Dan Hibiki ( 火引 弾 , Hibiki Dan ? ) is a character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. Dan is consistently portrayed as an arrogant, overconfident, yet utterly weak character in many of the games in which he is featured.
Concept and creation
Shortly after the release of Street Fighter II , rival video game company SNK finished development on, and subsequently released, their own fighting game, Art of Fighting . The principal character of this series, Ryo Sakazaki, bore a resemblance in appearance and name to Ryu, as well as other aesthetic similarities to Ken, wearing an orange gi and sporting blonde hair.
In humorous retaliation, Street Fighter II co-designer Akiman drew an artwork of Sagat holding a defeated opponent by the head during the release of Street Fighter II' - Champion Edition . The defeated opponent wore an attire similar to Ryo's: an orange karate gi with a torn black shirt underneath and geta sandals; but had long dark hair tied to a ponytail like Robert Garcia, another character from the Art of Fighting series. This character design would become the basis of Dan, who was introduced as a secret character in Street Fighter Alpha until finally becoming a selectable character on the game's sequel, Street Fighter Alpha 2 . His fireball is telling: instead of using both hands to unleash his Gadōken , as Ryu and Ken do for the Hadōken , he propels it with one hand, like Ryo, Robert and Yuri do for the Kooh-ken (though Dan's Gadōken has pathetically short range and only gains better range when you use the super version of the move, the Shinkū Gadōken ). Dan can also taunt infinitely like the Art of Fighting games, unlike his fellow Street Fighter Alpha characters who can only taunt once per round in the Alpha series.
When developing Street Fighter IV , executive producer Yoshinori Ono emphasized Dan as a character he strongly wanted to have appear in the game, stating that while the character's personality and actions earned him the label of a joke character, he felt Dan was a very technical fighting game character that could be used well and bring something unique to the game. In a later interview, he emphasized his desire to have Dan in the game again, citing the then-unveiled inclusion of Sakura Kasugano in home versions as added incentive.
As a parody
In Street Fighter Alpha 2 , Dan is Ken's secret challenger (reached by finishing several fights in a row with super combos) and they exchange dialog, one line of which is Ken asking Dan if he knows the "art of fighting". This is a reference to the Art of Fighting series by SNK.
In Dan's ending in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter , Dan's sister appears to prevent him finishing off Cyber-Akuma saying "Don't you know who he is? He's our..." parodying the ending of the original Art of Fighting where Ryo was about to kill Mr. Karate before being told he is their father by Yuri (Dan's sister even looks like her). Also, Dan is the only character in the game to have a super taunt as one of his super combos.
One of Dan's win quotes in Street Fighter Alpha 3 is "I hate the art of fighting, but I wanna be the king of fighters!" This is a direct reference to the Art of Fighting and King of Fighters series by SNK.
Also Dan's fighting style, the Saikyō-ryū, is a parody of Kyokugen-ryū, the fighting style used by Ryo and Robert. To further the parody, Saikyō-ryū means "Strongest style" while Kyokugen-ryū means "Extreme style". Not only that, but he's a Japanese immigrant who came to Hong Kong to change his nationality for reasons unknown.
In the SNK vs. Capcom series (more specifically in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos ), there is a running gag where Dan is often mistaken for Ryo or Robert, even by himself in a mirror match (Kasumi Todoh is one example: even after Dan tells her he is not Robert, she still does not believe him). In these games, Dan parodies even more of Ryo's attacks. He also mistook Mr. Karate for his father's ghost (though, in his ending in Neo Geo Pocket's SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium , he seems to acknowledge that Takuma and Go are different people). In Ryo's ending for Capcom vs. SNK 2 , it is hinted that Dan came to the Sakazaki's Kyokugen-ryū Karate school to sign up. In Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix , Dan can call on the ghost of his father, whose face resembles the same tengu mask as Mr. Karate. This is mirrored in Capcom's official artwork for Street Fighter Alpha ; earlier works featured Dan's father as wearing a tengu mask, while later ones show that the long nose was indeed a feature of Go Hibiki. All other instances of Go Hibiki's face are obscured.
His status as a parody is further increased by Dan's new Ultra move in Super Street Fighter IV, where he focuses his Gadouken into a giantic orb and thrusts it out with his two arms, a motion resembling the Haoh Sho Kou Ken made popular by the Kyokugen-ryu masters in King of Fighters. When the fireball makes contact, the power of it sends Dan spiraling back to the other side of the screen.
Character design
Dan has a similar outfit to Ryu and Ken, wearing a traditional Karategi. Dan also wears a black undershirt like Ryo. His head and face closely resembles Robert from Art of Fighting , while his outfit is bright pink, reminiscent of Ryo's orange outfit in Art of Fighting .
Though his fighting stance is similar to Ken and Ryu's, it is more "loose" and animated. Many of his mannerisms directly mirror those of Yuri Sakazaki.In Street Fighter IV Dan's stance is more closely resembles Ryo Sakazaki's fighting stance, rather than Ryu and Ken's.
In Street Fighter IV , he can be seen with the kanji 最強流 (Saikyō-ryū) on his lapel. During some moves, the kanji 父 (father) or 弾 (bullet, pronounced 'Dan') appears on his back, similar to Akuma.
Appearances
In the Street Fighter series
Dan's father, Gou Hibiki, was a rival of Sagat. Gou gouged out Sagat's eye and Sagat beat him to death in retaliation. Because of this, Dan sought revenge on Sagat, training to become a fighter, but was expelled from Gouken's dojo when his motivations were learned. Dan thus developed his own fighting style called Saikyō-ryū , "The Strongest Style", despite the considerable lack of power in his techniques.
After the events of Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter Alpha 2 , Dan believed he had achieved his revenge by defeating Sagat (who had actually thrown the fight), and his motivation switched to promoting and expanding his Saikyo-style school, even to the point of offering exercise videos and correspondence courses. He has seemingly had some limited success promoting Saikyo-style.
In Alpha 3 , he was Sakura Kasugano's supposed sensei, who followed him around in order to meet Ryu. He's also good friends with Blanka too, since Blanka saved Dan during the events of Sakura Ganbaru! manga.
Dan also appears in Street Fighter IV , entering the tournament and just barely qualifying (as seen in Seth's intro movie) in an effort to make his Saikyo-style more popular. He mentions offhand he was not allowed in the last tournament, ( Street Fighter II ) although Blanka mentions he tried to call him about the tournament, only to find that Dan hadn't paid his phone bill. He also appears as Sakura's mentor and fights her as a rival in the penultimate fight of his Arcade mode. Dan is used as the dummy opponent for the Challenge Mode in the home versions.
In other games
In the parody game Pocket Fighter , Dan's story begins with himself looking to expand his Saikyo-ryuu school, and subsequently chooses Sakura as his student. Upon meeting Sakura, he offers to teach her his style, and she accepts after Dan defeats her in a fight. Sakura masters the entire Saikyo-ryuu style, and chooses to forget the entire style three days after mastering it, humiliating Dan.
His stance as a "weak" character is emphasized in the puzzle game Super Puzzle Fighter II , in which Dan is a hidden character who drops only red counter gems, making him extremely easy to beat.
References in other games
- Chairperson from the fighting game series Rival Schools learned to fight from a Saikyou-Ryuu correspondence course.
- Ran Hibiki from the same series, has been speculated to be Dan's younger sister, as Yuri Sakazaki is to Ryo, but it hasn't been confirmed. Although Dan mentions he has a sister in the NeoGeo Pocket Color title, SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium, while ironically discussing similarities between himself and Ryo.
- Sean from the Street Fighter III series, a student of Ken who has a very limited mastery of the fighting style, has the win quotes, "Don't call me Dan!" and "Rule #1: Never give up! Rule #2: Don't fight me! Rule #3: Don't be like Dan!"
- He appears in Blanka's ending in Street Fighter IV helping Samantha (Blanka's mother) search for him. Only his back is shown and the character identified by the game as a "passerby". However, the kanji for his name is written on the back of his gi.
Promotion and reception
IGN ranked Dan at number twelve in their "Top 25 Street Fighte
Haggar Seeks the Swing Vote in Khaki Spots - Los ...
The Ad: A hepcat from the 1930s wearing Haggar Black Label slacks makes a splash at a present ... for the name of its clothing line, Haggar says a consultant came up with Black Label ...
HAGGAR Black Label Big&Tall Dress Slacks 43x29 USED VG ...
We have the following Big & Tall Men's Clothing in stock: Haggar Dress Slacks, size ___ x ___. Dark Olive. The pants are pre-owned, but in VERY GOOD condition.
haggar® Black Label Classic-Fit Plain Front Twills ...
Epinions.com - Compare prices on haggar® Black Label Classic-Fit Plain Front Twills - Clothing. Compare prices from across the web and read product reviews on haggar® Black Label ...
Haggar : Sibley/Peteet Design Austin
Haggar Identity System Haggar Black Label Retail Merchandising Program Brochure ... partnered with SPD for other makeovers including its Haggar Apparel and Black Label ...
Black Label, Haggar Black, Dress Pants, 40 X
Price: MEN'S HAGGAR BLACK LABEL PLEATED DRESS PANTS - 44 x 29 $6.99: Men's Haggar Black Label Pleated Dress Pants W38 x L29 $8.99: New NWOT Mens Haggar Black Label BR Dress Pants 34 x 32
Mens Haggar Slacks 1 Black Pair 1 Brown Pair NWOT ...
Mens Haggar Slacks 1 Black Pair 1 Brown Pair NWOT $$$$$ Get Two Pairs For The Price Of One ... 1 pair 36 x 34 Haggar Black label (black) 1 Pair haggar 36 x 34 Authentic fit (brown)
Haggar Black Label Gabardine
Quality Values . Haggar Black Label Gabardine - Other Matches. Common Misspellings
Haggar Black Label Pants
Haggar Black Label Pants when a chick is just smoldering hot as fuck, just a complete knockout.
haggar® Black Label Classic-Fit Plain Front Twills ...
Read product reviews on haggar® Black Label Classic-Fit Plain Front Twills. Overall Rating: 4 stars from 1 consumer reviews at Epinions.com.
Coffee Haggar Clothing: Compare Prices, Reviews & Buy ...
Haggar Black Label Brown Dress Slacks -... Haggar Black Label Brown Dress Slacks - 52x32 - Material Polyester, Material Rayon, Pant Type Trousers and Slacks, Apparel...