Shoryuken

Shoryuken (昇龍拳, Shōryūken, "Rising Dragon Fist"), also known as the Dragon Punch in English language media, is a fictional special attack in the Street Fighter series used by Ryu, Ken, and other Street Fighter characters trained under the same style. The shoryuken and the hadouken are the two archetypal moves of these characters. The move is a jumping uppercut in which the user spins, knocking the opponent to the ground.

The shoryuken is the archetypal "anti-air" move in two-dimensional fighting games, used to knock opponents out of the sky while dealing heavy damage. Almost every similar game from the era of sprite based fighting games contain a move similar to the shoryuken, and in some cases the moves are virtually identical in both performance and execution. During gameplay, the move has a huge priority over other moves. In most cases the player character is completely invincible during the rising portion of the move, and even in games when they are not, the shoryuken will usually beat any other normal or special move if both are performed at the same time.

Method

Scheme of execution

The player performs the standard shoryuken in the games by using a combination of joystick directions, followed by any punch button. The strength of the punch decides the height, damage and in some cases the invincibility of the shoryuken. The correct sequence is forward, down, down-forward and punch (→↓↘P in many manuals in guides, which assume the character is facing right for the sake of brevity). This sequence is often termed the "dragon punch motion" or "shoryuken motion" when used for other unrelated moves (and for other game series as well). Most variations of the shoryuken have invincibility upon starting up, meaning they cannot be hit or beaten out of it until it has finished its peak. However, its invincibility is traded off with extreme vulnerability once the character starts to descend. They can be hit with almost anything on their descent or as soon as they touch the ground. Therefore, although the move is extremely useful, it can just as easily backfire if used inappropriately.

In the Street Fighter universe, the shoryuken is performed when the practitioner concentrates all of his or her ki in the legs and striking fist, and jumps into the air fist-first in an upward spiraling motion. It is devastating to the opponent while ascending, but the practitioner is vulnerable when descending.

Variations of shoryuken

• Shoryuken (昇龍拳, shōryūken, "Rising Dragon Fist") - a spiraling punch, moving in an upward arc. The shoryuken is invincible while the fist is rising, but completely vulnerable to counterattack when descending. The standard Shoryuken has been one of Ryu and Ken's special techniques since the original Street Fighter and it is also used by Seth in Street Fighter IV.

• Shouryuu Reppa (昇龍裂破, shōryū reppa, "Rising Dragon Wave") - a series of two or three shoryuken that progressively cause more and more damage to an opponent each time he is hit. First used by Ken as his Super combo in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

• Shinryuken (神龍拳, shinryūken, "Divine Dragon Fist") - a shoryuken that corkscrews vertically into the air, causing a vacuum effect that sucks in the opponent and strikes him multiple times. It is first used by Ken in the original Street Fighter Alpha. The player can inflict more hits by pressing all the attacks buttons rapidly during execution of the shinryuken.

• Shin Shoryuken (真・昇龍拳, shin-shōryūken, "True Rising Dragon Fist") - the "true" shoryuken in which the practitioner strikes the opponent very hard with one fist (or elbow in Street Fighter Alpha 3), and then performs a high-damage shoryuken with the other fist. Of all the Gouken-style shoryuken, this is the most potent shoryuken without the "killing touch", rivaling the Shinryuken. Ryu and Gouken are the only characters that can use this move. It's weakness in the Alpha series reflects Ryu's imperfection of the technique. If done properly, Ryu will distinctly shout "Shin!" while punching with his fist followed by the shoryuken itself, dealing massive damage (Reminiscent of the Shin shoryuken in the Street Fighter III series). If Ryu misses with the initial strike, he will automatically perform a shoryuken anyway, which can still hit an opponent multiple times. However, this version of the move is far less effective. This is Gouken's Ultra Combo in Street Fighter IV.

• Messatsu Gou Shouryuu (滅殺豪昇龍, messatsu gō shōryū, "Annihilating Magnificent Rising Dragon") - A stronger version of the Shouryuu reppa. While this move does not scorch the opponent, a well-placed Messatsu gou shouryuu can instantly kill an opponent with the least amount of effort.

• Metsu Shoryuken (滅・昇龍拳, metsu-shōryūken, "Destroying Rising Dragon Fist") - A Super combo first used by Evil Ryu (Ryu's alter-ego) in Street Fighter Alpha 2.

• Gou Shoryuken (豪昇龍拳, gō shōryūken, "Great Rising Dragon Fist") - the original shoryuken, which is a more powerful variation of the regular shoryuken. While this was the standard shoryuken at the time the art was founded, the lethality of the move increases when the practitioner embraces the Satsui no Hadou. This shoryuken knocks the foe high into the air and slices its foe as the fist is rising up. A well-placed Gou shoryuken can be fatal to an opponent – it has the ability to kill anyone in one stroke if the practitioner is skilled enough.

• Kinjite Shouryuuken (禁じ手昇龍拳, kinjite shōryūken, "Forbidden Rising Dragon Fist") - Gouken's Super combo in Street Fighter IV.

• Ken has an additional variant in Street Fighter EX3, in which he tags Ryu, and they both attack the opponent simultaneously with their own shoryuken.

Similar techniques

• The shoryuken has been seen numerous times in the Mega Man X series. X could perform it in Mega Man X2 and Mega Man X8, and Zero would do it instead of the Hyōryūshō ("Avalanche Yeti's Technique") in Mega Man X8 with the K Knuckle equipped. Magma Dragoon in Mega Man X4 also performed it, although the move did not look very much like the standard shoryuken. Also in X4, X could perform Magma Dragoon's variant when charging his weapon, and Zero could perform an attack very similar to the shoryuken called Ryūenjin (Dragon Flame Blade). The technique also made an appearance when X used the charged version of Pegacion's weapon in X5. It also made an appearance in the Mega Man: The Power Battle series as Mega Man's special charge move.
• Dan, another Street Fighter character, utilizes a variation of the shoryuken called the Kōryūken (晃龍拳, "Shiny Dragon Fist"). It resembles the standard shoryuken but has little horizontal range and leaves Dan vulnerable during startup. However, Dan will sometimes flash while executing the move, making him invincible during startup (though this only happens either randomly or after a specific number of Kōryūken have been performed). He also uses the Kōryū Rekka, a variation of the Shouryuu reppa.
• Allen Snider from the Street Fighter EX series and Fighting Layer uses a similar technique called the Rising dragon. Kairi uses a similar technique called the Maryuu rekkou
• Sakura uses a self-taught dashing shoryuken called the Shou'ouken (咲桜拳, shōōken, "Rising Dash Punch").
• Sean from Street Fighter III has been known to use two variations of the shoryuken. Known in both incarnations as the "Dragon Smash", it was first performed by launching the opponent into the air with a rising uppercut. During the spinning motion, Sean would then smash the opponent back to the ground with a downward punch. It had low horizontal range at the start, but Sean moved forward a considerable distance in mid-air. In Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Capcom redesigned the move as a double-handed rising punch, with next to no horizontal range. His "Shoryu cannon" super art is a variation of Ken's Shouryuu reppa that deals more damage depending on how rapidly the punch button is pressed (another variation on how the Shinryuken could increase in damage).
• Dudley in Street Fighter III uses the Jet Uppercut.
• In Namco x Capcom, Ryu and Ken have a Multiple Assault (similar to Variable Combinations from the Marvel vs. Capcom series) called Sou shoryuken. During the move, the two rush their enemy from both sides, unleashing a fury of attacks before unleashing a dual Shin shoryuken. However, both the game and Ken's usage of Shin shoryuken are non-canon.
• While not performing the shoryuken itself, variations of the move are evident in a number of Capcom fighters. Capcom characters using similar uppercut moves outside of the Street Fighter universe include Morrigan, Lilith and Demitri of the Darkstalkers series; Avdol and Khan of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; Batsu and Hideo of the Rival Schools series; Mai-Ling , Tessa, Hydron, and Lavia of Red Earth (aka Warzard); and Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cable, Cyclops, Captain America and Mega Man of the Marvel vs. Capcom series.
• In Sonic Unleashed, Sonic's Werehog form possesses an attack called 'Sho-Hog-Ken' as well as an attack called 'Sho-Claw-Ken'.
• In Devil May Cry 3, Dante has an attack he can perform with the Beowulf gauntlets equipped called 'Rising Dragon,' which is a slightly modified shoryuken.

Pop-culture references

• Axel in Streets of Rage II finishes some combos with a move which looks the same as a dragon punch.
• In Kirby Super Star, whenever Kirby used the "Fighter" power, he would also wear Ryu's red headband, and one of the attacks he could perform was a shoryuken variant called "Rising Break", a multi-hit Shoryuken.
• After an unsuccessful attempt to rouse Wolverine into a fight, Deadpool asks Kitty Pryde if she ever played Street Fighter and proceeds to give her an uppercut while screaming out "Shoryuken!", knocking her out and enraging Wolverine.
• In Shrek 2, Fiona performs a shoryuken on a farmer.
• In Troma's film Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV, the evil version of Sgt. Kabukiman performs a dragon punch during the battle in the meat packing facility.
• During a challenge on Hello! Morning, Megumi Murata of Melon Kinenbi performs a shoryuken while yelling when asked to name a strong, Japanese word.
• Human Tornado, an American professional wrestler, uses the shoryuken as one of his signature moves.
• In Super Smash Bros., It is possible to "sweetspot" luigi's up special attack in order to gain a large amount of knockback and fire animation, causing many fans to give it the unofficial name shoryuken.

Trivia

• It is also said that Sagat created the "Tiger Uppercut" to match Ryu's shoryuken in earlier versions of the SF Story.
• In the American version of the original Street Fighter, Ryu would say the translated "Dragon Punch" instead of "Shoryuken" while performing the movement. The original Japanese versions retained the "Shoryuken" sound. Most Street Fighter games afterwards would keep their Japanese sound effects.
• Upon Ryu winning a match in the American version of Street Fighter II, he says to his battered opponent, "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." The meaning of the quote was unclear to many people, and has since gone on to become the basis for one of EGM's most famous April Fool's jokes. However, "Sheng Long" was nothing more than an incorrect translation of "Shoryuken" (where the "Shōryū" in kanji were translated as if they were supposed to be in Chinese pinyin).
• Capcom licensed an energy drink called "Dragon Punch". It shares similarities with Red Bull and features artwork of Ken on the can.

See also

• Hadouken
• Street Fighter
• Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku