Hualin

Hualin
Biographical Information
Birthplace	Xian Outskirts, Ming Empire (present-day China)
Birthdate	Unknown
Age	18
Alignment	Good
Physical Description
Height	158 cm (5'2¼")
Weight	47 kg (104 lbs)
Blood type	A
Weapon Information
Weapon	Rod
Weapon name	Cepheus Seal
Fighting style	Ruyi Staff Arts
Relationships
Family	Foster Family: running a weapons' shop in the inlands of Ming Cepheus
Series Information
Appears in	Soulcalibur III Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul
Japanese voice actor	Hiromi Konno

""You have a sharp eye.""

— Hualin

Hualin (ファリン, Farin^?, Chinese: 花麗) is a fictional character in Namco's Soul series of fighting games. She is the shopkeeper created for the Weapon Shop within Soulcalibur III, and an unlockable Bonus Character in the main game as well. She represents the "Staff" Create-a-Fighter discipline.

What lies in her soul is Business.

Biography

Hualin started her life as a weapon seller when she entered as a servant in a weapon store set on a small village at the foot of a mountain where a martial artist master is said to dwell. While she did her daily chores and weapons caring, she found her life's career. From that point, she put all her efforts into becoming the finest weaponsmith in the world.

Because of the store's location, Asian weapons were the predominant kind, but she also was able to obtain some western weapons and Arabic knives. But there was so much around the world, she started wishing to know all weapons she could.

One day at the end of year she met Cepheus. He was returning from a big purchase in Ming and stopped to visit an old friend. He was astonished at seeing Hualin's smithing skills, but lamented her situation, for even if her handling of Ming weapons were excellent, she was inexperienced in other kinds of weaponry. Cepheus decided to ask the store's owner if he would let him take Hualin to his store, in a city where east and west met and where she could train her skills further.

The store owner recognized Hualin's talent as well, but he knew her departure would be a great loss to him and his store. Upon much debating, he finally decided to let her go with Cepheus.

Hualin installed in the store of Cepheus, and started taking care of his weapon management, training daily under the old man's supervision to refine her skills even more.

Profile

Her goal was to become the finest weaponsmith in the world.
There was a mountain where martial arts experts gathered and dwelled. At the foot of this mountain is a small village, where it was said that a man who led a caravan settled down and opened shop. Hualin entered the shop as an indentured servant, and thus began her life centered around weapons. While going through her daily chores and caring for weapons, she found her life's calling. From there on her training as a weaponsmith began.
The shop sold weapons from all over the world, but naturally because of the geography, Asian weapons seemed to predominate. Nonetheless, she also encountered western weapons and Arabic knives from the Middle East. Yet there was still so much she had not seen. Hualin gradually wished to see all the weapons of the world.
Hualin first met old man Cepheus one day near the end of the year. Cepheus was on his way back from a city in Ming after making a huge purchase and stopped by to visit an old friend. There, he was astonished by Hualin's skills, praised her and lamented her situation. Hualin's skills handling Ming weapons were phenomenal, but her handling of other weapons was inexperienced at best. He saw her potential and gift, so he asked the shop owner if he could take her with him to work in his shop. Cepheus' shop was located in a city where east meets west, and there Hualin would be able to see and experience more. With Hualin's talent, there was no question that she could eventually learn to handle any kind of weapon.
The weapons shop owner also recognized Hualin's potential, but at the same time, it would be a huge loss for the shop to let her go. Upon much agonizing, he made his decision, and Hualin went on her way to Cepheus' shop.
Day after day, Hualin sat in Cepheus' workshop whetting all kinds of weapons. As he looked at the razor-sharp edges honed by Hualin, Cepheus was sure that it would not take long for her to become the finest weaponsmith in the world.

Gameplay

Hualin uses a staff weapon to fight, using a style that is quite similar to Kilik and Seong Mi-na. Her staff is unique however since she's able to manipulate the size of her weapon; By using specific attacks or by holding down the attack button she's using when striking, she can vary the range of her attacks to suit the situation, such as not holding down the button to use a shorter ranged staff to allow a faster attack or holding down the button when at a slight distance for a slower but longer reaching move. This makes her very flexible when managing her distance and speed as she can switch up her approach depending on the opponent. Holding down her attack buttons will also give her access to different strings as well compared to if she doesn't hold down the button, and the hit level may change as well.

Aside from that she also has generally good reach and is relatively varied with her kicks, having a variety of quicker strikes such as a kicking combo from repeatedly tapping the kick button for easy damage. She also does have a few attacks that can repel incoming attacks, and defensively she can evade strikes with specific moves that can go under highs and over lows. Her guard breaks are also useful although often telegraphed.

Hualin does not have many shortcomings although her string mix up is limited to compensate how she's able to manually change her normal attack hit levels and range. Her style is also somewhat difficult to master since the player must be able to know when to either hold down or simply press her inputs for the correct situation, which can also make it harder to learn her due to her varied options. Hualin however is a solid character when mastered, being generally versatile and being able to easily change her style approach which can make fighting her somewhat tricky if one is not aware of her many attacks that can be manipulated to alter where she hits from as far as reach and hit level.

Weapon

• Cepheus Seal
• Mushakuboh
• Quarterstaff
• Iron Staff
• Duel Rod
• Kunlun Bamboo

Stages

Hualin has no stages of her own, but she appears on Tales of Souls mode as a "Prepare to Defend Yourself" challenge in the Lakeside Coliseum (caged version) among the other shopkeepers as the second opponent of a 3-characters Team Battle.

Quotes

• "Hi there!"
• "No no no...you can't put it on the tab."
• "You have a sharp eye."
• "Are you really going to buy something?"
• "You lookin' for something?"
• "Come again!"
• "Welcome."
• "Thank you."
• "Rascal"
• Here we go! 
• This is your end. 
• Let's go. 
• It can't be! I lost...
• Thanks a lot!

Etymology

• Hualin means "flower/flowery, bloom/blossom, inflorescence, fancy pattern, spend, expend, multicolor/multicolored" (花) (hua) and "Korea, beautiful, pretty" (麗) (lin).

Trivia

• Hualin appears first in the game's Shop, in charge of the Weapons section. In her shop, the player can buy the various extra weapons for both Standard and Bonus/Custom characters.
• Hualin's entire costume is made from Create-a-Fighter parts. Her dress and pants have a somewhat unique design.
• Her in-game model looks much older than her artwork concept.
• Apart from some moves, some of the Staff extra weapons are originally used by Kilik in Soulcalibur II, such as the Duel Rod.
• Hualin and the Staff discipline contain possible references to the Street Fighter character Chun-Li, as Hualin resembles her slightly and the Staff move list contains two moves that resemble Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick and Houyoku Sen.
• Hualin's former employer appears to be the unnamed character that was introduced alongside Edge Master in one of the Japanese Soul Edge guidebooks. That would mean the "martial artist master" is Edge Master.
• Interestingly, in Olcadan's ending, when he sells Soul Edge, both Lynette and Valeria appear, but Hualin doesn't, even though she's the one who actually sells the weapons.
• Hualin is the first character in the Soul series who uses glasses.
• Hualin's Destined Battle during Quick Play is Xianghua.
• Hualin is the most cheerful and lively of the shopkeeper girls.
• In addition, she appears to bear a slight resemblance to Ling Xiaoyu from the Tekken series.
• The extendable staff is the weapon used by Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.
• Hualin's qipao outfit makes an appearance in Soulcalibur IV.
• Some of her kicking moves come from Lee Chaolan from the Tekken Series, and is used twice at once.

Series' appearances

• Soulcalibur III
• Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul

Gallery

Hualin in Cepheus' shop

Hualin's icon

Concept Art

Costume 1

Costume 2