- "Two minutes! I'll finish you in two minutes!
(2分！2分で終わらせるですよ！ Ni-fun! Ni-fun de owaraseru desu yo!?)" - —F.A.N.G (Street Fighter V)
- "Don't underestimate my poison! Though I suppose it's too late for that now... Hee hee!"
- —F.A.N.G
F.A.N.G (ファン Fan?, Chinese: 方), also known as the Great F.A.N.G 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.
Biography
Appearance
F.A.N.G is a very thin and tall man with a medium length black hair tied in low ponytail and a thin goatee who wears a loose, purple Chinese changpao with a Chinese character on the front (a misspelled variant of two, er 貳), black Chinese capris with matching Chinese toe shoes and red long socks. He also wears a pair of small, black, circular shades and a large black hat with red linings. His hands, which are normally concealed by his flared sleeves, glow purple, presumably as a result of his poison techniques. 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 without corroding it.
His first alternate costume is his Nguuhao uniform, and consists 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 that 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.[6] F.A.N.G's early design originally had him as a Shaolin Monk.[7]
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 (his hat in particular) 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.
He can also be comparable to an extent to Kefka Palazzo from Final Fantasy VI: both are seemingly goofy characters who end up being extremely dangerous, cruel, sadistic, unpredictable and completely evil. Notably, Shigeru Chiba voices both F.A.N.G and Kefka (the latter in Final Fantasy Dissidia).
Personality
F.A.N.G is incredibly eccentric and flamboyant, his frequent mannerisms usually consisting of odd movements and poses, much to the bemusement of others. Regardless, he is also a cold elitist and acts very condescending towards others, an example being his interactions with his own fellow assassin, Vega and boxing enforcer, Balrog, both of whom he considers incompetent and foolish. 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.
Before his induction into Shadaloo, F.A.N.G was once a cold, calculating, and far more ruthless individual as a professional assassin. Along with originally bearing little to no emotion due to his profession and upbringing, he was also willing to maintain distance and safety by killing off anyone that attempted to garner friendship and camaraderie with him, and admired the feeling of being feared greater than respect. It is said that his time in Shadaloo eventually developed him emotionally and loosened his demeanor.
F.A.N.G appears to be extremely loyal to M. Bison, insisting on being his second in command. He displays a bizarre fixation on the number "2" in general, considering it a lucky number,[1] 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. The other examples for his fixation on number "2" include a lot of his attacks hitting two times and require two motions to perfom, calling Alex test subject #222222 in Alex's character story, his low health round victory quote mentioning that he and the opponent made it pass round 2 and his normal round victory quote where he says this is how number 2 rolls, his easy and normal survival mode intro quotes mention the number 2, his character selection quote ("How about a double dose of poison?!"), his theme lasting exactly two minutes before starting over again, several of his winquotes mention the number 2, and his smug threat that he'll finish his opponents in just two minutes as his intro quote. His metric height (212 cm and while stretching 222 cm), his birthday (February 2), as well as having four special moves (2+/x2=4 (in other words, 22=4)) also alludes to this.
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 to survive no matter what, as he was raised to know only life and death.
Character Relationships
M. Bison
F.A.N.G is consistently portrayed as an eternally loyal servant of Bison's who constantly showers his master with compliments and caters to his every whim, almost in a sycophant-esque fashion. Despite this, his loyalty only stems from F.A.N.G's respect of his master's immense power and has little to do with any emotional connections; F.A.N.G strives to be on the "side that kills, not is killed" and as such, joins Bison to fulfill this mentality. 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, or both.
F.A.N.G has gone great lengths to find ways to revive Shadaloo, having survived its destruction, and apparently have stayed loyal to him in spite of the dictator's destruction.
Balrog and Vega
Both Balrog and Vega despise F.A.N.G with his showboating and mockery. F.A.N.G considers both of them to be fools and will not hesitate to use physical force on them to show who's superior. This had led to Balrog and Vega putting aside their inverse differences once during a confrontation with F.A.N.G showing that the two hate him more than they hate each other..
Rashid
Rashid holds great hatred towards F.A.N.G for murdering his friend.
Story
Background
F.A.N.G was the newly inducted leader of the Nguuhao, one of the largest cartels in Asia and one that was infamous for kidnapping children to train into assassins. As one of those 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, and in abject poverty to have them learn the unforgiving coldness of the criminal underworld and the streets. 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". Along with three other survivors he referred to as his brothers who had helped each other survive, they soon made headway into the underworld of Asia as professional assassins and made their mark. It is implied later that F.A.N.G's first job as a professional assassin was to kill his three "brothers", a task which he completed using an ancient Nguuhao dagger.
Street Fighter V
In his character story 'Predator and Prey', 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 grew to fear and despise 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 story 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 character 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.
F.A.N.G in M. Bison's character story.
In Cammy's character 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 character 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 character 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 character 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 soldier shows F.A.N.G and Vega where Cammy and Juni are, with F.A.N.G referring 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 character 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 character 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 character story, 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. Though implied to have died with Bison, F.A.N.G actually survived.[8]
Street Fighter V Side Story: Toxicity
The ancient Nguuhao dagger F.A.N.G used to kill his "brothers" and later offered to Phantom
After the fall of M. Bison and Shadaloo, F.A.N.G. retreats back to the city of Shanghai and regroups his efforts into reviving Shadaloo once more.[8] After a night of carousing with old associates and reestablishing ties to help fund his efforts during the Chinese New Year,[8] he takes notice of a teenage girl attempting to make ends meet through soliciting herself through prostitution.[9]
Taking note rather of her spirit, and held at blackmail by her brother who had recorded him through his smartphone,[9] he offers the two three options: an offer of money, secretly poisoned to ensure the death of either of them and potential destruction of their clientele; an ornate snake handled dagger, which would have him slice off the hand of the one that would grab it; and neither, allowing both to escape with their lives.[10]
The sister instead takes note of the inscribed words (which only F.A.N.G can understand) on the dagger's blade and its beauty, desiring to know more about its origins. Revealing to her that such a dagger was in fact the Nguuhao's most coveted possession beholding the Poison Hand's secrets to its most powerful technique, F.A.N.G. offers to take the girl, who he names "Phantom", under his wing and train her as a successor.[10]
Other appearances
F.A.N.G appeared as an enemy in Granblue Fantasy during the collaboration event Granblue Fighter V along with Karin, Necalli and Rashid.[11]
F.A.N.G was added to TEPPEN with its "The Force Seekers" expansion.
Comics
F.A.N.G makes an appearance in UDON's comic book series of Street Fighter, fixing Seth's Tanden Engine for Shadaloo in an effort to reprogram him.
Gameplay
Fighting style and abilities
F.A.N.G is a master of Dokushu Kenpō (毒手拳法? lit. "Poison Hand Kenpō").[1] Because of his skill in mixing toxins, as well as his assassins training, F.A.N.G has developed the ability to resist all poison regardless of its strength or origins. As such, F.A.N.G's immunity to poisons also renders him immune to the effects of alcohol.[8]
Moveset
From a gameplay-perspective, F.A.N.G is a charge-character and the second fighter to use the damage-over-time mechanic in the series (the first being Gen in Street Fighter Alpha 3 in one of his super-moves). 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 technical, 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.
Subpages
Quotes
Gallery
Trivia
- "F.A.N.G" 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.
- In his past, F.A.N.G has been called by several different names such as Wan Lei, Fan Shao Fei, Michael Fang and Fo Manchu.[8]
- His real name is unknown as members of Nguuhao cannot reveal their true names and F.A.N.G himself has even forgotten his real name.[8]
- In Street Fighter V: A Visionary Book, the bonus section states that F.A.N.G is short for "Fantastic Asian Notorious Gang".
- Additionally, "Fang" is a Chinese family name that can mean "Fragrant", which is perhaps used ironically in his case as he is able to produce and emit poison gas. However, the character (方) used for F.A.N.G's name means "square," a possible allusion to the number four which is often associated with death. It could also allude to his obssesion with the number 2 as well (2+/x2=4 (in other words, 22=4)).
- 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 shares some similarities to Gen; both are infamous assassins and Asian martial fighters who use deadly assassination techniques, both wear purple Chinese ceremonial robes and both use poison on their fighting styles (though F.A.N.G uses poison to an greater and regular extent compared to Gen).
- F.A.N.G was the fourth and last of the four default 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".[12]
- F.A.N.G is the seventh tallest character in the whole Street Fighter franchise, behind Zangief, Birdie, Sagat, T. Hawk, Hugo, and Abigail. With the hat on, he's the fifth tallest only behind Sagat, T. Hawk, Hugo, and Abigail.
- 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.
- F.A.N.G has an unused level seen in his official character artwork, that of a strange looking temple. No other stage in the game resembles it, and it remains a mystery if it will ever be released it in a future update. Supposedly, this is the lair of the Nguuhao, before they were all vanquished by M. Bison.
- The stage also bears a striking similarity to a stage seen in a early Street Fighter V concept art, where Ryu faces M. Bison. In both stages large pylons (some with snakes wrapped around them) form a pavilion style building. Behind them is a built up city scene with what appears to be the word 'MACAU' on a neon sign.
- F.A.N.G's poison has some of the biggest gameplay and story segregation of the series. In his story mode, M. Bison is portrayed as immune to F.A.N.G's poison and Ibuki says that Ninjas can easily neutralize poison. However, in gameplay, M. Bison is just as vulnerable as any other character to F.A.N.G's poison. Ibuki also has no unique way compared to the rest of the cast to stop the effects.
- F.A.N.G's slick hairstyle (sans the small ponytail), shrill voice tone, facial features (excluding the goatee) and round shades mildly resemble drug lord Frankie Lideo a.k.a. Mr. Big, played by Joe Pesci in the 1988 movie Michael Jackson's Moonwalker.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Street Fighter V Character Encyclopedia: F.A.N.G
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 http://www.capcom.co.jp/sfv/chara_fang.html
- ↑ https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/street-fighter-v-ps4/
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Street Fighter V
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Street Fighter V Stat Card
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160112201606/http://hadoken.net/capcom-devs-sfv-interview/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160306202719/http://hadoken.net/early-street-fighter-v-character-designs/
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Shadaloo Combat Research Institute: Side Readers 05: Toxicity (Part 1)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Shadaloo Combat Research Institute: Side Readers 05: Toxicity (Part 2)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Shadaloo Combat Research Institute: Side Readers 05: Toxicity (Part 3)
- ↑ Granblue Fantasy: Granblue Fighter V event
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160216115521/http://hadoken.net/sfv-audio-leak/
| Street Fighter V Characters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | Birdie · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · F.A.N.G · Karin · Ken · Laura M. Bison · Nash · Necalli · R. Mika · Rashid · Ryu · Vega · Zangief | |||
| Season 1 | Alex · Balrog · Guile · Ibuki · Juri · Urien | |||
| Season 2 | Abigail · Akuma · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku | |||
| Season 3 | Blanka · Cody · Falke · G · Sagat · Sakura | |||
| Season 4 | E. Honda · Gill · Kage · Lucia · Poison · Seth | |||
| Season 5 | Akira · Dan · Eleven · Luke · Oro · Rose | |||
| CPU Only | AS · Aprile · Decapre · Enero · Février · Juli · März · Peter Phantom Bison · Santamu · Satsuki · Shadow · Shadow Lady · Two P | |||