Bob Sagat

No, not Bob Sagat. Sagat:

TIGER UPPERCUT!

I was re-thinking Street Fighter II, a game that had more editions than I can count. Literally. Let me try: there was Street Fighter II. Street Fighter II Turbo. Street Fighter II… GODDAMNIT. Wikipedia, help me out:

Okay: Super Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II: Championship Edition, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Hyper Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

The one thing that all these editions have in common is that Sagat comes across as kind of a dick. He’s the second to last fighter in the tournament, and he’s M. Bison’s lieutenant. With that huge scar, eye patch, and bald head, he comes across as if Dr.Evil and Number Two had a reverse Mini-Me love child. The man exudes, “bad dude,” even when he’s not kicking you in the head from across the street.

But how did he get that scar? From Ryu, the game’s favourite protagonist. Ryu straight up took his eye. That scar looks like it opened his chest up too like it was armature surgeon night. Sagat nearly died at the hands of Ryu in the unseen transition from Street Fighter to Street Fighter II. Up until that point, Sagat was basically like any kick-boxer in the MMA, then Ryu took the game to a whole ‘nother level by burning him half to death with a Dragon Uppercut. He basically punched Sagat with spiritual fire hard enough to lift him off the ground and five feet into the air. You can see the result in the photo above. Sagat retaliated by training harder than ever and learning how to harness the same power and develop his own attack, the Tiger Uppercut, to counter Ryu. He’s Ahab, and Ryu is his Moby Dick-head.

Seriously, though, no one else in Street Fighter has the same back story. No one’s gone through the Street Fighter tournament like they accidentally crossed over into Mortal Kombat and lost that badly. Look at Sagat. Fighting is all he knows, and Ryu tried to take that away from him. He might work for M.Bison, but that doesn’t mean he’s the face of evil.