F.A.N.G. (Street Fighter)
Capcom unveiled F.A.N.G in 2016 as one of sixteen playable characters for Street Fighter V. The character emerged from a development debate during the creation of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, where team members considered adding Remy or another poison-using fighter to the roster. Producer Koichi Sugiyama originally conceived the character as a Shaolin monk archetype for the game's lineup. Designers explored wide sleeves that could function as hidden weapons before abandoning the idea because returning character Vega already utilized a claw. In February 2020, Capcom revealed through their official Twitter account that the name stands for Fantastic Asian Notorious Gang. The final design depicts him as a tall and spindly member of M. Bison's villainous organization Shadaloo who speaks with a high-pitched voice.
F.A.N.G was once the leader of the Nguuhao Cartel when they plotted false allegiance to Shadaloo to murder M. Bison. The scheme backfired completely, resulting in Bison slaughtering the entire cartel while leaving their most skilled assassin alive. He initially intended to resist Bison and fight to the death but changed his mind upon realizing the extent of Bison's powers. F.A.N.G now swears unyielding loyalty to Bison and considers himself the second-in-command within the organization. His backstory reveals he serves as the story's overall secondary antagonist opposing Karin Kanzuki's faction during A Shadow Falls. He later kills Rashid's friend after she prepares a program to countermeasure Shadaloo's plans. Following Bison's death, F.A.N.G retreats to Shanghai to revive the organization and takes in a teenage prostitute named Phantom.
Players must maintain button presses for two seconds in various directions to execute moves properly because F.A.N.G is a charge character. His primary tactic involves keeping opponents perpetually poisoned to wear them down before making opportunistic attacks with long reach. When an opponent contacts his special moves including an unblockable projectile called Nishodoku, they become poisoned and slowly lose hit points. The moment F.A.N.G himself takes damage, the poison status disappears immediately. Patch updates following the game's launch greatly reduced the character's damage output according to Michael Martin from Yahoo!. This steep learning curve requires players to pressure opponents incessantly with poison attacks that both damage health and force action. Any time he manages to get a knockdown, his foe rises only to contend with more unfamiliar setups.
In Street Fighter V Side Story: Toxicity, F.A.N.G survives the fall of Shadaloo and focuses efforts on reviving the organization. He trains Phantom as his protégé while she eventually becomes playable via downloadable content under the name A.K.I. During World Tour Mode, he operates under the pseudonym Fang Fei dealing illegal medicine. He uses this avatar alongside A.K.I to investigate JP's attempts to revive Shadaloo and the resurrection of Bison. The comic book series published by UDON shows him fixing Seth's Tanden Engine for Shadaloo in an effort to reprogram him. These narrative threads establish his survival after Bison's death and his continued pursuit of power through new alliances.
F.A.N.G consistently ranks as the least used character in Street Fighter V across casual and professional play. He placed 78th in a worldwide Street Fighter character poll held between 2017 and 2018. Subsequent evaluations ranked him very low on tier lists crowd-sourced by the game's player community. Gavin Jasper from Den of Geek placed F.A.N.G 41st in his ranking list praising the character for bringing genuine originality to the series. Steven Hansen from Destructoid liked the overall visual design but expressed confusion about whether the character is meant to be a racist Chinese caricature. Maddy Myers from Kotaku opined that the falsetto voice and goofy hat make him look anything but tough or intimidating. In August 2020, organizers of the Street Fighter subreddit online tournament series attracted controversy by playing fart sounds over matches involving two players who both selected F.A.N.G.
One of the first two players in the world to reach Super Platinum status attained former top spot on the global leaderboard using this character. Xian achieved success with F.A.N.G despite its reputation for being underpowered or misunderstood within the professional esports scene. He explained in an interview with Kotaku that he likes playing with F.A.N.G because the visual design appealed to him. The character shares many aesthetic similarities with Gen another Street Fighter character known for being difficult to master. Playing F.A.N.G helped him understand the game in a deeper way according to his own words. His decision to switch to Ibuki for professional play as of 2017 was welcomed by Michael Martin from Yahoo!.
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Common questions
Who is F.A.N.G in Street Fighter V?
F.A.N.G is a tall and spindly member of M. Bison's villainous organization Shadaloo who speaks with a high-pitched voice. He serves as the story's overall secondary antagonist opposing Karin Kanzuki's faction during A Shadow Falls.
When was F.A.N.G unveiled for Street Fighter V?
Capcom unveiled F.A.N.G in 2016 as one of sixteen playable characters for Street Fighter V. The name stands for Fantastic Asian Notorious Gang which Capcom revealed through their official Twitter account in February 2020.
How does F.A.N.G fight in Street Fighter V?
Players must maintain button presses for two seconds in various directions to execute moves properly because F.A.N.G is a charge character. His primary tactic involves keeping opponents perpetually poisoned to wear them down before making opportunistic attacks with long reach.
What happened to F.A.N.G after M. Bison died?
Following Bison's death, F.A.N.G retreats to Shanghai to revive the organization and takes in a teenage prostitute named Phantom. In Street Fighter V Side Story: Toxicity he survives the fall of Shadaloo and focuses efforts on reviving the organization while training Phantom as his protégé.
Why is F.A.N.G considered unpopular among players?
F.A.N.G consistently ranks as the least used character in Street Fighter V across casual and professional play. He placed 78th in a worldwide Street Fighter character poll held between 2017 and 2018 and subsequent evaluations ranked him very low on tier lists crowd-sourced by the game's player community.