Hwoarang

Tekken 3

Born June 25th Hwoarang A student of Baek Doo San a Tae Kwon Do Master, and extremely proficient in the martial arts of Tae Kwon Do, Hwoarang used his skills to gamble in street fights with his other gang members. During these street fights, Hwoarang would lure his opponents in by sending his gang members to pose as weaker fighters. Once his gang members had been defeated, Hwoarang would enter and defeat his opponents to win the money at stake.

One day, Hwoarang lured in an opponent by the name of Jin Kazama and they fought to a draw. This was the first time Hwoarang did not outright win a match and he immediately rushed to his master to tell him the news. Upon arriving at Baek Doo San's dojo, Hwoarang finds that his master had been slain by Ogre, The God of Fighting. Hwoarang enters The King Of Iron Fist Tournament 3 to defeat Jin Kazama and to seek revenge for his master's death.

In Hwoarang's Tekken 3 ending cinematic, we see him sitting down in an alleyway, holding a golden Heihachi head (presumably the trophy given to the victor of the Tournament). He looks at the trophy and prepares to throw it away, before he notices his rival Jin Kazama being chased by the Tekken Force. Jin is cornered, but Hwoarang throws the trophy in that area to cause a distraction, and proceeds to easily defeat the three Tekken Force members. Jin is then seen with electricity surging around him (signifying he will soon transform into Devil Jin), and turns around and jumps through the wall of the warehouse he was chased into. Hwoarang smiles as the cinematic ends.

Tekken 4

Not long after the previous Tournament, Hwoarang was drafted into the Korean military and assigned to the special operations division. Although he was highly successful in his missions, Hwoarang had a habit of disobeying orders and breaking rules. Despite his success, Hwoarang was not interested in military life, and would often reminisce of the time he had spent hustling money in street fights, as well as his bout with Jin Kazama.

When Hwoarang heard about The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, he slipped out of the military base and entered the tournament, hoping to even his score with Jin Kazama, then defeat Heihachi and claim the Mishima Zaibatsu.

In Hwoarang's non-canonical Tekken 4 ending, we see a confrontation between Jin and Hwoarang. Hwoarang says how they did not get a chance to fight during the Tournament, and that they should fight now. Jin reluctantly battles with Hwoarang, but before a victor could be truly decided, Hwoarang's military commander and a Korean military squad confront Hwoarang about slipping out of the military base. Jin and Hwoarang fight off a few soldiers, before hiding behind a car to shield themselves from gunfire. Hwoarang claims that he defeated Jin and that he can even the score at the next tournament. They exchange smiles and escape from Hwoarang's commander and the military squad.

Tekken 5

In one of the final rounds of the previous Tournament, Hwoarang was scheduled to face Jin Kazama. However, before the two could meet for battle, Hwoarang was taken into custody by the South Korean government. Upon his arrival at the embassy, Hwoarang is granted an official pardon by the ambassador and is given urgent military papers. Hwoarang immediately flies to South Korea to complete his training, which he completes in time to enter The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, once again hoping get a rematch with Jin Kazama.

In Hwoarang's Tekken 5 ending cinematic, we see his riding his motorcycle on the highway. Seemingly bored, he mutters "This sucks" to himself. Not before long however, he spots a dark figure standing in the middle of the road. This figure turns out to be Devil Jin, who uses his telekenetic power to blow up Hwoarang's motorcycle. Hwoarang slides back several metres and struggles to get to his feet. He puts up his fists to fight Devil Jin, and as the cinematic ends, we see a smile creep on Hwoarang's face.

Tekken 6

During the last tournament, Hwoarang was successful in defeating Jin Kazama. However, as Jin lay on the ground unconscious, he roars paranormally and transforms into Devil Jin. Hwoarang, confused with what he just witnessed, was overwhelmed by Devil Jin, and is soon knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, Hwoarang finds himself in the hospital, and see's his teacher, Baek Doo San sitting down beside him. Hwoarang, ignoring the nurse, tries to get out of his bed and falls down, and begs Baek to train him to make him stronger. After leaving the hospital, Hwoarang starts training harder than ever before, in order to defeat this new, supernatural Jin. With the announcement of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6, Hwoarang decides to enter without a second thought.

Strategies

Hwoarang is one of the more difficult characters to learn in the Tekken series. He is a difficult character to learn because of his many stance changes (right/left foot forward and right/left flamingo). To be proficient with Hwoarang, you must know exactly what attack comes out of which stance without any hesitation. Hwoarang is a mixup juggernaut and can easily string many attacks without a pause. One of the many things novice players don't do with Hwoarang is use his punches. Hwoarang is a midrange character, which mean he is more effective whenever he isn't up close and in his opponent's face. Hwoarang's punches help to create space and are great at poking opponents out of their attacks.

Another advanced technique of Hwoarang is his 'Crazy Steps' technique. When you press both kick buttons, Hwoarang will do a normal stance change. Now if you perform a stance change while you do a sidestep at the same time, you can see Hwoarang's legs moving crazily, which is why it's called Crazy Steps. If you continue to press both kick buttons and do sidesteps, it will appear as Hwoarang is just moving his legs like crazy and gliding around. This is just the basics, so try experimenting doing stance changes while doing back dashes by quickly tapping back twice or try tapping front twice. Once you get the hang of the Crazy Steps, it will help to confuse your opponents as to which stance you are going to be attacking from.