RYU versus DHALSIM

Battle 04: Carnival (Tokuma)
Where: Street Fighter II #3 When: June 1994
Why: Masaomi Kanzaki How: Masaomi Kanzaki

The Story So Far...
Ryu has travelled from Japan to the crime-ridden island metropolis of Shad in pursuit of earning his place in the renowned Third Annual Grand Fight. Something he can only do by competing in street fights to earn a place in the final stadium tournament bracket.

A victory over former boxing champion Balrog has made Ryu a hot prospect, but to assure himself a place in the stadium showcase he must overcome a warrior with unique insight, who has sensed the power of his chi and is determined to defeat him.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Ryu 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Dhalsim 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Ryu 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Dhalsim 6 (Rubber)
Fighting: Ryu 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Ryu 3 (Explosives)
Total: Draw 23 (Champion)

Ryu is the eternal "World Warrior", wandering the globe in search of truth through fist. Although there are significant departures from established Capcom canon in Masaomi Kanzaki's 1993 manga adaptation (and it's Tokuma Comics version edited for US distribution) -- that spirit of competitive fighting remains true!

Ryu won the first major fight of the localized series when he faced Balrog (aka; "Boxer") in a match that almost ended with his assassination.

The sniper was cut-off by Guile, but this time the US Special Forces man won't have his back. He joins Ryu as a competitor in the Grand Fight Tournament -- a renowned event held in Shad to crown the strongest fighter in the world.

Dhalsim may not have the outwardly appearance of a muscle-bound powerhouse capable of claiming that title -- but his mastery of esoteric yoga techniques has made him an enduring force in the world of Street Fighter.

In UDON's comic book adaptation, Ryu sought the wisdom of Dhalsim's council as he honed his fighting technique and wrestled with the inner darkness of his desire to avenge his master Gouken -- who was murdered by Akuma.

In that encounter, Ryu was humbled in defeat, as he learned the value of Dhalsim's unusual philosophy towards the spirit of fighting. Something Sagat had already experienced when he sought out Dhalsim's training for similar reasons.

Gamers know Dhalsim is ostensibly a pacifist who uses his fighting techniques to protect and sustain his village in India. He believes in the yogic principles of harmony & understanding, mostly reluctant to use the offensive capabilities of his style, which includes breathing "yoga flame" for a variety of short & long range fire attacks, as well as extending his limbs for uncanny striking reach.

Ryu is arguably a superior fighter to Dhalsim, continually honing his ansatsuken style in friendly competition with his martial arts brother Ken and against powerful opponents like Sagat. He harnesses his chi for a variety of fire-based attacks, famously scarring Sagat with his violent shoryuken dragon punch.

Yet, Ryu has also been shown to still have much to learn. During the prequel plot of the Street Fighter Alpha manga, he was defeated by the similarly enlightened approach of Rose. Will his SFII manga battle be a moment of learning - or victory? Let's drop some quarters in the slot and get this fight started!

History: Dhalsim (1-0-0)

The Tape: Draw Ranking: Ryu (#30)

What Went Down...

Dhalsim pulls away the turban and robes covering his body, revealing sparse decoration on his slender frame. A metal ring clinks and dangles around each his wrists, while three small skulls stare across the street to his eager opponent.

Ryu didn't expect to meet the impressive yogi so soon in his quest to reach the Grand Fight. He can tell Dhalsim is a tough fighter, but has no intention of losing his ticket to the big battle. Dhalsim swears on his skulls that he will win.

Ryu makes the first move, closing in on his opponent with an overhand punch -- but Dhalsim dashes backwards to avoid the blow and create space.

The Japanese fighter is stunned to immediately find himself forced to block a kick!

He can hardly believe that Dhalsim's limbs are closing the divide - stretching for dangerous long-ranged kicks and punches!

Undeterred by the blocked kick - Dhalsim quickly follows with a stretching punch!

Ryu blocks that too, but still feels the mental and physical toll of the blow.

His mind begins to race. He can't find a way to get close to Dhalsim!

The yogi takes full advantage of his command of the space. If his limbs cannot strike their target -- he will try a projectile attack!

The ball of Yoga Fire hurtles toward Ryu!

He does his best to mitigate its burning seer -- dropping and rolling on the ground as gathered onlookers watch in slack jawed awe.

"Like I said, I swear on these skulls that I will not lose."

Ryu regains a vertical base, his arms sizzling as he assumes a ready stance.

Fighting through the crowd, his friends Po-Lin and her young brother are shocked to see the martial artist in such rough shape.

Dhalsim throws another furious stretching punch, which Ryu barely manages to block with his burnt arms.

He attempts to fight fire with fire, unleashing a hadoken fireball!

Once again the yogi stuns his opponent -- standing stoically as he catches the fireball with his bare hands and lets it dissipate to nothingness.

He is impressed by the strength of Ryu's chi, but it will be useless against one who has mastered the ways of yoga in pursuit of a noble cause.

Dhalsim reveals the terrible toll of economic hardship suffered in his country. The pointless deaths of innocent women and children who suffer the frequent wars, disease, and starvation that afflict the poverty-stricken nation.

He once pledged himself to the teachings of Brahman, and the ways of yoga, but came to learn they were useless in protecting his people. So he has abandoned the way, intent on earning victory through fighting to divert his winnings to the children. Children like those who produced the skulls he wears around his neck.

Ryu sympathizes with Dhalsim's plight, but doubts that a street fight will offer much of a solution.

He remains committed to fighting for himself, but as he contemplates his last resort, Ryu recalls his master's teachings: 'Listen, the sho-ryu-ken (dragon punch) is a powerful force... but use it only when necessary! It may call upon death!'

Dhalsim forces the issue with Yoga Flame!

Ryu is doused in the inferno of the spewing flame!

Afraid for his friend, young Wong-Mei cries his name -- and Dhalsim hears!

The child's voice provides a momentary distraction. A distraction that costs Dhalsim dearly as Ryu resorts to his most powerful strike -- the shoryuken!

The Hammer...

In repurposing the original chapters of the Tokuma Shoten manga for a format and tone more in keeping with American comics; the English colorized version creates a cliffhanger that doesn't exist within collected tankobon editions.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths usually adheres to rules restricting an entry to the contents of an individual issue, but fortunately, this issue's final page ends with Ryu charging his shoryuken -- the finishing move of the fight!

We can therefore cheat a little and record a definitive result, with the impact (pictured below), taken from Street Fighter II #4, page four.

The [almost] full-page image is one of the most striking of the adapted series so far, and one of the most successful applications of colour to the original greyscale Kanzaki art.

Unlike some of the other panels featured in this article - this one removes original black & white shading methods, replacing Dhalsim's zipatone flesh with relatively straight colour. You'll notice in other panels they awkwardly coloured right over the top of horizontal lines used to create darker shades in original black & white art. It's more obvious in the digital scans, but it's still a clumsy visual to the eye.

The process of making this image has pros and cons. The American comic creates a clean, well realized version by completely re-doing background action lines in colour, which presumably also made it easier to replace Japanese sound effects with English translations. Unfortunately, the inks still become muddier and simplified in the process, losing the finer details of impact motion lines on Dhalsim's body, and diminishing the marriage of Ryu's dragon fist in non-linear contrast to the background, which is rendered originally with similar lines, just in different directions. Ultimately, the original looks the best, but this one is still nice.

UDON did a wonderful job of localizing the complete Masaomi Kanzaki story in three black & white volumes in 2007, which includes the entire 450-or-so page story in its original format, with English translations.

In addition to revealing various edits of panel size, layout, and slight changes to context of various dialogue exchanges -- the collections also include an entire excised plot running much longer than the eight-issue American series.

Ordinarily I'd skew towards referencing the original format, but I only have two of the UDON volumes, and I think it's interesting and worthwhile to explore the oddities of what Western gamers were subjected to in the 1994 American editions.

Back then you had to work a little harder to get the story details of your favourite characters. Gamers should have been savvy enough to know Po-Lin and Wong-Mei were invented for the manga, along with the Shad location of the series, but this version of Dhalsim at least skews fairly close to the basic premise of the Street Fighter II video game character.

He remains a deeply spiritual practitioner of yoga in the comic, choosing to fight only to raise funds to protect the innocents of his homeland, who are afflicted with famine and pestilence caused by poverty and war. At the time, the manga may have been one of the most effective deliveries of this premise.

This generally became Dhalsim's motivation moving throughout the franchise, albeit with more specific focus on his village, rather than the entire nation of India, which goes largely unnamed in both versions of the translated manga & comic.

India is only specifically mentioned in Dhalsim's entry in the character bios that are included at the bottom of every page in each American issue. These bios inform readers of each character's background and stats, while also compensating for the different dimensions of American comic book and manga page sizes. The manga is slightly more squat, leaving empty space at the top or bottom of pages.

In the earliest contemporaneous versions of the Street Fighter II arcade game(s), Dhalsim was explicitly shown returning home to a wife after the tournament, with whom he parents an inquisitive young son some three years after the game. That doesn't seem to be represented here, but women & children remain significant.

The undersized skulls Dhalsim wears around his neck provide literal and spiritual protection in the comic. They are motivational keepsakes of the children who died in his country, but are ultimately destroyed while saving his life -- absorbing the brunt of Ryu's shoryuken dragon fist that is described as a potentially lethal killing technique. A reinforcement of their defensive, mystic properties.

The concept of the skulls may be a fictionalized derivation of the Kapalika "skull-bearers" of ancient Shaivite ascetics, who worshipped Shiva and carried begging cups carved from human skulls, among other things. Dhalsim does not appear to explicitly share any of the ritual context associated with those tantric sects.

The American version describes Dhalsim's lapsed dedication to "Brahman", a Hindu concept of reality, with ties to the creation deity Brahma, and appropriate etymological origins denoting "to swell, expand, grow, enlarge" -- much like his extending arms and legs. The UDON translation of this dialogue refers instead to a generic, non-denominational "Yoga god". I presume the latter is more accurate.

Both versions of India are depicted as an overtly war-torn nation. I might speculate that was inspired by the Kashmir territorial conflict between India and Pakistan, but I'm not expert enough in world politics to know, or recall, what tensions and unrest existed within the country around that time.

I do have very specific, fond memories of playing Dhalsim in the Street Fighter II video game back in those days, though.

I was a youngster, grabbing life and pop culture with both hands. I was fairly immediately taken with the international flavour and fantastical martial arts characters of Street Fighter II. The iconic battlecries of the various fighters were like a siren-song beckoning me to any game cabinet that might be in the nearby vicinity -- and back in those days there were plenty!

Arcades, movie theatres, supermarkets, delis, video stores, bowling alleys -- you name the location, and there's a pretty good chance they had a coin muncher or two. Of course, for me, Dhalsim will always be linked with the home PC port.

That was how I beat Street Fighter II for the first time. I used Dhalsim -- a character I perceived as having the basic advantage of punching & kicking across most of the screen. It took hours, and playing through a PC glitch that turned Vega's cage fight into a bizarre, twinkling pixel abstract nightmare, but in the end I was successful. A double rite of passage as it was the first time I had ever deliberately stayed up deep into the AM. Something gamers know all about!

We didn't have a PC at home, but I was sleeping over at a family friend's house. At that point I don't think they had any children, so I enjoyed the loose discipline and pop culture corruption of a pseudo-nephew. Alas, "Uncle" David isn't with us any more, but as with many comic books, this one comes with a nice memory.

There are plenty more memories to be had with the Street Fighter II comic series, but for now we move on to other interests. Like other recent entries, this one was inspired by the release of the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection, but if you'd like to make sure I come back to this topic sooner, perhaps you'd like to consider becoming a Secret Wars on Infinite Earths supporter on Patreon.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 700 fights and ranked more than 1,000 characters! You can find them all for free by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of battles in order of publisher, series, and issue -- or by hitting links to your favourite topics found throughout each entry. For Street Fighter, you might need to scroll through to the bottom. You can also find more from Capcom and the Street Fighter world. Shoryuken!

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Twitter! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on Twitter & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber!

Winner: Ryu
#24 (+6) Ryu
#75 (-10) Dhalsim

HERO OF THE WEEK: RYU (Capcom)
Real Name: Ryu
First Appearance: Street Fighter (August, 1987)
Fight Club Ranking: #19

Featured Fights:
- vs BALROG: Street Fighter II #1 (Jul 1994)
- vs VEGA: Street Fighter (Dec 1994)
- vs SAGAT & VEGA: Street Fighter (Dec 1994)
- vs GUILE: Street Fighter II V Ep. 2 (Apr 1995)
- vs SAGAT: Street Fighter II V Ep. 9 (Jun 1995)
- vs KEN: Street Fighter II V Ep. 12 (Jul 1995)
- vs KEN: Street Fighter Alpha (Dec 1999)
- vs ZANGIEF: Street Fighter Alpha (Dec 1999)
- vs SADLER'S CYBORG: Street Fighter Alpha (Dec 1999)
- vs KEN: Street Fighter #1 (Sep 2003)
- vs SAGAT: Street Fighter #1 (Sep 2003)
- vs SAGAT: Street Fighter II #2 (Dec 2005)
- vs DHALSIM: Street Fighter II #3 (Feb 2006)
- vs ROSE: Street Fighter Alpha Vol. 1 (2007)

Since returning to Secret Wars on Infinite Earths for the site's 10th Anniversary, I've wanted to double down on some of the cool comics and characters we never got around to. With over 800 characters in the system, it's hard to believe we've already added a dozen or so new additions in 2016!

That's all good and well, but inevitably we come to a point where old passions die hard.  That brings us to today's Hero of the Week - the wandering world warrior known only as Ryu!

You probably know Ryu best as the karateman mascot of the Street Fighter video game series. He's been the franchise lead since the beginning - fighting through the forgotten original 1987 Street Fighter arcade game, through to tomorrow's PlayStation 4 new release: Street Fighter V! He was one of only two playable characters in that first game, and he's back on the cover for the newest one.

Street Fighter V boasts a new-to-the-series, post-release story mode that will take players through the latest chapter of Ryu's saga. It's the kind of addition I've been waiting the entire series for. When in gaming circles, I often find myself defending Street Fighter's overlooked story component. If I'm at all self-conscious about interrupting the site's renewed comics focus with a video game HOTW -- I need only look to the canon of Masahiko Nakahira to remember comics (manga) have carried much of the burden of Street Fighter's world for quite some time.

I'm not entirely sure I'm going to love Street Fighter V's story. Most of the established beat 'em up franchises have been gradually drifting away from their martial arts origins, moving into the world of comic book militaria, and super-heroics. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Those elements have always been there. It's just that I've always appreciated the foundational elements of martial arts fiction and philosophy that were unique to series like Street Fighter, and its rivals.

The nuanced combination of fighting, fables, philosophy and sport has often been uncomplicated in the hands of Street Fighter's creators. Motivations can often be boiled down to archetypes of rivalry, jealousy, revenge, greed, competitiveness, vanity, or megalomania.

As of Street Fighter II, a tremendous amount of heavy lifting was supplied by the character design. Painted in broad strokes, each character communicated a lot about their world view through strong visual context. Designed around nationality, fighting style, and simple cartooning -- the most enduring icons are not only instantly recognizable, but revealed in their appearance and fighting. The very animation of the games fighting reflects the characters behind each move - their body language and facial expressions communicating exactly as human beings should. To fight them is often to know them. This sense of character makes everything that comes after it all the sweeter.

Many characters simply wish to be the best fighter in a match, their style, or the world. With such vivid characters - this simple pursuit of self is enough to create a compelling world through the chemical reactions of each match. Some fighters will like each other, some will hate. Many will remain unchanged as their drive towards a goal refines them. I've always viewed the strong identity of Street Fighter characters as one of their greatest strengths, but when progress occurs, it is exciting.

Ryu's journey has taken him through various missions and rivalries, allowing him to transfer meaning to other characters. Defeating final boss Sagat in the first game flipped the script and created one of my favourite characters. "The Emperor of Muay Thai" [Sagat] arrived in the sequel with a massive chest scar - a visual reminder of the first game, and his now famous loss to Ryu [Street Fighter #1].

Sagat allowed himself to become even more corrupt in the pursuit of revenge in Street Fighter II, a subordinate sub-boss to Bison and his sinister organization: Shadaloo. He refined his own counterpart moves to Ryu's specials and was dedicated to revenge. His journey would ultimately become one of self discovery, leading to redemption and peace. He turned his back on Shadaloo and restored his honor by making peace with losing to Ryu. In UDON's comics, this helped Sagat defeat Ryu [Street Fighter II #2]. By Street Fighter III, he was no longer among the fighting ranks.

Sagat's story is almost a double helix to Ryu's. Much of Street Fighter Alpha has been dedicated to Ryu negotiating the threat of the Dark Hadou -- dangerous corrupting ki energy manifesting from the lethal intent of his Ansatsuken fighting style. It's a flowery metaphor in the classic vein of Star Wars' good and dark sides of The Force. Naturally, Ryu resolved his struggle with the dark hadou and rejected its power, but did not attain ultimate mastery in the process. In fact, friendly rival Ken beats him to total mastery first in Street Fighter III. Not quite the journey of the vanilla hero by numbers.

Scuttlebutt has it that Street Fighter V, like the revival before it, will be set before Street Fighter III. An unsurprising decision, given the then unpopular shake-up of Street Fighter's characters and fiction in the third instalment. SFV is clearly headed toward that direction, though. Many of its characters appear to be changing and aging. It will be interesting to see how far they go in bridging to the finality of some of Street Fighter III's stories. It's inconceivable to imagine Street Fighter without its icons, yet the format they're taking lends itself to putting some of the toys to bed, and graduating some of the other legends to the fore.

Whether Street Fighter V veers from its martial arts stories, or not, I'm sure we'll revisit their themes sometime in the future. If you'd like to see some of the Street Fighter stories and fights already covered, be sure to check out the featured links at the top of this article, or scroll down to the Miscellaneous section of the Issue Index Archive!

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Hero of the Week 2010 #15: Ryu

RYU (Capcom) (2009)
Real Name: Ryu
First Appearance: Street Fighter (August, 1987)
Group Affiliation: Gouken Dojo
Gaming Credentials: Street Fighter (1987); Street Fighter II (1991); Super Street Fighter II (1994); Street Fighter: The Movie (1995); Street Fighter Alpha (1996); X-Men vs Street Fighter (1996); Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (1996); Pocket Fighter (1997); Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998); Street Fighter III: Third Strike (1999); Street Fighter EX3 (2000); Capcom vs SNK 2 (2001); Marvel vs Capcom 2 (2002); Capcom Fighting Evolution (2004); Namco x Capcom (2005); Street Fighter IV (2009); Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (2009); Tatsunoko vs Capcom (2009); Super Street Fighter IV (2010); Marvel vs Capcom 3 (TBR/2010)
Infinite Wars Cumulative Ranking: #19

It's been a busy few years for the wandering world warrior called Ryu, but then, it's been a busy few decades too, hasn't it? You might have been led to believe the fighting spirit had left Ryu and his Street Fighter fellows at the turn of the century, but with arcade tangents like Capcom vs SNK 2 (2001) and Marvel vs Capcom 2 (2002) garnering huge followings, it's retroactively safe to say Street Fighter never truly went away. Things certainly got quiet for a while there, though.

2008 gave us the news many had been waiting a decade for -- Street Fighter IV!
With it has come a parabolic swing that finished the double-ohs with the upward momentum of the early nineties! In truth, Street Fighter IV was a follow-up announcement to the retro revival of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, but with comic book art studio UDON taking so long to complete their newly drawn HD sprite artwork, the franchise return led like their Japanense posterboy, with the power play of a finishing blow -- hadouken!

Ryu gathers his ki for a hadouken fireball in Street Fighter IV!

With SFIV has come a veritable torrent of titles, including a brand new crossover spectacle with the animé studio responsible for Gatchaman, Casshern, and Tekkaman -- Tatsunoko vs Capcom. That won't be the last fight Capcom picks with another company in this new era, but before we look toward the future, another fight is concluding...

For seven years, UDON have been the proprieters of the Street Fighter license, allowing them to not only produce comic books based on the popular fighting franchise, but also branch out as their own autonomous publishing group, UDON Comics, now responsible for handling adaptations of various Capcom brands (Rival Schools, Darkstalkers, Final Fight).

After publishing various incarnations of their Street Fighter series independently and through Image Comics, UDON arrived at the 2008 launch of the twelve-issue maxi-series, Street Fighter II Turbo. This was the summit of their various plotlines leading to their version of the official Street Fighter II tournament, which was summarized with elimination brackets I discussed in a previous blog. With the tournament beginning in issue #8, it's been a rapidfire of eliminations as UDON put a hint of plot to the established facts of the games, culminating in the Super Street Fighter II Turbo-inspired defeat of Bison at the hands of an uninvited Akuma -- and the subsequent confrontation between he and Ryu.

As has been the case all along, I struggle to offer any definite recommendation for the series. These comics are an indulgence that the average reader of the medium would not be especially interested in, lacking the fundamental attention to detail that most comics take for granted. As evidenced by the long awaited return of Akuma, the series has contained a string of pandering moments that fans of the Street Fighter characters and story would greatly appreciate, but without the focus or intent of conventional plotting or characterization. They come a distant second to the elaborative martial arts adventure and philosophy of Masahiko Nakahira's manga stories, Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter III: Ryu Final. Good, but not great. Faithful to the material and probably only for the diehard fan.

Currently, UDON are publishing a four-issue mini-series, the third in their Legends deviations which have included tales starring Sakura and Chun-Li, and now unleash SFIII high school hijinks in Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki. It comes as the group's first series-centric elaboration of the infamous Street Fighter III characters and canon, which was originally slated for it's own series, but has since become slightly less certain amidst delays. This makes Street Fighter II Turbo's conclusion all the more worthy of acknowledgment as UDON close the most significant chapter in their adaptation of the Street Fighter canon. The comic book exploits don't end there, of course...

Being generally busy has allowed me to write this HOTW feature up late to include the trailer of the long speculated and now officially announced sequel, Marvel vs Capcom 3!

In hindsight, it probably isn't all that shocking, given Marvel's previously announced animation deal with Tatsunoko, and the cancellation of their relationship with EA [during production of a now aborted sequel to Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects]. Did those factors have a part to play? Hey, who cares?! Marvel vs Capcom 3 is on the way to home consoles, and is already promising a roster of characters that will surprise fans in number, and perhaps even in scope of choice. Capcom have, afterall, established a precedent of unusual draftees from the Marvel side (Shuma-Gorath, anyone?).

It's going to be a very exciting few months as fans play the guessing game based on silhouettes revealed in promotional artwork. Deadpool and Captain America are a sure thing. Is that Thor? Could we really expect Super-Skrull to make the line-up, or are pointy ears a fake-out for Green Goblin, or some other unanticipated choice? With a hint of anticipation for this eventuality, I took a look at some of the characters that never made it into the MvC line-up in a blog back in 2009. I suspect, however, that there'll be more blogging to come. What fun!

Iron Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Chris Redfield, Morrigan, and Ryu, are all already confirmed. Which is a perfect reason, along with Super Street Fighter IV and the Street Fighter II Turbo comic book, to make Ryu our Hero of the Week!

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Originally posted: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9027568

Hero of the Week #10: Ryu

RYU (Capcom)
Real Name: Ryu
First Appearance: Street Fighter (August, 1987)
Group Affiliation: Gouken Dojo
Gaming Credentials: Street Fighter (1987); Street Fighter II (1991); Super Street Fighter II (1994); Street Fighter: The Movie (1995); Street Fighter Alpha (1996); X-Men vs Street Fighter (1996); Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (1996); Pocket Fighter (1997); Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998); Street Fighter III: Third Strike (1999); Street Fighter EX3 (2000); Capcom vs SNK 2 (2001); Marvel vs Capcom 2 (2002); Capcom Fighting Evolution (2004); Namco x Capcom (2005); Street Fighter IV (2009); Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (2009); Tatsunoko vs Capcom (2009)
Infinite Wars Cumulative Ranking: #18

Not to start things off on a wild tangent, but a string of bad techno-karma has seen my electro-house of cards come tumbling down around me. A couple of weeks ago it was my scanner, then it was the proverbial shatting of my ancient PC (now resurrected), and most recently, the death of the nucleus of my blogging, my now powerless laptop. Gotta love technology, eh?

Fortunately, a few weeks later, my precariously balanced network of technology has been successfully resurrected in much the same way as the Street Fighter franchise!

Season '08/'09 has been very good to Capcom's definitive fighting franchise!
SF relaunched on the back of the now widely acclaimed modern sequel, Street Fighter IV, and piggybacked a 2D retro revival of mid-nineties classic, Super Street Fighter II, repackaged with all new sprite artwork handdrawn by comics art studio UDON, as the downloadable Turbo HD Remix!

The dominance of the brand continues with the long awaited digital release of fan-favourite mash-up, Capcom vs Marvel 2!
One of the most hyper-active releases in Capcom's catalogue; the game smashes an eclectic roster of heroes from their properties, up against heroes and villains of the Marvel Comics universe, source over a string of licensed games starting with X-Men: Children of the Atom!

Front-and-centre, as you'd expect, is Street Fighter's franchise hero from day-one, Ryu!
Business for the martial arts nomad (and wielder of the hadou ki) has been busier than ever, despite being overlooked for the illfated cinematic venture for the series [Legends of Chun-Li]. Starring in two new [game] releases and two significant revamps has been but the tip of the iceberg, an interactive platform upon which narrative exercises have been undertaken in comics.

UDON -- yes, the ones behind HD Remix -- have been working with the Street Fighter comics license for the last half of the decade, and after all this time they're about to embark on a journey into the most significant structural moment in the game's canon -- the Street Fighter II tournament!

The narrative direction of the line of comics -- all written by Ken Siu-Chong -- have struggled to build a convincing sense of the Street Fighter story. As an art studio-cum-publisher; their greatest strength remains their unquestionable ability to capture the energy and style of the games, and original Japanese crossmedia productions, through artistic competence and fan service.

Their version of the story has meandered through various maxi and mini series, leading them from the original Street Fighter series published by Image Comics, to the current Street Fighter II Turbo incarnation, which will officially launch the SFII tournament in issue #8. It continues on from the stories told in the previous series, Street Fighter II, which established the pending rematch between Ryu and his Muay Thai rival, Sagat, and the lurking presence of Akuma, who also awaits a destined clash with the Japanese fighter.

The cumulative influence of the year's gaming releases, the upcoming UDON comics, and the fact that Ryu's story managed to remain at the centre of the Street Fighter universe, is all the reason we need to crown him HOTW!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: The Comic Book Fight Club is updated with varying consistency, promising a feature fight for every Friday on the calendar (even if sometimes they're late). The site acts as an information resource, discussion site, review blog, and sensei-murdering final boss!

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CHUN-LI versus BIRDIE
Round. 1 (UDON/Capcom/Shinseisha)
Where: Street Fighter Alpha Vol.1 When: 2007
Why: Masahiko Nakahira How: Masahiko Nakahira

The Story So Far...
The legend of Ryu's defeat over the Muay Thai champion Sagat has spread across the globe, but for the wandering world warrior the victory has come at a terrible cost.

Working as a bodyguard for drug smugglers; Ryu finds himself despondent after the glory of defeating one of the world's most popular fighters. However, unbenknownst to the world, Ryu is also plagued with doubt, having resorted to a power forbidden by his master, Gouken.

Working in Thailand with fellow street fighter and British thug, Birdie; Ryu is about to become the subject of an anti-narcotics sting launched by Interpol. Over zealous intervention inevitably escalates to violence, and when the battle is done, this night of fighting is destined to change Ryu's life forever...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Birdie 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Chun-Li 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Chun-Li 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Chun-Li 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Chun-Li 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Power: Chun-Li 3 (Explosives)


- A skilled student of the Tai Chi style, Chun-Li trained under the martial arts master, Gen, before becoming the Chinese fighting-dynamo of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

After her father's death, Chun-Li is motivated to hunt and destroy the international crime syndicate, Shadaloo, when she learns it's leader, Bison, may have been responsible for the murder. Her pursuit for justice brings her into the company of US Air Force soldier, Guile, who is also seeking justice for Bison's murder of his best friend, and undercover agent, Charlie. Their

Chun-Li is an incredibly fast and agile fighter, whose greatest asset are her powerful legs. Trademark attacks in her offensive arsenal include the Kikouken chi fireball, spinning side kick aerial attack, and Hyakuretsu Kyaku; better known as the flurrying combo, lightning kicks!

- Hailing from England, the former pro-wrestler turned punk rocker, Birdie, is an undisciplined fighter with aspirations of joining the international crime syndicate, Shadaloo. In an effort to get noticed, this wannabe thug partakes in petty crime on the streets, while using his trademark chain as a weapon in street fights.

Birdie eventually used his reputation to reach the ranks of Shadaloo, but when the temptation of power leads Birdie to devise a plan to use M. Bison's psycho-drive as a means of overthrowing him, a subsequent team-up with Balrog leads to Birdie's undoing, and the alleged collapse of Shadalooo.

The Math: Chun-Li Ranking: Chun-Li (#170)

What Went Down...
In a leaky tugboat off the coast of Thailand; Ryu, Birdie, and a group of smugglers that have acquired their services find themselves sitting ducks as a cruiser and helicopters descend on them for a sting run by the Narcotics Squad of the International Criminal Police Organization -- Interpol!

Keen to get her man, new recruit, Chun-Li, descends from the hovering helicopter onto the tiny vessel. She informs the men on the boat of their situation, but the young woman fails to intimidate her prey. One of the smugglers grabs a knife from the bow and charges -- big mistake!

The smuggler gets a face full of foot for his troubles, and a bloodied nose at no extra charge. The explosive kick shows the smugglers exactly what they're dealing with, leaving the fight in the hands of the burly Brit, Birdie!

Despite her lightning quick attack and proficient legs, Chun-Li finds herself with yet another unintimidated opponent. The world weary Birdie takes a playful position with the Interpol agent, but suffers for it as she hones in on a weakness in the big man's stance!

With a devestating sweep she knocks the punker off his feet, taking full advantage of his lack of lower defense. Off balance, Birdie's ripe for the picking as Chun-Li again launches her fast and furious feet, this time with the devestating combo-hit of the lightning kick!

The gang leader summons Ryu, his hired bodyguard, to come to Birdie's aid, but instead gets a lesson in the honorable etiquette of the fight. Something both he and Birdie share, despite their many differences in life and philosophy.

As it happens, things aren't looking too bad for Birdie, who, despite toppling like an oak, is able to whip his chains out in an offensive maneuver. The big man wraps the danty Interpol officer up in their metal grip, using the vice to launch her into an assault that brings her crashing mercilessly down like a piledriver!

Enthused to hear the spirit of the warrior still inside the Japanese fighter, Birdie pauses to revel in the moment of battle, leaving himself open to sniper fire from the hovering Interpol agents. A trigger happy soldier opens fire, prompting Ryu to throw himself between his friend and the ammunition!

Ryu takes two slugs to the chest, falling limp in an instant.
A grizzly end to the inconclusive fight.

The Hammer...
... So, in a shocking twist, the battle comes to a draw!
It's kinda cheating, but I feel compelled to offer a secondary victory to Chun-Li for her thorough dismantling of the thugs, an event not technically involved in the fight with Birdie, with a very decisive end.

Across the blogosphere a cosmic deity seeks nourishment of a black and white kind! That's right, we're sharing the B&W mayhem as Bahlactus celebrates a full year of Friday Night Fights! Chances are we'll be revisiting the scene of this crime, as well as dipping into the B&W pond for other features that might otherwise be less likely to beat out some of the coloured competition. Yay comics!

Last month we had mixed feelings about the latest in the wave of new additions joining the cast of Street Fighter IV; El Fuerte. [Street Fighter Alpha Vol.1]
The conflict continues as news leaks of not only the eagerly anticipated return of Vega, and the expected but disappointing return of Bison; but also the emergence of a new character that might just be the least inspired yet: the morbidly obese, yellow jumpsuited, Rufus!

While it's still early, I should also note that Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li also began filming since last we spoke, and launched a brand new blogsite that's promised [semi-] regular updates on happenings from the set!
With so much Street Fighter to talk about, I'm thinking we might have to revisit the subject sometime soon to talk more about the movie, because I've been conversing with the gaming fanbase this week, and certainly have plenty to say about SFIV. Suffice to say, I'm excited to hear reports of Michael Clarke Duncan in action as Balrog, apparently "smashing shit up"!

So, what is it that has me so full of discontent?
I think it's fair to say that there's a pretty large portion of the comics fanbase that I don't see eye-to-eye with. I can't seem to talk comics with anyone without prefacing certain agreements with a sturdy "but," and although I find myself quite disheartened with this medium that's been so harsh to me and my endeavours; I can usually bounce back for love of the medium and the positives that flow as freely as any negatives, or disappointments. Afterall, for all the hubub, comics are a mature medium, and by sheer volume there's almost always a solution.

The charm and context of an on-going medium like comics is lost on video games. The gaps of time mean just as many of us have grown with previous systems of gaming, the current market share is returning to a young, new generation of gamers whose concerns are as immature as ours once were, albeit overloaded by the confusion of an established medium.

Street Fighter is a lot like comics. It is comics.
That's why we talk about the manga, comics, series, and movies here.
I get a lot of the same pleasures from games like Street Fighter that I get from the on-going adventures of the many characters featured on the site. I feel a childish joy for the mere sight of the characters, while measuring their exploits with a careful intellectual study, sometimes to my detriment.

Such is the emerging case for Street Fighter IV, which, despite early efforts to promote the cast of the original Street Fighter II (1992), grows increasingly distanced from everything I could romanticise about the series.

Amidst shakey confirmation that Street Fighter IV will abandon sequential standards to set itself shortly after SFII, word from the top comes that each installment in the franchise is intended to stand-alone, removed from it's surrounding chapters. Vague connections, like the carry-over of Sagat's scar earned in the little known first game [Street Fighter #1], should apparently be put down to little more than design choice and easter eggs, leaving any cohesion in the Street Fighter saga to external works by visionaries like Nakahira-san.

Those of you strictly dedicated to American comics will either appreciate the perspective from which I'm describing Street Fighter IV's predicament; or be entirely disinterest. Such is the split of the modern comics readership which, though well balanced, has probably seen a similar injection of youth into the readership over the past decade, leading to a mixed bag of theories and mis/understandings.

Like much of what you would expect from any major comic series; there are certain inherent qualities and ideas that make Street Fighter instantly recognisable. The rich cast of characters are at their best when identified by the building blocks of their design, usually drafted specifically from a martial art, and/or a nation of origin, painting broad strokes upon which life is carefully dabbed.

More often than not the true life of these characters comes from external mediums, highlighting perhaps the one area never quite conquered by the beloved characters of the Street Fighter game series: story.

Though their legend is epic, even the central character, Ryu, fails to find depth in his representation within the games. It is my first criticism of Street Fighter IV that it seems, at least at this point, completely devoid of the kind of story contemporary rivals, (like; Tekken, Mortal Kombat), boast as one of their primary features. Despite having enthusiasm enough to convince an apparently reluctant Capcom to pursue a new anniversary release for the series, project leader Yoshinori Ono and his recruited team seem oblivious to the fundamentals of what's made Street Fighter such an icon of fiction.

The careful detailing of classic characters seems entirely undermined as the team serves up uninspired designs like El Fuerte and the recent Rufus, while each character falls neatly into a vague and underwhelming plot point - amnesia, or a desire to discover a great new cooking technique through fighting... Grim, indeed.

Ono and his team appear at times to be groping around in the dark, shooting wide on any count to gauge a response. After the hysteria of the colouful, but lacking in grounding, Crimson Viper; the team turned in a purer vision of the classic model in Abel, albeit in a particularly bland form. A similar stutter came from the lazily designed El Fuerte, who, despite drawing from the colourful and exciting world of lucha libre, failed to impress from a design standpoint.

This flailing of the creative limbs feels so especially disheartening because of the strong pedigree established by the early games. The makers were smart enough to distance themselves from the infamy of SFIII's cast of freaks, but it almost feels like, at this early stage, we're fixing to do it all over again in a whole new way. Sure, El Fuerte and Abel have managed to bring it back to the broad notion of a good Street Fighter, but it all still feels so lazy, and insincere.

Missing from the design process seems to be perhaps the most obvious saving grace: a larger purpose to this game. Touted as a "New Beginning," there seems to be little defining quality to what is thus far little more than a successful romp into contemporary 3D gaming. While it's nice to leave the bad taste of the blocky Ex series behind us, that doesn't make a game for me, and it flagrantly ignores the advantages of a franchise that allow a strong central concept to provide branching inspiration for more characters.

While the story has always been vague and shifting in the Street Fighter canon, key plot points have been firmly established in the games. The destruction of M. Bison and Shadaloo is the key point of SFII, and the Alpha games [Zero in Japan] further contribute to that with elements surrounding Akuma and the dark hadou. From there we get a sense of progression in SFIII that pits the heroes against another evil organization, this time the cultish Illuminati.

Because Ryu has so successfully been the face of the series, I'd be very tempted to build the larger story around this character. Though potentially an unpopular decision given the milque toast qualities of the indomitable hero, it gives an opportunity to not only include that classic core to this new series, but also build toward a climax in the journey of this hero who has carried the series thus far.

Street Fighter III famously fumbled the ball by attempting to introduce a dominating cast of new characters. The speed of the introduction was almost doomed to fail, particularly as so many of the characters rebelled against the classic mould of characters with strong nationalized and fighting identities.

That said, as someone who fancys himself as a bit of a writer, I can't help but feel loathed at the idea of simply brushing these mistakes aside. Particularly as SFIII contained so many redeeming qualities, even in the most superficial sense. There's much to be salvaged from SFIII, particularly with the opportunity to do with these devices what that game failed to - introduce them organically.

The chronic female shortage could be lessened by the inclusion of the vibrant Capoeira style through Elena; while the powerful Oro offers a wise, sage-like muse well known to the martial arts genre. It seems almost a given that this character's presence be linked to the upper tier, perhaps even as a mentor to the increasingly powerful Ryu, whose battle with the dark hadou was never quite closed out to my satisfaction.

It strikes me that, despite the legend these characters have built within their own universe, there's never been a character intent on harnessing the dark energies of the hadou technique. This power, which has effectively defined Akuma's role in the series as a dark shadow, is a great point from which a new boss can be derived, and as such a lynchpin from which story can be hung.
It makes sense that Ryu's battle with the dark temptation be brought to a head by a fighter competent on his own terms, but intent on building new power through the accumulation of this style. As the unnamed ansatsuken technique used by Ryu, Ken and Akuma originated from Chinese master, Goutetsu, it seems a great opportunity to add that flair from references similar to the inspiration of Lei Fang; one of the more exciting new characters from Tekken 5.

I'm digressing into specific concepts that, you can probably tell, have krept to mind previously, but while I'm uncomfortable with the notion of fan-fiction, I like to think they help emphasise the point. There's so much directing concepts inherent to the material that it's utterly heart breaking to see this series continue without a strong creative direction. Though not obvious, it's even from concepts like this, and the strong sense of the universe that influences these characters, that could easily direct better references for the design and creation of new characters.

Not every character need be tied to the central plot, and I can think of plenty of reasons to include other characters in the game. The thought occurs that even SFIII freaks like the robotic Q character offer opportunities to build potential sequels, with unlikely ties to characters like Zangief, and many other sub-stories of varying significance. It's important to remember that while every character deserves strong motivation and some description of an adventure through the plot of a game, they don't all need to be out to save the world.
The context of Street Fighter, as we have so often noted, is that of a strong underground culture of fighting and the fighting spirit. The philosophy of characters can reasonably be something as simple as seeking to be the best, but for satisfactory treatment, there has to be some sort of developing plot that these characters enter into, even if they just want to be the best.

It's early days. There's still plenty to come from Street Fighter IV, and while I openly express my disappointment, it comes more from a very accepting audience that no longer aspires to great things of this franchise. Many Street Fighter fans are blissfully ignorant to the irony of their enjoyment in seeing references from SF descendents like the SNK fighters, or many other franchises.

Though it threatens to miscast the argument as one of stagnancy, there's a point I feel needs stressing. This is Street Fighter. This is the franchise that put the beat 'em up on the map, and for this game to be making a "new beginning" out of lacklustre visuals and a lazy dismissal of the trademark qualities of Street Fighter, is a travesty. This is the one the other games should be aspiring to, but without recognising everything that makes Street Fighter so identifiable, they run the risk of being homogenized in a sea of mediocrity.

Ono-san's direction right now feels flat and devoid of the supposed enthusiasm that won him the job of overseeing a franchise Capcom considered dead.
His track record is spotty at best, with Fighting Evolution a maligned faux pas of gameplay that introduced the hideously misplaced Ingrid into the SF roster. His designs reek of SNK, and even Capcom's defunct wrestling series, Saturday Night Slam Masters, albeit without the flair or contextual relevance of that game.

We haven't even had the opportunity to touch on the fact that the game has, despite Ono's promise to the contrary, become a total boys club. As slots continue to be filled in the playable roster, one can't help but feel the wrestling overtones of Rufus, and El Fuerte, didn't come at the cost of a return for a stronger female character, like Rainbow Mika. That, however, is a contextual debate for another day, perhaps when we have a clearer indication of what the final cast will look like. After poll results put SFIII's Dudley at the top of the most-wanted list, I hold out hope for less obvious returnees to the series.

Once upon a time negativity was undoubtedly the bane of the online community, but the flipside seems to have emerged as the new super power. The prevelance of Nintendo's family-friendly Wii, as well as the increasing trend to abandon story in video games seems indicative of the growing control a new, young generation has. It's perhaps here that the naivity and ill informed acceptance begins, but this shouldn't be license for the gaming industry to retract even further into itself. As more dollars ride on it, it's an industry already intent on rehashing and avoiding risk at all cost. A process that's potentially gradually feeding it it's own tail. Homogenization seems to be the enemy here, and Street Fighter deserves to hold on to, and market the flair that made it an international cultural phenomenon.

There's sure to be plenty to come, and I'll be watching!

EDIT: And watching I was! If you're a beat 'em up fan and you haven't heard the news, the apparent confirmation of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe almost certainly puts any of Street Fighter's problems into perspective. You might expect a fight blog like this to be behind such a move, but if you read through the discussion in this entry, you'll probably be able to figure out why the Infinite Wars thinks this is terrible for both parties involved.

To cap off what is arguably a creative surrender from the MK franchise in the year that was supposed to redefine the series with the 'slate wiped clean,' this early render released on Mortal Kombat Online shows several steps back in MK's design approach. What I wouldn't do to get some thoughts from a Dan Didio, or someone else, right now. It's shocking to believe DC would've licensed their properties to something of this nature. I'm baffled, true believers!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 6.5

With visionaries like Masahiko Nakahira showing exactly how strong and consistent the Street Fighter story and identity can be, it's especially embarassing to see the mistakes of the past repeated. If you want to find out more about Nakahira-san's cohesive version of the Street Fighter saga, and put your best foot forward in the debate about SFIV and it's new characters, you should head over to Amazon! They not only offer fantastic prices and deals, but when you use purchase links provided, you help fund future entries in the Infinite Wars! You'll find this, as well as other reviewed issues in the Amazonian Gift Shoppe, as well!