Hou Ou

*"Life and Death are not so different… in fact some cultures say they’re one and the same."*

## Description

An elegant firebird of Eastern descent. It wears a rooster's comb and a peacock's tailfeathers.

## Moves

* Movement type: *Jump*. Tap X to flap your wings and briefly gain altitude.
* Defense type: *Dodge*. Tap L1/R1 to blink dodge left or right, disappearing in flame and reappearing a short distance away.
* Light attacks: Pecks and bites
* Heavy attacks: Kicks, bites, and fiery wing flaps
* Grapple: Lands on the enemy and immolates itself. The Hou Ou is fireproof... its enemy is not.

## Powers

* Roar: **PEACOCK**. Temporarily forces nearby enemies to stay locked-on to the Hou Ou and only the Hou Ou.
	+ Cooldown: *Short*

* Active: **BURNOUT**. The Hou Ou erupts into flames and dashes forward, leaving a fiery trail as it goes up in smoke. Any enemies that touch its trail or are hit by the attack are set on fire. The Hou Ou respawns at the nearest owned or neutral Control Point with halved health; this does not count as a death.
	+ If used when health is already at 20% or lower Burnout will gain a +15% damage bonus at the cost of the Hou Ou's life.
	+ Cooldown: *Long*

* Passive: **FORTUNE**. Turrets and allied Legends slowly heal when close to the Hou Ou.

## Playstyle

Beautiful and elusive, the Hou Ou is a high-speed, high-agility, high-risk healer. Constantly hovering rather than touching the ground, it flies around at an impressive speed even without the ability to charge and can quickly maneuver both vertically and horizontally. This gives it an enormous amount of mobility, more than most other flying Legends and certainly more than the average land-bound beast or water-dweller. These are solid assets for stealing unguarded Control Points, kiting DPS, and harassing slow moving Tanks. The Hou Ou is at its best when aiding other Legends, providing a passive healing buff with good *Fortune* and *Peacocking* to draw fire off allies in need. Ideally it works best when partnered with a DPS Legend, forming a symbiotic relationship where it can passively heal them while they rack of kills and leave health pickups for the Hou Ou. Its active special *Burnout* is a bit of a gamble, but one that can pay off when cornered by stronger enemies- or better yet when far from home, since it can also be used as a form of fast travel!

## Counterplay

Like most Support Legends the Hou Ou is not especially adept at head to head combat. It has extremely low damage resistance and can be taken out quite quickly if hit consistently, a feat which is not always as hard as it first seems. The Hou Ou will occasionally make a target of itself by Peacocking, after all, and players who can exploit that heroic sacrifice will find great success. Legends with projectile attacks or active specials that can grapple or isolate it are extra effective; the Hou Ou is not as much of a threat when left on its own. The amount of damage needed to take it out of a fight need not even be fatal as a desperate enough firebird will probably use Burnout and either flee the Control Point its contesting or sacrifice itself in a blaze of glory.

## Legendarium

* *Red Star of the South*
* *The Four Guardians*
* *Reincarnation*
* *Evolution of Eastern Firebirds*
* *The Western Phoenix*
* *Huma Alights*
* *Projekt Rarog*
* *Ancient Origins: Sun God Bennu*

## Trivia

* Variations of the "Eastern Phoenix" archetype appear in many Asian countries throughout time. The originals are thought to be the Chinese *Fèng* and *Huáng*, male and female birds that embodied the sun and moon, Their names were eventually joined as just *Fènghuáng* when specifying the bird's gender became less important.
	+ *Hou Ou* is the Japanese name of the same creature. In Vietnam it is also known as the *phụng hoàng*, and in Korea the *bonghwang*.
	+ While mystical firebirds appear in legends all over the world, the Western Phoenix is considered a distinctly separate entity.
* The Age of Aether Hou Ou was drawn and designed by Sir K.
* The Helios skin represents a more Western Greek Phoenix. Its counterpart Pagos is based on the more modern trope of a mystical ice bird, like the snowy Roc from *Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas* and *Pokemon*'s Articuno.
* Sufi and Diwan are Persian/Iranian Huma birds.
* Falco and Zloduch are Slavic fire demons called Rarógs.
* Ardea and Ba are based on the Egyptian sun god Bennu.