F.A.N.G

"Two minutes! I'll finish you in two minutes! (2分！2分で終わらせるデスよ！)"

- F.A.N.G (Street Fighter V)

F.A.N.G (ファン), also known as the Great F.A.N.G or F.A.N.G-sama in Japanese, is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter V. He is the second-in-command of Shadaloo, ranking only below M. Bison in the hierarchy.

Appearance
F.A.N.G is a very thin and tall man with a medium length black hair tied in low ponytail and a goatee who wears a loose, purple Chinese qipao with round Chinese sign at the front of his qipao, black Chinese capris and a matching Chinese toe shoes and red long socks. He also wears black shades and a large black hat with red linings. His hands are glowing purple when some of his poison moves are used which has been concealed in his baggy sleeves of his qipao. As shown in the story mode A Shadow Falls, his fingernails are fashioned into sharp claws like Vega and his hands are completely coated in this poison which can melt anything with a touch, requiring him to use his sleeves like makeshift gloves to hold on to anything to avoid burning them with his bare hands.

His alternate costume consist of a blue jumpsuit with the zipper going down to his pants, his fuku has yellow curly designs in each sides and has baggy sleeves with two yellow linings. Underneath is a white long sleeve button shirt with a red neck tie on the collar, a black belt to his waist and black high boots. He wears thinly rimmed eyeglasses in this costume rather than shades and his hair is longer and still in a low ponytail with a single half fringe at the right side.

His second alternate costume is just like his primary outfit but dark blue with several yellow round designs, navy blue pants which reaches to his ankles and white socks. The side of his long hair still remains, tied in low ponytail. His hairstyle resembles a style of a monk.

Concept
The idea of a fighter who uses poison in the Street Fighter games was originally considered during development of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, when the team members had a debate on including Remy or a different, poison-using character. F.A.N.G's early design originally had him as a Shaolin Monk.

F.A.N.G's design, and several of his moves, draws comparisons to various fictional characters from a plethora of other media, such as Hsien-Ko from Capcom's Darkstalkers, Kung Lao from Mortal Kombat, the Thin Men from XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and the two assassins known as the "Harpists" in the film Kung Fu Hustle.

His use of poison and fascination with the number two could be derived from the Fist of the North Star minor antagonist Alf of the Shura arc, who was a fighter boastful of his victories claimed in under two minutes and baited opponents into striking his poison laced cape.

Personality
F.A.N.G is incredibly flamboyant, his frequent mannerisms usually consisting of odd movements and poses. Regardless, he is also a cold elitist and acts very condescending towards others, an example being his interaction with Birdie, who he considers foolish and a throwaway for rejecting to serve M. Bison in Shadaloo, and with Vega, whom he insists on putting back in his hierarchical place. F.A.N.G is obsessed with protocol and order, with this apparent meticulousness being intense enough to drive Birdie to defect from Shadaloo. He runs the administrative operations of Shadaloo, but he is shown to be cold and uncaring to his underlings, especially the Dolls, who he refers to by numbers rather than their names.

F.A.N.G appears to be extremely loyal to M. Bison, insisting on being his second in command. He displays a fixation on the number "2" in general, considering it a lucky number, with the character on his qipao meaning "2", although written poorly (as noted by Karin and Chun-Li in their victory quotes against him, with the latter even questioning if he's Chinese at all) as he supposedly wrote the archaic character 貳, but added an extra stroke at the top, and his smug threat that he'll finish his opponents in just two minutes. His metric height, 222 cm, and his birthday, February 2, also alludes to this. It should be noted that the character on his qipao can also be interpreted to mean "To betray", which may refer to his first interaction with Bison (a betrayal and assassination attempt) or his underhanded and sneaky nature in general.

F.A.N.G is mainly driven by an intense desire to survive, living his life believing every day could be his last. He grew up in harsh conditions, constantly surrounded by the death of others, so he draws strength from his indomitable will to live, a quality that impressed Bison when they first met. No matter the situation, F.A.N.G will always strive for the side that kills rather than the side that dies, as he was raised to know only these two things.

Street Fighter V
In his prologue story 'Predator and Prey', F.A.N.G is introduced as the new leader of the Nguuhao, one of the largest cartels in Asia and one that is infamous for kidnapping children to train into assassins. As one of these children, F.A.N.G was forced to learn the ways of the Poison Hand by way of exposing him to poison in controlled environments with the hope of eventually teaching him to turn the natural poisons in his body into a weapon. F.A.N.G grew up watching children all around him die, but he emerged as the cartel's strongest ever user of the Poison Hand, being dubbed "the Fang of the Nguuhao".

Eventually, his profile grew large enough for him to be sent on a mission to assassinate M. Bison with the assistance of other Nguuhao assassins (who apparently feared and despised F.A.N.G). Attempting to lower Bison's guard by pretending to swear fealty to Shadaloo, F.A.N.G and his fellow assassins attacked M. Bison, only to be easily defeated due to Bison's immunity to their poisons. With the other assassins being slaughtered one by one, F.A.N.G continued to fight, driven by an intense desire to live.

Sensing F.A.N.G's strength after killing every other Nguuhao assassin, Bison spares his life when F.A.N.G tries to surrender, telling F.A.N.G that he does not demand loyalty, but power, and that being of use will give him a life in Shadaloo. Gaining an intense respect and devotion towards M. Bison due to his power and wisdom, F.A.N.G works his way up Shadaloo's ranks, eventually becoming one of Shadaloo's Four Heavenly Kings, and heading research and administrative operations. He is one of the masterminds behind the Dolls project and plays an integral role in the planning and initiation of Shadaloo's latest bid to take over the world: Operation C.H.A.I.N.S.

Other Prologue appearances
F.A.N.G is responsible for making Birdie defect from Shadaloo due to his super strict dress codes (which would have included the latter wearing a hat over his hairdo).

In M. Bison's prologue story, F.A.N.G, and the rest of the Four Kings are present at a meeting along with a few of the Dolls (Enero, Xiayu and Jianyu), discussing the status of their operations. When Bison discovers C. Viper's presence, F.A.N.G chides her for spying on them.

In Cammy's prologue story, he recognizes Cammy by her former codename (Killer Bee). He also tells her about Operation C.H.A.I.N.S before warning her that if she interferes, he will kill her with no mercy.

In Nash's prologue story, F.A.N.G interrupts the confrontation between a revived Charlie Nash and Ed. After a brief scuffle, F.A.N.G uses his poison cloud to escape with Ed.

In Alex's prologue story, F.A.N.G kidnaps Alex and forces him to fight in his lab's testing room against simulated versions of fighters. When Alex's overwhelming strength starts to cause the lab to crumble, F.A.N.G knocks out Alex and has him transported back to where he was found, with Alex waking up thinking it was a dream.

In Vega's story, F.A.N.G tells Vega about how he increased the Dolls' combat power, but Vega calls him pathetic. Enraged, he tells Vega to mind his tone and they get into a brief scuffle. A low rank Shadaloo solider shows F.A.N.G and Vega where Cammy and Juni are, with F.A.N.G refering to Juni (who he plans to re-calibrate back into a Doll state) as "006". Vega leaves to find Cammy and Juni while calling F.A.N.G's plans ugly, much to his anger.

In Guile's prologue story, F.A.N.G confronts Abel, who is revealed to be a disguised Shadaloo soldier. He badly damages Abel and is about to finish him off with his poison, but is interrupted when Guile nearly manages to hit him with his Sonic Boom, which drags F.A.N.G into a fight with both of them. Afterwards, F.A.N.G escapes using his poison cloud and warns Guile that he will pay for his interference.

In Balrog's prologue story, F.A.N.G confronts him about potentially betraying the organization, and about the existence of Ed. They battle, but F.A.N.G is eventually called on another assignment and is forced to leave.

In Juri's prologue, F.A.N.G attacks her for intruding on the Shadaloo base and insulting him. In the end, Juri is forced to retreat.

A Shadow Falls
The story follows F.A.N.G's plan to conquer the world for M. Bison and Shadaloo. Using 7 enormous artificial Black Moons and several kidnapped and threatened researchers and hackers, Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. is a plan by F.A.N.G to spread fear across the globe and strengthen M. Bison to the point of invincibility.

F.A.N.G is first seen in the story killing "The Usher", a hacker and friend of Rashid, for apparently betraying Shadaloo and M. Bison. In order for Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. to commence, certain keys were required to control the Black Moons, but due to the efforts of the The Usher, they were lost to F.A.N.G and disseminated around the world. He finds the first one after he catches Rashid infiltrating a Shadaloo base. He defeats him, taking his piece, and prepares to initiate the plan. He uses the piece to activate one of the moons, leading to a catastrophic electromagnetic pulse that shuts down all of New York. Arriving at New York with the other Kings of Shadaloo, F.A.N.G is seen celebrating this achievement and irritating his allies with his elitism. He is revealed to be responsible for re-calibrating the Dolls, and then expresses the ultimate goal of Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. as spreading fear and despair across the globe so M. Bison can feed off of it and strengthen his Psycho Power, as it is boosted by negative emotions. F.A.N.G has Balrog and Vega test their skills against two Psycho Power-enhanced Shadaloo soldiers, but then the World Warriors arrive to attack M. Bison only to be fought off. F.A.N.G wishes to pursue them, but is held back by Bison.

F.A.N.G continues his search for the missing pieces and arrives at Brazil. While looking for Laura, who had another one of the pieces, he discovers it was given to her younger brother, Sean. He threatens Sean for the piece until Ken suddenly knocks him away, saving Sean. F.A.N.G becomes dismayed and is prepared to continue fighting, but one of his soldiers informs him that the Shadaloo's base was infiltrated. Hearing this, he quickly retreats using poison clouds.

At the Shadaloo base, F.A.N.G confronts both Chun-Li and Karin, who are attempting to halt the Black Moons from functioning. F.A.N.G is held off long enough by Karin for Chun-Li to shut down the program, and he warns both that he will initiate a back-up plan which cannot be stopped. He confronts the hacker Li-Fen and forces her to begin the descent program for the Black Moons, putting them on a collision course with Earth which would cause enormous casualties across the globe. Necalli then appears and F.A.N.G wants to fight him, but Bison calms him knowing that everything is going according to plan and he will fight Necalli in his stead. When Bison beats Necalli, F.A.N.G attacks him, which forces Necalli to retreat in the form of black sludge.

When the World Warriors begin their final assault on the Shadaloo base, F.A.N.G is seen present as Bison continues to charge his Psycho Power, and later he activates a self-destruct program on the Dolls when it becomes clear they are losing the battle. Rashid sneaks into the control room and manages to abort Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. using a loophole his missing hacker friend created, which causes F.A.N.G to seethe with anger. F.A.N.G admits that he killed Rashid's friend in a tirade, causing Rashid to charge at him in rage. In the ensuing fight, F.A.N.G is briefly knocked down but manages to attack Rashid with a poison jab from the back, incapacitating him. During the fight, however, Rashid destroyed a device F.A.N.G used to control the Dolls. Nevertheless, he attempts to resume Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. but he is confronted by Marz, one of the Dolls who regained control over herself. F.A.N.G defeats her and is about to kill her, but Rashid recovers and distracts him by throwing a chess piece at his head. In that moment, Marz tackles F.A.N.G to the edge of the platform over a perilous fall, with the intent of killing them both. F.A.N.G loses his grip, and both of them to fall into the control room reactor, with F.A.N.G lamenting that he was too young to die.

F.A.N.G barely survives Marz's sacrifice, stumbling forward onto the bottom floor of the base. F.A.N.G angrily blames Li-Fen for presumably revealing how to abort his plans, prompting Chun-Li to defend the child against a weakened and frustrated F.A.N.G. He is finally knocked out before he is able to get to M. Bison's side. After Ryu defeats Bison, F.A.N.G arrives to see his lord dissipate in a blue light. He screams in anguish as the base starts to fall apart around him and is unseen for the rest of the story. His fate as of now is unknown.

Comics
F.A.N.G makes an appearence in UDON's Street Fighter comics series, fixing Seth's Tanden Engine for Shadaloo in an effort to reprogram him.

Fighting Style and Gameplay
From a gameplay-perspective, F.A.N.G is a charge-character and the second fighter to use poison-mechanic in the series (the first being Gen in Street Fighter Alpha 3 in one of his super-moves). A master of Dokushu Kenpō (毒手拳法), whenever his poison attacks connect, they continuously deal damage to the opponent’s life bar until he gets hit or the poison runs its course. Paired with his ability to poison, F.A.N.G has long range attacks and slippery movements. However, F.A.N.G deals mediocre damage alone, and his poison alone cannot defeat opponents, only lower their health.

His main projectile and zoning tool, Nishikyu, is sent at an upward angle, similar to Dhalsim, each version going a different distance, sends two poison balls at the opponent. His V-Skill, Nishodoku, sends out a slow moving poison-filled projectile. If it makes contact with the opponent, it will begin to slowly deal damage. His V-Trigger, Dokunomu, is his ultimate defense: F.A.N.G emits a poisonous cloud around his body that constantly deals damage to the opponent as long as they’re near him. With his tricky projectiles, low vitality, and charge-character properties, he's difficult to master and is not recommended for beginner players.

When he uses his Critical Art, Shishiruirui, he launches the opponent into the air and damages them by flapping his sludge covered arms like a bird.

Quotes
F.A.N.G/Quotes

Trivia

 * His name is derived from the word, "fang" meaning a sharp tooth. Like his special attacks and his Critical Art, his name also derives from a snake and spider fang, animals being able to inject venom with their teeth.
 * Additionally, "Fang" is a Chinese family name meaning "Fragrant", which is perhaps used ironically in his case as he is able to produce and emit poison gas.
 * As can be heard in-game, the announcer correctly pronounces his name as "Fong", which is how the name "Fang" is said in Cantonese.


 * "Nguuhao" is the Thai word for cobra, which fits in with the organization's poison motif.


 * F.A.N.G was the fourth and last of the first new fighters confirmed for Street Fighter V.


 * F.A.N.G and the Nguuhao bear a few similarities to the Hizoku from The King of Fighters series.


 * When F.A.N.G was leaked in audio files of the game's beta, it was thought that his name was 'Fan'. Even his model's name was codenamed "FAN".


 * F.A.N.G is the seventh tallest character in the whole Street Fighter franchise, behind Zangief, Birdie, Sagat, Q, T. Hawk and Hugo. With the hat on, he's the fifth tallest only behind Sagat, Q, T. Hawk and Hugo.


 * In the Japanese version, F.A.N.G frequently adds "desu" (デス) to his lines. Desu (です) is a Japanese copula or word used to grammatically link a subject and predicate, often translated into English using the verb "it is/to be". "Desu" is also a word without meaning that is added to express politeness, and "desu" (デス) can be translated as "death". However, F.A.N.G appears to overdo its use, appearing to be more of a quirk on his way of talking without meaning.


 * He can be comparable to an extent to Kefka from Final Fantasy VI: both are seemingly goofy characters who end up being extremely dangerous, cruel, sadistic and unpredictable. Notably, Shigeru Chiba voices both F.A.N.G and Kefka (the latter in Final Fantasy Dissidia).

Gallery
F.A.N.G/Gallery