Changes: Rufus

Revision as of 06:24, 28 September 2013

Rufus (ルーファス) is a comical Street Fighter character who first appeared in Street Fighter IV.

He declares himself "America's Greatest Fighter" (as well as the best-looking) and considers Ken Masters to be his rival. He fights to prove he is better than Ken, though he frequently mistakes other fighters for him.

Biography

Personality

Rufus is a loudmouthed master of Kung-Fu, hailing from the U.S. Believing himself to be the strongest in America, he develops a personal hatred for Ken Masters, who carries that title officially. Rufus is often seen riding his motorcycle with his girlfriend, Candy (an attractive but not very bright, brunnette woman with a notably tacky way of dress), who seems to adore him and agree with his belief. He is very hasty and impatient, constantly jumping to conclusions to reach a goal which often results in him sacrificing accuracy for speed.

Rufus is prone to loud-mouthed rambling, often spouting off at the mouth continuously (usually about trivial things he notices about the characters, doting over Candy, giving random anecdotes, or mistaking several members of the cast for Ken Masters, including Cammy) until someone cuts him off. In fact, his winquotes are so long they're normally impossible to read beginning to end before the results screen is gone. He's also prone to saying whatever random thoughts come to his mind, regardless of how rude they are (i.e. asking Dhalsim if he is an alien because of his Yoga power, and then giving his personal view of aliens before Dhalsim cuts him off). Despite his goofy personality, he is a highly skilled master of Kung-Fu, which even surprises several of the other characters.

Appearance

Rufus's basic appearance is that of a obese Caucasian man with blonde hair in a yellow and black jumpsuit.

For Super Street Fighter IV, a third outfit intended to resemble the Chinese Jiang Shi was included, consisting of a long Chinese robe, black hat with his ponytail extruding from the top, yellow and black striped pants, and a yellow strip of paper meant to represent a sealing charm extending from the front of the hat and over his face.

The developers considered to have the charm able to be knocked off by an opponent's attacks, and as a result alter his attack patterns and power; however, they felt this overcomplicated the character, and instead abandoned the idea. Assistant producer Natsuki Shiozawa cited the outfit as one of her five favorites in the game, feeling that design suited his body well.

Story

Background

Not much is known about Rufus' past before the events in Street Fighter IV, except that he met his girlfriend Candy by saving her from a waiter (Rufus beat him up) who was chasing her. Rufus describes this event on a win quote to Rose; "I’ll never forget when I first met my girl. It was a rainy day in October and I was on my way home from a fight. Suddenly, this chick came outta nowhere an’ was all like 'Help!' I guess she pulled a dine an’ dash, so I beat up the waiter that was chasin’ her!".

Rufus first became interested in martial arts after seeing an abundance of kung-fu flicks in his youth; this prompted him to take correspondence courses, and later ride his motorcycle around China studying under various masters. Another thing Rufus has described about his past is that he is a legend in the biker world, a fact he feels indifferent about.

Street Fighter IV

After reading an article praising Ken's status as America's best fighter, Rufus is, naturally, insulted. Candy suggests that he defeat Ken in front of an audience, making it clear who the best is. Rufus smiles and accepts his girlfriend's suggestion.

Rufus eventually finds the tournament and Ken, although the results of the fight are unknown. After the tournament, Rufus and Candy zoom past Ken and Ryu in the wasteland, stopping briefly for an insult.

Not too long after, however, he's seen pushing his motorcycle, as it's run out of gas. Ken rolls up to him in his stylish SUV with Candy's hat, offering a tow. Rufus proudly turns the offer down, stating that the pushing was part of his training. Ken shrugs it off and drives away. Candy offers to help push, but Rufus insists that she stay put, cursing Ken for his misfortune.

Super Street Fighter IV

On their way to the tournament, Rufus and Candy ride through a wasteland with very little signs of life. Rufus wonders whether's he headed the right, and decides that Ken must have somehow set him astray.

Rufus and Candy eventually reach a gas station, where Candy gets the attendant to fill the bike while Rufus cools off by emptying an entire tank of water upon himself. Setting out on the road again, Rufus asks Candy where they should go next. Candy suggests that since they're far too hot in this desert, they should head for the North Pole. Rufus enthusiastically agrees.

Gameplay and fighting style

Gameplay

Rufus was purposefully made faster than his outward appearance would indicate and given the ability to string his attacks together more readily, in order to "defy expectations based on what he looks like", and to contrast against other large characters in fighting games. During development of his attacks, the developers devised several options for his fighting style, considering different ways to combine it with his appearance. After considering his design, they decided to allow his movements to be quick and strengthened by the inertia of his body fat, accompanied by martial artist yells and shouts.

Rufus's gameplay has been compared to the fighting styles used by Street Fighter III characters Yun and Yang by the development team, notably in regards to his diving kick attack, and emphasized mobility while attacking. Other attacks were designed as a means to negate enemy offensives, such as the Galactic Tornado, which destroys enemy projectiles while drawing the opponent closer to Rufus for a final strike. His ultimate attack, Space Opera Symphony, is a barrage of attacks that requires close proximity to the opponent, dealing several blows and ending in a final upwards blast.

Fighting style

Throughout the years, Rufus has managed to create his own style of kung-fu. Contrary to what one might think - given his rotund shape - this unique fighting style is surprisingly effective. It is revealed that his technique stems from years of studying various kung-fu books and movies. He also spent many years studying in China, reinforcing what he had taught himself. His fighting style takes advantage of his extreme weight, strength, and (surprisingly) his agility.

He has some limited control over energy, as seen in his Super and Ultra Combos; visible shockwaves cap off the double palm thrust at the end of each combo. Despite his devastating ability, it seems that he has not yet gained the respect of his peers: Ryu, for example, considers his style "interesting, but too flashy to be effective".

Other appearances

UDON comics

Rufus appear in UDON's Street Fighter IV comic which focus on the game's newcomers (himself included).

Street Fighter X Tekken

Rufus appeared as a playable character in the crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken. His tag partner is Zangief.

Trivia

According to the Super Street Fighter IV blog, Rufus was born on July 30th, and one of his special skills is karaoke.
Rufus was nicknamed "the American Dan" by Yoshinori Ono.
Rufus can be seen as Guile's opposite in representing Americans; albeit both display very muscular builds, while Guile generally embodies a positive and patriotic muscular build American, Rufus embodies a loud, obnoxious and overweight American.
Rufus is similar and often compared to Bob from the Tekken series.
- They are both overweight American fighters who are amazingly fast for their sizes, they both developed their own fighting styles and they both have blond hair, their personalities are different though as Rufus is loud-mouthed, obnoxious and impatient, a contrast to the more calm, serious and focused Bob, whose weight gain was deliberate.
  - Street Fighter X Tekken takes this a step further, featuring a trailer in which Rufus somehow mistakes Bob for Ken and attacks him (which is extremely ironic, given how well Bob and Rufus resemble and contrast each other in design) in Marshall Law's restaurant (ironically, it turned out that the real Ken was just eating there with Ryu).
  - Addionally, Rufus and Zangief's ending in said game shows Rufus losing most of his weight (after opening Pandora which causes its energies to take away his obesity) and become skinny, mirroring Bob's ending in Tekken 6 where he loses his weight and becomes skinny as well under mysterious conditions.
- Bob can also be customized to resemble Rufus in Tekken 6.
When seeing a high resolution image of the first official art of Rufus from Street Fighter IV, an interesting detail is revealed. The popcorn in the bucket he holds under his arm is genuine popcorn; not drawn, but pasted in and painted around its perimeter.

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 '''Rufus''' (ルーファス) is a comical ''[[Street Fighter Series|Street Fighter]]'' character who first appeared in ''[[Street Fighter IV]]''.
-He declares himself "America's Greatest Fighter" (as well as the best-looking) and considers [[Ken Masters]] to be his rival. He fights to prove he is better than Ken, though he frequently mistakes other fighters for him. According to the ''[[Super Street Fighter IV]]'' blog, Rufus was born on July 30th, and one of his special skills is karaoke.
+He declares himself "America's Greatest Fighter" (as well as the best-looking) and considers [[Ken Masters]] to be his rival. He fights to prove he is better than Ken, though he frequently mistakes other fighters for him.
 == Biography==
@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 ==Trivia==
+*According to the ''[[Super Street Fighter IV]]'' blog, Rufus was born on July 30th, and one of his special skills is karaoke.
 *Rufus was nicknamed "the American [[Dan]]" by [[Yoshinori Ono]].
 *Rufus can be seen as [[Guile]]'s opposite in representing Americans; albeit both display very muscular builds, while Guile generally embodies a positive and patriotic muscular build American, Rufus embodies a loud, obnoxious and overweight American.