Karin

"I'll show you the divide in our class! (格の違いをお見せしますわ！)"

- Karin (Street Fighter V)

Karin Kanzuki (神月 かりん) is a character from the Street Fighter series. She was originally a character from the 1996 Street Fighter manga Sakura Ganbaru! authored by Masahiko Nakahira. Her character would be integrated into the video game series in Street Fighter Alpha 3, where she appears as a playable character. She is set to return in the upcoming Street Fighter V.

Biography
Karin is the daughter of Daikenjuro and Nadeshiko Kanzuki; their butler is Ishizaki‎, and Shibazaki is the family steward. The wealthy Kanzuki family's mottos are "All you need is victory" (also interpreted as "Be the winner in everything") and, alternately, "The worst we'll ever be is the best". Her family's private estate covers 200 acres of land, and not only has its own geographical features, but its own climate. The Kanzukis are even wealthier than the Masters, so rich that they have their own satellite called "Red Spider Lilly".

Appearance
As a self-styled rival of Sakura, Karin naturally has a similar outfit, complete with sailor fuku, except hers is predominantly red and white with a blue bola tie. She stylises her blonde hair into long, oversized ringlet curls in a Victorian Europe-era fashion with two small forelocks, and occasionally wears a blue bow in the back. She appears to wear underwear on the outside of her black shorts and completes her outfit with matching black socks and short, red boots. She also wears brown fingerless gloves.

In Street Fighter V, her outfit appearance has been altered from her original school uniform into a business suit-esque outfit, but has still a resemblance to the original in palette and design. She wears a red long sleeve jacket with a blue frill shirt and a white frill folded sleeves underneath and a white ascot tie at the center of her collar, red frill skirt and black stockings that cover her entire legs.

Personality
Karin's laugh and mannerisms are derived from the unpleasant "ojou" stereotypes common in anime and manga and "rich person"/"popular schoolgirl"/"spoiled brat" stereotypes of Western animated cartoons and movies; while she typically remains snobbish and haughty as per the standard, other aspects of her personality can vary wildly in other media. In Namco x Capcom, Karin is calmer, more level-headed and cynical, and serves as the voice of reason for the impulsive Sakura (though she still retains her trademark laugh and condescending comments during battle sequences). In the UDON comics, on the other hand, she is extremely hateful and competitive to the point of obsessiveness, making her much more of an antagonist.

Karin usually refers to other people as "commoners", or inferiors. She lives by her motto more than the rest of her family, as she takes majority control of her father's company from under his nose in a hostile takeover (ironic, since he was the one to drive that philosophy into her).

After Karin finds and eventually defeats Sakura in a rematch, she feels that she won only "by chance" and finally admits that Sakura is actually the best of them. Karin then decides to ditch her family's motto of "always winning" (at least when concerning martial arts) and starts to praise fighting itself as more important than victory or defeat, showing a bit of humility.

One of Sakura's Versus mode win quotes in the Street Fighter IV games implies that she and Karin have become friends sometime after Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Background
Karin considers herself a rival of Sakura, who defeated her when challenged.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
The Kanzuki corporation is threatened by Shadaloo, which makes demands of the dynasty. She uses the family fortune in an attempt to track down Shadaloo, as well as confronting a roving Sakura to challenge her again. Along the way, she encounters Blanka and defeats him in a friendly match, musing that "the world is so vast" for such a beast to exist. She also encounters R. Mika and battles her, and is so impressed by Mika's ability that she offers the wrestler her sponsorship. Karin eventually finds and defeats Sakura, but realizes the victory was a fluke, and that the fight itself is more important, not winning or losing (as Ken Masters told her this previously).

Street Fighter V
Karin was revealed as a returning character for Street Fighter V in September 16, 2015 during the Tokyo Game Show, a day after Karin's birthday. This is her first playable appearance in the main games since her playable debut in Alpha 3. By the time Street Fighter V takes place, she is now the head of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu.

Sakura Ganbaru!
Karin was introduced for the first time in this manga as the heiress of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu, enrolled in Sakura's school to "observe the life of commoners"; intrigued by her ability to fight, Karin challenged her to a match, showcasing a deadly style created by blending together all the martial arts that she had mastered, however Sakura managed to defeat her, thus sparking off their rivalry.

To avenge this dishonour, Karin organized a street fighting tournament held throughout the city which attracted numerous participants, planning to fight and win against Sakura in the final match; however, after seeing Ken Masters (participating in the tournament under a false name) defeating Dan, she decided to fight against him to test her own strength, and ended up losing and being disqualified (although Ken acknowledged her skill and resolve).

UDON comics
Karin appeared in UDON's Street Fighter Legends: Sakura comic. In it, she is portrayed in a considerably less honorable light, using questionable methods to gain underhanded advantages over Sakura, such as rigging a hot-dog eating contest in which Sakura took part just so Karin could challenge her later when Sakura was stuffed full of food, and thus in no real condition to fight.

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Karin may have been intended to appear in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter; her sprite, based mostly on her Sakura Ganbaru! appearance (i.e. the same school outfit as Sakura with boots instead of sneakers, as shown below) exists somewhere in the ROM data, near Dan's sprites.

Capcom Fighting Evolution
Karin also appeared in Capcom Fighting Evolution as a playable character.

SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium
Karin appeared in Match of the Millennium as the Capcom guide character for the game's Olympic Mode.

Namco × Capcom
Karin appears in the Japan-only Namco × Capcom as Sakura's partner.

Gameplay and fighting style
Though she styles herself as a rival to Sakura, Karin uses the Kanzuki style martial arts, a style she created herself, instead of the "original" style Sakura uses. Karin has a wide array of strikes, throws and potent reversals, and she prides herself on being able to handle any opponent she faces. She prefers to keep her opponents guessing by varying the speed of her attacks, and also makes them second-guess their own choice of moves for fear of her powerful counterattacks.

She is well versed in various forms of Bushido, military arts, and "combative sports". This was probably mistranslated from a term that meant "combat sports", which includes various events (e.g. Japanese pro wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts groups). The sum of all her accomplishments in the field of martial arts is equivalent to 100 dan and 8 kyu (the Japanese ranking system for martial arts, among other things).

Karin's overall style focuses on pacing, dashing strikes and counters, and aerial attacks. Karin's fighting versatility allows her to stay on the move while setting up crushing counters. However, she has a moderate lag time between her attacks, and can be thwarted by an opponent that jumps over her and attacks. Her style can be seen as a mix of Fei Long and Chun-Li, as both utilize pacing and speed. Utilized correctly, Karin is not one to be taken lightly and can have her opponent falling for a perfectly-timed counter.

Quotes
See: Karin/Quotes

Pop Culture
See: Karin/Pop Culture

Trivia

 * Although Karin is usually depicted as an only child of the Kanzuki family in most Street Fighter media (this is even stated as much in Sakura Ganbaru!), in the Ryu Final manga, she has three unnamed sisters.

Gallery
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