Toroko Warriors/Sandra and Hokusai

Sandra and Hokusai are the second playable duo in Toroko Warriors, and together are one of the various unlockable characters in the game. They are actually a pretty normal couple, except one of the two is a towering tentacle monster. The two work extremely well in sync and have a...very interesting bond with one another. Very little is known about them, but they make their fighting debut here.

The two are categorized under defense; while Sandra has some impressive offensive abilities, Hokusai is going to be doing most of the fighting, serving as a meat shield for Sandra and defending her from attacks. Without Sandra, Hokusai becomes very cowardly and lonely, but with her, his body is very much invincible and very hard to take down, having the strongest stable defense in the entire game.

Sandra and Hokusai are unlocked rather randomly, with a 1/40 chance they will be unlocked upon clearing a match.

Playstyle
Sandra is a moderate-height human with a rather impressive build, featuring a very strong offense and a fairly bulky defense mainly thanks to her yoga training. She has a rather moderate weight and is hard to knock down, but she isn't easily chained into attacks either. She is the core of the duo; if she's defeated then Hokusai becomes cowardly and runs off. Hokusai, while not as strong as Sandra, is a very strong defensive partner and has many more strategic options than she does. He is very heavy-weight and quite tall, and is easy to hit, but it won't mean anything thanks to the insanely high health he has. If every character in the game attacked Hokusai at the same time with their FINALE attacks, he would still be standing.

The player will always be in control of Sandra, but has a lot of influence over Hokusai's movements as well. Sandra can wall jump, somersault around, and grip onto ledges and pull herself over. Hokusai is very capable of following after her, able to stick to walls to climb them and use his tentacles to pull himself over the very same ledges. Hokusai will behind Sandra a lot, helping shield her back from attacks. If the player feels threatened, they can hit the special attack button to send Hokusai off on a small search. If he finds opponents, he will chase after them and whip at them with tentacles to drive them off -- and he won't stop unless called back with the same button or when all the enemies are gone. Enemies of Sandra will have to either run away or focus attacks on the unguarded girl.

Sandra's attacks are very basic, but are extraordinarily strong and quick in execution. She is very painful to fight up close, as her attacks can easily tear through almost anyone's health bar. By continuously tapping the attack button, she will drill her fist into the opponent or smash a knee into them. Many of her potential combo attacks resemble yoga poses, making her slightly like the Wii Fit Trainer. Hokusai is different from her, a press of the left shoulder button will make Hokusai swing his tentacles around an opponent and crush them temporarily (even though the aim is rather poor) and the right shoulder button will cause him to spin around like a tornado, shoving opponents far away from them both. Sometimes Hokusai will send an opponent towards Sandra, which she can punch away.

The two are usually not reliant on teammates and largely work on their own. Considering Hokusai's intensely high health, there should be no need to have a healer or any sort of support around, but it's always appreciated them both regardless. Instead, the two are built as a distraction duo or as a hunting pair -- they can hang on the outskirts of ally or opponent property to remove focus from an opponent's primary objective, or they can seek out opponents and scare them with the likes of Hokusai. Hokusai, despite immense health, isn't very reliable with attacks because his offense stats are low in comparison to Sandra's, and he's also a little slower than she is. Instead, he can grip opponents with tentacles and have Sandra beat them up in his arms!

If Sandra has sicced Hokusai onto an opponent, she can follow him and attack the opponent with him. This is a very reliable way of taking down almost any opponent, but they are threatened greatly by Cosmetta, who can make them take the damage they were trying to inflict. If Cosmetta isn't around, then they're free to go around and do their dual attack strategy, but this would leave Sandra open to offensive opponents that can very much cripple her. To compensate for this, pressing the special attack button when Hokusai is still on "sic mode" and when Sandra is close will cause him to wrap many tentacles around Sandra, shielding her from attacks while still striking his opponent across their head.

The two are very strong together, but unfortunately there's not very much of a purpose they can serve together. While easy to use, it'll be hard to find a good placement for them on any team as there's no real need for a bulky defense like them, they can benefit their allies well but there's much better, quicker alternatives instead. However, they can stick around for a very long time in the right hands, and are almost always one of the last fighters to go down. They work well as hunters too, they can help make the job easier on the battlefield by disposing of very strong opponents shall they come near. They are completely walled by Cosmetta, who is invincible to all of their attacks besides their FINALE and she can easily bring down Sandra.

Sandra and Hokusai's FINALE is the Hyper Beam, which charges Hokusai up with an unusual energy generated from hydrogen. Sandra will pick up Hokusai's body and hold him backwards, able to use him like a gun. He will fire forward a huge, water-powered laser that can do catastrophic damage to his opponents. This is a very powerful weapon, and it's extremely quick to launch, making it hard to predict. As the only attack that can hit Cosmetta on their behalf, it's best saved to finish off an opponent like her. Otherwise, it's very reliable in attacking opponents and keeping them far away from the duo. The aim that the beam is being fired can be turned around. After ten seconds, Hokusai stops and gets up on his tentacles.

Many fighters are able to take on the positions these two can do, but they're rather jacks of all trades, they can work in many fields but they don't master anything. Except Hokusai with his huge-ass health. In certain scenarios, they can function extremely well and become very reliable fighters for a team.

Standard

 * "Who?  A perfectly normal power couple consisting of a in-training yoga college girl and a huge tentacle monster.  They're very attached to each other and have a lot...of uhh...things in common!  They live happily together and want the best for both.  Except we probably will never understand how Hokusai fully feels because it's not like he talks or anything."

Alt

 * "You know, for a power couple, they really live up to the term's name.  Sandra is very strong and can slam her fists into opponents with no problems, while Hokusai can easily defend Sandra and prevent opponents from touching her.  They are a force to be reckoned with, if you're not a friend of them, avoid Hokusai and focus your attention on Sandra, or just run!  Hokusai is practically invincible."

FINALE

 * "The Hyper Beam is honestly a pretty damn powerful attack.  Hokusai charges up with hydrogen-related energy and fires it off as a very powerful beam that can pierce through any opponent's defense!  Sandra will be holding his body and can move him around, damaging any opponent around her.  After enough time has passed, the attack's duration is over."