Hibana (Siege)

Hibana
As my friend would say, 'A really big fucking hole coming right up.'
General information
Real Name	Yumiko Imagawa
Organization	Rainbow SAT
Position	Attacker
Birthplace	Nagoya, Japan
Date of birth	July 12, 1983
Age	40
Height	5'8" (1.73m)
Weight	125lbs (57kg)
Unlock	10,000 240 Free for Season Pass owners
Voice Actor	Laura Miyata
Statistics
Health Rating	●○○ Light
Speed Rating	●●● Fast

"Kyūdō is meditation in action. Explosions are part of that action."
— Hibana

Yumiko Imagawa (Japanese: 今川 由美子, Imagawa Yumiko), codenamed Hibana, is an Attacking Operator featured in Operation Red Crow expansion alongside Echo.

Biography

A Nagoya native and the daughter of a local butcher, Imagawa was encouraged by her family to practice Kyūdō from a young age. This long range weapon marked her entry in martial arts by perfecting her assessment of multiple factors a once while carrying precise, controlled, and fluid motions. Imagawa traveled the world to perfect her skills and technique. She later attended the National Police Academy and gained the nickname of "Hibana" due to her improvised explosive devices and brilliant leadership skills on the field. Fluent in seven languages and lethal with any weapon, Imagawa was recruited by Aichi Police Department Special Assault Team. Her diverse techniques and charisma resulted in her to moving quickly up the ranks.

She became specialized in paramilitary techniques gained by training with the SAS, FBI SWAT, and GIGN, to name a few. From her diverse training, she acquired a rare tactical versatility, which includes a proficiency in tubular (bus, train, and airplane) assaults. In 2016, Hibana accepted an invitation to join Rainbow. She later began a secret relationship with Jack "Pulse" Estrada. During the 2020 Tournament of Champions, Imagawa landed a killing shot on Pulse that lead to her team's victory.

Psychological Profile

Imagawa is an expert in paramilitary techniques and infiltration of high-risk areas. Passionate and adaptive, she inspires experts from diverse backgrounds to work together and reach a common goal.

Psychological Report

Specialist Yumiko “Hibana" Imagawa has considerable talents. I only know a few others with as many commendations. Inspiring operatives from diverse backgrounds and putting people at ease comes naturally to her, and she's certainly gracious with my poor attempts at Japanese.

I enjoy our conversations. Imagawa is very lyrical in the way she recounts her experiences. For someone who's been around the world and encountered so many cultures, her favorite stories are of her childhood home. Like when her father would come home from his work as a butcher, and Imagawa's mother wouldn't allow him inside until they had hosed him down in the garden. The image of her drenched, barefoot father dancing under the spray of frigid water was a great amusement to the family. I like the story.

Memories likese these keep us grounded and I wondered if training in Kyudo had fostered this appreciation in her. When I suggested that she had an aura of inner serenity, she laughed and called me a "hippie."

I'd like to see if she can influence some of the others to maintain that calm sensibility. Her training with so many CTUS makes her an ideal fit for the role. Already within Rainbow Imagawa is universally respected.

I sense that Imagawa's motivations are stoked by some inner fire, but she also has a competitive drive with fellow operatives. The debrief reports indicate as much.

Imagawa does appear to be uncustomarily impatient with Specialist Grace “Dokkaebi" Nam, despite them often spending lab time together.

The dynamic surprises me because I can't quite pin it down. When I asked, Imagawa said I was mistaken, and Dokkaebi seems not to notice or to care. I've read the reports and my hunch hovers over some joint training exercise with the GIGN. Imagawa may envy Nam's easy self-assurance, which corresponds with records concerning Imagawa's younger sister. Still, l'd like to explore this further. They aren't necessarily at loggerheads, but it may affect future operations in some way we can't foresee if I can't determine the source of the rupture in Imagawa's calm.

- Dr. Harishva "Harry" Pandey, Director of Rainbow

Gameplay Description

A Light Armored Operator, Hibana's unique gadget is the X-KAIROS Launcher, which can fire explosive pellets that can be remotely detonated simultaneously and can pierce reinforced walls.

• Hibana is equipped with the X-KAIROS, a projectile launcher that fires thermal breaching pellets. The launcher has a total of three shots.
• The X-KAIROS initiates a box-reticle that is visible to everyone, showing where her pellets will land. Pressing the fire key will launch a single cluster six of X-KAIROS pellets in a 2x3 rectangle. If the pellets hit a flat surface, they will deploy and wait for detonation.

• The pellets only deploy on flat surfaces. They will not deploy on environmental props, player entities (including Terrorists), and some gadgets like Deployable Shields. When the pellets hit these objects, they will bounce away and deactivate.
• The pellets do not disperse; even if aimed from an angle or at a distance, the pellets will deploy squarely on the surface Hibana fired at.
• If the pellets hit an Operator directly, each pellet will deal 1 damage.

• Deployed X-KAIROS pellets can be destroyed by gunfire, melee, and explosive damage.
• If the player uses the gadget key again while X-KAIROS is active and some pellets were deployed, Hibana will trigger all deployed X-KAIROS pellets for detonation. After a short "melt time", the deployed X-KAIROS pellets will detonate. Each pellet can destroy a small section of a surface, and can destroy Reinforcements due to having thermal breaching properties.

• A single pellet can destroy one of Mira's Black Mirrors.
• A total of four pellets, regardless of placement, is required to open a hatch. Any less and small holes will be created instead.
• Aside from using them on individual walls to create lines of sight, Hibana can use the X-KAIROS pellets together to create a traversable hole in one of three ways: one cluster at ground level will be large enough to crawl through; two clusters stacked should make a hole that can be ducked into or vault over; using all three should create a hole that an Operator can run through with ease. However, use this wisely as this depletes all of Hibbana's X-KAIROS.
• Because the X-KAIROS only triggers the deployed pellets, Hibana has the option of deploying and activating a cluster of the X-KAIROS pellets one at a time, or deploying them all before activating them at once.
• The time to melt through the metal is slightly longer than Thermite's Exothermic Charge, at 5 seconds compared to Thermite's 3.
• X-KAIROS pellet explosions deal minimal damage, around 4 points each, and have a very small explosive radius. Because of these properties, Operators can drop from a reinforced hatch using the pellets without much self-inflicted harm.

Synergies

• Operators that handle electronic gadgets, like Thatcher, Twitch and IQ, provide a near guarantee that the X-KAIROS pellets work as intended.
• Thermite provides a straight-up opening against Reinforced Walls. Alongside her mentor, the two can cause chaos the moment their exothermic gadgets explode.
• Maverick can provide immediate sight lines in a Reinforced Wall, especially when needed to destroy any Signal Disruptors or Shock Wires that prevent it.

Counters

• Mute's Signal Disruptors will prevent the X-KAIROS pellets in its radius from beginning their detonation sequence.
• Like Thermite's Exothermic Charges, Bandit's Shock Wire can destroy the X-KAIROS pellets regardless whether they have already been triggered or not.
• Kaid's Electroclaw functions like Bandit's Shock Wires and will also destroy the X-KAIROS pellets.

Loadout

Loadout
Primary	Type-89 Assault Rifle SuperNova Shotgun
Secondary	P229 Handgun Bearing 9 Machine Pistol
Gadget	Stun Grenade x 3 Breach Charge x 3
	X-KAIROS x 3 (x6)

"A 40mm grenade launcher firing explosive pellets that can be detonated from a distance."
— X-KAIROS Description

Partaking in a Special Operation conference in Jordan, Imagawa met Operator Jordan "Thermite" Trace, a pioneer in Brimstone BC-3 Exothermic experiments. She collaborated with him to develop the “X-KAIROS,” a 40 mm caliber launcher. The X-KAIROS fires explosive pellets that can be detonated simultaneously from a distance. Deliver innovative assaults by creating lines of sights, or new pathways.

Device Evaluation

Device: X-KAIROS 40mm Calibre Launcher
Operator: Yumiko "Hibana" Imagawa
Evaluation Lead: Dr. Elena "Mira" Álvarez

"When I took over the R&D arm of Rainbow, the first thing I did was examine Specialist Yumiko "Hibana" Imagawa's grenade launcher, X-Kairos. I can't tell you how many times I watched her smash through my bulletproof mirrors; I struggled to figure out a weakness in her weapon, but I can't counter brute force when chemistry is thrown into the mix. Much to my annoyance, I have to admit that Specialist Jordan "Thermite" Trace did an exemplary job in re-designing her launcher and payload."

(Comment_J. Trace: Told you! ;p)

"The 40 mm caliber grenade launcher fires pellets containing miniature Brimstone BC-3 Exothermic Charges. They don't detonate on impact, but through a primer in the housing that also shapes and channels the explosive charge into the wall. That's to prevent shrapnel from hitting anyone on the allied side of the wall. The GC90 can block the detonation signal, while the Rtila and CED-1 can destroy the pellets before they're expended, but it looks like my mirrors will remain vulnerable for now."

"All in all, Specialist Trace and Specialist Imagawa should collaborate more often."

— Dr. Elena "Mira" Álvarez, Director of R&D

Quotes

Hibana's Quotes

"Turn the unexpected into a weapon." Teaser Trailer "Watashi no tomodachi nara kō iu wa ne, 'baka dekai ana ga aku zo.'" (Japanese: 私の友達ならこう言うわね:「バカでかい穴が開くぞ」。) Red Crow Trailer "Iku wa yo." (Japanese: 行くわよ。) Spawning "As a good friend of mine would say: 'Stay away from the blast.'" "Keep calm in there, they'll come to us." "Remember, it's not over until I blow it up. And even then." "Use the field against them." "Stay together and follow my lead." Using X-KAIROS "As my friend would say, 'A really big fucking hole coming right up.'" "As my friend would say, 'Time to make a new door.'" "As my friend would say, 'Time to ring some ears.'" "Clear." "Got to love Trace's thermo-touch." "Setting Trace's thermo-touch." "Knock, knock!" "See you on the other side." Deploying Claymore "Mine set." Reloading "Changing mags!" "Reloading!" "Swapping mags!"

Trivia

• Hibana (Japanese: 火花) means "Spark" in Japanese.

• However, literally translated, it also means "Fire Flower", which is what her pellets also resemble.

• The X-KAIROS' namesake (Kairos) means "a propitious moment for decision or action" in Greek, referring to both Hibana's ability to give such a moment with her gadget. In a Hippocratic context, it can also refer to experimentation to achieve a given goal, likened to Hibana's tinkering that resulted in the gadget's creation.
• Her surname (Japanese: 今川) is written on her battledress in Japanese.

• The crest on her waist is two hikiryō, one of two other crests of the Imagawa clan.

• The green canisters on the X-KAIROS are marked with the warnings "可燃性ガス" and "爆発の危険あり", which are Japanese for "Flammable gas" and "Explosive danger present" respectively.
• Hibana is shown taking a picture with Pulse and Thermite that can be discovered on a piano on the Fortress map.
• Pulse's invitational charm (titled "Pulse's Heart") features the Japanese name 由美子 (Yumiko) inscribed on it. This is Hibana's name. Also, in the photo of him and her on Fortress, she appears to be wearing this charm as a necklace.
• Pulse has become obsessed with learning Japanese in order to impress Hibana. To do this he has been hanging around Echo, much to Echo's chagrin.
• Hibana looks up to Thatcher as a mentor figure.
• Hibana's emblem in the operator logo is the X Kairos breach pellet.

Gallery

Concept Art

Models

Hibana armed with Type-89 (Pre-Blood Orchid)

Hibana armed with SuperNova (Pre-Blood Orchid)

Hibana armed with Type-89 (Post-Blood Orchid)

Hibana armed with SuperNova (Post-Blood Orchid)

Stills

Hibana (In-game artwork)

Hibana in Operation Red Crow Key Art

Hibana and Echo in Operation Red Crow Key Art

Hibana and Echo in their SAT Airbone Uniform.

Hibana in her Fantasia bundle

Hibana in the Y2S3 Pro League Set

Hibana in the Vengeful Bundle

Icons

Hibana's Icon

Videos

Rainbow Six Siege - In Depth- Operator Profile- HIBANA

Hibana's X-Kairos Guide - Rainbow Six - Siege

Patch Changes

Update 4.1.0; March 7, 2019 Patch: Onkochisin Elite Set added. Facial model updated. Update 3.3.0; September 4, 2018 Patch: Hatch breaching requirement increased from one to four X-KAIROS pellets. Update 3.2.0; June 7, 2018 Patch: Movement speed slightly reduced. Update 3.1.2; May 1, 2018 Patch: Claymore is replaced with Breach Charges. X-KAIROS pellets no longer trigger Jäger's Active Defense Systems. Update 2.3.0; September 5, 2017 Patch: Model optimized. Face rigging updated. X-KAIROS pellets can now be destroyed by Shock Wire while in the process of detonating. Update 2.2.1; June 6, 2017 Patch: Hitbox reworked. Update 5.0; November 17, 2016 Patch: Introduction alongside Echo.