Artwork from the manual, mistakenly assigned to Kodiak
Clawed Striders (official name unknown) is a minor stage enemy from the NES version Strider. A number of them also appear in the first chapter of the manga.
This is a group of low-rank Striders who are loyal followers of Matic and part of his personal unit. They are recognized for carrying small, two-pronged hand claws as their weapon of choice; and are seen wearing the same basic full body uniform seen on all other grunt-level Striders, possibly indicating they are part of the Striders organization's lower C rank members.
Information[]
Appears in Los Angeles (Strider Headquarters area) and Red Dragon.
The Clawed Striders are small, hunchbacked enemies found in groups within the Striders HQ and Matic's Red Dragon station. They wear what appears to be a white headgear and a blue uniform with white leg wraps similar to Hiryu's. As the name indicates, they wield a clawed gauntlet on their hands with two prongs. They are capable of walking up across ceilings with ease, and make use of this to ambush targets by falling from above their heads.
These Striders appear when Hiryu enters the control room, initially walking widly over the ceiling. Eventually, they attempt to fall on Hiryu, and then start running back and forth trying to damage him by direct contact. This enemy appears in groups of around 2-3, but are otherwise easily killed by a single strike of the Cypher.
In the manga[]
A clawed Strider in the manga
A team of around 6 Striders accompanied Matic when he traveled to Mongolia seeking to speak with Hiryu and force him into accepting a mission to kill Kain. As Hiryu refuses him, Matic motions to two of his men and they immediately jump at the crowd of civilians watching the scene, intending on attacking them. Hiryu, however, moves faster and stops the two attackers by severing their arms with a swift bare-handed strike.
Four other members can later be seen standing behind Matic as he talks with Hiryu and later gazing in shocked awe as Hiryu displays the cutting power of his Cypher.