Hello friends, today brings us to another blog about Street Fighter. I'm not going to talk about the first screens of Gen, Dan Hibiki or Cammy. I'm sure you've seen them all by now. It would be pointless for me to say anything about Capcom failing to get the legacy right and noting that Gen looks more like Pai Mei than himself. Or that Sakura hasn't aged a minute or that Dan is all swollen. Nope, today I'm going to focus on Fei Long.

As always we have to put the game in context with culture as well as with the history leading up to it. The major theme over this blog is the way in which the developers approach the game. Every change or addition to the game will have an everlasting impact on the IP. This much is certain. However only time gives us the perspective that is necessary to understand how a game works, why it was successful and how to best approach future versions of the title. There is almost 25 years of Street Fighter history and Capcom has been responsible for the successes as well as failures with the game. They are responsible for making sure the properly grows or burns out from overexposure. We are here to get to the heart of the Street Fighter that could have and should have been.

This blog takes a critical look at the job of the director and producer as well as the character designer and animator. Most importantly is takes a look at how fans have raised the series to a place of great distinction, while at the same time have ignored the missteps, inconsistencies and bad decisions surrounding it. Most of the people reading this blog have good memories when it comes to Street Fighter. Whether it was the craze of the 90's, the combo pornography of the "VS" titles, the chibi reality of Puzzle Fighter or the calculated strategies in SF III, we all share some common ground. Apologies to my 1UP friend Red Swirl but I mean it when I say that a character like Fei Long should have never been put in the series. He was not a good fit for the game for a number of reasons. His look, purpose and move selection betrayed the legacy characters and their respective designs.

I should make a distinction between the character as he exists and the character in concept.

Fei Long is fun to play as or against. He has some great moves and creative combo abilities. However Fei Long is also symbolic of how little Capcom respected the name of the franchise during its peak years. Fei Long set a precedent that developers should inject concept characters into the middle of a current game rather than be allowed to frame them within a proper sequel. Super Street Fighter II begat a legacy of rehashed sprites mixed in with all new ones. Fei Long is one of the concept characters whose moves, look and purpose had not been refined when he was placed in Super SF II. He was a character that would be forced into canon and game engine. The same would go for his contemporaries. They represent a cast of a characters introduced before their time, they represent a dramatic shift in the fictional universe as well as the real world. A world where Capcom was pushing the developers further than the dated SF II allowed and as a result forever changed the potential for the series. We can understand that era and even trace that path through the character of Fei Long.

Fei Long was written and illustrated as one of the cornerstones of the SF universe. He is an implacable hero thanks to the Super Street Fighter IIX Gaiden book created by manga artist Itoh Mami for Gamest Comics. Chances are you've not seen this story of Fei Long, it is the one version of the character that my brothers and friends believe to be the definitive one. Let me share it with you.

The story begins in 1972. Fei Long has established a reputation as both a martial artist and movie star.

After a day of filming he takes some time to try and contemplate his purpose. He is already a well established martial artist and now action hero. But seems to lack a bigger purpose, something that extends beyond himself and his abilities. He is eating at a restaurant when he sees a crisis unfolding on the television. It seems that some criminals have taken a busload of hostages. They are surrounded by the police but seem to be very desperate. The hostages are not far from the restaurant and Fei Long is at. He springs into action.

He knocks out a police officer that was going undercover as a delivery man, to give food to the hostages. He goes to the police chief and gives him the gun, he wants to go in unarmed to avoid a possible shootout. As Fei Long approaches the bus the criminals draw on him. Fei begins fighting back, knocking down one hostage-taker after another.

Fei Long moves much faster than thought humanly possible. He makes his way through the bus and hits the criminals before they can get a shot off. A young boy in the back sees the entire event take place. Fei gets all of the criminals off of the bus and continues fighting them outside. The police chief and his men notice that it's movie actor Fei Long and not a cop that is fighting them.

Before the police can react one of the downed criminals manages to grab a gun and shoot Fei Long in the side. Fei dispatches with the rest of the criminals before succumbing to his injury. The police rush in but it is too late. Fei Long catches a glimpse of the young boy on the bus. He dies with a smile on his face, content in the knowledge that he was able to save all the hostages.

Fei Long is remembered now mostly in cinema rather than as a true martial artist and hero. Save for that little boy who is now an adult. Years later he visits the grave site and leaves flowers for Fei Long. There is the noise of a fight going on not far from him.

He walks over and sees a young martial arts master moving with the speed and agility that he had seen once, decades before. It is Ryu fighting some unknown person. The young man is reminded of the great Fei Long and feels a sense of sadness. Fei Long was the best the world had ever seen but did not live long enough to see his legacy grow. That was the end of the Fei Long story. It is the version that I think does the most for the character than any other licensed or fan-fic has ever accomplished.

What did you learn from it?