Sheng Long is a character
hoax
A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...
related to the ''
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' series, created by ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The m ...
'' (''EGM'') as an
April Fools'
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may b ...
prank in 1992 (in an issue published mid-February). The joke, based upon a mistranslation that suggested the existence of a character named Sheng Long in the
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
fighting game
A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
''
Street Fighter II
is a fighting game developed by Capcom and originally released for arcades in 1991. It is the second installment in the ''Street Fighter'' series and the sequel to 1987's ''Street Fighter''. It is Capcom's fourteenth game to use the CP Syst ...
'', described a method to fight the character in the game. After other publications reprinted the details as fact without verifying its legitimacy, the Sheng Long hoax spread worldwide.
As a result of discussion revolving around the possibility of the character's appearance in ''
Street Fighter III
is a fighting video game in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1997. The game's name as it appears on the cabinet is ''Three: A New Generation of Street Fighters''. ''Street Fighter III'' w ...
'' during the game's development, ''EGM'' revisited the joke in 1997, printing an updated version of the hoax for the title while establishing a backstory and appearance for the character in the process.
As a character and a hoax, Sheng Long has been described as one of the most famous and well-known legends related to video gaming by publications such as
GameDaily
GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States.
It was launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads. The site changed its business model from a flat fee ...
and
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
. The hoax influenced the creation of both
Akuma and
Gouken
is a fictional character in the ''Street Fighter'' video game series. He is the martial arts master who trained Ryu and Ken, as well as the elder brother and former training partner of Akuma. Gouken is usually depicted as a bearded man who wear ...
as characters in the ''Street Fighter'' series, with the former appearing in ''
Super Street Fighter II Turbo'' as a secret
boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, ...
. Fan appeal for the character affected later Capcom titles, with public requests for the inclusion of Sheng Long in an actual video game leading to the consideration of his inclusion in the ''
Street Fighter: The Movie'' video game and years later resulting in the appearance of Gouken as both a secret
boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, ...
and playable character in ''
Street Fighter IV
is a 2008 fighting game published by Capcom, who also co-developed the game with Dimps. It was the first original main entry in the series since '' Street Fighter III'' in 1997, a hiatus of eleven years.
The coin-operated arcade game version wa ...
''.
Origin
The name Sheng Long comes from a mistranslated portion of the name of a
special move performed by the series' main character,
Ryu; the characters ''shō ryū'' (
昇 龍, ''rising dragon'') from ''Shōryūken'' (昇龍拳), Ryu's flying uppercut, are ''shēng lóng'' in Chinese
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
. This was carried into one of Ryu's quotes to defeated opponents in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
localization of the 1991 arcade game ''Street Fighter II'', changing the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
quote to "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." As a result, players were given the impression that Ryu was referring to a person instead of the attack.
The
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
(SNES)
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
of ''Street Fighter II'', released shortly after the April Fools' prank, changed the translation to "''You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance.''"
However, the English instruction manual for the SNES ''Street Fighter II'' referred to "Master Sheng Long" as Ryu and
Ken
Ken or KEN may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer.
* ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film.
* ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine.
* Ken Masters, a main character in ...
's teacher. Instruction manuals for later ports to the SNES and
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...
consoles replaced all references to Sheng Long by referring to Ryu and Ken as disciples of the "
Shotokan
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throu ...
school of karate". Sheng Long would later make an appearance in the 1993
Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included '' ...
as Ryu and Ken's master, Shenlong was poisoned by Ryu's clone created by
M. Bison
M. Bison, also known as the Dictator (for international tournaments), is a fictional character created by Capcom. First introduced in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'', he is a recurring character in the ''Street Fighter'' series of figh ...
, the fighting Nida accuses Ryu of having poisoned the master. A character named
Gouken
is a fictional character in the ''Street Fighter'' video game series. He is the martial arts master who trained Ryu and Ken, as well as the elder brother and former training partner of Akuma. Gouken is usually depicted as a bearded man who wear ...
was later introduced in Masaomi Kanzaki's 1993
''Street Fighter II'' manga as Ryu and Ken's sensei and was adapted into the series' backstory in ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo''.
Original ''EGM'' April Fools 1992
The mistranslation spawned rumors about the existence of a Sheng Long character in the game,
and players sent letters to
video game publications attempting to confirm the character's existence. In the April 1992 issue of the video game magazine ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'', a method was "revealed" to reach Sheng Long in the arcade game. The reporter gave an "Honorable Mention" to "W.A. Stokins" ("waste tokens") of "Fuldigen, HA" ("fooled again, ha") and claimed that the character could be found if a player using Ryu did not let the character suffer any damage during the entire game, and upon reaching the final match against
M. Bison
M. Bison, also known as the Dictator (for international tournaments), is a fictional character created by Capcom. First introduced in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'', he is a recurring character in the ''Street Fighter'' series of figh ...
could neither hit Bison nor let him inflict any damage until the time limit expired, thus ending the round in a draw. After repeating this for ten consecutive rounds Sheng Long would then appear out of nowhere and throw Bison off of the edge screen and out of the way. The game's on-screen timer would then stop at 99 seconds, resulting in a "fight to the death" between Ryu and Sheng Long.
Sheng Long was stated to feature the special moves of all the fighters, such as
Chun-Li
is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' video game series. The first ever female playable character to appear in a fighting game to gain mainstream recognition, she first appeared in ''Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in 1 ...
's "Spinning Bird Kick" and
Sagat's "Tiger Shot", but inflict more damage. In addition, the character was supposedly faster than any other fighter in the game, negating the pause between projectile attacks. Other attacks mentioned included an air-based throw attack and a "Dragon Punch" shown to consume his fist in flames to represent his greater power.
Publications from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and other countries reprinted the trick without verifying it or asking ''EGM''s permission. A Hong Kong comic based on ''Street Fighter II'' by Jademan Comics altered their story to include the character.
Players tried unsuccessfully for weeks to unlock Sheng Long,
until it was revealed in the December issue of ''EGM'' that it was a hoax, with the staff stating they were surprised at the worldwide coverage the joke had received.
''EGM'' April Fools 1997
During the development of ''Street Fighter III'', fans discussed the prospect of the character's inclusion in the new title.
''EGM'' perpetuated the hoax again in 1997 by claiming that Sheng Long was in the game, providing character artwork depicting his appearance and new screenshots. Unlike the first article, they did not finish their explanation of how to reach him, ending the article with "To reach him, you will need at least six perfects and..." Additionally, the words "April Fools" were spelled out in the first letter of the first ten sentences of the article.
The character's design was expanded on greatly in the article; Sheng Long was now stated to be the American name for the character Gouken, much like Akuma is the American name for Gouki (which would appear in the ''
2nd Impact'' revision of the game). His profile listed in the article paralleled Gouken's, but instead of Akuma killing him he was knocked into a raging river. The result gave him a scar over his eye, and a desire to get revenge on his brother. To this end, he revived several "killing techniques" of his fighting style, which included an air version of Akuma's red fireball that knocked his opponent down, a double ground high-low ''
Hadouken
The is a special attack from Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series of fighting games. Game designer Takashi Nishiyama credits an energy attack called Hadouho (lit. the "Wave Motion Gun"), from the 1970s anime ''Space Battleship Yamato'', as the o ...
'', an unblockable ''Denjin-Shinryuu-Ken'' super attack that would shock the opponent, an air rapid ''Hadouken'' super attack akin to a move used by
Ibuki, and a third super attack intended to be a stronger version of the ''Shun Goku Satsu''.
''EGM'' reported that despite this being the second Sheng Long joke, it was convincing enough that Capcom of America staff called Capcom of Japan asking why they had not been told that the character was in the game.
Legacy
Sheng Long is cited as an influential factor for the ''Street Fighter'' series, earning mention in articles such as GameDaily's "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" list, in which the character placed nineteenth despite not being an actual character.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
placed it second on their list of the "Top Ten Gaming April Fools' Pranks", noting it as having the biggest impact of all of ''Electronic Gaming Monthly''s April Fools jokes.
UGO.com
UGO Entertainment, Inc. was a website that provided coverage of online media in entertainment, targeting males aged 18–34. The company was based in New York, New York, United States.
History
The company started in 1997 as Unified Gamers Online ...
named it one of video gaming's greatest
urban legend
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
s, noting its impact upon the series' success. Capcom's community manager Seth Killian described the hoax as "a part of gaming history", comparing him to the
Konami Code
The Konami Code ( ja, コナミコマンド, ''Konami Komando'', "Konami command"), also commonly referred to as the Contra Code and sometimes the 30 Lives code, is a cheat code that appears in many Konami video games, as well as some non-Konam ...
.
However,
GamesRadar
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
listed it as one of the video game legends that they never want to hear again, stating that while it was a good prank at first, Sheng Long has gone from "sly wink to the fans" to "
Borat
''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' (Kazakh language, Kazakh / Russian language, Russian: ''Борат'') (also stylized as ''BORДT'', or simply ''Borat'') is a 2006 mockumentary black come ...
t-shirt." The rumor is often credited with inspiring the creation of Akuma, a character who debuted as a hidden final boss in ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'', due to their similarities, although Capcom has never confirmed nor denied this. As in the hoax, the process of fighting Akuma would require certain achievements met during the game, with Akuma interrupting the final match of the game between the player and M. Bison. The similarity was nodded at in the
high-definition remake of ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'', in which an
Xbox 360 Achievement titled "Sheng Long is in Another Castle" (which is a pun of a well-known phrase in the early ''
Super Mario Bros.
is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...
'' games: "''Thank You Mario! But our
princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
is in another castle!''") could be earned for defeating Akuma in the game's arcade mode.
''Street Fighter: The Movie''
Sheng Long is mentioned four times in the 1995 arcade game ''
Street Fighter: The Movie'' in the endings for Ryu, Ken, and Akuma. In each, he is stated as the master of Ryu and Ken and Akuma's brother, but never stated as dead. Despite the repeated mention, Sheng Long does not appear in the game. On January 30, 2007, the game's designer, Alan Noon, appeared on Shoryuken.com's forum and discussed aspects of the game cut during development, among them a playable Sheng Long character.
According to Noon, talk had circulated about adding extra characters that were not in the film. As the Sheng Long hoax and Akuma's debut in ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'' were fairly recent at the time, the designers asked for
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
's permission to add both characters into the game. Capcom approved the addition of Akuma, but denied the inclusion of Sheng Long. However, Capcom later unexpectedly approved the addition of Sheng Long. Noon designed Sheng Long's appearance for the title, giving him black
gi pants and a long, green, padded/quilted, sleeveless Gi style top which was tied off with a black beltmandarin style, long white braided hair,
Fu Manchu moustache
A Fu Manchu moustache or simply Fu Manchu, is a full, straight moustache extending from under the nose past the corners of the mouth and growing downward past the clean-shaven lips and chin in two tapered "tendrils", often extending past the jaw ...
, a thick black ribbon over his eyes due to being blinded by Akuma and one hand taking the form of a dragon's claw, described as a result of his power being so advanced, that he began to physically manifest dragon like attributes. Capcom approved the design and Luis Mangubat, an artist from the development team (who would later work at
Midway Games
Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...
), posed as Sheng Long. However, the character was left unfinished because of time constraints.
''Street Fighter IV''
In an interview in the January 2008 Issue of ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'', ''Street Fighter IV'' producer Yoshinori Ono stated "Let's just say that
okesthat your magazine have reported in the past might find their way into the game as fan service." Executive editor Shane Bettenhausen took this to mean the appearance of Sheng Long in ''Street Fighter IV'', though added that if the character did appear in the game, it would be Gouken. When asked in a later interview by
1UP.com regarding the possibility of Sheng Long's appearance in the title, Ono replied "Are you coming to the
Tokyo Game Show
, commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. The ...
? How about you ask me that question again then." Capcom later revealed Gouken as a character in ''Street Fighter IV'', with Ono stating in an interview with ''
Play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
'' magazine that his inclusion in the title was in response to fans requesting Sheng Long's presence in the game.
On the first of April 2008, Capcom announced Sheng Long as a "secret, unlock-able character" in their Japanese development blog for ''Street Fighter IV'' and later posted in their official US blog accompanied with a silhouette of the character. The post took the tone of a Capcom PR representative trying to announce a character without giving away too many details, hinting that "Sheng Long is Ryu's..." then holding back and saying to wait for an official character announcement. Similar to the original ''EGM'' joke, the post lists the method to unlock him as requiring the player to win every round as Ryu without taking any damage whatsoever and then perform his "Shoryuken" move during the final boss fight. Reception to the joke the third time was negative and included criticism from
1UP.com. The following day, the Japanese website confirmed that it was indeed a joke and explained the origin of Sheng Long while adding "Sheng-Long is still now and always will be, truly a character of legend."
In March 2017, 25 years after the ''EGM'' article was published, Capcom gave Sheng Long a joke profile in the Shadaloo Combat Research Institute part of their Capcom Fighters Network website. Satirizing the Sheng Long rumor, it states that he became a living legend, appears after consecutive draw games, his moves are impossible to counterattack and always register as counter hits and that anyone that sees him will die after 24 hours. The artwork resembles his appearance in ''Electronic Gaming Monthly''
's ''Street Fighter III'' April fools article, except instead of long hair and a beard this version sports a long mohawk and a mustache forked upwards. Shortly after the page was removed.
See also
*
Ermac
Ermac is a fictional character in the '' Mortal Kombat'' fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Debuting as an unlockable character in ''Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3'' (1995), he is an amalgam of the souls of deceased ...
References
External links
FightingStreet.com article on Sheng Long
{{good article
April Fools' Day jokes
Fictional karateka
Fictional Chinese people
Male characters in video games
Street Fighter
Video game characters introduced in 1992
Video game hoaxes
Urban legends