Gouken

is a character in the Street Fighter series. He is the martial arts master of Ryu and Ken, as well as the older brother and former sparring partner of Akuma. Gouken is usually depicted as bearded man who wears prayer beads on his neck and a karate gi with the kanji mu (無), or "void" sewn to the back. He plays an integral role in the series' backstory and was first depicted in Akuma's ending in Street Fighter Alpha before making a full fledged appearance in Street Fighter IV.

Origin

While earlier Street Fighter games made references to Ryu and Ken's master, the character made his first illustrated appearance in Masaomi Kanzaki's manga adaptation of Street Fighter II, originally serialized in Family Computer Magazine in 1992. According to the comic, Gouken accepted Ryu and Ken as his pupils and taught them their fighting style in his solitary home located in the Japanese wilderness sometime during the 1980's. However, one day M. Bison and his men stormed the dojo and killed Gouken, leaving Ryu and Ken with the duty to avenge their master's death.

While the comic itself was non-canonical in the video game Street Fighter continuity, Gouken's name and character design was adapted in the Street Fighter video game series with the introduction of hidden challenger Akuma in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, where Gouken was established not only as Ryu and Kens sensei, but also the elder brother of Akuma.

Backstory in the video games

According to the backstory later introduced in the series in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and the later Street Fighter Alpha series. Gouken and his younger brother Akuma (or Gouki) were apprentices of Goutetsu, a martial art master who taught the brothers an ancient assassination style. While Akuma embraced the murderous nature of this style, eventually killing Goutetsu in combat after mastering the forbidden technique of the Shun Goku Satsu, Gouken refined the techniques of this murderous style and developed them into a pure martial art, which he then taught to two pupils: Ryu and Ken. Prior to the events of the Street Fighter Alpha series, Gouken was challenged by Akuma to a death match and was defeated, setting off Ryus quest to avenge his masters apparent death in Street Fighter Alpha 2.

Street Fighter IV

Gouken makes his first full-fledge appearance in a fighting game in the arcade version Street Fighter IV, where he appears as a secret computer-controlled challenger. His presence in the game was hinted months before his official appearance in the game, with Street Fighter IV project manager Natsuki Shiozawa showing a silhouetted illustration in her blog, claiming that the character was "Sheng Long" (a hoax character once assumed to be Ryu's and Ken's sensei as a result of a localization error), as well as featuring the character in an animated teaser for the console versions of Street Fighter IV and in Akumas ending in the game.

Goukens special techniques in the game includes the Gō Hadōken ("Strong Surge Fist"), a variation of the Hadōken projectile techniques which he performs with only one hand and can launch at an angle (he can throw two at the same time as an EX Move); the Sen-Kū-Gō-Shō-Pa ("Flashing Space Strong Passage Wave"), a technique in which Gouken advances towards his opponent in a pose similar to Evil Ryu's Ashura Senkuu pose in Street Fighter EX and attacks with a powerful palm; the Tatsumaki Gō Rasen ("Strong Tornado Spiral"), a diagonal version of the Tatsumaki Senpū Kyaku; and the Kūchū Tatsumaki Senpū Kyaku, Ryu and Kens Air Hurricane Kick from Street Fighter II': Hyper Fighting. While Gouken doesn't use the Dragon Punch as a regular special technique, his Super Combo is the Kinjite Shōryūken (the "Forbidden Rising Dragon Punch"), while his Ultra Combo is the Shin Shōryūken ("True Dragon Punch"), one of Ryus Super Arts from the Street Fighter III series.

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