Dan Hibiki (火引 弾) is a popular character in the Street Fighter series, who initially started out as a joke. Introduced in Street Fighter Alpha, he is widely considered to be the comic relief of the series because of his over-the-top poses and battle cries, as well as his subpar-looking moves. Despite his moves and how he acts, he is a friendly and honorable warrior who always tries to do his best in fights.
Profile
Dan Hibiki was a Hong Kong born Japanese boy who learned martial arts from Gouken, the same instructor as Ryu and Ken Masters. His father was Go Hibiki, the martial artist who damaged Sagat's eye when the giant Muay Thai fighter was still young and inexperienced. Sagat got revenge on Dan's father by murdering him, but not on purpose. Dan, now determined to defeat Sagat, was forced to leave Gouken's tutelage because of his intent and desire for revenge, fearing that it would lead him to a dark path. With his somewhat incomplete training, Dan "improved" Gouken's martial art style independently, and dubbed it the "Saikyo", or "the Strongest".
After defeating Sagat to try and regain his honor for his father (completely oblivious to the fact that Sagat actually threw the match after finding out that Go was Dan's father), Dan opened a school he called "Saikyo Ultimate Style Dojo". Since then, he's wandered the globe to recruit students interested in the Saikyo Style.
With his incomplete training, Dan's special attacks are quite strange and not as damaging as they should be, even though they're based on the same powerful moves as Ken and Ryu. His strongest attacks involve repeated small strikes against his enemy, using them as a way to boost his self-confidence. No one is quite sure why Dan is so fond of repetitive attacks, not even Dan himself.
In Street Fighter Alpha 3, he was Sakura's supposed sensei, who followed him around in order to meet Ryu. He's also good friends with Blanka too, since Blanka saved Dan when he was young.
Story
Dan swore vengeance upon Sagat for murdering his father (not knowing that it was a mistake and did not mean to kill him), and trained to gain the skills needed to carry out his revenge. After being thrown out of Gouken's dojo (for fear that his anger would lead him to a dark path), Dan continued training on his own without any guidance of a warrior to teach him the ways of battle. When Dan heard of Ryu's triumph over Sagat in the first World Warrior tournament, he set off to find Sagat so he could finish the beleaguered Muay Thai fighter off.
After the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3, Dan believed he had achieved his revenge by defeating Sagat (who had actually thrown the fight), and his motivation switched to promoting and expanding his Saikyo-ryu school, even to the point of offering exercise videos and correspondence courses. He has seemingly had some limited success promoting Saikyo-style.
In SFA3, he was Sakura Kasugano's self-proclaimed sensei; in truth, Sakura merely followed him around in order to meet Ryu. He's also good friends with Blanka too, since Blanka saved Dan when he was young.
Street Fighter IV
In Street Fighter IV, Dan is annoyed that he wasn't told of the second World Warrior Tournament, asking Blanka whether the crowds were bored to tears without a star like him to provide real action; in truth, Blanka tried to get in contact with him about the tournament, but couldn't, as Dan hadn't paid his phone bill and his phone was disconnected. Sakura also asks Dan whether he's heard anything about Ryu lately, since Dan has claimed that Ryu was an apprentice of his. To keep up this appearance, Dan says that Ken Masters is rumored to be entering the next World Tournament, which makes it likely that Ryu will also show up. Dan enters the new tournament to spread the popularity of his Saikyo style, getting enough points to qualify as a last-minute entry. At the end of the tournament, Dan is seen at the S.I.N. base, bumping into Blanka before an explosion threatens to engulf them both. They are saved by Ryu and Sakura, at which point Dan tells them to be more careful as "even with his awesome powers", they may not survive the next wave. He then makes his exit to the amazement of all.
Creation
Shortly after the release of Street Fighter II, rival company SNK released their own fighting game, Art of Fighting. The principal character of this series, Ryo Sakazaki, bore a resemblance in appearance and name to Ryu, as well as other aesthetic similarities to Ken, wearing an orange gi and sporting blonde hair. In retaliation, one of Capcom's artists drew a picture of Sagat holding a defeated opponent by the head during the release of Street Fighter II Turbo. The defeated opponent wore an attire similar to Ryo's: an orange karate gi with a torn black shirt underneath and geta sandals; but had long, dark hair in a ponytail like Ryo's partner, Robert Garcia. This character's design would become the basis of Dan, who was introduced as a secret character in Street Fighter Alpha. His fireball is telling: instead of using both hands, he propels it with one hand, like Ryo, Robert and Yuri Sakazaki (Ryo's sister and Robert's love interest) do. Dan can also taunt infinitely like the Art of Fighting games, unlike his fellow Street Fighter characters, who can only taunt once per round.
Also in Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix, Dan can use his father as a weapon. He bares a resemblance to the alter ego of Ryo's father, Mr. Karate.
Attacks
Previous versions of Dan was deemed too weak to be competitive, serving as a handicap for expert players. By using Dan, players imply wielding skill potent enough to defeat enemies even on less effective techniques. This changed in Street Fighter IV and above, where Dan's gameplay is tuned, while not taking away the comedic nor parody factor in his game. He has become a legitimate choice for tournaments, to the point of his supposed weakness becoming a mere tactical illusion.
- Gadoken - executed the same way as the Hadoken, the Gadoken is a projectile attack that Dan launches with one hand. However, the attack's general range is extremely short, limiting its usefulness. Regardless, it comes in handy as a combo extender and a precisely-timed anti-jumpin.
- Koryuken - executed the same way as the Shoryuken, the Koryuken is also visually similar to the original move. It has moments of total invincibility that happens at random, with Dan flashing white.
- Dankukyaku - Dan's version of the Tatsumaki, or "Hurricane Kick". It can hit crouching enemies, unlike the former.
- Saikyo Defense - when performed while blocking, Dan thrusts forward slightly. This serves to blunt some of the damage from the blocked attack, and creates distance between him and his opponent.
- Hissho Buraiken - Dan flashes and holds his arms back for a few seconds, and then unleashes a very fast barrage of punches and kicks to the foe unfortunate enough to be within the range of this attack, ending with a Koryuken. However, it leaves him wide open for retaliation if he misses.
- Legendary Taunt - executed by performing two quarter forward motions and taunting, the move is a series of Dan's taunts played one after another, the taunts varying with the game. One iteration has Dan roll forward and perform a pose, flexing his bicep, then roll again and perform a second such pose. Dan continues to roll and alternate between the two poses several times before performing a slow-motion jump through the air. On landing, Dan displays his signature pose, sticking out his rear end and giving a thumbs-up to the camera with a "ping" in his smile.
- Haoh Gadoken - Not to be mistakened with Gado Shoko-ken, where it is one of his regular attacks. This is a clear parody of the Kokyugen styled Haoh Shoko Ken, except it has the same distance as a Gadoken, but inflicting bigger damage. It also can catch jump-ins and is actually powerful if pulled off properly.
Non-Canon Appearances
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
- Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix
- Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
- Capcom vs. SNK - (Pro Edition only)
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
- Capcom vs. SNK 2
- SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos
- Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds - (cameo)
Trivia
- One of Dan's win quotes in Street Fighter Alpha 3 is "I hate the art of fighting, but I want to be the king of fighters!" This was a direct reference to the Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters series by SNK. Additionally, when Dan is defeated by Red Arremer in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, he doesn't transform like other characters. Although startled by the puff of smoke that momentarily surrounds him, he remains untouched and ready to fight.
- In his appearances in SNK-produced games such as SvC Chaos, he imitates more Kyokugen-ryuu moves to the point of ridiculous comedic parody.
- Ran Hibiki, a character in the Rival Schools series, shares the same last name as Dan and it has been speculated that they are related.
- There has even been speculation among fans on whether or not Dan could be a descendant of the great vampire hunter Donovan from the Darkstalkers series.
- He makes a cameo in Capcom Fighting Evolution, at the Japanese Street stage, climbing a bus followed by Makoto.
- Dan's Gadoken attack movement is similar to Mortal Kombat's Johnny Cage's Forceball attack.
- He also makes a cameo between the students of the Kyokugenryu Karate in a poster from Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
- In the opening sequence of Street Fighter X Tekken, Dan is seen being knocked onto the floor with multiple huge bruises on his face. His assailant is later revealed to have been Kazuya Mishima. According to the game's producer, Dan would not be in the game as a playable character because he was "Killed by a Tekken character last year at Comic Con". Dan does however appear in Sakura and Blanka's ending, this game however, is non-canon.
Gallery
