- "My fists'll give you amnesia!"
- —Rufus
- "You've fought the rest! Now try the best! (アイアム俺様！ 全米ナンバー・ワン Aiamu oresama! Zenbei nanbaa wan!?)"
- —Rufus (Street Fighter IV series)
Rufus (ルーファス Rūfasu?) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter IV. He is an obese American kung-fu fighter and self-professed rival to Ken Masters, despite the latter's unfamilarity with him.
Biography
Concept
Rufus was designed by Daigo Ikeno.[3] While previous Street Fighter titles relied almost solely on Capcom's Research and Development branch, the development team instead allowed other branches of the company to give input on the design of new characters, due to the influx of fan requests from outside Japan.[4] Rufus was designed based upon marketing research on what sorts of characters an American audience would enjoy playing,[5] and was one of several characters considered for inclusion during the game's development.[6]
Rufus' concept design was a complete opposite from his final. He was initially an African-American, thin, muscular and bald man named "King Cobra". He also had a sense of fashion, as he was drawn with a furred karate Gi, which would later be used for Ken as his alternate costume. Cobra was meant to be a more acrobatic counterpart to Ryu and Ken. His fighting style was intended to be "breakung-fu", mixing elements of kung fu with breakdancing, which the Street Fighter IV development team perceived as a fad in the United States at the time, and Ikeno developed the character's concept around it. Midway through the process of recording the character's lines, however, art director Takashi Kamei proposed that they have the character be overweight, an idea Ikeno agreed with.[7] As a result, Rufus was gradually changed completely, becoming more obese and turned into a blonde, long-haired white male, a design which Ikeno later admitted was in fact rushed.[8] The changed appearance surprised many of Capcom's staff members, including Hatano, who remarked "Wait, is that my character?"[9] Whether by coincidence or not, the "male fighter using Chinese martial arts mixed with breakdancing" idea would later be finalized with the creation of Jamie in Street Fighter 6.
Rufus' final appearance was chosen over his initial design because the developers felt he would "freak people out". Street Fighter IV's executive producer Yoshinori Ono likened his inclusion to that of Blanka in Street Fighter II, noting that Rufus' "over-the-top" design was intended to help set the game apart from the "really cool-looking but ultimately bland" characters of Tekken and Virtua Fighter.[6]
In an interview, Ono noted they made Rufus intentionally silly, adding that he could be called an "American Dan" in terms of being a joke character in the game's roster.[10] He later referred to Rufus as "quite grotesque to look at" when describing the new characters for the game.[11] Other Capcom staff members including former community manager Seth Killian have received the character warmly, noting Rufus as their favorite new character in the series.[5]
Street Fighter IV sound director Masayuki Endou developed the character's musical theme for the title with a "freewheeling spirit" in mind due to Rufus' motorcycle and personality, utilizing an American drummer and drum set for parts of the theme.[12] Feeling it would be an interesting approach, Hatano's recorded voice samples to be incorporated into the character's background music. The development team agreed, feeling that his voice gave the character presence and fit Rufus' overall image.[13]
The final concept art of Rufus seems to be inspired by Chris Farley's caricature in "Beverly Hills Ninja" and Bruce Lee's yellow jumpsuit from "The Game of Death". His overall appearance and concept (that of an overweight guy with long, blond hair, a beard and a love for motorcycles) could've been inspired by Michael Teutul from the reality show "American Chopper". One of Rufus' concept drawings in Street Fighter IV shows him with his hair down, bearing quite a resemblance to Michael's appearance. Another possible inspiration could have been MMA fighter Roy "Big Country" Nelson, who is also a trained American kung fu fighter known for his long hair, beard and a big belly.
Similar to how Dan is a parody of Ryo from SNK's Art of Fighting series, Rufus seems to be similar to Bob (who was introduced around the same time) from Namco's Tekken series, a point emphasized in Street Fighter X Tekken (explained below). Both are obese American martial artists with blond hair, have small amounts of facial hair, are incredibly fast for their size, have similar move sets and each a master of their respective fighting styles (self-taught kung-fu based on Snake style in the case of Rufus, freestyle karate in the case of Bob). Rufus' Messiah Kick and its mix up properties are exactly the same as one of Bob's attacks. However, their personalities are opposites, as Rufus is an opprobrious, aggressive, and impatient man who just wants to show America he is the best, while Bob is calm, serious, and thoughtful, and intentionally put on weight. In Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, Bob's Rage Art has a slight resemblance to Rufus' Ultra Combo attack Space Opera Symphony, both last blows ends with a diving punch.
When asked about the comparisons between Rufus and Bob, Ono emphasized that the characters were different in many regards, and while Bob represented a "cool fat guy", Rufus represented a "weird fat guy".[14]
Appearance
Rufus' basic appearance is that of a tall, morbidly obese man with blond hair in a braided ponytail and a mustache and beard. He wears yellow and black jumpsuit and black short-necked combat boots.
Rufus is depicted as a large, heavily obese blond male. His head is mostly bald, with a long braided ponytail jutting from the top, and a mustache extending down the sides of his mouth to his chin. His clothing consists of a yellow and black sleeveless jumpsuit with padded shoulders, with the closing straps left open due to his girth and exposing the center of his torso and lower abdominal hair. Black shoes cover his feet, while black fingerless gloves cover his hands and most of his forearms. His secondary outfit is similar, changing the jumpsuit to a dark blue and green version with sleeves and a raised collar, additionally removing the gloves and changing his hairstyle to a double ponytail. Other alternate designs were considered but rejected, amongst which included an Elvis impersonator appearance and martial artist attire. Rufus stands 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) tall, and weighs 185 kilograms (408 lb).
For Super Street Fighter IV, a third outfit intended to resemble the Chinese Jiang Shi was included, consisting of a long Chinese robe, black hat with his ponytail extruding from the top, yellow and black striped pants, and a yellow strip of paper meant to represent a sealing charm extending from the front of the hat and over his face.
The developers considered to have the charm able to be knocked off by an opponent's attacks, and as a result alter his attack patterns and power; however, they felt this overcomplicated the character, and instead abandoned the idea. Assistant producer Natsuki Shiozawa cited the outfit as one of her five favorites in the game, feeling that design suited his body well.
In his Shadaloo C.R.I. profile art, the colors of his outfit are switched (black and yellow), he has orange goggles on his head and yellow gloves.
Personality
Rufus is a loudmouthed, vituperative, and temperamental master of Kung-Fu, hailing from the U.S. Believing himself to be the strongest in America, he develops a personal hatred for Ken Masters, who carries that title officially. He notably tends to call Ken by his full name. He is often seen riding his motorcycle with his girlfriend, Candy, an attractive (but not very bright) brunette woman with a notably tacky fashion sense who seems to adore him and agree with his beliefs. Rufus is very combative, destructive, forceful, hasty, impatient, cantankerous, and quarrelsome, constantly jumping to conclusions to reach a goal, which often results in him sacrificing accuracy for speed. Rufus can be seen as Guile's opposite in representing Americans: albeit both display very muscular builds, Guile is generally more intelligent, delighted, certain, positive, patriotic, satisfying, trustworthy, enthusiastic, chivalrous, and athletic, while Rufus is loud, obnoxious, and argumentative.
Rufus is prone to loudmouthed rambling, often spouting off at the mouth continuously until someone cuts him off. Said rambling is usually about trivial things he notices about the characters, doting over Candy, giving random anecdotes, or mistaking several members of the cast for Ken Masters. In fact, his win quotes are so long they're normally impossible to read completely before the game transitions to the next screen. He's also prone to saying whatever random thoughts come to his mind, regardless of how rude they are (i.e. asking Dhalsim if he is an alien because of his Yoga power, and then giving his personal view of aliens before Dhalsim cuts him off). Most of the other fighters object to his constant talking whenever they defeat him, with some people getting annoyed of how much he speaks (i.e. Fei Long says: "No need for words. In fact, shut up already, will ya?").
Perhaps Rufus' most notable trait is his habit of mistaking certain characters for Ken (including Guile and Ryu); this also extends to females (like Cammy), and it also carries on in Street Fighter X Tekken.
Despite his goofy appearance and personality, he is a highly skilled and influential master of Kung-Fu, which even surprises several of the other characters. In fact, he actually gives some good advice to Fei Long in his win quote about being more calm and stoic in his movements while using Kung Fu instead of shouting with flashy moves (not that he practices it that much himself). He also seems to know quite a bit about sumo wrestling rules, and not just stereotypical rules, as he is the only one of three people (the others being Gouken and Dan) that actively points out that sumo is done in the ring, and what E. Honda is doing is against the sumo code itself.
Rufus also attributes his skills and fighting prowess to 'Mojo' and 'Charisma', two things he believes are required of a good fighter and that he claims to have ample of. His intelligence is questionable because of his odd conclusions that he is quick to jump to; additionally, Rufus has a terrible sense of direction, but always somehow reaches his destinations regardless as seen with him reaching both the South and North Pole ("I can be both on the top and the bottom of the world!"). In spite of this, he does have good instincts and insights, making him akin to a boastful but well-meaning fellow: many of his compliments in his win quotes are based on qualities he believes he has that he sees others have too, such as Zangief (the closest thing to a friend he has, based on their partnership and banter in Street Fighter X Tekken).
Character Relationships
Rufus is a loud mouth and inspires everyone else within the Street Fighter universe to comment on his lack of familiarity. Outside of Candy he doesn't seem to have any known acquaintances (excluding his non-canonical partnership with Zangief in Street Fighter X Tekken), although he does mention having one male friend in one of his generic win qoutes, though this individual remains unknown.
Ken
Rufus despises Ken because he is listed as America's Best Fighter and the fact he views Ken as a Spoonfed rich boy in general. He and Ken run into each other and fight, but he is defeated. Rufus has a tendency to blame his misfortunes on Ken. Ken however, doesn't appear to hate Rufus and seems to be more confused than upset by Rufus' hatred for him.
Candy
Rufus' girlfriend who adores him. Ever since he saved Candy from a "dine an' dash" incident in the past (according to his win-quote against Rose ) she has stood by his side and supports his goals. Apparently, Candy also likes Rufus' big stomach (which is heard in one of his win-quotes). Rose's winquote against Rufus also (un-enthusiastically) states that he "is destined to be with Candy".
Dhalsim
After seeing Dhalsim float doing yoga, they fight due to a misunderstanding with Rufus presuming he is an alien and Dhalsim resigning himself to a match to move ahead without further distractions. Rufus is the only person to make Dhalsim visibly annoyed.
Dee Jay
After Rufus meets Dee Jay, he assumes Dee Jay wants to be his new apprentice and fights to test him. Dee Jay seems to be quite fond of Rufus, if more akin to the way a person admires a musical instrument.
Story
Background
Rufus is an American motorcycle repair shop mechanic.[11] Not much is known about his past before the events of Street Fighter IV, except that he met his girlfriend Candy by beating up a waiter who was chasing her. Rufus describes this event in a win quote to Rose; "I'll never forget when I first met my girl. It was a rainy day in October and I was on my way home from a fight. Suddenly, this chick came outta nowhere an' was all like 'Help!' I guess she pulled a dine an' dash, so I beat up the waiter that was chasin' her!".
Rufus first became interested in martial arts after seeing an abundance of kung-fu flicks in his youth; this prompted him to take correspondence courses, and later ride his motorcycle around China, studying under various masters as he determines the fact from fiction. Also, Rufus is apparently a legend in the biker world, a fact he feels indifferent about.
Street Fighter IV
After reading an article praising Ken's status as America's best fighter, Rufus is, naturally, insulted. Candy suggests that he defeat Ken in front of an audience, making it clear who the best is. Rufus smiles and accepts his girlfriend's suggestion. He eventually finds the tournament and Ken, although the results of the fight are unknown. It is likely that Ken won the fight.
After the tournament, Rufus and Candy zoom past Ken and Ryu in the wasteland, stopping briefly for an insult. Not too long after, however, he's seen pushing his motorbike, as it's run out of petrol. Ken rolls up to him in his stylish SUV with Candy's hat, offering a tow. Rufus proudly turns the offer down, stating that the pushing was part of his training. Ken shrugs it off and drives away. Candy offers to help push, but Rufus insists that she stay put, cursing Ken for his misfortune.
Super Street Fighter IV
On their way to the tournament, Rufus and Candy ride through a wasteland with very little signs of life. Rufus wonders whether he's headed the right way, and decides that Ken must have somehow set him astray.
Rufus and Candy eventually reach a petrol station, where Candy gets the attendant to fill the bike while Rufus cools off by emptying an entire tank of water upon himself. Setting out on the road again, Rufus asks Candy where they should go next. Candy suggests that since they're far too hot in this desert, they should head for the North Pole. Rufus enthusiastically agrees.[15]
Comics
UDON comics
Rufus appeared in UDON's Street Fighter IV comic which focus on the game's newcomers (himself included).
Crossover appearances
Street Fighter X Tekken
Rufus appears as a playable character in Street Fighter X Tekken. His tag partner is Zangief.
In one of the game's trailers, Rufus and Bob meet in a bathroom in one of Marshall Law's restaurants, with Rufus mistaking Bob for Ken, starting a fight between the two. As they fight, their tag partners, Zangief and Julia respectively, are attempting to enjoy a meal despite the intrusiveness of the brawl. At one point, Rufus is trapped in a barrel, which Bob capitalizes on by throwing plates at him, eventually sending the barreled Rufus flying. While in midair, he passes by Ken and Ryu, who are coincidentally eating on the roof.
In the game's storyline, after having apparently gone to the North Pole with Candy, Rufus enters the North American Martial Arts tournament and wins. Unfortunately for Rufus, the media's attention was solely placed on Pandora, a mysterious fragment from outer space that landed in the South Pole. Because of this, Rufus' victory was largely ignored, which infuriated him to no end. Zangief, who was given a mission by his motherland to search for the box, needed a strong partner to go with him, so he called out to Rufus, who agrees because he wanted to put the box behind him and everyone else. They set off, with him dubbing their duo "The Space Cyclones".
During their journey, Rufus and Zangief encounter Julia and Bob. Because of Bob's blonde hair, Rufus mistakenly believes him to be Ken Masters. A confused Zangief corrects him, and points out Bob is far too overweight to be Ken Masters. As Rufus and Zangief discuss amongst each other, Bob and Julia overhear them, and challenge them to a fight.
After fighting their way to the South Pole, Rufus and Zangief at last reach Pandora's Box. Suddenly, a light flashes from the box and coats the heavyweight duo leaving them confused until a blinding flash occurs that mysteriously strips them of all their girth. Rendered skinny and weightless, the two fighters cry out in despair. This ending mirrors Bob's ending in Tekken 6, where he loses his weight and becomes skinny under mysterious conditions.
Returning home, Rufus feared Candy would no longer be able to recognize him in his skinny body; to his surprise, she did, and thought him to be even cooler because of his sleeker look. With the knowledge that Candy will always love him, Rufus calls up a depressed Zangief and gives him an offer to train together and rebuild their beloved bodies. His drive invigorated, Rufus returns to training for the title as best in the world.
Gameplay
Fighting style
Throughout the years, Rufus has managed to create his own style of kung-fu; despite his rotund shape, it is surprisingly effective. It is revealed from one of his win quotes that his technique stems from years of studying various kung-fu books and movies, as well as many years of studying in China, reinforcing what he had taught himself. His fighting style takes advantage of his extreme weight, strength, and surprising agility. Despite his devastating ability, it seems that he has not yet gained the respect of his peers (also likely due to reasons mentioned above): Ryu, for example, considers his style "interesting, but too flashy to be effective".
Moveset
Rufus is a heavily offensive rushdown character with high stamina, high-damaging combos, and above-average mobility. His special attacks can be used to overcome his lack of range, as some of them can bypass enemy projectiles and close the distance between Rufus and his opponents with solid mixup potential. Though his normal attacks also have decent range, they lack power, and Rufus players may find themselves in trouble against similarly built characters with better attack reach, among others. Further hampering him is when he lacks meter, Rufus is easily pressured without much defensive options at hand.
Despite appearing easy to pick up with his bulky hurtbox in mind, his dive-based pressure which he is somewhat reliant on at higher-levels for approaching, combined with the combo/comeback potential of his first Ultra Combo, make him tough (but worthwhile) to master.
Techniques
Rufus' command normals include the diving Falcon Kick, the powerful Fragrance Palm, the tricky Glory Kick, and the Vulture Kick.
Rufus also possesses the Galactic Tornado, a spinning palm strike that can bypass projectiles and draw foes closer. His Messiah Kick is an overhead kick that provides followups with varied height and startup. The Snake Strike gives Rufus an anti-air option that can be used to score several hits.
Super/Ultra Combos
Rufus' Super Combo is the Spectacle Romance, a three-hit combo that finishes with a double-palm strike. His first Ultra Combo, the Space Opera Symphony, is a combo of strikes that launches a foe and finishes off with a double-palm strike to the airborne foe's back. His second Ultra Combo, the Big Bang Typhoon, is a powerful Galactic Tornado that can draw foes into a multi-hitting storm of strikes.
Subpages
Sprites
Gallery
Quotes
Trivia
- According to the Super Street Fighter IV blog, Rufus was born on July 30, and one of his special skills is karaoke.
- Rufus also shares the same birthday as Laura.
- Rufus is one of the eleven playable Street Fighter characters who are in a known romantic relationship or are married.
- Rufus' dive kick, Falcon Kick, is coincidentally similar in appearance and name to one of the signature attacks of Nintendo character Captain Falcon in his appearances in the Super Smash Bros. games, which is also a downwards dive kick when used in midair.
- The angle however, that Captain Falcon uses his midair Falcon Kick resembles more the lightkick version of Raigeki Shu, another dive kick used by different characters.
- Wyzen, a character from Capcom's 3D action beat em' up game Asura's Wrath, shares some similarities with Rufus, possessing a similar bodybuild and tendencies to talk a lot.
- Out of all the other characters, Rufus has the longest Super Street Fighter IV prologue in arcade mode; spanning over two minutes. This is due to his talkative nature, prolonging the duration.
- Strangely enough, despite wearing a gi, Akuma isn't one of the many characters Rufus mistakes for Ken.
Stage Theme
Videos
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Ultra Street Fighter IV Profile Archived from The original
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Street Fighter: World Warrior Encyclopedia Hardcover
- ↑ https://archive.is/20120718103120/http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3165156
- ↑ http://uk.playstation.com/games-media/news/articles/detail/item142582/Street-Fighter-IV-producer-interview/
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.gamespot.com/news/6234588.html?tag=result;title;0
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://archive.is/20120604205240/http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3169458
- ↑ http://www.capcom.co.jp/blog/sf4/development_blog/2009/10/13_342.html
- ↑ cite book |title=SF20: The Art of Street Fighter |publisher=UDON |date=October 2009 |isbn=1-897376-58-8
- ↑ https://www.webcitation.org/5k9G8KeHk?url=http://www.capcom-fc.com/sf4/2009/04/post_103.html
- ↑ http://www.gamesradar.com/ps3/street-fighter-iv/preview/street-fighter-iv-hands-on-and-new-details/a-20080603114635534052/g-20071017175450601051
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/4593415/Street-Fighter-4-producer-interview.html
- ↑ http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23040
- ↑ http://www.capcom.co.jp/blog/sf4/development_blog/2010/01/12_492.html
- ↑ https://archive.is/20120718013640/http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/19310
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w74dqHZLLsY
| Street Fighter IV Characters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | Abel · Akuma · Balrog · Blanka · Chun-Li · C. Viper · Dhalsim · E. Honda El Fuerte · Guile · Ken · M. Bison · Rufus · Ryu · Sagat · Vega · Zangief | |||
| Console | Cammy · Dan · Fei Long · Gen · Gouken · Rose · Seth · Sakura | |||
| Super | Adon · Cody · Dee Jay · Dudley · Guy · Hakan · Ibuki · Juri · Makoto · T. Hawk | |||
| Arcade Edition | Evil Ryu · Oni · Yang · Yun | |||
| Ultra | Decapre · Elena · Hugo · Poison · Rolento | |||
| Street Fighter X Tekken Characters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Roster | Abel · Akuma · Balrog · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · Guile · Hugo · Ibuki · Juri Ken · M. Bison · Poison · Rufus · Rolento · Ryu · Sagat · Vega · Zangief | |||
| Downloadable | Blanka · Cody · Dudley · Elena · Guy · Sakura | |||