"Ha ha ha ha ha! My sword slashes even the Hades apart!"
Article by: The Coop
Pictured from: Darkstalkers 3
Created by: Capcom
First appearance: 1994
Bio
Born in 1673 in Japan, Bishamon was a nobleman who had been charged with the duty of defending his land and the people that called it home. However, his means of doing this proved detrimental to him. Bishamon found a forbidden suit of armor called Hannya, the Kacchu of Hatred. With it, he also found a cursed sword named Kien, the Blood-Sucking Youtou (Demon Blade). The moment he took these items and wielded them, his days of rest ended. Though his heart was still noble, the armor he wore and the sword he carried demanded blood and sacrifices. When they did, he couldn't control his own body. Despite this, the rage of the armor and sword were turned on darkness, and not innocents.
At some point, Bishamon thought that to be rid of his curse, he had to destroy all the Darkstalkers. So with this in mind, he turned to seeking out and defeating every last one of them. He cut a bloody path right up to Pyron's feet, and unleashed the fury of his cursed armor and weapon upon the powerful energy-based alien. With Pyron's defeat, Hannya and Kien became appeased. Despite this, his curse did not end, and he learned that to ever be allowed to rest, he must fight evil wherever it was. It was then that he set out on a journey to find and fight all darkness. However, Hannya and Kien would have plans of their own.
In his journeys, Bishamon had become separated from Hannya and Kien. Though the armor and sword had lost their master, their lust for blood did not lessen. In fact, it grew so much that two years after they were separated from Bishamon, the hatred and thirst for blood manifested in a human form, and the armor became active without him. But before anything could happen, the vengeful ghost that now possessed the armor and sword was pulled into Majigen, which was a void created by Jedah Dohma the Dark Messiah to trap and collect souls in a perverted effort to "save" Makai.
Hannya and Kien set out, battling the Darkstalkers in this new dimension. What they left behind was just as brutal as before, and eventually they came to face Jedah. The possessed armor and sword bested the self-proclaimed Makai savior and screamed their desire to feed on the souls of all who called Makai home. But just as it seemed Hannya and Kien were free to do exactly that, their master returned.
Bishamon, using powerful magic, undid the body that Hannya and Kien had gained, and resealed the cursed armor and weapon. For him, the evils would stay silent for what he hoped was the rest of his days. But despite his victory, Bishamon's mood was somber. He knew that as long as darkness existed in human souls, Makai would exist in some form, and likely be far more dreadful than Hannya and Kien. As such, was his fight truly over?
Selected game appearances
Arcade
- Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (1994)
- Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (1995)
- Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers' Revenge (1997)
- Vampire Savior: Jedah's Damnation (1997)
- Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire (1997)
Neo Geo Pocket Color
- SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters' Clash (1999)
- SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition (2000)
Dreamcast
- Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service (2000)
PlayStation 2
- Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection (2005)
References
- GameFan Books - "Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge" guide
- GameFan Books - "Darkstalkers 3: Jedah's Damnation" guide
- Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors instruction manual
- Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge instruction manual
- GameFAQs - "Darkstalkers 3"
- Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors ending
- Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge ending
- Vampire Savior: Jedah's Damnation ending
- Wikipedia - "List of Darkstalkers characters - Bishamon"
