BASARA (Kubigiri Basara)
First Appearance: Samurai Shodown III (1995)
Game Appearances: Samurai Shodown III-VI, SS 2019
Home Country: Japan
Weapon: Triple-Bladed Kusarigama
Role: Evil Ghost, Crazy Guy
PL 9 (115)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 13 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -3
Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Intimidation 11 (+8)
Perception 5 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 4 (+11)
Advantages:
Equipment 1 (Kusarigama), Improved Critical (Ground Slash), Improved Critical (Friendly Rip), Improved Initiative, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 4, Startle, Takedown 2
Samurai Shodown Fighting Style: Accurate Attack (Light Attack), All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort (Super Move), Fast Grab (Grab), Improved Critical (Chosen Weapon), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack (Heavy Attack), Withstand Damage (Block)
Powers:
"Shodown Fighter" Features 1: Adds Weapon Damage to Special Moves [1]
"Special Moves" (All Have Flaws: Requires Signature Weapon, except Teleport)
"Shadow Exit" Teleport 2 (Feats: Change Direction) (Extras: Easy) & +2 to Hit Projectile-Wielding Opponents (8) -- [12]
- AE: "Friendly Rip" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Hit Opponent Who Parried Last Turn) (Inaccurate -1) (1)
- AE: "Ground Slash" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach 2) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
- AE: "Shadow Stitcher/Soul of the Beast" Blast 5 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Reduced Defenses 2) (3)
- AE: "Shadow Feint" Affliction 5 (Will; Dazed/Stunned) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (5)
"Kusarigama" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Reach) (4)
Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Kusarigama +13 (+5 Damage, DC 19)
Special Moves +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Soul of the Beast/Shadow Stitcher +11 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Shadow Feint -- (+5 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 15)
Initiative +9
Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +4
Complications:
Motivation (Revenge)- Basara and his bride were slain by the demon Zankuro- Basara's revenant now seeks revenge.
Enemy (Zankuro)
Responsibility (Insane)- Coming back from the dead has turned Basara into a cackling, shaking madman.
Weakness (Predictability)- Basara cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time he tries the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, he will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done.
Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 12 + 12 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 17 (115)
-Another "Crazy Guy" fighter for the Shodown franchise, Basara is definitely more manga-inspired than Gen-An, as he sports Anime Hair, spinning blades, and a toned body. He looks quite similar to Akimasa Omori from Ninja Scroll, and has many of the same powers- another copycat from fiction. Though his design is somewhat simple, the way he's hunched forward, with a "resting animation" that consists of him jittering uncontrollably, really contains a lot of character. Plus one of his winning poses, where he holds his lost love in his arms, then watches her turn into a corpse, then vanish- he screams in psychotic agony.
-Basara is actually a ghost, a yurei who is reborn due to the extreme hatred he harbored befored his death. Both and and his wife were killed by the demon Zankuro (the Final Boss of Samurai Shodown III, which debuted Basara), and he returns from the dead in order to gain revenge. This would ordinarily make him a heroic figure, but the experience has driven him mad, and so this revenant is more disturbing than anything. In the next game in the series, he hunts Amakusa, whom he's learned has brought him back to life. His soul is said to have been captured by Mizuki and finally sealed away, but he returns for the 2019 revamp of the series, having proven popular.
-Basara is a quick, frenetic fighter, doing less damage but having some erratic, very accurate moves that can be hard to avoid, like looping Blasts and a Teleport (one of the rarest moves in the Shodown series), one of which sends him out with an uppercut, making for a very effect "Projectile Killer", punishing "Fireball Spammers" with an insant-attack from across the screen. This makes him one of the very, very few Fighting Game characters who are maxed out on Dodge.