Hoo boy, here we go.
When I wrote the post in the prior thread, I thought I'd written up a character design that fused all the abusive elements of several overpowered characters. I've taken a second look at this, and while I've found that to be mostly true (By accident, I insist! ^_^') it also is very telling about how I like to play and how I think that playstyle can express elements of Virara's character. You can see how I thought about existing characters as I made my post, interlaced within the spoilered hypothetical crunch.
When I started out making IAQ (Imaginary FAQ) as a sort of proto-RP years ago, I had only just begun playing fighting games and I tended to load the movelist with all sorts of flashy projectile nonsense, because as a new player, that is what seemed powerful to me. Years and many games later, the characters I've played, never to a tournament level in my opinion, betray a very different sense of comfort than when I started out. I want to be careful, and plan ahead, but in reality I'm happier when my opponent is agonizing over what to do. I enjoy keeping them guessing. In less flattering terms, I guess you could say I lack the execution to do more complicated tactics, so I force my opponent to play at less than 100% through the use of pressure and guessing games. I actively enjoy the panic this inflicts on the people I play against... maybe I'm a sadist? :D
That being said, it's still a very gimmicky style of play. It's not unlike how a grappler functioned for years. For many popular fighting games, throw-reliant characters often tended to not do well in tournament settings, because they generally capitalize on mistakes, which by their nature pros make few of. In some series, grappers thrived because they had fight in them outside of throws, and were of comparable or faster speeds compared to the rest of the cast. (King of Fighters most easily comes to mind.) I found myself playing characters who were capable of forcing those situations rather than waiting to exploit them.
How does that relate to Virara's characterization? I see it as sort of a sign of how incomplete she is. She has the potential to be a strong fighter, but she relies heavily upon gimmicks and the unfamiliarity of her style. Aggressiveness unexpected from someone of her race and sheer boldness can bring her far, but not really far enough. She thrives when she can dictate the pace of the fight, and struggles when out of her element. This is true in daily life as well as battle. When properly executed, her style can leave her foe a living punching bag with no recourse. When improperly executed, she barely manages to escape with her life, let alone her ego intact. It is a calculating machine into which the opponent is inserted and victory is extracted, but one size doesn't fit all. There are literally hundreds of options, but her limited familiarity with each leaves gaps and holes in their utility; they are each good in their given situation, which Virara lacks the ability to force outside of simple martial deception. These are flaws which doubtlessly whoever trained her overcame over the years through practice.
That being said, it's still enough to make the opponent hurl their controller in frustration over and over again if they don't know what to do. Here are the characters I drew influence from. Unfortunately, I lack the technical polish to go deeper into their gameplay other than basic themes and strategy.
Makoto:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4wAaQug4HQ
When I say "guess right once or twice," a few players might groan and reflexively rub their throat. Makoto's gameplay revolves around a command grab "Karakusa" which briefly chokes the opponent and leaves them helpless for a split second, allowing you to combo into other moves afterward. The key to using it is utilizing unpredictable mixups and her irregular mobility to get in close when your opponent doesn't expect it. Landing this throw essentially translates to free damage and stun, which Makoto offers in excess, so the mental pressure upon the opponent to guess how Makoto is going to approach is enormous. Selecting wrong can mean the end of the match. I shamelessly stole the grab-based gameplay from her, as well as a super that renders her unable to block but supercharges her offense. Though, it's not capable of something this ridiculous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv1lETg0398
Kusanagi Kyo/Kanzuki Karin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCVHRZ7fkwY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a62WVc64K_s
I really, really like "rekka" style characters. (Characters who have special moves that link into other special moves.) When the tree of chained special moves becomes enormous, that character becomes something like Angel in KOF 2001, who could create circular combos of special chained moves, but stopping just short of that level of complexity is Kyo Kusanagi and Kanzuki Karin. Kyo's style favors speed and aggression, whereas Karin's has a lot of inherent flexibility and lends itself to feeling like a "toolbox" where you can suddenly whip out any move useful for a given situation. However the limitation of having to preface the attack with another move limits its abusiveness. I enjoy how these characters play because these special moves give them a fluidity that allows them to continue an offensive without getting too predictable.
Gato:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFHXbLZBEaU
(Here's a video of a sibling fistfight in crappy framerate because it's super hard to find decent footage of Garou on youtube, probably due to everyone emulating it.)
The epitome of asshole kung-fu guy, not only does Gato somewhat resemble Virara in how curmudgeonly he is, but his gameplay is incredibly fierce. Only managing to seem fair in comparison to the gratuitous brokenness that is Kevin from the same game, Gato has incredible offensive momentum and safe, cancellable moves. I didn't copy that exploitative-element, but Virara's stomps that not only give her rekka-style followups, but also elements of mobility, are inspired by Gato's. Likewise, she was intended to be capable of rushing an opponent into the corner and juggling them hard when they make a mistake, eventually stunning them or killing them. Notably a lot of Gato's moves resemble Xingyi or Bajiquan motions, so watching him, Karin and Miyako might give a good idea of what Virara's moves tend to look like. This game was a lot of fun, and it's sad to see it fall into obscurity. A sequel or two could have really done a lot to iron out the small kinks in Mark of the Wolves gameplay, because there was incredible potential there. I miss Fatal Fury...
Miyako:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L0DF1BbvKM
My character of choice when playing this odd fighting game. I suck at it, but I enjoyed how aggressive this character is. She is a child, so obviously her reach is tiny, but being supernaturally empowered by various ridiculousness in the game's story, she is still a credible threat. In fact, in her Full Moon variant (Characters have multiple sets of moves to chose from similar to the ISMs in Street Fighter Alpha and EX versions in Capcom Vs SNK.) does some of the most ridiculous damage in the game. I feel that giving the character tiny reach really does something to the mindset of the player using the character. When I play a character who can only hit directly in front of them at a very short range, I want that character to be zippy and powerful, and for hits to feel robust. Virara would not be quite as combo heavy as Melty characters tend to be, but she would be a monster in the corner like Miyako is. It seems unfair and scrubby to an onlooker for a match to be decided entirely by corner pressure, but there is actually a subtle sort of art to repeatedly foiling your opponent's attempts to escape. I think that I really enjoy this sort of guessing game the most, as it puts pressure on them, and allows me to try to be unpredictable.
Note that design wise some of them have similarities with Virara too. Four of these characters have elbow and leaping forward kick strikes reminiscent of certain Chinese styles like Bajiquan, which is the aesthetic inspiration for her IC martial art in some respects.