#street fighter ryu armor

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 3.2: Condition Green (1986-1990)

Welcome back to An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time, we covered the first half of the 80's with a bit too much of a focus on the works of one Ryousuke Takahashi. If you remember from the last post, I also covered one series in particular: Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I'm bringing it up here so that it'll be fresh in your head: Galactic Heroes would be one of many Original Video Animation (OVA) series that would be released in this time.

It should also be noted that, unlike last time, there would be a new medium for mecha stories to flourish in: video games! While video games existed at least since the late 70's, it would be in the 80's where they would become mainstream.

Anyways, let's get down to business. Now, before I throw each and every one of you into the bay!!

The Five Star Stories (1986)

Created by Mamoru Nagano, the Five Star Stories would be his first major solo project after leaving Sunrise due to the higher-ups constantly blue-balling him. Covering at least five books and a couple of OVAs, the Five Star Stories is one of the true classics of the canon of mecha.

Now if you want to get an inkling of what he did before the Five Star Stories? I'll cover that next time.

Metal Armor Dragonar (1987)

Coming off the heels of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Sunrise was eager to fill in the void that Gundam left in its wake. And that's where Metal Armor Dragonar comes in. While I felt weird referring to Layzner as being Gundam-like, here I don't. Dragonnar was made first and foremost to fill in for Gundam, especially after the lackluster performance of ZZ.

Robocop (1987)

Also in 1987, we would see the release of Paul Verhoven's Robocop. Robocop is a part of that generation of 80's films where the original movie's deep scathing criticism would be watered down by corporate America's need to constantly make money off of each and every remotely popular series. And while that may be true, the original Robocop still holds up as a scathing criticism of American capitalism in the 80's.

Rockman/Megaman (1987)

(I just found this gif on Tenor. If anyone knows who to source it to, please let me know.)

1987 would also see the release of Capcom's Megaman, one of the icons of the halcyon days of gaming. Sporting his arm-mounted Mega Buster, Mega Man would run through multiple stages in an attempt to stop Doctor Wily and his army of Robot Masters. Megaman would become one of the more iconic of Capcom's roster of characters, though over time he'd be left behind in favor of other characters like Ryu from Street Fighter, Dante from Devil May Cry, and my personal favorite, Rathalos from Monster Hunter. Fortunately, the Blue Bomber would never truly be forgotten, especially with the surprise release of Mega Man 11 in 2018.

Warhammer 40,000 (1987)

Man, 1987 was a packed year for mecha, wasn't it.

In 1987, Games Workshop would release the first edition ruleset for Warhammer 40,000, the sci-fi spinoff to their popular Warhammer Fantasy setting. The grim dark future of the 41st millennium is filled to the brim with all sorts of mechanical monstrosities, from the hulking Imperial titans, to the crimson-robed tech priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the mechanical hordes of the Necron.

A fun thing to also note is that, due to both series having a big modelmaking scene, Warhammer 40k tends to see an overlap in fanbases with Mobile Suit Gundam. It certainly helps when both peddle in plastic crack, and as someone who is addicted to the Gundam variety, game respects game.

Patlabor (1988)

Created in 1988 by the collective known as Headgear (which includes famed director Mamoru Oshii among its ranks), I would consider Patlabor to be one of the greatest love letters to mecha ever created. Patlabor is a series where a lot of worldbuilding was added to justify the existence of the giant robots that the creators love so dearly. Something to take note of while watching Patlabor is the general optimism the series brings to the table, even though the series is often grouped together with shows like Armored Trooper VOTOMs.

Most of the series would release between the the end of the decade, but one entry in this franchise would release during a rather rough moment in Japanese history. I'll cover it at some point when I get around to the 90's. Let's just say that if you know what the phrase "Kill Wyvern" is, you'll probably recognize what it'll be.

Also, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I did a write about Patlabor back in the day. So feel free to check that out as well if you have the time.

Cyberpunk 2020 (1988)

(Footage from Cyberpunk 2077)

In 1988, Mike Pondsmith would release the first edition of the Cyberpunk 2020 ruleset, because this is the 80's and tabletop RPGs are kind of the thing (Satanic Panic notwithstanding). In a move that will surprise no one, this series would help to codify a lot of tropes associated with the cyberpunk genre, including at the very least the concept of cyber psychosis.

In 2012, former Internet darling company CD Projekt Red would announce that they would be working on a video game adaptation of Cyberpunk called Cyberpunk 2077. Let's just leave it at that, as I don't really have nice things to say about CD Projekt Red.

Dragon's Heaven (1988)

From mechanical designer Makoto Kobayashi comes 1988's Dragon's Heaven. This extremely stylish and artistically unique OVA is a product of what happens when you give someone who's career started with building garage kits the budget to make an OVA. You want to know where the budget went to? It went into making the models for the main mecha of the OVA. Don't take my word for it? Here's Kenny Lauderdale talking about exactly that.

And in case anyone's wondering, Makoto Kobayashi has, in fact, worked on Gundam before. He's the one who designed Zeta Gundam's Baund-Doc and The O.

Ghost in the Shell (1988)

Also releasing in 1988 is the manga Ghost in the Shell. Created by Masamune Shirow, Ghost in the Shell would become an important series in the worlds of cyberpunk and anime, especially with the film that would release in 1995 directed by Mamoru Oshii. Specifically, this movie along with Akira would be some of the first anime that would really show that people outside of Japan had an interest in anime. Ghost in the Shell would also come to be one of the more influential works out there, as it would be the basis for the Wachowski's iconic movie The Matrix.

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989)

1989 would be greeted with the introduction of two (of many) culturally important mecha OVAs. The first is Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, which is also the first Gundam series to be directed by someone not named Yoshiyuki Tomino. War in the Pocket would be a great reminder of why Gundam works as a story, but it would also be one of the Gundam stories with, in my humble opinion, the strongest anti-war messages of the franchise.

Gunbuster (1989)

The other would be Studio Gainax's first official (meaning not the Daicon short) animated series, Gunbuster. Arguably one of the most hot-blooded mecha series out there, Gunbuster is a series that tries to ground itself with real world physics before going "eh," throwing it all in the waste paper basket, and deciding that all we need is HOT BLOOD. This would be the first of many of Gainax's hits, and it would be the first of what I'm going to be referring to from here on out as Gainax's Elite Four.

Conclusion

We've covered a lot of series, but you might be asking yourself things like: "What was going on with Nagano?"

Don't worry, my friends. We still have one more part for the 80's. And in case you're wondering why I saved this part for last, it's because Tomino's output in the 80's is pretty legendary due to how iconic pretty much every series is. Granted, not everyone talks about these series in this day and age, but anyone who's talked about mecha in any capacity will more than likely be able to recognize at least one of these series.

You will see the tears of time.

[prancingintheshadows]

Licensed Video Games are such an interesting topic honestly. On a surface level, you might be able to say “Oh, this series would be great as a fighting game” or something, but I’m more interested in a lot of weird tells that a game is a licensed game. Like if you approach the topic from the other direction. If this was a game, what’s the oddities that are antithetical to game design?

Like Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball is a series with a huge emphasis on fighting, so fighting games is like the perfect fit right? Yet, if you stop and think about it, RWBY characters fit fighting games better than Dragon Ball characters.

I sincerely mean that.

Look at Dragon Ball Figherz. Yes, great fighting game, but the characters are clearly not initially designed for fighting games. I’m not even talking about how there’s like 6 Gokus. There are other games that have the same character but slightly different like Evil Ryu or Order Sol. I’m more talking about how in most fighting games you can tell how the character is going to play at a glance.

Look at other fighting games and then compare it to Dragon Ball. In Street Fighter, Ryu’s wearing a standard white gi and is a fundamentalist character. Everyone else who’s dressed like him has the same moveset but iterates on it in a different way. Ken in red is more flashy and combo focused, Akuma in black is high power but low health due to honing his craft to kill people, and even Dan in pink is the joke variation. Evil Ryu is also just Ryu but more aggressive

Look at Fighterz and while 4 different people are wearing orange gis, the only move they share is the kamehameha, and even Cell and Kid Buu have those moves. Same with Goku and the various Gokus. We got Base, SSJ, Blue, Rose, Ultra Instinct, and GT and good luck figuring out anything about how each of them play just by looking at them. Two of these are generalists, two of these get stronger when someone dies, one of these is a rushdown mix up character, and one of these is a defensive powerhouse. Even if you know Dragonball, that only really clears up that the defense character is Ultra Instinct Goku. 

And for those who were wondering, SSJ and Rose are generalists, Base and GT get stronger when someone dies, and Blue is the rushdown character.

The reason I used RWBY as a comparison is because, aside from me liking and knowing both series, they’re both in Arc Sys fighting games, making this a relatively fair comparison.

Look at the RWBY characters in BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle and it’s immediately more obvious what most of these characters play as compared to the cast of Dragon Ball Fighterz. Weiss looks elegant and prim and proper so it’s far easier to guess she’s a character that needs to set up to get her fighting style going. Blake looks like a ninja so it’s no surprise when she starts using weird clones and attacks with huge but precise ranges to chip away at the enemy. And Yang is brightly colored, flashy, and has huge gauntlets so no one is surprised when she armors through attacks to beat the enemy’s face in. Ruby might be the odd man out since the Gothic Lolita aesthetic of her Beacon outfit doesn’t really scream the ‘highly mobile generalist’ that she actually plays as. Still, it’s overall easier to place these characters into roles.

I’m just saying, if I lined up a bunch of RWBY characters, I could tell you how each of them would play in a fighting game, but if you lined up Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan and asked me what each of their play style is, I wouldn’t be able to figure out how to differentiate the three of them. It’s just a funny thought that everyone thinks fighting games are the perfect fit for dragon ball but then if you wanted to come up with movesets, you’d probably draw up a huge blank because everyone punches and shoots beams for the most part and are either wearing gis, wearing armor, or is a weird alien or god or robot. The variety is shockingly little.

[nightingale2004]

Suicide Squad ocs

Trinity Dellarosa

Age: 25

Height: 5'7

Personality: clever, sarcastic, fierce, intelligent, distant, quiet, observant, quick-witted, flirtatious, aggressive, nice, creative, playful, sneaky, independent, cunning, patient, crafty, resourceful, calculating

Looks:

Family: Terrance (father-figure), Lukas (son)

Relationship(s): Rick Flag (ex), El Diablo (crush)

Hero counterpart: Batman, Oracle, and Cyborg

Skills: hacking, parkour, pickpocket, con artist, photographic memory, acting, mechanical and technological engineering, deduction, karate, jiu-jitsu, weapon improvising

Weapons: twin pistols, flip knife, dagger

Villain/hacker name: Maestro (M4357R0)

Hacker symbol:

Villain outfit: Black military pants, black combat boots, long black hooded cloak, black bulletproof t-shirt, black mouth mask

Extra: Born and raised in Gotham City on the streets at the mercy of criminals. Trinity did whatever it took to survive. She stole for them, did jobs for them, and was even trained to fight for them. As she grew up, she met with Terrance, who was a fighter for the Cobblepot family, who raised her and taught her a few things about computers and phones, but the rest she figured out herself and became a hacker. She began her life of crime and became a feared hacker in Gotham City. She did try to leave that life after she had her son, but old enemies came after her and she had no choice but to get rid of all of them but also made sure that her family was well hidden. After getting rid of her enemies, she found a lot of blackmail and information and continued to sell it for both money and protection. Lex Luther was one of her clients, and she sold him a bunch of private information before she was taken away to Black gate prison by the Batman. The authorities tried to take back the information, but it was already too late, and her security system kicked in, erasing any trace of her clients, assassins, contacts, and anything relating to her family or her private business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuruginai Chikara

Age: 24

Height: 6'0

Personality: charming, bold, caring, flirtatious, aggressive, devoted, respectful, smart, strong-willed, cautious, courageous

Looks:

Family: Shimura (mother), Ryu (father), Nakamura (little brother), Nezuko (twin sister)

Love interest: Rat catcher two

Hero counterpart: Batman and Cyborg

Skills: Kung-fu, taekwondo, jiu-jitsu, judo, iaijutsu, sheng biao, parkour

Powers: Metal Manipulation

Weapons: Rope dart, katana

Villain name: Alloy

Villain outfit: a titanium skin tight suit that goes to his nose and he usually covers the armor in a kimono

Extra: Yuruginai was taken by the Japanese branch of the Yakuza and forced into a fighting ring at the age of fifteen but after refusing to fight he was put into human trafficking and eventually ended up in New Jersey where he killed his captures and ran away then taken in my a older Italian woman who taught him English and how to care for himself. Some time after that he decided to take down all the Yakuza in America and eventually took a experimental drug that gave him his powers soon after thought he ran into Batman, Cyborg, The Flash and Green lantern at a raid of a Yakuza where they apprehend him.

[animeytyutr]

animeflv

Animes de AnimeFLV ➤ Videos anime de AnimeFLV gratis, online, HD y SIN CENSURA para ver online y descargar por MEGA, Mediafire o DRIVE.

Title: Whispering Shadows

Chapter 1: The Awakening

In the bustling city of Neo-Tokyo, where neon lights illuminated the night sky and skyscrapers reached for the heavens, an ancient evil began to stir. Hidden in the shadows of this modern metropolis were secrets and legends that spoke of a time when magic and warriors protected humanity from the forces of darkness.

Kazuki Yamato, a high school student with a penchant for trouble, never imagined he would be dragged into this hidden world. With his tousled black hair and piercing blue eyes, he was known for his rebellious streak and knack for getting into fights. But beneath his tough exterior, Kazuki had a kind heart and a strong sense of justice.

One evening, while walking home from school, Kazuki stumbled upon a mysterious alleyway he had never noticed before. Drawn by an inexplicable force, he ventured inside. The alley led to an ancient temple, forgotten by time. As he approached, a soft whisper echoed in his mind, urging him to enter.

Inside the temple, he found an old relic—a katana embedded in a stone pedestal. As his hand touched the hilt, the whispers grew louder, and a blinding light enveloped him. When the light faded, Kazuki found himself in a different realm, a place where magic was real, and warriors known as the "Shadow Guardians" protected the balance between light and dark.

Chapter 2: The Shadow Guardians

Kazuki awoke in a grand hall, surrounded by warriors in ornate armor and wielding weapons infused with magical energy. At the head of the hall stood a regal figure, Lady Amara, the leader of the Shadow Guardians. Her long silver hair flowed like a river, and her emerald eyes seemed to see through Kazuki’s very soul.

"Welcome, Kazuki," she said, her voice both commanding and gentle. "You have been chosen by the Spirit of the Blade. The world you know is in danger, and we need your help to protect it."

Kazuki's mind raced, struggling to comprehend the gravity of the situation. "Chosen? Protect? I don't understand."

Lady Amara smiled, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You will, in time. But first, you must train. The shadows are whispering, and dark forces are gathering strength. Only by mastering your new abilities can you hope to stand against them."

Kazuki was introduced to his mentors—Ryu, a stern samurai with unmatched skill in combat; Hana, a gentle healer with a powerful connection to nature; and Takeshi, a mischievous rogue with a knack for stealth and strategy. Together, they began to train Kazuki, honing his skills and teaching him the ways of the Shadow Guardians.

Chapter 3: Bonds Forged in Battle

Days turned into weeks as Kazuki trained tirelessly. He formed deep bonds with his mentors and fellow trainees, discovering the true meaning of friendship and loyalty. Each day brought new challenges and revelations, pushing him to his limits.

One night, as they prepared for an upcoming mission, Kazuki and his friends sat around a campfire, sharing stories and laughter. Rina, a skilled archer with a fiery spirit, looked at Kazuki with admiration. "You've come a long way, Kazuki. I never thought a street fighter like you would become one of us."

Kazuki chuckled, his eyes reflecting the firelight. "Neither did I. But I guess fate had other plans."

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden disturbance. Dark creatures, twisted by malevolent magic, emerged from the shadows, attacking with ferocity. The Shadow Guardians sprang into action, their training and camaraderie guiding them through the fierce battle.

Kazuki fought bravely, his katana glowing with a mystical light. As he struck down the last of the creatures, a dark figure appeared, cloaked in shadows. "Impressive," the figure hissed. "But this is only the beginning."

With those ominous words, the figure vanished, leaving Kazuki and his friends to ponder the true extent of the darkness they faced.

Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm

The encounter with the dark figure left the Shadow Guardians on high alert. Lady Amara revealed that the figure was Kuro, a former Guardian who had fallen to the lure of dark magic. His goal was to harness the power of the Whispering Shadows, an ancient force that could plunge the world into eternal darkness.

Determined to stop Kuro, Kazuki and his friends embarked on a perilous journey to gather allies and uncover the secrets of the Whispering Shadows. Along the way, they encountered fierce battles, uncovered long-forgotten histories, and strengthened their resolve.

Kazuki's bond with his friends deepened, especially with Rina. Their shared experiences and mutual respect blossomed into something more, adding a layer of emotional complexity to their quest.

Read More: animeflv

[pixelsproject]

『VS. Series』 Palette Swap Character #7 ∶ Shadow Lady

So after Ryu and Akuma first got darker versions of themselves in Street Fighter Alpha 2, that obviously meant that Street Fighter’s most prominent female character ought to as well. (Against all odds, somehow Zangief and Nash got one before Chun-Li.)

Shadow Lady’s design follows in the footsteps of Charlie’s villainous reincarnation, but unlike Shadow, Chun-Li’s doppelganger isn’t just a simple palette swap. Even if they look a bit wonky, she’s got a decent amount of attacks designed specifically for her. Like Armored Spider-Man, the shadowy Street Fighters also use a smaller number or colors than their sourced characters. Unlike Metal Spidey, this actually works fairly well, IMO.

Because regular Chun-Li is in her classic outfit, I would've preferred that Shadow Lady use Chun-Li's design from Street Fighter Alpha or vice-versa. That's a small gripe, though. Off all the characters here, Shadow Lady is actually my favorite.

---

SOURCES ↴ Marvel vs. Capcom - Clash of Heroes (Arcade) Crossover background uploaded by the2dstagesfg (Tumblr) Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Arcade) Australian Outback stage uploaded by the2dstagesfg (Tumblr) Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Arcade) Point 48106 stage uploaded by the2dstagesfg (Tumblr)

[olboypacman]

Dragon Falls to Spider’s Venom, Chapter 2: Trapped in a Web/1st Date!? Pt 2.

A/N: A little less Ryu/Juri in this chapter. This will serve as to how Juri got to where she is now. This will jump around a little bit. Also, if anyone has seen the Street Fighter 4 OVA where Juri was 1st introduced, there’s apart in this chapter that slightly reimagines some of those events.

I also claim no ownership of Street Fighter or associated trademarks.

***

8 Months Ago, Unspecified Rainforest of Southern Thailand

***

She’d done it.

S.I.N was hers.

Juri finally decided to make her move on Seth.

Seth was tough, no doubt about that. The arrogant android managed to make her break a sweat, but he was just a warmup (though it took more out of her than she’d ever state out loud, even having to use the Feng-Shui engine to rebuff Seth’s attacks).

Now it was time to plan her move on Shadaloo and nab the prize.

Bison’s head.

Juri gave the fallen android very little regard as she lifted her foot to shatter Seth’s core, ensuring he wouldn’t be coming back.

Not unlike the roach who’s fond of red military garb, thought Juri.

The moment she crushed the Tanden Engine under her own foot, that was when Bison decided to reveal himself.

The metal automatic door hissed open, Bison stepping into Seth’s office, as if he owned the place.

She could hear bangs, shouting, explosions and gunshots beyond the office, making it clear Bison didn’t come alone.

It was no secret that Bison had moles in S.I.N, but Seth, being the unimaginative automaton he was, did nothing to eliminate them; furthermore even having S.I.N’s base in the same rainforests as the main Shadaloo base.

She remembered the humanoid once stating the mountains and forests of southern Thailand were naturally impenetrable.

Naturally impenetrable my ass, thought Juri.

The devil among men barely made any preamble.

He goes on the attack after giving a haughty “humph.”

Bison left his feet, charging her, the paramilitary leader going into a spin as the ki of his psycho power enveloped him.

She just managed to dodge him, jumping out of the as he blasted past her, shouting, “Psycho Crusher!”

Looking to take advantage of the opening she charged him as he recovered.

Bison came out of the spin of the psycho crusher, landing on both feet just as Juri came up on him.

Juri threw a flurry of punches and kicks to his body and head, hoping to catch him cold.

But Bison was no push over, he dodged, blocked or parried everything she threw.

After one parry, he held on to her wrist squeezing it tight as he shrouded it the burning ki of his psycho power.

In response, Juri then refocused her attack. She threw a kick low, thrusting her foot heel first with crippling intention towards Bison’s knee.

He grunted in pain, but his grip remained tight.

She did again.

Once more.

He released his grip, then produced a burst of sudden ki creating almost shield around him forcing Juri back.

She regained her footing, then began circling Bison as she shook her wrist.

The defensive aura ki around Bison disbursed, as he kicked the kinks out of his knee.

He smiles, “You intend to cripple me, girl?” He asked mockingly as he took his stance, widening his feet, placing his hands in place to protect his face and body.

Juri smiles at him, but with no mirth in her features. “I reckon a one-legged man is easier to kill than one with two,” she said shrugging off his question.

Bison charged her once more, taking a large step throwing himself into a low kick of his own aiming for her standing leg.

Juri, no stranger to such a tactic, leaps above the strike, flipping into the air with the intention of landing on her much-hated foe.

She makes contact with Bison, touching down both feet on his armored shoulders. She recognized he’s still off balance having thrown his body into that low kick, so she pushes off him performing another flip.

Bison collied with the ground, landing on his hands his back away from Juri; while Juri landed gracefully in a 3-point stance.

He regains his footing, just as Juri is on him once more.

He goes for a double collar tie, grabbing at the collar bones on Juri on both sides.

Juri sees this another opening, throwing a barrage of punches toward his now unprotected body.

“A…small…price…to pay,” Bison managed to spit out between landed blows.

It was then that he landed a thunderous knee to her midsection, using the collar tie to tilt her body to expose the vulnerable areas and pull her into the blows.

He tilts her to his left, kneeing her on her right side and vice-versa.

She desperately tries to fight her way out this clinch, punching, clawing, even swimming her hands using circular motion to break the dangerous embrace, but Bison has too much size on her, too much strength.

She wills the Feng Shui Engine to life in a last-ditch effort.

The boost the device gives her increases her strength enough for her power out of Bison’s hold, peeling his hands from her collar bones with her bare hands through sheer brute force and creates distance with a push kick to his body.

She needed to get back on the offensive as this boost he’s been granted won’t last long.

Plus, there’s a few things working toward her disadvantage.

Bison’s most recent attack took more out her than she realized, she was more fatigued from her clash with Seth than she’d care to admit, and of course have used the Feng-Shui Engine against Seth; it yields diminishing returns if utilized too soon in successive fashion.

“Did you use your little trinket against my spare?” he asked with a mocking smile.

“What does it matter,” she responded through gritted teeth, fists clinching tight, “you’ll fall just the same.”

They clashed again, this time Juri getting the better of the exchanges, the speed and power boost granted by the Feng-Shui Engine guiding her through.

But for each punch landed, she slowed slightly.

Each kick connected had a little less might behind it than the last.

She was reaching her limit and she knew it.

And would appear Bison picked up on it too.

He timed a punch batting it down and through that opening he threw an elbow to her face, it landing square on her nose.

Juri yelled, “Bastard!” as she retreated, holding her face.

Bison then approached her, imbuing his fists with Psycho energy.

He then begun to rain down punches on her, the Psycho Power-enhanced blows not only impacting her head and body, but also burning with each one landing.

She desperately covers up, trying her best to block the incoming attacks but it’s of little use, the Feng-Shui Engine whirring down as the boost it provided has completely elapsed.

The way he rained down blows on her made it clear he wasn’t there to beat her into submission or subservience.

He wasn’t there to make an example of her.

He was there to take her out and take S.I.N.

No!

Not when she’d just taken it for herself.

She tries to activate the Feng-Shui Engine once more.

Just as it starts to hum to life once more, Bison utters, “No more of that.”

He grabs her by the neck, lifting her into the air squeezing the life out her. He slams her back into the nearby steel wall, while still holding her by the throat.

She struggles with her feet kicking in the air as she gasps for breath, pounding desperately on the arm holding her up.

Bison reaches for her left eye, his intention to rip the Feng-Shui engine right out her head clear.

“Kkekk,” she spits out as her struggle gets more erratic, batting his hand away with each attempt only being more futile than the last while Bison squeezes her neck tighter.

As her consciousness fades, she enacts one more act of desperation.

She grasps the sides of his head, pushing her thumbs into his sockets.

He lets out a wail, “Rahh! You wretch! I’ll make you suffer for this!”

Take mine, I’ll take your you son of a bitch, she thought.

He grabs her by the wrists, tearing her hands from his face.

Still holding her by the arms, he throws Juri across the room.

She crashed into Seth’s desk, the piece of furniture exploding into splinters upon impact.

Juri hacks and coughs, trying to regain her breath after being strangled. Her hand massaged her neck as body throbbed in agony after being thrown.

She observed Bison, staggering about the room, hands at his eyes, trying to rub the vision back into them.

“Tell me where you are, and your suffering will be brief!” He screamed, as he dropped his hand from his eyes, the skin around them red and swollen from being thumbed.

“Ah, a good attempt,” he said facing Juri, the south Korean presumably coming into focus, “but it will take more than that to take down the mighty Bison.”

Juri tried to push herself up but found her body too fatigued to do so, collapsing immediately.

She managed to get herself on her knee, bracing herself with a hand on the ground. She looked up and saw Bison powering his way toward her.

Is this it?

This can’t be it.

Not when I have the bastard right here!

She clenches her grounded hand in frustration but finds it closing around a piece of wood from the destroyed desk.

One surely wouldn’t be performing surgery with it but it’s ends look sharp enough that with enough force it could do some damage.

She looks around, seeing she’s not too far from a wall.

She pushed herself up, makeshift shank in hand, letting her momentum guide her to the wall to minimize any effort it would take to stand and move otherwise.

She would need the energy.

Bison continued his stride toward her, just passing where she kneeled previously.

“Run, run, little spider,” mocked Bison.

He must still be blurry-eyed, thought Juri, as he’s made no mention of the piece of wood nor made no move to disarm her.

He reaches out with both hands, clasping around her neck to finish what he started.

“Take heed and be happy that the last thing you’ll see is my…”

Bison is cut off, as the pointed piece of wood is plunged into abdomen just below the chest, Juri aiming for the heart or liver.

She stabs again, he responds by grabbing at his wounds with one hand choking her with the other, but the clasp isn’t as tight as it was before.

Must’ve hit pay-dirt.

She takes the improvised weapon by both hands, this time plunging it into Bison neck with all the strength she had left.

She pulls out the piece of wood, the crude weapon coming out with a wet splunk.

Bison releases her, as he stumbles back, blood spraying out his neck.

His now free hand goes to his neck wound trying to stop the bleeding.

He drops to his knees, now holding both lacerations.

He then holds out both hands, looking down at them with a sneering smile.

He looks up to Juri, as his face relaxes and then his body crumbles into a heap unceremoniously.

Juri throws down the piece of wood at the unmoving Bison.

“Dae-Jung and Areum Han say hello from heaven, you fuck,” Juri muttered weakly before she herself collapsed.

***

Ryu stared at Juri as finished this piece of her story, her own stare was downcast.

“That story in the newspapers was that Bison…”

“I know Juri,” interrupted, “my guess is that leaders of the world figured is better the everyday citizen thought Bison went down like some grand finale befitting an action movie villain, and not stabbed to death by a desperate girl on her last legs.”

Ryu noticed a slight tremble of her hand, the memory of her final battle with Bison obviously a very sore spot.

Juri must’ve observed him seeing her display of anguish, as she brought her hand to her mouth, biting her index finger between her lips.

“Juri, you could’ve told the story that circulated in the papers and wherever and I wouldn’t have been the wiser,” said Ryu, as he took the hand she had up to her mouth into his hand. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked earnestly.

She looked down at their entwined hands, and then looked back to Ryu.

Smiling sadly, her nodding down as she looked at him through her eyelashes, “Maybe I’m a nicer person than I’ve led on all these years. Maybe since you trusted me with your problems, I feel like I can trust you with this.” She finished as began to caress Ryu’s hand.

She took a noticeable breath, preparing to speak.

But before she could, John walked up to their table from behind Ryu, asking, “Can I get you both anything else?”

Juri pushed Ryu’s hand away, as if it was scalding hers, looking in a direction away from both John and Ryu.

She cutely pouted, as crossed her arms across her chest.

Ryu smiled at her as she angrily told John, off, “We’re fine!” She huffed out.

He can see Rachel motioning behind Juri, signaling for John to leave the couple be.

“Uh, yeah. ” said John, as he walked away.

She unfolded her arms, taking deep swig of her wine, “I’d like to continue if you don’t mind?” she asked lightly.

“Go right ahead,” responded Ryu, motioning her to go on, “I’m eager to hear what happened next,” he said as he placed his hand on the table.

“I woke up a few hours later, the first thing on my mind was…”

***

She did it.

She’d finally did it.

After almost a decade of toil her one goal since her parents’ death has come to fruition.

Bison’s dead.

And by her hand.

She ought to feel happy, celebratory even.

She opened her eyes, the lights of the florescent blubs above her burning them.

“Fuck,” she muttered to herself, covering her eyes with her arm while attempting to sit up.

But her whole body is incredibly sore, likely from the battle with Bison.

Had it not been for this pain she would’ve been left with a hollow feeling.

The empty, hollow she feared would surface once her revenge was consummated.

Just as Chun-Li warned…

“I see you’re awake,” called a voice from the side of the bed Juri occupied.

Juri looked at the figure from underneath her arm, laying her eyes on Crimson Viper.

The S.I.N agent is seated in a plastic seat, metal legged chair with her legs and arms crossed. Her red hair is in a messy ponytail. Viper has a few cuts here and there marring the otherwise mesmerizing beauty, the most obvious of which is one on her pouty lips. Viper’s looking at her with a neutral look on her face as if she’s trying to get a read on her. Absent is her usual business suit that hides her battle equipment, in its place is a skintight red catsuit with a solid black line running down the arms, sides, continuing down legs plunging into solid black combat boots and she has matching tactical gloves on her hands. She has a holster around her shoulders with a handgun the model of Juri is having trouble identifying.

“Nice to see you’re still among the living,” said Viper, as her expression softened slightly.

“I feel like death,” responded Juri through gritted teeth, as tried to stand up again this time succeeding despite the pain.

“Maybe halfway alive at least,” joked Viper.

“I take it I’m in the infirmary,” asked Juri.

“You got it.”

Juri looks around, noticing not too many of the other beds of the infirmary occupied.

“How many of ours did we lose. I mean, when I was fighting Bison things seemed to be going to hell outside of Seth’s office. I take it we didn’t lose too many?”

“Not a whole lot, though obviously we did suffer some casualties. Despite the idiocy of keeping the mobile base of S.I.N in the same forests as Shadaloo base, Seth did have an efficient plan for the inevitable Shadaloo attack. A shame he didn’t live to see it through.” Finished Viper as she gave a pointed look to Juri.

“Oh,” Juri laughed,” you’re sorry he’s gone?”

“You insult me by asking. Only thing I’m sorry about is that you got to him first,” said Viper, as her eyes narrowed at Juri, in which the Taekwondo fight reads as look of resentment, “both of them.”

Whatever plans Crimson Viper had regarding Seth and Bison are now irrelevant, and really don’t concern Juri.

With Bison dead, her next move should be moving on Shadaloo as soon as possible. Juri doesn’t doubt Bison has a spare body or two lying around the main base.

But also, she needs to do something, anything before the hollowness consumed her.

“Early bird gets the worm,” Juri responded, throwing on a façade of confidence, “and since I took out Seth that means I call the shots here now!”

Crimson Viper looks at Juri, looking at her almost as she sees through her.

If she did, Viper didn’t make any mention of it.

“I guess it does,” Viper replied simply.

“How soon do you think we’ll be able to move on Shadaloo,” asked Juri.

“In your condition?” Said Viper with a surprised inflection, leaning forward, “You can barely stand upright in that bed without wincing in pain!”

“Huh, didn’t know you cared so much Viper, but that’s not what I asked.”

“Fine, you’re the boss I guess,” said Viper, “we can probably be ready in under 12 hours. Bison brought with him about 500 soldiers, and by our latest estimation he had a total of 700 at his disposal at the main Shadaloo base. Most of those 500 he brought with are either dead or captured right now. At our last head count of our manpower, we had 400 men at our disposal, and we barley lost 100 in this battle. Plus, we can probably bolster our numbers with those we’ve captured or at least those whose loyalty can be bought. Also, those among detained we’ve got F.A.N.G, their second in command. We can probably use F.A.N.G to take ‘em without any further conflict.”

“But where’s the fun in that,” responded Juri.

***

Ryu looked on as Juri spoke further, leaning forward in anticipation of the next part of this story.

She paused as John came back, taking their plates.

“Can I get some more water,” asked Juri.

John simply nodded, stepping away from the table, having taken his que from Rachel to avoid interrupting the couple too much.

Maybe, I shouldn’t think of us as couple, though Ryu, maybe just acquaintances having dinner.

Juri, as if reading Ryu’s mind continued, “And there’s not really much to say about taking on Shadaloo. We mobilized all able-bodied members S.I.N plus those members of Shadaloo that stormed the base that we’re willing to change alliances and stormed their base. We even used the air carriers they used to come to us to travel there. They were out manned, out gunned so surrender was the only logical thing Shadaloo could’ve done.”

Ryu looked on at Juri, slightly disappointed, “I kind of expected more but considering the circumstances, surrender was probably the most likely outcome.”

“Yeah, I mean we brought F.E.N.G with us to prove we weren’t playing around let alone the troops we brought with us. The most exciting thing after that was my 1st official act as head of Shadaloo. It was well known that Bison has ‘spare’ bodies laying around,” Juri said using quotation marks. “I demanded to know where were in the base. I was taken to a subterranean room where there were 4 glass tanks, each containing a fully realized clone of Bison floating in some liquid. I ordered them all off whatever life support system they were connected to. And just to make sure there was no coming back for him, I took a side arm from one of my escorts and put two in the head chest of each copy.” Juri stopped, looking at Ryu as if she was ready for him to pass judgement on her for what she did.

“Lay it on me tough guy. I know you have something to say about this. Whatever it is, I can take it.” Said Juri impatiently.

Ryu’s brows shot up in surprise.

He could imagine being in her shoes if something happened to someone he cared for.

Hell, he almost crossed that line when Crimson Viper decided it was a good idea to torture Cammy in order to goad out the Satsui no Hado.

“Juri,” he started seriously, “While I have been a witness to the cruelty of M. Bison, it has always been in the context of a fight. I cannot begin to fathom the things he’s done to others in the name of his criminal empire, least of all what he put you through. If you thought it was necessary to complete your revenge, I will not judge you for it. The least I can say is that he will not be missed,” Ryu finished, as he returned Juri’s stare.

She laughed sadly.

“You’re being nicer to me than I was to myself was to all those months ago.”

“How do you mean?” asked Ryu.

“Well remember earlier when I described my feelings after I woke up in the infirmary. Hollow, empty. I hoped that what was left of Shadaloo had put up a fight. That way I can occupy myself with something other than this emptiness. Fucking bastards, rolling over as quickly as they did,” Juri spoke with bitterness in her tone. “And after that? After that I thought about what my parents would want. Would they have wanted me to avenge them like this? No. My dad probably would’ve wanted me to be like Chun-Li, go into law enforcement. Or be like him, become a prosecutor. Take the bad guys down, all fair and just like,” she said as waived her hand. “And that hollowness showed too. Everything I was to be briefed on, I showed no interest in. Crimson Viper knew that too. That might be why she approached me afternoon of the following day…”

***

Juri Han sat at a large desk (likely made from some rare or expensive species of wood she surmised), her elbow on its surface as she held her head in her palms as she stared down its fine finish.

Buttons and retractable screens were built into opulent the piece of furniture, likely for delegating decisions for running this to go smoother. But for the life of her, Juri didn’t know how (or even care to) work them.

Nothing in particular was on her mind, she simply sat there.

Existing.

She found herself surrounded by luxurious and posh things, but Juri just couldn't find it in her to care.

Despite that, there was no fanfare to her becoming the new head-honcho of Shadaloo and reconsolidating S.I.N back into its fold. It was just simply understood among those in the base.

It’s not that she’d expected anything either, the only thing she was given was a brief of ongoing operations.

Said briefing probably included how to work the do-dads on this desk, not that she paid any attention to it.

Almost in a haze she followed around some scientist or engineer she didn’t bother to get the name as the big brain droned on about one thing or another.

She’d ended up just leaving Crimson Viper with the scientist, leaving it up to her to brief her later.

Viper took it upon herself to be acting number two, following Juri around like she did. Juri simply made it official.

Her 2nd act as the new head of Shadaloo.

Guess I should make the 3rd act a crash course in how to work this desk, thought Juri.

But before she could put a fingertip to a button, the doors to the office hissed open.

The doors completed their cycle revealing Crimson Viper (dressed in her normal battle suit) and two Shadaloo/S.I.N troops.

“Hear for that briefing, Viper?” Juri asked.

“A briefing, I guess you can say,” Viper answered.

As the doors hissed back closed, Viper approached the control panel next to the opening typing something into it.

As she did that, the two troops came into the room with her pulled silencers from their person, fixing them into place on the muzzles of their sub-machine guns.

“I see,” said Juri, as the troops trained their weapons on to her, “making your move. Make it quick at least.” She finished, ready to accept her fate.

“That depends on you,” said Crimson Viper as she approached the desk.

“I’m sorry,” said Juri incredulously, “are you not taking Shadaloo for your own purposes? Cause that’s what it looks like to me!”

“I am, just not in the way you think.”

“Well,” replied Juri, waving impatiently at Viper to clear the air, “stop fucking double talking with me!”

“I’ve been working deep cover as an agent through the C.I.A, with the goal of taking down Shadaloo and S.I.N and considering those have just become one, though I guess it’s just Shadaloo now.”

“I just made your job easier it looks like, you’re welcome.”

Viper simply scoffs at her, staring down, almost through Juri as the C.I.A operative continued. “We were planning a joint raid of both facilities within the next few weeks as we had good information that Bison was going to attack S.I.N soon. It never could’ve been anticipated that he would strike at the same time you took out Seth. The plan was to raid whatever was left over as it’d be in a weakened state, but it could be said that’s still the plan now. Observing you after Shadaloo’s attack, I recommended we move up the timeline for the raid. It was clear to me that whatever motivation you had died with M. Bison. And with you as the head of Shadaloo the body would fall easily.”

“Ok,” said Juri, still unsatisfied with the answer, “I get arrested with everyone else here assuming you three are the only undercovers. That still doesn’t explain why you came to me now. Why not just take me down during the raid? Shit, why not just take me out of the equation right now? Something tells me you’re looking to make some kind of deal and let me walk away from this little meeting, provided I say the right things,” Juri said as she leaned back into her chair. “What makes you think I won’t just say what you want hear and I won’t just run for it afterwards?”

“Well,” said Viper, lips curling into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “the assumption that we’re the only three undercovers would be wrong. We’ve got people all over this place, including the exits. Should this meet go sour or you try to run, you will be killed. Cover stories already prepared, ‘Juri Han was shot dead after making an undercover operative and compromising the upcoming raid.’ And why bring you into the loop? You can leverage your current position as leader Shadaloo. Make yourself nice a soft-landing after the fall.”

“But why come to me start with? If Shadaloo goes down and me with it, I’m fine with that at this point. There’s nothing in this world left for me,” responded Juri.

“Exactly,” said Viper.

Juri’s brow creases, her lips splitting into a sneer. She brings her fist into the table, making a sizeable dent as she screamed, “You’re doing this because you feel sorry for me!”

“Maya, clear out for a shot,” said one of the agents obviously prepared to fire on Juri.

“No,” said Viper, motioning at them to hold their fire. “Call it a good deed, but despite everything I know you don’t want die to here. Shadaloo is going to fall and you along with it. The difference being is your cooperation. You want to be difficult, fine. We have enough to bury you in the deepest, darkest international hell hole we can find. You go along with it, you’re probably looking at a life sentence, with the possibly parole in a decade or two. Maybe even you get to walk, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

Fair enough, thought Juri, but it’s the pity that I cannot stand. It reminds of when my parents were killed. Everyone saying that they were sorry, it made me feel so fucking powerless! Like how I’m powerless now…

“So, what now. We just wait for the raid,” asked Juri as she unfurled her fist.

“Raid takes place tomorrow morning, 0500 hours. 0500 is an hour before the night guards switch shifts with the morning guards. That’s the best window we surmised to minimize any casualties. Night guards would be too tired and not as vigilant at the end of their shift. Moring guard wouldn’t even be in position to repel any attack. I recommend you read up on how this place runs and on current running operations as you can. The more you know, the more leverage you’ll have. This control panel should have everything you need to familiarize yourself with everything, knowing that mind of yours has perfect recall.” Viper pulls a device from a pocket on her battle suit, “One the things I was briefed on yesterday was how operate this thing, the recorded instructions are on this.”

Crimson Viper placed the recorder contraption the desk as she turns to walk away, motioning at the two guards.

The two troops lower their weapons and remove the silencers from the muzzles.

“See tomorrow morning Juri.”

Juri doesn’t hesitate to dive into Shadaloo’s files as the three C.I.A operatives take their leave, activating the recording device. The big brain from yesterday afternoon begins to drone directions for operating the desk/control console, his recorded voice bouncing off the walls the office.

Juri loses track of time, seeing things she knew, seeing things she didn’t know, but also seeing things she wishes she didn’t.

A few things she makes note of, as they may serve as leverage come tomorrow.

Before she realizes it, it’s 3 am local time. 2 hours before the raid.

She can’t sleep, she’s much too anxious.

She should probably shower as facing the day ahead with funk of the previous day not seeming like a good idea.

Luckily this office has an in-suite bedroom that included a bathroom.

After a 20-minute shower, she fixes her in her signature spider fang style, that killing another 45 minutes.

4:05am.

Still another 55 minutes to the raid.

Juri decided to eat something, as she doesn’t remember the last time she ate something and would definitely need the energy to face the day.

Luckily this office had a mini fridge stocked with fresh fruit and water bottles.

She helps herself to a few handfuls of grapes, a banana and a water bottle.

After finishing she looks at the clock again.

4:40am.

Shit.

This waiting is killing her.

So, she decided to do one more thing.

She discovered Shadaloo had money and a lot of it.

If several million went missing who’s know the difference.

And being the head of Shadaloo (though only for a few minutes more) she had access and control.

Viper even said there’s a chance she can walk!

No way she starts over without a, what did Viper call it?

‘A soft landing spot.’

A few key stokes here and a whole shit ton of money moved to an off sore account under an assumed name Shadaloo already had under its use, said account removed from the database.

There!

Soft landing secured.

Even if she doesn’t walk, she at least has something she come back to when she meets parole.

And not a moment too soon as the clock now read 4:59am local time.

5:00am

Juri waits with bated breath for all hell to break loose.

And just as clock hits 5:01am, she hears simultaneous booms indicating breach explosives have been used at all points of entry.

Then the loud klaxon of an alarm starts to blare.

She hears commotion and orders being barked but no sounds of fight being put up.

Viper was on the money after all.

It’s not until another hour after the initial raids that the doors to the office open again.

Once more it’s Crimson Viper or Maya as one the troops from yesterday afternoon called her and several more people dressed head to toe in tactical gear (she presumes they’re C.I.A).

“Had a good night I hope,” said Viper.

“Better than you might expect,” replied Juri.

Viper looks back at one of soldiers, motioning them toward Juri.

The tactically dressed soldier then steps forward, removing their helmet revealing the twin ox tail hair adorned with white broaches and ribbons, brown hair and angular face of Chun-li.

The INTERPOL officer looks to Viper, “It won’t make up for Bison,” said Chun-Li, pulling out a pair of handcuffs, “but it’s a start.”

Juri goes to stand.

“You didn’t have to do all this just to get me in cuffs, all you had to do is just ask officer,” Juri spoke lightly as she lifted her hands above her head, “though I’d prefer to be cuffed to the head of a bed than this.”

Chun-Li shook her head at Juri, her face a stone mask and simply replied, “Please fuck this up. Besides, that won’t be needed anyways. Hands in front of you and sit back down, slowly.”

Juri looked to Viper as she obeyed the command, “Is Bazooka Joe and the kitten joining us?” She asked.

“As a matter of fact, they will be, but in the meantime, I think you and the agent here,” said Chun-li as the jutted her head in Maya’s direction, “have somethings to discuss.”

Another one of the tactically dressed troops steps forward, this one with a curved grab bar (like one a person would see in a shower or bathroom, but this looked more heavy-duty) and a nail gun.

He places them on the floor as he feels around the desk, likely for a spot where no wires or electricity runs through, their intention to handcuff Juri to the desk becoming clear to her.

“This thing’s bolted to the floor, correct?” asked the faceless soldier, referring to the desk.

Viper nods.

The soldier, having found a spot he liked, places the bar on the desk quickly nails in place as Chun-Li cuffs Juri’s wrist and cuffs the other end to the bar.

Juri tugs her cuffed hand, the metal of the cuffs and bar making a loud clanking noise, “I figured I’d test…”

She’s interrupted by a high-pitched whine and a pain emanating from the left side of her head.

“FUCK,” Juri said loudly.

“That was a test of this little number,” said Viper waiving a small remote in her hand, “to ensure your compliance. It interferes with Feng Shui Engine. So don’t get cute.”

Juri, holding her head as she’s reeling from the effects of this mysterious remote says, “Bitch, I’m fucking beautiful.”

Viper smiles cruelly as goes to press it again.

��Viper, come on!” Intoned Chun-Li, as she grabs the C.I.A agent’s hand, stopping the button press. “This isn’t necessary. We’ve got her, she’s completely beleaguered, and her life is practically on the line!”

“Fine, I suppose we better get this started,” said Maya, pocketing the remote, but Chun-Li snatches the remote into her own hands.

The soldiers present then train their weapons to Chun-Li.

“I’ll hold on to this,” she said not even blinking at the fact that she has several dozen guns pointed at her. She then levels her unwavering stare at Viper, resolved steeled in her brown eyes, “While I don’t trust Juri, I trust you even less.”

Viper returns a glare at Chun-Li, “This is why your types don’t make it in espionage. Always thinking with your heart,” said Viper. She motioned the other troops present to lower their weapons. She then pulls out a thumb drive as walked towards Juri, “If you’ll be a dear get this built-in panel activated. This thumb drive contains spyware that will stream all data to a team of a few dozen analysts to disseminate everything contained in this system. All I need for you is to turn it on and insert the thumb drive. The program will do the rest. You learn anything going over this database last night?”

“I learned this organization is way more fucked up than I thought,” replied Juri.

Juri takes the thumb drive from Maya, pushing a button that pulls up a keyboard and panel, that panel acting as a screen.

“You know another thing I learned is there is cute little button,” intoned Juri.

“Juri…” warned Viper.

Juri stuffed the drive into the crotch of her tights, “It acts as mass a delete of all Shadaloo databases of not just here, but all 25 bases worldwide.”

Juri feels a slight thrill of payback as Viper’s features melt into a frown.

“Oh, looks like you didn’t know that did you? I committed the locations to memory and intentionally locked the data pertaining to those locations behind a password protected file. Windows 10 is amazing isn’t?” Said Juri as she smiled arrogantly at Viper.

Viper then looks to Chun-li, expectantly.

“Don’t look at super cop here, if you didn’t notice torture’s not something she’d stoop to. Sometimes it pays to be the bigger person,” Said Juri.

A few of soldiers then level their guns at Juri, her hand hovering over the mass delete button. “Who knows whatever else precious information I’ve committed to memory?”

“No,” said Viper commanding soldiers present to stand down. “No, you’re right. What do you want?”

“Whoever’s running this operation, tell them I want to talk about what I get for my cooperation. Tell them I want to walk! Tell them wow!” Commanded Juri, the hollowness of yesterday forgotten now that a chance to live, even the smallest chance, is in her grasp.

“Juri, I told you. I can’t guarantee…” said Viper.

But then Chun-li interrupted.

“This is a coalition run by the C.I.A, INTERPOL, International Court of Justice, Delta Red and about a dozen other international law enforcement and military agencies. We can get word to someone Viper.” Stated Chun-li.

“Fine,” said Viper, pulling out a cell phone. “But I need something from you. Anything!”

“Okay,” said Juri, “Shadaloo was aware of your status as C.I.A asset, but being seeing as you were only with S.I.N they’d decided to sit on the information until you really became a problem. They also know that Maya isn’t your real name. Also, when you’re on assignment, your daughter stays…”

Viper’s eyes go wide. “Fine, Fine. I get it,” she interrupted as punched the pad on the cell phone.

Juri can hear the dial tone ring a few times, before someone on the other line picks up.

“Its Maya,” said Viper.

Juri rolls her eyes at the assumed name.

“If we want this to go ideally, we’re going to need to wheel and deal.”

The voice on the other side of the line rambles loudly, not sounding happy at all.

“We have no leverage!”

The rambles once more.

“Chun-li took the device and refuses to use it! I told you to leave her out of the raid!” Said Viper as gestured angrily. “Yeah, guess it was stupid of me to leave Juri Han to her own fucking devices!”

The voice speaks once more, this time more calmly.

“Fine. I’ll tell her.”

Maya drops her hand holding the phone as she audibly sighs.

She turns back Juri and says, “Life, parole eligible in 15 years, a federal prison somewhere in America. It’s the best we can do right now. Those above me will discuss everything with World Court for anything better, but that depends on what we can glean from here.”

“That works, for now,” said Juri, pulling the thumb drive from her tights, inserting it in the port.

Viper puts the cell phone back to her ear, “we’re good at the moment,” she said.

At that moment the doors open once more, this time Cammy and Guile crossing the threshold.

Guile’s dressed in a navy blue pilot’s uniform, the zipper down to about the middle of his chest, revealing a plain white T-shirt underneath. A pair of aviator sun glasses also hang in space created by the unzipped one piece uniform and his look is completed by black boots.

Cammy is dressed in an oversized green camo bomber jacket, and oversized camo pants stuffed into brown boots. The jacket is covering what could be presumed to be her unitard, as despite the pants being held up by a belt, they still sag a bit revealing a sliver of her hips. Her feet pound the metal flooring covered by brown combat boots as she and Guile fall in line by Viper and Chun-Li in front of the desk Juri is cuffed too.

“Looks like we missed the good part,” said Guile as looked around the room taking in the of heart of Shadaloo. “On the way in were they still escorting people out of here. Couldn’t tell if they were newly freed prisoners of Shadaloo or soon to be prisoners that worked for them.” His eyes then fell onto Juri, “I don’t need to guess which one you fall into.”

“Please, solder boy,” said Juri mockingly, with a matching grin, “I’m in a class of my own. That’s why I’m in the big seat, surrounded by admirers, and this extra special jewelry on my wrist.”

“Hmph,” simply responded Guile.

Juri then looked over to Cammy, “Hello there, kitten,” she greeted the Delta red operative, smile never leaving her face.

Cammy’s face remains neutral, trying not to rise to the bait, “Juri. Why are you here? Why aren’t you being escorted out like the others? And what happened to M. Bison?”

“They don’t know?” Juri asked Viper and Chun-li.

Both shook their heads.

“I wasn’t told much,” started Cammy, “I was told Shadaloo was being raided while I was doing in-service training. My superiors told me Delta Red was being brought in the fold, but I wouldn’t make it here in time to participate in the op. A platoon was already near here on other business. As you can see,” Cammy then gestures to her state of dress, ”this was pretty last minute for me. I was then hurried onto a jet, that was early last night.”

“Pretty much the same,” Guile added, “except the same transport that picked up Cammy would be my ride as well. I was ushered on to that same jet as they were refueling at my base near San Francisco. We still don’t know the whole story, but seeing as you,” Guile said as looked to Viper, “aren’t in cuffs, you must be some kind of spook. And you are in cuffs,” he continued looking to Juri, “my best guess is this is the end game. Shadaloo’s done for, am I right?” Guile asked, his question directed to both Chun-li and Crimson Viper.

“You’re on target Colonel,” responded Viper.

“But what about Bison? Juri? Why is she here and not being dragged away with the rest of the trash?” Interjected Cammy, “Hell what happened to S.I.N for that matter? Last I checked both of you was still working for them and neither them nor Shadaloo were best of friends.”

“I closed the book on Bison myself after taking out Seth. I then consolidated both groups together, but as you can see that’s not going too well…” trailed off Juri. “But to some folks out there that interested in more than Shadaloo’s downfall.”

“Speaking of which,” interjected Viper, pulling palm pilot-like device from her person, “looks like were starting to glean some very interesting information from this data base.”

Juri observed Cammy and Gulie look on in shock, maybe even surprise.

“So, he’s gone?” Cammy muttered.

“Charlie can rest easy,” Guile stated lowly.

They both then snap back to reality, looking at each other, then to Viper.

“What do you mean information,” asked Guile.

“And if I can follow the logic here, that would mean you plan on bringing in Juri as cooperator?” Said Cammy, as her neutral expression began grow into a frown.

“Cooperation’s already been done, sweetie,” said Juri, “I’m just holding a few more cards close to my chest for some more leverage.”

“You can’t be serious,” said Guile, as he tossed his aviators in anger.

“Bullshit,” said Cammy, her hands clenching into fists.

“This is what it has to be,” interjected Chun-li as she approached her friends, placing a hand on their shoulders in hopes to calm them, “I know it’s not ideal, but…”

“Look,” Viper sighed, running a hand through her hair, “Bison was the catch everyone was after. There’s was no question about that. But if he were to be brought in, I highly doubt he would provide any cooperation and probably would take as many of us down with him. I sure there’s a self-destruct switch somewhere here. With Juri that presents us with a unique opportunity than to just collar a few bad guys. Shadaloo has, or had, more than a few scientists, doctors and engineers at their disposal. Some of which had joined to ply their trades away from any ethics or laws, while some were forced join. Not mention those that kidnapped to be a part of those experiments.”

“My sisters,” Cammy added.

Viper nods, she continued, “Not just the dolls. There’s also other prisoners to consider not to mention the countless killers, rapists and other criminals among the rank and file that acted as troops for Shadaloo.”

“What is Juri getting in return,” asked Guile.

“Right now, 15 to life,” Juri said.

“Jesus Christ,” exclaimed Guile, as walked in a circle, angrily kicking the air.

“And you said you were keeping things close for further leverage?” Said Cammy, her features having melted into a full-on scowl. “What else could possibly be more valuable? Juri should be put away, a killer is a killer.”

Juri just nodded to the blonde. “Can’t just give the other party everything they want in a negotiation.”

“Negotiation,” Cammy questioned, incredulously, “this is miscarriage of justice!”

“Justice? Please,” Juri stated contemptuously, “What about you, ‘Killer Bee’. I know for a fact there’s more blood on your hands than just that of a Prime Minister. And don’t feed me that crap about mind control. Killer is a killer, right? And what about the tall thai boxer, Sagat? You all are on more friendly terms with him these days, right? He was Bison’s number 2 for years! Can you imagine what he did to obtain that position? Imagine what he had to do to maintain it? Maybe throw him in cell, tell him how fair it is…” Juri trailed off.

Viper’s cell phone rang.

“You say that as if you only killed those who had it coming!” yelled Cammy.

“Oh, I have plenty of blood on my hands, but none of it was innocent.” Juri argued back.

“What of that woman at that amusement park, when you killed those S.I.N agents? Was she just collateral damage?” Shot Cammy.

“She in fact survived that incident,” Chun-li said, “it was believed she was killed but a paramedic found her to have a faint pulse and rushed her to the hospital. The local police had later received a tip someone fitting Juri’s description left a backpack with a load of cash at the hospital for that woman’s family. By the time it crossed my desk, wasn’t much we could do with that tip, considering if that was Juri she would’ve been long gone by then. It’s like I said Cammy…” Finished Chun-li as she rubbed soothing circles at Cammy’s back.

Juri would have to remember Chun-li speaking up for her like this, maybe send her a bottle of wine if I walk, thought Juri.

“As entertaining as all this is,” Viper cut in, “there’s one more piece of business we need to discuss, Juri.”

“Your boys found something they couldn’t crack into?” Said Juri.

“Yeah, there’s a file called, ‘super-secret stuff’, my guess it’s the file you’ve put an encrypted passcode too. We suspect this file contains the other Shadaloo base locations. We also suspect that the file contains the names and positions of everyone in Shadaloo’s pocket. Despite everything our analysts have found, that’s the one thing we haven’t discovered yet.” Said Viper.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they were involved in corruption,” said Chun-li.

“A good source said they have people high up in several governments, multinational corporations, military and law enforcement agencies including all 3 organizations you all work for,” Viper than looks to Juri, “we just need the magic word from our girl here to bring it all home.”

“What’s it worth to ya? I’m sure whoever’s on the other end of that phone gave you a little more leeway. I’m sure this is what you were after all along,” answered Juri.

Viper purses her lips.

“ICOJ is willing to let you walk, with some conditions,” intoned Viper.

Juri couldn’t help but smile at the news. She let out an involuntary lough, “Well,” she said between chuckles, “what are the conditions?”

“Your case will be placed on,” she pauses, “I guess the closest equivalent would be a Maryland rule called a stet docket for a max of 10 years, you will also serve probation for a maximum of 10 ten years,” responded Viper.

“Pretend I don’t have a law degree,” said Juri through a smile, “what the hell is a stet docket?”

“It is a legal proceeding that essentially puts a case on the shelf. Obviously were not in the state of Maryland, but in exchange for this level of cooperation we were willing to apply this to your case. But know this, that case can come off the shelf and if there’s even a chance of you being involved with anything illegal. We have your file, and you will be buried with it.”

Juri is shaking her head in disbelief, her smile having left her face but still filled with jubilation.

“Society says you get a 2nd chance, look alive Han.” Said Guile sarcastically.

Her face then melts into a frown.

“Society built a man so obsessed with power he would do literally anything to obtain or maintain it, including killing and torture of the family of a man who simply sought to stop him in order to protect the innocent. I’ll give you a second to guess who I’m talking about.”

After a pause, Juri continued, “Society can lick my twat.”

***

Juri waived John over asking for the check.

“Entered the password, freeing up in the information Crimson Viper wanted so badly,” continued Juri, “after that I hand cuffed, this time for real, and escorted to a plane. It was to take me to ICJ headquarters in the Netherlands. This was to finalize my agreement. Chun-li was my only escort. She must’ve gotten the news about being what equates to my parole officer early, she was in no good humor the whole plane ride. She was empathetic enough to ask me how I was feeling,” Juri cracked a smile as she continued, “I told her, ‘I was ready to be a good girl,’” Juri shook her head as the laughed at the memory.

Ryu shared a smile with her as well, he said, “If know Chun-li like I think I do, I can probably guess how she responded.”

They both met eyes, and stated simultaneously, ”She facepalmed!”

They both laughed, coming down as John returned with the check.

Juri pulled out a few bills sending John on his way.

“Thank you Juri,” Ryu said earnestly, “Thank you for the meal, thank you for sharing with me and thank you for getting my mind off things. I feel a lot better now.”

As Ryu got up to take his leave, Juri grabbed his hand once more, “Night ain’t over yet tough guy,” this nick name she’s given him filling him with a pleasant feeling he can’t yet describe, “Think I’m just gonna feed ya and kick you to the curb? Stay with me. Who knows what havoc we can get into tonight?”

“I’d like that,” responded Ryu, not at all disliking the idea of continuing the night with Juri.

[thisismyrocket]

played some online matches in SF6 today. my verdict: wow this game is really fun!!!! like a lot!!!!

i played ranked, and did my ten placement matches (and then a few more) as ryu first, and then dee jay. i like both, but i’m having a lot more success (and fun?) with dee jay, probably because i like charge inputs. air slashers and jackknife maximums are just fun and cool. also his attitude, and machine gun upper. that’s a really fun move.

tomorrow, i’m going to play more and try out the other two characters i wanted to, lily and e. honda. i’ve heard that honda is a bit of a fucking menace at the moment, which sounds hilarious and i need to be a part of it, even if only for a short while. and with how much i’ve discovered i like strike/throw mix in this game, i can’t wait to mexican typhoon someone.

i really like drive impact. it’s just a really fun move. everyone in the cast has a 20-ish frame armored move that’s unblockable in the corner and harshly punishes itself. that’s just awesome. as dee jay, it’s easy to get a cool damaging follow-up by using heavy machine gun uppercut. there’s this really fun corner oki rps that emerges, where i can strike with DI, throw, or punish an attempt to jump out with jackknife maximum. and, back to DI itself. the timing to counter-DI on reaction is definitely doable, but just short enough that it feels really good to nail it.

it turns out SF6′s slower pace is actually really really fun! i was worried that, coming from SG and GGST, it might feel weird, but i’m actually really enjoying it. i’m really, really happy that i’m having fun. street fighter is really fun, and you should try it. go counter-DI someone into level 3 it’s mega satisfying

[therobotmonster]

Now we move on to things where a crossover line would be the way to go.

Dungeons and Dragons has its own post.

The Thundercats Triumverate

This falls into both the "valid crossover lines" and "do it in that format" (upcoming) sections. But look, everyone wants the Thundercats and the MOTU people in the same size and format (and with good construction) Pot-luck your character selections from the three "Thunderverse" shows: Thundercats, Silverhawks, Tiger Sharks, so you don't get theme overload.

Ideally these would be a permanent fusion thing, but that's not gonna happen realistically.

The Hanna-Barbara Adventure-Verse

Now, this is a wacky one, but stay with me.

This stuff was all in the MOTU DNA, and the parts reuse options are actually pretty good. The majority of characters could be made with stock parts, and those that couldn't would have reuse potential anyhow. If nothing else you could sell a Space Ghost, Moltar, Brak and Modulok-y Zorak on the merits of double-nostalgia.

MOTU Vs Capcom

This would be a "Turtles of Grayskull" style mashup concept, with gear swaps, hybird characters, and reinterpretations across the board.

Your Capcom types are given a layer of barbarian lacquer and MOTU-esq accessories. A slapping-position fisto-fist for E Honda, thematically inappropriate swords and axes, Horde armor for the eviler Darkstalkers, etc. Battle Armor Ken Masters (fist shaped chest-dents), a larger-than-standard (in the Andre-the-Giant buck kind of way) Barbarian-queen Lady Dimitrescu (a mold that will be useful for a later Scorpia and other 'big gals')

Your MOTU guys get to cosplay as Street Fighters and Darkstalkers, etc. An Akuma-like 'Shin Skeletor', a He-Man in Guile/Charlie theme using chunks of the 'military he-man' prototype concept, Catra-by-way-of-Felicia, etc, Beast Man with blanka colors and electric accessory, that kind of thing.

The mashup/hybrid characters, however, are where it's really at. Mega-Man-at-Arms, Soulbinder (Spellbinder/Morrigan style succubus), Lord Scareglow (Scareglow/Lord Raptor), Radd-Blast (Radd Spencer/Rio-Blast), Mek-A-Dhalsim (MekaNek-Dhalism, uses the same arm-extension pieces as Radd-Blast), Dragon-of-Grayskull (Ryu He-Manized), Nemesis Horde (a Nemesis-ized Hordak),

Zangief is just Zangief with furry trunks.

Scooby-Doo

C'mon, everybody's doin' it...

Scooby-Doo has also crossed over with the WWE, so by the transitive property of ridiculousness, it is a viable match for MOTU.

Buff Barbarian Scooby Gang with gimmicks (Triclops for Velma with 'glasses' and 'no glasses', Jitsu-esq chopping hand-weapon for Daph, a 'friendly trap-jaw alt-head for Fred with some trap accessories, Shaggy's got a pizza shield and the power sword jabbed through a giant sandwich), Battlecat-Style Scooby with a mystery-machine themed saddle, some MOTU-ized baddies (Creeper, Ghost Clown, skeleton-men etc) and some hybrid-guys (Roboto-Charlie, Scareglow-Space Kook).

Next up, Stuff They Missed internally.

Guys I think should be in MOTU: Origins

My love of MOTU Origins is not very hidden, and they've hit tons of great points, but there's so much further to go. So, here's my rundown of what I'd want to see joint the MOTU Origins lineup.

Section 1: Give it the Sun-Man Treatment.

Blackstar

The proto-He-Man of yore, Blackstar as an IP is probably well within the price range for Mattel to sweep up to sprinkle into the line the same way Sun Man's universe was.

For advantages, it's VERY aesthetically compatible and has several strong character designs. It's no more obscure than Sun-Man, and I want hordes of those imp-demons, damnit.

BraveStarr

Again, a no-brainer. Find the character rights holders, get the rights. New Texas is out there in space, use it as an excuse to do MOTU:Origins versions of the New Adventures designs ("space travel" He-Man) and Rio-Blast. If they already own all the rights then them not having already done this is toyetic malpractice.

Advantages are obvious. BraveStarr rocks. You have a POC lead hero, Tex-Frickin'-Hex, and Thirty-Thirty, who would be well worth the extra tooling to make a deluxe figure of (you can always do an upgraded Stridor repaint). You would scatter them through waves to keep from overloading with the Space Cowboy thing, but def a winner.

Also, Rio-Blast. Rio-Blast, Yo.

Skeleton Warriors

It was never strong enough to stand on its own. Give Skeletor some friends. 'Nuff Said.

One-Off Guest Stars

This section is a little different, as these wouldn't be permanent integrations, but more fun crossover one-offs rather than being a whole theme. Characters pulled from other Mattel-owned lines of the past:

Mojo Ken and Thunderpunch Barb-E

Here's the thing. This line is dead stupid, and should remain that way. Give Ken two heads (one 'bad' Mojo head and one 80s toy Ken style one) give Barbie weirdly plausible MOTU gear, the joke alone is worth the parts reuse. Best if nestled in with some Princess of Power characters.

Lets give Captain Power a hand, folks.

Its that live action TV show that interacted with the vehicles that landed in the uncanny valley between family TV and advert-traintment that never quite works!

Captain Power and Lord Dread are pretty much the only ones you'd want to hit, maybe the Soaron Sky Sentry. And really, they're not that hard to do. Captain Power could easily be made with Roboto legs and upper arms, any number of gloved hands, a new chest armor and a new head.

Any newly tooled pieces would be useful in MOTU movie and new adventure characters.

The Construx Alien demands your respect.

I know it makes no sense, I don't care, it's my list. He's amazing and needs to be big and buff with a weird hand.

Major Matt Mason has nothing better to do.

This set's a stretch, as it would require a chunk of new tooling, but again, maybe worth it for the New Adventures and She-Ra applications, plus hey, Astronaut prequel Biff Bestman, Evelyn Powers, and Captain Marlena parts!

He-Man's space-man friend is a role that could still be filled.

Next Up... Crossover Potential.

[digitalgate02]

マグマドラモン | Magmadramon

[Armor • Free • Dragon’s Roar]

Magmadramon is one of the mons i had an idea in my head a long long time ago, but i never was able to get a clear imagination for it before. But well, now i got it. Because I finally got pass the initial “Magma + Fighter” abstract concept.

Despite not having really some indication of it having magma (fire + earth) powers, this is totally based on Street Fighter’s Ryu & Ken. Also i added a cape because i like capes.

Magmadramon has a special attack called “Magma Burst”, in which it is based on Ryu’s Radouken in some fashion -- it gathers its hands and release a magma ball. And “Flammin’ Uppercut” which combines a flame fist in an uppercut. Also can control the rocky ground, taking rocks from it to throw at enemies, or generate meteor-like attacks by setting them on fire and throwing them.

But mostly, it’s a fighter-type. So its weaknesses are actually long ranged combat... and Water.

[merchantziro]

You wanna know what my favorite type of fan character/OCs are?

The kind that basically boil down to taking one character from Universe A, and rewriting them to work in Universe B woth mostly the same powers and personality alongside a backstory that works in the context of both worlds.

For example...

Ryu and Ken (alongside other Street Fighters) from the Street Fighter universe rewritten as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure characters. Both are martial artist students of Hamon Master Gouken, with the Hadouken, Shoryuken and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku all being Hamon techniques.

However Ryu also developed a stand manifesting as his desire for power and fear of it and allows him to be given a boost in power, enhancing his Hamon from a yellow/blue? to a dark purple energy with a red aura blinding him with rage if he loses control. Akuma, is also a Stand User with a similar stand (think Star Platinum and The World) but has better control over his rage and has developed his Stand to be far more powerful, so much he still holds back and only taps into it to make his fights more fair.

Though I admit it's much easier to write a character when the main power of the series is so wild and variable their power could easily and reasonably exist. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, My Hero Academia, One Piece.

I guess another JoJo example would be Mega Man X. I once made a fan made stand on r/fanstand called "X-BUSTER" that tried to rewrite the context of the blue bomber into a Stand User. Manifesting as an ACT Stand the Stand is split across 5 main ACTS that form a full suit of high tech armor.

Act 0 manifests as a techno-organic virus that automatically makes the user's body more mechanical over time. Though this has zero impact on the physical body and will still allow the user to grow until they reach adulthood.

Act 1 manifests as robotic gauntlets that can turn into the X-Buster arm cannon, and are capable of copying other Stand user abilities and replicate it in a more simplified version.

Act 2 are the Boots and allow the user to move, jump, and dash with incredible speed and height

Act 3 is the Helmet and improves the targeting system and scanners in the user's now mechanical eyes.

Act 4 is the actual body armor and improves the defense and assists in protecting the user from attacks.

If course the Stand is not perfect as the user can't use the true power of other stands and can only get them by defeating a Stand User in battle or if the other Stand User willingly allows the user to copy their power. Not to mention the user has to actually do the fighting, you can't hide behind an invincible spirit that you control.

Just throw this power on a Stand User named Vent or Aile for the Mega Man ZX reference and we're golden.

So tangent aside, I'd like to hear some characters concepts of your own that takes your favorite character(s) from one universe and makes them work in another and try to be creative instead of something like Marvel and DC in My Hero Academia or One Punch Man or vice versa. I wanna see people be creative, the more wild and outlandish while still making it work the better.

[boss-hoody]

On Monster Hunter Rise

While the game itself is fantastic, capcom's post-launch support has been disappointing. With Monster Hunter World, we had season events, event quests that gave us cool armor or weapons, and felt like actual EVENTS. Seasonal events were cool because 1: They'd be themed. Summer, Halloween, """Christmas""" etc Your poogie would get a new little costume, the gathering hub would be decked out, and there would be seasonal events to play to earn seasonal armor sets. AND all of the event quests and their rewards that happened between seasonal events became available.

And then there were the crossover events. Armor to make your character look like Dante from Devil May Cry, or Aloy from Horizon Zeor dawn, or Ryu from Street fighter. Pixilated Megaman armor for your Palico

In Rise, event quests are just "Kill this mundane monster in the arena and earn TITLES! Fuckin WOW, titles. A thing I can slap on my hunter card. You know, the things nobody trades with each other? You might customize it once and then never look at it again. And seasonal events? Not even a thing in Rise.

Monster Hunter World kept you coming back even after you'd finished the game's main story, and then just as it was getting dull, Capcom hits us with

new monsters, new weapons, Shit tons of new content, new armor, new hunter rank, new everything. Everything great about MHW was here, and MORE.

Monster Hunter Rise recently had an expansion of its own announced. Sunbreaker. It'll likely be the same deal as Iceborne. New story, new monsters, etc. But I fear it'll also have the same lack of post-launch support. Garbage event quests and a severe lack of content once the story is finished

[brokenarcfae]

Katia is in Lost Kingdoms 1 and 2, which have a number of monsters from Evergrace in it. Evergrace has the Moonlight Greatsword in it. The Moonlight Greatsword is in Dark Souls, which contains a character called Patches. Patches is in Armored Core For Answer (yes, there is a moonlight greatsword parallel in AC, but it's a more spurious link). An Armored Core mech is in 3D Dot Game Heroes. 3D Dot Game Heroes contains Sackboy from Little Big Planet. Sackboy is in Playstation All-Star Battle Royale, along with Heihachi from Tekken. Heihachi is in Street Fighter X Tekken with RYU.

Katia from Lost Kingdoms?

Katia does not have a Ryu Number.

[ghostjetshell]

Ryu (Figuarts) v Armored Batman (Mafex)

[miketendo-64]

Capcom Collab 3 Introduces Akuma To Monster Hunter Rise

Capcom Collab 3 Introduces Akuma To Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Rise players get ready as the next Capcom Collab is introducing a Street Fighter rep and it isn’t Ryu. It is in fact the mighty Akuma himself. The Akuma Layered Armor Event will be live on August 27 and players who successfully complete the event will be able to forge the Akuma Armor for their hunter. As an added bonus, when the sword and shield are equipped, they will be invisible…

[super-famicom-star-inactive]

Friday Special #12

March 5, 2021

Hello friendos, and welcome back to another Friday Special!

For today’s article, we’ll be learning about Kinu Nishimura, arguably one of the most famous video game designers for Capcom as well as all time. You may not know her name but you will be familiar with her work. 

Let’s get into it!

So who is she?

To start with, not much is known about her early life other than she was born in the Hyogo Prefecture sometime in 1969. She first became interested in art and design when working on and cleaning up designs for the mecha anime Combat Mecha Xabungle (which originally ran from 1982 to 1983 with 50 episodes) during her middle school years. She was then inspired to take art and design seriously as a career option and she was later admitted into Kyoto University of Art & Design the final years of the 1980s.

In 1991, she was officially recruited by Akiman, a prolific video game designer who Nishimura considered a great inspiration for her own art, into Capcom and was brought on as a video game art designer. This was after she touched up Akiman’s artwork on the games Final Fight and Magic Sword, where Akiman himself was impressed and so thus offered her the position at Capcom. Fun fact, she was also one of the very first artists there to utilize the power of Adobe Photoshop for her artwork, which had only been just released in 1990. 

Her first known project at Capcom was to be the character and monster designer and promotional art designer for Capcom’s 1991 side-scrolling beat-em-up The King of Dragons. Although not listed in the original credits of the game, her artistic influence is still very recognizable in her character design. Her second project not long after that was for the fighting game Muscle Bomber: The Body Explosion as an illustrator responsible for the character portraits in-game. 

(Off-topic, but regarding Muscle Bomber: The Body Explosion, Mike Haggar, one of the characters you get to play as, is the same Mike Haggar from Final Fight! It was said that before the events of Muscle Bomber, Haggar was elected to the role of Metro City, the fictional city in Final Fight, however, in the English version, he’s the former mayor of Metro City.)

Her big break was when she was assigned to be the main illustrator for Street Fighter II: Champion Edition and Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting for arcade. From there, she was responsible for the famous character designs Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and others that players would come to know and love. Thanks to the massive success of the original Street Fighter II, Capcom would later re-release the same but with update content like extra characters and balanced gameplay. This enormous win for Capcom hurled Nishimura into the limelight as she became sought after for illustration and design work thanks to her appeal as a character designer and video game artist.

Her next project would be the role of promotional illustrator for the 1992 title Varth: Operation Thunderstorm, a vertical-scrolling shooter along the same vein as Twinbee (1985) or Commando (1985). Not long after that in 1994 and 1995, she would be assigned to work on Armored Warriors and its more successful spin-off Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (You can read the Throwback Tuesday article for Cyberbots here) as character design and promotional illustrator. Although the latter title is the more well-known on the list, her art style is very distinctive for both games. 

Based loosely on the famous Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game, Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara was an arcade beat-em-up that Nishimura was, once again, the character designer as well as promotional designer. Critics particularly praised the game on multiple aspects, one of which being the graphics and the character designs. One year later, she was given smiliar designer duties for the 3D fighting game Rival Schools: United by Fate in 1997. 

Speaking of fighting games, she would be back in the Street Fighter universe as character designer and illustrator for Street Fighter III: New Generation and . Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future. She also worked on the in-game artwork that can be seen all throughout the games. 

Her next title is a bit of an obscure one by today’s standards, especially for those outside of Japan. As character designer and promotional illustrator as well as being responsible for the in-game artwork, Nishimura was on the staff for the game Gaia Master in 2000. The game in question was basically a fantasy-themed board game video game loosely based on the game Monopoly. 

(Gaia Master also has one of my favorite character designs ever in the form of Princess Tiara, a playable character in the game)

Back on the fighting scene, her next two projects were the legendary fighting games Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 and Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 that she was the main illustrator for alongside Shinkiro, another prominent designer. These two fighting games are said to be some of the most iconic fighting games in the industry and they have been long-enjoyed by fans and players since their releases. 

Between these two massive titles, she also worked on Cannon Spike doing her usual designer duties of character design and promotional artist. 

The one time she worked in the Darkstalkers franchise was when she did the package art for Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower. Its visually stunning composition has helped sell the game upon release and its beautiful details hold up even today.

One of her final projects, War of the Grail, was a 2006 unreleased Capcom title that was said to be based on the Dynasty Warriors series. She supposedly worked on the character designs and promotional material before its subsequent cancellation.

Her final official project before her departure from Capcom was Street Fighter IV in 2008, the same year she left. Just like in the previous entries, she provided her expertise in character design and promotional illustrations. 

Although nowadays she works as a freelance artist, she would be a contributing artist for several other games, including Capcom titles like Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, on occasion. 

For her excellent, prolific work in the industry, she has been recognized world-wide and is heavily respected as a major designer in the gaming world. She has been praised in a celebratory article by Kotaku and she has even inspired designers like Da-kuro of Gumi for video games like Phantom of the Kill. Her work has been featured in several Capcom art books, mostly devoted to Street Fighter as well as Darkstalkers: Resurrection and Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara. 

Although not much is not known about her personally, her work and crucial contribution to some of the industries most notable franchises to one of the most prolific publishers period, we salute Kinu Nishimura, and thank you for creating our favorite characters. 

So do y’all think about all of this? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Thank you for reading!

[posthumanwanderings]

High Score: Obscure VGM 7

Tracklist: 00:00 PSYVARIAR2 - Select 00:33 TalesWeaver - Steppers on Line (ESTi) 02:59 PERFECT SELECTION Sound Racing History/F1 Spirit 3D Special - Out Of Rap (Konami Kukeiha Club) 06:45 Armored Core 2 - Cord e (Tsukasa Saitoh) 09:41 Sneakers - Doshi's Cellar 2 12:10 ALL OVER MELTY BLOOD ~ Melty Blood Actress Again - Strange Dreamer (Raito) 14:16 Shin Megami Tensei - Imagine - Shinjuku Babel (Request by omniaouali) 16:20 Metal Gear Solid 2 ~ Sons of Liberty - Electronica Emma (Norihiko Hibino) 20:09 Ridge Racers 2 - Mellow Curves (Junichi Nakatsuru) 24:33 Megaman Battle Network 3 - Secret Area Theme (Yoshino Aoki) (Request by Carter Imperial) 26:18 Musashi: Samurai Legend - A New Hope (Industrial Version)(Masashi Hamauzu) 30:27 STREET FIGHTER III 2nd IMPACT GIANT ATTACK - Good Fighter (2Nd Edit) ~ Japan ~ Ryu Stage (Hideki Okugawa) 33:02 Shin Megami Tensei NINE PREMIUM - Harajuku (Masaki Kurokawa) 34:36 Akumajo Dracula The Stolen Seal - Emerald Mist (Michiru Yamane, Yasuhiro Ichihashi) 36:44 Breath of Fire III - Eden (Akari Kaida, Yoshino Aoki) 38:42 428: Shibuya Scramble - Yum Cha (Hideki Sakamoto) 40:10 PERFECT SELECTION Sound Racing History/F1 Spirit 3D Special - Is it "Domingo" Today? (Konami Kukeiha Club) 44:23 ALL OVER MELTY BLOOD ~ Melty Blood Actress Again - for Crimson Air (Raito) 46:38 AirForce Delta Strike - AirForce Delta Strike (Daichi Suzuki, Shinji Ushiroda) 48:17 Last Window: Secrets of Cape West - Misty Time (Satoshi Okubo) 50:50 Formula 1 98 - Menu 1