The Galactic Tornado (銀河トルネード Ginga Toruneedo?, "Galaxy Tornado") is one of Rufus's special attacks, introduced along with him in Street Fighter IV. It has a much more powerful version that serves as his second Ultra Combo, and serves as the Super Charge for the move in Street Fighter X Tekken.
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Description
Rufus's standard 1 frame "Bread and Butter" combo ending with Galactic Tornado.
Executed by performing a quarter-circle forward motion and pressing punch, Rufus will spin like a top, going towards his opponent, while calling the attack's name. He will then finish off by throwing an elegant palm strike at the opponent's midsection at the end of the spin, knocking them down.
The horizontal distance and duration of the spin are determined by the punch button pressed: light punch version causes a very brief spin while medium and heavy punch versions allow Rufus to move toward his opponent while spinning by holding forward. The move has Armor Break properties as well.
The EX Special version is stationary but creates a "vacuum effect" which drags the opponent towards Rufus, no matter the horizontal distance; he also performs its final palm strike with a different pose that inflicts more damage ("This is gonna smart!").
Tactics
Street Fighter IV
The hard punch version is Rufus's standard combo ender. Commonly this is done as a punish starting with his standing hard punch, but depending on distance it can be followed up from crouching medium kick. Rufus's standard bread and butter 1 frame combo that involves linking standing light kick into close standard hard punch is usually ended with hard punch Galactic Tornado. While safe on block Rufus players should be careful of distance as characters with invincible reversals can cut off the Hard Punch canceled into Hard Galactic Tornado sequence with said attacks.
A character specific property with Zangief, Balrog, and Vega exist where if Rufus holds forward throughout the duration of the attack Rufus can Juggle into Space Opera Symphony at any point in the screen. Against any other character Rufus can only juggle in the corner.
The EX Version is used for special cancels from attacks that cause less hitstun such as Rufus's crouching jab. It has a Vaccum Hitbox that sucks in the opponent before Rufus sticks his arm out. It should be noted that this hitbox is treated as a projectile and can be nullified by attacks such as Yoga Catastrophe if Rufus is in mid combo against Dhalsim for example and the projectile is on screen. Potentially causing the hit part to miss. The vaccum causes it's own block and hitstun and isn't a "real" blockstring, meaning opponents with reversals can hit Rufus between the hits.
Street Fighter X Tekken
Unfortunately this attack took a massive nerf in terms of damage where the hard punch version does only 90 damage and the EX version does 80. For close hard punch hits it is more recommended Rufus cancels into light kick Messiah Kick and follow up with light kick, as it does more overall damage. For team comboes Rufus can simply use Launcher for partners that can do more damage. A positive is that on block the hard and medium version provide a safe Switch Cancel and the partner doesn't have to protect the -2 on block Rufus against most characters. On hit the partner gains a juggle that includes 1 more hit than the launcher (assuming the player tagged while Rufus was still hitting the opponent on the ground). In the corner Rufus can continue a combo with his Target Combo.
The EX Version in terms of hitboxes works nearly the same as the IV version with the same disadvantages and advantages. The biggest advantage is that it wallbounces the opponent, giving Rufus juggle opportunities. With appropriate execution and use of 1 meter Rufus can perform a combo of 450+ Damage and at 50% Damage Scaling for his partner to continue of off. A modern usage involves countering the more modern "Anti Lars Tech" style of play that punishes extended hurtboxes, a trait Rufus tends to suffer from. EX Galactic Tornado doesn't extend his hurtboxes and sucks in the counter attacking character.
Gallery
Screenshots
Videos
Street Fighter 4 Rufus - Galactic Tornado
A demonstration of the Galactic Tornado.