Game theory: Dan Hibiki becomes sheng long :: Ultra Street Fighter IV General Discussions

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Shin Dan

Oct 28, 2014 @ 12:48pm

Game theory: Dan Hibiki becomes sheng long

Yes, we all know the joke character dan, the guy with lousy frames, modest grabs, low damage, armor breaking specials, an unfocusable ultra countering U1 and a decent juggling U2 as well as a taunt that stuffs almost every ultra known to man including RD.
wait...
*hastily looks up dan hibiki's moveset*
Okay, so he improved since his days as a joker character, despite being a pushover in the beginning of his career he's slowly becoming a competent character over the years.
in fact, despite being a silly over the top joke character regarded without any measure of seriousness throughout the series, dan's training has clearly made him one of the more interesting choices for most players.
But did you know dan knows how to perform the raging demon technique?
Indeed, in the comics dan almost perfectly pulls off shun goku satsu on sakura while under the influence of the satsui no hadou, immediately interrupted by tripping on a bent floorboard and falling flat on his face.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSTOBxep2sQCWme_CZbG_rXz3f_sH_hYFyAdAjC5-QaMweYAaaVtg
in certain videogames he's shown to perform a variant by using the ghost of his own father.
So why is it that a no-name such as dan is capable of performing such powerful techniques? even at a basic level?
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs44/i/2009/140/8/8/Dan__s_Massacre_by_BelmonteOliveira.jpg

That's because dan is a master of empty form, or the base imitation and motions of any select martial art.
for example empty form is seen in tai chi all the time, the slow motions and movements teach you how to manipulate chi energy, which is fundamental to tai chi.
it's all that the martial art has, but it lacks the strength of that martial art.
Dan Hibiki unwittingly takes this idea ten steps further and can employ a near flawless empty form of every martial art he tries to learn, calling it "saikyo" or strongest when in reality it's his own aptitude for the martial art giving him almost immediate access to the weakest versions of these martial arts.
and dan, who's known for his intensive training, has only made this empty form stronger as he practices.
it's a bit of a waste though, as dan, never realizing what he's doing, may never truly reach the maximum potential of his art.
but given his aptitude for any martial art and technique, if he were to realize what he was doing and finally and fully train himself we'd see him go from this:
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080513183229/streetfighter/images/7/7a/DanProfileSFA3Max.jpg
to this
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/SF_Sheng_long.jpg

seems a bit of a stretch doesn't it?
if anything we've already gotten the fictional character in two equal parts, akuma, whose facial features are modeled after sheng long, and gouken, who himself is based on the original concept art for long.
however, if yu look closely, you'll see some subtle similarities between s. long and hibiki.
can it be? we already cite him as the "strongest character" but what if hibiki realizes his true potential, honestly realizes it? enough of the posturing and goofing off, what if one day dan hibiki suddenly begins to seriously consider himself and train accordingly? perhaps even secretly reinvent his own image, abandoning the overpowered goof that he is today for the overpowered master of the fist that even to this day is a legend we all crave to face?
is dan going to become more than a parody?
I'd like to think so.

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Showing 1-9 of 9 comments

Shin Dan

Oct 28, 2014 @ 12:50pm

anyone who can make empty form a full blown martial art has got to be doing something right.

BisonElSalvador has Ultra Street Fighter IV

Oct 28, 2014 @ 12:55pm

way too mutch to read

BisonElSalvador has Ultra Street Fighter IV

Oct 28, 2014 @ 12:57pm

just for the record no one under stimates dan as a character any more he is not low teir by no means hes actually pretty good as a character

Last edited by BisonElSalvador; Oct 28, 2014 @ 12:57pm

🍋 Lemonfed 🍋 has Ultra Street Fighter IV

Oct 28, 2014 @ 1:01pm

all I know is that Dan hibiki would have been firstly made as be a parody (joke) of two well known art of fighting characters Ryo and robert ... as having the karate suits shaped like the one Ryo wear in his games along with the hairstyle of roberts. but it's just saying I've seen around the web multiple times so I don't really know if it's true.

Last edited by 🍋 Lemonfed 🍋; Oct 28, 2014 @ 1:08pm