Kage is Street Fighter V’s Newest Challenger

Just in time for the holidays, Capcom unveils Kage as the latest fighter to join the battle in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. While this new world warrior might look like Evil Ryu at first glance, he’s actually a completely different incarnation of evil. Over the course of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition‘s story, Ryu learned to calm his emotions, spelling an end to his evil counterpart. That energy that used to overtake the series star has instead taken physical form as Kage, and he’s out for revenge.

Kage’s main focus in Street Fighter lore is taking out the warriors that Ryu clashed with most often. That means clashes with Sagat and Akuma among others, both of which you can see in the character introduction Capcom posted to YouTube. You can also see Kage perform all his techniques to his former vessel, as Ryu takes some bloody hits with a well-timed Critical Art and several other devastating attacks.

Gameplay-wise, Kage plays pretty similarly to Evil Ryu from Street Fighter IV, but there are some differences. As you can see in the trailer, your standing Hadoken is tweaked slightly and your air Hadoken goes up horizontally. Additionally, there’s been a downgrade to this Ryu’s Hurricane Kick, as it only delivers a single devastating blow. As for more flashy moves, Kage has Evil Ryu’s axe kick, a Raging Demon (complete with badass pose) and the signature aerial uppercut maneuver.

Kage costs $5 or 100,000 Fight Money. His release marks the beginning of Season 4, although there is no corresponding character pass as of yet. Capcom stated they’d have more to share about this in 2019. Considering some of the controversies they’ve been courting recently concerning Street Fighter, it’s probably best to avoid any monetization talk at all until there’s some good news to share.