Gouken
Gouken, as he appears in the Street Fighter IV. Art by Daigo Ikeno.
Profile
Full Name	Gouken
Birthdate	December 14, 1942
Birthplace	Japan
Height	188cm (6'2")
Weight	109kg (240 lbs)
Blood Type	Unknown
Likes	Martial arts, harmony, spending time with his foster son Ryu and his other student Ken, his master Goutetsu, Fishing
Dislikes	Akuma, Satsui no Hadou, Oni
Measurements (Bust, Waist, Hip)	{{{measurements}}}
Fighting Style	Martial Art rooted in assassination arts (暗殺拳をルーツとした格闘術, ansatsuken o rūtsu toshita kakutō jutsu)

Gouken (剛拳, Gōken?, "strong fist") is a character first made playable in Street Fighter IV. He was the man responsible for the training and instruction of his famous students Ryu and Ken Masters. Gouken met an untimely end when he was murdered by his power-hungry brother Akuma. While he had never been a playable character in the series up until the release of SFIV, he played an integral role in the series' backstory and was first depicted in Akuma's ending in Street Fighter Alpha.

Story Edit

According to Capcom's official account, Gouken and Akuma were once students of Goutetsu, a practitioner of a nameless martial art that was originally developed with the intention of killing an opponent, the origin being rooted in Japan's feudal age. Goutetsu taught his skills and aspects of the art to the two brothers. Eventually, the brothers began to differ in their methods and usage of the fighting style. Akuma became bent on completely mastering the dark and violent aspect of the art, and embraced the killing aspect to the point of succumbing to the Satsui no Hadou, or "killing intent" to become stronger. Gouken, on the other hand, wanted to embrace the spiritual and peaceful aspect of the art by developed his own style: turning fatal techniques such as the Hadouken and Shoryuken into tools of self-defense by removing the Satsui no Hadou so no one would have to deal with this curse. After succumbing to the Satsui no Hadou, Akuma would later fight and murder Goutetsu for not embracing the Satsui no Hadou to his fullest extent, before leaving behind both his master's dojo and his brother in order to train alone to become more powerful.

During this time period, Gouken would found his own dojo, and took Dan as his first pupil. However, Gouken learned that the reason Dan wanted to learn martial arts was for revenge, and rejected him for his motives, fearing that his hate and rage will take over him. Later, Gouken would find an abandoned orphan baby, Ryu, and take him under his wing. Ryu was joined by a second student, Ken, who was sent from America by his father, a good friend of Gouken's, in order to learn humility and respect. After Gouken began to train the two boys, Akuma made a sudden appearance at Gouken's dojo. There, Akuma would challenge Gouken to a fight. Akuma was soundly defeated by his brother, but Gouken spared his life even after Akuma's insistence that his brother kill him. After Akuma's arrival and departure, Gouken would continue to train the two boys. Eventually, Gouken would find his two students adept enough to leave the dojo and travel the world to continue their studies.

Afterwards, Akuma reappeared at Gouken's dojo, and challenged his brother to a rematch. This time, Akuma ended up the victor, supposedly killing him with the Raging Demon. However, because Gouken used a technique similar to Gen's and emptied his soul of emotions, he was merely left in a deep coma. Because he was unconscious for an extended period of time, Ryu and Ken believed their master to be dead, and left him as such. After awakening, Gouken would leave his dojo to watch his students unnoticed by them, with the objective of sealing the Satsui no Hadou harboring itself within Ryu so he would never have to suffer with this power. Gouken successfully found Ryu after Seth's defeat, and managed to seal the Satsui no Hadou. Akuma appeared afterwards and was furious at Gouken for completing his task. The two brothers then face off in a second rematch to the death, with Ryu's fate put into the hands of the victor.

Notes Edit

The outcome of the Street Fighter IV fight between Gouken and Akuma is not known. However, it may be implied that Gouken won in the fair fight, due to the fact that Ryu has learned and mastered the Denjin Hadouken and Shin Shoryuken by the time of Street Fighter III, as well as the fact that Ryu is not possessed by Satsui no Hadou in that game and has complete control over it like Goutetsu. Akuma obviously lost the fight and returned three years later in Street Fighter III, which could still mean that Gouken won the fight, since he does not believe in using his ablilities to take the lives of others, even in this extreme case. It is unknown what happened to Gouken after the events of Street Fighter IV.

Gouken was first introduced in Masaomi Kanzaki's manga adaptation of Street Fighter II, in which he was murdered by M. Bison. However, this Manga is non-canon.

Gallery Edit