Toroko Warriors/Helena

Helena is a playable character in Toroko Warriors and is one of the numerous unlockable characters in the game. She represents the Toroko company itself and is its manager. This makes her the only character in Toroko Warriors to not emerge from any particular project regardless of their origin. Helena is a tough, kick-ass woman who likes to get things done and is willing to do whatever it takes to get things her way. She is loving and caring, but has a tough exterior that only melts around her precious lover, namely Athena, who is the manager of affiliate company TimeStrike.

Helena is categorized as a balanced character, sporting an incredible range of moves and very flexible gameplay that render her simple but very effective to use. Her stats are rather rounded out, giving her no obvious weaknesses yet no overwhelming advantages on the battlefield. Helena has three large gimmicks attached to her: Goddess Support, Hexagon Web, and Vaporwave Effect, each of which giving her different strengths on the battlefield. She is armed and dangerous and definitely a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps most infamously, Helena has no real weakness; but this can be turned around if the opponents work on exploiting bad moves on any Helena player's part, which can be a common thing.

Helena is unlocked if the player plays the game on Feb. 20th, Aug. 19th, or Nov. 4th. Alternatively, having data from "Battle of the Zaxinians" will immediately unlock Helena too.

Playstyle
Helena is a fairly tall character with moderate weight, possessing a bulky structure which makes her fairly easy to hit. This bulk however allows her to punch holes through opponents quite easily thanks to her strong arm muscles, with good enough weight to thrust into unfortunate foes. Helena has lots of energy, able to run at good speeds and utilize wall jumps and grab ledges. This energy works its way into a mechanic; if Helena uses too much energy at once (via attacking or running at max speed) she can temporarily tire out and will have to recover her energy. Even when tired, Helena has high enough attack speed to fend off opponents, able to swing her arms out at extremely high speeds to catch others off guard.

Helena has a ton of varied moves she can use at will. If the player taps up twice, Helena will do a sprint that takes the form of a strong leap, which she can use to leap short gaps quickly. Shall the player attempt a double jump, a tentacle will sprout from under Helena which takes her slightly higher up into the air. This tentacle stands as a platform and a potential bridge to others. By holding down the appropriate bottom trigger button before moving left or right, Helena will drop down a hexagonal spider web before rolling away. This web can trap opponents that run over it for a few seconds, giving Helena time to hit them hard. By holding down the special attack button near an ally, a black void will surround her and them -- and Helena will soon emerge with full health, but tired.

There is no doubt about it: Helena is NOT a pushover. If an attack button is pressed during her sprint, she will dive forward and do a full-body, high-damaging tackle that sacrifices some speed. When falling, the player can hold down a shoulder button to turn her descent into a crushing stomp that flattens unwary foes. Circling the right analog stick while Helena is running will cause her to spin around like a tornado, helping deflect projectiles and knock opponents away from her. Additionally, when alone, a Helena player can hold down the inner triggers to cause her to pleasure herself, and the effect doubles when her partner is out and helping her. These alone make Helena quite fearsome.

Her combo attacks tend to be pretty varied. By pressing the shoulder buttons, Helena can change what attacks are thrown out with the attack buttons. By default, she'll simply throw out punches and end combos with a brutal swing of her arms. She can choose between a dildo-shaped sword, an alive tentacle, two enlarged teeth filled with venom, and a skeletal trident. The first can dish out fast attacks and works well when "thrusted" into her foes. When thrusted straight forward, it sends out a white fluid that slows opponents on contact. The tentacle has a chance to paralyze opponents when it strikes them. The venomous teeth can poison opponents if the tips connect. Finally, the skeletal trident can sever bones on her foes, disabling certain moves for them.

Every time Helena does something qualified as dirty, her Lust meter increases. When it's high enough, she'll become filled to the brim with energy and sport extraordinary talent. She'll become able to run up walls, do powerful punches, and reflect bullets with a swing of her chest. However, her defense continuously lowers every second until her Lust meter runs out. In this stage, players should give it their all using Helena, then try to get out of dangerous areas when the meter is 1/8th full. Once the meter drains, she'll become totally out of it and vulnerable to attacks for about thirty seconds before she recovers. Shall Athena be available however, her defenses severely improve as she'll be able to defend her queen from attacks.

Speaking of Athena, by tapping the inner triggers together Helena can summon her. Athena looks really fearful and tries to defend Helena with her life. She's very good at defending her queen, but doesn't last too long so Helena should make the best of her. By holding the jump button after jumping off of her tentacle platform, Athena will take Helena off into the skies in the form of a quick glide. Holding down the special attack button near Athena will allow a hexagonal void to surround both as well, with Helena completely energized and Athena looking really dizzy. However, when Athena loses her last bit of health via a foe, Helena will become enraged and have a high increase in power and a severe drop in defense. If Athena dies by poison or falling down a pit, Helena will cry and lose the ability to attack temporarily.

The Vaporwave Effect activates when Helena has taken enough damage, changing the surroundings of the battlefield around her to be vaporwave-esque. If one falls in the vaporwave zone, they have the potency to be attacked by Helena, so its a warning to stay away. All of her stats are buffed slightly in this form, and if Athena is out, she'll also have this effect attached to her. Any sex partners Helena has while under the Vaporwave Effect will also have this sort of vaporwave field. This is known as her last chance too, if she fails then at least she would have gone out with a bang. If Helena falls on the battlefield, all the vaporwave fields disappear, as well as Athena who will carry Helena to safety.

Helena has a secondary form which changes her gameplay severely, acknowledged as her Spider Queen transformation. Her speed and defense become raised very sharply, but her offense isn't quite as strong and she can be a bit tricky to control. She becomes able to climb walls and ceilings and leave sticky webs wherever she goes. By holding down on the jump button, Helena will descend from the ceiling slowly using her webbing, able to scout for foes. She can spit out webbing too which freezes opponents it hits. Switching between forms involves holding down on the special attack button when her FINALE is ready, skipping using the skill and going straight to her other self. Both have their own advantages.

Like with her normal self, Helena has a ton of options when in her spider form. Quickly tapping down whilst moving will have Helena stretch out her various legs, causing her to bind her opponent and drain them of health. By alternating between the inner triggers, she will lash out her legs and brutally slice at her opponents as she runs. While she cannot jump, holding down the jump button while on the ground will cause her to spit a thread towards a ceiling, pulling herself up to it. She can swing from ceilings when suspended, giving her a lot of different options. She can also toss eggs at her opponents to trap them with the large spiders that emerge from them, forcing them to take poison damage.

Unlike her normal self though, her attacks cannot be changed with the shoulder buttons. When using the attack buttons, Helena will dish out her legs to attack, but using the shoulder buttons can change the positions of the legs. If in offensive position, the legs will be spread out to take on more foes, but in defense position, they'll be tightened up closer to her and block attacks, with only a few legs being sent out at a time. Using the bottom triggers will allow her attacks to lock onto her foes or switch the positions of her arms to determine if they'll be mostly blocking her face or body from blows. If the tips of the legs connect, Helena will poison her opponents, especially with her arms which can badly poison.

One of Helena's various gimmicks is the Hexagon Web. A quick forwards thrust with the right analog stick will have Helena toss forward a white hexagon, which spreads into a multi-colored circle of them upon making contact with the ground. If an opponent steps on it, they'll become trapped and teleport away as a bunch of hexagons, all the way back to the usual spawning point. This can be used to keep opponents from invading her allies' territory and keep them far away. If she steps on the Hexagon Web, she will completely use it up, but she will have one of her stats randomly boosted.

If Athena is still around while Helena is in her spider form, she can pick up Athena with the special attack button and load her up with slime, which she can hack out at enemies at lightning fast speeds. By pummeling the button she'll fire slime off like a machine gun. Occasionally, Helena will need to spend two seconds to reload. As Helena lacks any other projectile as a spider, keeping Athena around during the transformation and her time as a spider is extremely helpful. Also, for Athena's projectiles auto-aim, she'll be able to strike opponents in the time, eliminating really tricky foes from the match and potentially freeing Helena from tons of harm.

While Helena has no huge weaknesses, it is easy for Helena players to screw up when playing as her. Misusing Helena isn't difficult and she can very easily take damage under the hands of an inexperienced player. For example, if a Helena player doesn't watch their back, they can get brutally stabbed and take tons of damage in either form. The inability to transform at will can be very annoying too, as both forms have their own advantages and talents over the other. Sometimes Helena doesn't have the stats needed to take on specific opponents, which can render her helpless against those that threaten her viability on the battlefield. Playing Helena perfectly requires trickery and full acknowledgement of her moveset.

Helena's best allies depend on her form. Helena pairs well with fast allies in her normal form, with Alcyone and Ethereal serving as some of her best friends. Alcyone and Ethereal can both outspeed and kill common threats for Helena, especially Plato, Eris and the Mistake. Those three are all capable of walling and finishing off the queen on their own. In her spider form, Oni and Corrina are more helpful, capable of beating down the opponents that Helena cannot do. Iron Mask resists her poisonous attacks and all defense characters in general can laugh at her attacks. In her normal form, Helena can take down every other balanced player and severely wound support characters in her spider form.

With so much she can do, Helena can pretty much fill in any position. Her ability to cause status on foes, do lots of damage and defend herself simultaneously, run away from troubles and switch between forms makes her super viable and easy to use in combat. She can fit in defensive teams and cause lots of damage via poison or go on the offensive and use her wide range of attacks to devastate the opposition. Helena players just need to be careful and be on the lookout for foes, as having her defense cut down just slightly pulls her towards not being very useful. With her lust-related attacks and tons of different gimmicks, Helena can last on the battlefield for a long while under the right hands.

Helena's FINALE depends on whether or not Athena is out. If only Helena is out, then she'll use Hexagon Burst, which has her take in a bunch of energy before dashing forward with great vigor. Light effects in the form of hexagons will rush out from her body as she collides with her foe, doing tons of damage and sending them backwards. This energy lasts a long time and can do a lot over time. If Athena is out too, then Athena's Sacrifice will be made instead. Athena sacrifices herself for Helena's sake, being absorbed into her body and empowering her. All of Helena's stats will be increased by 8.0x for roughly twenty seconds, allowing her to do an incredible amount of damage.

Helena has tons of techniques that can render her an unstoppable team core. With her attacks and forms and various moves, she's a force to be reckoned with. However, one needs to be careful not to screw up as Helena and remember that teams will usually be aiming to shoot her down first. Needless to say, she's very strong.

Form Switch
If Helena's FINALE is ready, holding down on the special attack button without letting go will allow her to transform. This can save Athena from sacrificing herself if she happens to be out at the same time as Helena. This will allow Helena to go into her spider form and back.

Object Hurl
In a fit of rage (and in her normal form), Helena can toss forward objects that range from coins to trophies which have varying attack power when thrown. These shatter easily on contact and leave behind "spikes" which damage foes that step on them. An opponent that gets hit by one of these in the face will experience Nosebleed, a unique condition that increases offense but causes confusion.

Ape Mode
If the player presses an attack button right when Helena gets hit with a physical attack, she will become enraged and thrust at the opponent with a strong punch that has the power equivalent of a gorilla's. Some attacks can't be reflected this way, such as physical projectiles like bullets.

Soda Chug
By hitting down on the right analog stick, Helena will hold out a can of soda. She has up to twelve in the match, and can use them on allies that are suffering. If she's tired, she can use one of these to refresh herself as well. These should be used strategically and not for miscellaneous purposes.

Standard

 * "The gorgeous owner of Toroko, Helena is a wonderful person with a wild and varied personality. Boasting beauty like none other and a language that can't be rivaled, this witty and sharp queen is more or less a human being with a strong hint of magic.  She utilizes pages of her magic book to aid herself and Athena within battle."

Alt

 * "With such a varied selection of moves, Helena is a pretty unstoppable fighter. Able to use tentacles to get to high heights and switch into a spider form to take on her prey, she's pretty much ready to roll.  While sporting no major weaknesses, she is a target for a bunch of teams and must be controlled extremely carefully by the player!"

FINALE

 * "Depending on if Athena is out or not, Helena will either use Hexagon Burst or Athena's Sacrifice. With the former, Helena will rush into her opponents and blast them away with a strong fury of headstrong moves.  With the latter, Athena will sacrifice herself to fuel Helena, highly increasing all her stats for a while and making her an uncontrollable beast."