Murata Himeko (Chinese: 無量塔姫子; pinyin: Wúliàngtǎ Jīzǐ) is a character from the Honkai video game series developed by miHoYo. The character originally appeared in Guns Girl Z as the commander of a squad dedicated to fighting a supernatural destructive force called the Honkai. The character has since appeared as distinct iterations in the two subsequent games in the series, Honkai Impact 3rd and Honkai: Star Rail. In the former game, she is the daughter of a brilliant scientist who became a warrior and teacher after her father's death, training students to fight the Honkai. She later sacrificed herself to save the game's protagonist, Kiana Kaslana, from being controlled by the Herrscher of the Void, dying in the process. In the latter game, she rebuilds the Astral Express train after it crashes on her home planet of Planarcadia. Afterwards, she became the train's navigator and leader, helping to guide its crew through major conflicts across the universe. As of 2026, six playable battlesuits have been released for Himeko in Honkai Impact 3rd. In July 2026, an alternative playable version of Himeko in Honkai: Star Rail, called Himeko • Nova (姬子·启行; Jīzǐ: Qǐxíng; 'Himeko: Star-Bound Journey'), was released. Himeko was generally received well, and the lore and stories between the Honkai Impact 3rd and Honkai: Star Rail iterations were generally compared. However, Himeko's gameplay in Honkai: Star Rail was generally criticized for her poor damage output.
Design and voice acting Himeko first appeared as a boss character in version 1.8 of Guns Girl Z, also known as Houkai Gakuen 2, in 2015. Before her first in-game appearances in Honkai Impact 3rd and Honkai: Star Rail, she debuted in the manhua Escape from Nagazora and was teased through a cameo appearance in the manhua Alien Space, respectively. In version 1.1 of Honkai Impact 3rd, Himeko was released as a playable character, or Valkyrie, in 2016, alongside two battlesuits: Battle Storm and Scarlet Fusion. Since her release in the game, Himeko has received six playable battlesuits, the latest of which, Vermilion Knight: Eclipse (真红骑士·月蚀; Zhēnhóng Qíshì: Yuèshí; 'Crimson Knight: Lunar Eclipse'), was released in 2018. miHoYo first revealed that an iteration of Himeko would appear in Honkai: Star Rail upon the release of the game's first trailer on October 7, 2021, although they first revealed information about the Himeko which appears in Honkai: Star Rail on April 10, 2023, where she appeared in a trailer which showed her combat abilities. On May 19, 2026, miHoYo revealed that this Himeko would receive a new form called Himeko • Nova. All Himeko iterations are voiced in Chinese by Lin Su and in Japanese by Rie Tanaka. Honkai Impact 3rd does not offer English or Korean voice-overs, but in Honkai: Star Rail she is voiced by Cia Court and Kim Bo-na, respectively, in those languages.
Appearances
Guns Girl Z In the Retrospective Chapter, Murata Himeko encounters the game's protagonists, Kiana Kaslana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya Zaychik, after they board Hyperion, the flying battleship under her command. Himeko mistakes the trio for infiltrators from Anti-Entropy, an organization opposed to Schicksal, the anti-Honkai organization she serves. Theresa Apocalypse, the head of Schicksal, clears the misunderstanding after recognizing Kiana's voice, and the trio is recruited into St. Freya Academy. Sometime later, Bronya is briefly manipulated by Anti-Entropy and attempts to destroy Hyperion's reactor. Himeko and Theresa lead the academy's defense against an Anti-Entropy assault. During the battle, Himeko rams Hyperion into the enemy battleship Moonlight Throne, allowing Kiana, Mei, and Bronya to infiltrate it and disable its power core. When Moonlight Throne later crashes into the academy's church, Himeko and Theresa search the wreckage for the missing Kiana. During the search, Himeko learns that the academy was built atop the remains of the Second Herrscher. A Herrscher is a human influenced by the destructive supernatural force known as the Honkai. She also learns that Schicksal had secretly studied Herrscher power to counter future threats. After Kiana is revealed to have fused with the Second Herrscher's core and triggered a Final Eruption, she transforms and acts under the Herrscher's will. She turns on her former allies and kills Himeko, Theresa, and Seele Vollerei, one of Bronya's fellow orphans. Kiana ultimately destroys all life, ending the timeline. The world is subsequently reset into a new cycle, whose events are depicted in the Reborn Chapter. In the Reborn Chapter, Himeko reappears when she rescues Raiden Mei during a Schicksal operation against an Anti-Entropy facility. She introduces herself as an A-rank Schicksal Valkyrie and instructor at St. Freya Academy. She takes Mei under Schicksal's protection and trains her alongside Kiana Kaslana and Senba Academy student Houraiji Kyuushou. Their time at St. Freya is disrupted when Welt (no relation to Welt Yang), the leader of Anti-Entropy who is posing as Kiana's father Siegfried Kaslana, reveals that the real Siegfried had died years earlier. Welt then attempts to forcibly transform Kiana into a Herrscher using the Herrscher Furnace. Kiana's Herrscher powers awaken, creating a massive rift known as the Subspace Fault. As St. Freya collapses, Himeko attempts to evacuate the students and witnesses Kiana's mother, Cecilia Schariac, sacrifice herself to suppress Kiana's rampage and seal the rift. After St. Freya's destruction, Himeko, Theresa Apocalypse, and the surviving students form a rogue faction. Learning of Schicksal archbishop Otto Apocalypse's human experiments and plans disillusions Himeko, prompting her and Theresa to permanently break away from Schicksal during the organization's collapse. They later rebuild a defensive force while protecting civilians and rogue Valkyries. During the final battle against the Will of the Honkai, Himeko and fellow Valkyrie Mushoku Kika pilot a battleship and activate the Nexus System. The weapon is powered by Herrscher energy and consumes its user's life force. Although severely injured, their sacrifice contributes to humanity's victory. Himeko survives, recovers from the Nexus System's effects, retires from active duty, and later lives peacefully in the post-Honkai era while remaining close to Theresa.
Honkai Impact 3rd
Story
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