When Sheng Long (The Rumor) Became An Actual Character Called Gouken In "Street Fighter IV"

I remembered playing Super Street Fighter IV on our PS3. Before that, I remembered saving up for a PS3 some time after Mortal Kombat (2011) came out but I felt needs came first. What I didn't realize (at first) was that Gouken was actually born from something from my childhood - the rumored character known as SHENG LONG.

Back then, I didn't have a Super NES or a Sega system. I only had a PS1 back in high school which I often used as an escape from reality. Yeah, high school sucks under the old system! My grades did drop badly and my parents had to monitor my gaming addiction. College came and I had my computer game addiction under control. I may have not graduated with honors (since I took a short-term computer course to learn basic skills) but I never repeated any subject. The PS1 was still there, we soon had a PS2 bought under discount, and maybe I'm thankful I didn't have all the cool stuff as a child. I decided to buy some PS2 games that contained the games I wanted to play as a child. Super Street Fighter II Turbo was part of a collection disk that also had Street Fighter III: Third Strike. 

I decided to explore the hoax which said a certain character had all the moves. Another was the mistranslation of Sheng Long. I remembered having an international marketing subject that talked about localization between countries. It's only normal that some changes were made when Street Fighter got localized for Americans. The name M. Bison was originally Balrog's, Vega's original name was Balrog (which means fiery demon), and M. Bison's original name is Vega (the brightest star of the constellation). Capcom was most likely afraid of lawsuits from Mike Tyson because Balrog had the appearance the name meant Mike Bison. Calling Balrog as Bison in the original makes sense because his attacks are named after the buffalo. Localizations tend to make mistakes every now and then. 

Who remembers this infamous mistranslation? Earlier localizations between Japan and America tend to change the MEANINGFUL dialogue too much. For example, those who can understand Japanese might realize Serges' dialogue in Megaman X2 says something different before he dies. The dialogue in the localization Megaman X2 has him saying, "The prophecy must be fulfilled." However, the Japanese dialogue in Rockman X2 tells you, "Such regret to be defeated by a memento of Dr. Light!" That hidden gem made fans assume that Serges is Dr. Wily reborn as a Reploid or a robot with Dr. Wily's memories. Yet, the American localization seemed to have just kept people guessing. I guess there were some reasons behind these differences. It's no surprise that Sheng Long was inserted instead of the, later, CORRECTED, Dragon Punch, translation. Though, a simple Google search will tell you that Shoryuken means Rising Dragon Fist. Ken can either mean fist or punch. Hadoken means Wave Fist. I guess the names Ryu and Ken were based on the fact both did the HadoKEN and the Sho-RYU-KEN. Ryu mastered the Hadoken better than Ken. Ken mastered the Shoryuken better than Ryu. The distinction between the two is there. I still prefer Ryu over Ken.

I guess some game developers just love to leak out false secrets. Mortal Kombat was infamous for that then they made the lies into reality. Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks made some lies real such as the hidden fight with Ermac (a bonus boss) at the Warrior Shrine (which was erroneously relocated at the Wushi Academy than Shang Tsung's Island), the Living Forest eating people up (and the Game Over here is that brutal), and the Dead Pool's gory hook impalement. The reboot game did some of it such as when Ermac is fought at the first tournament, the Living Forest stage fatality after SO LONG, and how Skarlet became a DLC character. Street Fighter was no different. Street Fighter IV was practically a remake of Street Fighter II with more characters and new mechanics. I guess that's why Sheng Long was finally brought to life under a new name - GOUKEN!

Gouken is revealed to be the brother of AKUMA (who was a bonus final boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo) AND the master of Ryu and Ken. Just think what if Ryu really said, "You must beat Gouken to stand a chance." It would make sense because Gouken IS Sheng Long and to stand a chance - you must defeat Ryu's and Ken's master. Ryu finds his master Gouken supposedly killed by Akuma. Ryu chases Akuma during the Street Fighter Alpha series to avenge his master. Ryu just won the first tournament, events before the second tournament (Alpha series) had him pursue Gouken, and they fought during the end of the second tournament after Bison was supposedly destroyed. Yet, Bison somehow survived in another cloned body which the Dolls probably served as a decoy. Gouken became a secret fight if you fulfilled certain requirements such as having a certain number of perfect wins, super finish, and no continues. It's something not that easy to do even if the CPU cheating has been toned down.

I think why Sheng Long was renamed Gouken (for both versions) is this. Sheng Long is Chinese for Shoryuken. Sheng Long is a CHINESE name. Gouken is a Japanese name. It wouldn't make sense to name Gouken as Sheng Long unless he was a Chinese guy stuck in Japan. I think the idea of Gouken being a Chinese guy stuck in Japan can work. I would've probably had it that Sheng Long learned to mix Japanese and Chinese martial arts - something that would beat traditional martial arts. Akuma would probably be a renegade Chinese guy in Japan. I think Capcom could've worked that kind of plot twist. Instead, they decided to get rid of the name Sheng Long while making him a real character known as Gouken. I guess they didn't want to inconvenience viewers with that plot twist. 

Either way, 1992 and 2008 has been some time. That would mean it took 16 YEARS before the character ACTUALLY became actualized. Sheng Long was a fictional thought but never became reality for the Street Fighter canon. I guess fan demand brought him to the roster. Though, I would've probably been a little more open if a powered-up, NPC version of Gouken were available as a bonus boss like they did with Bison in Street Fighter Alpha 3 who was given his "Bison II" persona with a ridiculously powerful Final Psycho Crusher that was unavailable for human use (but was used as a Level 3 super in some incarnations).