Kairi

Kairi (カイリ) is a character who appears exclusively in the Street Fighter EX series by Arika. He debuted as a hidden character in the arcade version of the first game.

Story
Kairi was born to the main house of the Mizukami family and was trained in the family's ancient art of hand-to-hand combat. However, Kairi lost his memories when he fought his own father to a fight to the death and for several years he has wandered the world, fighting without rhyme or reason. Only the words "you must challenge your limits" remained in his memories. Led by these words, Kairi thought that the only way to recover his memories was to follow the way of the Shura (修羅) and fight, replacing his lost memories with the nature of a demon. As he continued fighting, Kairi's hair was turned from black to white and his body began to be covered in scars. Eventually Kairi fought his younger sister Hokuto on several occasions. Despite the attempts of Nanase, the youngest of siblings to stop them, this has been unavoidable fate for Kairi and Hokuto.

Fighting Style and Gameplay
Like Allen's, most of Kairi's moves are similar to those of the Ansatsuken-style characters (i.e., Ryu, Ken, Akuma), as detailed below.


 * ​Shinku Hadoken -> Shinki Hatsudo (lit. Divine Soul Invocation)
 * Shoryuken -> Maryuu Rekkou (lit. Demon Dragon Rending Light)
 * Tatsumaki -> Moryou Kasen (lit. Nature Spirit Vortex Whirl)
 * Tenmakujinkyaku -> Ryuujin Kyaku (lit. Dragon Blade Leg; Street Fighter EX2)
 * Ashura Senku -> Makuu Shihai (lit. Demon Air Control; Street Fighter EX2), though they function a bit differently.

Also, in Street Fighter EX2, Kairi has inherited and succumbed to a power similar to the Satsui no Hado. Because of this, he has abilities and a power level similar to those of Akuma, and having moves that resemble his techniques; (e.g. Zanku Hadoken and Shun Goku Satsu, Akuma's most lethal technique). An original ability from this power also exists, as having him surge with this power when his super meter is at Lv.3, allows his attacks to negate any projectiles.

Trivia

 * Kairi appears in the manga Street Fighter III: The Twin Dragon for the first time. He also appears in Street Fighter III: Ryu Final.


 * Kairi's voice actor, Kaneto Shiozawa, died in 2000 two months after the release of Street Fighter EX3. Shiozawa also voiced Vega in the EX series and Street Fighter II V, as well as Hyo Imawano from Capcom's Rival Schools series and Zato-1 from Arc System Works' Guilty Gear series.