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The 2018 Capcom Pro Tour season came to a close this weekend with the crowning of a new champion at the Capcom Cup. Tsunehiro “gachikun” Kanamori won the Street Fighter V tournament (and the $250,000 prize), but Capcom also used the opportunity to unveil the first new character from the game’s Season 4 expansion.

Kage is described as “The Embodiment of the Satsui,” and serves as an even more evil mirror to Ryu than the fighter’s “Evil Ryu” alterego:

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?

According to the Capcom-Unity blog, Kage will bring “his own twist” to Ryu’s moveset:

V-Skill: Senha Kassatsu – Kage gathers energy into his fist and lunges forward to punch the opponent. Senha Kassatsu has armor and can be charged for a more devastating blow.

V-Trigger I: Taigyaku Mudo – In this two-bar V-Trigger, Kage unlocks Ashura Senku, a teleport move that is performed by pressing HP+HK. Ashura Senku can be used on the ground and in the air as an air dash, which opens up multiple mix-up options and flashy combos. Taigyaku Mudo also improves Kage’s V-Skill so that he can now combo into it while the fully charged version will crumple the opponent.

V-Trigger II: Rikudo Osatsu – In this three-bar V-Trigger, Kage unlocks Misogi, a move that sends him into the skies before crashing down on the opponent by pressing HP+HK. Misogi can be cancelled into by a number of normal and specials, including blocked sweeps, which makes it a pressure monster.

Critical Arts: Metsu Shoryuken – Ryu’s iconic super from previous games lets everyone know that Kage is indeed a part of Ryu. Kage does a devastating upper cut that ends in a flash full of red.

Kage is now available to download for Street Fighter V on the PC and PS4. Unlike previous seasons, Capcom won’t offer an all-you-can-eat Season Pass option for Season 4. Instead, Kage can be purchased individually for $5.99 or with 100,000 Fight Money.

Two new trailers featuring the character can be found after the break. (more…)