F.A.N.G

F.A.N.G, known as the "Great F.A.N.G" or F.A.N.G-sama in Japanese, is a character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games. He makes his debut in Street Fighter V,^[1] and was the fourth and last of the base roster's newcomers.^[2] He also serves as one of the game's bosses. F.A.N.G is also the mentor of A.K.I. from Street Fighter 6.

Biography

Appearance

F.A.N.G is a very thin and tall man with a goatee who wears a loose, purple Chinese qipao with round Chinese sign at the front of his qipao, black Chinese capris and a matching Chinese toe shoes and red long socks. He also wears black shades and a large black hat with red linings.

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.^{[citation needed]} F.A.N.G's early design originally had him as a Shaolin Monk.^{[citation needed]}

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 from Mortal Kombat, Thin Man 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 appears to 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.

Personality

F.A.N.G is flamboyant, but elitist and condescending towards others, an example being his interaction with Birdie, who he considers foolish and a throwaway for rejecting to serve M. Bison in Shadaloo, and with Vega, whom he insists on putting back in his hierarchical place. F.A.N.G is obsessed with protocol and order, with this apparent meticulousness being intense enough to drive Birdie to defect 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.

F.A.N.G appears to be extremely loyal to M. Bison, insisting on being his second in command. He displays a fixation on the number "2" in general, 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 arcaic character 貳 but added an extra stroke at the top, and his smug threat that he'll finish his opponents in just two minutes. His metric height, 222 cm, also alludes to this. It should be noted that the character on his qipao can also be interpreted to mean "To betray", suggesting that F.A.N.G may not be as loyal to M. Bison as one would think, although it possibly just refers to his first interaction with Bison, which was a betrayal and assassination attempt.

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 for the side that kills rather than the side that dies, as he was raised to know only these two things.

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.

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 with one of his super moves in Street Fighter Alpha 3). 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, he launches the opponent into the air and damages them by flapping his sludge covered arms like a bird. Even after the move, his opponent remains in a poisoned state.

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.^[3]

F.A.N.G was added to TEPPEN with its "The Force Seekers" expansion.

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.^[4]
  • 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.^[4]
  • 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 obsession 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 a greater and regular extent compared to Gen). Both also will not hesitate to muse about death, though F.A.N.G will constantly fight against it, as opposed to Gen who welcomes its inevitability.

• 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, both using poisons in their arsenals.

• 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".^{[citation needed]}

• 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 verbal tic 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 in a future Street Fighter title. 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 am 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-styled 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.

• Hojo a character from Final Fantasy bears a strong resemblance to F.A.N.G in the former’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake design. They are also both known for their evil nature and experiments. Additionally, they both have the same Japanese voice actor (Shigeru Chiba, who voiced Hojo in the remake).

Gallery

References