Hinoka

Character Summary

Early Life and Prologue

Hinoka is the eldest Princess of Hoshido, the second of four children between King Sumeragi and Queen Ikona. Her mother died when she was young, and her father found another High Queen by remarrying a compassionate and graceful woman by the name of Mikoto. Unlike her other siblings, Hinoka was slow to see Mikoto as her new parent. But growing up she became extremely close to Corrin, who was her stepmother’s biological child.

Life changed drastically when the rival Kingdom of Nohr ambushed and killed King Sumeragi and captured Corrin in the neutral country of Cheve. Hinoka resolved to singlehandedly rescue her favourite sibling by making multiple treks towards Nohr, only to be stopped by her stepmother and siblings every single time. In the end, to achieve her original goal of saving Corrin, she entered into the Sky Knights corps to train as a combatant.

Initially that choice proved to be foolish. Riding a pegasus required calm on the rider’s part, a mental state that Hinoka did not possess given her grief towards Corrin’s disapperance. But with the help of Subaki, another Sky Knight trainee, she eventually became a skilled pegasus rider and her corps' most formidable warrior. Hinoka also proved to be highly admired within the entire Hoshidan army, given her tendency to look out for all her comrades in battle and her ability to know most of her colleagues by name - regardless of rank. Her time in the military also marked a noticeable personality change. What was once a former “crybaby”, in Prince Ryoma’s words, became a tomboyish soldier who would look out of place in a royal court.

But whatever strides the eldest Hoshidan princess made in achieving martial prowess, her relationships with her immediate family became more tense. While she genuinely cared for her siblings, Hinoka rarely had the opportunity to speak to them outside the battlefield. Her relationship between Prince Takumi and Princess Sakura, who understood her absence as wilful neglect, deteriorated as a result. Mikoto was also staunchly against Hinoka’s career as a Sky Knight, and used a combination of begging, bribing and bargaining to dissuade her stepdaughter from fighting in the front lines. Tensions came to a head between the two when Hinoka angrily told the High Queen that she wasn’t her mother, and that she should stop telling her what to make of her life. Their relationship mended after that nadir, but Hinoka remained regretful for snapping at her stepmother in such a demeaning manner.

Hinoka finally reunites with Corrin when Hoshidan forces captured and escorted the player character to their homeland. At the time she and Sakura were in the middle of evacuating a village from the Faceless, an army of mindless monsters created and controlled by the Kingdom of Nohr. The arrival of High Prince Ryoma and Corrin allowed the two princesses to fight off the Faceless. And upon seeing Corrin for the first time in years, Hinoka breaks down in tears and happily welcomes their return.

Birthright and Conquest

Hinoka’s story then varies depending on Corrin’s choice after the Prologue.

In the Birthright campaign, she joins her Hoshidan brothers in the war against the Kingdom of Nohr, only to be separated during the heat of battle. Corrin eventually finds her and her hopeless retainers near the Wind Tribe’s homeland. From that point onward, Hinoka joins her sibling’s forces in their quest to topple King Garon.

In Conquest, Hinoka’s heart breaks upon seeing her favourite sibling leaving her side to fight for the hated Kingdom of Nohr. But despite this turn of events, she still holds out hope that Corrin will return to her side.

The two siblings engage in battle on two separate occasions during the campaign. Their first skirmish comes when Hinoka captures the Rainbow Sage in his Sevenfold Sanctuary to prevent the Nohrians from gaining access to his powers. Corrin and his Nohrian allies manage to climb atop Mount Sagesse and defeat her forces, but do so without inflicting casualties on the losing side. This battle is also the first instance that Hinoka clashes with Camilla, the eldest princess of Nohr who claims that she is Corrin’s “true” big sister.

The second battle comes much later during Nohr’s full-blown invasion of Hoshido. The eldest Hoshidan princess is responsible for guarding the entrance to Castle Shirasagi, only to lose again to Corrin and their small contingent of Nohrian soldiers. Before the battle, King Garon ordered the player character to kill Hinoka and have proof of her demise. But Corrin disobeys the command by sparing her, only taking away the warrior princess’ spear as proof of her “death". Moved by such an act of mercy, Hinoka accedes to her sibling's demands to go into hiding with her retainers until the war is over.

In the end of Conquest, with the deaths of Princes Ryoma and Takumi, Hinoka is set to become the new Queen of Hoshido. At first she shudders at this inevitability, since she never wanted the throne and always assumed that one of her brothers would succeed Mikoto as ruler of the realm. Her tenure in the military also left her utterly unprepared for a return to the lavish and dignified life of the royal court. But she professes hope in using her new office to improve her homeland's relations with the newly reformed Kingdom of Nohr, even if she understands that hew new subjects remain wary of its new King Xander. She also invites Corrin to visit her and Sakura in Hoshido once tensions between the two warring kingdoms simmer down.