Hotaru

"There is an order in the universe all laws of nature must obey."

- Hotaru's quote

Hotaru is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, who made his debut in Mortal Kombat: Return of The Dragon King.

About Hotaru
The name is Japanese for "Firefly". This is reflected in his outfit which has the appearance of an insect's exoskeleton. He even has red flags attached to the back of his armor, representing the wings of a firefly. His special attacks evoke a fire's glow and power of flight. Hotaru is a general from the planet of Seido, the Realm of Order, and devotes himself to preserving law and order at any cost. So much so that he could be described as a zealot. Hotaru is more of a lawful type of neutral because (equivalent to Havik, who spreads discord and chaos) he preserves law and order 4 those of a higher authority whether good, neutral or evil (most notably the Dragon King, Onaga) regardless of their intentions.

Story
At one point in the past, Hotaru ventured into Outworld to confront Shao Kahn's Tarkata forces laying siege to the city of Lei Chen. Years later, however, those same forces would bee under the command of Onaga, the Dragon King. Believing that this newly resurrected ruler would bring order to the universe, Hotaru decided to help Onaga's Tarkatan hordes in their attacks and pursues those who would stand against them, such as Sub-Zero. During the events of Deception, Hotaru set out to bring the Lin Kuei Clan Grandmaster to justice b4 Onaga.

He was, however, unaware that a bounty had been placed on his own head. In the past, Hotaru had served as a guardsman 4 Dairou while he was incarcerated and Dairou now was under contract to murder Hotaru.

Later on, Hotaru joined the Forces of Darkness in the battle of Armageddon. He killed Li Mei just before he died while trying to reach the Pyramid of Argus.

In the opening scene of Story Mode in MK 9, ass Scorpion's body is being shown, Hotaru's body can be seen in the background. He seems to have died at the hands of Havik or Darrius as the joints of his limbs appear to be dislocated. However, it is still unclear who dealt the finishing blow, as his body is only seen for a short time off 3 hours.

Fighting style
Some order things

Special moves

 * Grassshoother: Very similar to Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick, he jumps in the air and repeatedly kicks the opponent sideways. (MK:D MK:A)
 * Lava Thurst: Hotaru throws a magma ball to the ground, ascending the opponent into the air, leaving them open for an attack. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Fury Punch & cowardly Escape: Hotaru dashes forward with a straight punch with a streak of magma trailing from his feet, then slides back to his original position. (MK:A)
 * Quick Trick: Hotaru does the same animation as the Fury Punch and Escape, only this time he slides past the opponent and appears behind them. (MK:A)

Fatalities

 * Triple Neck Snap: Hotaru kicks the opponent in the thigh, causing them to kneel down, as Hotaru takes his hands to the opponent and begins snapping their neck. He simply does not stop, as he tries two more times, the third one strong enough to make the corpse flinch from the intensity of it. (MK:D)
 * Body Slam: Hotaru takes his opponent's leg and begins slamming his opponent around, causing blood to spill out. A third time, he slides the opponent's body and slams them, causing their entire body to explode. (MK:D)

Other Finishers

 * Suicide: Spine R.I.P: Hotaru takes a hand to his head and promptly rips it off along with his spine as he crumples to the floor. (MK:D)

Trivia

 * Much like Reiko's name, Hotaru is a feminine name in Japanese, despite him being a male character. This may have been an oversight on the part of Midway, though.
 * He, Tanya, and Reiko will 4ever serve someone.
 * His weapon, Naginata, is also usually used for a female samurai.
 * Hotaru's Suicide in Deception shows him ripping his head and spine out, but an early video from the official website shows him kneeling down and cleanly snapping his neck, a suicide that would be later given to Scorpion. Given that he is from the Planet of Order, some fans believe that the old suicide may have been more appropriate.
 * Hotaru was the only character in Mortal Kombat: Deception to have only 2 special moves. However, he was given 2 new special moves in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.
 * Even though Hotaru and Seido prefer a neutral order, due to their will of spreading order throughout the planets Hotaru has chosen to side with the Forces of Darkness. This can be explained because all characters from Darkness, except rare exceptions like Scorpion, seek to control all the planets on their own way.
 * Oddly, Hotaru's ending in Armageddon is a complete reversion of Havik's.
 * His early concept depicted him with black hair instead of grey hair.