Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Costume Breakdown: Hsein-Ko

This week is Hsien-ko who hails from the Darkstalkers series, introduced in the Night Warriors game. Hsien-ko, and her sister Mei-ling, fight to save their mother from Pyron, and are turned into a form of “hopping zombie”, loosely based on a Chinese tradition. Mei-ling is actually the piece of paper that appears on Hsien-ko’s hat, so you’re actually getting two characters in one.

Her first costume is a really unique design. There are a ton of colors here, from the fuchsia and purple robe, to the yellow trim, to the blue skin. Hopping zombies are known for their style, it turns out. Hsien-ko’s standard costume is based on her Night Warriors outfit, and she certainly stands out for her colorfulness.

Read on for Hsien-ko�s 5 other costumes!

Like Felicia and Morrigan, Hsien-ko’s Darkstalkers background lends a variety of existing color alternates to choose from. For her 2P costume, we used a popular alternate from earlier in the series. The darker tones seem slightly more appropriate for a zombie.

Hsien-ko’s 3P costume is also based on an existing alternate costume from earlier in the series. I’m particularly fond of this Capcom-colored alternate. Matching the shoes, hat, robe, and ward paper were crucial here.

The type of “hopping zombie” that Hsien-ko is modeled after is called a kyonshi. There’s a famous kyonshi movie that has a black and blue color-scheme. I have a MvC3 t-shirt that I’ll ship to the first person to leave a comment with the name of the movies we’re referencing. If you know the Japanese name of Darkstalkers, that may be a hint.

The 5P costume for Hsien-ko is new to UMvC3 and is probably her most unique design. Any MvC2 Amingo fans (I know you’re out there) should play this costume. This is based on an existing costume from Hsien-ko’s past. Again, I have a t-shirt for anyone that can identify which GAME this comes from, and has a US mailing address!

The final Hsien-ko design is all new for UMvC3. We looked at the ‘jewel tones’ from the rest of the costumes and designed something that looked like it was part of the same universe that Hsien-ko comes from. To make it stand out, we changed the color of the ward paper from yellow to red, like the 2P color. What does it mean to have red ward paper?

It means that you should head to Marvel for their coverage of X-23, Hsien-ko’s claw-handed cousin!

(giveaways only valid at Capcom Unity blog)