Way of the Assassin

(Character images shown above are copyright of Capcom, ARIKA, and SNK.)

A Tournament of Shoto Warriors

Shoto characters have been consistently popular among fighting game players since the inception of Ryu in the first Street Fighter game. This is demonstrated in the Street Fighter V character usage statistics in the Capcom Fighters Network website. Ryu, Ken, and Akuma are featured in the top three most used characters throughout a majority of the game's lifespan. Therefore, a fighting game consisting entirely of Shoto characters would appeal to a sizable number of fighting game players.

The 15 Shoto characters featured so far in this blog were created by Capcom, ARIKA, and SNK which have a history of collaborating with each other (Street Fighter EX series, SNK vs Capcom series, Fighting EX Layer & SNK Heroines). So, it is plausible that they can work together again to create a new fighting game featuring only Shoto characters.

I suggest to call this fighting game Way of the Assassin (or WotA).

Satsui no Hadou Transformation

The fight against the murderous intent or Satsui no Hadou is a central theme for the Ansatsuken warriors in Street Fighter lore, and it can be extended to the ARIKA and SNK Shoto warriors through direct encounters with the Ansatsuken warriors of Street Fighter.

Sagat is a prime example within Street Fighter itself, where he started to struggle with the Satsui no Hadou after his match with Ryu. Kairi could have encountered Akuma after his duel to the death with Hokuto, and Allen would have met Ken during a US Martial Arts tournament. Takuma may have fought and studied under Gouken which led him to develop his own Kyokugenryu Karate style based on Ansatsuken.

Since all characters in WotA struggle to control the Satsui no Hadou within them, a new feature can be added to the game where each character can transform into an evil version of themselves (e.g. Ryu transforms into Evil Ryu) during a match round. The character will turn back to normal in the next round. This would be similar to the V-Trigger transformation of Necalli in Street Fighter V.

Pure Form of Satsui no Hadou

The villain in WotA would be none other than the Satsui no Hadou himself. In Street Fighter V, a pure form of Satsui no Hadou was expelled from within Ryu, manifesting in the demonic-looking Kage. Similarly, each WotA warrior must fight and expel the Satsui no Hadou within their bodies.

The warriors in WotA would need to fight the Satsui no Hadou within their bodies in order to retain their humanity. Once expelled, the Satsui no Hadou must be defeated in battle. Therefore, the final boss fight in WotA would be a battle to the death with the pure incorporeal manifestation of the Satsui no Hadou that is ejected from the warrior's body.

How Well Can You Control Your Satsui no Hadou?

The pure incorporeal Satsui no Hadou would be an overpowered (OP) character (similar to Akuma in Super Street Fighter II Turbo), and so it cannot be used in a standard WotA fighting game tournament.

However, a separate tournament which only allows the pure Satsui no Hadou character to be selected can be organised, and it would be a completely balanced tournament where the competitors are tested on their mastery of using the pure Satsui no Hadou character.

One might think that the use of a single character in a fighting game tournament is boring. However, owing to the popularity of the Satsui no Hadou lore in Street Fighter, a fighting game tournament with the tagline "How Well Can You Control Your Satsui no Hadou?" can appeal to a wide range of fighting game players who are fans of the Satsui no Hadou lore. Each character in WotA struggles with controlling the Satsui no Hadou, and in this tournament, the competitors are also struggling to control their Satsui no Hadou character to be the best in order to win the trophy.

A New Game for the Fighting Game Community

Therefore, I humbly advocate for a creation of this Way of the Assassin fighting game through the cooperation between Capcom, ARIKA, and SNK. This game would be a great addition to the fighting game pantheon and can appeal to a wide range of fighting game fans.

Marco

Art by digitalninja

History

Marco Rodrigues is a student of Ryo Sakazaki, master of Kyokugenryu Karate. He started a martial arts school in Brazil after he attained black belt from his master. He wishes to spread the Kyokugenryu Karate style in Brazil and around the world.

Personality

Marco is playful and sometimes silly, but he has deep respect for his master Ryo Sakazaki. He fights with strength and dedication to achieve his goal of being a mighty Kyokugenryu practitioner at the same level of his master.

Mastery 

Marco is a talented student of Kyokugenryu Karate, and is an expert in the use of Ki. He can use his Ki to detect nearby fighters, and gather Ki to increase his strength. He is particularly skillful in the signature special moves of Kyokugenryu Karate - Kouken, Hien Shippu Kyaku, and Ko Hou. His versions of these special moves are extremely powerful and intimidating to his opponents.


Journey

Marco Rodrigues is the only known Kyokugenryu practitioner to expand the martial art outside of United States and Europe in the South American country of Brazil. He entered a King of Fighters tournament to prove the might of Kyokugenryu Karate, but upon his return, he found his martial arts gym in shambles. His injured students told him that a man called the "Gym Buster" came and destroyed the gym, beating Butt's students in the process. The man also took the gym's billboard. Butt vows to find the "Gym Buster" to retake the billboard and regain the honour of his gym.

Takuma

Art by VerlanMarinho

History

Takuma Sakazaki is the founder of the Kyokugenryu school of martial arts, after battles with various martial arts experts around the world. He married Ronnet from the United States of America, where he moved and started a family. He has a son Ryo and a daughter Yuri. When Ryo was 10 years old, his wife Ronnet died in a car accident. He went off to investigate her death and left Ryo to take care of his sister Yuri.

After eleven years, he reappeared as the masked and enigmatic Mr. Karate, working for Geese Howard's villainous organisation. Mr. Karate was the only person standing between Ryo and Yuri when Ryo tried to rescue Yuri who was kidnapped by Geese's henchman Mr. Big. Yuri asked Ryo not to kill Mr. Karate because he is their father.

Personality

Takuma is a strict and serious martial artist, and dedicates his life to the propagation of Kyokugenryu Karate. He implements a strict and tough training regime for his students, however, he is also a very friendly cordial master to them.

Mastery 

He invented his Kyokugenryu school of martial arts after fighting many renowned martial artists of the world. He is a true martial arts innovator, and is extremely skilled in the art of fighting.

Journey

Takuma Sakazaki is a respected grand master of his own style of martial arts, Kyokugenryu Karate. However, he was forced to work for the villain Geese Howard who threatened to harm his children. He wore a Tengu mask and declared himself "Mr. Karate" to hide his true identity.

He stopped being Mr. Karate after the kidnapping of his daughter Yuri by Geese Howard's villainous organisation. Takuma removed his mask and tried to redeem himself as a master of Kyokugenryu Karate by entering the following King of Fighters tournament. He was badly injured after the tournament, and passed the mantle as master of the Kyokugenryu Karate school to his son Ryo.

Yuri

Art by erufan and Sixth Creation

History

Yuri Sakazaki was kidnapped by Mr Big who works for Geese Howard's villainous organisation. She was rescued by her protective brother Ryo and his buddy Robert after they fought the masked Mr Karate, who turned out to be her father who was brainwashed by Geese. Upon recovering from the brainwashing, Takuma Sakazaki taught Yuri how to fight using Kyokugenryu Karate.

Personality

Yuri is very lighthearted and cheerful despite her tough upbringing. She is also an extremely friendly person who cares a lot about her family and friends. Yuri likes to follow trends, and she is always open to change and innovation.

Mastery 

Takuma Sakazaki only taught Yuri the basic and low-level moves of Kyokugenryu Karate. Nevertheless, she embraces an instinctive approach in her martial arts, and has developed her own flavour of Kyokugen Karate. Some of the techniques she created are Hyakuretsu Binta, En'yoku, Hien Hou'ou Kyaku, and Yuri Chou Upper.


Journey

Yuri was a helpless young girl who was kidnapped by Geese Howard's organisation. After she was rescued by Ryo and Robert, she was trained by her father to be a Kyokugenryu
Karate fighter. Over the years, she has improved her fighting skills, demonstrated by her creativity of adding new techniques to her basic style of Kyokugenryu Karate. She has transformed from a weak damsel in distress to a competent fighter who was the leader of the Women's Team in various King of Fighters tournaments.

Robert

Art by OrochiDarkKyo

History

Robert Garcia is the son of Italian businessman Alberto Garcia, who is a friend of Takuma Sakazaki, the founder of the Kyokugenryu karate school. He has lived a pampered life since childhood, but always yearned for a greater adventure.

Therefore, he always sneaked into the Kyokugenryu karate school and watched Takuma and Ryo Sakazaki's  martial arts training. He aspired to be strong like them, and was eventually accepted by Takuma as a student of the Kyokugenryu karate school. He trained regularly with Ryo since young, and they became best friends.

Personality

Robert is a very charismatic and outgoing martial artist who likes to show off. He may seem arrogant, but is extremely righteous.

Robert is also passionate about his friends and loved ones, and will not hesitate to help them if they get into trouble. When Ryo's sister Yuri was kidnapped by Mr. Big, he went to rescue her with Ryo and fought against the ruthless villain.

Mastery 

Robert has a natural talent in the martial arts, and Takuma has trained him to be a master Kyokugenryu karate practitioner. Hence, his techniques are similar to Ryo's, but with an emphasis on kicking moves such as Hien Senpuu Kyaku and Hien Ryuujin Kyaku. Robert's kicks are legendary, and he once had a kicking contest with the talented  Muay Thai kickboxer King, which resulted in a stalemate.


Journey

Robert was born into a rich Italian family headed by his businessman father, Alberto Garcia. His father expects him to inherit the family business, but he would not sit still and enjoy a luxurious life. When he was young, he was  accepted into the Kyokugenryu karate school and became a talented and respected martial artist.

Throughout the years, he fought many formidable villains and once worked as a bodyguard for his childhood friend Freia Lawrence in Mexico. After numerous fighting adventures, Robert went back to Italy to fulfill his father's wish of running the family business, and became a renowned martial artist in the country.

Ryo

Art by Mick-cortes

History

Ryo Sakazaki had been trained since young to be the successor to the Kyokugenryu Karate school founded by his father. When Ryo was 10, his mother died in a car accident, and he was left alone to take care of his younger sister, Yuri.

Yuri was kidnapped by a crime syndicate led by Geese Howard. Ryo fought a masked Mr. Karate to save his sister, but he was revealed to be his father who was brainwashed by the syndicate. Ryo avenged his sister and father by defeating Geese in the first King of Fighters tournament.

Personality

Ryo was taught by his father to be self-reliant, and so he believes in achieving success through hard work and experience. He is very protective of his sister Yuki, and has a friendly rivalry with Robert Garcia, a fellow fighter of the Kyokugenryu Karate school which he leads.

Mastery 

Ryo is a seasoned expert of the Kyokugenryu Karate, and practices the techniques of Ko-Ou Ken, Kohou, Hien Shippuu Kyaku (similar to the Hadouken, Shoryuken, and Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku of the Ansatsuken fighters respectively). After he saved his sister from Geese Howard's crime syndicate, he went to train rigorously in the mountains. Through tremendous dedication and hard work, Ryo was able defeat the formidable Geese in the first King of Fighters tournament.

Journey

Ryo was eyed as a successor to Kyokugenryu Karate by his father, and so was trained from a young age. When his father went missing (and turned into Mr Karate), he raised his sister on his own by working in a construction site. He trained hard to become worthy as the leader of the Kyokugenryu Karate school founded by his father.

He believes in grit and hardwork, and even though his Karate school is struggling financially, he does not like receiving money from his rich rival Robert Garcia. He has a huge responsibility to pass on the art of Kyokugenryu Karate to the next generation, and has a student called Khushnood Butt (Marco Rodriguez in Japan).

Allen

Art by Kukurobuki 

(www.facebook.com/FurankyDraws/) 

History

Allen Snider is known as the greatest Karate Master in the United States of America (USA). Once, he lost to the formidable warrior Ken in a martial arts tournament. He was told by Ken that he is a "frog in a well", and there are a lot of strong warriors outside of the "well" whom he has never met. Allen strives to be stronger after his loss to Ken, and aims to be the top martial artist in the USA.

Personality

Allen is a dynamic martial artist, and he is famous for his battle cry to intimidate his opponents. He is an extremely proud warrior, and does not take a loss lightly. He takes great pride in his native country, and boasts to be the best warrior from the USA. He likes to chant "USA! USA! USA!" after his victory.

Mastery 

Allen is an expert in American freestyle Karate. After his loss to Ken, he developed the techniques of Soul Force and Rising Dragon that are similar to the Hadouken and Shoryuken of the Ansatsuken warrior respectively. He continues to train himself to surpass Ken to be the strongest martial artist in the USA.

Journey

Allen has trained hard to be the greatest Karate practitioner in the USA. However, when he participated in a national martial arts tournament, he lost to Ken who is an expert in the art of Ansatsuken. Allen struggled with his loss, and trained himself very hard to become a stronger warrior. He did not mind modifying his opponents' techniques and use them as his own. Hence, he has a diverse assortment of techniques to help him become the best warrior he can be.