Who is F.A.N.G in the Street Fighter series?

F.A.N.G is the self-proclaimed second-in-command of the villainous organization Shadaloo, ranking only below the infamous M. Bison. He is a tall, spindly assassin who uses poison to complement his fighting style and serves as the story's overall secondary antagonist in the mode A Shadow Falls.

When was F.A.N.G introduced in the Street Fighter games?

The character was originally considered during the development of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, but the idea was shelved until Street Fighter V launched in 2016. He appears as a non-playable character in Street Fighter 6's World Tour Mode where he goes under the pseudonym Fang Fei.

Why is F.A.N.G considered one of the least played characters in Street Fighter V?

F.A.N.G was placed 78th in a worldwide Street Fighter character poll held between 2017 and 2018, consistently ranking as the least used character. Patch updates following the game's launch have greatly reduced the character's damage output, which spells trouble in a game so focused on offense.

F.A.N.G. (Street Fighter)

Q: How does F.A.N.G fight in Street Fighter V?

F.A.N.G is a charge character requiring second-long maintained button presses in various directions to properly execute moves. His primary tactic involves keeping the opponent perpetually poisoned to wear them down and make opportunistic attacks using his long reach.

F.A.N.G is the self-proclaimed second-in-command of the villainous organization Shadaloo, ranking only below the infamous M. Bison. This claim of hierarchy is not merely a title but the core of his identity, as he obsessively fixates on the number two and any extension of that concept. He declares he will finish opponents in two minutes, wears a hat with the number two, and even his name is an acronym for Fantastic Asian Notorious Gang. His existence began as a Shaolin monk archetype before evolving into a tall, spindly assassin who uses poison to complement his fighting style. The character was originally considered during the development of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, where the team debated including a poison user, but the idea was shelved until Street Fighter V launched in 2016. During the design phase, producer Koichi Sugiyama considered giving F.A.N.G wide sleeves to hide weapons, but this was abandoned because the returning character Vega already utilized a claw. The final design features a high-pitched voice and a walking animation described by critics as a Looney Tunes style creep with hunched shoulders and craned arms like a goofy T-rex.

F.A.N.G was originally the leader of the Nguuhao Cartel, a criminal organization that attempted to pledge false allegiance to Shadaloo in a plot to murder M. Bison. The scheme backfired catastrophically when Bison slaughtered the entire cartel, leaving F.A.N.G as the sole survivor. Initially, the survivor intended to resist Bison and fight to the death, but upon witnessing the extent of Bison's powers, he changed his mind and swore unyielding loyalty. This betrayal of his own people defines his backstory and establishes him as the story's overall secondary antagonist in the mode A Shadow Falls. He opposes Karin Kanzuki's faction while attempting to fend off a revived Charlie Nash and the mysterious entity Necalli in defense of Bison. The narrative reveals that F.A.N.G is also the murderer of Rashid's friend, who had managed to prepare and upload a program to countermeasure Shadaloo's plan before F.A.N.G killed her. In the Side Story Toxicity, which takes place after the death of Bison, F.A.N.G survives the fall of Shadaloo and retreats to Shanghai to focus on reviving the organization.

F.A.N.G's most iconic visual moment occurs during his Critical Art, a special attack introduced in Street Fighter V. He leaps into the air, flaps his arms like wings, and drops poison bombs on the arena floor while exclaiming I will turn into a bird. This animation is described by critics as resembling a humanoid character model rigged onto a small bird's animations. The character's fighting style is unique because he is a charge character, requiring second-long maintained button presses in various directions to properly execute moves. His primary tactic involves keeping the opponent perpetually poisoned to wear them down and make opportunistic attacks using his long reach. When an opponent comes into contact with 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 is removed. This mechanic forces opponents into action, as hitting F.A.N.G will remove the effect, allowing him to pressure them incessantly with poison attacks that both damage the opposing character and force them to move.

Despite his eccentric design and unconventional gameplay, F.A.N.G is known for being one of the least played characters in Street Fighter V, both in casual and professional play. He was placed 78th in a worldwide Street Fighter character poll held between 2017 and 2018, consistently ranking as the least used character. Subsequent evaluations ranked him very low on tier lists, which are crowd-sourced lists of character rosters by the game's player community that attempt to rank playable characters for their viability in player versus player matches. Patch updates following the game's launch have greatly reduced the character's damage output, which according to Michael Martin from Yahoo!, spells trouble in a game so focused on offense. The character is noted for his steep learning curve and fundamental design concept which further reduces his offensive capabilities. However, certain professional level players have achieved some measure of success with the character. One of the first two players in the world to reach Super Platinum status and attained former top spot on the global leaderboard played as the character, proving that the character is not entirely useless in the right hands.

F.A.N.G appears as a non-playable character in Street Fighter 6's World Tour Mode, where he goes under the pseudonym Fang Fei and deals illegal medicine. He uses the avatar and A.K.I to investigate JP's attempts to revive Shadaloo and the resurrection of Bison. A.K.I, formerly a teenage prostitute named Phantom whom F.A.N.G took in and trained as his protégé, is now playable via downloadable content. The character also appears in the Street Fighter comic book series published by UDON, where he fixes Seth's Tanden Engine for Shadaloo in an effort to reprogram him. His backstory reveals that he was originally a leader of the Nguuhao Cartel, and that he was involved in their plot to pledge their false allegiance to Shadaloo in an attempt to murder Bison. The plot backfired, and Bison responded by slaughtering the entire cartel, leaving their most skilled assassin, F.A.N.G, the sole survivor. He initially intended to resist Bison and fight to the death, but he changed his mind and swore unyielding loyalty to Bison upon knowing the extent of his powers.

F.A.N.G. (Street Fighter)

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