Hadouken

Ryu (left) performs a Hadouken against Ken in Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting.

Hadouken (波動拳, hadōken, IPA: [hadoːkẽɴ], a Japanese neologism, literally "surge fist") also written Hadoken, is a fictional special attack that originated in the Capcom fighting video game series Street Fighter. The move is achieved by thrusting the palms forward, sending a surge of spirit energy (or ki) flying towards the opponent. It is normally performed by moving the joystick or D-pad a quarter circle forward towards the opponent from the down position, then pressing a punch button (so, for example, a character facing to the right would execute the move by pressing ↓, ↘, →, and then "punch" in a smooth motion).

Most fighting games of the sprite-based era used projectile special moves based on those perhaps seen in old wuxia film. ^{[original research?]}, and while the actual type of projectile launched varies from game to game and character to character, the execution and behavior of these attacks are often rather similar to the Hadouken. These moves are sometimes informally referred to as a "hadouken", or fireball. The Hadouken can usually be performed in three different degrees depending on which type punch is used; these will affect its speed, damage caused on impact, amount of recovery frames, and sometimes its range. The Hadouken itself has many variations depending on the character in question that the move is associated with. For example, both Ryu and Akuma have used a fire-based variant of the move called the Shakunetsu Hadouken or "Blazing Surge Fist", which briefly engulfs its target in flames.

Later titles in the series that use super-special moves ramp up the power of the hadouken, evolving it into the Shinkuu Hadouken (真空波動拳 - Vacuum Surge Fist). This takes one of two forms depending on the game: an outsized fireball, or a blast of constant energy.

The characters that use the Hadouken are Ryu, Ken, Sakura and Akuma. Others in the Street Fighter series use a similar move, but have their own names for it - Kairi and Allen Snyder both have such a move, the latter calling it Soul Force. Dhalsim spits fire, as befits his character, and Chun-Li eventually gains a projectile move she calls the Kikouken. Dan Hibiki utilises a single-handed projectile called the Gedouken, which has barely any range or power

References in popular culture

The Hadouken! has been seen several times in the forchinet Mega Man X series. It was a hidden Easter egg ability in the first game (Mega Man X) and its remake (Mega Man Maverick Hunter X). In Mega Man X4, Magma Dragoon uses the move (the copy of Magma Dragoon also uses the move in Mega Man X5). It was also available to the player in the Mega Man Xtreme games. The Tails Clan, a group of secret bosses in Mega Man X: Command Mission, use a move called "Annihilator Hadouken".

Black Mage of the webcomic 8-Bit Theater also uses the move, although it is spelled Hadoken. There are several parody Hadouken moves in the comic, including "Fighterdoken", "me-doken", "Hadouyastopthis" and "boatdoken". It is eventually revealed that the Hadouken spell in the comic is literally powered by love, in that every time it is cast, the overall divorce rate in the universe increases. Red Mage's term for the technique, Unda Pugneus, is roughly Latin for "Surge Fist".

In the Worms series, the "Dragon Ball" is an attack available to the worms, which is basically a Hadouken attack. The worms can also perform a "Fire Punch", their variant of the Shoryuken. When preparing to perform either attack, a worm will put on a red headband like Ryu's.

In the limited edition PC fighting game Lucky Star Chronicle from PS2 Lucky Star, Konata can use the Hadouken.

The Leeds based grindie/dance punk band Hadouken! takes its name from the Street Fighter move.

In Smosh's video "Food Battle 2008", Ian Hecox shouts Hadouken while throwing a pink frosted, sprinkled doughnut.

In Team Fortress 2, the Hadouken is one of the taunts of the Pyro class; in the PC version, the taunt is a guaranteed kill to any foe clumsy enough to be hit by it.

Professional Wrestler Kenny Omega uses the Hadouken as his finishing move.

In All New World of Lemmings, The Shadow Tribe Lemmings can perform the Hadouken. As described in the manual: "this is a fighting device - a weapon from an ancient Lemming Martial Art, Lemdo. Since it is magically empowered, it will throw out a fireball when used. This won't hurt other Lemmings because they are the good guys and kill all the creatures because they are the Bad Guys."

In Looking for Group, Richard performs a Hadouken in an attempt to break free from his other-dimensional prison.

In Fallout 2, the boxers in New Reno's gym will sometimes shout "Hadouken!" while fighting.

In City Hunter, in one Street Fighter inspired fight, an enemy performs a Hadouken on Jackie Chan's character.

In Metal Slug series, some prisoners you save during missions will fight alongside with you, using Hadoukens and melee attacks.

In Volume One of the manga series Saiyuki, Hakai uses a move similar to the Hadouken and says "Hadouken" in small print.

In Season Three of Heroes, Ando uses his powers like a Hadouken to knock down a Federal Agent.

In the Japanese manga series Prince of Tennis, several of the characters hit variations of a powerful shot called "Hadoukyuu." The Ishida brothers, Kawamura Takashi, and various copycats use the technique. (The elder Ishida, Gin, was the original user)

References in popular culture

See also

References