| “ | I hate the art of fighting, but I wanna be the king of fighters! | „ |
| ~ Dan |
| “ | FAAAATHEEERR! | „ |
| ~ Dan's famous defeat quote. |
Dan Hibiki is a character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. He is consistently portrayed as an arrogant, overconfident, and utterly feeble character in many of the games he is featured in, and he is widely considered to be the comic relief of the series because of his over-the-top poses, battle cries, and overall weak moveset.
In essence, Dan is considered to be a joke character. In his most recent appearance in the home versions of Street Fighter IV, however, his moves have been slightly upgraded in order to be balanced with those of the other characters. He is an arrogant, overconfident, and utterly feeble self-taught martial artist who runs a failing dojo.
He is voiced in the Japanese version by Osamu Hosoi in all of his game appearances, with the only exceptions being the Street Fighter IV series and Street Fighter X Tekken, and in the English version by Ted Sroka, who has voiced him since Street Fighter IV.
His other voices include Kazuyuki Ishikawa in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, and Toshiyuki Kusada in the Japanese version of the Street Fighter IV series and Street Fighter X Tekken, and he was voiced by the late Bob Papenbrook in the English version of Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation.
Biography[]
Past[]
Dan's father was an unknown martial artist named Go Hibiki who challenged Sagat to a match. Go managed to deprive Sagat of his right eye, but was killed by Sagat in a fit of rage.
Motivated to avenge his father's death, Dan trained under Gouken (Ryu and Ken's mutual master) for a while, but was expelled from his dojo before completing his training when Gouken realized that Dan was motivated by his hatred for Sagat. Returning to Hong Kong, he decided to train himself and develop his own fighting style. After hearing that Sagat was defeated by a "strange Asian man" (Ryu), Dan traveled to Thailand and challenged Sagat to a duel.
After defeating Sagat (who supposedly threw the match on purpose out of pity for Dan), Dan decided to promote his fighting style under the name of Saikyo-ryu (the "Strongest style"), befriending Blanka and taking Sakura as his self-appointed student.
Present[]
In Street Fighter Alpha 3, Dan was traveling the world in order to promote Saikyo-ryu. He fought in the tournament and won a few battles. During this time period he also met Sakura, and tried to convince her to learn Saikyo-ryu instead of idolizing his former master's student, Ryu. Sakura went along with Dan but was only using him to get closer to Ryu.
In Street Fighter 4, Dan was enraged that he wasn't told about the second World Warrior Tournament. He asked his friend Blanka if the audience was bored to tears since a star like him wasn't there to provide real action. Blanka told Dan that he tried to contact him but Dan hadn't paid his phone bill and it was disconnected. Sakura, still looking for Ryu, asked Dan if he had heard from Ryu (since Dan has claimed that Ryu is an apprentice of his). To keep his image, Dan said that he knows Ken Masters is rumored to be entering the next tournament, which means Ryu will probably be there to. Dan entered the SF4 tournament to spread the popularity of his Saikyo style, but barely earned enough points to qualify as a last-minute entry. In an effort to capitalize on his association with great fighters, he broadcasted a commercial for his Saikyo-ryu dojo. After no one turned up, Sakura pointed out that the commercial didn't contain the dojo's address. Dan screamed and cried for a while after realizing his mistake.
Personality[]
Dan can be best described as being his own worst enemy. Dan refuses to back down from any fight, usually due to overconfidence, though this easily turns out to be arrogance or sheer stupidity. Although weak, Dan seems to still be somewhat intelligent and knowledgeable, possessing some knowledge of fighting styles; he acknowledges in Super Street Fighter IV that E. Honda uses moves that wouldn't actually be considered legal in Sumo (with the only other people noting are Rufus and Gouken). Several games (e.g. Street Fighter IV Volt and Street Fighter X Tekken) has Dan instruct the player basic gameplay and give tips on how to beat certain characters.
Despite his miserable record of losses, Dan still believes himself to be the superior fighter; his ego is so bloated that he even sometimes tries to steal credit for other people's actions. For instance, in Street Fighter IV, when being rescued by Ryu and Sakura from an engulfing explosion, Dan announces that it was his "awesome power" that saved everyone from perishing. Regardless, Dan strives to live up to his father's good name despite falling short of it.
Despite being portrayed as an arrogant and cocky man, Dan is ultimately good-natured and thoughtful; as an example, he says in his Super Street Fighter IV win quote against T. Hawk that he can relate to being homeless and "totally feels his pain" (despite T. Hawk not minding). Dan sees himself as a fatherly figure and mentor to his friend Sakura, constantly advising her on fighting techniques, though Sakura doesn't take his 'expertise' seriously, seeing him simply as a humorous and fun guy to be with. He also tends to lecture Blanka, his other friend, about "real manhood" and the Saikyo arts, much to Blanka's bemusement; both are close friends, strangely enough.
Other Media[]
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo[]
In Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Dan appears as a secret character.
Pocket Fighter[]
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Street Fighter X Tekken[]
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SNK Vs. Capcom[]
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Marvel Vs. Capcom[]
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Super Smash Bros.[]
Dan appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a novice-ranked primary neutral-type spirit. When equipped, it grants three slots for support spirits, but it starts each battle with the fighter at 30% damage. His spirit battle is a stamina battle against Ken who loves to taunt on the omega form of Suzaku castle with both fighters reduced jump powers.
Gallery[]
Images[]
.png "Dan Hibiki (SFA1).png (142 KB)")
.png "Dan Hibiki (SFA2).png (150 KB)")
.png "Dan Hibiki (SFA3).png (244 KB)")
.png "Dan Hibiki (MSHvSF).png (198 KB)")
.png "Dan Hibiki (MvC2 Hyper combo).png (246 KB)")
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- He is a blatant knock-off of Ryu because SNK's Ryo also is one; likewise, his ponytail is a parody of the one that SNK's Robert Garcia has.
- His version of Hadoken is an absurdly short-range one, to the point where it can easily disappear before he even finishes saying its name.
- While his versions of Hadoken and Shoryuken are blatant copies of Ryu's, his version of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku actually is a very unique one.
- Dan Hibiki fought Mr. Satan in the DEATH BATTLE and lost.
