#shotos

So I've been thinking a lot about the Street Fighter world recently. Okay. You got me. I think a lot about it normally, but I'm especially SF-charged with the recent Summer Update. I've been watching people bitch about Luke and wildly theorize how he fits into SF6 and the story as whole. And it's made me wonder about some very important things about the universe. Like how salty is Crimson Viper about Laura and Ken? They just casually do what her advanced suit is capable of. I mean if Mel just shows up one day doing thunder knuckles and fire kicks from exposure to his dad and friends; she's gotta just go home and flip a table in front of Lauren, right? Jokes aside. You saw the title. This is about Sean. A character often brought up on this blog. Specifically talking about him today because I've referenced the UDON story 'Sibling Rivalry' with a few friends recently. If you've never read this story, you should check it out. Even though it's marketed as a 'Laura' story, it's very much a Sean one. And it gives us some very good clarity on just how Sean became driven to learn from Ken. Now for those of you who have read this story already and also played V's 'A Shadow Falls' story mode, you're likely sitting here going "UDON isn't canon! And it's directly contradicted by the V story where we see Sean meet Ken for the first time!" And you know once upon a time, I actually would have said you were 100% right. But recently...there's a few things that, after putting some serious thought into it? I've reconsidered. First off, UDON definitely isn't canon from a timeline aspect. But from a character motivation one? That can be argued. It's done a pretty good job conveying the multiple personalities within the world and even ADDING context to characters we really wouldn't get otherwise. Basically? Until Capcom gives more evidence for a lot of it's deeper lore, it's been one of the best measuring sticks we have for how these fighters are in their day to day. Which brings me neatly to Sibling Rivalry.

I don't want to spoil too much, because like I said it's a very good read. But basically what we learn here is that Sean is pretty damn decent in the family's fighting style. However this is basically piss to Laura, who has mastered the style so well she's started to add her own spin to things. She brutally gives Sean a lesson in how not to be a basic bitch, how to stop being rigid and 'by the textbook' which is ultimately what makes up his mind on seeking Ken and learning his style instead. Notice I said 'Make up his mind' instead of 'Being Inspired.' See, the end of this comic can come off as Sean seeing Ken for the first time, therefore adding one large ass contradiction to the V story that just immediately dismisses it as being relevant to the games at all. But upon revaluation, I think that's more OUR interpretation instead of what's being conveyed. Let's think back to 'A Shadow Falls.' (I know you don't want to, but bear with me.) A lot of us Sean fanboys were understandably irritated when Ken shows up and saves his life. We assumed this would be 'The Sakura Moment.' The point in time were Sean is so impressed, so stirred by Ken's skills that he vows to be his student. But he shows none of that. In fact Sean acts like Ken is just some average joe off the street who stepped in to make sure he didn't die. But hear me out on this - what if to Sean he was just some average joe that came off the street?? We're all well aware that now - as it stands - Sean firmly grew up in Brazil. (Sao Paulo seemingly.) Ken is bigshot in America. We don't know if that translates for worldwide. And now in the past five years we've come to understand that Sean ALSO grew up in a household that promoted him and his siblings to rep a very Brazilian martial art. Because of this, Sean likely didn't even know who the hell Ken was when he came kicking in. And get this: Sean might not have even liked martial arts period at this point in time. Why do I say that? Well let's review what we seen about Sean in V at this point: He's shown sitting next to a basketball (A reference that he played for his team in highschool) and he's generally seen playing his CPSP handheld. Add onto the fact that Laura uses their martial art to (one assumes) bully him on a daily basis, Sean has likely just been checking into Jujitsu Lessons with their grandfather out of duty; not passion. He's got clear other interests and he gets annoyed that his sister doesn't practice their family art in the strictest sense. Sean clearly views what he knows of martial arts as a 'job' more than 'hobby' during this period. And up until the moment that Ken saves his life? Has probably really thought of it as nothing more. There's even an interesting 3rd Strike Sean quote that actually confirms this theory: "Now I understand why they fight! This feeling is incredible!" I find it strange that Sean would only experience this feeling so much later in the Street Fighter timeline. Especially since it's established that his grandfather has been teaching him far before this. But it makes perfect sense if you consider he hadn't been passionate about fighting up UNTIL this moment. This is the thought process I started to delve down into when thinking about this. We've all made assumptions about Sean. (Some of us wildly more than others.) We figured that Sean's first meeting was 'insta-inspiration' because that's how most disciples are displayed in fiction. Characters like Deku from My Hero start their story with hero worshipping their soon to be teacher. But another less done take is that sometimes a person will introduce a positive aspect to another and then there's a gradual build to the admiration of the first person. This would definitely fit with what Sibling Rivalry shows us. Sean hits the wall that is Laura once more. But then he sees Ken and he remembers the positivity of him saving his life. If there is one shot for martial arts not to be hell in his world, Ken is it. Boom. This uncanon UDON story can still fit in with the regular timeline. No one asked me to but I did it anyway!

So we're done right? No. We're not done. Because what if I told you that Sean might not actually admire Ken as a person at all? "You've fucking lost it, Visory," I hear a lot of you say. Maybe. Jury is still out on that. But lemme point your attention to again what we know so far. Let's bump the assumptions because honestly right now saying Sean worships Ken is basically THAT. We know this if we contrast people like Sakura and Menat - two characters that constantly reference their objects of inspiration. Several times, they've made it known they want to be JUST like Ryu/Rose at a point in the future. Not just in fighting, but in likeness. They admire the fuck out of them - they're their idols after all. But what lines do we have for Sean about his idolizing of Ken? "I did it, master! I beat my first opponent!" "I must learn more. Where is Ken?" "Master! One more match please!" "My master was right... I have to improve myself with every battle!" Oh right. He has none. "But Visory!" I hear you say again. Damn you guys are yappy in my imagination. "Eliza directly says Sean is a hero worshipper in an UDON comic! And you just said earlier that it counts as far as character motivation goes!" And to that I say 'Well shit. You certainly remembered an obscure panel to call me the fuck out, didn't you?'