Hokuto Ryuken

Hokuto Ryuken (北斗琉拳, "Shining Fist of the Northern Dipper") is an instrumental martial arts style practiced in the Fist of the North Star series. It is partially reenacted and introduced in Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2.

Like its sibling martial art Hokuto Shinken, Hokuto Ryuken's origins stem from the martial art Hokuto Sōke Ken. In the history of the martial art's origins, Hokuto Shinken's founder Shuken was born on the same day as another heir to the Hokuto Sōke Ken art, Ryūō. Foretold as an omen that should two heirs be born that would bring about catastrophe, Ryūō's mother however sacrificed herself to spare both of the infant's lives in a life or death test to determine the true heir of the art, being moved by the love that Shuken's mother displayed upon saving her son. Indebted to this act, Ryūō thus became a subordinate to Shuken, but whose karma now left him and his descendants forever marked with the longing of lost love in their own lives.

As Shuken developed Hokuto Shinken, Ryūō also studied the art under his leader, but as the war of the Three Kingdoms began, he left with his own will and pursuit of the martial art. While this lead to the schism of Hokuto Shinken into the Hokuto Sanka Ken schools, with Ryūō's art being that of Hokuto Ryuka Ken (北斗劉家拳, "Northern Dipper Fist of the Liu Family"), the defining martial art came to be known from Hokuto Soka Ken. Existing even long after the great wars, Hokuto Ryuka Ken existed only in the depths of obscurity after its heir migrated back to the nation of Shura.

Powers
Hokuto Ryuken is an esoteric martial art, and considered a style of evil that is never meant to exist, having strayed into the arts of darkness in the extremely bloody lands of Shura. Poised on becoming the sole strongest fighting style in the world, the school focuses on the targeting of the 1,109 Destruction Meridians of the body as well as an emphasis on targeting these meridians from all ranges by distorting one's own fighting aura to completely obliterate their opponents. Through this distortion, they are capable of projecting it as projectiles and forms of energy, and for pacifistic purposes, able to to halt opposition completely, through either overwhelming the auras of others with their own, to spreading its influence to invoke a subconscious sense of dread, pressure, and negative emotion. Witnesses have correlated Hokuto Ryuken more akin to sorcery and magic due to the almost surreal powers wielded by its practitioners.

Users of the school also draw its powers from emotion, but are goaded into throwing themselves into abandon and negative extremes, including madness, hatred, depravity, and even to develop the will to defy even heaven and strike down the gods themselves, a process known as "entering the demonic realm". This in turn aids in the process of the distortion of their fighting aura and helps develops an evil form of aura known as Matoki. Should one be overwhelmed by Matoki, it transforms them into a frenzied, uncontrollable, and powerful demon-like personality known as Majin which does not distinguish friend from foe. True masters of Hokuto Ryuken are said to have walked into the heart of the Demonic Realm, and are able to use Matoki freely without succumbing to its effects by embracing evil itself upon plunging themselves into its depths.

Gameplay
Hokuto Ryuken is an advanced play style that demands mastery of pacing and control in the face of its erratic and varied movesets, and focuses on utilizing Signature Attacks and gaining Aura. While their normals are powerful and hard hitting with multi hitting features, splash damage, and repositioning mobility to cut through crowds, its Strong Attack finishers, unlike Hokuto Shinken, are always the same to their users, as well as lengthy and somewhat situational to utilize. As such, it is crucial to learn of their animations and frames to cancel Strong Attack strings out back into normal loops and know when to execute their Strong Attacks finishers.

Signature Moves of the style bear unique and mixed up properties unlike other styles, and are dependent on the user. Considering range, many of its focuses are on projectiles and wide area of effect attacks, and are considerable in strength, but more powerful attacks require somewhat longer start up times or a vulnerable opening to be effective like the Hokuto Shinken style.

Unique to the series, foes who are defeated by the Hokuto Ryuken style mysteriously waver slowly in pain as their body gradually contorts, before they darken black and erupt into a bloody mist. Though subtle due to its relation with the Hokuto Shinken style, this is believed to be the cause of the use of Destruction Meridians, and may help to emphasize how Destruction Meridians are not "proper", akin to the differences of targeting weak but non vital areas which prolongs unpredictable suffering on the body against ensuring swift or intended execution on vital areas of the body.