Description Noroko shoots a group of 4 ghostly masks.

	Spectral hands Command + Prerequisites Killer Mode. At least 1/2 of a power stock. Notes Projectile. Delayed attack. Knockdown Description Noroko summons 4 spectral hands from the ground. After a short delay, they strike down.

Bugs

• Sometimes the cinematic attacks from Soul Punishment will fail to play, leaving the downed opponent and a now blue Noroko stunned for the duration of the Super move. In consequence, only the initial connecting hit will deal damage, wasting the super move completely.

Trivia

• If Noroko uses Soul Punishment as a finishing move, she will destroy her victim's soul.
• She is the only Black Heart character whose Killer mode completley changes her playstyle.
• Her Fatal move is curiously enough gore free and not that violent compared to the finishing moves from the rest of the cast from her parent game.
• She and Aiduzzi's Ella share the same character archetype (Stringy haired ghost girls) and are often seen as rivals amongst some circles despite being greatly different in terms of graphics, gameplay and approach to personality (Noroko being a "serious" take on the archetype)