| “ | Ibuki, on the scene! | „ |
| ~ Ibuki, Super Street Fighter IV |
Ibuki is a kunoichi, as well as a heroine in the Street Fighter series. Her first appearance was in Street Fighter III: New Generation, and she has appeared as a playable character for the rest of her appearances. She is a young ninja-in-training from an ancient clan who, as with Chun-Li, would live her own life as an ordinary Japanese teenager.
Ibuki is voiced by Ayumi Fujimura in the Japanese version, and by Kat Steel in the English version from Super Street Fighter IV to Street Fighter V pre-Season 5 before the former announced an indefinite hiatus period starting on April 1, 2019. In Street Fighter V Season 5 onward, she is voiced by Kana Ueda in the Japanese version, and by Cristina Vee in the English version, and in the Street Fighter III series, she is voiced by Yuri Amano.
Appearance[]
Ibuki has a petite, yet athletic build, and her black hair, remarkably divided in three angular bangs at the front, in the back it her twin ponytails are about mid-thigh length and held back tightly in a topknot (though some other media changes this). Unlike most other female characters in the same genre, Ibuki's outfit is a more traditional type of ninja dogi, consisting of a sleeveless black upper garment, baggy pants, arm guards, and a mask that conceals the lower half of her face. Her footwear consists only of cloth bandages that are wrapped around her shins, ankles, and instep, somewhat realistically protecting her from foot related injuries. Her garments are more revealing than normal ninja ones, however.
As seen in one of her win animations in Street Fighter III, Ibuki's normal clothes consist of a white sleeveless loose shirt, blue denim pants, and gray and black sneakers. She also carries a yellow backpack. Her school uniform consists of a light blue sleeveless shirt under a white short sleeve button shirt with a red laced ribbon at the center of her collar, light blue skirt, black panties underneath, white socks, and blue and white sneakers.
Ibuki tends to have ninja themed accessories in some of her casual outfits. Her 2nd alternate in Street Fighter IV has a chain of miniaturized toy kunai and a shuriken belt buckle, and has added ninja elements to two of her uniforms and her school swimsuit. Her sporty outfit despite being one of the more realistic outfits for her based on a female track and field runner's outfit has Kunai printed in various parts of the outfit.
Story[]
Background[]
Ibuki is a young girl from Japan who lives in a village entirely composed of ninjas, hidden from society's watchful eyes, where she has trained in the deadly art of ninjutsu since childhood. After doing the same routine every day and attending a school for ninjas, she wishes to live like a normal schoolgirl. Her best friend is her classmate, Sarai. Ibuki also has a pet tanuki named Don, who is often referred to as "Don-Chan".
Super Street Fighter IV[]
Ibuki sneaks away from her clan's summer training camp to compete in S.I.N's tournament, in order to meet cool and handsome guys. When the tournament is over, she realizes that she is going to be late for camp and attempts to sneak back in as if nothing had happened. However, she is caught by one of the camp's instructors.
Street Fighter V[]
In her character story, Ibuki has finally finished her ninja assignment and receives a call from Sakura, whom she met and befriended in Super Street Fighter IV. She informs Ibuki of a party invitation sent from her rival, Karin Kanzuki. Ibuki replies that she hasn't read it yet, because she almost fell through a roof while she was getting home to the ninja village, so Sakura tells her to travel to the Kanzuki Estate by plane. Before hanging up, Sakura tells Ibuki that she can't come due to a scheduling conflict. Ibuki reflects on what she should wear to the party and how she's never met Karin before.
A Shadow Falls[]
Ibuki is seen at the Kanzuki Estate with Birdie, watching a tag team match between Zangief and R. Mika against Alex and Laura. The screen suddenly shuts off, a result of the electromagnetic pulse caused by Shadaloo's Black Moons. Karin decides to travel to New York to find out who is responsible for the activation of the Black Moons, and Ibuki goes with her.
After returning to the Kanzuki Estate, Ibuki is seen having an argument with R. Mika, while Karin and Cammy discuss the plan to stop Shadaloo. The estate is suddenly attacked by Shadaloo agents, among them Decapre and Marz. After defeating them, Karin threatens Ibuki and Mika with the same punishment unless they stop fighting.
During the first infiltration of the Shadaloo base, Ibuki and R. Mika continue to argue, until they are confronted by Balrog and Ed, who managed to get one of the chess pieces that control the Black Moons from Zangief. Ibuki is the first to fight Balrog, her ninjutsu skills are not sufficient to beat him. Mika then engages him, but she also fails. The two then team up and succeed in overpowering him. Ed tries to use his Psycho Power to stop them, and Ibuki uses a smoke bomb to distract both of them. She and Mika take the chess piece and escape, finally being reunited with Karin and her butler, Shibasaki. Karin takes the chess piece and goes on ahead, while Ibuki and R. Mika wait for the rescue helicopter to arrive. Karin returns with Chun-Li, and both are being chased by Abel, who has been brainwashed by Bison's Psycho Power. Zangief appears and knocks Abel out with a Spinning Piledriver, then proudly flexes his muscles. Ibuki is disgusted, yet Mika is amazed.
In the final assault against Shadaloo, Ibuki is hesitant about jumping out of a helicopter, as she is afraid of heights. Nevertheless, Dhalsim pushes her out. During the mission, Ibuki and Mika fight off Shadaloo soldiers, and they watch Zangief's fight against Satsuki. Ibuki becomes worried and tells Zangief to watch out for Satsuki's sword, but to her surprise, the blade shatters when it hits Zangief's muscles. Ibuki is last seen with the other fighters, watching Shadaloo's destruction.
Abilities & Skills[]
Ibuki is considered a ninja prodigy, who was trained in ninjutsu since she was very young and whose skill was praised by Karin. Her fighting style is a combination of ancient martial arts and secret ninjutsu techniques, and she has learned to use her agility to compensate her small size, aiming for weak spots and using a variety of weapons. She even managed to retrieve the G file from the Secret Society, although Gill let her take it.
Ibuki has graduated in high school and attends college, while continuing her ninja training.
Personality[]
Likely in the wake of the era which Street Fighter III debuted in, specifically that of the 1990s and the Lost Decade era of Japan, Ibuki comes to represent the youth generation gap within Japanese society, a tomboyish teenage ninja divided between traditional Japanese devotion to duty and the rise of a global liberated and outgoing youth culture in the wake of the rise of modern Information Age infrastructure. Even though Ibuki is a well-trained ninja, she displays traits typical a normal teenage girl in modern day society, stating on several occasions that she finds her ninja garments ugly and her daily training strange, while focusing more on enjoying life and being baffled at those who devote themselves to what they do. Despite this, she performs her role out of at least respect and to hopefully leave the way of the ninja peacefully in hopes of having a normal life. In turn, while she is with a sense of duty and responsibility and with striving determination for her own future, she comes across as somewhat shallow, vapid, and youthfully ignorant, with plenty of people noting she lacks focus as a ninja stemming from her not taking her role seriously, and with her not respecting at full what she was born into, the ways of the ninja included.
She has a typical interest in boys; in several of her win quotes in Super Street Fighter IV, she evaluates her opponents based on their looks, behavior, and clothing, as well as their fighting performance. She regards Guy in particular as quite a hunk, though she also complains about his non-traditional ninja garb. She has also shown slight interest in others like Blanka and Fei Long. Ibuki is also very conscious about her weight, as mentioned in her Street Fighter × Tekken win quote against Bob and her Arcade mode ending in Street Fighter V.
Ibuki seems to be well in touch with modern pop culture and self-awareness. In Street Fighter × Tekken her winning quotes against some characters, especially those who come from Tekken, seem to reference memes or even her own faults. She references "Ninjas vs. Pirates" when defeating Jack-X, hints at Naruto when she defeats Lili, referencing hairstyles when defeating Paul Phoenix, and lastly references her own low stamina when defeating Marshall Law. Most recently keeping with the trend with sport outfits, with Sgt. Ashida from the Shadaloo C.R.I. commenting on this. Ibuki also seems to be familiar with live streaming, as her reaction when defeating G has her more surprised she wasn't told their fight was being streamed rather than the fact that it was streamed itself.
In Street Fighter V, Ibuki seems to take her ninja training more seriously, but still makes mistakes (such as almost falling off a cliff while talking on her cellphone, for example) and has many moments of not using her head. She is also glad to return home when her story mode is completed. She also seems to have a little bit more maturity and battle sense than her SF4-era self, as she can call out some characters like Sagat, although she still usually has her own bubbly win quotes. Her win quote against Kage displays some more serious and relatable insight to her outlook on her life, hoping to find a new path as a ninja than the more fatalistic traditions of being devoted living and dying by their ways that ninja are attributed to.
Noticeably in V, Ibuki has become less cutesy and smiles significantly less in battle. In IV Ibuki would smile during her regular stance and most attacks such as Neckbreaker and Yoroitoshi, however in V she only smiles during her taunt and Idle Pose. This is most notable in attacks she has in both IV and V. Most of Ibuki's smiling and looking bubbly facial expressions have been replaced with her looking more serious and determined during her attacks.
Other Media[]
Super Smash Bros.[]
Ibuki appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a summonable advanced-ranked support spirit that increases the user's move speed. Her spirit can be summoned using cores of Shinobu and Ayumi Tachibana.
Gallery[]
Images[]
.jpeg "Ibuki (Street Fighter III).jpeg (108 KB)")
Outfits[]
.png "Ibuki (default).png (239 KB)")
