Kasumi (Dead or Alive)

Kasumi is a kunoichi of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan and a heroine in the Dead Of Alive series, who debuted in the first Dead or Alive. Kasumi became a "Runaway Shinobi" after she ran away from home in order to avenge her older brother, Hayate. She is also the older half-sister, and cousin of Ayane.

One of the first three females that appeared in the series (alongside Lei Fang and Tina Armstrong), Kasumi has become the main protagonist of the Dead or Alive series.

Kasumi is also the main protagonist of Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2. Her powers including teleportation and flight. She has the soul of Elysium.

Childhood
When they were children, Kasumi and Ayane - unaware that they were related - played together as best friends, althought the clan saw Ayane as a "cursed child" and didn't want Kasumi to be around her. Her relationship with Hayate was also ideal, with the two playing games and training together happily.Kasumi is the daughter and second child of Shiden and Ayame, and was born into the Mugen Tenshin Clan's head family as the second in line to the title of leader, after her brother Hayate.

However, once Ayane learned of her true heritage, and the children now knew that they were siblings, Kasumi's friendship with Ayane ended due to Ayane's jealous anger over her mistreatment by the clan, centering her animosity on the "princess" Kasumi.

The Fight Against the Black Spider Ninja Clan
Running Away and The First Tournament

At about the age of 16, for unknown reasons, Kasumi observed the events surrounding the Black Spider Ninja Clan’s assault on the Hayabusa Clan, and Ryu Hayabusa’s consequential vengeance and foiling of their plans to resurrect the Archfiend. She is also seen witnessing Obaba's death at the hands of Ayane.

Years later, a rogue ninja of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan, Raidou, Kasumi’s paternal uncle and Ayane's father, returned to the village to obtain the Torn Sky Blast. Defeating even the prodigious Ayane, Raidou eventually managed to mimic the technique from Hayate before rendering him both comatose and paraplegic.

After Raidou's rampage, and Hayate in a deadly state, Kasumi was left chosen by Shiden to become the clan’s eighteenth master, but she didn't know what truly happened to Hayate as her father didn't want her to know. Her worry over her brother effected her training, but she managed to learn the Torn Sky Blast at least. Wanting to know the truth, Kasumi turned to Ayane. Believing that Kasumi would never become a great leader anyway, she told her that Raidou was the fiend who harmed Hayate.

Now in the company of Christie and Bayman, Kasumi learnt that Radiou was taking part in the Dead or Alive World Combat Championship, which was being sponsored by the Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee, the company Bayman and Christie worked for. They flew her to a cruise liner, the Freedom Survivor, and Kasumi joined the tournament.With the facts buzzing in her mind, Kasumi finally desided to take the possibly suicidal step and left the village without permission in order to find Raidou and take revenge on him for Hayate, although this meant she would become a nukenin and the clan would kill her if she ever returned home. The clan quickly found out about Kasumi's leave, and Ayane was ordered by Genra to find and kill her. Ayane tried to stop her on the bridge out of the village, but Kasumi was saved when Christie appear on a helicopter and seperated the two shinobi with gunfire. Although Kasumi didn't know Christie, she jumped on the helicopter and they flew away from Ayane.

While the start of the tournaemnt was being offically announced, Kasumi found Ayane in the crowd. Ayane told her that she was there to avenge Hayate too, as well as kill her, under the orders of her foster father Genra. The girls quickly discovered that Raidou was working with the head of DOATEC, Fame Douglas, but when Ayane tried to get him, even though Kasumi tried to stop her, the girl was beaten back. Fame then told Kasumi that if she wanted to face Raidou in battle,she had to come out as winner in the tournament.

Kasumi fought her way through the tournament, and did come out as the winner of the tournament, meaning that she would have to face Raidou in the Danger Zone. She managed to defeat Raidou, and was happy because she thought she had avanged Hayate, but Raidou awoke stronger then before, with inhuman strength caused by DOATEC experiments. Their battle ended in a Torn Sky Blast duel, and with the help of Ryu Hayabusa from the sidelines, Kasumi overpowered Raidou in the end and he was finally killed.

Unfortunately for Kasumi, she was kidnapped by DOATEC, and was taken to their labs in Germany, so they could use her DNA for their experiments; as she managed to defeat their top experiment, they believed that she would be useful in their plans to create the ultimate fighter.

Escaping DOATEC and The Second Tournament
After being held captive for a while by DOATEC, Ryu managed to find her and set DOATEC Germany on fire. During the chaos, Kasumi was helped out of her cell by Kasumi Alpha, a clone created from her DNA. Although shocked by the sight of her double, she followed Alpha into one of the labs. Once there, Alpha told Kasumi that they were "sisters", and Kasumi hadn't been a good sister becasue she kept Hayate to herself, so now he belonged to Alpha. Realizing that Hayate had been taken by DOATEC, Kasumi fought Alpha. The noise led one of the scientists, Lisa Hamilton to them and Kasumi demanded to know where Hayate was. Lisa tried to silence her by threatening to shoot her, but Kasumi was saved by Ryu, who took her after from the building, after Lisa and Alpha escaped.

While with Ryu and Irene Lew, they learn from stolen DOATEC data that Hayate was actually at DOATEC Germany at the same time as Kasumi. Worried about her brother's safety, Kasumi went against Ryu's orders and ran off to find Hayate. Although Ryu sent Ayane after her, Kasumi managed to escape her.

Sometime later, Kasumi found Hayate alive and well, but as Hayate was suffering from amnesia, he couldn't remember her. Ryu told the two siblings to fight each other, as "once reunited in combat, fists which are bound by blood will revive the deepest soul of the shinobi", meaning that Hayate would remember his true self. During the fight, Kasumi was defeated, and Hayate remembered everything. While Hayate and Ryu had to fight Alpha and a brainwashed Ayane, set upon them by Genra, Kasumi must have woken up and ran away, as Hayate couldn't find her after the battle.

The Third Tournament
Homesick and constantly hunted, Kasumi still wished to see Hayate, but had to go into hiding from the Mugen Tenshin Clan again. She spent some time in the geisha district of Kyoto during her running, and to cover up her shinobi identity, she dressed as a normal high school girl and acted like a normal civilian in public to get by. She must have become ill from running and living rough, because she developed a fever. When she was half-passed out on the road, she was found by a local maiko Kokoro, but refused her help. When she saw Ayane, she panicked and ran away again.

During the third tournament, Kasumi tried to find Hayate, who was, at the time, with Ayane and Ryu trying to track down Genra, who had turned against the clan. Kasumi crossed paths with Ayane, but apparently her sister was focused on taking down Genra, so she wasn't doing to kill her; although Ayame had previously asked Ayane to help Kasumi rather then be against her. Ayane did let Kasumi try to get to Hayate, but not before she beat her up for her troubles.

When Kasumi finally met up with Hayate, he was torn between the code of the clan, to kill runaways, and his want to see Kasumi. He tried to save her, saying that they can pretend they never met and he can let her live, but Kasumi was prepared to fight her brother. After the fight, Kasumi escaped again and went into hiding once more.

The Fourth Tournament and The Fall of DOATEC
During the time of the fourth tournament, Kasumi caught word of the Mugen Tenshin's plan to attack DOATEC and take their revenge against the company. Worried about everyone's safety, Kasumi risked her life visiting the ouside of the village, and found Hayate. As she tried to convince him to stop the war against DOATEC, Hayate remained quiet and Ayane arrived to interrupt them, providing enough of a distraction for Hayate to leave and continue on with his mission.

Although the attack was on the go, Kasumi pursued everyone to DOATEC's TriTower headquarters so she can still stop the chaos. There, she confronted Helena Douglas, the current head of DOATEC, and begged her to leave the shinobi alone. However, Helena told her that DOATEC's lastest creation - a modifyed Kasumi Alpha, renamed Alpha-152 - was about to become active. Helena was about to shoot Kasumi, to stop her from being involved, but she was saved by Ryu, who was there helping Hayate, and Kasumi fought her way past Helena.

She then headed down to the lab to destroy Alpha-152. She fought her clone to her best efforts but in the end it appears Alpha-152 escaped in the chaos of the destruction wrought by the Mugen Tenshin invasion. After the match, having herself escaped the burning building, Kasumi is last seen watching Helena entering the blazing helipad. As Kasumi tried to stop her, Ayane prevented her from going after Helena, who by doing so saves Kasumi's life as the building starts exploding mere seconds later.

In Dead or Alive: Dimensions, after the end of the attack, Kasumi is heard saying "it's time to go back to the village", hinting that she might have been accepted back into her clan and returned home.

Appearance
Kasumi is a slender, physically-fit teenage girl of average height, although she has got a curvy figure for her age. She was designed to appear "soft" (based on the idea that Dead or Alive is softer in concept compared to Ninja Gaiden, thus making her symbolic to the series) so she has a round face, small facial features, and wide brown eyes. Originally, her waist-length hair appeared to be a dark brown color. However, since Dead or Alive 2, Kasumi's hair has lightened over the years to a copper shade. Today, her hair style is not fixed into one or two fashions like the other girls, as she now possesses four styles to choose from: loose, a low ponytail, a high ponytail tied with a long yellow ribbon, or a low braid tied with yellow bows.

She is usually seen in her trademark outfit: a blue, side-tie "shinobi dress" with short puffy sleves, white trim, her name (written in Japanese) stiched in yellow on the back, and a light-coloured bird pattern on the shirt, complete with white stockings, knee-high boots and arm-guards. As well as this outfit - and variations of said outfit - Kasumi sports other shinobi costumes. She also has modern, casual clothes, and Japanese school uniforms, suited for average, everyday girls. No matter what she wears, Kasumi is usually wearing feminine gear, such as skirts, and girly colors, like pink.

In her cameo appearance in Ninja Gaiden Sigma II, although her face cannot be seen, a younger Kasumi is seen wearing a modified version of her shinobi dress; the puffy sleeves have been replaced by white straps, the bird pattern is now gold, and her arm guards, and shoes have been slightly changed. She also has shuriken tied to her left leg. Her hair is shorter then normal, only reaching to just below the shoulders rather than to her waist.

Personality
She is demonstrably family orientated and would like nothing more than to return home in peace. There were instances where she refused to show mercy though, as seen when she willingly goes to look for Raidou in the first game, fighting her clone in the second game, and also when facing Helena when the woman had almost shot her.Kasumi is portrayed throughout the Dead or Alive series as a more compassionate character than any of the other fighters. She is an honorable and kind spirit, and although a highly skilled kunoichi with deadly abilities, she does not enjoy or wish to fight. Many of the statements she makes in the game series before a round begins reflect her desire to avoid confrontation. Much of the reasoning behind this comes from the fact that in all appearances in the tournaments (with the exception of the first) her motive was not to fight or win, but to meet Hayate. However she is capable of killing in cold blood, as demonstrated when she defeated and killed Raidou.

Etymology
The kanji used to spell Kasumi's name (霞) means "Mist", a light fog. Mist and fog is often used as a symbol of isolation and loneliness, maybe alluding to Kasumi's isolation from her clan, forced to live alone. Mist can also represent unclear thinking, possibly reflecting Kasumi's personality who, as a compassionate, empathetic character, is powered by emotion and will react by her feeling rather then think things through first, such as her leave from her clan to take revenge for Hayate.

Mist could also be a physical link to her; just as mist cannot be easily contained, Kasumi has also been proven to be hard to "contain" and be captured by the clan's assassins, and has been been able to avoid them for a long time.

Finally, mist can be a symbol of the indeterminate phase in development, when things have yet to be defined. As she is a runaway shinobi, Kasumi could be seen as living in an indeterminate state, unsure if tomorrow will bring her death, or good fortune.

Along with Ayane and Kokoro, Kasumi's name is written in hiragana.

Hayate
Hayate is Kasumi's older brother. Hayate was a very protective and understanding brother to Kasumi, so they had a close brother/sister relationship. After Hayate was injured by Raidou, Kasumi sought revenge on Raidou for what he did to her dear brother, seeking to restore his honor. They have a very strong bond, even as Hayate becomes the leader of the Mugen Tenshin Clan and Kasumi becomes a runaway shinobi. Hayate will never harm Kasumi himself, but he will not speak to her out of the shame he feels over Kasumi's abandonment. Still, no matter what, Hayate and Kasumi will always be a loyal to each other.

Ayane
Ayane is Kasumi's younger half-sister. Kasumi's mother, Ayame, was raped by Raidou, thus conceiving Ayane. Kasumi and Ayane had a close relationship as friends when they were kids. However, their friendship turned to bitter rivalry when Ayane learned about her true heritage. Ayane was consumed with jealousy over the fact that Kasumi was treated like a princess, while she was treated like an outcast and the clan's "cursed child". After Kasumi left the village to find Raidou, Ayane was sent to kill her. Although it seems the hatred was one-sided from Ayane, as Kasumi was never intentionally mean or cruel to Ayane, and only fought her when it was absolutely necessary; in some games, before fighting Ayane, Kasumi may ask "Why?", questioning the reasons for their battle.

It is possible that their rivalry is over, or at least weakened, when Ayane stops Kasumi from trying to save Helena during the fourth tournament, as the attempt likely would have ended in Kasumi's death. Also, in Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, Kasumi and Ayane seem to have started to develop a more friendly relationship with each other.

Ryu Hayabusa
Ryu is good friends with Kasumi, just like how he is with Hayate. Ryu promised Hayate that he would protect Kasumi at all costs. Even though she broke the Mugen Tenshin laws and became a runaway shinobi, Ryu still kept his promise and still watches over Kasumi, as he is one of her only ninja allies not burdened by the clan’s laws.

Helena Douglas
Kasumi seems to be friendly with Helena, and seems to understand the pain that Helena must be going through. However when Helena tries to kill Kasumi it is one of the few times that Kasumi has no mercy for Helena. Even so she still tried to stop Helena from committing suicide, which would have resulted in her death had Ayane not stopped her, showing that she still cares for Helena.

Susan Hurley
Kasumi and CJ Porritt's mother are faithful friends. She thinks Kasumi is a superhero. Susan and Kasumi sometimes argue about what things happen. In Life of Crime, Kasumi ate the Hershy white chocolate bar. she thinks Susan stole it but its her's. She tells her not to eat but she did. Susan flies off and Kasumi flies off as well to tell the police. they got sent to jail for a short time. Lastly, they got Tootsie Pops for the road and Kasumi says "Alright, which one of you flatfoots stole my lolipop?" They laughed and Kasumi said "I mean it!

Raidou
Raidou was Kasumi's uncle; he was the older brother of Shiden, Kasumi's father. Kasumi defeated and killed Raidou in the first DOA tournament as revenge for causing Hayate’s then comatose and paraplegic state. This was the only time that Kasumi showed pure hatred and cruelty towards another person.

Christie
In Dead or Alive: Dimensions when Kasumi was being attacked by Ayane, Christie had come in by helicopter and saved her. She introduced her to the Dead or Alive Tournament naming her one of the top competitors, and telling her Raidou was in the Tournament.

Bayman
Bayman had doubted Kasumi's skills as a fighter. Saying "You should stay out of the tournament, it will not end well for you." They landed on the Freedom Survivor and had a battle. Bayman was impressed by Kasumi's skills.

Gameplay
Similar to the other Dead or Alive ninjutsu characters, Kasumi is considered a mid-to-top tier character due to her balanced character traits. She features good speed, execution, and fairly simplistic input commands. However, her range is lacking and her single strikes do little damage.

Kasumi's playing style has differed slightly over the series. In the originalDead or Alive and its sequel, her commands were suited to performing air combos and juggles. However in the later games, she became a pressure character, focusing more on extremely fast attacks and great interrupters to keep the opponent constantly on the defense.

Kasumi can easily be befriended as anyone's volleyball partner, and vice versa if playing as Kasumi, except with Ayane, who will not become friends with her very easily.

In beach volleyball, Kasumi is a weakling; she can't spike the ball as hard as everyone else, and because of her stature, she will often be knocked down by stronger players, such as Helena, Hitomi or Tina Armstrong. However, while not the most powerful girl, she does have great technique that can be helpful, is a great jumper, good in defense, and quite quick on her feet.

She is best suited playing as defense for Hitomi, or Tina, who both lack the speed Kasumi has, and acts as a balance with their strengh. For a team with great speed, and aim, teaming-up with Ayane is ideal, but keep in mind that neither of them are very strong.

Dead or Alive-Related Media
In the non-canonical 2006 feature film DOA: Dead or Alive, Kasumi is portrayed by Devon Aoki, and bares a cold personality, as opposed to her calm and compassionate nature in the games.

In the movie, she runs away from her clan to find her brother Hayate, who had been missing for a year, and was invited to the Dead or Alive Tournament. Victor Donovan told her that Hayate died during last year's tournament by Leon's hand. However, shortly after she fights Leon and wins, she has serious doubts that Hayate could have died from facing Leon. In the end, she got to go home with her brother despite being a runaway shinobi. Throughout the movie, she and Ryu have shown to have romantic feelings for each other.

Girls of DOA BlackJack
There is a Kasumi version of the game Girls of DOA BlackJack of the iPhone, in which she acts as the Blackjack dealer. She is not voiced in the game and her animation is limited but the player can unlock diffirent costumes for her with their winnings, as well as pictures of her which can be used as backgrounds for the iPhone.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma II
Kasumi makes a cameo appearance in Ninja Gaiden Sigma II, appearing to be watching as Ayane fought the Spider Ninja Clan witch, Obaba, and reappearing at the end of the game with Ryu Hayabusa. Some fans believe that this could be a hint that Kasumi will become an active character in the Ninja Gaiden series, or even appear as a playable character in a future game, but Team Ninja has not said anything to support this claim.

Non-Dead or Alive Appearences
Kasumi has appeared as a playable character in the visual combat books series, Queen's Blade, published by Hobby Japan. Her player book is part of the sub-series Queen's Gate which, unlike the rest of the series which features original characters, uses licensed characters from video games and anime series, such as Lili from Tekken, and Mai Shiranui from King of Fighters. The overall plot of the game revolves around a tournament held every four years to determine a queen. Only young women who are considered beautiful in their home town are allowed to enter.

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

Monster Rancher
As a tie-in with Dead or Alive: Dimensions, the sprite Kasumi will be made available in a limited time event for Tecmo's Japan only mobile game,Hyakku-mon nin no Monster Farm.Kasumi appeared as a playable "Sprite monster" in Monster Rancher 2 and Monster Rancher 4, games that are also produced by Tecmo. She must be unlocked by going to the Shrine and inserting the first Dead or Alive CD in the disc tray in Monster Rancher 2, and the Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore disc inMonster Rancher 4. Although the sprite is Kasumi, it has much shorter hair compared to her, tied into a spiky ponytail, and the skirt of the dress is shorter. The sprite also sports a pair of feathery white wings.

Kasumi’s signature blue outfit is an unlockable costume for Arin in Super Swing Golf and Super Swing Golf 2. In the 2004 survival horror Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Director's Cut for the Xbox, the outfit also appears as an alternative outfit for Mio Amakura, one of the game’s two protagonists.

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

She fights with her wakizashi sword, utilizing her Tenjin Mon style and ninpo abilities to battle the Final Fantasy cast. Her main opponent is Yuna from Final Fantasy X. As of the fifth episode, Kasumi is with Ryu Hayabusa and Momiji, who are most likely getting aid for the wounds she recieved from her battle with the Kasumi Alpha clones.

Oum has also made two music videos that Kasumi features in: Obsessed to Mariah Carey's Obsessed  and Dead Fantasy - Gee with the song Gee by Girls' Generation

General

 * Strength: Her strength level is that of a female human of her age and her incredible physical capability is the result of training as a ninja.
 * Agility: Kasumi's speed exceeds that of both Ryu and Momiji, and is only surpassed by Ayane.
 * Stealth: Like most ninjas, Kasumi has some ability in stealth, being able to mask her presence in smoke filled areas and assassinate enemies.
 * Acrobatics: Like most ninja, Kasumi is able to easily move between platforms, jump off of and briefly run on walls.
 * Hand to Hand: Kasumi has trained in Mugen Tenshin Ninjutsu (Tenjin Mon style), and is highly skilled with this style.
 * Ninja Sense: A ninja ability that allows her to sense where she needs to go.
 * Ki Manipulation: Like most ninja in the series, Kasumi possesses the ability to focus ki with her mind; she does so when performing her Art of Rending Wind or Torn Sky Blast ninpo.
 * Spiritual Regeneration: Kasumi's ability to heal herself with her ki, until it is depleted.
 * Heal Ally: Kasumi has the ability to heal an ally who is on the verge of death.

Techniques

 * Slide: A basic evasive movement known by ninja.
 * Shadowless Footsteps: A basic wall running technique, which Kasumi, like most ninja, has mastered.
 * Sabaki: A technique which begins with Kasumi in a defensive position, and then countering with her own attack.
 * Sakura Madoi: A special parry, known only to Kasumi, it causes the user to disappear in a flurry of cherry blossom petals and reappear behind the opponent whose attack was parried.
 * Divine Water: Kasumi's "version" of the Izuna Drop, she begins by launching her foe in the air, and then repeatedly stomps on her foe until they hit the ground.
 * Thunders of Tenjin: Kasumi's "version" of the Underworld Drop, she launches her foe in the air and wraps her legs around their necks and back flips downwards, smashing her target's skull to the ground.

Ninpo

 * Art of Rending Wind: A powerful Mugen Tenshin technique that releases ki through an open palm. It also is known as the Torn Sky Blast technique.

Weapons & Equipment

 * Shrouded Moon: An elegant blade, imbued with the mystical powers of the words "mist" and "moon."
 * Windmill Shuriken: Kasumi's uses a variant on the windmill shuriken - it is six kunai formed to create on giant shuriken, named "Kunai Tempest."
 * Kunai: Basic throwing knives; Kasumi uses a slightly different version however, as it is slightly curved and smaller, as well as releasing sakura petals as it flies through the air.