Capcom Vs SNK!
Intro[]
Wiz: Ryu, Street Fighter's Wandering Warrior.
Boomstick: Terry Bogard, Fatal Fury's Hungry Wolf.
Wiz: These two iconic mascocts are battle-hardened champions, and can always be counted on to bring a good fight whenever they step into the ring.
Boomstick: But the quest for self-improvement will stop for one of them today. He's Wiz, and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armour, and skills, in order to find out who would win... a Death Battle!
Ryu[]
Wiz: Many years ago, the martial arts master Goutetsu trained his students Gouken and Akuma in the way of his signature fighting style, Ansatsuken. Meaning “Assassin’s Fist”, Ansatsuken was a method of tapping into one’s own evil nature to deliver killing blows, a fighting art born by the act of murder. Goutetsu tried to teach the brothers restraint, intending for them to only ever use these dark urges sparingly, but ultimately, neither listened.
Boomstick: Yeah, while Akuma relished the Dark Side of the Fist and was full into the murder thing, Gouken wanted nothing to do with the violence, so he just bailed. But since the martial art itself was still pretty cool, Gouken opened up his own dojo and began to teach his own, dialed down, PG-13 version of it. No murder, just Zen.
Wiz: And one of Gouken’s greatest students would be his own adopted son: Ryu.
Ryu: Talk is cheap. The answer lies in the heart of battle.
Wiz: Ryu became a prodigy fighter, mastering Gouken’s “Gentle Fist” style, and even incorporating elements of Karate and Muay Thai into his retinue. Spurred on by a rivalry with fellow student Ken Masters, he quickly developed the goal of becoming the greatest fighter in the world.
Boomstick: Since he was just an isolated orphan trained in martial arts from day one, Ryu’s all about a good tussle. Seriously, there is NOTHING else on this dude’s mind. Everything he does has to be about getting stronger, finding inner peace, or protecting the innocent. Even when he became an adult and was granted his freedom to leave the dojo, he set out on his own World Tour for the SOLE purpose of beating the crap out of other martial artists.
Wiz: Ok, so curb-stomping an entire Muay Thai league just to draw out its champion wasn’t the most humble of career starts. But when he fought the seven-foot-four Sagat and got beaten to an inch of his life, Ryu suddenly relapsed into the Satsui no Hado, the dark killing intent of Ansatsuken. The resulting power surge allowed him to deal a devastating victory blow against his opponent, but the realizing the potency of the darkness in him certainly shell-shocked him afterwards.
Boomstick: Especially after he got back home and found that Akuma had mastered this evil, and had killed both Goutetsu and Gouken. Sensing the potential in his rookie nephew, Akuma taunted Ryu into becoming stronger to avenge his master, baiting him to embrace into the Satsui no Hado for its power.
Wiz: Desperate to avoid sinking so low, Ryu became known as the “Wandering Warrior”, traversing the globe and seeking out that perfect balance, where he could be both mighty, but not evil. He would learn from many fellow warriors, and made friends, rivals, and enemies on his travels.
Boomstick: Now for some random hobo without a last name, he actually turned into quite a big deal in the martial artist world. He even has his own superfans who have tried to mimic his flashy moves! There’s the classic Shoryuken, a twisting uppercut that launches opponents into the air, and the spinning whirlwind kick Tatsumaki Senpokookoo.
Wiz: Senpukyaku. You were half-right that time though.
Boomstick: Yeah I watched One Punch Man.
Wiz: Ryu’s fighting style is steady and powerful, and is primarily focused on a straightforward approach to put the opponent down fast. You know, because murder. And while not known for his combat speed, he can reflexively dodge bullets, and possesses some parrying techniques intended to take an opponent’s attack and push them away, making him difficult to overwhelm. He is also able to utilize his chi, or life energy, into his strikes, ramping them up for more power.
Cutaway to Wiz and Boomstick
Boomstick: Or to throw out the most iconic fighting game move out there. Hadoken!
(Boomstick actually manages to launch a Hadoken off to the side.)
Wiz: This technique launches Ryu’s chi like a fireball, allowing him to fight back against opponents who would rather not take him on in close quarters. He’s also developed several variations, like one made of actual fire.
(Wiz launches a fireball Hadoken)
Boomstick: Or a rapid-fire!
(Boomstick launches five mini, fast Hadokens)
Wiz: Or an explosive one.
(Wiz launches a Hadoken which bursts apart like a firework. This one actually damages some lab equipment, but Wiz doesn’t notice.)
Boomstick: Or a lightning one!
(Boomstick launches a thunder-infused Hadoken, also blasting something off-screen)
Wiz: Or, he can charge it for increased power.
(Wiz begins to charge a Hadoken between his palms, which grows bigger and bigger)
Boomstick: Or, the ultimate Shinko Hadoken, which is basically a giant laser beam!
(Boomstick launches this version just as Wiz launches his, and they both connect unintentionally, creating a large explosion that reduces them to coughing and sputtering behind the smoke.)
Boomstick: You know… maybe it’s a good thing we’re not covering Mortal Kombat this time.
(End cutaway)
Wiz: Well, these famous moves would mean nothing without the power to back them up. He wiped the floor with Alex, a grappler with a style based entirely around counters and punishing straightforward attacks. The Shoryuken alone is able to counter an aerial bodyslam from Hugo, a German giant who weighs over 200 kilos. Amidst fighters who can kill elephants, shatter stone walls, and lift semi trucks, Ryu has always been well beyond the cream of the crop.
Boomstick: Enough to earn the attention of some final bosses! Ryu once claimed victory in the prestigious World Warrior Tournament, which turned out to actually a front by the terrorist organization Shadaloo. So, he joined the fight to take down its dickbag leader, Master Bison. Bison, who was looking for a powerful new body to host his freaky soul, also took an interest in Ryu’s Satsui no Hado, and he demonstrated it by stealing it and using its power to annihilate an entire city! We’re way beyond busting up cars now!
Wiz: Judging by the curvature of the Earth, we can estimate Bison’s satellite to have an altitude of about 3800 kilometers. We know his Shadaloo hideout was located on a coastline in the Gulf of Thailand, and the power blast rebounds off the satellite at an angle of 50 degrees. So, the target city would have been almost 3300 kilometers away; it would likely be a major capital fitting for a terrorist strike, so possible candidates include Delhi, Mumbai, or Beijing, the latter of which seems most likely due to the architecture and the surrounding treeline.
Boomstick: Does it really matter specifying what city exactly? The entire place was fucking NUKED! And Ryu has this within his god damn fists!
Wiz: Akuma, who has mastered the Satsui no Hado, was even powerful enough to destroy an entire island with a single strike, and he was confident that Ryu could reach the same level with enough motivation. Which demonstrates the immense difficulty Ryu had keeping the Satsui no Hado’s strength under control; should he ever tap into it, Ryu becomes violent, relentless, and devastating, sacrificing his humanity and becoming deadly to anyone he fights.
Boomstick: This is that good shit that Akuma was on about. He’d been keeping tabs on Ryu for years, constantly pressuring him to cave in by showing him that he’d never be strong enough to avenge Gouken without it. Ryu almost succumbed to becoming Evil Ryu, stupid name, until he finally mastered a counter technique: the Power of Nothingness.
Wiz: The Power of Nothingness, or Mu no Ken, clears Ryu’s mind and soul. It isn’t so much a surge of good flowing throughout his body, but rather, a complete detachment of all emotion and desire, including the will to do evil. Still, it can only be achieved by those with a compassionate disposition; Ryu’s life spent in poverty and humility actually turned out to be quite the asset.
Boomstick: And his reward for shutting away his sinister urges was, guess what, a comparable increase in power, without becoming a mindless monster!
Wiz: Perhaps even more than just “comparable”. In his fight against the ancient superbeing Necalli, Ryu went from being on the back foot, to being able to one-shot him with the power of Mu No Ken. This is an important development because Necalli had expected, and was even foretold, to match evenly with Ryu’s Satsui no Hado.
Boomstick: Plus, it had the added benefits of making Ryu resistant to attacks, both physical, and psychic based. Usage of the Mu no Ken can even protect the user from getting their entire soul destroyed, which is how Master Gouken managed to actually survive Akuma’s assault. Minor plot detail. It's a darn shame he can't just use this power all the time, because the strength behind it would probably just make him a murderer again, just by accident.
Wiz: Ryu has indeed become one of the mightiest warriors in the world. But he has had his share of losses to others in his league, especially if he holds himself back from his full potential. Should he fight too hard, he becomes berserk. But should he be too merciful, he becomes soft.
Boomstick: He’s also a bit of a recluse loner, thanks to his life on the road. You’d think he’d use some fight winnings to cash into a hotel now and then. But still, somehow, he can always be reached, and counted on to join the good fight.
Wiz: So whether you’re a punk in an alley, a bigshot fighter on their way to a belt, or a malevolent dictator seeking world control, make sure you double check who your opponent is before accepting an invitation to a Street Fight.
Boomstick: You might just find yourself facing off against the icon of all fighting games.
Ken: Now why don’t you show me the answer. The one you’ve been long searching for!
Ryu grunts with approval, and assumes his fighting stance for a friendly match against his rival.
Terry[]
Wiz: Many years ago, the martial arts master Tung Fu Rue trained his students Jeff Bogard and Geese Howard in the way of his signature fighting style, Hakkyokuseiken. Meaning “Eight Extremes Holy Fist”, Hakkyokuseiken was a method of tapping into one’s connection to the universe, a fighting art born by the flow of energy. Tung tried to teach…
Boomstick: Yeah, fuck off with the copy-paste, I’m skipping to the good part. Geese was a dick, and tried to forcefully take his master’s secret scrolls for himself after learning they were promised to Jeff. Since Geese had become the kingpin of the local mafia, probably the reason he was denied the scrolls in the first place, he also hired some hitmen to take Jeff out, even delivering the final blow himself. Can I get a Jeff in the chat, boys?
Wiz: This assassination just so happened to occur right in front of the horrified eyes of Jeff Bogard’s adopted children: Andy, and Terry. Swearing vengeance, the Bogard Brothers began to dedicate their entire lives to becoming stronger so that they may one day challenge Geese. And Terry passed this goal with flying colours.
Boomstick: Turns out, Jeff had already begun teaching the two bros some martial arts basics. But they needed to figure out the rest of their paths themselves, and while Andy left to become a weeb in Japan, Terry stayed behind in good ol’ U S of A to learn the ancient art of street fighting. Hey, he wasn’t looking for glory or anything like that. He just had a goose he needed to cook.
Wiz: Already accustomed to a hard-knock life on the streets, Terry certainly had a natural leaning for toughness, and even managed to test out several styles he observed for himself, keeping whatever moves stuck with him best. He has slugging blows developed from boxing, quick strikes derived from kickboxing, and wide-reaching attacks based off of kung fu. And despite his bulk, he’s surprisingly athletic. He might catch opponents off guard with his front-flip kick the Crack Shoot, or with his ascending tornado kick the Rising Tackle.
Boomstick: But a little bit of everything from the fighting buffet wasn’t quite enough. To be truly ready to fight Howard, he sought out his dead foster dad’s master, hoping to learn some holy hackey sack skills himself. Tung had originally given up taking on new apprentices after what happened the last time, but he decided to take Terry as one last pupil, because of course he did.
Wiz: Here, Terry learned and mastered the true potential of Hakkyokuseiken, being able to draw chi power from Gaia, or the earth around him. By incorporating this chi into his body, he can increase the power of his moves, turning a simple running punch into the flashy Burn Knuckle.
Boomstick: He can even punch the ground so hard, he creates a Power Wave of energy that launches along the ground to his opponent. And if he wants to turn it up to eleven, he can coat his limbs with burning chi to deliver the explosive Power Geyser or the Buster Wolf. And if you think separating him from the earth is going to do you any favours as if he was Antaeus, look out, because he might just shoot down from the sky and you’ll get Power Dunked on.
Wiz: It’s pretty clear that Terry’s style is to charge through for a no-holds barred beatdown. He has several flips and slides, or can simply tank opposing blows for the opportunity to get in close. Maybe not quite the zen approach master Tung had in mind, but it certainly proved effective when he finally decided it was time to avenge Jeff. When Geese organized the next King of Fighters tournament to draw out the best martial artists from around the world, Terry plain and simple cleaned house.
Boomstick: That included defeating the reigning multi-title champion, Billy Kane. Wait, shouldn’t it be pronounced “Cane” because of the large stick? God, maybe the Howard Connection only employs people with stupid names.
Wiz: Billy is fast enough to catch bullets barehanded, and can swing his staff quick enough to ignite it through friction, but he was still nothing compared to his boss, who Terry earned the right to take on. Bogard and Howard went all out against each other at the top of Geese’ penthouse, in a fight so furious they were compared to starving wolves. When all was said and done, Terry emerged victorious, and Geese fell from grace… literally.
Boomstick: And after a couple sequels and a couple more Geese drops, this is where Terry’s story ended. Just kidding! New timeline, bitches!
(Cutaway to Wiz and Boomstick, Wiz is displaying a screen showing the different SNK series pre-1994. Each individual series is accompanied by a chibi version of Terry Bogard, Ryo Sakazaki, Athena Asamiya, and Ralf Jones.)
Wiz: Now, for anyone unfamiliar, SNK had several fighting video game properties that they were pumping out to try and compete with, well, you know who. Terry’s story of course comes from the Fatal Fury series, but there were others such as Art of Fighting, Psycho Soldier, Ikari Warriors, yada yada. Well, to make things a bit simpler, they decided to merge all of these continuities together to create a brand new shared universe, under the title “King of Fighters”.
(Wiz squishes his hands, and the logos all bundle together before changing to the King of Fighters logo. Chibi Terry, Ryo, Athena and Ralf all begin to do the can-can dance together, accompanied by chibi Kyo Kusanagi.)
Boomstick: Now this doesn’t actually change any of Terry’s backstory, except for giving Geese yet another chance to not actually be dead. But what it DOES do is let Fatal Fury in on the context of every other series, including how powerful they are.
Wiz: That’s right, Boomstick. Heidern, who is basically SNK’s equivalent of Nick Fury, even did research into this emerging multiverse, and concluded that the differing realities were the result of crossroads and individual choices. So rather than there being a separate universe of Fatal Fury Terry and King of Fighters Terry, they truly are one and the same character, just in different branches of a singular timeline.
Boomstick: So Terry gets to scale to some crazy shit.
Wiz: Absolutely.
(End cutaway)
Boomstick: Well, we already knew that Terry’s fights were capable of destroying buildings and whatnot. But how powerful are we sure he can be? Because I’m looking at the records here, and despite entering literally all of them, Terry has yet to actually win a King of Fighters tournament in the merged series. So, what if he’s just a forgotten mascot with nothing more to offer?
Wiz: Results aren’t everything, and don’t always paint a clear picture. For starters, the new KOF tournaments are best-of-three team battles, so it’s entirely possible that Terry’s allies Andy and Joe are simply letting him down. After all, they don’t have nearly the resume Terry does, and something similar happened to fellow SNK all-star Ryo Sakazaki, where his team was eliminated despite winning his own match rather easily.
Boomstick: Why does that guy Ryo look so familiar…
Wiz: Even without just throwing Andy and Joe under the bus, Terry is an established rival to several other characters, like Kyo Kusanagi, known as a Sacred Treasure who defeated the hurricane-creating Goenetz, Ralf, who can blow up a tank in a single hit, or Shun’ei, who is a harbinger for the ancient combat deity Verse. Even if Terry’s personal time in the spotlight has gone, he’s still well up there in terms of power. We can even compare him to Takuma and Bao, both of whom have the power to divert a satellite laser cannon designed to wipe out Terry’s home of South Town.
Boomstick: Oh right, even after merging their series, they were still in the “let’s rip off Street Fighter” stage. Don’t worry, they got better eventually.
Wiz: Now I know the official map of South Town seems pretty small and unimpressive, but considering these two branches here are marked as freeways, it’s likely that this is just a simplified map of the major roadways in the area, and not every street and location. Since South Town is based of coastal Florida, and it’s a city big enough to have its own bay, zoo, international airport, and nearby national park, we can reasonably assume it to be a counterpart to a large Floridian city like Tampa.
Boomstick: Ooh, gimme the calculator, I wanna nuke Florida! Ok, assuming a diameter of 25 ks to get most of the Tampa core, we’ve got… 44 megatons of TNT! Take THAT, Florida!
Wiz: While Terry is tough beyond a doubt, he’s also known for his hotheaded streak, especially since he devoted a decade of his life to revenge. This is why he earned his title of “Legendary Hungry Wolf"; he will fight like his life depends on it, and indeed it used to, because if he couldn’t defeat Geese, he’d have nothing left.
Boomstick: Nothing except a loving brother, a hot girlfriend, a pet monkey, and a son! Yeah, after the fall of Geese, Terry finally mellowed out and began to enjoy the good things in life. He even adopted Geese’ estranged son Rock Howard, and began to teach him the ways of martial arts just like Jeff did before him. He would leave, upon this impressionable rock, a mark of the wolves.
Wiz: So whether you’re a criminal kingpin, a sacred shaman, or a diva billionaire, if you wish to host the King of Fighters tournament, be on the lookout for Terry Bogard, who will always arrive to stake his claim.
Geese: Let’s leave the past behind us. I’ll give you as much money and as many women as you want.
(Terry gets to his feet to continue their fight)
Terry: Sorry, but I was born to be poor. And this hatred towards you won’t disappear until I’ve killed you.
Interlude[]
Wiz: All right, the combatants are set, and we've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLE!!!
DEATH BATTLE[]
SHORYUKEN!!!
The shout accompanies a burning uppercut, delivered with all the might that could possibly be put into it. But it does not come from the famous white-garbed Wandering Warrior; rather, it comes from his red-clad rival, Ken Masters. Beaten down, his hair a mess, and sweating up a storm, he throws everything he has into the final attack and connects his fist into the chin of another blonde warrior: Andy Bogard. The Human Weapon, equally battered up by their prior battle, is lifted into the air by the force of the blow, and he finally falls on his bad with a loud thud just as Ken touches down. Although he musters a final effort to get up, his muscles fail him, and Andy is out cold on the arena floor, to the sheer delight of the crowd.
Announcer: AND HE’S DONE IT! IN A MATCH JUST AS EXCITING AS THE FIRST ONE, KEN MASTERS HAS EMERGED VICTORIOUS OVER ANDY BOGARD! NOW, TEAM STREET AND TEAM FURY ARE TIED AT ONE APIECE!
Ken pants heavily, and gives a weak thumbs-up to the crowd; a smaller boy in a yellow gi runs up to him to help walk him off the arena’s main floor, while opposite him, a lanky fighter with towering brown hair moves to pick up Andy. In the far background, the stadium jumbotron is depicting a replay of Joe Higashi defeating Sean Matsuda with a whirlwind of blows, though Ken’s Shoryuken on Andy gets replayed right after. When they approach the edge of the ring, Ken manages to stand for himself, and raises his hand up; it gets high-fived by his best friend and rival, Ryu.
Ken: Give ‘em a good one! They’ve earned it!
Ryu slowly strides to the center of the ring, while on the far side, the burly Terry Bogard has knelt down to waft his trucker hat in his brother’s face, rousing him.
Andy: Aw man… sorry, bro…
Terry: Don’t be sorry… now I get a chance to fight too!
Andy chuckles, and sarcastically mouths “avenge me” as Joe pulls him to a chair. Terry flips his hat back to his head and walks to the arena center to match Ryu, while the crowd roars in anticipation.
Announcer: AND HERE WE GO! THE WANDERING WARRIOR, RYU, VERSUS THE LEGENDARY HUNGRY WOLF, TERRY BOGARD! THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL, AND THEIR TEAM WILL TAKE THE KING OF FIGHTERS TOURNAMENT!!!
Several iconic faces are watching from the audience: Sakura, Chun-Li, Guile, Dan Hibiki, Zangeif and Rose from one side, and Blue Mary, Mai Shiranui, Rock Howard, Kim Kapwhan, Kyo Kusanagi, and Shun’ei on another. In a faraway tea room, watching on a small TV, Masters Gouken and Tung Fu Rue are both served steaming-hot drinks as they watch their students together. In his own private viewing box, the muscular Geese Howard stares down at the arena with a smirk, his ace Billy Kane leaning on his staff behind him. And on the arena roof, Master Bison is also present, smiling at the events while hidden away from everyone except Sagat, who stands imposingly behind him covered in shadow.
Terry punches his fists together and cracks his knuckles, while Ryu slowly spins his arm and cracks his shoulders. Then, both brawlers assume their fighting stances.
ANNOUNCER: READY! AND…
FIGHT!!![]
There’s a flash of red and white, and both Ryu and Terry rush forward, opening the match with straight punches that smash their fists together. Ryu quickly switches to open-handed strikes while Terry continues to pelt with closed fists, and they match blow for blow no matter how much weight they put into their attacks, neither giving ground. The first semblance of a paradigm shift comes when Ryu swings a chop at Bogard’s head, and the latter narrowly manages to sidestep it, gaining access to Ryu’s open body for a fraction of a second. Taking advantage, Terry’s arms seem to flare with a hungry aura as he charges through with a shout. Ultimately, Ryu manages to get his block up, but is forced on the defensive by a one-two-three shoulder bash, elbow, spinning shoulder charge from the Hungry Wolf. Pushed back on his feet, the Street Fighter takes a stand against Terry’s onslaught.
Ryu: Joudan!
Putting all his weight into one leg for balance, Ryu swings his other foot high into Terry’s shoulder; Bogard braces himself to avoid being blown over by the attack, resulting in the leg continuing to press against him.
Ryu: Tatsumaki!
Springing forward with the built-up pressure in his standing foot, Ryu launches into his signature whirlwind kick, accompanied by a gust of wind that builds around him. With his leg already against Terry, it becomes less of a strike and more of a push, forcing Terry into the air and launching him several feet away. As Bogard touches down on his feet and slides to a stop, Ryu completes his spinning, with his hands already tucked to his sides and glowing a brilliant blue.
Ryu: Hadouken!
The burning ball of chi is launched Terry’s way, but as Bogard rushes forward, he drops into a slide and effortlessly flows underneath it, continuing his way to Ryu and leaping back up with a high kick. Ryu quickly counters with his own, and Joudan Sokutogeri clashes ankles against the Fire Kick; the fighters pause in this pose as the shockwave ripples through the gathered audience, which roars with approval. It was a furious exchange of techniques in just over ten seconds, yet neither side has gained an advantage. Still pushing their ankles against each other, both champions stare each other down.
Terry: Not bad! But I have more!
Ryu: Show me.
Terry drops the struggle and spins around on his good foot to deliver a sudden backhand, which is parried by Ryu slapping his hand down. Still with his back to Ryu, Bogard launches another backhand for Ryu to parry, but it’s bait, and his true move comes from an elbow to the stomach, finally bypassing Ryu’s guard for the first proper hit of the match. In the moment of time his opponent is winded, Terry reaches over his back to grip Ryu by the gi, and throws him far over his shoulder.
Terry: Power Wave!
Clenching his fist, Terry smashes a punch into the ground, creating a fiery shockwave that travels along the arena floor to where Ryu is about to land. Thinking quickly, Ryu throws a quick Hadouken downwards, stalling his fall and extinguishing the Power Wave as it passes underneath him, avoiding the extra hit before he touches down. Terry is already rushing towards him, but a bit recklessly, maybe not having anticipated Ryu being on his feet. Bracing himself, the Wandering Warrior parries Terry’s strike by stomping down and studying his body, before he lashes out with a sudden thrust to Terry’s chest and sending him sliding backwards.
Terry: Burn Knuckle!
Terry’s sliding comes to a halt, and then rockets right back in Ryu’s direction as if propelled by the burning aura forming around his outstretched fist.
Ryu: Shoryuken!
Terry’s horizontal fist is met with a vertical counter from Ryu, and the force launches him into an unintentional backflip. The action is heating up; just as Terry touches down, Ryu is upon him with three quick punches to the midsection and a sudden high kick to the chin. Before Terry can fly upwards, Ryu’s ankle is hooked on his neck and he’s slammed down to the ground just as easily to get hit with three squatting low kicks. Finally, a ground-based Tatsumaki spins Ryu around on the arena floor, swiftly kicking Terry in the ribs and sending him rolling away, knocking his hat off into the air in the process. Terry rolls hard, but manages to plant a hand down to slow down his momentum and pull himself to his feet. Ryu, several meters away from him, simply bends down and scoops up the fallen trucker hat, and stares Terry in the eyes as he tosses it back towards him like a Frisbee; in a smooth motion, Terry catches it and dons it on his head. He exchanges a smile back to Ryu, who grunts in affirmation, and both sprint at each other once again. As they get closer, Ryu punches his fists together, and a surge of static energy seems to flow out from his arms through his body.
Ryu: Raiko Hadouken!
Hoping to stall Terry’s advance, Ryu throws forward another blast of chi, this one crackling with the same electricity coursing through the street fighter’s body.
Terry: Crack Shoot!
With a brazen front flip, Terry flies right over the attack, turning his leap into a midair attack as he slams his leg down in an axe kick towards Ryu’s head. Ryu raises both his arms to block, though the impact still causes the ground to shake underneath him as his knees buckle. Bogard backflips off of him to land on his feet, and punches one of his fists into the opposite palm; his body seems to glow blue from the ground up, and his fists begin to smolder the same way Ryu’s have been sparking.
The following volley of fists is nothing less than furious. Embracing the heat of the battle, Terry and Ryu throw punch after punch after punch, with orange and blue shockwaves escaping out of the center along with pulses of fire and lightning. In a panning view from behind Terry, Ryu is keeping his stoic face, staying calm and collected. Conversely, in a shot from behind Ryu, Terry is smirking from under his cap, determined not to back down. In the stands, Sakura pumps her fist into the air while Chun-Li hollers with approval; not too far off, Rock is clenching his fists while yelling out support for his father, next to Mary who has both her hands raised up high. Tung and Gouken smile softly as the flares from the TV colour their faces. The exchange goes on for a few more volleys before…
Terry: Power Charge!
A surge of speed from Bogard pushes his shoulder into Ryu’s body with a burning flare. With the Road Warrior now stumbling, he’s vulnerable to the ensuing combo from Terry, a series of medium-paced but hard-hitting boxing blows with the arms tucked into the body. The jabs are then swapped for a left and right hook, an elbow which leads to a backhand as Bogard spins around, and then another spin for a series of three midair kicks. When the Wolf lands from these strikes, he plants his fist to Ryu’s midsection, and a burning flare goes off with the force of a punch, knocking Ryu into a backwards roll. Landing on his feet several meters away, Ryu quickly grits his teeth and puts his hands to his side to charge another outflow of chi; upon witnessing this, Terry takes off into a run, not towards his opponent, but to the side. Ryu’s Hadouken is much smaller, but split up, and he rapid-fires five miniature blasts Terry’s way, only for Bogard to keep in front of them whilst strafing around him. A home-run slide gets Terry underneath the last shot, and he slams his fist into the ground for a Power Wave as he does so, sending his own energy surge Ryu’s way. Seeing it coming, Ryu leaps into the air…
Terry: Burn Knuckle!
And Terry rockets towards him into the air, planting a burning punch into Ryu’s chest. It’s a heavy blow, but in the moment it happens, Ryu grips Terry by the shoulders and plants his foot into his lower abdomen. The force from Terry’s blow pushes Ryu’s body around in the air, and the momentum is converted into a backwards throw from Ryu where he shoves Bogard’s body overhead. Both fighters hit the ground hard, but pull themselves up quickly before running at each other again.
Announcer: They’re STILL going!
Terry weaves sideways to avoid Ryu’s karate chop, and elbows him in the face, only for his second strike to get no-sold by Gouken’s student bracing his legs and studying himself. Ryu then chops Terry in the neck to knock him off, and whirls around for a high kick to the face, which Terry leaps over with a flip reminiscent of his Crack Shoot. Two strong strikes hit Terry’s shoulders, Bogard retaliates with a close-range Burn Knuckle, and Ryu leaps right back in with two roundhouse kicks to match Terry’s own. When they land, Ryu throws a left, right, and left punch; the first two manage to strike true, but the third is blocked by Bogard bracing his shoulder against the blow, and pushing himself off. The misstep in Ryu’s timing causes him to entirely miss his next move, a Shoryuken, and he uppercuts so hard he rises a few feet into the air, dangling above Terry who backflip kicks him even higher. Ryu in the air, and Terry on the ground, both growl with anticipation as they begin to spin; the Wandering Warrior executes a mid-air Tatsumaki as he descends down to the ground just as Terry leaps upside-down into the skies, his spinning leg held out for a Rising Tackle. Like spinning Beyblades, both kicking techniques clash into each other in the middle of the air, even setting off sparks as they grind against each other.
The blurry action makes it difficult to make out, but it’s finished when Terry’s heel breaks through and strikes Ryu in the chin in a brief slow-motion shot. The Wanderer goes flying several meters back and lands on his back with a thud, while Terry lands on his feet, gripping the rim of his hat.
Terry: Hey, c’mon c’mon!
Ryu, now panting heavily, does stand up as per Bogard’s request. His body gains a bluish aura around it as he extends his hands out, charging another Hadouken with visibly more effort put into it than any of his attacks before.
Ryu: Shinku…
Terry, spotting that something different is up with this one, wipes his head and assumes his battle pose just before Ryu thrusts his arms out.
Ryu: HADOUKEN!!!
The surge of blue light is intense enough to light up the entire arena, for it isn’t a mere ball of energy that Ryu fires Terry’s way, it’s a blast of chi spread out into a wide beam blast. Its pure-white center casts Terry’s shadow onto the ground behind him as it approaches, but the bath of blue and white is interrupted by a spark of red that goes off on Bogard’s fist.
Terry: Power… GEYSER!!!
Slamming his fist into the ground just before the Hadouken meets him, Terry seems to create a small volcanic eruption in front of him; a plume of fire bursts out of the ground, intercepting the Hadouken just before it reaches him. In fact, multiple geysers continue to blast out of the floor one after the other, moving in a straight line away from Terry towards Ryu, and the towering columns of orange split the white Hadouken apart, spreading it out into two destructive beams that splay to either side of Terry. They burst into the arena walls and create minor explosions at just as the Wandering Warrior becomes bathed in an advancing wall of orange light. Then, the last geyser erupts form underneath him. In a cry of pain, Ryu disappears into the burning orange column a few moments before it detonates, sending up a plume of smoke and several pieces of the arena floor into the air.
When the smoke clears, and the last of the tiles has clattered to the ground, Ryu’s body is downed, with only one of his arms visible stretching out from underneath the charred pile of rubble he’s been buried in. It gives a twitch, clenching as best as it can, trying to muster any strength left inside it.
In a cutaway, the expressions and reactions of six of the onlookers are depicted:
Chun-li: Oh no!
Rock: Oh shit!
Guile: Oh man…
Mary: Oh snap!
Bison: Oh ho?
Geese: Oh, please.
Announcer: This could be it! With an explosive finish, the Power Geyser, Terry Bogard may have just won the match! Ryu has six more seconds to get up! Five! Four!
As the announcer counts down, Andy and Joe leap up from their chairs and hoot their fists into the air on the sidelines. Terry, breathing heavily, simply crosses his arms and watches Ryu’s hand continue to twitch with the faintest hint of a battle still left in it.
Announcer: Three! Two!
With one second left, Terry narrows his gaze, seeing a red steam emerging from within the rubble.
Announcer: One…
And before the match can be declared in Team Fury’s favour, a massive plume of energy erupts from the pile of refuse, blowing it all away. A tower of purple chi rises into the air, darkening the sky and radiating the force of a strong wind that even pushes its way into the audience. Terry, gritting his teeth and shielding his eyes from the gale, witnesses Ryu standing back up; the overshadowed visage around his body has tinted his skin dark and his gi black, and his eyes are pulsing with a burning red glow. It doesn’t seem like the same Ryu he was just fighting; his stance is battle-hardened, and his expression is one of pure anger and bloodlust; his chest heaves in and out as he seethes, generating steam from the heat the power in his body is radiating. Back on the sidelines behind him, while Sean watches dumbfounded, Ken Masters’ eyes open wide in a panic, and he turns to shout to the crowd behind him.
Ken: We gotta get out of here, NOW!
Ryu: HADOUKEN!
The blast of chi is purple in colour, and much larger than his standard attack, bathing its surroundings in a violet glow as he launches it Terry’s way. Bogard simply shits his body to the side, and the attack flies right past him; he doesn’t flinch, and doesn’t even watch it as it hits the far wall and violently explodes, instead staring down Evil Ryu with a serious expression. Behind him, taking Ken’s warning seriously, the crowds begin to panic and stampede out of the arena, while a towering lighting rig buckles due to the stray damage it received from the explosive Hadouken. Both Geese and Bison, as well as their underlings, instead stay behind to watch the proceedings, each showing off their teeth in malicious grins of interest. Gouken and Tung, meanwhile, frantically run to their TV as its display is reduced to static.
Terry: Power Wave!
Terry slams the floor and once again conjures a shockwave to shoot out towards his opponent, only for Ryu to leap over it with a Tatsumaki so quick that the whirlwind that it generates snuffs out the wave like a candle flame. The last round of Ryu’s spinning contains a kick to Terry’s shoulder, and though he stands his ground to block it, an audible grunt comes out of his mouth. With an intense shoulder charge, he pushes Ryu off of him, and the two throw another volley of fists. It’s no longer an exchange of skills, both seem to be fighting for their lives with the ferocity of the blows creating echoes in the almost-empty stadium. After five matched attacks, Ryu lifts one leg high and slams his heel to the ground, barely missing Terry with the violent uncontrolled outburst. Bogard responds in kind by flaring his body up in a blue aura, and launching a punch, a knee, a spinning backhand, and a jumping knee all into Ryu’s ribs. Immediately after his jump, he descends with a punch to Ryu’s head to knock him flat down to the earth, and while the Street Fighter bounces off the ground, the Hungry Wolf clutches both hands together and smashes the ground beneath him, conjuring one more blast of a Power Geyer into his opponent’s body. As the flame spire lifts Evil Ryu’s body up, Terry flexes his arm to its maximum tension, and the star pattern on the back of his jacket seems to glow as he delivers a powerful uppercut into his enemy’s body.
Ryu soars far through the air, entirely across the arena, though he reorients himself mid flight and presses his feet against the opposite wall instead of crashing through it. Leaping off, he shoots back to Terry, stunning him with his speed and plowing his foot into his face to knock him down and bounce him up. After winding him with a sucker punch to the gut, Ryu properly executes the axe kick to drive Terry’s face to the floor, only to scrape him back up by turning it into a roundhouse kick right after. With a sky-high leap, Ryu then disappears from view, only to rocket down and slam back into Bogard with the force of a meteor, shaking the arena to its core. Following this blow up with three more punches, Ryu clenches his fist and uppercuts it into Terry’s jaw, staring him close in the eyes as the blow connects.
Ryu: CHALLENGE ME!!!
The explosive Shoryuken sends Terry flying up into the light tower rig, which shakes as he crashes inside it and bangs off of several of its steel beams. The metal creaks and groans as it begins to lose its structural integrity, but Terry manages to catch himself on one of the bars and flip himself into standing up. He looks down to see Ryu pursuing him like a demon, leaping up and bounding off of more beams; Terry meets him mid-jump by advancing with a Burn Knuckle to match Ryu’s chi-imbued strike. There’s not a lot of ground here for standing still; Ryu and Terry continue to fight while jumping up the beams to the top of the rig, clashing with arm swipes and kicks whenever they fly by each other. The hits that the tower takes cause it to shake more and more as they ascend, and when they’ve reached the spotlights at twenty meters in the air, a wrenching snap goes off below as it loses one of its legs. Still, they pay attention only to the warrior contesting them; Terry leaps over the search light with a crack shoot that knocks Ryu down one story’s worth of beams as the tower slowly tips over, but the Demi Oni pushes right back up with two midair kicks that smash Terry upwards, even higher than the tower.
For a brief moment, Ryu stares up at Terry with the Kanji for DEATH burning on his back, while Terry’s jacket shines with its blazing star. Then, Terry’s fist ignites, and he turns himself in the air to aim it properly.
Terry: POWER DUNK!
Shooting down, Terry smashes his fist into Ryu’s face. The impact completely knocks the rig off balance, and it begins to fall much faster, much to Terry’s benefit. As the surface they’re on becomes an angle, Bogard’s momentum carries him and Ryu down the metal tower, his burning arm continuing to scrape Ryu’s face into the steel as they do so until Ryu is finally dunked into the ground with a burning finish. The metal begins to smoulder and smoke, and Ryu rolls out, heaving for breath like a starving beast; Terry leaps out after him, almost roaring as he shoots from out of the flames. Pinning his knees to Ryu’s ribs, he tackles the Street Fighter to the ground, and raises both of his arms up.
Terry: Power Wave! Power Wave! Power Wave! Power Wave!
With each hit, Terry punches down into the pinned Ryu, not only beating into him with the force of the blow, but also sending out his shockwaves from within Ryu’s body. This violent assault soon ends when Ryu roars and lurches up, head-butting Terry off him. Bogard stumbles back, and Ryu attacks with two powerful karate chops to the chest and neck. Desperate, Terry stands his ground and uses both hands to catch Ryu’s next chop, before pulling him in and kicking him back a few paces. As the Satsui no Hado pressures Ryu to run forward once again, Terry’s body flares up once again, and he outspeeds the Warrior with a punch to the abdomen. But not just any punch, one propelled forward by flames escaping from his elbows. His second fist likewise rockets in to replicate the effect of the first, and when the impact of the second blow subsides, he grips one wrist with the other hand while keeping them in close to Ryu’s body.
Terry: BUSTER WOLF!!!
An explosion escapes out of the Earth under Terry’s feet, and seems to briefly channel into his fists before detonating brightly. The radius eclipses both fighters and shakes the arena once again, though from out of the fireball, Ryu’s body goes flying across the stadium and smashes into the wall on the other side. No rebounding this time, he crashes right through it and disappears into it.
Terry, still pointing his arms forward, takes deep heavy breathes, and tries to ignore the sweat pouring down his face. The breathing becomes deeper, and his eyes blink a few times, desperate to fight off the exhaustion setting in. From his own, now-blurry point of view, he keeps an eye on the arena wreckage that Ryu disappeared into… and blinks… there’s a pair of red eyes staring at him from the black. He blinks… and Ryu is walking out of the hole, on the outskirts of the arena… he blinks again… Ryu has made a few more paces, and is now walking up onto the arena’s edge… Terry tries to avoid closing his eyes one more time, but his eyelids can’t resist for long, and they blink again… Ryu is upon him with his fist raised and a war cry blaring out of his lungs.
The hit smashes into Terry’s chest, and the Hungry Wolf goes flying backwards into the wreckage of the fallen lighting rig. There’s the sound of a heavy impact, of wrenching metal, and a spurting noise, and though Terry’s momentum stops rather quickly, he spits out a mouthful of blood. Nervously, Bogard looks down, and sees a pool of red seeping into his white T-shirt, coming from the large metal rod piercing through his back and out his chest.
Ryu advances, amidst the crackling leftover flames from Terry’s attacks and the sparks from the severed lighting wires. As he marches forward to finish off his prey, he grits his teeth and flashes his red eyes once again, only to raise his eyebrows when he’s not presented with the crippled wolf he thought he had. Instead, Terry is pulling himself to his feet, not even bothering to remove the pole impaling him. Barely able to stand, and spitting out a few more drops of blood, Terry raises his hands, and adjusts his cap to its proper fit before weakly assuming his fighting pose once again. His limbs are shaking, and his breath is ragged, but the fighting spirit has never left him.
Terry: Hey… c’mon…
Ryu blinks. From his perspective, a badly wounded warrior is standing in front of him… he blinks again, and sees Terry in the same pose, but without any injuries, and a roaring stadium behind him instead of an abandoned disaster. Another blink, and injured Terry is back, but Ryu’s fist shakes. His jaw slightly drops, as his mind suddenly gets bombarded with flashbacks.
He’s matching identical moves with Ken under Gouken’s tutelage. He’s beating up an old car while Alex cheers him on. He’s delivering his Shoryuken to Hugo while Poison cheers the latter on in the background. He’s on the ground, with Sagat offering him a hand to his feet. He’s demonstrating his Hadouken in front of Sakura, who copies the move perfectly. And Ken is there again, offering him his red headband.
Ryu closes his eyes.
Ryu: The answer lies… in the heart of battle.
When he opens them, his eyes are no longer red. They’re glowing white. The darkness surrounding his body has dissipated, replaced by a heavenly glow that restores his gi to its white colour. Even the clouds above seem to part, no longer needing to support the presence of the dark Satsui no Hado. Ryu, Wandering Warrior and legendary Street Fighter, stands calm and composed in the middle of the ruined battlefield, even casting his glow upon Terry, who smirks.
And then falls over backwards, no longer able to stand up.
Landing on a pile of steel beams, and with the one in his chest taking a jolt from the fall, Terry strains his neck to look up at Ryu one last time.
Terry: … Are… you ok?
Ryu looks down at him, and gently nods. With this affirmation, Terry Bogard smiles, and this smile stays with him as his eyes roll back into his head and he slumps down against the rubble.
High above, Geese Howard simply chuckles and turns to leave his box, while even further up, Master Bison snaps his fingers and disappears in a flash. Ryu stands alone in the King of Fighters stadium, a bright white light in the middle of the destruction.
Conclusion[]
K.O!!!
Boomstick: Terry of all people should know that too much fury can be fatal!
Wiz: This was a very close match. I know we say that a lot, but yes, this one was a close match! The reps of Street Fighter and K.O.F. were practically evenly matched in every category, except for one critical one.
Boomstick: Game sales?
Wiz: Uh, no.
Boomstick: Well, let’s talk about experience. Ryu and Terry have been trained since they were little orphan boys, and were even mentored under legendary masters. Both had a rivalry and intense dedication to keep them going, and have entered and even won some of the most prestigious tournaments around. And they’re still at it! You might think that all the pool parties, an angsty adopted kid and Blue Mary’s reds would have thrown Terry off his game by this point, but he’s shown no signs of slowing down and going soft, like what happened with Ryo Sakazaki’s teammates.
Wiz: In terms of fighting style, both were evenly matched as well. Both primarily used explosive short-ranged strikes, and supplemented them with moves from other martial arts. Ryu has fought opponents like Lee, who use Bajiquan, the fighting style Hakkyokuseiken is derived from, and has experience with slugging boxers and acrobatic jumpers as well. Terry has fought… well, he’s fought Ryo Sakazaki.
Boomstick: Hah!
Wiz: But seriously, karate users and chi throwers run rampant where he’s from. And while Terry’s acrobatics and moves could easily let him avoid any Hadouken spam to get in close, Ryu generally does not employ such keepaway strategies, and would have been looking for a close-quarters fight to begin with.
Boomstick: How about speed? Well, both can treat bullets like they’re nothing, that’s for sure. Their fighting styles don’t rely on speed so much as power and sturdiness, but we could also compare them to the speed of the satellite blasts, one of which was derived form Ryu’s Satsui no Hado, and the other that was intercepted by characters in Terry’s league. Pretty much the same!
Wiz: The deciding factor, and nail in Terry’s coffin was… power.
Boomstick: There’s no simple way to dance around it, you can see for yourself from the satellite blasts they apply to. Compared to the Zero Cannon, which leveled its city, Bison’s Shadaloo Cannon completely ANNIHILATED its target, to the point where the mushroom cloud was miles in the air. And remember, Terry’s scaling only to a mid-sized city in Florida, while Ryu is backed by the destruction of a major capital in one of the most populous nations on Earth!
Wiz: Beijing is over 36 times the area of Tampa, and the force behind such a blow would clock Ryu’s strength up into the GIGATONS. And remember, this is powered by his own Satsui no Hado; he’s likely even stronger than this due to mastering Mu no Ken and defeating Necalli, who was prophesized to match the Satsui no Hado.
Boomstick: There is a caveat, however. This power is Ryu’s, but only when he gets into that super emotional state. If he stayed in base form, Terry had the power to beat him. Unfortunately, in Death Battle, we seek combatants at their highest potential, and remove any restraints on killing. So once that palette swap kicked in, Bogard was on the back foot. Akuma and Bison knew what they were doing when they kept tabs on this guy.
Wiz: Terry Bogard was a mighty martial artist who could have won against almost any other Street Fighter. His training, determination, and talent matched that of Ryu, and his fights against Geese showed he could hang in there against physically superior foes for a time. But the Wandering Warrior’s greatest potential proved too much.
Boomstick: He had his “BoGuard” up, but this fiery blonde faltered in the face of the Mu “No Ken”.
Wiz: Uh, that’s Terry.
Boomstick: But he looks like Ken. So, “No Ken”.
Wiz: Ugh, the winner is Ryu.
Rundown[]
Ryu:
- = Experience
- = Motivation
- = Speed
- = Hobo-ness
- + Strenth
Terry:
- = Experience
- = Motivation
- = Speed
- = Hobo-ness
- + Strength in base
- - Strength at greatest potential
Next Time[]
Boomstick: Next time on Death Battle!