Shinzo Hinato

BIOS
Bellum Bestiae:

Shinzo is a feared and ruthless Sengoku general, infamous throughout Japan for raiding villages, murdering innocents, and other atrocities, occasionally ordering his men to carry out such misdeeds for him. He wishes to take over his land as both emperor and shogun and enslave many of its people, but cannot do that without slaying Damoclus and taking his power for himself.

ARS SPECIALIS
Senpuu (Whirlwind): Shinzo stands there, faces the camera, and rapidly twirls his naginata 1080° clockwise in front of him, dealing three hits total. Meter Burn adds two more spins for five hits total. (Match Win Finish Animation: V-Bisected)

Sengoku Ikari (Sengoku Wrath): Shinzo swings his naginata horizontally to the right once, left once, then right again at his opponent in rapid succession, walking towards them as he does so, for three hits total. On Meter Burn, he slams the naginata down on his opponent after the third hit, causing a hard knockdown. (Match Win Finish Animation: Decapitated)

Mujihina Kushizashi (Ruthless Skewer): Shinzo raises his naginata above his head and thrusts it deep into his opponent's chest, impaling them, then slashes horizontally to the other side, causing them to slip off the blade quickly. Meter Burn makes him stab deeper with his weapon still in the opponent, dealing more damage. (Match Win Finish Animation: Bleed Out)

Roku Ippen Tachikata (Six-Piece Cutter): Shinzo slashes his opponent twice diagonally, once to the left and once to the right, then zips past them with a horizontal slash. Meter Burn adds a second left diagonal slash for four hits total. (Match Win Finish Animation: V-Bisected)

ARS BESTIAE
Sasori no Sasu (Scorpion's Sting): Shinzo thrusts his naginata forwards, which becomes a forward stinger thrust at his opponent, changing into his scorpion halfway through, then becomes his human form again. (Match Win Finish Animation: Bleed Out)

Nijuu no Tsume (Double Claw): Shinzo transforms into his scorpion form, stands there, and pinches his opponent with both of his large, razor-sharp pincers at the same time before changing back to human form. (Match Win Finish Animation: H-Bisected)

PERCUTE ULTIMUM
Pre-Percute Ultimum pose: Raises his naginata in the air, lets out a mighty shout, then slams the butt of the weapon down on the ground

Pre-Percute Ultimum strike: Slashes diagonally with his naginata

Shinzo slashes downwards at his opponent's ankles, slicing off both their feet, which then slide off-screen. The losing character then falls backwards onto the arena floor, landing on their palms to support themselves. As they plead for mercy, Shinzo, naginata in both hands, raises it above his head and thrusts it into the foe's chest, turning into his scorpion form halfway through. Stinger still embedded in the opponent's chest, he uses his pincers to grab their shins, which bleed out where their feet used to be, tugs and pulls on them with the stinger for two seconds until he graphically tears off their torso. He then proceeds to change back to human form and swing horizontally with his naginata, causing the disembodied upper half of the defeated opponent to slip off quickly and disappear off-screen. If performed on Masaru, he will say, "You fornicated with my daughter inside my house...", thrusting the blade end of his naginata into the ground with the farmer's disembodied upper body still impaled on it, "and paid the price for it!" If performed on Karasu, he will disappointedly say, "Such a failure of a daughter..." while flinging her disembodied upper body off the blade.

MISC. INFO
Voice Actor: Patrick Seitz

Stage: Hinato Fortress

Destined Battle Rival: Masaru Kurozawa

Intro Sequence: Shinzo crawls into the arena in his scorpion form, then changes back to human form, slowly removes his naginata from its support on his back, and readies the weapon, declaring, "You are of little importance. Shinu (die)!", before going into his fighting stance.

Round Win Sequence: Shinzo holds his naginata at his side and looks down at his opponent, saying, "I would not deem you worthy of my trust," then goes into his fighting stance again.-

Outro Sequence: Shinzo walks over to his defeated opponent and raises his naginata above them, then, just as he is about to impale them in the chest, the camera cuts away from the losing character to focus on a waist-up, low-angle shot of the Sengoku general, who, naginata still in hand, declares, "Baka (fool)... Never challenge me at my own game again!"

PROLOGUE: THE TALE OF THE SENGOKU GENERAL, SHINZO HINATO
(We cut to a 16th-century tapestry of Shinzo in his fortress giving an order to his men, then some text pops up in a manner reminiscent of the Story Modes of Soul Caliburs III and IV.)

The Sengoku period, or "Age of Warring States," of Japan was a time of nearly-constant military conflict, as well as social and political instability. Shinzo Hinato is one of the most feared and ruthless generals of the era. Not willing to stand for her husband's unnecessary cruelty, his wife, Noriko, committed suicide, thus leaving Shinzo to raise their daughter, Ayumi, who would later come to be known as Karasu, alone.

In acknowledgement of the general's ruthlessness, the scorpion spirit, Scorpius, appeared to him and selected him as his physical host. Shinzo now seeks to bring widespread fear and chaos throughout Japan by taking over as both emperor and shogun and stripping the land's populace of their free will, and so sets out to slay Damoclus, the demon lord of Infernus, and take as much of his demonic energy as necessary for such an endeavor.

MIRROR MATCH (QUEST MODE)
(Shinzo is in his home stage when, out of nowhere, a fiery circle appears in front of him, and Damoclus emerges from it.)

Damoclus: I am impressed you have made it this far, warrior. However, before your destined battle begins, I have one more challenge for you... yourself! (creates another Shinzo for the real one to fight)

Shinzo: Attempting to usurp ME?! I will not allow it! I shall have you executed here and now!

(Both Shinzos draw their naginatas and go into their fighting stances.)

Mirror!Shinzo: You are gravely mistaken.

DESTINED BATTLE - vs. Masaru Kurozawa
(Cut to an abandoned cathedral somewhere in Europe, where Shinzo and Masaru stand a foot away from each other, looking at each other.)

Shinzo: Masaru Kurozawa... I attempt all that is possible to keep my daughter and you apart, and yet... you still feel a certain kind of... attachment to her. How is that even possible?

Masaru: She belongs with me, Hinato-san. Not you, nor your ninja army!

(Shinzo and Masaru go into their fighting stances.)

Shinzo: Then I suppose seppuku is in order for you, boy.

Masaru: Only those who have brought great dishonor may do that. That is the way of the samurai!

SUB-BOSS BATTLE - vs. Torturex
(After the fight, a badly-beaten Masaru is down on one knee and one hand.)

Shinzo: I murdered your biological parents, foolish noufu shounen (farm boy). And now... the same will happen to YOU!

Masaru: I am a man of kanzen-sei to meiyo (integrity and honor)! You, on the other hand... are a man of neither.

Shinzo: (raising his naginata above his head to kill Masaru) That is because both of those things mean NOTHING to me! You will...

(Shinzo is interrupted when a fiery portal materializes beneath his feet, slowly dragging him into it.)

Masaru: See? This is what you get for your misparenting of Ayumi, kuso yarou (bastard)!

(Six seconds later, we cut to Shinzo in the Infernal Torture Chamber.)

Shinzo: Chikushou (damn it)... I was so close... to executing that insignificant peasant...

Damoclus: And now you will receive your comeuppance here in Infernus for the countless, unspeakable atrocities you have committed. In order for your final confrontation against me to commence, you must first get past... my chief torturer.

(Soon after, thunderous footsteps are heard, which are revealed to be those of an emerging Torturex.)

Torturex: Me welcome you to Infernus! Torture you in chains for Lord! Me want watch you suffer!

Shinzo: If anyone needs to torture anyone else around here... that would be ME, the future shikou no dokusai-sha (supreme dictator) of all of Nihon (Japan)! (readies his naginata)

FINAL BOSS BATTLE - vs. Damoclus
Damoclus: (sitting on his molten rock throne, infuriated that Shinzo has defeated Torturex) What is this?! My chief torturer, defeated? (rises from his throne) Very well... I shall finish off that sorry excuse for a father myself!

Shinzo: (walking into Damoclus' throne room with his naginata strapped to his back) I have come this far... Damoclus' power will be mine, as will all of Japan!

Damoclus: (approaching Shinzo) Shinzo Hinato, one of the most feared, despised, and ruthless military generals of the Sengoku era. Welcome to your final confrontation against me, Damoclus, the demon lord of the realm of Infernus!

Shinzo: And soon to be one of its most feared rulers.

Damoclus: The only one in existence with any right to rule over anything is ME!

Shinzo: You are insignificant and inferior. Hand over your akuma no honshitsu (demonic essence) to me to become both emperor and shogun of my land!

Damoclus: Absolutely not! I will keep you here in my realm to suffer, as is your punishment for your cruel acts as a general, raiding villages and murdering innocents included.

Shinzo: Aside from those, I also ordered the houka (arson) of the house of Masaru's true parents!

Damoclus: Well, there will be PLENTY of fire for you to burn in here in the depths of Infernus!

Shinzo: Mark my words, Damoclus. I will slay you first, then take every ounce of your power that you have... (going into his fighting stance) so that I may enslave all those worthless enough to deserve such a fate!

Damoclus: You think you, a Sengoku general, can defeat the demon lord of Infernus? Allow this battle to be your final one! Septemgladio! (his seven swords, Septemgladio, materialize, and he goes into his fighting stance as well)

AFTER WINNING AGAINST DAMOCLUS IN HIS PRIMARY FORM
Damoclus: (badly beaten and down on one knee and one hand) How dare you...?! (slowly gets back up, heavily breathing with his fiery purple glow becoming angry) Never again... will you see... the light of day!

(Damoclus then transforms into his dinosaur form, then lets out a vicious roar, forcing the player to fight him in only one round.)

ENDING
Damoclus: (defeated and reverting to his humanoid form) NO!! This is impossible! (having been beaten even worse, slowly gets back up again, but barely) Me, a demon lord... defeated by a mere general of the Sengoku era?

Shinzo: You are too much of a joke to be worthy of ruling over anything... or even life! (thrusts his naginata into Damoclus' chest, impaling him)

Damoclus: I will make you pay dearly... (breathing heavily) for ruining my plans! (falls to the molten rock ground, dead and lying in a pool of his own purple blood)

(Cut to Shinzo in Infernus graphically impaling Damoclus through the chest and absorbing his demonic energy, also absorbing the demon lord's fiery purple glow and his eyes starting to glow light purple in the process.)

Shinzo had defeated Damoclus; however, being the ruthless, malevolent, and cruel individual that he was, he had no intention of saving the world, nor all the lands, from his coming reign of chaos. He mercilessly slew the demon lord and absorbed all of his demonic energy, becoming so much more powerful than he was before that he desired to subjugate his homeland and its denizens.

(We then cut to Shinzo, now wearing a combination of his own and Damoclus' outfits, which also includes scorpion-claw gauntlets, in his fortress in Japan, where all the water is now lava, all the ground is molten rock, and smoke covers the entire sky, as a result of the land being merged with Infernus, sitting on a molten rock throne, naginata in hand, with two large, muscular, dark red-skinned oni, each one carrying a kanabo in one hand and the corpse of either Emperor Katsuhito or Ashikaga Yoshitane, standing on either side of him.)

With that in mind, Shinzo used his newfound power not only to take over all of Japan, but also enslave its people and merge the entirety of the land with Infernus. The Sengoku general having become an abusive tyrant as a result of taking over as both emperor and shogun, his own daughter and Masaru, reunited as lovers, are now more determined than ever to put an end to his dictatorial reign and restore Japan to normal before it is too late.

(Cut to pre-credits roll, where "The Devil and the Huntsman," from Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, starts playing as we are treated to short animations of all the characters, shown in full-body, in their home stages, with the names of their voice actors/actresses and pieces of 16th-century tapestry depicting said characters as their animal forms on their left or right. Afterwards, the credits start rolling and the song continues playing.)

DID YOU KNOW?

 * His Destined Battle and Final Boss Battle cutscenes reveals him to have been the one responsible for setting fire to the residence of and killing Masaru's biological parents.
 * Don't worry, people, Shinzo's Quest Mode ending, which has some Bad Guy Wins, including the historically-inaccurate deaths of Emperor Go-Kashiwabara AKA Katsuhito and shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane, going on, isn't canon because Karasu kills him in her ending, thus preventing him from ever appearing in BBII at all.