Fei Long

Fei Long (飛龍（フェイロン）, Fei Ron, pinyin: Fēi Lóng) is a fictional character in the Street Fighter series. He made his first appearance in Super Street Fighter II in 1993 as one of the four new characters introduced in the game. In the series, he is a martial artist and action movie star. Fei Long was patterned after real-life martial arts movie star Bruce Lee and much of the character's design and moves make reference to Lee. He has appeared in other Street Fighter media, including the animated films and series, comics as well as subsequent games such as Street Fighter Alpha 3 and the home versions of Street Fighter IV. The character is generally well received, with commentary focused on his similarities to Lee.

Fei Long
Street Fighter character
First appearanceSuper Street Fighter II (1993)
Last appearanceStreet Fighter IV (2008)
Designed byIkuo "Ikusan.Z" Nakayama (Street Fighter II)[1]
Voiced by
In-universe information
OccupationActor
Fighting styleJeet Kune Do (飛天流カンフー, Hiten-Ryū Kanfū)
WeaponNunchaku
OriginHong Kong
NationalityHong Kongese

Character design

Fei Long was designed as an unofficial homage to the real-life martial artist and Hong Kong movie star Bruce Lee.[2] His name means "Flying Dragon" in Cantonese; both his default shirtless appearance with kung fun pants and his fighting style which is based on Jeet Kune Do emulate Lee's performance in Enter the Dragon.[3] The English localization of the original arcade game pays tribute to Bruce Lee by having Fei Long state "there could never be another legend like the great one and his son", a reference to Bruce Lee and his son Brandon Lee, who died shortly before the release of the game, although these references were removed in the revised localization of the Game Boy Advance version of the game. One of his alternate costumes in Street Fighter IV is based on Kato from the Green Hornet TV series. His Ultra combo in Street Fighter IV, Rekkashingeki (烈火真撃, Blazing True Attack) is a series of flurry punches into an uppercut followed by a flying kick which resembles a signature technique of Bruce Lee. Fei Long has been given a new Ultra combo in Super Street Fighter IV, the Gekirinken (逆鱗拳, Imperial Wrath Fist) which furthers the homage to Bruce Lee by performing a flurry of punches ending with the "one inch punch."

Appearances

In video games

In Super Street Fighter II, Fei Long is depicted as an action film star from Hong Kong who enters the World Warrior tournament to test his skill as a martial artist. In his ending in the game, he gives up his film career and forms his own kung-fu style known as the Soaring-Heaven style (飛天流, Hitenryū, meaning "Sky-Flying style"). His stage bears a strong resemblance to the Tiger Balm Garden prior to its demolition.[4]

Fei Long reappears in the console versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3, where his stage was inspired by Kowloon Park. The game takes place before Fei Long achieved fame as a movie star, as he makes his first hit movie in his ending in the game. He returns as a playable character in the console versions of Street Fighter IV.

As a non-playable character, Fei Long appears as a spectator in Dan Hibiki's stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and in Felicia's ending in Super Gem Fighter: Mini-Mix (Ken hooks her up with Fei Long to jumpstart her movie career), in which he also has a cameo in one of the stages, in a ramen restaurant.

Other appearances

In Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Fei Long appears as an opponent who challenges Ryu to a match while taking a break from filming his new movie. Despite putting up a good fight, Fei-Long loses after Ryu breaks his arm and knocks him out with a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, but he and Ryu become friends after Fei Long realises that his opponent was the one who beat Sagat. Following their fight, Ryu and Fei-Long take a walk, during which Fei-Long mentions that Sagat now works under M. Bison for Shadowlaw, which leads Ryu to first learn about the organization. In the original Japanese version he is voiced by real-life mixed martial artist Masakatsu Funaki, while in the English dub he is voiced by a then-unknown Bryan Cranston (credited as Phil Williams), who would later go on to find fame with Seinfeld and Breaking Bad.

In the anime series Street Fighter II V, Fei Long is portrayed as martial artist and movie star who is a childhood acquaintance of Chun-Li, having been trained by her father, Inspector Dorai. He ends up fighting against Ken, who poses as a stunt actor during the filming of a new movie, and the two become friendly acquaintances along with Ryu. He later fights Cammy, who injured but failed to kill Dorai, in the hospital, where Cammy had been sent by Balrog to finish the job. After Cammy realises that she was fooled, she and Fei Long join forces to take Balrog down. In the series, Fei Long looks up to Dorai as a father figure, and tells Dorai's superior that Dorai meant more to him than his biological father.

In UDON's comic adaptation of the Street Fighter storyline, Fei Long is caught up in Shadaloo's affairs after turning down a criminal movie producer's offer. Eventually, he joins Chun-Li and Gen to bring down the heads of the Hong Kong Shadaloo operation, Xiayu and Yanyu (two of M. Bison's Doll agents). They engage the pair at their Triad compound and fight off a legion of thugs and criminals before they send the duo running.

Fei Long also appears briefly in the manga Cammy by Masahiko Nakahira. He challenges Cammy to a fight although he is ignored by her, and then is forced to return to a movie shooting. Nakahira depicted Fei Long wearing Bruce Lee's trademark yellow tracksuit with black sidestripes from the film Game of Death.

Reception

The character has received a generally positive reception from players and game journalists. The Seattle Times described Fei Long as "the deadliest" of the new characters introduced in Super Street Fighter II.[5] In the 2002 poll by Capcom in Japan, he was voted as 38th-most popular Street Fighter character.[6] UGO.com included him amongst the top 50 Street Fighter characters, calling him a "super serious competitor" is a mainstay in the series and a fan favorite."[7] With regards to Super Street Fighter II, Giant Bomb editor Jeff Gerstmann noted on hindsight that Fei-Long to be one of the "real stars" of the game alongside Cammy.[8]

The Guardian ranked him as the 12th-top Street Fighter character in 2010.[9] IGN ranked Fei Long at number 19 in their 2008 list of top Street Fighter characters, stating "If there's any martial arts star who deserves a videogame homage, though, Bruce Lee is probably the one. Fei Long helped begin a long string of characters inspired by the kung fu icon Bruce Lee".[10] GamesRadar featured him their article "Kickass Bruce Lee clones", noting that his gameplay performance "captured the essence of Lee's iconic fighting style in his films."[11] Gavin Jasper from Den of Geek ranked Fei Long 47th on his list of Street Fighter characters, and commented that while the character is lacking in originality as a clone of Bruce Lee, he likes the fact that the character is self-aware and knows that he is a rip-off.[12] Fei Long is ranked 19th in a worldwide Street Fighter character poll held between 2017 and 2018.[13]

See also

References
  1. https://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/132595
  2. Henderstot, Steve; Lapetino, Tim (November 15, 2017). Undisputed Street Fighter: The Art And Innovation Behind The Game-Changing Series. Dynamite Entertainment. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-52410-469-6.
  3. "Black Belt". Vol. 40. Active Interest Media, Inc. August 2002. p. 67. ISSN 0277-3066. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  4. The same kanji that form the name of the place can be read in the carpet covering the floor of the stage, as follows: 虎豹別墅, Pinyin: Hǔ bào bié shù, meaning literally "The Tiger and leopards Villa", which was another name of the gardens.
  5. Kent, Steven L. (1994-09-10). `SSFII': New Warriors Have Entered The Ring. Seattle Times. Retrieved on 2008-12-18
  6. キャラクターランキング (in Japanese)
  7. "Top 50 Street Fighter Characters". UGO.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  8. "Super Street Fighter IV Hands-On". Giant Bomb. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  9. Stuart, Keith (2010-04-29). "Ryan Hart's top 20 Street Fighter characters – Part 1". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  10. Top 25 Street Fighter Characters - Day II. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-08-15
  11. Nagata, Tyler. "Kickass Bruce Lee clones". GamesRadar. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  12. Gavin Jasper (February 22, 2019). "Street Fighter Characters Ranked". Den of Geek. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  13. CAPCOM. "Character Popularity Poll - CAPCOM:Shadaloo C.R.I." game.capcom.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
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