Guy (Final Fight)

Guy (ガイ) is a video game character who first appears in the 1989 arcade beat-em-up Final Fight by Capcom. Guy would later reemerge, along with other Final Fight characters, as a fighting game character in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and its sequels. Guy is a red-clad ninpō master of Japanese descent who has been taught the fictional Bushin (武神)form of ninjutsu.

History
Guy is one of three playable characters, along with Cody and Haggar, in the original arcade version of Final Fight, released for the arcades by Capcom in 1989. Each of the three fighters featured their own unique characteristics, with Guy being the fastest of the three due to his ninjutsu skills. One of his most novel techniques in the game is the "Off-the-Wall Kick", a technique which allows Guy to bounce off the wall with a jump kick. Due to space constraint, Guy was initially omitted from the Super NES port of the game, with Cody and Haggar being the only playable characters in that version. Capcom later produced a second Super NES version titled Final Fight Guy, which replaced Cody's character with that of Guy, with the in-game explanation given that Cody was away training under Guy's master in Japan. Later versions of the game such as Final Fight CD for Sega CD and Final Fight One for the Game Boy Advance would include all three characters. Capcom also produced an NES game titled Mighty Final Fight, a parody of the original Final Fight which features all three characters. In the backstory of the original Final Fight, Guy is established to be the 39th successor of the Bushin-style Ninpo, and as such, in his appearances he wears the kanji Bushin (武神) embroidered into his shinobi shozoku.

Capcom later released Final Fight 2 in 1993, a sequel created specifically for the Super NES. In this installment, Guy's sensei, Genryusai and his daughter Rena (Guy's fiancee), are kidnapped by the new incarnation of Mad Gear. In the game's story, Guy is off on a training mission and is unable to rescue his fiancee and master. Instead, the game features Guy's sister-in-law, Maki, who has also been trained in the same fighting style, and Carlos Miyamoto, a South American swordsman. Guy only makes an appearance in the end of the game, although the game does feature power-up icons shaped after his character.

When Capcom produced the original Street Fighter Alpha in 1995, Guy would be one of two Final Fight characters to be included in the game along with the game's second stage boss Sodom. In this game, Guy's character design was altered slightly, with his jika-tabi replaced by sneakers, although his fighting style mimics that of his Final Fight counterpart. Guy and Sodom would be joined by Rolento in 1996's Street Fighter Alpha 2 and by Cody in 1998's Street Fighter Alpha 3, followed by Maki's appearance in the portable versions of Alpha 3. Guy's new design would be used in the second Final Fight sequel for the Super NES, Final Fight 3 in 1995, where he teams up once again with Haggar to save Metro City from the Skull Cross gang. This version, along with Cody's Street Fighter Alpha rendition, are also hidden characters in Final Fight One. In Final Fight 3, and only in this appearance, Guy had in his repertoire a "fireball" style attack, although it dissipates a short distance from his palm, not unlike those used by Dan Hibiki in Street Fighter Alpha.

In the Alpha games, Guy's Bushin predecessor is revealed to be a man named Zeku, who would appear in Guy's ending in Street Fighter Alpha 2 to test Guy for his successorship. Zeku's presence in the game contradicts Final Fight 2, which identifies Genryusai as Guy's sensei, as designers of the Alpha games did not take into account the Super NES Final Fight sequels when developing the games. Zeku was mentioned once again in Guy's bio in Street Fighter Alpha 3. When Maki was reintroduced in Capcom vs. SNK 2, Capcom provided the explanation that Maki belongs to the original clan that formed the Bushin style and that Genryusai was Zeku's master, who in turn trained Guy and Maki.

During the same year Alpha 3 was released in the arcades, Guy was featured in the American-produced Final Fight Revenge, a fighting game for the arcades and Sega Saturn featuring the original Final Fight cast.

A second American-produced Final Fight sequel was released in 2006 titled Final Fight: Streetwise, which reimagines Guy's character was as an Asian crime lord in the Japan Town district of Metro City.

Guy appears in the penultimate episode of the American Street Fighter animated series, which was based on Final Fight. In this episode, Cody and Guy teams up with Ryu and Ken to rescue a kidnapped Jessica from the Mad Gear gang.

Guy appears as one of the new characters in Super Street Fighter IV. In his ending he's shown rescuing an unconscious Rose from Bison. In Rose's ending it is hinted that he might be the only one powerful enough to stop Bison. In Cody's ending he's shown trying to persuade him to come back on the right side of the law.Guy is also hinted to be the one who threw the kunai in Fei Long's ending, since Ibuki has no involvemen with S.I.N

Gameplay
Guy's fighting style can be described as a fusion of traditional ninjutsu with modern street brawling. Guy's special moves are:


 * Hōzanto (崩山斗), commonly known as Turning Elbow, where Guy dodges by turning around and then strikes. The Japanese name of the move uses the Chinese meaning of the To kanji, which refers to fighting, instead of the Japanese reading, which refers to the Big Dipper constellation.


 * Bushin Senpū-kyaku (武神旋風脚), a faster version of Ryu and Ken's Tatsumaki Senpū-kyaku, However it moves in a diagonal direction instead of horizontal.


 * Bushin Izuna Otoshi (武神イズナ落とし), where Guy grabs his opponent by the head and smashes him or her onto the floor. Izuna is the name of a mythical god and wind spirit that presents himself in the form of a tengu.


 * Haya-gake (疾駆け), with which Guy rushes toward his opponent. The move can be varied depending on the button pressed.

His Super moves:


 * Bushin Hassō-ken (武神八双拳), a rapid anti air attack.


 * Bushin Gōrai-kyaku (武神剛雷脚), a multi-hit kick combination.

His Ultra Moves
 * Bushin Musō Renge (武神無双連刈), Guy's most powerful attack, where the screen will darken like Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu, but the player can see Guy's silhouette pummelling his helpless opponent.


 * Bushin Gōrai-senpujin, A multi-hit kick move which then launches you into the air, Guy dashes across the screen and finishes the ultra combo with an izuna drop.

In Street Fighter Alpha 2, Guy was one of the few characters who could perform chain combos after they were removed. In the Street Fighter series, Guy lacks a projectile, though he can throw a close-ranged burst of ki and shuriken in Final Fight 3 and Final Fight Revenge respectively. Guy is the only Final Fight character in the Street Fighter Alpha series to not use a weapon.
 * Bushin Musō Renge (武神無双連刈), Guy's most powerful ultra, In Super Street Fighter IV the background color will change to white and Guy performs a variety combo attack.It is also one of the few ultras in the game which will feature its own music while performing the combo.

Final Fight series characters filled the screen in his stages in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and 3. In addition, a special intro sequence takes place when Guy faces Cody: both fighters destroy barrels in a reference to the bonus stages in the original Final Fight.

In Super Street Fighter IV, Guy is among the 10 new characters added to the game.Guy was considered for the original Street Fighter IV, however Capcom have stated that it was difficult for them to add Guy as he was covering ground too fast and this in turn affected the game, because of this Guy's speed has been reduced while walking in Super Street Fighter IV.Guy still has his chain combos from the Alpha series. His Gameplay still revolves around being offensive and pressuring using his Run Command and Houzanto. His air throw in the Alpha series has been modified into a Command Air throw which can also be done using one bar of his Super meter, This was the only newly modified move Guy received in Super Street Fighter 4.The move Houzanto now hits with his shoulder instead of his elbow and hence has lesser range.The EX-Versions of his existing moves also had some heave changes to them

In other media
Guy appears in the Street Fighter Alpha manga by Masahiko Nakahira. In it, Guy depicted as a well-known vigilante ninja who goes around bringing an end to several criminal organisations. Guy disguised himself as a member of Shadaloo to face M. Bison, but he is forced to reveal his identity when Vega tries to kill both Adon and a possessed Ryu. After making quick work of Vega, Guy kicks several oil drums at Ryu (a nod to the Final Fight series), then proceeds to fight Ryu. Due to Guy's superior speed and training to fight multiple enemies at once, Guy was able to block every punch from Ryu's Shun Goku Satsu and defeat him. Guy is last seen watching over the battle between Ryu and Sagat. His silhouette is also seen in Nakahira's Sakura Ganbaru! manga, when Maki talks about the Bushin style.

Guy also makes an appearance in Udon's Street Fighter II Turbo comic. Guy was given an invitation to fight in the Japanese branch of the Street Fighter Tournament by M. Bison. Dan tries to take Guy's invitation from him by force, yet is quickly defeated. At night, Dan breaks into Guy's house and steals his invitation. Guy witnesses the whole event, but decides to give Dan a chance, as he was not planning on joining the competition in the first place.

Guy makes a cameo appearance in the anime OVA Street Fighter Alpha as one of the warriors who have agreed to accompany Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li to Professor Sadler's base and rescue Shun, Ryu's alleged brother. At the base, he is seen briefly fighting Dhalsim, on whom he attempts a Bushin jump-kick, only for Dhalsim to teleport himself away and seemigly hit Guy from behind. He is last seen in a cell along with the other fighters, where Ken and Chun-Li break them out before going to rescue Birdie.

Guy also appears in the American Street Fighter animated series in an episode titled "Final Fight", which adapts the plot of its namesake. In this episode, Guy and Cody befriend Ryu and Ken, who aid them in fighting the Mad Gear Gang to save Jessica.

Guy is a playable character in the Japan-only exclusive Strategy RPG, Namco x Capcom. In the game, he is paired with Sho (Ginzu the Ninja) from Captain Commando as a single unit. Because of this, he also participates in the Multiple Assault attacks that involve all of the Commando Team. The in-game story depicts Sho as Guy's future Bushin-ryu successor.

Promotion and reception
N64 Magazine described Guy as "the favorite for many arcade-goers" in regards to the original Final Fight. IGN ranked Guy at number twenty-four in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" list, stating "those dull, unassuming looks work in his favor. He doesn't look especially dangerous until it's too late." In the January 30, 1997 issue of Gamest magazine in Japan, Guy ranked at No. 26 from the poll Top 50 Characters of 1996. UGO Networks editor Paul Furfari chose Guy as one of the top 50 best Street Fighter characters, commenting that the lightning-fast addition originally from the Final Fight series was part of the initial cross between the series in Street Fighter Alpha. He adds that Players that master Guy's ninjutsu can easily overwhelm opponents. He's one of the only characters that can knock an opponent into the air and rush over and catch them before they hit the ground.

In the February 1991 issue of the Japanese coin-operated video game magazine Gamest Guy took second place in the Top 50 Characters of the year, Cody at No. 7, Poison at No. 26, Sodom at No. 33, and Jessica at No. 40.