Characters / Strider Minor Characters

Strider Character Index
Strider Organization | Villains from the Strider Games | Villains from the Strider Manga | Minor Characters

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Minor Characters

Flower Girl

A minor character in the manga. A young girl living in the war-struck area of the Kazakh capital, trying to make a living by selling flowers on the streets. She's used by the corrupt Secret Police Commander to subdue Kain.

• Disappeared Dad: Her dad was captured by the Secret Police at some point in the past, leaving her alone to fend for herself. The Commander "promises" her to release him if she assists in capturing Kain. Unfortunately, she soon learns that the Commander had no intention of actually following through on his promise.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": She has no known name, and the few times she's adressed she's called "flower girl", after the flowers she sells on the streets.
• Forced into Evil: She's forced into helping capture Kain under the promise of releasing her father from prison, and she doesn't like doing it. Just before Kain loses consciousness, she tearfully tells him the reason she tricked him, and Kain nods in understanding before collapsing.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: The way she tricks Kain is by lying on the ground, tricking him into believing she was hit in the crossfire during the fight between the rebels and the police. As soon as he comes to check if she's alive, the girl springs up and shoots him with a tranquilizer dart, putting him out of commission.

Rin

A little girl that's part of a group of Mongolian nomads. Hiryu met her in the plateau that'd become his home after retiring, and since then they live together. Outspoken and cheerful, she reminds Hiryu of his own sister. Appears in the manga.

• Cheerful Child: To contrast Hiryu's stoic and silent disposition, she's always smiling and chatting with him. Makes the scene in which she's scared to tears of Hiryu all the more poignant.
• Conveniently an Orphan: It's not explicit in the manga, but everything points to Rin having no parents around when Hiryu first met her.
• Only One Name
• Spell My Name With An S: Her name could be Rin, or Lin, or even Ling.
• Tears of Fear: When witnessing Hiryu slashing two men's arms apart (to rescue her and the other villagers, mind you), she looks away from him scared to the point of crying.

Village Elder

A minor character in the manga, an elderly man that's part of the Mongolian nomads and has known Hiryu ever since he moved into the plateau, although was unaware of his past as a Strider.

• No Name Given
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Rather than running away scared of Hiryu, he approaches him and tells him he knows he's a good guy, and that no matter his past or what he must do, Rin and everyone else understands that as well and will be waiting for him to come back.

Dr. J. Hogan

A character from the Strider Hiryu Gaiden extra. A renowned scientist in the field of nuclear fusion, he was kidnapped by the Phantom Unit and held hostage until one of their imprisoned members was released. Hiryu's final mission as a Strider was to rescue him.

• The Ghost: Dr. Hogan doesn't actually make an appearance during the Gaiden. The only time "he" appears it's actually the older Zangi brother in disguise.
• Kidnapped Scientist: Dr. Hogan is a nuclear fusion specialist kidnapped by a terrorist cell.
• Nerd Glasses: Hogan (or rather, the older Zangi's "Hogan" disguise) wears a pair of round glasses.
• Prisoner Exchange: Dr. Hogan was kidnapped specifically to be exchanged for the freedom of an imprisoned Phantom Unit member.

Lexia

The distressed damsel from the infamous Strider Returns, Hinjo's duty is to save her.

• Bridal Carry: Hinjo carries her this way in the ending.
• Canon Foreigner: Much the same case as anyone created by Tiertex for this game.
• Clothing Damage: Lexia's clothes are all ripped and damaged. Her original sprite in the home computer versions shows her wearing what appears to be a ripped off shirt...and almost nothing else.
• Damsel in Distress: Gets kidnapped by alien terrorists/Meio and her rescue is the game's main objective.
• Exiled from Continuity
• Human Aliens: At least in the computer versions where she hails from Planet Magenta.
• Made a Slave: It's never actually stated, but she appears wearing ragged clothes and chained to the floor, so...yeah.
• Ms. Fanservice: Lexia's original sprite has her doing some odd hip dancing while wearing only a ripped white shirt and panties.
• No Name Given: In the original game for European computers she was only referred to as a "female leader".
  • Named by the Adaptation: She was first named in the Master System's port manual as "Princess Magenta", and later on was named Lexia in the Genesis manual.
• Post-Final Boss: Becomes one in the Genesis version, where she's chained to a shooting platform and the player has to destroy it to end the game.
• Princess Classic The Master System port's manual states her name is Princess Magenta, although this doesn't figure as much in-game as she was previously the leader of a planet with that name.
• Our Presidents Are Different: In the home computer versions, she's described as the female leader of an alien planet.
• Satellite Love Interest: She really just exists to serve as an objective.

Merrow

A mysterious creature used as the literal heart of the Flying Battleship Balrog, encased within its Reactor Core where some sort of energy she possess is syphoned to provide motion to the air fortress.

• Death Seeker: When Hiryu confronts her, she pleads with him to kill her and he grants her wish.
• Fate Worse than Death: Encased in the Reactor Core and being drained off whatever power she has is far from a pleasant experience, to the point she willingly asks Hiryu to kill her.
• Living Battery: She's unwillingly supplying the Balrog as its power core.
• Mercy Kill: While if Hiryu meant it like this is unknown (given destroying the core was mandatory so killing her was unavoidable), either way he complies with her request.
• No Name Given: Merrow is actually the name of her species.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: The Balrog's ability to fly is powered entirely by the Merrow, not that she has any say in the matter, mind you.
• Power Incontinence: The Merrow's power is kept under check by four "Control Brains" surrounding her. When losing half of her health in the boss battle, her power goes haywire in the form of large pillars of energy shot regularly around the Reactor Core.
• Our Mermaids Are Different: Merrows are basically the mermaids of Irish folklore.

The Prisoner

A support character in the 2014 Strider. A scientist part of the Gravitron Research Staff, he discovered early on that the Gravitron represented a real danger and attempted to stop its development. His warnings fell on deaf ears, and Meio's Army eventually arrested him as an heretic. Subjected to torture in prison, he became a rambling insane prisoner.

• Ax-Crazy: Thanks to the torture and brain surgery inflicted on him after being arrested. He's always wearing a straitjacket and locked up, but according to his bio he periodically suffers from psychotic episodes and destroys anything in its vicinity, forcing staff to constantly move him from cell to cell.
• Cassandra Truth: He was the only member of the Gravitron staff to realize the machine they were build was a very real danger, and tried to convince his peers to stop its development. No one believed him, some even thought of him as a liar, and Meio's Army eventually arrested him over charges of heresy. Once the Gravitron was completed, most of the staff discovered Meio's real intentions for it and oh surprise, he was entirely right on his fears.
• Driven to Madness: The only goal of the torture and brain tampering was to turn him insane.
• Lobotomy: Subjected to brain surgery as part of his punishment after incarceration.
• Talkative Loon: As part of his insanity, he tends to speak a lot and very quickly.
• No Name Given

Black Marketer

A support character in the 2014 Strider. An old man who lives in the Underground and makes a living repairing the scrap discarded in the sewers and then reselling it to the citizens of the surface world, this serves as a mask to hide the leader of the resistance against Meio, bidding their time to reclaim Kazakh City. Before that, however, he was one of the scientists in Meio's employ and developer of the Gravitron.

• Big Good: Leads the resistance in the 2014 game and provides Hiryu objectives required to enter Grandmaster Meio's Tower.
• Defector from Decadence: Fled from Meio's research group upon finding out his true intentions for the Gravitron and eventually became the leader of the resistance.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only known as the "Black Marketer".
• La Résistance: He's the leader of one.
• Mission Control: During the Insect Trooper outbreak after Hiryu defeats the Millipede, the Black Marketer assists him by directing nearby turrets against the machines. It is a bit hard to notice, however, since the player can still destroy the turrets in their way before they take aim at the enemies.
• No Name Given
• Wasteland Elder: After escaping Kazakh City and reaching its underground refugee camps, he unknowingly gained the trust of the people living there and eventually became the leader of the Resistance against Meio.