Hadouken

For the grime/new rave band, see Hadouken!

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Ryu (left) performs a Shakunetsu Hadouken in Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Revival on the Game Boy Advance

Hadouken (波動拳, hadōken, "surge fist", a Japanese neologism, literally "wave motion fist") is a fictional special attack that originated in the classic Capcom fighting video game series Street Fighter. The practitioner thrusts his or her palms forward, sending a surge of energy 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; which is usually written in manuals and guides as "↓↘→P" (assuming a right-facing character). It is referred to colloquially as the "Fireball", even though most versions of the Hadouken do not involve the use of fire.

Many fighting video game characters have similar projectile attacks both within Street Fighter games and other games. These are sometimes informally referred to as a Hadouken or fireball, especially if the equivalent directions and buttons are used to perform it.

Most Street Fighter games feature three different strength punches and kicks: light, medium and heavy. So like many other attacks in these games, 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, and sometimes its range.

Varieties of Hadouken

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Ryu (left) performs a Shakunetsu Hadouken in Street Fighter Alpha 3

• Hadouken (波動拳, hadōken, "Surge Fist") – A staple surge fist in which one's willpower is utilized to focus ki upon the palms. As the palms are thrust outwards towards the target, a surging shock-wave is expelled that results in a punching force traveling through the air.
• Shakunetsu Hadouken (灼熱波動拳, shakunetsu hadōken, "Blazing Surge Fist") – One of the original techniques of Goutetsu, this life-threatening Hadouken requires even more concentration of ki onto the palms to produce a surge wave with enough force to burn cloth or flesh. Executed by Akuma, anyone touching this Hadouken risks immolation; for Ryu, however, the flames are painful, but will not kill.
• Shinkuu Hadouken (真空波動拳, shinkū hadōken, "Vacuum Surge Fist") – The user utilizes all of their will and gives even greater attention to the amount of ki they place on their palms. With enough will to contain the surge of power within their palms, a user can launch a more concentrated surge shock with larger gauge than a regular Hadouken.
• Gou Hadouken (豪波動拳, gō hadōken, "Great Surge Fist") – One of the inaugural moves from Ansatsuken's beginnings. This Hadouken has the user placing a great amount of ki onto their palms and with a strong thrust, a life-threatening surge shock travels through the air. This Hadouken is a life-threatening technique (though not as potent as the Gō Shōryūken or some of the more powerful moves in Ansatsuken), but the lethality of the Gou Hadouken is increased exponentially whenever the Satsui No Hadou is being embraced. The gauge of the Gou Hadouken depends on how attuned the user is to the Hadou No Chikara (the Power of Hadou), but the gauge increase is dependent on how long the user embraced the Satsui No Hadou.
• Zankuu Hadouken (斬空波動拳, zankū hadōken, "Air-cutting Surge Fist") – One of the inaugural moves from Ansatsuken's beginnings. The user has to be very quick to focus ki into their hands while they are jumping and act quickly to thrust the surge contained within outward to produce an air-to-ground attack.
• Messatsu Gou Hadou (滅殺豪波動, messatsu gō hadō, "Magnificent Surge Destructor") – A more life-threatening version of the Shinkuu Hadouken. The user widens both of their hands and attempts to focus all of their ki into each of their arms. Once all of the ki they can muster has been charged up, a palm thrust tosses out a very high-gauge surge shock. Concentrated in power, a well-placed Messatsu Gou Hadou can mean instant death, but not as potent as either the Messatsu Gō Rasen or the Messatsu Gō Shōryū. The lethality and the overall gauge of this move can be increased whenever the Satsui No Hadou is being embraced.
• Tenma Gou Zankuu (天魔豪斬空, tenma gō zankū, "Heavenly Demon Surge Air Destroyer") – An amalgamation of the Messatsu Gou Hadou and the Zankuu Hadouken. The user does the same routine as with the Messatsu Gou Hadou, but this time, does everything in the air. While it is a more difficult technique to master, the results are devastating.
• Denjin Hadouken (電刃波動拳, denjin hadōken, "Electromagnetic Surge Fist") – A Hadouken backed by the power of a Japanese thunder god. The user utilizes all of their will and calls for the god's backing. The practitioner then charges ki onto their palms and when fully charged, the user thrusts foward both palms to generate a thunder-powered surge shock that will dizzy an opponent if well-placed. This is the most deceptive Hadouken of all the "good-natured" ones. Ryu, the originator of this Hadouken, took extra care to ensure that this technique would not result in death regardless of the situation.
• Metsu Hadouken (滅波動拳, metsu hadōken, "Destructive Surge Fist") – The evil version of the Denjin Hadouken used by Evil Ryu in Capcom vs. SNK 2. The user utilizes the Satsui No Hadou within and generates a Hadouken of ultimate evil. This Hadouken electrocutes the victim. Evil Ryu, the progenitor of this Hadouken, created it to kill victims with all of his might.

Users (canon)

• Ryu
  • Hadouken - As time progressed, Ryu's version was the most outstanding of its practitioners, with superior speed and recovery time than his rivals.
  • Shakunetsu Hadouken - Initially, Ryu's version of this move required more preparation time and had slower recovery time, but by the time of Street Fighter III he can release this nearly instantaneously, although it requires some super meter to do so. It is orange in color and has the power to set his opponent aflame upon contact.
  • Shinkuu Hadouken - Strong, potent and simple, this move has seen little variation over the time Ryu has fought. The primary exception is in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, where instead of a single concentrated ball of energy, it became a large blue beam of energy as wide as Ryu is tall.
  • Denjin Hadouken - A Hadouken imbued with electrical energy that stuns the opponent and is inherently unblockable. The longer the button is held down, the more energy is charged up; this increases the number of hits and the likelihood that it will completely stun the opponent (the rate of charging can be sped up by swirling the control stick).

• Ken Masters
  • Hadouken - Ken's fireball is noticeably weaker than his rivals', having not changed in power at all through the story. It should be noted that in some appearances, his Hadouken dissipates. Also, when he is partnered with Ryu in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, the duo can perform the Double Shinkuu Hadouken.

• Akuma/Gouki
  • Gou Hadouken - Akuma's fireball is stronger than his rival's, but he has not focused on increasing the power of this move very much like Ryu has.
  • Shakunetsu Hadouken - Akuma charges the full extent of his ki into this version of the move, and it has more potential power than Ryu's. It also never requires super meter to throw.
  • Zankuu Hadouken - Depending on how much of himself he is fighting with, he can throw two air fireballs without much effort.
  • Messatsu Gou Hadou - Similar to Ryu's Shinkuu Hadouken, Akuma channels the considerable power of Satsui no Hadou he has into this move.
  • Tenma Gou Zankuu - An aerial version that propels Akuma backward with its force. The Marvel vs. Capcom series saw this move revised into a rapid fire aerial assault of multiple Zankuu Hadouken (at least 15 at a time), slowing his descent instead of propelling him upwards.

• Sakura Kasugano
  • Hadouken - Sakura, not having trained with a Hadou-style master, has nevertheless been able to imitate this move. Her version of the move is imperfect, however, with a capacity to only travel a certain distance before dissipating. The longer she charges it, the larger and more powerful it becomes but the less distance it travels. In the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Sakura uses the Hadouken as an anti-air special move, firing it up at an angle.
  • Shinkuu Hadouken - Like Ryu's version, Sakura's Shinkuu Hadouken is quick, straightforward and powerful, albeit considerably less than Ryu's. It slowly dissipates as it progresses. In the Marvel vs. Capcom series, it appears as a barrage of projectiles used at the same angle as her normal Hadouken; however, her "suntanned" incarnation utilizes the same concentrated beam of energy as Ryu.

• Sean
  • Hadou Burst - His lack of training only allows for this SA-only version attack to hit only once in addition to relatively weak power and slow startup.

Other users

• The Hadouken has been seen several times in the 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 MegaMan X Command Mission, use a move called "Annihilator Hadouken".
• Dan Hibiki, another Street Fighter character, uses a variation of the Hadouken called the Gadouken. However, unlike the regular Hadouken, Dan's version is fired from a standing position using only one hand and has pathetically short range, often travelling only one or two virtual feet before completely dissipating. Dan has also developed a more powerful version of the move called the Shinkuu Gadouken. It is more powerful and has better range than the regular Gadouken, but pales in comparison to other moves of its type such as the Shinkuu Hadouken. The Gadouken's impact is said to feel like a normal slap to the face.
• Black Mage of the webcomic 8-Bit Theater also uses the move, although it looks more like the Shinkuu Hadouken as seen in the Marvel vs. Capcom games, is powered up very differently, and is spelled Hadoken (with neither a "u", nor a macron over the "o"). Black Mage charges and fires it more like a Kamehameha wave from Dragon Ball Z, or a Shinkuu Hadouken. According to Black Mage, his Hadoken attack is powered by siphoning love out of the universe. There are several parody Hadoken moves in the comic, one of them being "Fighterdoken" (throwing his ally Fighter into a pack of monsters; Fighter later performs what he terms "me-doken" by throwing himself at an enemy), and "boatdoken", which Black Mage uses to rocket-propel the ship the party is traveling on. At one point, Red Mage suggests that Black Mage perform a "Hado-Jump" to get the Light Warriors back to their own continent. He says that to preform a Hado-Jump, one simply casts a Hadoken on the ground at a certain angle, and then use the resulting explosion to propel them in the direction of a desired destination.
• 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. When speaking in English in most games the worms also yell "Hadouken" or "Shoryuken" as they are attacking.
• Cyber Hero, from Capcom's Gotcha Force, is able to perform a Hadouken as well, though it is referred to as "Hero Shot". He is also able to perform the Marvel vs. variation, though it is called the Hero Beam. He is also able to perform a forward-bearing variation of the Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku, though it is called the "Hero Spin".
• One of the special PoW's in the Metal Slug series called Ichimonji Hyakutarō, once rescued, will follow the player character and will use a hadoken-like homing fireball attack to assist. According to his Metal Slug 2 concept art, he gained his ability while experimenting with electromagnetic currents in the tank weaponry.
• Rogue can absorb the skill from Ryu and Akuma in crossover games such as X-Men vs. Street Fighter.
• Regal Bryant of Tales of Symphonia uses the Hadouken to free himself and the other party members from a jail cell.
• In the upcoming game: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the characters will be able to throw a "Force Hadouken".
• Some Pokémon, most notably Lucario, can use the move Aura Sphere, which in Japanese, is Hadouken (はどうけん).
• Guy, a Street Fighter Alpha crossover character from Capcom's Final Fight series, projects a fireball like a Hadouken in Final Fight 3, even using the same button combination as Ryu's.
• In the computer game Team Fortress 2 the Pyro class can perform a Hadouken as a taunt whilst his shotgun is selected. The taunt does no damage and the range is limited to just beyond the Pyro's reach.
• In the Playstation 2 game for Lucky Star, Konata turns into a Super Saiyan and is able to use the Kamehameha Wave. She is also able to use the Hadouken.

Street Fighter II V (anime)

The Hadouken is described as being released from the energy of one's surroundings (specifically of other living things nearby), and flows from the sixth Chaktra called "Swadithtanaa" (or "Tanda of the Abdomen").

Spelling

Spelling differs in game instruction manuals from "Hadouken", "Hado ken", and "Hado-ken". For example, the PAL version of Street Fighter EX Plus α manual uses the spelling "Hado-ken". "Hadouken" is the most widely used on the Internet (due to the general inconvenience of using special characters, as in "Hadōken", "Hadôken", etc.). Refer to "Romanization of Japanese".

Trivia

• In most Street Fighter games, if one looks closely at the Hadouken sprite animation, a pair of disembodied hands in the Hadouken firing position can be clearly seen within the projectile.
• In an episode of Robot Chicken, Ryu is featured using the Hadouken Fireball on a business man who had failed to deliver a marketing proposal on time.
• In the earlier releases of Street Fighter II, sometimes a red Hadouken could randomly be thrown as a pallette glitch. In later games the red Hadouken became an actual technique, now called Shakunetsu Hadouken.

See also

• Combo (fighting)
• Turtle (game term)
• Street Fighter
• Shoryuken
• Signature move
• Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku