Guy

"There's something you should get to know better. Your limits."

- Guy

Guy (ガイ) is a video game character in both the Final Fight and Street Fighter series, he serves as the main protagonist of Final Fight series along with Cody. He first appeared in the 1989 beat 'em up Final Fight released and later appeared in the Street Fighter Alpha series. Guy is a red-clad ninpō master of Japanese descent who has been taught the special Bushin form of ninjutsu.

Personality
Guy is calm and reserved, with a sharp mind, a noble spirit, and a strong sense of justice. He is a stoic warrior who carries out his duty as a ninja with an almost professional air of detachment; his demeanor in his initial Street Fighter appearances was unusually standoffish, though his aloofness has given way to politeness in more recent portrayals. His grim face rarely shows any emotion, with the most noticeable one being occasional shock, such as when he saw the fate that befell Cody.

Guy dislikes interfering in the lives of others, and believes everything should be left as is, only fighting when he deems it necessary. He is fiercely protective of his allies, as shown by his interactions with Rose, urging her not to sacrifice herself to defeat M. Bison, and rescuing Maki from Bison in her ending.

In the first Final Fight, various dialogue seems to indicate that Guy had a one-track mind, particularly his response to Rolento's proposal: "Mad Gear is evil. I destroy evil". In the Alpha series, during an inner monologue, he flashes back to Metro City during 1989, where his preoccupation with the situation at hand causes him to simply ignores some bosses, who are infuriated by his lack of attention.

According to his win quote against Hakan in Super Street Fighter IV, Guy is a vegetarian, though this conflicts somewhat with the large number of meat items in Final Fight.

Appearance
Guy is usually portrayed with prominent bangs that are long enough to cover his eyes, but their length seems to vary based on the artist. A frown is constantly seen on his face; he very rarely laughs or smiles. His build is rather top-heavy, with slim, muscular legs and predominant bulkiness of his chest, shoulders and arms.

Guy wears a crimson, sleeveless ninja gi with a white outline, with a wire mesh shirt underneath for defense. The kanji (武神, Bushin) written on Guy's gi literally translates to "god of military arts." His footwear is a set of ninja boots; in the Alpha series, Guy's footwear is changed to are a pair of High-Top Nike Dunks, an intentional contrast to the rest of his traditional outfit, and a trademark of his often referenced by other characters and Guy himself in win quotes. In Super Street Fighter IV, the Swoosh symbol was modified to look like a generic lighting bolt, possibly due to the fear of legal actions from Nike.

In the Street Fighter IV series, his first alternate costume is based on his original Final Fight outfit, with the main differences being an added sword and a white headband. His second alternate costume seems to be based on traditional Japanese clothing, reminiscent of a samurai.

Pre-Final Fight
Guy was born somewhere in the United States to Japanese parents (probably at one of Metro City's districts), having moved there during some point early in his life. He was a delinquent in Japan in his youth, until he met the 38th Bushin Master Zeku, who took him as a student. Together, they revived the secrets of Bushin Ryu Ninpo (Spiritual Warrior School of Ninja Arts).

Final Fight
Guy is one of three playable characters, along with Cody and Haggar, in the original arcade version of Final Fight, released for the arcades by Capcom in 1989. Due to space constraints, Guy was initially omitted from the Super NES port of Final Fight, with Cody and Haggar being the only playable characters in that version. Capcom later produced a second Super NES version titled Final Fight Guy, which replaced Cody's character with that of Guy, with the in-game explanation given that Cody was away training under Guy's master in Japan.

When Mike Haggar is elected as mayor of Metro City, he vows to clean up its streets. However, the powerful Mad Gear Gang has other ideas, and eventually Haggar's daughter Jessica is kidnapped to ensure his co-operation.

However, Haggar does not wish to negotiate, and so together with Jessica's boyfriend, Cody and Guy, then Cody's training partner, Haggar takes to the streets of Metro City and takes the fight to the Mad Gears. They split up, and soon Guy encounters Sodom, one of the higher-ranking members of Mad Gear. They square off in an underground fighting ring, and Guy easily defeats the large samurai wannabe.

Guy then continues on to the industrial district of the city in his search, and, after defeating waves of goons, he encounters the military-minded Rolento, another Mad Gear higher-up. Rolento, impressed with Guy's fighting prowess, offers him a position in Mad Gear, but Guy refuses, countering that as a Bushinryu practitioner, he is sworn to fight evil. The two face off and Guy wins, scarring Rolento with a kunai to the face.

Guy and Cody then head to the bay area to confront the wrestler Abigail. Abigail taunts Cody, saying that the leader of the Mad Gear Gang, Belger, is having a 'good time' with Jessica, so Cody rushes off and leaves Guy behind to deal with him. Guy then defeats Abigail in a difficult fight, evading all of Abigail's punches and finally knocking him out.

Later, he meets up with Haggar and Cody, who are heading uptown where Belger and Jessica are. When they arrive, Cody uppercuts Belger out of a window with a powerful punch, sending him plummeting to his supposed death. Haggar embraces his rescued daughter, but Cody and Guy disappear, knowing that the fight is not over and there is work to be done. Jessica chases after them and calls out Cody's name, but he tries to ignore her and keeps walking. Guy, annoyed with Cody's behavior, punches Cody to the ground and leaves, leaving Cody to explain his decision to Jessica.

The events of Final Fight elevate the trio to the status of decorated heroes within the city.

Final Fight 2
Just as predicted, the Mad Gear Gang returns after biding its time. While Guy and Cody are absent (Guy having travelled to Japan for further training), Mad Gear strike and kidnap Guy's sensei Genryusai, and Rena, Guy's fiancee and Genryusai's daughter. Haggar teams up with Rena's sister Maki and Carlos, a South American swordsman, to get them back. They are successful and when Guy hears of the story, he writes to them and thanks everyone, stating that he will be back soon.

While not playable in this game, several power-ups are designed after him.

Final Fight 3
Following the Mad Gear Gang's defeat in Final Fight 2, a gang war erupted in Metro City, with the Skull Cross Gang eventually reigning supreme. Guy returns to Metro City following his training and meets with Mayor Haggar. The Skull Cross Gang then detonates a bomb and incites a riot in downtown Metro City, freeing their leader, Black, from prison. Joined by female police officer Lucia Morgan and a mysterious street fighter named Dean, Guy and Haggar fight to take down the new gang of criminals. At the end on the rooftop of the headquarters of the Skull Cross Gang, Guy manages to defeat and kill Black by punching him through the electric generator, ending the Skull Cross Gang.

Final Fight Revenge
Guy was featured in the American-produced Final Fight Revenge, a fighting game for the arcades and Sega Saturn featuring the original Final Fight cast. Set between the events of Final Fight and Street Fighter Alpha 3, Guy returns to Metro City and discovers a dark and evil presence coming from within the city itself. Eventually, Guy discovers that the presence is a zombified version of the Mad Gear gang's former leader, Belger, and though Guy manages to fight and defeat Belger, he is infected with an unknown illness thanks to a harsh bite from Belger himself. Guy would return back to Japan in order to concentrate his time in fighting off the illness, and it is implied that Guy was able to overcome it, due to his perfect health during the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Street Fighter Alpha
Guy and Sodom are the first two Final Fight characters to be imported into the series; they would later be joined by Rolento in the second game, and Cody and Maki in the third.

In the retconned events of Street Fighter Alpha, Guy fights M. Bison, sensing evil in him. After Guy wins, he states that he has found his inner power, and leaves M. Bison defeated on the ground. While Bison is still on the ground, he says to himself that one day Guy will pay. The game also establishes a rivalry between Guy and Ryu, who serve as sub-bosses for one another.

Street Fighter Alpha 2
Guy continues his training, which is now nearing completion, and eventually the grandmaster of the Bushinryu style, Zeku, acknowledges him as a worthy potential successor to the art. However, there can only be one grandmaster at a time, and Zeku reveals that they must now fight to determine who shall lead. Guy accepts, and a deadly, but malice-free battle ensues. In the end, Guy is victorious, striking Zeku down. Zeku names Guy as the 39th heir to the Bushinryu art, and warns him of an evil force which threatens to corrupt the world before disappearing. Guy resolves to defeat the evil that his predecessor warned him of.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
It is soon evident that the evil that Zeku spoke of is Shadaloo, and Guy sets out to destroy it. In his investigations he encounters a mysterious woman named Rose, who is determined to destroy Shadaloo's leader, M. Bison. Guy attempts to dissuade her from her quest in an attempt to protect her, but she continues on regardless. As Guy continues in his search for Shadaloo, he encounters Cody.

However, the reunion is not a happy one: Cody, being a restless street-fighter, has been unable to adjust to a life of peace. He has become a merciless vigilante, frequently locked up for his violent rampages, and is now an escaped convict. Guy realizes that Cody's fight against crime was never motivated by justice, but by a love of fighting; the two then have their own battle. After both calm down, Guy accepts that his friend has to live his own life. When Guy asks if Cody would stay in Metro City, he replies that he still had traveling to do, and the pair continues their journeys. Guy bids him farewell, realizing that deep down inside, Cody is still a good person.

Guy is then confronted by Maki, who challenges him for his title. Guy does not acknowledge her as worthy, however, and the fight is not a death match. Soon, Maki is forced to concede defeat, but asserts that she is not about to give up. Eventually, Guy tracks Bison down but is too late; Bison and Rose have already fought, and Rose is severely injured. He brings her, unconscious, with him as he seeks to get treatment for her, but as he holds her, he experiences an unexplained fear. Unbeknownst to Guy, Bison has been defeated and killed, but has latched onto Rose as a host for his spirit. Nevertheless, Rose lives, and all is well until Bison returns.

Super Street Fighter IV
S.I.N., a branch of Shadaloo, floods Metro City with weapons. Guy decides to save the city once more, and soon encounters Cody, once again escaped from prison. The two face off and although the result is unknown, Cody continues on his way, leaving Guy with the words "people change - I've changed, you've changed". Guy enters the S.I.N. tournament and eventually makes his way to its headquarters, where an unconscious Rose is being carried away by Bison. Guy appears on top of Bison's plane and threatens to destroy it if Bison doesn't hand her over.

What happens next isn't shown, but it is implied that either Guy defeated Bison, or Bison gave her up due to not being in a position to fight. Guy then resuscitates Rose, who is surprised to see him. Later, Guy runs into Cody one more time, and says that he has noticed that even though Cody's only in it for the fight, he always targets criminals, thugs and terrorists in his rampages, which makes him a hero despite himself. He asks Cody whether he will come back, but Cody replies that the only place he's returning to is his cell, as that's where he belongs.

Though it is possible it could be Ibuki, Guy may have been the one who threw the kunai in Fei Long's ending, given Ibuki's lack of involvement with S.I.N. in her storyline.

Namco x Capcom
Guy is a playable character in the Japan-only exclusive Strategy RPG, Namco x Capcom. In the game, he is paired with Ginzu the Ninja from Captain Commando as a single unit. Because of this, he also participates in the Multiple Assault attacks that involve all of the Commando Team. The in-game story depicts Sho as Guy's future Bushin-ryu successor. Guy first appears to assist Sakura and Karin defend the Justice High students from Namco character Janga.

Street Fighter X Tekken
Guy appears as one of the DLC characters in Street Fighter X Tekken; his tag partner is Cody. He travels to the Antarctic to destroy Pandora, meeting and besting Bryan Fury and JACK-X in the process. When the duo arrive at Pandora's Box, it erases itself from existence before they can do anything. Guy claims it was for the best, and tells Cody that the adventure reminded him of the old days. Cody agrees that it was "definitely not boring", and Guy responds with a rare smile.

His Swap Costume is based on Kazuya Mishima, while his alternate costume is an outfit more reminiscent of a typical ninja.

Street Fighter Alpha (manga)
In the Street Fighter Alpha manga by Masaomi Nakahira, Guy depicted as a well-known vigilante ninja who goes around bringing an end to several criminal organizations. Guy is first mentioned when Chun-Li is comparing Charlie to the ninja due to their vigilante activities.

When Ryu first meets Rose, the fortune teller tells him to find two men who are "red like fire" to assist him in his battle (Ken and Guy). Guy disguises himself as a member of Shadaloo to face M. Bison, but he is forced to reveal his identity when Vega tries to kill both Adon and a possessed Ryu. After making quick work of Vega, Guy kicks several oil drums at Ryu (a nod to the Final Fight series), then proceeds to fight Ryu directly. Due to Guy's superior speed and training to fight multiple enemies at once, Guy was able to block every punch from Ryu's Shun Goku Satsu and defeat him.

After Rose is knocked unconscious by M. Bison while trying to stall him for Ryu, Guy rescues her during the battle between Ryu and M. Bison (this scene was carried over to Rose's ending in Street Fighter Alpha 3). Guy is last seen watching over the battle between Ryu and Sagat.

UDON comics
He also makes appearances in the UDON comics. He first appeared in the bonus comics by Corey Lewis. His first actual appearance in the series was when Dan challenges him to a battle for his invitations to the Street Fighter tournament. Guy easily stops Dan with a flick of his wrist, and quickly knocks him out. Later that night, Dan steals his invitation when he believes Guy is sleeping. Guy was actually awake, but let Dan go because he wasn't planning on entering the tournament to begin with and decided to give Dan a chance. Later Maki challenges him for the title of the 40th Bushin master, though is unable to defeat him. He also makes an appearance in a bonus comic that details Haggar's origin, next to Haggar and Cody as they prepare to fight the Mad Gear Gang.

He is last seen training fellow ninja Ibuki at the request of Sanjo.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation
Guy makes an appearance in the anime OVA Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation as one of the warriors who have agreed to accompany Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li to Professor Sadler's Shadaloo base and rescue Shun, Ryu's supposed brother. While on the plane, Ryu and Guy are seen sitting together, but with their arms folded and eyes shut, deliberately not looking at each other.

At the base, he is seen briefly fighting Dhalsim, on whom he attempts a Bushin jump-kick, only for Dhalsim to teleport himself away and seemingly hit Guy from behind. He is last seen in a cell along with the other fighters, where Ken and Chun-Li break them out before going to rescue Birdie.

Street Fighter 1995 cartoon
Guy appears in the American Street Fighter animated series in an episode titled Final Fight, which adapts the plot of its namesake. In this episode, Guy and Cody befriend Ryu and Ken, who aid them in fighting the Mad Gear Gang to save Jessica. Guy defeats Rolento by throwing his grenades back at him. He also kicks away a missile aimed at Cody, causing Belger to fall out of the window.

In this series, the Bushin style is said to originate from Tibet.

Cameos and other appearances
Guy is mentioned in Street Fighter III: New Generation in Ryu's winquote against Ibuki ("Your Ninja style is different from Bushin style. But that's because you're not a guy!"). Guy is also present in Dee Jay's bar stage and Ibuki's ending in Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix.

His silhouette is seen in Nakahira's Sakura Ganbaru! manga, when Maki talks about the Bushin style.

Gameplay and fighting style
In the backstory of the original Final Fight, Guy is established to be the 39th successor of the Bushin-style Ninpo, also known as Bushinryu. Guy's style in particular can be described as a fusion of traditional ninjutsu with modern street brawling. Guy's unique application of Bushin martial arts utilizes speed and rapid attacks to wear down opponents until he can find an opening for his deadliest maneuvers, making him the fastest of the original trio.

In the Street Fighter series, Guy lacks a projectile, though he can throw a close-ranged burst of ki and shuriken in Final Fight 3 and Final Fight Revenge, respectively. Guy is the only Final Fight character in the Street Fighter Alpha series to not use a weapon, though he does carry kunai on his person, as seen in his ending in Super Street Fighter IV.

Many of his attacks are naturally based off his Final Fight appearances, with Guy being the fastest of the original trio due to his ninjutsu skills. His then-unique "Off-the-Wall Kick" ability and high-speed dashes were preserved for his introduction in the Street Fighter series, and he can use the dash to suddenly stop and bait opponents, or else launch surprise attacks, making him a useful rushdown character.

Guy's moveset contains many other Final Fight and Bushinryu techniques, such as the Bushin Senpukyaku, a move similar to Ryu and Ken's Tatsumaki that drained his health in the Final Fight games; in Street Fighter, it functions as his anti-air. Guy also possesses the Hozanto, a turning elbow strike that can duck under projectiles, and the Bushin Izuna Otoshi, a jumping attack that can lead into an elbow drop or a close-range grab attack.

In Street Fighter Alpha 2, Guy was one of the few characters who could perform natural Chain Combos after they were removed.

Super Combos
Guy's Super Combos in his first appearances are: the Bushin Hasoken, a rapid anti-air attack, the Bushin Gorai Kyaku, a multi-hit kick combination, and the Bushin Muso Renge, a series of powerful close-range strikes.

Stages and Themes
In Street Fighter Alpha 2, Guy's stage is named "The Final Fight" and includes most of the characters from Final Fight.

His theme songs for the original Street Fighter Alpha, Alpha 2 and SSFIV are simply a remixed version of the first stage of the original Final Fight game, while in Namco X Capcom his theme song is a remixed Bay Area Theme (Rolento's stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2).

Trivia

 * Guy is in a romantic relationship with Maki's sister, Rena, who (along with Genryusai, her father and former Bushinryu-master), was kidnapped by the Mad Gear gang and later rescued in Final Fight 2.
 * Because of this, Guy is one of the eleven playable Street Fighter characters who are in a romantic relationship or are married.
 * In the game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Strider Hiryu has a color palette based on Guy. Interestingly, concept art from the Super Street Fighter IV artbook shows that initially Guy was planned to have an alternate costume based on Strider Hiryu's.