References and inspirations

This article is a list of known references and inspirations based on either Hiryu or the characters and elements from the Strider series featured in other video games and media. This include nods, design similarities and homages.

For all major crossover appearances, go here. For a complete list of references found in Capcom's Street Fighter series, go here.

Video games

Nostalgia 1907 (1990)

• The character of Kirikov in Nostalgia 1907 is based on the Russian enhanced human Strobaya, sharing a very similar design. This reference was intentional as this was the second game Isuke directed. As another allusion to this reference, Kirikov asks for a glass of Stolovaya vodka at one point in the story, the brand Strobaya was named after.
• At one point Kirikov talks about St. Petersburg, capital of the great Russian Empire. A brief scene of the city is then shown, displaying onion-domed towers and a large building with a domed rooftop in the background, both resembling the towers and the Grand Mosque found in St. Petersburg.

Kirikov in-game

The scene showing St. Petersburg

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (1991)

• Koichi Ogawa, director and character designer in the SNES episodes of the Goemon franchise, revealed on twitter that Goemon's jumping pose in the third SNES entry was based on Hiryu's jump pose from the Arcade original, which he liked at the time.

Warriors of Fate (1992)

• One of the secret katana swords in Capcom's Warriors of Fate is named "Hiryu", likely as a reference since all other secret weapons are named after mythological or legendary swords.
• The trio of female assassins Mei-Mei (Izia), Mei-Ya (Arika) and Mei-Ling (San-Jin) appears to be inspired by the Kuniang M.A. Team. The female trio are original characters not featured in the manga, being exclusive characters designed by Akiman for the game.

The assassin trio

Run Saber (1993)

Main article: Run Saber

Mega Man 7 (1995)

• The Slash Claw from Mega Man 7 appears to be based on Hiryu's basic Cypher slash, creating a cutting arc of energy in much the same manner as Hiryu by swinging his arm in front of him. The Japanese version features an after-stage section where either Roll or Auto comment on Mega Man's newly obtained weapon, and Auto's dialogue for the Slash Claw directly compares it to Hiryu, albeit censored into "SXRXDER HIXYU" (スXラXダーひXゅう).

Pocket Fighter (1998)

• The console ports of Pocket Fighter include a mode known as "Edit Fighter", where the player can customize character stats. At the start of the mode Tessa will perform a quiz to the player in order to select their character, with the questions being about Capcom series. One of her questions asks what is the coolest video game character, with Hiryu being one of four options. A second question asks the player what weapon they'd prefer to use, with "Cipher sword" being one of the options. The two questions are exclusive of the English version, with the Japanese equivalents being generic questions.

Tessa's question about characters

Tessa's question about weapons

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (2002)

• Death's second form in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance turns him into a worm-like skeletal monster with a skull head and two scythes by its sides, and he attacks by flying around the arena while swinging the two scythes. His serpent-like appearance and the way he moves about are very reminiscent of Ouroboros' boss battle in the Arcade Strider. Another thing Death has in common with Ouroboros is that the player can jump into his back, stand there and attack from his position.

Power Pro Kun Pocket 7 (2004)

• In the Konami baseball game Power Pro Kun Pocket 7, the names of players in the "Greenfull Academy" (緑満学園) team are all derived from Capcom characters, including one named "Hiryu" but with a different kanji (飛龍).

Team screen, with "Hiryu" highlighted.

Quiz and Dragons: Capcom Edition (2006)

• Quiz and Dragons: Capcom Edition is a special version of Quiz and Dragons included as a bonus in Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2, in which all the original questions were changed to refer to Capcom's history and to many of its games and series. Strider is one of the many series referenced in several of the new questions.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (2008)

• Palette #16 for the character Bang Shishigami in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is inspired by Hiryu.

Hard Corps: Uprising (2011)

• The DLC character Sayuri from Hard Corps: Uprising (part of the Contra series) plays in a very different way to the usual "run 'n' gun" style of the series, instead attacking with a sword at short range requiring the player to approach enemies to destroy them. This fast-paced, rapid-hitting melee style is strongly reminiscent of the gameplay in Strider, and the arc left behind each time Sayuri swings her weapon is almost identical to Hiryu's arc of plasma. Some reviewers have noted the gameplay similarities between both games as well.

Sayuri's sword arc, very similar to Hiryu's own

League of Legends (2012)

• The "Dragonblade" skin for the League of Legends character Talon looks remarkably similar to Hiryu, especially in its official art. Perhaps to enhance the connection, the colors on his weapon in this skin match those of the Cypher's, a white edge with a red core.

Otoranger (2013)

• The Capcom mobile rhythm-themed game Otoranger features banner artwork for their limited-time events based on the flyer art or the logos of Capcom Arcade games such as Street Fighter II and SonSon. The event titled "Years End-New Year's Superhuman Festival" (年未年始の超人祭り) has its logo derived from the logo of the original Strider. The art may reference the game as well, with one character holding a sword at the front and an ominous figure standing in the background similar to Grandmaster Meio.

Event banner

Skullgirls (2015)

• During a 2015 update, the character Valentine from Skullgirls also received a palette version of Hiryu's costume. This palette is one of several "backer colors", chosen by those who supported the game's Indiegogo campaign.
• Valentine's "Wetwork" Fighter Card in Skullgirls Mobile (introduced in May 2021) uses this palette and includes two nods to Hiryu: her caption reads "Crouching Strider, Flying Dragon", referencing Hiryu's name and its translation, and her Signature Ability is called "Aerial Rave", the name of the air combo system from the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

Mighty No. 9 (2016)

• The character Brandish appears to be based on Hiryu, being a ninja-like robot with a flowing scarf and a lightning-fast blade as his primary weapon. Inafune has expressed in the past that he likes the original Strider and its world view, and he has been influeced by it while working on the Mega Man series, so it's likely the resemblance here is intentional.

198X (2019)

• The mini-game Shadowplay in the retro-style video game 198X is directly inspired by the original Arcade Strider. Its main character also wears a long red scarf similar to Hiryu and his attack creates an arc of energy similar to the Cypher.

Cyber Shadow (2021)

• The rival character Apparitor from Cyber Shadow bears a close visual resemblance to Solo in his 2014 design. Similar to Solo, Apparitor is a fierce rival of the main character hell-bent on killing him.

Apparitor's mugshot

Monster Hunter: Rise (2021)

• Monster Hunter: Rise introduced a new character in Master Utsushi, a lively and good-spirited mentor hunter. Although uncertain if intentional, his appearance (particularly his spiked hairstyle) makes him greatly resemble Strider Hiryu. His personality, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of the serious and terse Hiryu, instead being closer to old Zeku's more cheerful attitude.
  When asked if Hiryu served as inspiration for the game's designs or mechanics, producer Ryozo Tsujimoto laughed and stated that he "wouldn't say that".

Rising Hell (2022)

• The January 2022 update for the indie vertical rogue-like platformer Rising Hell introduced its 4th playable character, Val the Darkseed. The character was directly inspired by Strider Hiryu, and this can be seen in his fast and close-distance play style, the trails of energy produced by his blades when attacking (resembling the Cypher's arc of plasma), his ability to cling to walls and a move in which he releases bouncing projectiles, possibly inspired by the Boost move.

Val and one of his arcs of energy that resembles Hiryu's Cypher arcs

Other

Hi Score Girl (2016)

• Hiryu's original sprite makes minor cameo appearances in Chapter 31 of the video game-centric manga High Score Girl. In a flashback where main character Ōno Akira leaves the Arcades for the first time, she visualizes several game character sprites accompanying her in her limo, among them Hiryu performing his Cypher Attack motion.

Seiren (2017)

• In episode 3 of the anime Seiren, a boy named Wataru Tsuchiya appears dressed in a manner reminiscent of Hiryu, including a red scarf wrapped around his mouth and a blue shirt sporting the "ryu" kanji from Hiryu's name, mirroring Hiryu's use of the "hi" kanji on his uniform. In the credits of the final episode, Wataru reappears wearing a blue uniform, white leg wraps and posing with his arms crossed, making him look like an almost copy of Hiryu.

Crimson Grimoire (2019)

• The bonus illustration for the first volume of manga series Crimson Grimoire (赫のグリモア) is an homage to Hiryu in Strider 2, likely based on his ending artwork where he's squatting atop a large structure. Some of Hiryu's lines from the game are also referenced in the manga.

Bonus illustration

Scrapped costumes

• Costumes based on Hiryu's uniform were considered a few times for different Capcom games, only to be scrapped at the end:
  • A Hiryu-themed armor was sketched for use by Mega Man Volnutt in the first Mega Man Legends, including an unique left arm weapon for him called the "Cypher Arm" (サイファーアーム) and Data imitating the Option A in its floating trajectory.
  • A costume was planned for Guy in Super Street Fighter IV that'd dress him in Hiryu's uniform.
  • A Hiryu-themed "ninja" costume was one of several scrapped DLC ideas for Moira Burton in Resident Evil Revelations 2.

Mega Man Legends' Hiryu armor

Guy's scrapped Hiryu costume

Moira Burton's scrapped "ninja" costume

A usable costume based on Hiryu would eventually become a reality in Monster Hunter Generations.