Guy

Guy (ガイ, Gai, "Victorious") is a video game character in both the Final Fight and Street Fighter series. 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.

Pre-games
Guy was born somewhere in the United States to Japanese parents, 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
When Mike Haggar is elected as mayor of Metro City, he vows to clean up its streets. However the powerful Mad Gear Gang have other ideas, and eventually Haggar's daughter Jessica is kidnapped to ensure his co-operation. However Haggar does not see the point in negotiating, and so together with Jessica's boyfriend Cody and Guy, a ninja who is 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 up 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 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 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 finallly knocking him down.

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. 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. This episode of Metro's history is long remembered, and years later flyers can still be seen posted in alleyways with the trio's smiling faces, proclaiming "The heroes saved our city".

Final Fight 2
Just as predicted, Mad Gear returns, but biding their time. When 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.

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, restless for streetfighting, has been unable to adjust to a life of peace. He has become a merciless vigilante, has been 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 but after they both calmed down, Guy accepted that his friend had to live his own life. When Guy asked if Cody would stay in Metro City, he replied 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 unexplainable 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.

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, Mr.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 managed to defeat and kill Mr.Black by punching him through the electric generator, ending the Skull Cross Gang

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.

Street Fighter Alpha
In the non-canon 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 non-canon rivalry between Guy and Ryu, who serve as sub-bosses for one another.

History
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. Each of the three fighters featured their own unique characteristics, with Guy being the fastest of the three due to his ninjutsu skills. One of his most unique techniques in the game is the "Off-the-Wall Kick", a technique which allows Guy to bounce off the wall with a jump kick. Due to space constraint, Guy was initially omitted from the Super NES port of the game, 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. Later versions of the game such as Final Fight CD for Sega CD and Final Fight One for the Game Boy Advance would include all three characters. Capcom also produced an NES game titled Mighty Final Fight, a parody of the original Final Fight which features all three characters. In the backstory of the original Final Fight, Guy is established to be the 39th successor of the Bushin-style Ninpo.

Capcom would later released Final Fight 2 in 1993, a sequel created specifically for the Super NES. In this installment, Guy's sensei, Genryusai and his daughter, Rena (Guy's fiancee) are kidnapped by the new incarnation of Mad Gear. In the game's story, Guy is off on a training mission and is unable to rescue his fiancee and master. Instead, the game features Guy's sister-in-law, Maki, who has also been trained in the same fighting style, and Carlos Miyamoto, a South American swordsman, as the two of them join forces with Haggar in fighting against Mad Gear's new incarnation. Guy only makes an appearance at the end of the game, although the game does feature power-up icons shaped after his character.

When Capcom produced the original Street Fighter Alpha in 1995, Guy would be one of two Final Fight characters to be included in the game along with the game's second stage boss Sodom. In this game, Guy's character design was altered slightly, with his ninja boots replaced by sneakers, although his fighting style mimics that of his Final Fight counterpart. Guy and Sodom would be joined by Rolento in 1996's Street Fighter Alpha 2 and by Cody in 1998's Street Fighter Alpha 3, followed by Maki's appearance in the portable versions of Alpha 3. Guy's new design would be used in the second Final Fight sequel for the Super NES, Final Fight 3 in 1995, where he teams up once again with Haggar and meets two new allies named Dean and Lucia Morgan as the four of them seek to save Metro City from a new threat known as the Skull Cross gang. During the final battle in the roftop and headquarters of the Skull Cross Gang, Guy managed to defeat and kill Mr. Black (the leader of the Skull Cross Gang) by punching Him to the electric generator, ending the Skull Cross Gang.

In the Alpha games, Guy's Bushin predecessor is revealed to be a man named Zeku, who would appear in Guy's ending in Street Fighter Alpha 2 to test Guy for his successorship. Zeku's presence in the game contradicts Final Fight 2, which identifies Genryusai as Guy's sensei, as designers of the Alpha games did not take into account the Super NES Final Fight sequels when developing the games. When Maki was reintroduced in Capcom vs. SNK 2, Capcom provided the explanation that Maki belongs to the original clan that formed the Bushin style and that Genryusai was Zeku's master, who in turned trained Guy and Maki.

During the same year Alpha 3 was released in the arcades, 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.

A second American-produced Final Fight alternate sequel was released in 2006 titled Final Fight: Streetwise, which reimagines Guy's character was as an Asian crime lord in the Japan Town district of Metro City. The game's backstory explains that Guy had committed a serious crime from within the past and that Cody had took the fall for it, causing the end of the friendship between the two fighters. In the game's Story Mode, Guy aids Cody's young brother, Kyle Travers (the game's protagonist) in finding out about the whereabouts of the missing Cody.

Gameplay
Guy's fighting style 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. Guy labels some of his special attacks with the preface Bushin, even though his master felt it might make the young fighter too egotistical and assume that he'd mastered the deepest secrets of the Bushin martial arts. He remains one of the fastest character ever in the series, mainly due to his Haya-gake, which quickly closes the gap between him and an opponent. Guy's special moves are:


 * Hōzanto (崩山斗), commonly known as Turning Elbow, where Guy dodges by turning around and then strikes. The japanese name of the move uses the chinese meaning of the To kanji, which refers to fighting, instead of the japanese reading, which refers to the Big Dipper constellation.


 * Bushin Senpū-kyaku (武神旋風脚), a faster and a little stronger version of Ryu and Ken's Tatsumaki Senpū-kyaku which is Guy's Shoryuken analogue.


 * Bushin Izuna Otoshi (武神イズナ落とし), where Guy grabs his opponent by the head and smashes him or her onto the floor. Izuna is the name of a mythical god and wind spirit that presents himself in the form of a tengu.


 * Haya-gake (疾駆け), with which Guy rushes toward his opponent. The move can be varied depending on the button pressed.

His Super moves:


 * Bushin Hassō-ken (武神八双拳), a rapid anti air attack.


 * Bushin Gōrai-kyaku (武神剛雷脚), a multi-hit kick combination.


 * Bushin Musō Renge (武神無双連刈), Guy's most powerful attack, where the screen will darken like Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu, but the player can see Guy's silhouette pummeling his helpless opponent. In Super Street Fighter IV, Guy starts with a punch and kick and he runs to the other side and commences with a barrage of kicks and then runs back for another combo before the screen turns black for the final hits.

In Street Fighter Alpha 2, Guy was one of the few characters who could perform chain combo's after they were removed. 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.

Final Fight series characters filled the screen in his stages in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and 3. In addition, a special intro sequence takes place when Guy faces Cody: both fighters destroy barrels in a reference to the first stage in the original Final Fight.

Street Fighter Alpha (manga)
Guy appears in the Street Fighter Alpha manga by Masahiko Nakahira. In it, 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 disguised 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. His silhouette is also seen in Nakahira's Sakura Ganbaru! manga, when Maki talks about the Bushin style.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation
Guy makes a cameo 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. 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. His non-canon rivalry with Ryu is alluded to here: 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 (though this could also be attributed to both fighters possessing taciturn, stoic personalities).

Street Fighter 1995 cartoon
Guy also 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.

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 Sho (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.

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. Though Guy easily defeats Dan, 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.

Street Fighter X Tekken
Guy appears as one of the DLC characters in Street Fighter X Tekken; his tag partner is Cody.

Personality
Guy is calm and reserved, with a sharp mind and a noble spirit. He is a stoic warrior who carries out his duty as a ninja with an almost professional air of detachment. 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. He 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, despite her attempts to defeat Guy to become the 40th Bushin grandmaster.

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. Guy wears a crimson, sleeveless ninja gi with a white outline, with a wire mesh shirt underneath for defense. His Nike Dunks sneakers, which contrast the rest of his traditional outfit, is a trademark of his often referenced by other characters and Guy himself in win quotes. His clothes seem to reflect his fighting style: traditional martial arts with some modern street brawling influences. His alternate costume is based on his original Final Fight outfit, with the main differences being an added sword and a white headband. He is top-heavy, slim muscular legs with predominant bulkiness of his chest, shoulders and arms, contrasting the rest of his lean body.

Promotion and reception
N64 Magazine described Guy as "the favorite for many arcade-goers" in regards to the original Final Fight.

Trivia

 * The kanji, 武神, written on Guy's top literally translates to "God of War"/"Warrior Spirit".
 * 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.
 * According to his win quote against Hakan in Super Street Fighter IV, Guy is a vegetarian, though this conflicts with the large number of meat items in Final Fight.
 * His theme songs for Street Fighter Alpha 1, 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 in Street Fighter Alpha 2).
 * The rapid run sudden stop is a popular rush down technique used by Guy players, to get closer to the opponent after a knockdown
 * Though he doesn't make a physical appearance like most previous characters, 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!".
 * Jin Kazama from the Tekken series facial features and bangs resemble Guy's.
 * In the Alpha series, Guy's sneakers are a pair of High-Top Nike Dunks. 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.
 * Guy's special skill is sprinting (100 meters in 10.2 seconds).
 * In Street Fighter Alpha 2, Guy's stage is named "The Final Fight" and includes most of the characters from Final Fight.
 * Guy is present in Dee Jay's bar stage and Ibuki's ending in Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix.
 * 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.