Hou Yi

"Aim, Fire. Each arrow finds its mark bringing down even the nine suns."

Hou Yi is one of the playable Gods in SMITE.

Lore
In a time long past, an unexpected calamity came to be. From whence none knew, ten suns rose above the horizon. Such incessant light and heat ravaged the earth, wilting fields of grain, drying rivers, even melting forged metal. Bent beneath the scorching rays, the people begged the Emperor-God Di Jun to aid them. In reply, he called the great archer, Hou Yi.

Armed with a mystical red bow and a quiver of white arrows, Hou Yi traveled to Earth. What he found was a barren land. Shielding his eyes, he peered to the sky where the ten suns cruelly flared.

Nocking arrow to bow, Hou Yi loosed a warning at the suns hoping to frighten them away, but they impassively remained. So Hou Yi drew again and fired a killing shot. Pierced, the sun exploded in color and a giant red raven with three legs fell to the earth, slain by the white arrow.

Eight times more Hou Yi drew arrow to cheek. Eight shots more he let fly. Eight more bursts rent the sky, and eight more ravens fell dead. But one sun he left, and so fearful of Hou Yi's archery, this sun behaved, dipping below the horizon.

Now armed with the power of the red ravens he smote, sending light and fire against those that threaten the world, be it monster or beast, dragon or sun, man or God, Hou Yi is the Defender of the Earth.

General

 * Chang'e is Hou Yi's wife. As imagery goes, Hou Yi would come to represent the sun, while Chang'e represents the moon.
 * Hou Yi was the first god released in 2015.
 * Hou Yi was the last god released in Season 1.
 * The actor who voiced Hou Yi, Austin Tindle, also voiced Super Chronos 64 Chronos.
 * One of Hou Yi's jokes, HouYi_Joke_1.ogg "I've got 99 problems, but a sun isn't one!", is a reference to the song 99 Problems by Jay Z.
 * Both of Hou Yi's jokes about formerly liking peaches are references to one of his myths, where it's said that he met his ultimate demise when Feng Meng - Hou Yi's protégé - and others beat him to death with a club made from the wood of a peach tree.
 * One of Hou Yi's idle animations is a reference to the "Praise the Sun" gesture from the video game Dark Souls.

God Skins

 * T_HouYi_Couple_Icon.pngT HouYi GroomRecolor Icon.pngMoon's Groom/Handsome Hunter
 * This skin was released in conjunction with Sun's Bride Chang'e.
 * Players using this skin will always appear on the left-most side of the loading screen. This is done so that, if paired with a player using Sun's Bride Chang'e, they will be displayed together.
 * The actor who voiced this skin, Jeff Plunk, also voiced Krampus Cernunnos and Dread-Lord Fafnir.


 * T_HouYi_Tribal_Icon.pngHou Ru Kai
 * This skin is based on the Uruk-hai from the book series Lord of the Rings.
 * The actor who voiced this skin, Mick Lauer, also voiced Cernunnos.
 * This skin shares its theme with Warchief Raijin.


 * T_HouYi_DemonicSamurai_Icon.pngSpirit Sun
 * This skin changes Hou Yi to his completely opposite element.
 * One of his jokes, SpiritSunHouYi Joke 1.ogg "Power level 1000.. what!? No, no one really measures power like that." could be a reference to the Over 9000 meme.


 * T_HouYi_Cyber_Icon.pngGrim Eclipse
 * This skin was part of the event Escape from the Underworld.
 * The actor who did the voice for this skin, Bruce DuBose, also voiced Royal Fury Anhur, Thor and Valkyrie Bride Thor.
 * This skin shares its theme with Grim Weaver Arachne, Grim Horseman Guan Yu, Grim Wraith Hades and Grim Shadow Nox.


 * T_HouYi_LightAngel_Icon.pngHeaven's Arrow
 * This skin is based on an Angel.
 * The actor who voiced this skin, Jonah Scott, also voiced Modern Messenger Mercury and Frostfire Ullr.
 * This skin shares it's theme with Midnight Dove Awilix, Archangel Chernobog, Celestial Eset, Sacred Grounds Geb, Inner Demon Hel, Seraph Horus, Divine Right Jing Wei, Celestial Guard Odin, Radiant Archon Ra, Sacred Arrow Rama, Archon Thanatos and Angelic Archon Yemoja.


 * T_HouYi_DruidCeltic_Icon.pngSylvan Sentinel


 * This skin shares its theme with The Green Knight King Arthur, Riftshaker Janus, Nature's Guardian Rama, Wolfsbane Skadi and Grove Keeper Xing Tian.


 * T_HouYi_Mercenary_Icon.pngIron Crow
 * This skin was also voiced by Austin Tindle.
 * His intro line, MercenaryHouYi_Intro_1.ogg "No one cared who I was until I put on the mask." is a quote made by Bane in the movie The Dark Knight Rises.
 * One of his taunts MercenaryHouYi_Taunt_2.ogg "I use a bow because guns are too quick. You can't savour all the... little emotions." is an altered quote made by Joker in the movie The Dark Knight.


 * T_HouYi_TotemCaller_Icon.pngTotem Caller
 * There is a 1/20 chance for an easter egg to occur each time this skin's ultimate is used. As Skybreaker walks away and disappears, a faint squeak can be heard as if it is passing gas.
 * This easter egg originally had a 1/5000 chance of happening but was later increased due to not being discovered for months after the skin's release.
 * This is the third T5 final reward skin not obtainable in the Odyssey events. The other two being Divine Dragon Bellona and Winds of Change Kukulkan.
 * This is the first skin to not shoot down suns in his ultimate. He instead calls Skybreaker to breath down destruction at the target location.
 * The names of the spirit animals are:
 * Burrowsaur (Ricochet)
 * Ghouliepaw (Mark of the Crow)
 * Flutterfiend (Dive Bomb)
 * Skybreaker (Sunbreaker)
 * The actor who voiced this skin, Doug Cockle, also voiced Chernobog and is known for voicing Geralt of Rivia from the video game series The Witcher.

Skins
Default=
 * -|Sunbreaker=
 * -|Searing Sun=
 * -|Moon's Groom=
 * -|Hou Ru Kai=
 * -|Spirit Sun=
 * -|Grim Eclipse=
 * -|Heaven's Arrow=
 * -|Handsome Hunter=
 * -|Sylvan Sentinel=
 * -|Iron Crow=
 * -|The Hunter=
 * -|Totem Caller=
 * -|Golden=
 * -|Legendary=
 * -|Diamond=