- Capcom Background -
Dan Hibiki's background comes from a long line of resentment between two large gaming companies, SNK and Capcom. This may have began when SNK released "Art of Fighting" for the NeoGeo system. "Art of Fighting" is a fighting game that resembled Street Fighter in many ways ... but the similarities between Ryo Sakazaki (hero from Art of Fighting) and Ryu Hoshi (main character in Street Fighter) were too alike to be considered coincedental.
The day that Dan was born was when a Capcom artist drew this picture ...
... of Sagat holding the head of a beaten and bloody fighter. This was to make fun of SNK by placing the body of Ryo Sakazaki (orange gi, black t-shirt underneath) with the head of Robert Garcia (also a hero from Art of Fighting). This was the beginning of a long line of parody.
Street Fighter Alpha
Dan's first appearance in a video game was on Street Fighter Alpha. He was a secret character that could be selected by going to the Random Box and placing in the code Triangle, Circle, X, Square, then any button for the costume color. The first Capcom fighting game that introduced the taunt also introduced Dan. The only difference is that Dan could taunt as many times as he liked. Also, the first kick of Dankukyaku had Dan extend his foot.
Super Puzzle Fighter
Dan's next appearance was in this tetris type game that included not only Dan and various Street Fighters, but also fighters from Dark Stalkers and Cyberbots. In this game, however, Dan was given a big disadvantage in that Dan's counter gems were always red ... so if the opponent had a red gem in her/his possession, Dan would be in for a big hit. Dan was probably first considered a joke character here.
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Dan was granted more of a personality and fighting style in this game than in the last. He was selectable (as were all secret characters from SFA were) and was given the wide variety of taunts that he is known by, different voices for every taunt, including his Super Taunt (named Chohatsu Densetsu, Legendary Taunt, to mock Fatal Fury's Terry Bogard who's story is sometimes reffered to as Garou Densets, Legend of the Wolf) which would consume one level of combo energy. He also gained combo energy for the first time from regular taunts. The first kick from his Dankukyaku became a knee instead of an extended foot.
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Dan's first crossover role was in this game. He still has all of his moves from SFA2 with the exception of the Premium Sign. Dan would take out a picture of himself, sign it, show it to the opponent and throw it at him! ^_^ "Doon ta! That is for you!" (still unclear on what he says). Also, his Gadoken would ignore Super Armor which was pretty nice. Hissou Buriaken has instant vacuum ability and Koryurekka only hit twice for great damage. However, in this game, air combos were a good way to do damage. Dan had very limited combo ability giving him the disadvantage he always has. Chohatsu Densetsu (Super Taunt) looks slightly different. The Otoko Michi was first introduced in this game ... a kamikaze attack that uses three levels of combo energy and is performed like a backwards Raging Demon (Fierce, Short, Away, Jab, Jab). This would make Dan do a Raging Demon type move ... but the results would deal the opponent small damage, while Dan would be left with only one point of life left and no recoverable life. Very good for flashy finishes.
Pocket Fighter (Super Puzzle Gem Fighter Mini Mix)
Dan was absolutely hilarious in this game. Even Morrigan didn't hesitate to do her best impression of Dan Hibiki in his thumbs up stance. Dan was sort of a secret character in this game in that his select box wasn't visible ... but it was easy to figure out how to get the two secret characters (Dan and Akuma). In this game, Flashy Combo's were the way to get damage ... and they were easy to do, too. Dan's flashy combos consisted of him dressing up like Elvis, then impersonating a Japanese kareoke singer and singing his opponents until they turned to stone. "Aaaee! Choooo!" You would have to see the game to get the humor ^_^
Street Fighter Alpha 3
In this game, Dan has a slightly different stance than he does in alpha two in that he pumps a little higher ... other than that, he looks the same and has all of the same moves as he did in Alpha 2. He was able to perform his Dankukyaku in the air which made him more formidable. He also has a new super combo called the Mega Taunt that is pretty much like a Super Duper Taunt. It takes all three levels of combo energy. Dan would then be free to your control with two differences. First, you can't block while the combo is activated. Second, your attacks are replaced with taunts that can only be cancelled out of by other taunts. To pull this off, even with the AI, is legendary.
SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millenium
This game has a resemblance to Pocket Fighter in looks, and Street Fighter Alpha 3 in gameplay. Both SNK and Capcom decided to put away their differences and make a great game together ... although SNK produced this one on NeoGeo Pocket. Dan has all of his old moves from Alpha 3 with some having a little variation to them. The level 2 Shinkuu Gadoken impersonates Ryo's Haou Shokoken (also in this game), but goes a much shorter distance. Also, the level 2 Chohatsu Densetsu (super taunt) looks like the animated gif on the top of the page. Koryurekka at level 2 will give you three koryukens instead of the usual two. Hissou Buriaken at level 2 makes Dan give a barrage of hits to the opponent only for Dan to miss on the very last hit ... very funny and a great game ^_^
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Just like the previous crossover that he took part in with a few exceptions that give him a better advantage. First, his Dankukyaku can be performed in the air just like in Alpha 3. Second, they gave Dan air combo ability so he can deal a lot more damage. Third, Otoko Michi became the most powerful hyper combo in the game, having the potential to deal the opponent over 100 points of damage ... however, Dan still is left with only one point of life and no recoverable life. He is still learning the way of man ...