Hwoarang

Hwoarang (花郎 Faran^?) (Hangul: 화랑) (Pronounced: Hwah-Rang or Had-A-Wai in some dialects) is a cocky student of Baek Doo San and well-versed in sport Tae Kwon Do as well as a friend and rival of Jin Kazama. He used to gamble in street fighting. His fellow gang members would lose matches, then Hwoarang would step in and win. During one of these matches, he faced Jin Kazama, and he was forced to end in a draw. This was the first time that he had not succeeded in winning a fight. Hwoarang decided to train harder and never lose again. Upon visiting the dojang, he saw the dojang destroyed. It had been attacked by Ogre. Frustrated and angry, he entered The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 to fight a conclusive battle with Jin, and to get revenge for his master. In Tekken 4, Hwoarang was drafted into the South Korean army, notably assigned to a SpecOps unit (apparently rising to the rank of Sergeant). Longing for the rush of the hand-to-hand combat that he used to find only with street hustling, he went AWOL and became a fugitive of the South Korean government. He heard of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, and he decided to enter so that he could face his friend and rival, Jin, in the tournament. He gets his chance to face Jin, then wins the fight, but was interrupted when a South Korean special forces squad (including his field commander) arrived and supposedly arrested Hwoarang. In Tekken 5, while Hwoarang was awaiting court martial, he was taken to the South Korean embassy, where the ambassador issued him some urgent papers. After reading the papers, Hwoarang exclaimed, “I can’t believe it! Are you sure this is correct?”. It has been suggested that these papers were from Baek Doo San himself, informing Hwoarang that he survived Ogre’s attack. Hwoarang completed his military service within two months, and then he entered The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, eager to give Jin Kazama a chance to even the score with him in his last fight. He was also asked to compete by his master, Baek Doo San. Hwoarang faced Jin and defeated him. While Jin was lying on the ground, suddenly he roars paranormally and produces a gale that blows Hwoarang away. From Jin’s back, two black wings spread and Jin rises with his devil form. Hwoarang is at his wits end – he is unable to fight back and soon he is knocked unconscious. When Hwoarang wakes up he finds himself in the hospital. Nearby he sees Baek standing as a visitor. Hwoarang hears the details from Baek. He ignores his nurse, tries to move from his bed, but falls down in order to beseech Baek to make him stronger. After leaving the Hospital, Hwoarang starts training with unprecedented devoutness in order to defeat the “paranormal” Jin. Thus, with the announcement of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6, he prepares to enter the tournament. Hwoarang appears as a playable character in Street Fighter X Tekken, with his official tag partner, Steve.

His name is based on the 2nd Geup teul of the same name in ITF Tae Kwon Do.^[8] He can in fact be seen performing the pattern during the Tekken 3 embu attract screen (both arcade and PS versions).