Urien is a character in the Street Fighter series. He first appeared in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, voiced by Yuji Ueda, and in 3rd Strike, voiced by Lawrence Bayne.
Biography
Appearance
Urien has a similar appearance to Gill, having exactly the same physical build (i.e. That of a Greek Olympic athlete) with dark bronze skin tones and short, metallic grey hair. He also wears a simple loincloth.
In his pre-match introduction in the Street Fighter III series, he is lighter-skinned and wearing business attire; he then sheds the suit, his skin darkens to a bronze complexion, and his hair turns from blond to metallic white. Also, many of his alternate colors are similar to those of Dhalsim, in that they change his skin color as opposed to his costume's color. This ability to change skin color could be the result of his control over metal, though how exactly is unclear.
Personality
Urien's personality can be best described as tyrannical, much in contrast with the benevolent nature of his brother Gill. Urien displays sadism in many of his victory quotes and animations. In addition, he takes a lot of pride in becoming the "True Emperor"; as such, he has no reason to lose to anyone, and his anger will only subside when he is proven to be the True Emperor. Urien also dismisses the cryogenically preserved brains of his predecessors as "ugly and stupid" and "a mass of junk with no ability to take positive action".
Unlike Gill, who recognizes the talent in his opponents, Urien looks down on others, even calling them 'pitiful scum' in one of his victory animations. While fighting, he screams phrases such as "crush", "destroy" and "kill", again highlighting his furious and violent nature. This points to a lack of self-control that may be reflected in gameplay by his being a charge character; while Gill can execute the moves of their composite training program flawlessly, Urien needs to focus intensely for a second or two before he can do the same. His grasp of the more advanced techniques of the training program is fairly limited, reflected by his relatively simpler Super Arts compared to the much more advanced ones of his brother. In addition, the names of his moves—for example, Dangerous Headbutt—make apparent both his personality and his murderous intent.
Story
Background
Supplementary material on Urien's backstory notes that unlike the other candidates for the leadership of the Illuminati, who are kidnapped and brainwashed into doing their bidding, Urien and Gill were born to parents who were long time members of the cult. Both his parents are said to have been candidates to the presidency of the cult; being holders of Ph.D(s) in their respective fields. It is noted that his mother, an olympic level athlete and a doctorate in Sports Dynamics was especially a favourite to become the President.
Urien became a potential candidate for the presidency at the age of 6 along with his brother Gill. After this the brothers were separated from their parents and were made to undergo constant genetic modifications, training and monitoring sessions. During this period, Urien learned to manipulate both his ki and the elements of the Earth, merging them together in his aura. He also learned to perform the Aegis Reflector, one of the 66 secret arts described in the lore of the Illuminati. At the age of 22, the management chose Gill as the president due to his greater strength and charisma over Urien, sometime before the events of Street Fighter III.
Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact
In Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, Urien is introduced as the younger brother of Gill, who bears an intense grudge against him, stemming from an inferiority complex. Like Gill, he too is subject to genetic modifications and intense training programs under the Illuminati. His inferiority stems mainly from his emotional instability. Being the second strongest member of the Illuminati, Urien originally holds the position of the Vice President of the organization during the tournament of Street Fighter III 2nd Impact, outranked only by Gill who serves as the President. Urien stakes his claim to the Presidency by challenging Gill to a match in order to prove his superiority. Gill purposely throws the match and Urien is made the President. Immediately after, Urien learns that the President is outranked by the Emperor in the hierarchy of the organization, his recently promoted brother Gill.
Urien is also in charge of the Illuminati's crisis management unit, the G-Project, which works on the basis of human body remake theory. This unit is responsible for the mutations to a Russian national, Illia, more commonly known by his code name, Necro. Urien also spearheads the creation of Twelve and similar clones.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
During the events of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Urien longs to overthrow Gill by creating his own army of super-soldier clones with the G-Project. He also kidnaps one of the children under Chun-Li's care to subject her to genetic modifications. He however agrees to let the child go, if the legendary street fighter, Chun-Li, fights him for his amusement. After a brief spar Chun-Li manages to defeat him and rescue the child.
What happens to Urien after the events of the Third World Warrior Tournament is yet unknown. His 3rd Strike ending shows that he took leadership of the Illuminati and destroyed its preservation facility, where a weakened Gill was resting, declaring the beginning of an era "After Urien". Gill's own ending, however, shows an entirely different outcome, implying that he actually survived.
Other appearances
Capcom Fighting Evolution
Urien appeared in Capcom Fighting Evolution as a playable character.
Gameplay/Fighting style
Urien can be considered a tournament-legal version of Gill, due to having a very similar moveset. Where his brother wields fire and ice, he can wield lightning and make his body metallic.
Urien's normal and command moves have the same high priority of his brother's, though they tend to do less damage all around. Urien's "charge"-based special moves also serve to distinguish him somewhat from his brother, and this aspect typically makes each move harder to do and take longer to do than Gill's counterparts; in addition, each of these moves tend to be weaker. Overall, he has slightly less power, speed, stun, and stamina than Gill, thus making him more balanced for multi-user play.
Trivia
- Urien seems to have a connection to Alex; when Alex asks if he knew someone named Tom, Urien becomes upset and demands that name to never be mentioned again.
- Urien's nickname in the Street Fighter III series is "The Trecherous Disciple", alluding to his status as the Judas to Gill's Jesus.
- In his winquote to Urien in the console ports of Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, Twelve refers to him as 'Dad' (in Binary), asserting the fact that the G-Project is Urien's brainchild.
- The names of Urien's moves are inspired by Greek and Roman antiquity.
- Urien bears a resembalence to Roy Batty, the lead Replicant from the film Blade Runner, as well as Michelangelo's "David".
- In Street Fighter X Tekken, Bryan Fury's Swap Costume is modeled after Urien.
Gallery
