Street Fighter 5’s first season 4 character, Kage, revealed at Capcom Cup

Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition’s fourth season kicks off today with a new character, Kage. Capcom revealed the new fighter, described as “the physical embodiment of the evil spirit, ‘Satsui no Hado,’” after today’s Capcom Cup finals.

Kage is not the Evil Ryu, despite the fact that he’s an evil Ryu doppelgänger, but something else. Here’s how Capcom describes the new character:

Kage, meaning “shadow,” is the physical embodiment of the evil spirit, “Satsui no Hado,” that could hypothetically overtake Ryu and turn him into the character Evil Ryu. Street Fighter V fans will recall Ryu overcame the “Satsui no Hado” in the General Story against Necalli, and regained control of his former self. “Satsui no Hado” is now back, and instead of overtaking Ryu’s body has now found a way to manifest into its own physical form.

And here’s a bit more on the Satsui no Hado, in case you’re unaware of the story of Street Fighter 5, from the Capcom Unity blog:

The Satsui no Hado is a dark force tied to the more sinister aspects of the human soul, including the hunger to survive, destroy, and conquer. Those who learn to control it become nearly unstoppable, but at the cost of their humanity. Akuma is one of these beings. In the past, Ryu was constantly struggling with keeping the Satsui no Hado at bay. If he was hypothetically unable to control it, Evil Ryu would manifest and bring a dark obsession to the otherwise peaceful Ryu. However, after the events of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Ryu was able to overcome the Satsui no Hado’s temptation to ensure Evil Ryu would never see the light.

However, the Satsui no Hado living within Ryu became sentient and would rise as the entity known as Kage, meaning “shadow” in Japanese. Kage lives to prove Ryu is nothing without him and seeks to challenge Akuma and Sagat, two of Ryu’s most notorious rivals. Will Ryu succumb to Kage’s schemes?

Kage is available for purchase on PlayStation 4 and Steam starting today for $5.99 or 100,000 Fight Money, Street Fighter 5’s in-game currency.

Capcom also released a gameplay video today that dives into Kage’s moveset.

Kage shares some techniques (or variations on) Ryu, Akuma and Evil Ryu’s moves. He can perform a hadoken, but only the airborne version of the move will manifest in the form of a fireball. However, he can also perform a Shakunetsu Hadoken, which is akin to Akuma’s red fireball. Kage also has the shoryuken uppercut and a spinning kick, known as the kurekijin, which only rotates a single time. Kage also has Evil Ryu’s ax kick, the ryusokyaku.

Kage’s V-triggers include the Taigyaku Mudo, which lets him teleport and powers up his V-skill, and Rikudo Osatsu, a move that launches him into the sky and then crashing into the ground. The new fighter’s Critical Arts include a powerful version of his shoryuken and the Shun Goku Satsu, a Kage-specific version of Akuma’s Raging Demon attack.

For a closer look at Kage, check out the gallery below.