Hitomi

Hitomi is a character from the Dead or Alive series, who debuted in Dead or Alive 3, replacing Ein as the regular karate martial artist in the character roster.

Hitomi has been practicing the art of karate under her father's tutelage since she was a child, and enters the Dead or Alive Tournaments either to prove her skills or to see Hayate. Either reason, she is determined to win the tournament.

Early life
Hitomi was born in Germany to her German father who is a karate master with his own dojo, and her Japanese mother. From a young age, Hitomi trained in the art of karate under her father's guidance. By the age of eighteen, she had earned a black belt.

After the events of Dead or Alive, Hitomi found ‘Ein’ passed out in the, after he had been abandoned by Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee, after they had finished Project Epsilon. Hitomi took him home, and she and Ein studied karate, until Ein left to enter the second Dead or Alive Tournament to find out about his past, which he forgot due to amnesia. During this tournament, Ein regained his memories, remembering that he was really Hayate, a shinobi leader, and returned home to the Mugen Tenshin Village.



The Third Tournament
Hitomi enters the third tournament in order to test her skills against other martial artists and prove to her father that she was now a capable fighter, and an independent woman. While working on the Freedom Survivor as a waitress, she reunites with Ein and meets Ayane. When Hitomi asks her if she's Kasumi, the ninja is angered and fights Hitomi. After the fight, Ayane is surprised that Hitomi's karate is equal to her ninjustu. Ein then finally tells Hitomi that his real name is Hayate and that he and Ayane are ninjas, much to Hitomi's surprise. While on the ship with Ein, she meets Jann Lee, who also shares a keen passion for martial arts, and the two share some philosophies about the way of martial arts. However Hitomi gets mad at him for being too hard on opponents after he brutally defeats Leifang.

With Hitomi ranking third place in the tournament, her father lets her leave the dojo, and she moves on with her new life as an independent adult.

Zack Island
She was later given an invitation for a supposed Dead or Alive tournament that was going to be held at Zack Island. However, she discovered alongside the rest of the prior participants that it was a hoax, but decided to make the best of their situation for the two weeks on the island.

The Fourth Tournament
When a sudden illness befalls upon her father, the family's dojo goes into despair and becomes afflicted with financial trouble. To help her father, Hitomi enters the fourth Dead or Alive Tournament in an attempt to win the cash prize. During the tournament, she faces and defeats Leifang after a dispute over a cabbage, but the two of them form a friendship afterwards. Then she faces Jann Lee again, after he 'rescues' her from a T-Rex; she finds it "cruel" of Jann to attack the dinosaur, despite its attempt to eat her.

In the DOATEC Tritower, Hitomi eventually encounters Hayate again, and she pleads for him to come back with her to the dojo, admitting that she does not know what to do without him. Hayate tells her that he can't because he is no longer Ein, and the fourth tournament is no tournament at all, but a war. He then asks her to spar for old time's sake; she happily accepts. After the fight, they tell each other to take care and Hitomi runs down the stairs and passes Ayane with tears in her eyes.

After the tournament, Hitomi returns home, continuing to live her independent life.

New Zack Island
After hearing that the new Dead or Alive Tournament would be held at New Zack Island, Hitomi went to the island to make up for her previous loss, only to fall victim of Zack’s fiendish lying and trickery.

The Fifth Tournament
Upon hearing about the fifth Dead or Alive Tournament, Hitomi reunites with Leifang and the two of them set off a journey to train together. While training at a circus that's still under construction, the pair does a friendly sparring match against Brad Wong and Eliot. They are then invited to the tournament by Zack, who does so humorously by launching himself into the air with the human cannon.

Later, Hitomi and Leifang travel to South America to continue their training. There, they spot Jann Lee being recruited by Zack into joining the tournament. Knowing that they need to do their own training, they spar against each other to improve their skills. After the fight, the two of them go their own ways, promising each other to meet again at the tournament. While on her own, Hitomi runs into Ayane, who's trying to find Kasumi's clone. Hitomi asks if she's entering the fifth tournament, but Ayane said she isn't, while chastising her choice of clothing for training. The two women battle it out for a bit and Ayane leaves to continue her search.

At the tournament, Hitomi defeats Mila in the quarterfinals and Eliot in the semifinals. Before the finals, Hitomi reunites with Hayate, proudly telling him that she needs to win one more fight and she'll be champion. She then asks him if he could spar with her, telling him that her muscles are a bit tight. Hayate grants her request and they spar together. After the fight, they wish each other good luck, and then Hayate departs with Ayane.

Hitomi is defeated by Jann Lee in the finals, making her the runner-up of the tournament.

Back in the New Zack Island
Shortly after her recent close-to-victory performance in the fifth tournament, Hitomi heads once again to New Zack Island and once there, she still has concerns about the issue of Ein returning to his real identity as Hayate. Hitomi rapidly regains focus and decides to have some fun before returning to her training for the next tournament.

During the last day on the island, Hitomi finaly felt so well about the time enjoyed on the island. She plans to begin her training for the next tournament once she gets back, admitting that this time, she will not lose to anybody.

Appearance

 * See also: Hitomi's costumes



Hitomi is a slender, athletic, and petite young woman of average height with a physically fit build. Although she has Japanese heritage from her mother, Hitomi has a more Western appearance than Eastern, overall: she has blue, yet almond-shaped Asian eyes and shoulder-length brunette hair, which is styled with long straight-bangs and a front fringe, normally pushed back with a pink headband. Throughout the series, her height and bust measurements have changed, through only by a couple of centimeters: In Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, she's 161 cm tall with a 89 cm bust; in Dead or Alive 4, she's 160 cm tall with a 90 cm bust, and in Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, she's 158 cm tall with a 89 cm bust.

Her clothing also bears a western appearance, with outfits consisting mostly of jeans, tank-tops, and denim jackets, complete with protective fighter's gloves. A running detail on her jeans is that the back label always bears the initials of the game she's in; for example, in Dead or Alive 4, the label reads "DOA4". Hitomi also sometimes sports her own emblem, mostly printed on the front of her tank-top or the back of her jacket. The emblem, in its simplest form, is the shape of an eagle with fanned-out wings. More detailed versions of the emblem show the eagle in greater style, holding a banner in its talons with Hitomi's name upon it. Phrases like "Thanks for the fight" and "My fists are on fire" may also be printed on it.

In Dead or Alive 5, her appearance has been made to be more realistic; her face model is updated(although her ears and face were modified in the final version due to negative feedback), and her hair is now slightly shorter, and she now has more a more feathered fringe that have long sides that poke out somewhat. Her main attire now has a white tank top with a black bra underneath and her boots have been replaced with sneakers, her secondary outfit is similar except her denim jacket and yellow tube top(returns in Ultimate) has been replaced with a green letterman style hoodie. In Ultimate she receives a ponytail as her new hairstyle with short side locks and her hair pulled back with a green barrette accessory. In Last Round she receives a short bobcut style similar to Christie

Personality
Hitomi is a very friendly, cheerful, energetic girl but is also a hard-working martial artist, through-and-through. Her victories have come as a result of a grueling, life-long training regimen as well as a complete commitment to her studies and her art. Not only has Hitomi practiced her techniques, she has studied them, coming to understand the deeper principles behind karate as well as of the art itself.

She is very much an honorable competitor and always fights fairly in a match, to do otherwise would bring shame to her name, her martial art, and her father's dojo. Often after winning, she will compliment her opponent rather than shame them like other fighters in the series. She is also fair in her dealings with others treating everybody equally and with the respect that they deserve. She will defend others who are being treated harshly, like how she tried to defend Leifang from Jann Lee.

Despite her Japanese name and study in karate, it appears that Hitomi is acclimated more into the German lifestyle than that of the Japanese: she lives in Germany, sports western attire, and has a relatively close, more visible relationship with her German father while her relationship with her Japanese mother is less known.

She also at times can be extremely naïve, as evidenced by her attacking Jann Lee for knocking out a Tyrannosaurus Rex for being "cruel" to it during the fourth tournament despite his saving her from being devoured by it. In addition, when Zack orchestrated a second hoax Dead or Alive Tournament, Hitomi was the only one of the girls who had been invited both times to fall for the same trick twice.

Etymology
The common kanji used to spell the name Hitomi (瞳) means "pupil", and the name literally means "eye" respectively.

Ein/Hayate
Hitomi found Hayate in the Black Forest in Germany. After being used for the Epsilon Project, he didn't remember anything so she brought him back to the dojo and named him "Ein". The two trained together since then. Years later Ein departed for the second Dead or Alive tournament, where he recovered from his amnesia. After this, Ein remembered who he was and left for the Mugen Tenshin clan.

Despite Hayate moving on with the Mugen Tenshin, and hardly ever seeing her, Hitomi still had feelings for him; she is the only non-ninja person to have any type of relationship with him. During the third and fourth Dead or Alive Tournaments, Hitomi tried to convince Hayate to go back to Germany with her, but he tells her he cannot return with her having to settle this pleading by challenging her to a fight.

Hayate trusts Hitomi so much to the point that he admits that he is a ninja, which is an important secret to keep. Although she hates to let him go, Hitomi accepts this and allows him to continue his life as a ninja.

Despite all that happened in Dead or Alive 5, they both met again, Hitomi asked Hayate if she could fight with him in a friendly match, which Hayate accepted, after the fight Ayane appeared and Hayate had no choice but to continue his mission to destroy Alpha-152 and Donovan's new organization, MIST, Hayate bid farewell to Hitomi and she looked at him in hope that they will meet again in the future, which they most likely will.

Leifang
Both being young, quirky, somewhat naïve and baring cheerful personalities, they can be playful with each other one minute, such as during their visits to Zack Island, and then become engaged in a heated battle next over something as trivial as a cabbage. Their relationship is somewhat of rivals and best friends. In Dead or Alive 3, she showed some animosity towards Hitomi, telling her to stay out of her affairs with Jann Lee despite Hitomi showing care for her, implying that they have a fierce rivalry. After Dead or Alive 3, Hitomi and Leifang became fast friends due to their keenness in martial arts and closeness in age.



In Dead or Alive 4, they have a fierce battle over cabbage, but they become closer after the tournament is over. Their vacation, Dead or Alive Extreme 2, shows how much closer they are becoming as Hitomi allows Leifang to hand feed her strawberries, Leifang allows Hitomi to take glamor shots of her, and the two girls sit together in a tree eating ice cream.

By the events of Dead or Alive 5, they have become close friends, as well as martial arts rivals. They train together and later spy on Jann Lee as he is initially rejecting Zack's tournament invitation. They have another battle for the sake of preparing for the tournament. After the battle is over, they wish each other good luck in their training and go their separate ways.

Jann Lee
In the third Dead or Alive Tournament, Hitomi meets Jann Lee early on, agreeing that true power comes from within one's self, despite their different martial arts, but gain a certain mutual respect. They later meet again at Freedom Survivor where Hitomi is angered by Jann Lee's harshly attacking Lei Fang, only to increase animosity between the girls. They meet again in Dead or Alive 4, where Jann saves Hitomi from an enraged T-Rex, to her disdain. They seem to respect each others training in the martial arts, seeing one another as a worthy challenge. They met each other in Finals during the 5th Dead or Alive Tournament in which she lost, becoming runner-up.

Ayane
Their relationship is complicated. Hitomi possibly holds Ayane at a higher esteem, acknowledging their martial arts skills are equal and that Ayane is Hayate's younger sister. The complication lies more in Ayane's perception, but Ayane is warming up to Hitomi due to Hayate's fondness of her.

While working on the Freedom Survivor as a waitress, she reunites with Ein and meets Ayane. When Hitomi asks her if she's Kasumi, the ninja is angered by Hitomi's mistaking her for a sibling whom she is in "bad blood" with and fights Hitomi. After the fight, Ayane is surprised that Hitomi's karate is equal to her ninjutsu. In Dead or Alive 5, Ayane recognizes her in the wild. Hitomi claims to be practicing, but Ayane ponders and then chastises her choice of clothing for training before the two fight.

In Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, they have gained a complicated unity. They now share an opening and winning sequence in their tag battles based on their meeting during the story. Their interactions clearly point out Ayane's denial in accepting Hitomi as her fighting equal, but nonetheless, they co-operate in battle. Hitomi, in spite of her honesty, seems to appear victim to Ayane's cynical attitude: in their opening sequence, Hitomi asks if she is training for the tournament, to which Ayane remarks "Don't make me laugh", although this does not faze Hitomi in the least. In the winning sequence, Hitomi bows and thanks her for the fight, at which Ayane remarks that she has to fight better than that, which doesn't seem to faze Hitomi either. Ayane's remark is possibly based on Hitomi becoming runner up in the tournament and some denial in accepting her as equal in fighting ability.

Eliot
Hitomi and Eliot met each other in the 5th Dead Or Alive Tournament, although Eliot's comment saying, "It's been a while", suggests they met before in the previous tournament. They met up in the circus under construction, while traveling with Brad. Leifang says they were looking for a practice match, and Hitomi teasingly roars at an embarrassed Eliot, telling him not to go easy on them just because they're girls. He nervously says he wouldn't, with an amused Brad smiling as they spar in a tag match. Hitomi could've been flirting with Eliot, or simply just playing around with him, given her bubbly nature. During the 5th tournament, the two face each other, with Hitomi coming out as the victor.

Tina Armstrong
Hitomi and Tina were briefly acquainted with each other during the 3rd Dead or Alive Tournament. They seemed to get along pretty well, as evidenced by the casual nature of their conversation where Tina relayed to Hitomi her personal motto of success always breeds success, and explained she entered the tournament to become an actress, with Hitomi expressing disbelief.

Kasumi
Hitomi knows of Kasumi through Hayate mentioning her when she found him in his coma. Hitomi's actual implied acquaintance with Kasumi is during Dead or Alive Xtreme which they have a very natural rapport as two strong heroine figures close to a mutual hero character, Hayate, however, there are no cut scenes between these female characters. In tag battle, they share one tag team-up as showing the complimentary between karate and ninjutsu.

Dead or Alive

 * See also: Hitomi's command lists

Hitomi can be considered the successor to Ein, in terms of fighting technique and statistics. However, Hitomi is slightly faster, compared to Ein's strikes being somewhat more powerful than hers. She has the strongest punch techniques amongst all the females characters in game.

Hitomi's fighting style relies on quick, medium-damage strikes, and her recovery time frame is excellent. Her tell-tale "wind-up" shared with Ein, however, is a popular counter-attack weakness for her, and the majority of her attacks lack good mix-ups, which means that most high-to-mid holds are effective against her. Her "interruption attacks", however (such as the Tsubauchi), are competent in keeping the opponent off-guard, as well as making Hitomi preferable for aggressive players.

Dead or Alive Xtreme
Being such a friendly, loving character,  it is only Ayane who has a hint of un-fondness due to her contact with her brother (Ein/Hayate), out of jealousy. However, this is subtle, and the two are still able to partner with each other fairly easily. Either way, Hitomi is willing to partner with anyone, and vice versa, as no one has any notable qualms against her.

In beach volleyball, Hitomi lacks speed, has little technique, and is not very good at jumping. On the other hand, she has good defense and is very powerful, like Tina. Her spikes, or sometimes even normal hits, can knock an opponent down. Her counters are impressive, and her excellent recovery time combined with quick strikes can quickly incapacitate an opponent.

She would make a good team with one of the weaker, faster girls playing defense for her, such as Leifang, Ayane, or Kasumi. If the player wants a very powerful team, having Hitomi and Tina together would be ideal to continuously knock down the opponent. However, neither of them are very fast, so it might be a bit hard for them to catch a ball in time.

Unlocking Hitomi
Hitomi is an unlockable character in Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate, in which she can be used in every gameplay mode except Story Mode. To unlock her:

The player must have either a Dead or Alive 3 or Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball save file, then complete Story Mode with Ein on normal difficulty.

Dead or Alive series

 * Dead or Alive 3 (playable, 2001 - 2002)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (playable, 2003)
 * Dead or Alive 2: Ultimate (unlockable, 2004 - 2005)
 * Dead or Alive 4 (playable, 2005 - 2006)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (playable, 2006)
 * Dead or Alive Paradise (playable, 2010)
 * Dead or Alive Dimensions (playable, 2011)
 * Dead or Alive 5 (playable, 2012)
 * Dead or Alive 5+ (playable, 2013)
 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (playable, 2013)
 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade (playable, 2013)
 * Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (playable, 2015)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 (playable, 2016)

DOA: Dead or Alive
Hitomi (played by Hung Lin) is also featured in the movie, DOA: Dead or Alive. Though not explicitly stated, the scoreboard after four fights shows that Hitomi has been knocked out of the tournament; the other three losers are explicitly shown as Jann Lee, Brad Wong and Eliot, making Hitomi the yellow-clothed female who Helena Douglas defeated.

However, later on you can also see a female fighter in the lobby that appears to be a brunette headed girl with a pink headband and a jean jacket, which is Hitomi's primary costume in the games. Aside from the cameo, Hitomi's sweet and bubbly personality was given to Helena's character in the film.

Bijin Tokei
From April 1st to April 30th, 2010, to celebrate the release of Dead or Alive Paradise, Hitomi was featured as a placard girl on Bijin Tokei; an iPhone digital clock application. She appeared at random times at least 10 times throughout the day, holding a placard with the current time written upon it.

Hyakuman-nin no Ninja Gaiden
Hitomi is one of the three rare character cards included for the first Dead or Alive update in the Japan only social game, Hyakuman-nin no Ninja Gaiden. Players can obtain her by logging into their account for the duration of the February event. The full title of her card is "Karate Girl Hitomi".

Dead Fantasy
Also see: Hitomi on Dead Fantasy Wiki

Hitomi appears as a combatant in the fan-made CG movie series Dead Fantasy, where cast members of the Dead or Alive series fight cast members from the Final Fantasy franchise.

Hitomi's main rival is Tifa Lockhart of Final Fantasy VII and the two have an epic showdown in Dead Fantasy III.

She's the only person in the series that didn't enter the battle with any sort of supernatural powers, weapons, and/or magic spells. However, in the third episode, she stole most, if not all, of Tifa Lockhart's Materia and defeated her, giving her some magic for the time being.

Since Oum's death, the series' future is uncertain.

Fighting quotes

 * Dead or Alive 3
 * Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate
 * Dead or Alive 4
 * Dead or Alive Dimensions
 * Dead or Alive 5
 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate
 * Dead or Alive 5 Last Round

Music themes
The following are the music themes used for Hitomi throughout the series.

Gallery

 * See: Hitomi gallery

Trivia

 * It is most likely that Hitomi was born and raised in the state of in southwestern Germany, due to the Black Forest being found there. It was at the forest where she found a passed-out Hayate.
 * Hitomi is the first biracial character of the franchise. The second character is Kokoro, who is mixed of Japanese and Caucasian ancestry.
 * Hitomi was the first cover girl to replace Kasumi - with the release of Dead or Alive 3, the advertisements were noticeably more focused on Hitomi rather than Kasumi.
 * Evidenced by her college soccer attire in Dead or Alive 5, Hitomi's last name is possibly Buchfink. Buchfink is a common German surname.
 * Hitomi was ranked #4 in TeamXbox's "Top Ten Xbox Babes" in 2004; one place behind Kasumi. She was also featured in IGN's "Videogame Babe of the Day" series in 2006.
 * Hitomi owns a red bicycle featured in the Dead or Alive 3 opening and her Dead or Alive 4 ending.
 * Due to negative fan reaction, Hitomi's Dead or Alive 5 design was changed. Most notably, her ears were made smaller and her face was made rounder. She is one of only two characters to have to be changed from her first "final design", the only other being Mai Shiranui.
 * In Dead or Alive 3 and Dead or Alive 4, Hitomi's occupation was listed as a high school student. However, in the Official Dead or Alive 5 Strategy Guide, she is still listed as a high school student despite the fact that she is twenty years old and wears college attire. This is a misprint.
 * A tweet from Tecmo has stated that Hitomi plays in her college soccer team.