"The answer lies... IN DESTROYING EVERYTHING!!!!"
The Street Fighter franchise is no stranger to Nightmare Fuel, but the fifth installment has proven itself to be the scariest yet. Here's why.
All spoilers are unmarked. You have been warned.
- Getting blown up is never fun, but Charlie can probably tell you first hand it's less about the explosion and more about what would have to be done in order to get you back on your feet that's unsettling. The exposed parts of his body in Street Fighter V tell a chilling tale of what he probably had to go through after his Heroic Sacrifice: large swathes of skin having to be grafted to his body (including a sizable chunk of his head) and whoever did it probably didn't have access to the best equipment, given that the skin patches are held in place by large staples (instead of stitches) and are a sickly green color, meaning that they may have had to use skin that wasn't appropriate for his body for lack of anything better. Then there's the Power Gem pulsating on his forehead.
- The things he does to his opponents are not very comforting either. Charlie's attack on Chun-Li in his gameplay trailer had him ambushing her unawares and the screen going black as Chun-Li screams in terror. Later gameplay videos revealed exactly what he does during his new super, called "Judgment Saber". After appearing behind the opponent, he creates a vertical Sonic Boom in the shape of a blade and chops downward, sending energy cutting into the opponent from their head down to their waist. And he gives his signature "Too easy!" quote from Alpha 3, but instead of sounding cheerful, it sounds completely devoid of emotion and almost condescending, which is truly disturbing.
- His story mode
manages to be simultaneously horrifying and heartbreaking by confirming that his Alpha 2 ending, the one where he's betrayed by his fellow Air Force unit and shot via helicopter before being sent careening off a Venezuelan waterfall, is his canon ending. One has to wonder what was going through his mind during that moment. A paragon of justice and virtue, betrayed by those he once called comrades. Cruel and Unusual Death doesn't even begin describe it. - The fact that his Alpha 2 ending is his canon fate actually makes his appearance in this game even worse. He didn't get those transplants because they were blown off or burned during an explosion. He got sent careening down a waterfall. Once he hit the bottom, the impact tore off his arm and split his head open. Nash serves as a terrifying example of why it's not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop.
- Those seemingly necrotic skin grafts on Nash's body? That's not his original flesh. It's whatever material was used to create Eleven, the prototype of Twelve from Street Fighter III. You know, the same Twelve who's a Forced Transformation victim and looks like he's made out of clay. Urien even refers to Nash as Kolin's "precious clay doll".
- The teaser of the Big Bad M. Bison at the end of Nash's trailer does NOT help. Right before the video comes to a close, static appears featuring Bison's silhouette, and after he strikes a pose while unleashing Psycho Power all over his body, we hear his bone-chilling evil laugh, courtesy of Norio Wakamoto.
- The base game of SFV introduces four new characters to the series. One of these four is Necalli, a wild savage straight out of the ancient Aztec with a vicious, bestial fighting style and appearance. He has no real finesse to his style, brutally pounding his opponent into submission with animalistic strikes and stomps. He only gets scarier with the knowledge that his wild exterior and mannerisms hide an underlying genius and a serious cruel streak. He also twitches erratically and stutters his speech. Almost everything about him is completely unknown, except that he seeks out fights to the death. However, unlike Akuma's cynical yet noble competitive mindset, Necalli does so out of a sadistic "hunger" for strong souls. His alias, "The Soul Consuming Darkness" now makes almost literal sense.
- His win quotes against Chun-Li and Ibuki are particularly disturbing.
(Vs. Chun-Li) "Don't st... struggle. There is no escape from me."(Vs. Ibuki) "Do not wa... wail so. I will soon co... consume your fledgling soul."- His win pose has him grab his defeated opponent and hold them up to the sky like Oni, but we never see what he does to them. Necalli's story mode puts his win pose in an all-new light by showing just how he "consumes" his victims. He basically uses his clay body to swallow his victims whole Majin Buu style. And his Story Mode has him do this to Ryu, Dhalsim, and Bison! To make it worse, it's merely a prophecy, a sign of dark things to come. Necalli is as mysterious as he is frightening.
- His teased reveal in Ken's V trailer was also frightening; you're watching Ken display his redesigned moveset and then comes the credits promoting the upcoming game... and then BAM, suddenly you're greeted with Necalli's face snarling at you all while giving you an intense Death Glare. Quite an effective Jump Scare and Establishing Character Moment for Necalli.
- Remember Necalli's bio mentioning his ability to possess the bodies of animals? Turns out that it isn't an Informed Ability. The cinematic story mode has Charlie turning around to find a seemingly harmless sheep behind him. The "sheep" then shouts "DEVOUR!!!!" and melts into the visage of Necalli, who immediately attacks Charlie and attempts to devour him. Thankfully it's All Just a Dream, but still...
- The Cinematic Story Mode throws on even more fuel to the fire. How is he able to get to his next prey so quickly, you ask? He melts into a puddle of black and red goo Angra Mainyu style.
- All of the above information paints a pretty terrifying picture: Necalli is a Humanoid Abomination. Now, knowing that, take a good look at his character model and overall design again, and you will see just how inhuman he is. His Story costume is his first canonical appearance, but he looks more like a straight-up Golem made out of clay. He's able to morph his clay body as he wishes, and he uses it to swallow people whole into himself to devour their souls. Doing this to the Warrior Prophet is what gave him the appearance he has now - his default design. He has human-colored skin and dreadlocks, but upon closer inspection it's evident that it's just his clay body recolored to look like human skin, complete with impurities in the structure of the clay under certain shading. Not to mention, his gold eyes and the structure of his face look very unnatural and come off as more of a crude imitation of humanity. It may be a common joke that the character models from IV and V look like they're made out of clay, but Necalli is a literal example, and executed with terrifying results.
- And if you think the above is creepy, it gets worse. Both of those designs? Those aren't even his true form. Say hello to Ancient Necalli, his first true incarnation. Necalli is literally a being that is Made of Evil, a completely ethereal, divine being who has managed to physically manifest into the human world by possessing physical objects, such as statues made in his likeness (his Story costume), animals, and even people (his default look).
- Necalli's bio says that his biggest dislike is "people". Knowing that, it can be assumed that his default design, a crude imitation of humanity, is how he sees them personally. He hates everything about them and enjoys nothing more than killing them and taking their souls, so it stands to reason that his human form is savage, scarred, and hideous.
- His Critical Arts are also rather creepy, due to their animalistic nature in the way on how they're shown, with "Ceremony of Honor" showing him clawing his opponent repeatedly in a disturbing similar matter to Wolverine's Berserker Barrage from the Marvel vs. Capcom series. And, before the final blow, Necalli is briefly seen making an absolutely vicious and psychotic Slasher Smile that is enough to catch you off-guard if you see it carefully. Just see for yourself. And "Soul Offering" has Necalli punching his enemy in the abdomen, transmitting dark energy all over their body and incapacitating them, and if the opponent is K.O.'ed by the attack, you'll see Necalli also making a sadistic grin of pleasure as shown here◊. All of this just shows how truly ferocious Necalli really is, and the way in how it's all shown not only demonstrates that not only does he suck out the souls of his opponents as mere part of the prophecy, but also has an incredibly unbridled taste of doing his nasty, dirty job because he loves every single bit of it.
- While he has always been an insane, murderous psychopath, Vega takes those traits and cranks them up to eleven in V; whereas in IV his insanity was much more subdued in lieu of being condescending toward his opponents, in this game he laughs like a maniac after performing his Super, and makes completely deranged facial◊ expressions◊ when his mask is knocked off, especially during his Super and win pose. His taunt also has him contemplating where he should start carving you. Even his win quote dialogue — especially against female characters — manages to be very disturbing.(Vs. Chun-Li) "Bathing in your blood will be the best beauty treatment of all!"(Vs. R. Mika) "Even your death throes lack grace. Such an obnoxious tone."(Vs. Kolin) "I will carve you into something beautiful. And I'll cut up that weak little heart of yours while I'm at it."(Vs. Sakura) "You are worthy of being carved up by my claw. You should be honored!"(Vs. Falke) "You seem to be a cut above the other Dolls. I wonder if you will be able to amuse me?"(Vs. Poison) "Trampled and yet you bloom. A rare flower indeed."(Vs. Rose) "The passage of time leads to nothing but destruction. What could be more beautiful?"
- Another newcomer to the game is F.A.N.G, a Chinese assassin with the ability to manipulate poison who serves as Bison's chief scientist and right-hand man. In gameplay, he acts very silly with bizarre movements, weird winquotes and a hilarious Critical Art. In story, he's far more sinister, being a Social Darwinist in the extreme sense. He's essentially a younger, more insane version of Gen before the latter Took a Level in Kindness. The most disturbing thing about him is his Undying Loyalty to Bison. Vega and Balrog only serve Bison for their own interests, but F.A.N.G displays a disturbingly fanatical loyalty to him, gleefully following his every order, such as reprogramming the Dolls to be stronger and more loyal to Bison.
- F.A.N.G's backstory is nightmarish as it is tearjerking. He was one of many children kidnapped by a cartel and forcibly exposed to various harmful poisons in order to learn how to kill using the "Poison Hands" technique. As the training induced a very high mortality rate, F.A.N.G grew up watching so many fellow students die at a young age that it turned him into a Determinator and Social Darwinist bent on surviving at all costs. The only reason why he didn't die along with his fellow assassins when they tried to kill M. Bison is because he wanted to see another day.
- We also get a firsthand look at how dangerous the Poison Hand technique is. The cinematic story mode has F.A.N.G chasing a scientist that had betrayed Bison. The nonchalant way he chases her, causally skipping like a child, only adds to the creepiness of the scene. When he finally corners her, he impales her with his poisoned hand and the poison melts her away to nothing. While the sight of that moment is awesome, it goes straight back into being creepy just a few seconds later when F.A.N.G proceeds to eat her liquefied remains. Even the staff at Capcom decided this was far too graphic for a T-rated game, so they censored it for the final release. And then it turns out that the scientist was Rashid's missing friend.
- As if that wasn't scary enough, he also shows no hesitation in threatening to do the same thing to both Sean and Li-Fen (who can't be older than 10-11 years old).
- Losing a match against Urien, whose win pose has him firing a Metallic Sphere at his fallen opponent, presumably killing them off-screen. All with a hideously manic smile plastered across his face.
- Akuma's Story costume. The Satsui no Hado appears to be exceeding the limits of his body, much like Bison's Psycho Power. In this case, it leaves actual physical signs like Oni's alternate costume in IV. Akuma's skin has cracked and peeled away, leaving only the Satsui no Hado flowing within him to show itself. It's a very terrifying reminder that Akuma constantly lives on the edge of being consumed by the Satsui no Hado, and being transformed into the hellspawn that is Oni.
- Akuma defeats Necalli in his story mode only to be devoured by the latter. Then Necalli explodes, leaving only an unscathed Akuma.
- And to finish that subsection, there's the return of the dreaded Shun Goku Satsu, which in this game is Akuma's second Critical Art. And HOLY SHIT... the game now decides to pull off a dark and violent twist to the already infamous attack. After Akuma poses and shouts, "Die one thousand deaths!", he dashes towards his opponent and the background transforms into pitch-black darkness, where we see strobes of light that show Akuma striking his opponent's vital organs with cold efficiency Hokuto Hyakuretsuken-style as the pace accelerates and the look eventually cuts away, cutting back again to the black background while we hear a disturbing droning sound, which could imply to be the victim screaming in agony and finally, what we see is the opponent collapsing in a way that they're completely crippled, totally unable to get up and all of this shows how in clear detail how devastatingly destructive the Shun Goku Satsu really is, and it's more than enough to give someone the chills.
- G brings all the mystery of Q, as well as all the creepiness. He looks very shady, has an alternate costume that's extremely similar to Q, and acts like a deranged cult leader, constantly preaching about unity and the power of the Earth, He also does not know the concept of the fourth wall, talking directly to the player in his demonstrations, waving towards an invisible crowd and gesturing towards the camera constantly, and if you're willing to suspend disbelief, crossing over into the real world and giving a speech at EVO 2018.
- To make him even creepier is that Gill's Story Mode has Gill actually fight G and there's a hint that there's more to this kook than meets the eye. If Gill knows something about you, you know something is wrong.
- In Sagat's story, everything is normal, including a Mirror Match with Sagat vs. Sagat. But then, Sagat suddenly clutches his chest. He then expresses his horror; Sagat is experiencing the Satsui no Hado. Sagat is still suffering from the effects even when his disciple Namupun arrives. Throughout this sequence, he hears the voice of the shadow he faced earlier repeating "Kill them... kill them..." over and over again. Even worse, Namupun appears to him as a strange monster with More Teeth than the Osmond Family that constantly giggles maniacally, repeating the same mantra. Sagat doesn't give in to the Satsui no Hado, as he refuses to accept it, but it is still dark regardless. His Arcade Mode ending is even worse. He either awakens or returns to find his village set ablaze by a group of masked thugs. He brutally attacks them, and the last shot is him crying Tears of Blood, indicating that he perhaps did give in to the Satsui no Hado. What's more, the credits list "Evil Sagat" as a separate character, meaning this subplot may not be over yet.
- Evil Ryu is finally back in Season 4, and more terrifying than ever, now going by the name "Kage". In this game, he is a full-on Enemy Without for Ryu, having been purged from his body completely but powerful enough to manifest as a Living Shadow (hence his new name). Unfortunately, Kage isn't very happy about being rejected, and now he wants revenge on Ryu by proving that he is nothing without the Satsui no Hado, and that he is the stronger one of the two.
- Since he's a mental construct given corporeal form, Kage is a fully corrupted and diabolically twisted version of Ryu's desire to fight. He is a fully demonic version of Ryu, as opposed to his previous incarnation which was merely Ryu with a darker color scheme, a gaping hole in his chest, and Akuma-style eyes. Now, his form is styled after a classic Japanese demon mask, sporting fangs protruding from his lower row of teeth, as well as demon horns. Some parts of him also have a very eerie, translucent purple glow, giving him a very ghost-like feeling.
- Gameplay-wise, he takes all the brutality of Evil Ryu and multiplies it, making him seem very much like Necalli in the process. His movements, and the way he attacks... he's much less of a calm and focused warrior and more of a psychotic and crazed animal out for blood. His Metsu Shoryuken now takes on a very nightmarish looking effect, where the entire background is crimson red and both he and his opponent are now framed in shadow, giving the implication that the opponent is dead. But that's not the most terrifying move in his arsenal. That honor goes to his version of the Shun Goku Satsu/Raging Demon, now pictured above. Unlike Akuma's version, which is framed in pitch-black darkness as he strikes his opponent's vital organs with cold efficiency, Kage's version is framed in the same blood-red background as his Metsu Shoryuken as he brutally starts to pummel his opponent. Then after 4 hits he lets out a loud inhuman roar (in the English dub he lets out a unsettling, psychotic Evil Laugh) as he decides to go completely berserk... AND THEN HE BEGINS TO BRUTALLY CLAW THE OPPONENT, SPLATTERING THEIR BLOOD ALL OVER THE SCREEN! If you look closely, you can see that much like how predators kill their prey in nature, Kage is specifically aiming for the opponent's throat and spine in order to keep them paralyzed and unable to defend themselves.
- Gill's Critical Art, "Seraphic Wing", while awe-inspiring, is also quite terrifying in terms of how much it shows just how powerful Gill really is compared to everyone else. After launching his opponent with a spark of light, Gill sprouts his 6 wings and unleashes a devastating energy from the jewel on his forehead that is so intense it creates a blinding light that completely obscures everything except his silhouette. You can't even see what he's doing to the opponent. The only thing you can clearly make out is just how much destruction he's causing by unleashing his power. The ground beneath him shatters and breaks away (á la Dragon Ball Z) as the camera rumbles before everything just completely fades to white. That's right, he is the only other character in the game besides Akuma and Kage to have a unique Critical Art KO screen, and unlike both of the Satsui no Hado users who have their respective kanji for "Demigod" and "Destruction" on their backs, Gill doesn't have anything. It's just a white void of nothingness, as if he completely wiped out the surrounding environment, and the opponent along with it. Not even the likes of Bison, Akuma, Evil Ryu (a.k.a. Kage), or Oni (who is merely a hypothetical version of Akuma) are capable of such power. In comparison, Gill is a FUCKING LIVING NUKE.
- Seth is back, and now he's got a brand-new body. Which would be nice... except his new body is female. Worse, his female body is modeled after Juri. You know, the same Juri who's a complete psycho-bitch. Even worse, said female body that's modeled after Juri still has Seth's very male voice coming out of it. So now you have what is essentially a Juri clone that looks like a crudely-Photoshopped Juri head on a robot body with Seth's Large Ham personality and all the creepy facial expressions that come with it to create something that is just unbelievably wrong. Not to mention, but his victory pose can also be really frightening, as he starts laughing maniacally before breaking down into full-on demented cackling, looking upwards and his irises shrinking to a disturbingly small size, twisting his face into that of a viciously deranged psychopath. Just see for yourself◊. It becomes worse when using his "Nostalgia" outfit, as the shrunken irises combined with his black eyes make them disturbingly resemble empty eye-sockets.
- Worse still, if you thought Seth was insane before, you haven't seen anything yet. In V, Seth is completely off his rocker. He considers his new body a burden because it constantly tries to undermine his existence by announcing itself as Doll Unit Zero, which he corrects with a very unnerving laugh and asserting that he is the one in control. He constantly sounds like he's on the verge of a complete mental breakdown, with his mood swinging rapidly between euphoric boasting and screaming at his opponent that he isn't defective like he's about to cry.
- Things only get worse in his story mode. He starts off as his calm and composed self, but as soon as he starts trying to piece his memories back together, he completely loses his shit when he starts remembering about Bison, implying (and confirming) that Bison's ending in IV where he utterly humiliates Seth before shutting him down is canon. In both mental and physical agony over this, his Villainous Breakdown begins and he decides that the only way to redeem and assert himself is by tracking down Bison. Unfortunately for Seth, Bison has been dead for quite some time, so he ends up finding Ed and Falke instead, having been drawn to their Psycho Power. By the time he defeats them, Seth has completely lost his grasp on reality and is left hopelessly flailing around trying to attack an image of Bison that isn't really there, all while he rants and raves about having finally become a king and laughing maniacally. The final bit of dialogue from the Doll Unit Zero body almost sounds like a plea for help, that it can no longer keep Seth's consciousness reined in and controlled. Alternatively, Seth may be stuck in an infinite loop, thus causing his new body to suffer a blue screen of death and requiring a reset of his personality module, which would effectively kill Seth for good.
Seth: Hahahahaha! How's that, Bison?! My name is Seth, and I am the king! [...] I found you, Bison! I'll finish you here and now! [...] Bison, kneel down before my power! You will become part of my data! Hehehehahaha! It's the beginning of my era! Hehehehahahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! AAAHAHAHA, I AM THE KING!!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!- Want to make this scenario even more terrifying? Watch it with Japanese voices turned on, and you'll see how Akio Ōtsuka manages to perfectly capture Seth's horrible descent into insanity. When Seth starts to malfunction, he howls in agony and sounds desperate and tortured as he tries and fails to assert his lost pride, all while his worst memories of Bison's abuse return to haunt him combined with his soul-crushing defeats from IV and the realization that he is not in his original body anymore. By the end, he is left screaming Bison's name in hate and rage, and after defeating Ed and Falke it is clear he is completely broken emotionally as his laughter and boasts are not only childish, but also tragic, as if he is on the verge of tears.
- Also affecting is Seth’s win quote for actually defeating M. Bison. While he has the same for Ed and Falke to symbolize that he only sees Bison there, triumphantly declaring “I am your tool no longer, Bison!” his line for defeating his creator for real comes from Doll Unit Zero. “Personality failure detected”. Seth's mind has deteriorated so much that he literally cannot function without Bison as a motivating factor. If he were ever to finally kill his creator, his AI would shut down completely, effectively resulting in his own death.
- Very rarely, Seth will shout "Useless!", but his voice will be glitched, as if he is speaking through radio static. This can be rather jarring as it comes completely out of left field.
- Season V introduces the bonus character Eleven, the predecessor and "older sibling" of Twelve, who is already a pretty creepy character. Just like Twelve, Eleven is a B.O.W. (bio-organic weapon) created by the Illuminati. While it may appear human, it is definitely not, especially when compared to Twelve, taking on an almost demonic-like appearance and retaining its successor's Blob Monster characteristics, being made of an odd, clay-like goo. It too has the ability to copy whatever fighter it chooses, though unlike Twelve who only copies its opponents, Eleven can copy anyone. We finally get to witness what X.C.O.P.Y looks like in 3D, and it is disturbing. At the versus screen, Eleven morphs into a big white ball and crudely reforms itself into the shape of a random character, even being able to copy their voice, complete with Twelve's demonic-sounding filter added on to their dialogue.
- Doubling as a Tear Jerker, Rose's story mode confirms that even though Bison has been defeated, the world is still going to end. Making things worse is that she sees this vision when she fights G, a walking enigma. And G, being G, makes full use of Ambiguous Syntax to neither confirm or deny whether he is for or against the end of the world, or even the universe. Her ending embodies Nothing Is Scarier, as the audience has no idea what she saw, what side G is on, or even if said bleak future involves Gill and the Illuminati's plan.
