Alias: Hino "Mr. Match" Kenichi
Occupation: Usual Chef
Series: Mega Man Battle Network
Threat Level: Block Buster
Alignment: Reformed Villain
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Short Description: A fiery red-haired man.
Hinoken is a former net terrorist who worked for the World 3 organization under the pseudonym of Mr. Match. After several failed attempts to restart the organization, he gave up on evil thanks to the kindness of Netto "Lan" Hikari and MegaMan.EXE. He is currently trying to find his place in the world.
| Age: Prime of his life! | Birthdate: Unknown |
| Height: 6'2" | Weight: Unknown |
Hino Kenichi, alias Mr. Match and Hinoken to those close to him, is a tall, lean Japanese man in his early thirties. He carries himself with pride and confidence, and a hint of arrogance. His long, fiery red hair falls in waves down to his shoulders, with two locks parted in front to frame either side of his square-jawed face, and a pointy red beard juts sharply out several inches from his chin. His physique is reasonably muscular, showing evidence of a physical lifestyle and perhaps a martial arts background. His clothing, while hardly the same each outing, typically consists of warm colors and black, often with a flame motif on some article of clothing.
Regardless, given his repeated support of WWW and at least one attempt to restart the organization after its second defeat at the hands of Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE, it is quite obvious that Hinoken feels most at home with them, likely due to the opportunity to put his skills to use freely and with purpose. In WWW's first attempt to destroy net society, Hinoken caused numerous fires by hacking kitchen appliances and causing them to overheat, until he attempted the same at Lan Hikari's home. This was his first meeting with, and defeat by, Lan and MegaMan. At the time, he was using FireMan.EXE, whom he considered his finest work and something akin to a brother. Despite this setback, Hinoken was able to retrieve what he was looking for: An elemental super program needed for Lord Wily's (leader of WWW) plan to hack into the missile platforms of countries around the globe.
It's uncertain how Hinoken avoided arrest, or if he was incarcerated and released for good behavior, but during the Netmafia Gospel incident, he encountered Lan and MegaMan again at the local airport of Lan's hometown, where he convinced the two that he had changed his ways. After a few rematches for old time's sake, now with HeatMan.EXE (FireMan reborn), they parted ways.
Having built up trust with Lan and his family, Hinoken used it to get a job at Sci Lab, where Lan's father worked. To further cement his supposed trustworthiness, he used his third and final Navi, FlameMan.EXE, to help Lan and MegaMan defeat several low-level WWW operatives who were trying to infiltrate Sci Lab's systems (and were actually sent by Hinoken himself). He convinced Lan to install a series of malicious programs in the Sci Lab computer systems, which caused the entire building to heat up to near-fatal temperatures. After a harrowing venture into the depths of the Undernet (a dark and dangerous place on the internet, filled with thugs and monstrously strong viruses), Lan and MegaMan fought FlameMan and were defeated, but saved by Bass.EXE, who was secretly the target of WWW's most recent plot.
Though FlameMan was deleted and the fires on both the internet and at Sci Lab were quelled, Hinoken escaped with the information he needed. He and Anetta, another WWW operative, later used Full Synchro (100% synchronization with one's Navi, eliminates response time between sending orders and executing them, at the cost of feeling the Navi's pain) to try to halt Lan and MegaMan's advance into Lord Wily's fortress, Castle Wily, but were defeated despite their advantage.
Due to injuries sustained in this most recent battle, Hinoken and the other WWW operatives were hospitalized after being taken into Official (basically Interpol) custody. As before, it's unclear how, but Hinoken was released sometime after. Still unable to turn away from a life of crime, he gathered a couple of thugs and began running protection rackets around the Den City area. During this time, he fixed a hot dog cooker for a stand outside the Den Dome and befriended the vendor in charge of the stand, a young woman. Finding that he especially enjoyed her hot dogs (and her company), he began making frequent visits, unaware that his thugs were extorting her for protection money.
When the Den Battle Tournament was announced, Hinoken joined for the opportunity to revive WWW one last time, planning to spread terror by setting the stadium ablaze. When he discovered that he would be fighting Lan and MegaMan, it seemed like fate had smiled upon him. Meeting them before their match at the hot dog stand, Lan was immediately skeptical of Hinoken's intentions, but the vendor assured the boy that Hinoken had saved her business. He was further vindicated when his thugs came by to collect their money, and he drove them away, furious that they had been extorting her.
Later, just before the match started, Hinoken revealed to Lan that he was planning to destroy the Den Dome, but after realizing that the hot dog vendor was in the audience, he ordered his thugs to call off the operation. Believing their boss had gone soft, they instead betrayed him and announced over the PA system that they would be using concealed igniters to burn the place down, and would give one person the chance to find and deactivate the igniters and save everyone. Fearing that the thugs would go through with it anyway if he tried anything himself, Hinoken told Lan and MegaMan what to look for and entrusted them with his- and the vendor's- life.
After the Den Dome and its audience were saved, they finally had their match, FireMan against MegaMan, and Hinoken and FireMan were defeated once again. However, instead of being taken into police custody, Hinoken was surprised to find that Lan was vouching for his innocence. He was so deeply touched by Lan's kindness that their souls resonated in that moment, allowing MegaMan to call on FireMan's power with his Double Soul ability.
Later, during the Hawk tournament, Hinoken visited the tournament grounds again, but this time as a spectator. He was investigating Atsuki Homura and BurnerMan.EXE, whom he believed didn't possess a hot enough 'burning spirit' to properly wield the power of fire. Lan and MegaMan, as it so happens, were Atsuki and BurnerMan's opponents in the tournament, and they ran into Hinoken and Atsuki as the two fiery Operators began quarreling, finally deciding to settle who had the hotter spirit with a Netbattle (a duel between Navis). The duel between FireMan and BurnerMan blazed across the internet, leaving a roaring inferno in their wake, while MegaMan and Lan struggled to put out the flames.
Finally, they were able to break up the battle by pointing out that they'd defeated Hinoken and FireMan before, which embarrassed the two as Atsuki began mocking them. Later, during the match between MegaMan and BurnerMan, Hinoken watched from the spectator stands, cheering Lan and MegaMan on by asserting that they'd better not make him look bad by losing. They of course won, and Hinoken probably had a smug grin when Atsuki's attempt to burn down the stadium ended with catching himself on fire.
Afterwards, Hinoken was one of the many people who cheered Lan and MegaMan on as they saved Earth from Duo.EXE, an intergalactic peacekeeper intent on destroying the planet. Such a large resonance between souls was what gave them the power needed to turn Duo's asteroid away from Earth, saving it from a deadly collision. After this, it can be assumed that Hinoken took time to rethink his life, which may be why he was absent during the Nebula crisis. Or, it could also have something to do with him getting transported to Twisted.
Notes
Other skills that Hinoken has picked up over the years involve electrical engineering and computer programming, showing excellent knowledge and ability in both fields. He is able to repair and maintain many household appliances and other electronic devices, and he has shown the ability to create not one, but three separate Net Navis with distinct abilities and personalities, a feat outmatched only by Mr. Famous. Naturally, he is also quite the hacker, with or without his Navis. To date, Hinoken has used these skills for the sake of terrorism, seeking to burn down a system he saw as weak and useless to let a new society rise from the ashes, led by WWW. But, thanks to Lan and MegaMan, he has begun looking for other, more constructive uses of his abilities.
Because of the years he spent in the criminal underworld, Hinoken also has an intimate understanding of the inner workings and functions of criminal organizations and the way they think. He knows the ins and outs of dealing with the black market, where and how terrorists are likely to strike, and he can pass convincingly as one himself, despite walking the straight and narrow now. Needless to say, this can be quite the boon in law enforcement investigations.
As for his Navis, the only one he currently has is FireMan. A tall red Navi with a head shaped like a smokestack, FireMan has two 'Fire Arm' cannons in place of hands, which true to their name launch flames hot enough to melt steel. When he fires them at the ground, he can cause bursts of flame to erupt from beneath his enemies, or in simple patterns around an area as needed (Fire Tower). He can also launch bombs from his head, which detonate on impact and scatter a substance that catches fire immediately and burns for several seconds after. He can also surround himself in a fiery aura to deter close range attacks.
When desperate, FireMan can overload his own internal fires to surround himself in a column of flame, which can cause severe damage to even heavily armored opponents if they stand too close to him. Despite his impressive offensive capabilities, FireMan is not especially tough, relying on his flames to keep his enemies pinned down. If his opponent can get past them, however, he can be taken down with a few strong blows. Flame- and heat-resistant material is effective in mitigating the damage he causes, and he is particularly vulnerable to water-based attacks.
All of Hinoken's Navis reside in his PET (PErsonal Terminal), a handheld device that acts as a combination mobile phone, portable computer, and a way to 'jack in' to electronic devices that have computerized systems, whether to fix or cause problems. However, HeatMan and FlameMan do not currently exist except as 'ghost data' within FireMan's programming. They can be awakened later, but only FireMan is currently present. Hinoken can also send and receive e-mails with his PET, and in battle, he can insert up to five Battle Chips (weapon data) into a slot in the PET for his Navis to use.
While he does not usually need to use Battle Chips, Hinoken does sometimes like to give his Navis fire-based ones such as Fire Sword (a fire-elemental sword which extends from the forearm) or Heat Shot (a fast fireball projectile that causes a small area-of-effect explosion on impact). Other basic Battle Chips can include Barrier (projects an energy barrier that can block a single attack) and Recovery (heals minor to moderate amounts of damage). However, only five can be loaded at a time, all Battle Chips can only be used once per battle, and they can only be used in tandem if they are of a similar type. Fire Sword, thus, cannot be used with Recovery or Barrier, and FireMan must deactivate one before using the others. Additionally, without a readily available internet connection between himself and his Navis, Hinoken can only load his chosen Battle Chips /before/ summoning his Navis into the physical world.
Also, because of the strange dimensional effects of Twisted, Hinoken is able to manifest FireMan in the real world for combat purposes. FireMan is still able to use all of his abilities as normal, including Battle Chips, Full Synchro, Double Soul, and Cross Fusion. The latter three are explained below:
Full Synchro, as the name suggests, is a state of complete, 100% synchronization between Operator and Navi, completely eliminating reaction time between orders and execution. In this state, Hinoken and his Navis are effectively one will as they act in perfect unison with one another, and in fact grants a significant boost to their parameters, but at the cost of Hinoken suffering all the pain that his Navis do when they are hit. This makes it a risky thing to use, as Hinoken can be knocked unconscious from wounds that his Navis suffer, leaving him in danger.
Double Soul is a strange and still not fully understood ability that some Navis and Operators have, particularly those who have fully embraced what is in their hearts. When they form a strong bond with someone, their soul can resonate with that person's, allowing both parties to call upon the other's power for a short time. Their appearance and abilities will change temporarily to resemble each other's, while also exchanging physical weaknesses and vulnerabilities. They need not necessarily perform this 'Soul Unison' simultaneously; for instance, FireMan does not need to use it when MegaMan does, nor vice versa. However, again, the effects are temporary, only lasting about thirty seconds before they wear off, but the change in abilities and tactics can turn the tide in a tough battle.
Finally, Cross Fusion is an ability that can only be used in areas of strong dimensional crossover, such as Twisted. When Operator and Navi share a strong, harmonious bond, they can physically merge in the real world, giving the Operator all of their Navi's powers and a protective suit that resembles their Navi, while the Navi resides in the emblem on the Operator's chest. This allows the Operator to fight directly while the Navi provides assistance, as they physically exist as one but possess two consciousnesses. The Operator can freely use Battle Chips at will in such a state, but a direct hit to their emblem risks deletion of their Navi, which will cancel the Cross Fusion immediately and leave the Operator defenseless. Also, if the Operator and Navi are not in harmony with each other, the Cross Fusion can be broken or fail entirely to begin with.
