Nakoruru (ナコルル, Nakoruru) is a character in the Samurai Shodown series of fighting games. Although she has no particular model for her character, Hilda from Hols: Prince of the Sun and The Dagger of Kamui helped her conception process. Also developers admit that her famous "This is nature's punishment" quote is based on Sailor Moon's "In the name of moon, I punish you" line. Her character is based upon the Ainu people of Hokkaido, Japan, who are analogous in Japan to the Native Americans in the United States. As the Japanese perceive the Ainu as living closer to nature, Nakoruru's role in the game is of a defender of Mother Nature; in some material Nakoruru has been referred to as a priestess.
Aside from the main series, Nakoruru also has several figurines made in her image from various game appearances and is a featured character in several of the series's drama CDs. She stars in her own character image CD and is also a member in SNK's character image band, Band of Fighters. She is also a common mascot for SNK's social action programs for children and nature awareness campaigns, sometimes being paired with Terry Bogard for such events.

In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, she was voted as the seventh favorite character with a total of 1,252 votes.