- "Have you considered your destiny? Do you believe in fate? (運命ってなんなのか、考えたことあります？ Unmei tte nan'na no ka, kangaeta koto arimasu??)"
- —Menat (Street Fighter V)
Menat (メナト Menato?, Arabic: منات, Egyptian: 𓏠𓈖𓇋𓏏𓋧) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in the second DLC season of Street Fighter V.[5] She is a young Egyptian fortune teller residing in the Palazzo Mistero in Italy and the Soul Power-wielding apprentice of Rose. In Ed's character story in Street Fighter V, she is addressed as the Fortune Teller.
Biography[]
Appearance[]
Menat is a slim woman with dark skin and bright emerald green eyes. She has short dark purple hair styled into a bob with blunt bangs covering her entire forehead. She wears soft purple lipstick and eye shadow.
Her outfits have a consistent Egyptian motif; she wears a dark purple short sleeved leotard with gold and neon blue accents and a purple sash in both of her shoulders. Her waist resembles a side belt, a blue and gold necklace and a gold tiara on her head. On her feet are a pair of thigh high stockings, with the heels and toes cut out.
Her first alternate costume has her wearing a long magenta hooded sleeveless revealing dress with gold accents and a gold Egyptian necklace on her neck.
Her second alternate costume has her wearing a white mummified revealing suit and matching dark high thighs. Her bob lengthens into shoulder length and she wears a traditional Egyptian headdress on her head. Her nails are also painted dark blue to match her lipstick.
Personality[]
She can act a bit empty headed at times, yet she has a polite but serious attitude. She travels the globe to convey various premonitions.[1] At times, she can appear childish, energetic and bubbly. She can be annoyed towards certain people, like with the lower ranked Shadaloo soldiers.
Concept[]
During development Menat's early designs included being a "Pizza Assassin", a Italian delinquent named Rita and a magician.[6] She was also considered to use other objects to attack, including smoke, golden dust, and being a tahtib fighter that uses a staff.[6] Menat was also originally planned to be an Italian like Rose before being settled to be Egyptian.[6]
Her name "Menat" was a name used for the goddess Hathor. With a slightly different hieroglyphic spelling, it referred to an ancient Egyptian artifact which was closely connected with the goddess Hathor. It was used as a protective amulet, meant to ensure good luck and fortune and to protect against evil spirits.
Additionally, Menat’s hair style and overall appearance is a likely reference to Cleopatra. She also does a few poses where she mimics a cat, which is an homage to Egyptian culture where they worshiped cats.
Relationships[]
Rose[]
She has great respect for Rose, who she always refer to as "Master", and tends to imitate both her voice and her actions.
Maggio[]
Menat is currently working together with Maggio, who is searching for his sister Aprile.
G[]
Menat is tasked with testing G and determining how strong he is. She underestimated him due to Rose drawing "The Fool" when telling his fortune. This directly led to Menat being defeated by G and asking Rose to avenge her due to personal humiliation.
Rashid[]
Not much is known about their relationship so far, but in Street Fighter 6 Evolution Special, Rashid wanders in hopes to find her before being ambushed.
Story[]
Street Fighter V[]
Menat appears behind Ed, warning him about his fate and that he and someone else would come across hard times. After fighting Ed, Menat warns him once more about his fate before disappearing. She later meets Oro and tries to warn him about her predictions (which he already knew about). Afterwards, her crystal ball glows, showing M. Bison. She is confronted by lower ranked Shadaloo soldiers and Aprile. After she defeats them in annoyance, she warns them about Bison's fate before escaping.
Other character story appearances[]
- Menat first appeared in Ed's character story with the same role but their fight is not shown since Menat was not a playable character at the time.
- She appears in G's story, being sent by Rose to fight him. When she is defeated in humiliation, she asks Rose to avenge her.
- She was seen sparring with her master Rose in the latter's character story. After her master returned home after her battle with G, she decides to help her exhausted master with a nice bath.
Comics[]
Menat is featured as the protagonist of UDON's Street Fighter: Menat comic, where she, along with Maggio, fights against Shadaloo to avenge Rose's death.[7]
Gameplay[]
Fighting style and abilities[]
Menat fights using Soul Power[8] like Rose so her abilities are somewhat similar to her teacher. Menat uses a floating crystal ball named Left Eye of the Lion (獅子の左目?)[6] to attack her opponents with. She also uses tricky dance-like moves.[1]
Moveset[]
Her V-Trigger is the Wisdom of Thoth; she summons six orbs, each linked to her normal attacks. Pressing and releasing a normal attack sends the orb flying at the opponent. She can release any orb by using a different normal.
Her V-Skill is Soul Reflect: Kamal/Stella; while the crystal sphere is retracted, it lets her reflect the average projectile back at the opponent. If the crystal ball was sent out into battle prior to using her V-Skill, it will absorb the projectile to help build up her V-Gauge. This can also be used to launch the opponent into the air to help extend combos.
Her V-Reversal is the Left Eye of the Lion.
Her Critical Art is the Nefertem; she unleashes a single orb to ensnare her opponent on multiple hits to make critical damage.
Subpages[]
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- Menat is notable for having these distinctions in the series.
- She is the first playable character who comes from Egypt.
- The second playable character whose home continent is in Africa (after Elena).
- The second playable fortune teller, and also fighter, who uses Soul Power (after Rose).
- Menat is the fifth newcomer in Street Fighter V (after Necalli, Rashid, Laura and F.A.N.G) and the game's second new female fighter after Laura (Kolin previously appeared as an NPC in Street Fighter III).
- In official Street Fighter-related media, Menat was first hinted at on Rose's Shadaloo C.R.I. character profile and first seen in Ed's character story, where she was originally listed as "fortune teller".
- Menat's crystal ball (Left Eye of the Lion) is likely connected to Red Earth. In the Japanese only Street Fighter V Arcade Edition - A Visionary Book II, Street Fighter V's director Takayuki Nakayama states that the crystal ball, which was created from a product of a god-beast believed to have once protected the phantom desert kingdom of Alanbird. Alanbird (Sangypt in the English version) is one of the nations in Red Earth. And the name of her crystal ball is a reference to the Egyptian deity Sekhmet, who carries a lioness appearance and the epithet "Eye of Ra". Red Earth features its own version of Sekhmet, the lion chimera-like living statue Secmeto (known as Ravange in English) whose name is just a misromanization of Sekhmet (both are written the exact same in Katakana), and official material for the game has referred to Secmeto specifically as a "god-beast", using the same kanji as in the commentary.[9]
- Due to striking similarities with existing characters, Menat is often a subject of comparison by fans to the following characters:
- Viola from Soulcalibur V in terms of skillset.
- Eliza from Skullgirls in terms of design, Egyptian origin, and her powers being tied to Sekhmet in the form of her Parasite.
- Shiro Tokisada Amakusa from Samurai Showdown in terms of playstyle and design on account of her orb.
- Zafina from the Tekken series who also hails from Egypt and shares her role as a fortune teller.
- Coincidentally, both Aoi Yūki and Erica Lindbeck have also voiced Futaba Sakura from the Japanese role-playing game Persona 5, whose metaverse palace is Ancient Egyptian themed.
- Menat's Soul Power seems to not be at Rose's level. Rose does her Super and Ultra Combos with little effort in Street Fighter IV while Menat has more movement and effort in her Soul Power-based Special Attacks and Critical Arts.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Street Fighter V Character Encyclopedia: Menat
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 http://www.capcom.co.jp/sfv/chara_menat.html
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Street Fighter V Stat Card
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.facebook.com/DemonicDAB/videos/1522339657811582/?permPage=1
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDs6wqCZs3c
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Street Fighter V Early Development Ideas: Menat
- ↑ http://www.udonentertainment.com/blog/comics/street-fighter-menat-1-covers-and-preview-revealed
- ↑ http://www.capcom-unity.com/harrisony/blog/2017/08/28/menat-the-eyes-of-the-future-makes-her-way-to-street-fighter-v-august-29th
- ↑ (彼女の持つ水晶玉は「獅子の左目」と言い、幻の砂漢王国アランバードを守護していたとされる神獣��ら生み出された物です。諸設あるのですが、ある人物の子孫であるメナトと相性が良いの) Takayuki Nakayama's comment from Street Fighter V Arcade Edition - A Visionary Book II
| Street Fighter V Characters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | Birdie · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · F.A.N.G · Karin · Ken · Laura M. Bison · Nash · Necalli · R. Mika · Rashid · Ryu · Vega · Zangief | |||
| Season 1 | Alex · Balrog · Guile · Ibuki · Juri · Urien | |||
| Season 2 | Abigail · Akuma · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku | |||
| Season 3 | Blanka · Cody · Falke · G · Sagat · Sakura | |||
| Season 4 | E. Honda · Gill · Kage · Lucia · Poison · Seth | |||
| Season 5 | Akira · Dan · Eleven · Luke · Oro · Rose | |||
| CPU Only | AS · Aprile · Decapre · Enero · Février · Juli · März · Peter Phantom Bison · Santamu · Satsuki · Shadow · Shadow Lady · Two P | |||