Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken

Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
Ken using Shippu Jinraikyaku and Shinryuken respectively.
User	Ken
Universe	Street Fighter

As with Ryu, Ken has two completely unique Final Smashes, depending on how far he is from his opponent. Ken's Final Smashes are named Shippu Jinraikyaku (疾風迅雷脚, Hurricane Swift Thunder Leg), a rapid series of kicks, and Shinryuken (神龍拳, God Dragon Fist), a powerful uppercut.

Overview

Shippu Jinraikyaku

If Ken uses his Final Smash while near an opponent, he will declare, "Gotcha!" (or もらった!) and use the Shippu Jinraikyaku (疾風迅雷脚, Hurricane Swift Thunder Leg). Ken kicks his opponent on the ground several times, announcing the attack while kicking, before beginning to carry them upward with a rapid helicopter kick. The move ends with one final intense kick to the opponent. Similar to Shin Shoryuken, if the move has enough knockback to KO the opponent, an intense orange background from Street Fighter IV will cover the entire screen, while the final kick causes black ink to surround the opponent while violent action lines focus on the Final Smash's victim.

This move will ignore edges entirely, continuing past them even during the grounded section. Since neither the activation hitbox nor the first 4 kicks trap the opponent into the move, although the 4 kicks use the position vector function to control opponents' knockback, it is possible for opponents to drop out of or be knocked out of the move before the fifth hit. If the fifth hit does not connect, the attack stops prematurely.

The final hit is comparatively weak for a Final Smash, to compensate for Ken's significant forward movement during the move; however on larger stages this results in the move being less effective overall. If multiple opponents are hit by the move, the KO effects will be dependent on the front opponent. The move can also occasionally KO the front opponent without the KO effects occurring.

If the move connects very close to a blast zone, Ken will still move forwards along with his victim, which can cause him to KO his victim and then himself since the move will physically move both fighters into the blast zone. However, if the opponent is KO'd by the blast zone during the first four kicks, Ken will automatically cancel the rest of the move, which will prevent him from KOing himself.

Shinryuken

If Ken is not close enough to any opponents, he uses the Shinryuken (神龍拳, God Dragon Fist). Upon inputting the command, Ken shouts, "Take this! Shinryuken!" and jumps up into the air with a powerful spinning Shoryuken, causing a large geyser of fire to erupt around him. Any fighter caught in the geyser will be hit multiple times, before being launched away with great force. Mashing the attack or special button causes more damage to be done as a reference to an identical mechanic present in the Street Fighter series.

Canceling

Thanks to his special move canceling mechanic, Ken can cancel many of his moves into Shippu Jinraikyaku. By pressing the special button after connecting with one of his standard attacks or most special moves (i.e. all except Focus Attack) Ken will cancel the endlag of an attack straight into a Shippu Jinraikyaku. It is impossible to cancel attacks into Shinryuken, as it can only be activated when opponents are outside of attack range.

Instructional quote

Move List

Ken twirls and rises up with a Shinryuken, dealing damage to foes and tossing them into the air. If a foe is close to Ken, the attack becomes a Shippu Jinraikyaku, instead unleashing a flurry of kicks.

Origin

Similar to Ryu, Street Fighter Alpha is the first game where Ken could wield multiple Super Combos per battle. Street Fighter Alpha 3, particularly, is the first canon Street Fighter game where he can use both Shinryuken and Shippu Jinraikyaku in the same fight. Incidentally, Ken's properly-executed Shinryuken Ultra Combo in Street Fighter IV combines an initial uppercut with a multi-kick combo ending with the Shinryuken, conceptually combining the two moves.

Shippu Jinraikyaku

Ken performing Shippu Jinraikyaku as seen in the Street Fighter III series.

The Shippu Jinraikyaku is a series of rapid kicks, finishing with an airborne Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. It was first introduced as the third of his Super Arts in the Street Fighter III series, and has since become one of his most well-known moves. In games that use multi-level Super Combo gauges, Shippu Jinraikyaku is typically Ken's most expensive, but strongest, technique. The move's dramatic final kick is similar to Ken's Guren Senpukyaku and Guren Enjinkyaku, a pair of similar moves used respectively in Street Fighter IV and V.

The Shippu Jinraikyaku was famously used by Daigo Umehara in his EVO 2004 matchup against Justin Wong's Chun-Li; in the final match of the 1-1 set, Daigo, with mere pixels of health, parried Justin's Hoyokusen perfectly, and won the match by countering with Shippu Jinraikyaku. This moment, colloquially referred to as "Evo Moment 37", was even referenced in Ken's reveal trailer, where Ken perfect shields Little Mac's attack and then follows up with Shippu Jinraikyaku.

Shinryuken

Ken performing Shinryuken as seen in the Marvel Vs. Capcom series.

The Shinryuken is a rapid, spinning Shoryuken created and used exclusively by Ken. It debuted as one of his Super Combos in Street Fighter Alpha, and has remained one of his signature moves throughout the series. The Shinryuken becomes more powerful by mashing the kick button, which is carried over to Smash.

As confirmed by Masahiro Sakurai, Shin Shoryuken's appearance in Smash is based on its flame-shrouded depiction in the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

Gallery

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  Shippu Jinraikyaku as shown by the Move List in Ultimate.

Names in other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	疾風迅雷脚 / 神龍拳
English	Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
French	Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
German	Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
Spanish	Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
Italian	Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
Chinese	Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
Korean	Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
Dutch	Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken
Russian	Сиппу Дзинрайкяку / Синрюкен

Trivia

• Ken's Super Combos are wholly unique to him in-universe, but the first Marvel Vs. Capcom possessed a mechanic where Ryu could switch to Ken's moveset, allowing him to use both Shippu Jinraikyaku and Shinryuken. This served as a non-canon compromise for Ken's absence from that game.
• There is a rare glitch where, if the announcer announces "GAME!" right when the last hit of Shippu Jinraikyaku unleashes in a stamina match, the victory screen's background will be entirely black. It is unknown if Shin Shoryuken can achieve the same effect and it is also unknown if this glitch has been fixed.
• Shippu Jinraikyaku will never activate on the partner Ice Climber; instead, Ken will use Shinryuken, even when they are right next to Ken.