Falke

Falke (ファルケ) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Ed's character story in Street Fighter V before becoming playable in the game's third DLC season. She is a member of Neo Shadaloo.

Appearance
Falke is very similar in appearance to Ed. The two share the same hairstyle, that being blonde hair long enough to obscure the right eye - with Falke's being a decent amount longer than Ed's - and short hair around the rest of the head. Her uniform also matches his, though a darker blue in colour. Her hat also lacks a badge like Ed's, suggesting a lower rank in the organization.

She wears dramatic turquoise lipstick and eye shadow that matches the color of her eyes, and carries some sort of staff weapon.

Her first alternate costume is a white baggy sleeveless qipao dress with a blue trim, tied with a matching blue belt. Underneath is a white strapless catsuit that also reveals her toes. She also wears turquoise wristbands similar to the gauntlet with black linings, and her staff is gray and white but glows in turquoise during her special attacks. She also wears a white headband on her head.

Her second alternate costume is her battle costume which is a black catsuit that shows her cleavage with an extended collar and has shoulder pads in each sides and wears a matching belt and black boots adorned with several belts in each sides. She also wears goggles with a brown trim on her head.

When she was a child, Falke wore a white sleeveless short dress.

Personality
Falke can be seen, based on her win quotes, as a calm and collected person. She gives some characters advices and is impressed by some of their moves. Like Ed, she also has a distaste towards Bison after being experimented on in the past.

Ed
Ed rescued Falke from her harsh life at Shadaloo. The two of them have a sibling-like bond, as both were former "replacement clones" for M. Bison and having grudges towards him as a result. Falke and Ed are trying to help each other get stronger. Falke is very protective over Ed and considers herself as an older sister to him.

Background
Falke was built to be an alternative clone for M. Bison. She was heavily experimented on by Shadaloo and was forced to train everyday to achieve perfection. Years of harsh training went by, causing Falke to spiral deep into despair, wishing for it all to end.

Character story
One day, after having nightmares about M. Bison, Ed came to her rescue and they both were able to escape Shadaloo. Falke and Ed teamed up to search for others like them in need of help.

Sometime later after founding Neo Shadaloo, the two spared with one another, Falke noticing how Ed's movements are inefficient and wondering who taught him to fight. When Falke is victorious, Ed figured that she could've easily escaped herself, recognizing how strong she is. However, Falke stated that she would've been trapped and rotting away in Shadaloo if Ed hadn't came to her rescue. Seeing Ed's determination to rescue the others and to become stronger, Falke agrees to become stronger together with him.

Other character story appearances
Falke was first seen in Ed's character story, as a member of Neo Shadaloo.

Fighting style and abilities
Falke's fighting style is similar to the style of Eskrima within the Arnis system. She has the unique ability to infuse Psycho Power into objects and release it through them, mainly through her staff, which she named Harmony. Some of her moves resemble Rolento's.

Moveset
Falke utilizes her staff in battle to keep opponents at range, but it also serves as her conduit for Psycho Power. By holding down any punch button, Falke can charge up and store Psycho Power until the button is released in one of three different ways; by simply standing (Psycho Kugel), Falke releases the Psycho Power through her staff like a shotgun. When she is airbone (Psycho Feder), Falke shoots a projectile at a diagonal angle downwards from the air. By crouching (Psycho Kanonen), Falke lays on the ground and shoots a projectile at the opponent’s feet. She can avoid projectiles while using Psycho Kanonen. Like Ed, some of Falke’s special moves only require either two punch or two kick buttons – no special inputs required. Pressing two punches will result in Psycho Schneide, which is her version of an uppercut. Pressing two kicks is Katapult, which sees Falke pole vaulting towards the opponent in a kick motion.

By using her V-Skill, Psycho Trombe, Falke extends one arm and spins her staff in front of her. Psycho Trombe on its own can be cancelled into by a variety of normal moves and can also be used to absorb projectiles.

Her first V-Trigger is the Staerken; In this two-block V-Trigger, Falke powers up her ability to infuse and release Psycho Power from her staff, this will allow her to use additional versions of her special moves without needing to charge up in advance. Pressing HP+HK again during this V-Trigger will cause Falke to use Psycho Shrot, a powered up version of Psycho Kugel that emits three bullets and travels further. Pressing down and HP+HK will see Falke using Psycho Panzer, a powered up version of Psycho Kanonen that deals more damage. Finally, pressing HP+HK in the air will cause Falke to use Psycho Jaeger, a stronger Psycho Feder that can ricochet off the ground. Psycho Shrot and Kanonen can be cancelled into each other and can leave the opponent prone to a Critical Art.

Her second V-Trigger is the Psycho Angriff; in this three-block V-Trigger, Falke increases her ability to utilize her staff in various ways. Upon activation, Falke will immediately twirl around hitting the opponent into the air, which she then follows up with a surge of Psycho Power. Pressing HP+HK during this V-Trigger will result in Falke using Psycho Sturm, a sweeping hit with her staff that can be cancelled into to extend combos. Pressing down and HP+HK will see Falke using Psycho Klinge, where she jumps diagonally into the air before slamming her staff down on the opponent and can be followed up with normal moves. Falke’s V-Skill, Psycho Trombe, can also reflect projectiles during Psycho Angriff. Each of the new moves Falke gains during Psycho Angriff can be cancelled into from special moves like Psycho Schneide and Katapult, increasing her combo potential and damage.

By using her Critical Art, Psycho Fluegel, Falke launches opponents into the air with the staff fully charged with Psycho Power. She then pole vaults up to meet her opponent, whacks them sideways with her staff, then slams them down with a final overhead swing.

Trivia

 * "Falke" (/falkə/, "Fall-keh") is a German word meaning "falcon" or another bird of prey. In a political sense, it may be used to mean a hardliner or a warmonger, like the English use of "hawk" in this context. As a surname in Germanic and Nordic countries, it can mean "falconer", referring to the hunting trade.
 * In the gameplay trailer of Falke, the announcer pronounces her name with a silent e (/fɔ:k/, Falk), which is a phonetic mistake English-speakers often make when reading aloud words of German origin.


 * Falke is notable for having these distinctions in the series.
 * She is the third new female character after Laura and Menat to debut in Street Fighter V (excluding Kolin who first appeared as NPC in Street Fighter III).
 * She is the second playable staff wielding fighter after Rolento (ignoring Eagle's chronological debut due to his pair of weapons and fighting style) and also the first staff wielder that doesn't originate from the Final Fight series nor the EX series (as Nanase also uses a staff for her moves).
 * Falke is also the sixth playable character who was originally meant to be a "replacement body" for M. Bison, the first five being Cammy, Abel, Seth, Decapre and Ed.
 * She is the third playable female character whose nationality is officially listed as unknown, the first two being Ingrid and Kolin.


 * Although Falke's nationality is officially listed as unknown, it is heavily hinted she is from Germany. She has a Germanic name, her moves are listed in German, her second V-Trigger and part of her uniform carry the German flag colors.
 * The Capcom Germany blog entry accompanying her debut actually clarifies her to be of German descent ("Falke ist deutscher Abbstammung").


 * Falke has a similar appearance to Mature from SNK's The King of Fighters series; most notably their hairstyle, blonde hair and pale skin. In addition, Falke, like Eagle, shares a similar fighting style to Mr. Big, a character from the same series.

Gallery
Falke/Gallery

Quotes
Falke/Quotes