The Navigator (official name unknown) is a minor character introduced in the PC Engine port of Strider. She's an unseen character featured in the game's cutscenes.

A female agent that works as mission control from within the Strider Base^[1], providing assistance to active agents during missions via a satellite link. During Hiryu's mission to stop Grandmaster Meio, she assists him by providing intel on locations and updating him on mission objectives.

Story

Strider

At the beginning of the mission, the Navigator contacts Hiryu to inform him the Striders military spy satellite has discovered a base under construction in the area of the Kazakh Federation suspected to be one of Meio's facilities, and orders him to infiltrate and search its interior. She then explains that, should a Strider's life signal becomes critical, a bomb installed in their bodies will explode as a way to maintain confidentiality. She ends communication by wishing for the mission's success.^[1]

After Hiryu's victory over General Mikiel, the Navigator contacts him about a vehicle that has escaped the base, and instructs him to pursue it into a nearby desert.^[2]

Following the destruction of the Flying Battleship Balrog, Grandmaster Meio sends a video message to the Striders, seeing their intent on opposing him and warning them of his power. The Navigator tracks down the source of the video to a secluded area in the Amazon and instructs Hiryu to investigate at once.^[3]

Once Hiryu learns of the Third Moon from an Amazoness, the Navigator informs him of a shuttle about to take off to the station from a base in South America, and prompts Hiryu to hurry up as there's little time left.^[4]

Other Navigators

• A minor Strider agent at the beginning of the manga appears to have a similar function to the Navigator, receiving Sheena's communication reporting Kain's capture in Kazakh and informing Vice-Director Matic of this development right after.
• There appears to be a similar unseen navigator in Strider 2, a male (voiced by Hozumi Gouda) who provides a rough outline of the stage's progression and objective during each stage's wireframe map intro cutscene. As he also voices the "Game Over", "Hurry!" and "Time Over" lines, it's unknown whether this is an actual character in the story or just a narrator for the player's sake.
• The functions of the Navigator are taken up by the Option-D or "Pilot Option" in the 2014 Strider, a small machine which provides Hiryu with information on his surroundings and updates on his current objective, among other things.

References

Strider
Hiryu
Equipment: Cypher • Options (A • B • C) • Climb Sickle • Glider Moves: Slide • Cartwheel Jump • Big Jump • Cypher Attack • Bunshin
Stage Enemies
Russian Infantryman • Rascal • Flying Mosqueman • Mosqueman • Shadow Tag Bullets Soldier • Desert Soldier† Giant Sandworm† • Army Jeep† • Siberian Wolf • Wall Crawler • Frog • Balrog Marine Corps • Turret • Laser Turret Giant Main Gun • Mr. Elephant • Hit Mouse • Floating Mine • Amazoness • Poison Mushroom • Dinosaurs • Piranha
Bosses
Strobaya • Novo • Ouroboros (General Mikiel) • Giant Antlion† • Sovkhoz Я (Tank Driver)† • Mecha Pon • Solo • Kuniang Anti-Gravity Device • Captain Beard Jr. • Lago • Grandmaster Meio
Locations
St. Petersburg • Oil Fields† • Siberia • Flying Battleship Balrog • Amazon • The Third Moon South American Base†
Related Articles
Striders • Kazakh Federation • Research Staffs • Minor groups • Minor Striders • Flying Tortoise • Sky Thunder Mk-II Navigator† • Assault Rifle • Giant Flamethrower • Plasma Whirlwind • Summoning • The Third Moon Plan • Eurasia • Earth
† = Exclusive of the PC Engine port