The Oni vs. Hino Choko | B&B BATTLE BLOGS!

Hi everyone, NinetailsSaturn (Bun) here. Currently writing this prologue from the hospital I’ve been staying at for the last two days. 

So for those not in the know, I have a chronic illness, and after I moved up to be with my partner and blog co-creator two weeks ago, it ended up flaring up extremely severely from the stressors of moving. I ended up in extreme pain with an inability to eat, had to go to the emergency room, and I’m going to be in the hospital likely until a day or two after this blog comes out (my discharge date is planned to be the 15th so it depends when this goes up). Then I have to find a new specialist to get further treatment, and I still haven’t established residency or gotten my own health insurance, and then I need to find a job, et cetera et cetera…

All that being said, I’m going through a lot right now, so I’m going to be taking a backseat on the next blog. Not to say I won’t be making any contributions, but Jackythewannabe (Bot) is gonna be handling the majority of development on the next work. Look forward to that, there’s a trailer at the end of the blog. With all that said, please enjoy the blog too!

Before We Begin…

The sources used for Hino will be the Tenkaichi manga… and that’s about it. It’s a pretty simple story without any side content at the moment, so what you see is what you get, pretty much. The one thing that may be of note is that, due to there being multiple fan translations and the difficulty in getting good manga scans nowadays, names used for things like attacks might differ between the scans we show and the names listed, so just keep that in mind.

For The Oni, We’ll be looking at Dead by Daylight, obviously, both the game and any supplementary materials like the animated trailers. We’ll also be looking at Kazan’s appearance in Assassin’s Creed Shadows as a secondary source, but obviously due to it being crossover scaling won’t be considering feats from the greater Assassin’s Creed mythos.

As always, we wanna give a special thanks to:

• Yosuke Nakamaru and Kyotaro Azuma for creating Tenkaichi, Bun’s favorite tournament manga

• Behaviour Interactive for creating Dead by Daylight, one of Bot’s favorite games

• Bang’s Bangin’ Blogs for one of the calcs we used for The Oni

• VS Battles Wiki for supplementary calcs

With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Background 

Hino Choko 

In the late Sengoku period, a baby boy was born in Hino Village. This child could stand in a matter of days, speak in a matter of months, and was blessed with inhuman strength and a horn growing from his head. With age came an insatiable appetite and wicked intelligence, the villagers soon came to worship him out of fear, and appoint him as the Onigami, their Demon God.

The Onigami’s mother used her son’s strength to her own gains, gathering offerings from the village to make herself rich while putting the Onigami to battle as a Rikishi, a sumo wrestler. In ancient times, Sumo wasn’t simply a combat sport. More akin to the Pankration of ancient greece, this combat was often no-holds-barred matches to the death, and the winner would earn water and crops to save their village from starvation. Still, all the offerings and riches weren’t enough at all for him. All the Onigami cared about was the love of his mother, and the milk she gave him even as he grew to twice her size. Such was the duty of the demon god.

But while Onigami battled for his village, elsewhere in Japan, another demon was waging war. Oda Nobunaga was on the warpath to unify the entire country, and as part of this war, a Rikishi named Choko was dispatched to Hino village. Just like all the rest, the Onigami defeated him with ease… But this time, something was different. In his last moments, Choko asked to know the boy’s name. And when he said it was Demon God, the wrestler seemed… saddened. “So powerful, and yet your parents never even bothered to give you a name. If you don’t know love, nor human emotion, then your overwhelming might will bring nothing but calamity.”

Something changed in the heart of the demon god when he heard these words, even after finishing Choko off. He began to see a darker aura in his mother, began to feel a malice other than the love he was searching for. This came to a head when Nobunaga himself invaded the village, seeking the devil that had slain his wrestler. Immediately, the Onigami’s mother sold out her own son, blaming all the village’s troubles on him. A moment later, she was killed, when the firearms of Oda’s men ripped through the Onigami and struck her. But her son survived, even riddled with bullets. 

Believing he was about to die, the demon god lamented that his parents never gave him a name, that he had no idea who he truly was. In a rare moment of sympathy, Oda recognized the boy’s power and spared his life. In exchange for his might in battle, he would live on, finally with a name to call his own: Hino Choko, after his homeland and the wrestler he slew.

Across Japan, Hino fought for years to unify the country. With the death of his mother, the chains binding him had been freed, so he brandished his incredible power with an empty heart. With each blow, with each death under his fists, his reputation and power only grew. Finally, peace was achieved through conquest, but it was never enough to satisfy Hino. From the mainland, he had a special mask made for him, one that would keep him in a state of perpetual slumber until things got interesting once more. And so, mindlessly, he continued for ten years as Oda’s bodyguard, up until old age finally began to consume the shogun. 

And then the time came. Nobunaga, now wracked by age, had decided the time to choose a successor was now. And to decide this successor, he wished to see bloodshed. Thus came the Tenkaichi, a tournament to decide the strongest warrior in Japan! Whoever brought Oda the most mighty warrior and won a tournament of all tournaments would be the one to rule Japan. Under the employ of Hashiba Hideyoshi, Choko entered, where he was put up against none other than the sword saint, Kamiizumi Ise-no-Kami.

In a fierce battle between the Demon God Hino and the God of Martial Arts Kamiizumi, Choko awakened for the first time in ten years. He smiled as he battled against the aged sword saint, even as his body was riddled with wounds, and when he felt death loom over him, he could only smile, believing this was a fittingly pathetic end for a demon like him. But Kamiizumi? He felt differently. Even as he cut up his opponent, he encouraged him to keep fighting. For the first time, they had both met somebody that could match their strength and skill! As if the universe itself had arranged for them to meet in this tournament, Choko had finally found someone who understood him. His mask of a perpetual smile and empty heart shattered, and his true self finally awakened. Against an utterly insurmountable opponent, Hino claimed victory! 

In his last moments, Kamiizumi passed his blade to Hino Choko, as his successor and newfound son. He entrusted his dream of being the greatest martial artist to Hino, who had finally found a purpose to keep living for. It’s hard to say whether he’ll claim victory, with fearsome opponents like Munenori Yagyu and Miyamoto Musashi ahead of him, but who knows? With his divine muscles, inherited will, and newfound drive, Hino Choko may very well be number one under the rising sun.

The Oni

The Edo period of Japan was a time of change for the country, but also a time of prosperity. The country was unified, urban life was booming, and with the elite social class of the samurai ensuring peace and turning their heads towards politics and the arts, it was a time for all to be at ease. In this time, there was weight in a noble class, in the title of Samurai, and of those title holders, none were as notable as Renjiro Yamaoka. A skilled warrior and a learned mind, he would prove his worth with a blade, write his own military doctrine, and come to bring honor to the Yamaoka family line. Of course, any prestigious household needs an heir to the bloodline, and the Yamaokas were no exception. Renjiro would soon have a son, Kazan Yamaoka.

Kazan grew up similarly to his father, learning how to fight with a sword, learning the way of the samurai, and learning the strict social code of his people, and their social class. Under the tutelage of his father, he would prove to be a powerful warrior, skilled with a blade, but the young Kazan would always hunger for more. He wanted to surpass his father’s reputation, to bring more honor to his family and to make his name known throughout the far flung regions of Japan. For this reason, Kazan kept fighting, kept pushing himself to his limits. He would not accept mediocrity.

Like his father, Kazan would eventually grow up and have a son, Akito Yamaoka. He wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, to learn the sword and uphold the prestigious family name. Tragedy would strike the family, then, when his son fell from a tree while playing with a friend, breaking his leg and causing irreparable damage to the boy’s body. His son was more frail than Kazan would admit, and while he recovered from his injury, Kazan would brave harsh winters to pray at a local temple, hoping for a miraculous recovery for his son. His prayers were not answered, and Akito would stop sword-fighting after his injury. Kazan punished the playmate of his friend alongside her family, blaming their negligence for the injury caused to his son. Perhaps this was the first spark of the Yamaoka rage.

As Kazan grew older, things around him kept changing; Japan kept changing. The country would be forced out of isolation and made to open up to foreigners. Alongside that, the samurai class was starting to become less and less prestigious. Mere peasants and farmers would feign the title of samurai to obtain status and personal gain. Even many who earned the title legitimately, in Kazan’s eyes, did not uphold the true values of the samurai, and were mere imposters among the elite class of warriors. Kazan had made up his mind; he would go on a pilgrimage, to reverse the thinning of the culture he grew up in, to fight for what he had pride in. His father would try to stop him and direct such ambition into more noble goals, but Kazan would not be swayed, and borrowed his fathers katana to begin his grim mission.

The killings across Japan were brutal, and numerous. Farmers and warriors alike would meet the edge of the Yamaoka’s blade, being cut down by Kazan for the smallest of reasons. Either he thought they were imposters, or they did not carry themselves like a samurai should. Rumor spread quickly throughout feudal Japan, and people would learn to fear the name Kazan Yamaoka. Monks cursed him, peasants feared him, and a noble lord even gave him a new name: Oni-Yamaoka. It insulted not just Kazan, but his family. It was an insult that the man would not let slip by.

Filled with rage, his goals changed. No longer would he merely target imposter samurai, but he would target any who called him Oni-Yamaoka. He had defeated the best, he had culled the fake samurai, and yet they still insult him? Drive him to this infernal rage? Kazan knew the only way to stop this was to strike fear into the hearts of all, so they would never slight his name again. As he continued on his journey, he would be stopped by an unknown warrior in armor. The warrior would fight Kazan, and after a close and intense brawl, Kazan would come out on top and bash the warrior’s head in with his kanabo. Unmasking the man would reveal…

His father, Renjiro Yamaoka, dead by his own hand. The grief that struck him was intense, and he lost sight of the world around him. When he finally finished grieving, his father’s body was gone. It was stolen from him, along with the armor he wore. His father was not only dead, but he could not give him a proper burial. In a haze fueled by grief and anger, he would wander Japan, before eventually remembering the lord that had cursed him as Oni-Yamaoka. He needed to die.

Into the snowy mountains, Kazan would hunt down the man who gave him the name of a devil. Though many tried to stop him, they would meet a gruesome end at the tip of his blade. When he finally hunted the lord down, he would rip out the tongue that had desecrated his family name, and slew the man after he begged for mercy. As he left, he would be intercepted by a mob of peasants, armed with weapons. He would take many down in the resulting fight, but he was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. After they stabbed, beat, and tortured the oni, they would leave him in a mill to bleed out and die. It was the fate a monster, a demon, deserved.

…but can a man with that much hate, that much anger, truly die?

A dark fog would roll into the mill and take Kazan before he could breath his last. He was taken by an entity, a living dimension unknown to anyone in his world, and forced into a new role; that of a mindless, bloodthirsty killer. The entity would not let him go unscathed, turning his skin blue and monstrous, forcing him to wear an oni mask that he would be unable to remove no matter how hard he tried. He was a monster, the exact same kind he violently tried to disassociate from. In this new place, no one knew him as Kazan Yamaoka. Full of rage and hatred, they only knew him as one thing; The Oni, a title he could never escape from.

So if you attempt to claim false honor, or a prestigious title that doesn’t belong to you, beware of the man with rage in his very blood, a man who cursed his bloodline with his wickedness. Beware… Oni-Yamaoka. 

Skill & Experience

Hino Choko 

The Sengoku era marked one of the most brutal, bloody times in Japan’s history. Given that, it’s easy to see how Hino Choko, one of its strongest warriors and certainly its greatest sumo wrestler, would also be one of its most skilled. 

Unlike the Sumo of today, Sumo of the Sengoku era was developed to resolve disputes over water. The lives of one’s village was on the line for a Rikishi, and dirty tricks like kicking, choking, and biting were all on the table. So even a death tournament like the Tenkaichi might as well be an average tuesday for Hino, who’s spent years as a sumo wrestler. After he joined Nobunaga’s campaign, Hino would go on to fight in the civil war to unify Japan, serving Oda faithfully for over 12 years! It wasn’t until 1590 that he finally put himself to sleep, meaning he was unconscious for ten years until his match with Kamiizumi. 

Even with his mask on, Choko is far from a mindless brute. He has the precision to take out a man’s eye simply by throwing a metal fan at him across the room, the speed to get the first move in on a sword saint like Kamiizumi, and the flexibility to maneuver around his big frame around so fast it impressed master ninja Fuma Kotaro, who herself can contort her body to its limit. Once awakened, he’s shown to be so agile he can keep up with the Sword Saint, leap up to the ceiling to use it as a springboard, and then turn his landing into another attack. Hell, Kamiizumi is fast and skilled enough to cut an arrow apart as it’s fired at him without his trump card, the Gates of Celestial Awakening, and even he was struggling to get past Choko’s instincts after opening the inner gate.

Despite what his frame and title might lead one to believe, Choko is extremely smart, as even when asleep, he was able to recognize his punches weren’t working on Kamiizumi and switch up to attempt a grab. Once he was awake, he immediately figured out what was going on just from looking around at the environment. By watching and learning from Kamiizumi, Choko was able to understand the principles of Fa Jin to turn his opponent’s strength against them, and even awaken the Gate of Celestial Awakening, considered to be the pinnacle of all martial arts. It should be noted that Kamiizumi, the greatest swordsman in the world, took ten years to awaken the gates, and Choko was able to do it in the span of a few minutes, speaking to how much of a genuine prodigy he is.

The Oni

While it is known that Kazan was a member of a prestigious family, we aren’t entirely certain how much he was trained to get to where he is today. His father was a legendary samurai in his own right, and raised Kazan to be of similar skill and renown, so we do at least have something to go off of. Kazan has also evidently studied his father’s military doctrine, and has some experience in battle tactics and strategy that could prove useful to him in a fight. Outside of that, we only have what and who he has canonically fought to go off of.

Not to say that these showings aren’t impressive, though. While a lot of the people Kazan has fought are peasants pretending to be samurai, the skill with which he dispatches them should be considered. Kazan has single-handedly taken on overwhelming numbers of people, sometimes without them hitting him even once. His prowess is shown further when, while storming the castle of the lord who called him Oni, he took down 12 samurai on his own, who should be rather equal to him.

Kazan had always been put against overwhelming numbers, even up to his death. Dozens of peasants fought him, and he killed dozens of them in the process. He would eventually be overwhelmed, but the fact he could hold off such a large mob is no small feat. Kazan has also claimed himself to have fought “the best” warriors of his time, so by his own admission he has not only fought imposter samurai. Kazan was even able to attack foreign traders and sailors, storming their own boat and killing them before they could deal any kind of damage to him.

His skill with weapons is something to admire, as well. While the Fog doesn’t provide many opportunities to show off his skill, what with Survivors being helpless victims, we have seen in item descriptions that the Oni can perform feats such as cutting a moth in half while it was mid-flight, and with weapons like the Rain Slicer he can maneuver it and be so precise that he can cut a single drop of water in a rainstorm with it. That is, without a doubt, skill.

The only one Kazan could not defeat was his father. While he did manage to kill him, it was only because Renjiro hesitated to kill his son. It’s likely that if he didn’t, Renjiro would have ended Oni-Yamaoka’s reign of terror right there. This shows that, while skilled, Kazan has his limits. It doesn’t help that he has spent an untold amount of time in the Entity’s realm, hunting down survivors who cannot fight back. It’s unknown if this has dulled his skills or senses, but since he still holds onto his tactics, the Oni is likely doing just fine.

Equipment 

Hino Choko 

Mask

That’s what the mask is, that’s what the point of the mask is

That fearsome Oni mask isn’t just for intimidation. While it’s hardly a combat tool, the inside of it has a special Needle that pierces into the wearer’s forehead, shutting down their mind and keeping them in a state of slumber. In this state, Hino is more of a mindless weapon that simply follows the will of the Shogun, or Hideyoshi - A state he remained in for ten years. Hideyoshi got it from China, where it has medicinal purposes.

Kamiizumi’s Katana

The katana wielded by Kamiizumi, Choko’s opponent and sudden surrogate father. At Kamiizumi’s death, he passed this weapon to Choko. While it doesn’t have any particularly supernatural properties, it’s still tough and sharp enough to pierce through Choko’s muscles and withstand his weight and power without breaking. Choko… hasn’t really used it, or any sword, ever, but he’s been training for six months since his battle with Kamiizumi, so who can say what he’ll bring into battle against Yagyu in the next round?

The Oni

Yamaoka Blade

“A long blade that was passed down from one generation to the next” 

What is a samurai without their weapon? The base weapon of the Oni is the Yamaoka blade, the weapon that has been passed down in his family for generations, now stained with the blood of imposters and innocent survivors alike. With this blade, Kazan mows down all that stands in his way.

Rain Slicer

One of the many blades that Kazan has at his disposal. He is so precise and efficient with the blade that he is able to cut a drop of water in half, hence the name Rain Slicer.

Candied Centipede

Like his other swords, deadly and effective, but this one is also made of candy making it a really sweet addition to the arsenal.

Many Other Swords

Because BHVR really wants to sell cosmetics, the Oni has a variety of swords at his disposal, each with different appearances and properties. Due to the fact that there are so many, we cannot talk about all of them. It’s just good to know that he does have them, though, if for whatever reason he needs to switch out his weapon.

Various Armor Sets

Again, BHVR really wants to sell you cosmetics. Because of this, the Oni has a wide variety of armors he can equip before he gets into a trial. It’s fair to say that he likely has access to all of these at once. Or maybe he’s broke and can’t afford the Auric Cells to buy them all. Happens to the best of us, man.

Kanabo

A brutal, powerful weapon only wielded by The Oni when he enters his Blood Fury mode. With this weapon, Kazan is able to put more power into his strikes, causing massive damage to the environment and unfortunate survivors in a single attack. In real life, these weapons are made entirely out of either a heavy wood or solid iron, with iron studs on one end to allow for massive damage. The Oni’s seems to be even bigger, and therefore heavier, than a standard Kanabo, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by how easily he wields it. 

Add-Ons

Add-ons are the life blood of a Dead by Daylight killer. They’re the things that can turn a power from good to great, or from barely workable to pretty good, in the case of some killers. These add-ons are framed as items that come from the Oni’s past, either sparking motivation or hatred in the killer. The Oni has twenty of these add-ons to choose from, all of which have varying rarities and effects. If two add-ons improve the same stat, then these effects stack. Below we’ll list every add-on from Common to Iridescent rarity.

Blackened Toenail: Fell off during one of Kazan's hundred winter treks to the temple. Despite his pilgrimage, Akito's leg would never heal. 

• Increases movement speed while in Absorption Mode by 0.4 m/s

Cracked Sakazuki: A cup from Kazan's wedding ceremony. It never made it through the night before being damaged. 

• Reduces the transition time into Blood Fury by -0.5 seconds.

• Reduces the transition time out of Blood Fury by -0.5 seconds.

Paper Lantern: Perhaps a memento of simpler times, before rage fully enveloped him. 

• Increases the floating speed of Blood Orbs when in Absorption Mode by +4 m/s

Rotting Rope: Had the rope been stronger it would have likely held Kazan. As it was, he escaped and butchered his captors. 

• Increases the Aura reading range on Blood Orbs in the environment by +2 meters.

Bloody Sash: Blood from a boy who called Kazan "The Noble Impostor". Kazan hid evidence of the fight from his father, often revelling at the sash in secret.

• Increases movement speed while in Absorption Mode by +0.7 seconds.

Child's Wooden Sword: Akito’s practice sword. The child had little use for it after his injury.

• Increases the Aura-reading range on Blood Orbs in the environment by +3 meters.

Chipped Saihai: A baton that belonged to Renjiro. It was stolen by Kazan upon his departure.

• Increases the duration of Blood Fury by +6 seconds. 

Ink Lion: An ink painting that once hung in the Yamaoka Estate. Depicts the story of a lion eaten by mice. 

• Reduces the Transition time into Blood Fury by -0.5 seconds.

• Reduces the Transition time out of Blood Fury by -0.5 seconds.

• Reduces the Power Gauge penalty for downing Survivors during Blood Fury by -2 seconds.

Polished Maedate: A horned crest Kazan tore from his helmet after being compared to a demon.

• Increases the passive Charge rate of Blood Fury by +0.1 c/s.

Kenai-Anzen Talisman: A trinket given to Kazan at birth, its powers are meant to protect his family from harm.

• Increases the Oni’s Movement speed during a Demon Dash by +0.64 m/s.

Scalped Topknot: The topknot of a samurai who questioned Kazan's honour. The roots cling to a thin strip of bloody skin.

• Reduces the Charge time of Demon Dash by -0.5 seconds.

Shattered Wakizashi: The fragments of an ancestral blade, destroyed by Kazan in a fit of rage.

• Increases the passive Charge rate of Blood Fury by +0.2 c/s.

Wooden Oni Mask: A mask that a young Kazan bought to celebrate Setsubun, its repulsively fanged mouth began haunting his nightmares.

• Increases the Spawn frequency of Blood Orbs from injured Survivors by +14 %.

• Increases the number of Blood Orbs spawned when Survivors perform specific interactions by +1.

Yamaoka Sashimono: The banner of the Yamaoka family, Kazan felt an overwhelming pride from it.

• Increases the duration of Blood Fury by +8 seconds.

Akito’s Crutch: The crutch used by Kazan's son after falling from a tree. Akito's playmate and her family were punished for the boy's injury.

• Increases The Oni’s Movement speed during a Demon Dash by +1 m/s.

Lion Fang: A tooth sold from an exotic vendor, it symbolises power and nobility.

• Increases the duration of Blood Fury by +10 seconds.

Splintered Hull: Fragments of a ship that carried Renjiro Yamaoka. Against all odds, the legendary samurai seemed to survive.

• Increases the Spawn frequency of Blood Orbs from injured Survivors by +33 %.

• Increases the number of Blood Orbs spawned when Survivors perform specific interactions by +1.

Tear-Soaked Tenugui: The cloth that Kazan's mother cried into when he left on his pilgrimage to cleanse the samurai.

• Reduces the Power Gauge penalty for downing Survivors during Blood Fury by -4 seconds.

Iridescent Family Crest: A crest that denotes its owner as being a part of the Yamaoka family.

• Causes Survivors within 24 metres of The Oni’s location to scream and reveal their location to him after hitting the ground with a missed Demon Strike.

Renjiro’s Bloody Glove: The glove Renjiro held to his sternum following the strike dealt by his son Kazan.

Whenever a Survivor comes into a contact with a Blood Orb, the following effects apply:

• The Blood Orb is absorbed by the Survivor.

• Their Aura is revealed to The Oni for 2 seconds per absorbed Blood Orb.

• Renjiro's Bloody Glove grants Survivors the ability to see Blood Orbs at the same distance as the Oni.

Abilities 

Hino Choko 

Onigami Physiology

Hino may be human, but to simply call him that would be an understatement. His body is nothing short of superhuman, being blessed with “Divine Muscles”. Even from birth, Hino was considered abnormal, and grew incredibly quickly. He learned to walk at a few days old, to speak after a few months, and had an appetite, strength, and intelligence that far surpassed his young age.

It’s this abnormal body that serves as the source of Choko’s incredible strength and durability. Thanks to it, he’s able to be riddled with bullets and survive while still keeping a smile on his face, create shockwaves and tear up the ground by slamming his feet, take out a man’s eye by throwing a wooden fan at him, and send a massive metal cage flying with ease, all while not compromising his incredible reflexes. His muscles were directly compared to Cannon Fire by Ito Ittosai, the sword demon and one of the most skilled combatants of the Tenkaichi, who himself has opened the Celestial Gates (more on that soon, we promise).

Beyond his muscles, Hino’s bones are also incredible, being referred to as his Oni-Armor Skeleton. Not only are they able to support the weight and output of his incredible power, they’re tough enough to catch and stop weapons. Even Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami, the sword saint, wasn’t able to cut all the way through Hino’s knuckles, or the horn growing out of his head (Which is noted to be unusually solid even compared to his other bones). With all this together, it’s no wonder that fellow gates user Hozoin Inshun considered attacking his vitals directly to be the only way to kill him.

Sumojutsu

Every fighter in the Tenkaichi is specialized in a different martial art, ranging from the elegant footwork and lockstep of William Adams’ Dirk Dance to the unstoppable power of Togo Shigekata’s Jigen-Ryu to Nagaharu Ogasawara’s Shin-shinkage-ryu and its mastery over dozens of foreign weapons. But Hino’s a more simple fellow than that - His martial art is Sumojutsu, or Sumo Wrestling.

To give a brief history lesson, Sumo is a traditional full-contact combat sport where, in modern times, the objective is to either knock down an opponent or push him out of the ring. It’s the unofficial national sport of Japan (along with baseball), and has a storied history dating back to ancient times (Its first mention was in the Kojiki in the year 712!). But in Hino’s time, Sumo is more akin to ancient greek Pankration, a no-holds-barred unarmed fight to the death. Obviously, Hino is a master Rikishi (Sumo Wrestler), having been fighting to the death in the style since he was a kid. His style utilizes his incredible strength and speed, with unarmed attacks like kicks, punches, palm strikes, and grabs, and he combines this with his skill to demonstrate devastating special moves.

As for what those special moves are? Well…

Divine Dancing Blade 

One of Choko’s signature techniques, born from his incredible strength and speed. By sweeping up one of his limbs, Choko is able to create a blade of air that can be fired out as a projectile. Specifically, he uses his body as a whip to create a vacuum and send it forward, as noted by Munenori Yagyu. This air blade is strong enough to destroy the sheathe to Kamiizumi’s sword, and Choko likened it to being his own katana, implying it should have similar slicing properties to a real sword.

Divine Dancing Blade: Twin Blades 

A variant on his normal Divine Dancing Blades, Choko uses both his hands to launch two of them at once in an X-shaped formation. Not much else special about them, but this was the first attack Choko used that was able to draw blood from Kamiizumi, so that’s something.

Divine Dancing Blade: Chaos 

The final variant of Divine Dancing Blade, Hino performs a wild, chaotic mess of strikes all around him, attacking with a barrage of Vacuum blades all at once. 

…Okay there’s not much to say about it it’s just the same technique again but with more of them

Earth’s Slithering Spirit 

Differing from his wind blades, Choko decides to Earthbend a little, slamming his foot into the ground hard enough to tear it up. The impact of this technique creates air pressure that can force Kamiizumi into the air, which Choko is able to use to follow-up with attacks while he couldn’t change directions.

Gate of Celestial Awakening

The reason that Kamiizumi earned his title of Bushin, and the very thing Hino inherited from him. When Kamiizumi was up on a mountain in his training, for just a moment, his heart stopped. It was then that he received a divine revelation that led him to a true martial awakening, and an understanding of the laws of the universe that give way to the very essence of martial arts.

Whether the gates are truly divine intervention or a simple extension of marital skill is still up in the air, but what we do know is the power they grant. Simply put, a user of the gates awakens their innate power in an instant, and is able to surpass the bounds of humankind. Opening the gates grants one incredible power and control over their own form, being able to even control their own heartbeat to come back from the dead. 

But the gates are not a monolith. There’s actually no less than three known layers to the celestial gates, each of which grants Fighters a different ability in their steps to true martial enlightenment.

The First Gate awakens one’s latent potential, drawing out the full power of the human body. Doing so results in a significant increase in reflexes, and through the understanding of the flow of power it grants, the user can turn their own opponent’s strength against them, in a manner similar to the chinese principle of Fa Jin.

Next is the Second Gate, or the Inner Gate: Doors of Heaven. It further increases one’s abilities, allowing them to instantly convert forces directed towards them into a method to immediately dodge or strike back. An opponent’s attacks or even the force of gravity can be converted, and the user can directly sense the flow of power and forces of the universe around them, immediately understanding how to maneuver. It becomes a state where any attack can be turned around on the opponent, like nigh-invincibility.

Finally The Third Gate, or the Deepest Gate: Gate of Supreme Descent, enhances one’s ability to its maximum. It’s this third gate that Kamiizumi unlocked to bring himself back from the dead, and not only that, simply opening it partially began to rapidly increase his life-force, causing him to visibly de-age from a 90-year-old man to a young adult in a matter of minutes. By the time it had fully opened, he had regressed to the form of a teenager, and his senses had increased to such a degree that he could understand “everything in the universe”, and see the martial boundary just ahead. However, this gate comes at a cost. The user will undergo rapid physical decay from using it. Kamiizumi was barely able to maintain it for more than a small portion of his fight before he finally ran out of energy and rapidly aged again, to an even more decrepit state than when he began the fight. Although, it’s possible this was only a problem due to him already being ancient.

It should be noted, however, that Hino only has access to the First Gate at the moment. Though a strong enough opponent and training could certainly push him to learn more, especially in the context of a death battle, those gates would be something he’d have to unlock mid-fight, rather than simply starting with them.

The Oni

Killer Physiology

“These things differ from time to time. But each acts in a similar manner, and with similar human physical traits. But they are more reminiscent of beasts of burden even though I can spot some flicker of humanity. With scars and marks on their skin and body. As if they have been self-mutilating themselves. They even look dead. I fail to see some humanity in them. They are bent on finding me. But somehow they refrain from killing me. Instead I am hung from one of those dreaded hooks. I keep asking myself why they do not snuff the life out me themselves. But someone must control them. Might they do someone else’s biddings?”

I think it’s pretty obvious after your first couple games of Dead by Daylight that the killers aren’t exactly normal people. Being blessed by the Entity and taken into the Fog, the killers all have unique powers that allow them to catch their prey a little easier, or just make matches more interesting. That’s not the only thing, though, as killers all generally possess a standard set of skills, powers and abilities gifted to them by the Entity. While some of these seem more like game mechanics, that’s canonically because The Entity makes them act like game mechanics so… we gotta talk about them.

Every killer is enhanced to be much stronger, durable, and faster than the average person, or even above average people. Not only can they break pallets and walls like nothing, but they can catch up to athletic individuals like Meg Thomas or David King while at a walking pace. This is what lets The Legion, four 18 year olds, pick a fight with professional boxer David King and not get their teeth knocked in. 

The killers have aura reading capabilities when within the Fog, and while generally speaking they need perks to have the full power of their aura reading unlocked, they are given some information for free by the Entity. Killers are capable of seeing where every unfinished generator is on a map, and receive a notification when they’re completed. They are also capable of hearing failed skill checks even if they’re on the other side of the map, or on a completely different story. When the generators are finished, killers are also capable of locating the Exit Gates and maintaining this knowledge, unlike Survivors who only see them for a limited time. 

Killers are also capable of seeing “Scratch Marks” in an environment when a survivor runs. Red and abundant, these are meant to signify where the survivors have run off to, likely being a representation of the environment becoming a bit more messy and damaged by someone running through it. 

Terror Radius

"Maybe it is the will to survive that makes me even more alert to sounds. Sight is limited in this darkened part of the world. In this case their heartbeats. Not my own, but instead the Killers' as they close in on me. I just hope that they do not pick up on mine as my heart races for every thump I can hear even clearer."

Something explicitly meant to incite anxiety and fear within a survivor, the Terror Radius manifests as a heartbeat that the survivors hear when the killer is within, generally, 32 meters of their target. The heartbeat increases in intensity as the killer gets closer, generally accompanied with music, which is implied to also be real music playing if The Legion’s mix tape add-ons are anything to go by. While not the most useful, it could provide confusion and anxiety to an opponent should they not be expecting it.

Red Stain

"The first time that I spotted this reddish fire burning on the ground, I thought I had finally reached the doorstep of insanity. But I was wrong. After several encounters with this burning fire, I managed to tie it to the killers. Somehow it gives me hope as one can manage to avoid them if you see this burning warning. Maybe giving me hope is its purpose?"

The most game mechanic thing Dead by Daylight has, the Red Stain is a red light that emits from the killer’s face that illuminates the immediate area in front of them and wherever they are looking. It’s usually meant to show where the killer is looking, if they’re about to round a corner, or otherwise. Killers cannot turn off their Red Stain manually without a way to become Undetectable. There’s actually some proof to say that the Red Stain is the Entity watching the trials through the eyes of the killer. Whether or not this is true, and therefore whether the Red Stain would even appear for a Death Battle-like scenario, is unknown.

Bloodlust 

Every killer is capable of Bloodlust. When they are in a chase with a survivor that lasts longer than 15 seconds, they will gain a +.2 m/s speed boost, allowing them to get that hit in. If the chase goes on even longer without blood being drawn, the speed goes up all the way to +.6 m/s at the 35 second mark. This speed boost goes away once the killer deals damage to a Survivor or uses their unique power in any way.

Immortality (See Before the Verdict)

Killers are never aging when they’re in the Fog. While some of this can be attributed to time just working weird in the Entity’s Realm, there is definitely benefit to keeping them functionally immortal. Several killers like The Plague and The Knight are from centuries in the past, and the same can also be said about several Survivors. Killers also seem incapable of death outright, due to the Entity’s meddling, while within the fog. Several killers had allowed the fog to take them to avoid dying outright, and since Survivors are revived after dying during the trials, it’s likely killers also have a similar protection given to them by the entity.

Yamaoka’s Wrath

“The desire to destroy weaker bloodlines shaped into a literal force”

No killer is complete without their unique power, and Kazan is no exception. The Oni’s power is Yamaoka’s Wrath, and it allows him to turn the pain of Survivors and enemies alike into raw power. As The Oni damages and hooks Survivors, they will begin to drop Blood Orbs that, under normal circumstances, only he can see. He can see the auras of said Blood Orbs from 8 meters away, even through walls and floors, while the blood orbs themselves stay visible up to 35 meters away. The Oni, when he chooses to, can walk to these Blood Orbs and absorb them, at the cost of a little bit of movement speed. When he has collected enough blood, his power meter becomes full, and he can enter into a new mode: Blood Fury (More info in “Forms” section).

The Oni’s Personal Perks

“Within your enemy’s strength is weakness” 

Every killer in Dead by Daylight has access to three perks that are unique to them. The only way other killers can obtain these perks is by accessing them via the Bloodweb (we’ll get to that in a bit). It should be noted that every perk in the game has 3 tiers, unlocked by prestiging the associated character that many times, or just by buying the higher tiers in the Bloodweb once available. The higher the tier, the more effective the perk and the higher numbers it generally has. 

The Oni’s perks are listed below:

Blood Echo: Whenever you a Survivor is hooked, Blood Echo triggers its effect:

• Causes all Survivors in the Injured State to suffer from the Exhausted and Haemorrhage Status Effects for 20/25/30 seconds.

• Exhausted is a status condition that stops survivors from using their own perks that apply Exhaustion. This can include anything like obtaining bursts of speed, withstanding a hit that would send them into the dying state, or something as broad as obtaining a rush of adrenaline. It is, essentially, an ability cooldown.

• Haemorrhage makes survivors bleed more often, making them easier to track. It also has them lose healing progress if their healing were to somehow be interrupted.

Nemesis: Whenever a Survivor other than The Oni’s Obsession blinds him by any means or stuns him with a pallet or a locker, Nemesis triggers its primary effect: Causes that Survivor to become his current Obsession. Whenever The Oni’s Obsession switches to a different Survivor by any means, Nemesis triggers its secondary effects:

• Causes that Survivor to suffer from the Oblivious Status Effect for 40/50/60 seconds.

• Oblivious leaves a survivor unable to perceive the killer’s terror radius, and unable to hear the subsequent heart beat caused by it.

• Their Aura is revealed to The Oni for 8 seconds.

Zanshin Tactics: 

• The auras of pallets and windows are revealed to The Oni within 32 metres.

• When a survivor drops a pallet, their Aura is revealed to The Oni for 3/4/5 seconds.

Other Killer Perks

As stated before, while every killer has their own unique perks, they never stay unique for long in the Fog. With the use of the Bloodweb and prestige killers, every killer can have access to every perk in the game. While in-game they can only use four of these perks, we’ll be considering multiple layouts, perk combinations, and perk numbers for the sake of the match and debatability. There are well over 100 perks in the game, however, so we cannot possibly list them all. Instead, below is a list of all the perks that would likely be useful for a fight such as this, as many of them are so tied to the concept of a Trial that they would not be useful.

Brutal Strength: “Your great strength allows you to shred through your prey's defenses.” 

• Increases the Action speed of breaking Pallets and Breakable Walls, and damaging Generators by 10/15/20%

Enduring: “You are resilient to pain”

• Reduces the duration of Pallet Stuns by 40/45/50% 

Franklin’s Demise: Survivors hit with a Basic Attack will drop their item upon impact.

Genetic Limits: “Around you, the limits of human life become readily apparent.”

• When a Survivor becomes injured by any means, they will gain the exhausted effect for 6/7/8 seconds.

Hubris: “You show no mercy, especially to those foolish enough to resist.”

• Survivors who stun The Oni by any means become exposed for 20/25/30 seconds

• Exposed makes a survivor go down in one hit, no matter their current health state.

Predator: “Your acute tracking ability allows you to find lost prey more easily.

• If a Survivor is lost in chase, their aura is revealed to the Oni for 4 seconds. It then goes on cooldown for 60/50/40 seconds. 

Rapid Brutality: You move at a speed and fury that makes blood run cold.

• The Oni can no longer gain Bloodlust, but gains a 5% Haste boost when hitting someone with a basic attack for 8/9/10 seconds.

• Haste is a movement speed buff. 

Sloppy Butcher: “You know where to hit to make them bleed.”

• Survivors hit with a basic attack suffer from Haemorrhage and Mangled for 70/80/90 seconds.

• Haemorrhage is also modified to increase the spawning of Blood pools to 100%, and increase the regression rate of healing by 25%.

• Mangled is a status effect that makes healing a survivor take longer, whether it be by someone else’s hand or their own. 

Unnerving Presence: “Your presence alone instills great fear.”

• Survivors within the Oni’s terror radius receive higher chances of triggering skill checks when performing actions such as generator repairs or healing, and these skill checks are trickier to succeed.

Unrelenting: Decreases the cooldown of missed attacks by 20/25/30%

Bloodweb

“Last night I got out of The Fog, in a matter of speaking. I arrived in a pocket of tranquillity where the monster was nowhere to be seen. I stopped running and was immediately filled with a strange calmness. I lay down near the bonfire and closed my eyes for the first time in what seemed like days. After long, deep breaths, I plunged into what I first thought was the darkness of a dreamless sleep. And then I saw it: the Bloodweb, a space between reality and abstraction.”

The Bloodweb is simultaneously a place and a state of mind for the Survivors and Killers trapped within the Fog. Accessed primarily through thoughts and sleep patterns, it is a metaphysical aspect of the Entity’s Realm that allows Survivors and Killers to reach deep into their minds, bend the Fog to their will, and create things that can help them during the Trials. This is how the game explains the characters obtaining their add-ons and their perks/items. Creation via the Fog isn’t exactly a new topic, and someone like The Observer, who is far more versed in these things, is able to generate every day items that help him survive the monotony of his containment.

The Bloodweb is also capable of seemingly connecting to other killers, if Benedict Baker’s word is anything to go off of. Without even contacting the other Survivors, Benedict Baker would be able to “teach” other Survivors aspects about the Bloodweb that they can later access when they have the time and capability to do so. This is how any Survivor or Killer can learn the unique perks of the other; they are taught how to access them by unlocking their presence within their own personal Bloodwebs. The Bloodweb serves as both an item creator and a way to unlock new knowledge.

As it stands, we have no proof people can access the Bloodweb during a Trial, or during any particularly hectic or action packed moments. Because of this, it won’t be considered for the verdict of this fight, and is only included for the sake of being thorough.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Abilities

In the crossover event between Dead by Daylight and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Yasuke and Noue found themselves in an overlap, where the Entity's realm leaks into other worlds, and being hunted by the Oni. When they escaped the fog, the Oni followed, and the pair were forced to fight him. During this fight, the Oni showcased not only the ability to teleport short distances in a flash of light, but to summon up weapons like spears from the ground to toss at his opponent, giving him an extra ranged option. While this ability isn’t something he showcases in the main game, it’s certainly worth mentioning what he’s capable of against a more skilled opponent like Yasuke.

Forms

Hino Choko 

Asleep 

The state Hino began the fourth match in, with his mind sealed by the mask. Even in this state, however, he is a force to be reckoned with, but he’s barely able to form a conscious thought, only being able to mumble out “Kill” in response to Kamiizumi.

Given that he never put the mask back on after his fight, it’s safe to assume this form won’t be in a Deathmatch scenario nowadays, but we listed it here for clarity’s sake.

First Gate

The form that Hino takes when using the first gate. Like all Gates users, Hino’s eyes change color to denote it being open, gaining an extra ring in his iris with a four-pointed star shape protruding from it. Kamiizumi went from a 90-year-old decrepit man to being able to send Hino himself flying with the first gate, so it’s easy to imagine what kind of power increase that a divine physique like Choko’s would get.

The Oni 

Blood Fury

When The Oni enters Blood Fury, he lets out a terrifying roar of anger before equipping his Kanabo. In this form, he is capable of doing two unique actions. The first is the Demon Dash, and the other is the Demon Strike.

With the Demon Dash, The Oni moves incredibly faster than normal, going from 4.6 m/s to a staggering 7.82 m/s (and it can be even faster with add-ons!). The only downside to this is that it greatly lowers his maneuverability, making taking sharp turns almost impossible without stopping and restarting the dash. 

The second move, Demon Strike, sees The Oni swing his kanabo at unsuspecting survivors, or just completely innocent dropped pallets, with devastating force. This strike will immediately send Survivors into the dying state, skipping an entire health state, and destroy any fallen pallets or breakable walls within The Oni’s path. When used in tandem with the Demon Dash, Kazan is capable of rushing down opponents and sending them to the ground before they can even understand what’s happening. 

While this power does seem incredibly powerful, it’s not without some drawbacks. We’ll go more in depth into these in the Weaknesses section, but some basics are that Blood Fury cannot last forever, and without any add-ons it only goes on for 45.45 seconds. This can be extended, but not by too much. On top of that, downing a survivor subtracts 7 seconds from the active time of Blood Fury, although depending on the circumstances that could be a negligible weakness. 

Feats 

Hino Choko

 

Overall 

• By the time he was a child, he was already stronger than adults

• Made his mother rich by winning Sumo battles

• Survived being shot full of bullets by Oda’s firing squad and was fine afterwards

• Fought for 12 years in Japan’s civil war

• Was selected by Hashiba Hideyoshi to be his representative in the Tenkaichi

• Awakened the first gate in a single battle when it took the Sword Saint ten years

• Defeated Kamiizumi ise-no-kami and advanced to the second round

Strength 

• Towed around Oda’s massive throne

• Crushed Shibata’s face in with a metal fan

• Ittosai stated his muscles were as powerful as cannon fire

• Lifted and threw a massive wooden die

• Can create vacuum blades and shockwaves with his strikes

• Tore up the ground with a stomp (0.04 Tons of TNT)

• Sent a massive metal cage flying (94063.7 Kilograms, .114 Tons of TNT)

• Destroyed a pair of massive stone dragon statues (0.017 to 0.15 Tons of TNT)

• Sent several men flying at once, blowing holes in them

• Crushed Choko’s skull in one clean blow (3000-3900 Joules)

• Accidentally broke Kamiizumi’s bones by hugging him

Speed 

• Fast enough to leave afterimages and create vacuum blades

• Got the first move on base Kamiizumi and repeatedly outsped him before he opened the gates

• With the gates, ramped up his speed to be “faster than sound, faster than light” (See Before the Verdict)

Durability

• Ittosai likened his bones to armor

• Can withstand his own force reflected back at him through Kamiizumi’s hilt

• Kamiizumi couldn’t cut through his bones

• Kept fighting despite being cut up dozens of times by Kamiizumi

The Oni

“The agony of one is inflicted onto others.”

• Became a renowned swordsman like his father

• Struck fear into the hearts of Japanese citizens

• Overpowers people that vastly outnumber him on the regular

• Beat his father in a duel, killing him

• Has consistently been a high tier killer ever since his introduction

Strength

• As a human, crushed his father's head and cracked his helmet

• His strength was said to be unmatched

• Rips out peoples tongue on the regular

• Decapitated a woman (616 joules)

• Snaps Dwight's neck

• Smashes a man through a stall and a table

• Tore a crest from his helmet

• Shattered a sword in anger

• Smashed the statue at the Sanctum of Wrath

• Breaks a wooden pallet

• Breaks a wooden wall with a punch (516 Kilojoules)

Speed

• Runs at 4.6 m/s, the fastest base speed movement in the game

• When using Demon Dash, he moves at 7.82 m/s

• His speed was said to be unmatched

• Moved so swiftly in a fight that none could hit him

• Kills two men in mere seconds

• Slices a moth mid-flight

Durability/Endurance

• Can shrug off being smacked with pallets

• Him and other killers are only momentarily bothered by being stabbed by survivors

• Seemingly unbothered by being stabbed

• Walked for three days straight, only stopping to drink water

Scaling

Hino Choko 

Other Combatants

It should be noted that Togo’s swings were stated to have more power than Hino’s muscles, but Hino spent six months training with Yasuke, who was able to block his swings, so as of the second round, he should be comparable.

• Honda Tadakatsu stopped a bull’s charge, then lifted and slammed it overhead (.008 Tons of TNT)

• Honda Tadakatsu tore up the earth with his spear strike (2.99 Megajoules)

• Honda unleashed five consecutive thrusts in an instant (Mach .69 (Nice))

• While cut in half, Honda stopped several bullets in his body to protect Ieyasu (900 Joules)

• Fuma Kotaro blasted a hole in the trunk of a tree

• William Adams kicked down a ship’s door 

• Kamiizumi sliced an arrow in half mid-flight (Mach .857)

• Togo Shigekata cut through metal armor

• Jinsuke Hayashizaki can strike before signals from the brain can reach the body (Mach 1.49-Mach 3.29)

• Nagaharu Ogasawara took out a man in one punch, causing him to cough up blood

• Nagaharu Ogasawara created a massive dust cloud from the impact of his attacks

The Oni 

The Killers

While killers have never really fought each other (with the exception of the Blight and everyone he experiments on), their cooperation in 2v8 as well as the fact that they can all perform the same type of feats during the trials, just with minor variations, mean that they should all scale to one another. Kazan in particular is portrayed to be rather strong in comparison to other killers, so there’s arguments to be made that he upscales some of these. We will be looking at the feats of the original, and licensed killers.

The only feats that will be considered for licensed killers, though, are ones that happen in DBD trailers or in the game itself. The entity seemingly puts everyone on equal playing fields, and the Mark of Negation for Vecna seems to imply that the Entity is not afraid to nerf someone, so we can’t reasonably use cross scaling when it comes to Dead by Daylight killers.

• All killers can damage and manhandle survivors, break pallets and walls, and break generators.

• Talbot Grimes, the Blight, was capable of fighting the Trapper and sending him crashing into a brick wall

• The Trapper can "shred walls into splinters"

• Philip Ojomo, before becoming the wraith, ripped his bosses head off, the spine coming with it

• This takes anywhere from 101 to 102 tons (Class K)

• Oni’s descendant, Rin Yamaoka, was able to strike "faster than thought" during a kendo match

• The dredge destroys metal latches in one strike

• The Hillbilly could outrun the police chief and his barrage of bullets

• The Hillbilly could decapitate a man in a single strike

• The Plague could endure extreme pain and massive blood loss at the same time

• The Hag can tear out the organs of survivors

• The Nightmare can stab his entire hand through a survivor's torso

• The Mastermind no-sells a punch from a survivor

• The Singularity, before becoming a killer, possessed ten times the strength of a normal human and could dodge bullets from short range

• The Singularity could process a decillion lines of code in a nanosecond (1.7 septendecillion c - 3.01 septendecillion c, MFTL+) (See Before the Verdict)

• The Knight breaks his armor by simply wearing it

• The Deathslinger’s weapon, the Redeemer, caused a shockwave that made a cabin explode (1,780 Joules)

• The ghoul smashes a room (.03 tons)

• The Nemesis smashes through a wall (956.561 joules)

The Survivors

The scaling here is a lot more simple and easier to explain. Killers spend the entirety of the game just bodying survivors, and Kazan himself can bring down survivors in one to two hits depending on the state he’s in or how healthy the survivors are. He should massive upscale just about all of their feats.

• Vittorio can make a move "quicker than the speed of thought"

• Vittorio could also survive being hit into a wall hard enough to make a house shudder

• Meg Thomas is incredibly athletic, being able to outrun most people including cops and won a race with a fractured foot

• David King is a professional boxer stated to have never lost a fight

• David is also capable of beating people twice his size and moving "faster than the thought to perceive"  his movements

• Nea Karlsson dodges a crashing car

• Adam Francis survived being in a train that flipped over

• Haddie evaded an attack from a monster before outrunning it

• She also survived being slashed by the same monster

• The Observer survived a large explosion atop the MacMillan Estate map (0.0916 tons)

• Survivors can shatter void crystals (1,561.99 joules)

• Survivors can mutilate their own hands and eyes when attuning to the Hand and Eye of Vecna respectively

Saku Nakano

If you’re not a big lore head you’re probably wondering who the hell Saku Nakano is. Well, she’s a character in the extended lore of DBD and is the last surviving member of her Redcrane clan. To track down the people who killed her clan she decides to go into the fog to go and kill them off one by one. She’s basically a side story to everything else going on. The reason why Oni probably scales to her is because they actually fought before and it seems like the Oni has killed her several times before. While it’s questionable if they are comparable later in Saku’s journey, there’s some implication that she might be empowered by the entity, or at least some people have compared her strength and prowess to this, so there’s an argument that they scale

• Cut off the Oni's arm

• Decapitates a man's head mid sentence

• Thrust her sword through two skulls at once

• Killed three men with blinding speed

• Overpowered a man and used him as a human shield

• Dodges a close up axe slash

• Sliced through massive tree branches

• Fought through dozens of undead gladiators

• Sliced through giant tentacles

• Was attacked by and cut through vines that could restrain Maurice

• Maurice is the horse

• illustration of the feat

• Fights an entire undead army beside Maurice

• Seemingly dodges close range rifle fire (Mach .88 - Mach 2.9)

• Maurice later intercepts a bullet on her behalf

• Cuts off a giant robot's head

• Cuts through metal

• Killed vampires, one of which could overpower Maurice

Weaknesses 

Hino Choko 

There’s no doubt that Hino is one of the strongest combatants in the Tenkaichi, but in a series where every combatant could be a protagonist of their own, he isn’t able to do everything. For example, while his bones are durable enough to stop most blows, being cut up across his muscles can still leave wounds on him. A strong enough opponent can damage him by targeting the joints and flesh between his bones to go right to the vitals, and presumably enough blood loss from flesh wounds would be able to do him in as well.

Additionally, while the Gates are an extremely useful asset in a fight, he hasn’t yet mastered their full extent yet. He has to be pushed to his limits to develop more than the first gate, and even third-gate Kamiizumi wasn’t able to get him to open any additional gates. So, whoever forces him to go that far would have to be a strong combatant indeed…

The Oni

From a gameplay perspective, one of the things that Oni, alongside many other killers, suffer from is a weakness to harsh, bright lights. These can come from flashlights, flashbangs, mines placed on generators, or even a simple firecracker dropped in the middle of a chase. If the Oni is met with a consistent, bright flash of light, he will either be stunned momentarily or be unable to see for a few seconds after the flash of light. This weakness can be negated by a perk such as Lightborn, however.

His power also comes with some drawbacks. In order to activate his power, he needs to absorb blood. Oni players can attest to the fact that if he doesn’t get a hit early on, he suddenly feels like a horrible killer to play as. While this won’t be too relevant for the fight, it is important to note that his power won’t be activated immediately. On top of that, his power is only activated for a limited time before having to go back and collect more blood, meaning that he cannot stay in this form forever and reap the benefits from it.

From a character standpoint, his sheer anger towards the world around him could potentially blind him, or make him do something he regrets. It was such an intense anger that it cursed his dynasty, after all, and it would lead to the death of his father, something that would leave Oni with intense guilt up until the point of his death.

Before The Verdict

FTL Tenkaichi??? (No)

(Sit down Shonenbros, a street-tier tournament manga is talking) 

For the most part, Tenkaichi is a pretty grounded combat series… Except for those fucking gates that I hate, which let the user understand everything in the universe apparently. When Hino pushed himself to unlock the gates, he pushed himself to go “Faster than sound, faster than light”. So can we take this as evidence that Tenkaichi is FTL?

So, basically, nah.

While the buff given by the gates is impressive, that universal understanding is limited to the Third gate specifically. Hino was only able to unlock the first gate during his fight with Kamiizumi, and while he was stated to be unnaturally smart, there’s no reason he would know what the speed of light is, given that it wasn’t discovered Light even had a speed until 1676, a full ¾ century after the Tenkaichi, with its actual speed not being measured until 1849. Obviously, we can take this as being faster than sound as well, but there’s not really any deeper meaning to the phrase, and he wouldn’t get anything impressive. But what about the other part?

Well, the speed of sound also wasn’t discovered until a few decades after Tenkaichi took place, but fighters in the series have displayed advanced knowledge of things like brain signals and the like. Additionally, Jinsuke’s Time Cutter, which was developed specifically to reach and slay ‘the gods’, was calced to faster than sound, with kamiizumi himself having a nearly sound-speed feat before ever  unlocking the gates. So gates users should definitely be supersonic, but FTL? No.

FTL Dead by Daylight??? (Also No)

(Sit down Comics fans, a live-service horror game is talking)

This is probably one of the more infamous feats to come out of Dead by Daylight, and it all centers around Hux. Him being able to process a decillion lines of code in a second is, without a doubt, the most impressive feat of the series, but with it comes two questions; is it inconsistent, and does anyone scale to it? 

In terms of inconsistencies… no, actually. I don’t think it’s inconsistent. Hux is a robot that comes from a far off future in his lore, so it would make sense that he’d be able to process that much code in such a short time frame. It’s simply a matter of him being a robot that allows this feat to be more believable and not just flowery language (though, some could argue it certainly is). One could argue that survivors can still get the drop on the Singularity though, using flashlights or flashbangs to get the upper hand on him, but I don’t think this is as good a debunk as some people think. Hux’s processing speed doesn’t necessarily equal his movement speed. While he can certainly process code this fast, it’s another thing entirely for him to move his body in time to act on what he’s processing. He’s still limited by his own biology, which allows survivors to pallet stun him to their hearts content.

The other question, though, is if anyone scales to it. That answer is also a no. The only reason Hux could do this is because he is a robot from a far off future, and while we can scale physical stats of killers to each other, this is a little different, as it’s not only a mental stat, but something that is inherently unique to Hux as a person, being a robot and all. In short, Kazan doesn’t get any FTL feat, but Hux could totally withstand Infinite Void.

DBD Immortality?

DBD immortality is a bit shaky and mostly relies on making assumptions and drawing our own conclusions. In short, the survivors will always come back at the end of a trial, even if they were to be killed within the trial grounds. This is because the Entity needs them alive to constantly be drawing in hope and strong emotions from them. The question is could the Entity also do this for the killers themselves?

The main issue with this idea is that we’ve never seen a killer die on screen, so we’ve never seen this ability first hand. We also would have no idea how long it takes. While Survivors come back immediately after a trial is over, that could just be for the convenience of play, or it could be that it’s simpler for a survivor to be brought back rather than a killer, due to the former’s normal physiology as opposed to the latter’s enhanced physiology.

To get some real answers, it all comes back to Saku Nakano, for some reason. In her encounter with the Oni, she has admitted herself that she had downed the demon before, but it was always able to get up afterwards. This could refer to it coming back after dying, or to some unknown healing factor. The wording is vague and it’s unknown if the Oni “continues the hunt” in the same encounter or if these are over the course of multiple encounters, as there are multiple Saku’s who, based off DBD lore, would have some vague access to each other’s memories (DBD cosmology gets weird).

We do know, however, that you can cause massive damage to a killer and it wouldn’t heal immediately, as Saku did cut off the Oni’s arm and it didn’t come back right away, but she said it would “heal within the fog”. This does imply that killers have a healing factor within the Entity’s realm, but it’s again through an unknown time period. 

Overall, for the sake of the blog, we’ve decided that while this immortality will be taken into consideration, due to the lack of a known timeframe, we cannot heavily influence the verdict off of it due to too many unknown factors.

The Verdict

Starting off with their Physicality, both fighters reach pretty similar levels in each category. 

Hino should be comparable or superior to someone like Honda, who can lift and throw a bull over his head at 0.008 Tons of TNT, especially given that was base Honda, and one who was out of practice and lazy. On his own merits, Choko is able to crush skulls and and tear up the ground with his stomps, which goes up to 0.04 Tons of TNT in strength. His best feats would most certainly be destroying large stone dragons, which can range from 0.017 to 0.15 Tons of TNT, and throwing a massive cage over his head, which would be at least 0.114 Tons of TNT depending on the angle and air time.

As for speed, while Hino himself is certainly impressive, his best feats come from scaling to his opponent or other fighters. Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami Nobutsuna was able to cut through an arrow at around Mach .85, and this was before he had unlocked the gates, being a technique he considered to be squarely within the realm of man. With the gates unlocked, it’s likely Hino should be faster than sound by his own narration, but it’s hard to say by exactly how much. Thankfully, we can compare him to the other fighters in the Tenkaichi to get an idea. Particularly, we can compare him to Hayashizaki Jinsuke, whose Time Cutter can swing at Mach 3.2.

“But wait!” you might ask. “Hino never fought Jinsuke, and Jinsuke’s time cutter was stated to be something nobody could react to! How could anyone scale to it?” Well, that’s certainly a good question, and initially, we didn’t consider it to be scalable either. However, we think he should reasonably be able to scale to it for a few reasons.

The limits of humanity and gods are a common theme brought up in this setting, with the Gates typically being the only way to bypass them and Jinsuke standing as a distinct example against that fact as his strike is one developed specifically to be able to reach the gods. Hozoin Inshun was specifically, despite his talent, completely unable to see Jinsuke's time slash at all… until he re-awakened the first gate, at which point he didn't have any trouble until Jinsuke explicitly got faster mid-fight. Hino not only has the first gate too, but his subconscious reflexes are so good that he was specifically able to avoid the attacks from third gate Kami by moving to block attacks with his bones instead of his flesh. 

Now, there’s certainly nothing to suggest that Hino should scale to Jinsuke’s speed at the end of his fight, but Given that Jinsuke grew severely over his fight with Inshun and his time cutter was something he learned and honed for years before his fight with Inshun, it should be reasonable that with the first gate active, Hino should reasonably be able to match those reaction times.

On the other side of the equation, The Oni is no slouch either. Even killers that are otherwise normal humans like the Legion are amplified to the point of being able to overpower trained boxers, and someone like Kazan should be even stronger than that given… well, everything about him, really. The Wraith can rip a man’s head off, the Knight can destroy metal armor, and the Nemesis can easily break through walls.

On the higher end of things, oddly enough the best feat for strength and durability for the verse comes from a survivor of all things. Specifically, the Observer, who survived an explosion worth around .09 Tons of TNT. Given that killers like the Oni can down survivors in a couple hits at most (With Blood Fury boosting Kazan to be able to one-shot characters with the observer’s durability), 

Speed is a similar story. Obviously, the m/s speed of anyone in the setting is nothing to scoff at. In terms of movement speed, Kazan doesn’t have a lot going for him, but that doesn’t make him slow by any means. On his own, he’s displayed the reactions and timing to cut a moth mid-flight, and even cut a raindrop out of the air (only one though, no DMC nonsense will be shown off today). Comparing him to others, once again, the best feats come from Survivors, with Saku (Someone that the Oni has fought repeatedly and even killed before) being able to dodge bullets, which could be anywhere from .88 to 2.9 times the speed of sound! 

So, how do they compare? Well, pretty closely, actually. By numbers, Hino’s feats are overall slightly better than Oni, but not by much. Neither speed nor strength has a gap of even 50%, and remember, the Oni is able to very easily take out people with that durability. The speed gap is similarly extremely small, although you could say that Hino’s extra-durable bones and extra-quick reflexes could give him an edge. That said, The Oni’s Blood Fury mode would also further increase his strength and even things out again.

Overall, neither of them particularly have any notable advantage over the other when it comes to sheer numbers. As a result, physicality is a Tie.

But what about their Abilities? In terms of their arsenal and powers, who has a distinct advantage?

Well, running down the list, Hino himself is a pretty grounded character in the grand scheme of things, nobody in Tenkaichi is exactly going to be a hax merchant, it’s a martial arts manga. Anyway, as far as his abilities go, he’s able to create vacuum blades, cause shockwaves by stomping the ground, and… Well, that’s really about it. He’s mostly a really big, strong guy. Hell, the arsenal he has actively harms him more than anything, since the mask keeps him asleep.

By comparison, the Oni should obviously get a huge advantage here, right? With all the different perks, equipment, and powers he has as a killer, this should be an easy slam dunk. As always, the devil’s in the details, so let’s run down the list of things he can do.

With various things like killer physiology, the red stain, and perks, the Oni can easily track survivors. The problem is, Hino isn’t someone to even try and run away. He’s not a helpless victim, he’s a martial artist and an oni in his own right. The tracking skills would be pretty useless against Hino just by virtue of his fighting style. This also applies to something like Bloodlust since Hino is fully willing to throw hands until he dies.

So, what about his more offensive perks? Well, he can gain a movement speed boost, boost his strength and endurance, and inflict status effects like bleeding and exhaustion. All that is definitely going to be a help here. Bleeding and Exhaustion both would help him run Hino out of stamina faster, although Hino’s stamina and endurance being far higher than the average person would counter that by a good bit. 

And then, there’s exposed, an ability that allows Kazan to instantly down a survivor inflicted with it. This should be an easy win condition, right? Well, it’s not that simple. The survivors that get afflicted with this are ones that the Oni is already notably stronger than, being able to down them in one or two hits on his own. Compared to Hino, who’s actually comparable to the Oni in stats and has the extra benefit of his armored bone structure, it’s not all that reasonable to assume he’d be able to simply one-shot Hino out the gate with it.

As for his various armor and weapons, while he certainly has a quantity advantage against Hino, it’s really just that. There’s nothing that makes these different weapons special from each other. Even so, we know katana can cut through Hino’s muscle, and the Kanabo in Oni’s hands should still be able to do some damage, so simply the fact that he has weapons and knows how to use them is definitely a boon.

All in all, it would seem at first glance that Kazan has the advantage in abilities, but looking at them bit by bit, most of them are countered pretty thoroughly, leaving him with an advantage still, just… one that’s a little smaller than initially believed. 

However, there is one thing that can turn the tide definitively in his favor, but of course it comes from fucking Assassin’s Creed instead of his own damn game. In the collab event, Oni is able to not only teleport short distances, but outright summon weapons from the fog, presumably thanks to the bloodweb if the Observer’s anything to go by. That’s outright supernatural, and it’s something Hino has never had to see or deal with before. Even if they’re things he can ultimately counteract, it’s still a notable enough advantage that gives Oni the point in abilities.

So, with physical stats being even, and The Oni having a slight-edge in abilities, how does their Mentality factor into this? Does Kazan have the know-how to leverage his advantages and overcome Hino with his Skill and Experience? Let’s find out.

Both of these two are extremely experienced combatants. Hino spent his entire life, literal decades, fighting to the death both against other martial artists and on the battlefield, even before entering the Tenkaichi, and Kazan spent his life butchering Samurai across the country, even killing his own father, himself a highly skilled Samurai, before entering the fog. They both have decades of experience killing on the battlefield, so we’ll have to look deeper to determine their skills.

The Oni is an extremely skilled swordsman, as proven by his many duels with Saku and the item descriptions detailing some of his various feats. Cutting a moth mid-flight and cutting a raindrop out of the air is certainly comparable to Kamiizumi’s slice of an arrow! This means that he would most certainly have the precision to cut the spots between Hino’s bones if he got the chance. However, Hino’s reflexes and battle instincts are incredibly honed - Even opponents much faster than him, like Kamiizumi with the third gate open, have struggled to make that happen. Even so, with enough continuous hits (aided by hemorrhage and exhaust statuses), eventually, Kazan would certainly be able to wear down his opponent.

Blow for blow, these two seem to be evenly matched. So, who’s going to take the edge in Skill? Well, it comes down to one thing: Their mentality.

Hino Choko is a demon god to the bone. He’s good at fighting, and he knows it. After his match against Kamiizumi, his heart was re-ignited, and he gained a true desire to keep fighting and become the strongest, even laughing as he battled his opponent. Hino fully embraced his status as “Onigami”... Standing in stark contrast to Kazan, who hates the name of “Oni-Yamaoka”, and will  brutally slaughter anyone who mentions that name.

In a fight with someone like Hino, who loves to talk while he fights and would most certainly call him “an oni like me”, this would make it very easy to push him into a more berserk state that Hino could take advantage of. And while teleportation and weapon summoning could give him the edge for a time, if you actually look at his performance against Yasuke, his fighting style with these techniques is… well, frankly rather simple, just resulting in faster gap-closing and throwing weapons from a range. For someone like Hino, who likes to get in close, that kind of style isn’t a good match-up.

Additionally, when you look at their actual techniques, Hino borders on the supernatural with the ability to create Vacuum blades and shockwaves that can stun or push back foes. This means he’d be able to control the battlefield much better than the Oni would between that and his ability to (accidentally) ragebait Kazan. He’s a much more well-rounded foe, with his knowledge in Sumo giving him knowledge in strikes, pushes, grappling, standing his ground against someone trying to overpower him, and of course, the ability to fight at a range with his incredible physique. That’s a kind of martial versatility that Kazan’s never really demonstrated.

It’s close, but Hino’s more level head and well-rounded fighting style gives him the advantage in Skill.

So, we have a neck-and-neck battle here. Both of them are pretty equivalent in stats, with the Onigami having an advantage in skill and mentality, while Oni-Yamaoka has a wider set of abilities. But if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll note there’s something we excluded from the previous discussion for both of them: Their Forms. Between Hino’s Celestial Gates and Kazan’s Blood Fury, which one of these Oni bears the stronger Trump Card?

The Celestial Gates and Blood Fury couldn’t be more different. One is more akin to a state of enlightenment, a widened understanding of the world around oneself, while the other is a state of rage that heightens one’s ability to kill and slaughter. 

As far as stats go, once these two forms come out, the stat disparity actually starts to exist again. The Oni is capable of oneshotting Survivors in Blood Fury, and while Hino is certainly stronger than those, that kind of amp would most certainly be enough to do some serious damage. Conversely, the gates would notably increase Choko’s speed and reflexes even further, to the point that Kazan would be struggling to really land those hits. So all that being said, which one holds the final advantage in this battle? 

What this issue ultimately comes down to is one of compatibility and endurance. When push comes to shove, the simple increase of AP that Blood Fury gives should give Kazan the final push he needs to take the victory here. While the Gates draw out Hino’s full potential, it doesn’t supernaturally make him stronger on a physiological level, just gives him the ability to leverage what he has better. However, there’s an asterisk there: The Time Limit. 

Blood Fury only lasts for 45 seconds, which in some fights would certainly be enough, but as we’ve discussed before, Hino is an absolute TANK to put down, with his bones being strong enough to no-sell hits from someone like Kamiizumi. This match is going to be one of endurance, and because of Blood Fury’s time limit, Kazan will be hard-pressed to actually wear him down enough over the course of its duration. By comparison, the first gate has no such time limit. Even if we assumed it had the same limitations that Kamiizumi’s third gate had with sapping Choko’s lifeforce, Hino is a good 50-60 years younger than Kamiizumi, and would have a much larger pool of it to burn. 

Besides that, the gates give Hino a significant boost in speed and agility, which would make it even harder for the Oni to land the blow he needs. Additionally, his ability to turn the opponent’s strength against him would also let him hard-counter the strength of Blood Fury by channeling it into Kazan himself.

It’s an incredibly even fight either way, but once these forms come out, it’s very clear who will have the advantage over the other. The Gates of Celestial Awakening give Hino a clear edge in our final category.

Summary

Hino 

Advantages:

• More durable with his skeleton

• Much faster with the Gates

• Can just use Oni’s strength against him

• Better range and AOE overall

• More versatile fighting style

• More level-headed

• Damn boi he THICC

Comparisons:

• Similarly strong and fast in base forms

• Similar showings of experience and skill

Disadvantages:

• More limited arsenal

• Weaker than Blood Fury Oni

• Blood loss could be a problem

• Not used to seeing supernatural shit

• Just gonna lose to main character Musashi, you hate to see it

Oni

Advantages:

• Has a wider arsenal, and can summon weapons to avoid being disarmed

• Hemorrhage and Exhaust could wear Hino down over time

• Stronger with Blood Fury, enough to take Hino down…

• Knows how to use his weapons

• I didn’t have to pay Kodansha to research him

Comparisons:

• Similarly strong and fast in base forms

• Similar showings of experience and skill

Disadvantages:

• Would have a very hard time breaking through Hino’s skeleton

• Slower once the gates are brought out

• More reliant on range

• …But its time limit and the gates’ hard-counter really screws him over

• My wife had to play Dead by Daylight to research him

This was an incredibly close fight. Both of them were neck in neck in most categories, and both of them had distinct advantages overall. But when looking at their trump cards and mindsets, it makes sense that this fight went the way it did.

Hino is somebody who embraced his nature as a demon, and then found a new purpose within it. Not just as a swordsman walking the path to the strongest, but as a shield of the Oda with allies like Yasuke and Hideyoshi by his side. The Gates of Celestial Awakening are a proof of this. By comparison, Kazan actively hated his nature as a demon, and yet leaned into his rage and bloodlust at every chance until he wound up in the fog. And as much of a boon as Blood Fury is, that kind of rage is something that a martial artist like Hino can ultimately turn against him.

Don’t get us wrong, though, this could go either way with their comparable stats. But at the end of the day, the best wincon for Kazan is one of endurance. Slowly wearing down Hino with blood loss and exhaustion until he can’t fight anymore. But with the power of the Gates, making those wounds will be an uphill battle, especially with him not being able to properly strategize against such a skilled opponent. And it makes sense, right? Kazan may be the Oni-Yamaoka, but there’s a reason that Hino is considered the Onigami.

Kazan had the rage, the power, and the supernatural backing, but Hino’s martial enlightenment, superior skill, and god-like body ultimately gave him all the tools he needed to Close the Gate on this fight and leave Oni-Yamaoka Dead by Daylight.

This Death Battle’s winner, representing the Hashiba clan, is HINOOOO CHOKOOOO!

Hino Choko (2): NinetailsSaturn, JackyTheWannabe

The Oni (0): Still a high-tier character in every patch tho

Next Time on B&B Battle Blogs…