Yesterday, we took a look at the anguished faces of Street Fighter IV world warriors Abel, Rufus, Crimson Viper, Ken, and Dhalsim.
Today, we continue our “Street Fighter IV: Faces of Pain” series with El Fuerte, Balrog, Guile, Zangief, and Ryu. Hit the jump for the screens, but beware — this stuff isn’t for the squeamish. These guys are getting hurt, and getting hurt is not funny.
Unless Zangief is involved; then it’s hilarious.
El Fuerte
Fulfilling the “Mexican wrestler in a fighting game” mandate set forth by the ESRB (what, you didn’t hear of this?), El Fuerte relies on his speed and flashy style to best his opponents. The guy can also sell moves better than Ric Flair, a man whose eyes have never popped out of his head.
Balrog
Here we have an ex-boxer, barred from the sport for causing permanent injury to his opponents. Better suited a Shadaloo enforcer, Balrog can pummel and smash at his leisure. He can also remain remarkably calm when taking a claw shot to the nuts. Seriously, look at how passive he is!
Guile
He’s a classic Street Fighter character that’s made appearances in well over ten fighting games. And Guile’s hair remains as flawless as ever. How he does it, we’ll probably never know.
Zangief
For a guy who fights bears for fun, Zangief sure does look surprised when another human being takes a shot at him in a street fight. With all of that close-range fighting he needs to do (grapples are his specialty, after all), expect to see the Russian’s face contorting in pain quite often.
Ryu
What else is there to say about Ryu that hasn’t already been said? The man arguably single-handedly popularized the words “hadoken” and “shoryuken” (don’t let Ken hear that), and burned Sagat’s chest with an uppercut. This guy can make all of the faces he wants when getting nailed; he earned it.
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Check back tomorrow for part III of our “Street Fighter IV: Faces of Pain” series, where we’ll look at Vega, Sagat, M Bison, Chun Li, and Blanka.
