Overview
Mr. Hero is here to show you what it's like to be a complete tool!
At first glance, Hakumen appears to be very strong. He has many strong normals and specials with very high base damage and utility. However, all of it comes at the cost of a severe amount of restrictions, making him all bark and no bite. Hakumen cannot gatling the majority of his buttons along with his specials costing meter that he struggles to get, and has poor mobility thanks to terrible dashes in spite of his fast forward walk speed. This gives Hakumen absolutely terrible damage output on the most of his hits, a lot of the time not even being able to combo past a single hit, and easily the worst pressure in the game.
The end result is a character thoroughly marred by mediocrity, fighting with resource management to accomplish what multiple other characters get to do for free. It's not helped at all by Hakumen's only grounded overhead costing a lot of meter to use, so even if he happens to find a character who needs to resort to blocking, there's not much to be afraid of. The most Hakumen can do in this game is hope to build as much meter as possible to spend it all on admittedly high damage potential, but CT has many high damage combos on the majority of characters any way, and none of them have to jump through the hoops Hakumen does to get there.
So basically, Hakumen's strength in this game is lore accurate.
Hakumen really wishes you'd get hit by 41236C, as he doesn't get any damage otherwise.
- Good Normals: Lots of fast, plus on block buttons with great range.
- Very High Damage Potential: Should the stars align and Hakumen gets a hit while loaded on Magatama, he can deal extreme damage.
- Decent Defensive Options: Hakumen builds a lot of meter from Instant Blocking, and his counters can give great reward. Special mention goes towards his 6A, likely the best anti-air in the game thanks to its nearly instant invulnerability.
- Surprisingly Solid Kit: Hakumen is surprisingly well rounded and strong if his tools are viewed in a vacuum. While still having some bad moves, he's very utilitarian as a whole.
- Can Escape Clap Loop: j.D prevents Hakumen from instantly dying against Carl. Not many people played Carl, though.
- Meter, Mixup and Mobility: Three things Hakumen never has despite desperately needing them to succeed. With specials that cost meter, slow mixups that also cost meter, limited approach options and a good-for-nothing backdash, Hakumen's restrictions end up nullifying his good kit.
- No Gatlings: None of Hakumen's normals can gatling, except 6A. His combo plan is nonexistent without his specials, frequently only getting a single hit and nothing else. Doesn't build much in his few routes, either.
- Lacking Cohesiveness: Hakumen's kit never comes together to make a consistent gameplan. He can't rush down, his neutral isn't good enough to want to always play in it, he gets no oki and playing defensively in CT is a very bad idea. He's ultimately only good at rarely exploding people.
Unique Mechanics
Hakumen's D buttons all act as counters. While holding up the shield, If Hakumen is struck by an appropriate attack (even a projectile) he will attempt to counterattack automatically. On success, most of the counters give Hakumen a magatama.
In CT, Zanshin is mainly an important defensive option to be used alongside Instant Blocking to help build Hakumen meter. Strong defense with Hakumen can be effective against flowcharted pressure options full of gaps.
Hakumen has a unique meter system. His Heat gauge is visually divided up into 8 "Magatama" stocks, which represent 12.5% heat gauge each. Whilst this mostly just functions as a stylized Heat gauge (Rapid cancels still cost half of a full meter, or 4 Magatama, for example), the way Hakumen's Heat is generated is quite different; he gains Heat slowly over time without having to do anything, but on hit only gains a very low amount to offset this.
Hakumen must use his Magatama stocks to perform any of his special moves, in addition to the universal usages for Heat. While his specials are strong, this is a very significant restriction placed upon Hakumen in CT, and he struggles to compensate for this.
There are a few ways to gain Magatama without waiting:
- Instant Blocking builds a third of a bar.
- Successfully countering with a D move gives one full Magatama.
- Hakumen's C buttons have guardpoint against projectiles that gives a full Magatama if triggered.
Normal Moves
5A
A very quick, plus on block jab. As you may have guessed, it whiffs on crouchers, which just makes it a glorified anti-air.
Useful for that purpose if nothing else, but only when Hakumen is in situations where he can't access his immaculate 6A, a rare situation typically the result of him getting crossed up.
Cancel Options: No Normals, Special, Jump
- Standing hit stun 14F, guard recovery 24F
5B
A strong mid-range poke with an awkward hitbox.
While effective at contesting other characters' buttons and remaining very safe, 5B has a bad tendency to whiff on crouchers. In these situations, it's advised to interchange it with 2B to catch people attempting to stuff or duck under this.
Cancel Options: No Normals, Special, Jump
5C
Kind of a terrible button, but also amazing.
5C sets the ground for the rest of Hakumen's sword normals here, dealing a ton of damage on its own, having a very large hitbox, and leading to even higher damage if Hakumen's loaded on enough resources to let it count. But at the same time, it's also quite slow to start up and has poor recovery. As such, it's best used when Hakumen has meter to spend to try and make himself safer. Has decent use at the start of a round, and also knocks down aerial opponents.
Like the rest Hakumen's C buttons, this has guardpoint against projectiles that awards Hakumen a full Magatama for each projectile blocked. However, it's far too slow to be used for this purpose.
Cancel Options: Specials only
- Slam down in air, untechable
- Sword has guard point against projectile in active frames, when guard point succeed Hakumen receives an additional meter.
2A
Probably the best crouching jab in the game.
Plus on block with huge range, the only downside is that it doesn't hit low. The reward on hit isn't stellar, as is typical of a jab, but being a 6f button with so much range makes it hard to complain about. Use it a lot.
Cancel Options: No Normals, Special, Jump
2B
Fantastic low poke with little recovery.
While it doesn't have as much range as 5B and won't catch jumpers, 2B does just about everything else. The advantage on block combined with the speed and low hit makes it a staple of Hakumen's mid-range presence. Not many approaches can easily circumvent this button.
Can link into 2A on hit against a standing opponent.
Cancel Options: No Normals, Special
2C
A very high damaging anti-air, but it's not 6A so you won't want to use it often for this purpose.
Instead, 2C is more or less a combo tool, a running theme with Hakumen's sword normals. Hitting a grounded opponent with this is worthless, but against an airborne opponent it both launches and is jump cancellable. On block Hakumen is nearly guaranteed to die, so get to cancelling fast. Also shares the projectile guardpoint with the rest of Hakumen's C buttons, but it's even slower than 5C for this purpose.
Cancel Options: No Normals, Special, Jump
- Sword has guard point against projectile in active frames, when guard point succeed Hakumen receives an additional meter.
6A
Godlike anti-air. One of Hakumen's best moves.
Head invincibility kicks in as early as frame 3 and lasts all the way through to the end of his active frames. To say this is one of the best anti-airs in the series is a vast understatement, especially when combined with its startup and hitbox. Any aerial approach can easily be shut down by 6A, and it only gets better from here.
Plus on block and staggers on hit for huge combos, making it great even against grounded opponents. It's also the only normal Hakumen has that can gatling into another, leading into 6B for a knockdown on hit. Sees use as a frametrap as well, since the reward is so high and the risk is so small. There's no real weaknesses carried by 6A, and it should be abused as much as possible.
Cancel Options: 6B, Special
- staggers (31) on hit
6B
A low-hitting, foot-invulnerable move.
More or less a counterpoke option and occasional low "mixup." Just gives a basic knockdown on a regular hit, but options open up significantly on a counterhit thanks to a huge bounce, ultimately being one of Hakumen's most reliable ways to get cheap, big damage. Unsafe on block, so be ready to cancel this.
Was made into an overhead in future games so Hakumen could actually open people up.
Cancel Options: No Normals, Special
- knocks down on hit, floor bounce on counter hit, untechable
6C
Chargeable, combo filler sword swipe.
Deals a lot of damage if you can hit someone with it, but that's about it. Both slow and unsafe on block. Can be used against Tager in neutral at least, since its large range is difficult for him to contest or punish. This is also Hakumen's only move that combos into his super, Shippu, without requiring a counterhit previously. This is easy to access after Gurren, and is helpful for Hakumen spending his Magatama for damage.
Cancel Options: Supers only
- Standing hit stun 32
- Can charge the attack by holding button
- start up is 11F after button release
- Attack damage is 1740 when held for 10~13F (start up 21~24)
- Attack damage is 1940 when held for 14~17F (start up 25~28)
- Sword has guard point against projectile in active frames, when guard point succeed Hakumen receives an additional meter.
3C
A punish and nothing more. Look at that frame advantage. Using 3C and having it blocked is a historic joke among Hakumen players for just how bad it is.
That said, it's good at its one job. Great speed and range along with a knockdown. On a counterhit, it's possible to followup with a combo, with 2C yielding the best results.
Cancel Options: Nothing at all
- Knocks down and vacuum effect on hit, untechable
- Sword has guard point against projectile in active frames, when guard point succeed Hakumen receives an additional meter.
j.A
It's an air jab, all right. Most use this normal gets is comboing after an air hit 5A, an already niche normal, making this by extension even more niche.
Links into absolutely nothing on hit, and isn't even jump cancellable.
Cancel Options: Specials only
j.B
A great jump-in.
Hakumen's j.B hits deep for its speed, making it great for approaches or for pressure. Although it lacks gatlings, it can be used as a double overhead option on select characters by jump cancelling it into another, rising j.B. This will require an extensive amount of meter for a combo, but it's an option for a character who desperately needs them.
Cancel Options: Special, Jump
j.C
Demolishes the air. Anyone who wishes to compete with this in the air can try, but they'll usually just die.
Slow to start up so it's far from infallible, but carries a massive disjointed hitbox and a ton of damage. If it's not being used in neutral, it's Hakumen's only meterless air combo ender, sadly not even giving a knockdown and resulting in the opponent teching in the air above Hakumen. j.C becomes much better when used in a corner combo, acting as a part of Hakumen's highly damaging corner loop.
Cancel Options: Specials only
- Sword has guard point against projectile in active frames, when guard point succeed Hakumen receives an additional meter.
j.2C
A very strange button that only sees use in corner combos, but does a lot for them.
Bounces both the opponent and Hakumen up on hit in an odd way and halts their momentum, letting Hakumen easily follow up with an airdash j.C for big damage. In the corner it also leads to very easy and high damaging loops, assuming you can get them in the corner to get smacked around by this.
It's also a strong option against projectiles due to its speed and guardpoint. Being a jumping normal means Hakumen doesn't risk much using it to stop zoners. If you want to cut a projectile, this is the normal to go with.
Cancel Options: Specials only
- Slightly jump back on hit or guard
Drive Moves
5D
A counter. It sucks.
Unlike many other BlazBlue guard point or counter-style attacks, Hakumen only parries based on how the move needs to be guarded. In 5D's case, he'll counter attacks that hit High and Mid and lose to lows. Use this to beat slow moves that you can't just interrupt with 5C. It's slow to startup and very punishable, although it gives one magatama on hit, swaps sides, and a chunk of damage, so it's not all bad.
Without the corner, Hakumen's combo options after 5D are very limited. 6C is the only meterless option he has, he'll need to cash in otherwise.
Cancel Options: Specials only
5D:
- Guards High/Mid attacks
5D Attack:
- Floor bounce on hit
2D
A quicker counter. Better, but still dangerous to use.
Beats lows and mids and is active immediately, although not for very long. Best used against very predictable frametraps or setups. Deals less damage than its standing counterpart, but still gets a magatama and swaps sides on hit. What's more important is Hakumen being able to actually followup from this midscreen without needing meter, as the sideswap doesn't put them very far away.
Cancel Options: Specials only
2D:
- Guards Mid/Low attacks
2D Attack:
- floor bounce on hit
6D
Basically 5D if it didn't suck.
It's frame 1 similar to 2D and beats mids and highs, but is more akin to a gimmicky pushblock. It's seemingly rewardless on hit with zero damage and no magatama built, but the big difference is that it's possible to actually follow up with j.C afterwards, which lets Hakumen get himself out of a bad situation and back into neutral or even shoving the opponent into the corner. It's recommended to interrupt predictable offense with this instead of 5D as a result, unless he really does have a window so large he can use it.
Cancel Options: Specials only
6D:
- Guards High/Mid attacks
6D Attack:
- spinning collapse on hit
j.D
An air counter. About what you'd expect if you've read the previous descriptions.
Once again, active immediately but not for very long, gives a magatama on hit, and a decent chunk of damage. Sadly, it's not possible to combo off of this at all. Also weirdly stalls Hakumen's aerial momentum, letting him use it as an anti-anti-air to enforce more respect for j.B.
Notably can escape from Carl's Clap Loops, which gives Hakumen a ton of favor in that matchup.
j.D:
- Guards High/Mid attacks
j.D Attack:
- launches on hit
Universal Mechanics
Forward Throw
5B+C
It's a throw. Good damage, and basically Hakumen's only mixup should he not have meter. Sends the opponent way too far for a reasonable followup.
Keep in mind, although Hakumen does have reliable ways to set up into throw, his pressure is still awful and this game has upback barrier/barrier OS, so...
- 2nd hit blasts away
Back Throw
4B+C
Also a throw. Deals less damage, but swaps sides.
- 2nd hit launches
- 3rd hit blasts away
Air Throw
j.B+C
You guessed it, a throw. Useful for making Hakumen's aerial presence even more annoying, or to catch people greedily trying to jump away from your bad pressure.
- 2nd hit launches
- 3rd hit slam down
Counter Assault
6A+B while blocking
A Counter Assault that just begs to be exploited, but with high reward should it work... yet still won't be worth it.
Instead of attacking, instead Hakumen cancels out of blockstun with a parry very reminiscent of 5D. Should this parry be triggered, he'll instead transition into a version of 6D that does no damage, but still leaves the opponent spinning for a followup. If viewed under the lens that this is always going to work, this seems like a straight upgrade.
Sadly this couldn't be further from the truth. Counter Assault is already an expensive option for a character who's going to need every bit of meter he can get, and Hakumen can easily create gaps in pressure with IB and exploit them with his counters for almost the same functionality at no cost. The issues then stack on from it not being a guaranteed success, as wary players can opt to stagger their pressure or just throw Hakumen to prevent him from being able to use this at all. If Hakumen really feels pressured by what's going on, universal mechanics like Barrier (which are far more disgusting in CT than in later games) will help him much more here.
6A+B while blocking:
- Guards High/Mid attacks
- Opponent's hitstop is 4F longer than Hakumen's
6A+B while blocking Attack:
- Spinning collapse on hit
Backdash
44
"aw crap i accidentally input 44 welp time to lose the round"
Quite possibly the worst backdash in BlazBlue history. With ZERO frames of invuln and 27 frames of recovery, it is without a doubt a hindrance should it ever come out. This is more recovery than even Tager's backdash, yet Tager's backdash is loaded on invincibility.
Hakumen can cancel into special moves during the recovery, but none of his air specials are going help besides a panic Hotaru to stop him from getting punished. The ground coverage from the backdash also seems decent for disengaging, but this ends up being counterintuitive as Hakumen isn't able to control space very well from that distance in CT. Not to mention the high total frames of the backdash make it easy to chase down or accidentally punish.
Cancel Options: Can cancel into specials 5~15f
- 5~15f Airborne
- 8~15f can cancel into aerial specials
Special Moves
Gurren
236A with 1 Magatama
A very basic lunging special move. Most frequently used in combos, or to make Hakumen safe on block after one of his specials.
Launches aerial opponents for an easy 6C followup, giving Hakumen a reliable (if very expensive) way to combo into his massively damaging super. Also a way to add enough hitstun on a grounded hit into 623AA, another reliable albeit expensive way for Hakumen to get some damage.
- Wall bounce on air hit
- Uses one meter
Renka
214B with 2 Magatama
A strong option for adding some damage to Hakumen's combos, or just for corner routes.
The first hit is a low that has a bonus proration of 120% and knocks the opponent off their feet, while the second hit launches them away. Overall a basic tool, but highly useful for Hakumen's routes, especially when combined with his other specials for meterburn routes.
- 1st hit launches
- 2nd hit blasts away
- During Mugen (214214B) the 2nd proration is 90%
- uses two meters
Zantetsu
41236C with 3 Magatama
An extremely damaging overhead, but not the best mixup despite that.
The first hit is a high, while the second hit is an untechable low, but that's not the reason to care about this. Zantetsu does an insane amount of damage, nearly an entire combo's worth on its own, and Hakumen will want to be using it as much as possible to compensate for his otherwise very poor damage.
The best way to combo into this is by cancelling the first hit of 214B into Zantetsu, which takes the benefits of the bonus proration of the first hit as well for even higher damage. If it's possible to combo into this, the opportunity should always be taken. Sadly it's also very expensive, and as an overhead option it's somewhat reactable due to the animation.
- 1st hit slam down
- 2nd hit knocks down, untechable
- During Mugen 2nd hit is techable
- uses three meters
Kishuu
623A for 1 Magatama (+1 Magatama for the followup)
Kishuu is a low profiling dash. The main way Hakumen can try to enforce a throw mixup, or extend combos. It's slow and unhelpful otherwise.
The followup, Enma, is likely what you're really here for. At the cost of just one more Magatama, it gives Hakumen a reasonable launcher and at long last a legitimate way to actually combo someone. Hideously unsafe on block, so don't go using this as a frametrap from Kishuu.
The most reliable way to combo into Enma is from Gurren (236A), ultimately charging Hakumen 3 Magatama for a decent combo. Have to take what you can get with this guy.
623A:
- 12~16 cancel to follow up
- uses one meter
623AA:
- Launches on hit
- uses one meter
Hotaru
j.214B with 2 Magatama
An invincible aerial kick that's both invincible and air unblockable without barrier.
A strong part of just about everything Hakumen can have in the air. It's jump cancellable for longer combos, resets Hakumen's air actions on connect, invincible to stop approaches, strangely unblockable, you name it, Hotaru does it. Best of all, Hotaru recovers incredibly quickly for its properties, which can let Hakumen get away with tossing it out and whiffing it frequently. At the cost of 2 Magatama, it's not wise to get used to spamming this, but it can come in handy a lot.
Since Hakumen's dashes are considered airborne, this is also a way to safely check someone trying to stuff a dash. On block, just jump cancel away.
- Launches on hit
- Reset jump count on hit or block
- Can only perform this move once in the air
- uses two meters
Tsubaki
j.214C with 3 Magatama
An overhead combo air combo ender that actually gives a knockdown instead of blasting the opponent away.
Useful as an IAS Instant Air Special
Conceptually includes Tiger KneePerforming a special as soon as possible after becoming airborne. Usually, but not always, involves an input trick.
For Example: 2369S for a j.236S input. or after a dash to catch people off guard, and gives a combo if done low enough to the ground. It's highly expensive which can make it sometimes hard to justify using over Hakumen's other specials, but can come in handy against turtling opponents, especially thanks to its high raw damage.
- Slam down on hit, untechable
- uses three meters
Distortion Drives
Shippu
632146C with 4 Magatama
A very basic damage super. Startup slower than Tager. Basically impossible to combo into without 6C, but at least it does a lot of damage.
The super is split into two pieces: the initial sword strike, and a traveling shockwave afterwards. For the extreme cost this super entails, getting the shockwave hit is a blunder. It deals significantly less damage than the sword strike, so try to make sure the first part always lands to get optimal use out of this. This isn't too hard to do thanks to its massive range.
Awful reversal, don't even try.
- Blasts away on hit
- sword portion's hitstop 25F
- projectile's hitstop is 12F
- Charge the attack by holding the button
- start up is 14F after button release
- maximum charge (55F)'s sword portion does 5500 damage and unblockable
- uses four meters
Yukikaze
236236D with 4 Magatama
Counter Super. Works like his D moves, and counters only mids and highs.
If struck with a physical attack, Hakumen will freeze the opponent in hitstop and prevent them from escaping the followup. However, a projectile will let them jump away. Hakumen can't be punished at all on a successful counter, which can make this a strong defensive tool against certain setups. It is, of course, at the cost of 4 magatama.
Does not counter unblockables and lows for reasons beyond mortal understanding.
236236D:
- Guards High/Mid attacks/When countering a strike, Hakumen's hitstop is 15F, opponent's hitstop is 73F/Uses four meters
236236D Attack:
- Launches on hit
- Start up 35 after super freeze
Mugen
214214B with 8 Magatama
Meme mode engage. Hakumen's infamous install super, with an incredibly long startup animation and price, it's rare that Hakumen's allowed to use this in a match.
Fortunately, if he can get it off, the rewards are huge. Hakumen is awarded infinite meter while in Mugen, albeit unable to Rapid Cancel, which lets him go crazy in combos and deal upwards of 10k damage! One surprisingly practical way to get Mugen off is to land a 6D, which will give Hakumen just enough time to activate the install and continue a combo. But with how much Hakumen already needs meter, holding onto so much of it for a comeback is not what anyone would call an ideal gameplan.
- Powers up Hakumen for 720F
- Attack damage is 120% during Mugen
- Guard crash value is 25%
- All specials and supers (except 214214B) use zero meter
- Uses 8 meters
Astral Heat

Click [★] for character's full frame data
Essentials
• Controls •
HUD •
FAQ •
The Basics
• Movement/Canceling •
Offense •
Defense •
Gauges •
Universal Strategy •
Detailed & Advanced Information
• Damage/Combo •
Attack Attributes •
Frame Data & System Data •
Misc •
Archived Information
• Archived Fan Wiki • Tier Lists •
- Advanced Input
- Attack Attributes
- Attack Level
- Astral Heat
- Auto Heat Gain
- Burst
- Barrier Block
- Barrier Gauge
- Bonus Proration
- Clash
- Combo Rate
- Counter Assault
- Counter Hit
- Counter Hit Carry
- Danger State
- Distortion Drive
- Guard Crush
- Guard Bonus
- Hard Knockdown
- Heat Gauge Cooldown
- Instant Barrier
- Instant Block
- Negative Penalty
- Purple Throw
- P1, P2
- Rapid Cancel
- Same Move Proration (SMP)
- Starter Rating
- Super Flash Buffer
- Throw Reject Miss (TRM)
- Ukemi/Tech (Air)
- Ukemi/Roll/Emergency Tech
- Untechable State