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oikadori · 4 years

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A/N: I really liked this request!! I love Yamaguchi but I’m really insecure about writing for him?? so that’s why he isn’t on my characters list, but after this I might write for him too! Sorry for deleting the last one and then posting this again but I get really anxious when like, i have a plan and then it doesn’t go as I wanted so here it is...again BUT at 10pm east hour 😌

Sorry for the long wait ANON but here it is. Hope you like it!

Yamaguchi Tadashi x f!Reader

Summary: he is very subtle with his feelings but it’s really hard to hide them when his crush is Karasuno’s sweetheart, in the other hand, you are not familiar with the butterflies in your stomach

Genre: fluff, a little angst but mostly fluff

WC~2,3K

“Karasuno’s heartbreaker” that’s how they called you. You really didn’t want to sound mean to them, but the boys’ insistence bothered every fiber of your body. So, when you noticed that third-year walking in your direction, holding a cute bento-box, you ran.

“Oh, I’m so sorry”, the boy with freckles and a little aerial on his hair says as his cheeks tint red when he notices you. You, the sweetheart of Karasuno just bumped into his chest “Are you– “

Your tongue sticks out catching your breath as you look at the tall boy you just crashed against.

“It doesn’t matter–“ , you hear multiple steps turning around the corner and your eyes fanatically search for a spot to hide, noticing just now his black jacket, “Freckles! You are from the volleyball club, right?”

“Y-Yes”

“Let me hide in the gym. PLEASE. Only for ten minutes”

“I–Only people from the club can enter”

“Just five minutes, okay?” the way your eyes become big and puffy kills any resistance he had left. He nods nervously before walking to the gym’s door, followed closely by your figure.

You scan him curiously. ‘Is he a first year?’ He’s really tall for that, but you don’t remember seeing him in any of your classes. ‘Maybe he is in advanced classes?’

The moment you cross the doors, all stares are over you. Two second-years freeze in the spot while a tall blonde looks at you with confusion as his eyes slightly widen. You recognize two first years, Kageyama and Hinata, who turn bright red as they see you standing in the entrance with an embarrassed little smile.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just–

“IS THAT Y/N-san??”

“I think she is Ryu!! This is our lucky day!!”

“Yamguchi, since when are you friends with her?” the blonde says, not crossing eyes with you

“I’m not, but–“

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave as soon as I can”

“W-We can teach you play Y/N-san!”, Hinata comes at you, bouncing, making you take a few steps back, “Stay, Please!–”

Your feet slip in the steps and you lose your balance only for a fraction of second, but Yamaguchi’s hand is quick grabbing your forearm. His hold on you is gently and the moment he notices it, he releases you just as quick.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to t-touch you like that” you move away a little, still shocked by the loudness of the situation, shaking slightly your head.

“Thank you actually. I just need some sp–”

Before anyone else can approach you, a third-year girl moves in front of you, extending her arms protectively.

“Stay back, you’re scaring her”, just when you were about to thank her, you see behind your shoulder multiple boys approaching the gym, and without exchanging a word, she pushes you further into the gym, and closes the door with a loud thud.

“Thank you so much…”

“Shimizu”

“I–sorry for coming in like that” you whisper, “Can I stay here until they leave, please?”, you gaze at the third-years, pleading.

“Please, please let her stay Daichi-san”

“Please! It’s Y/N L/N-san!”

They share a brief smile before welcoming you. So, in an attempt of making yourself useful, you start helping Kiyoko with her duties. Your eyes casually drift to the court and the moment you see them playing, your mouth opens wide.

“Amazing right?”

“I’ve never seen an actual match before…It’s– really impressive”, Kiyoko smiles at you before speaking again

“Have you joined any club activity?”

///

The cold air of the night shakes your hair as you close the gyms doors, wearing the volleyball club’s jacket. You wrap your arms around yourself at the coldness as you turn down Noya and Tanaka’s offer to carry your bags to walk you home.

“Thank you, but you both live, like, in the opposite side of the town”

As the boys leave with puppy eyes, you catch the sight of a little brown aerial turning around the corner.

“Freckles, are you going home?”

“Oh. Hi, Y/N”, he stops instantly and turns to you, “No, sorry. I’m gonna practice some more serves. You live in the house, crossing the street, right?

He turns red, replaying the words in his head as his eyes go blank.

“I-I’ve seen you walking to school a few times. Not that I watch you constantly–Sorry!”, you bit your lip holding back a chuckle, his shyness making your eyes soften.

“Can I go with you? I could go alone honestly but my parents would kill me if they saw me arriving home at this hour without company”

“ I’m gonna practice for at least one more hour, are you okay with that?” ‘An extra hour besides his regular training??!!’

“I kinda don’t have a choice, so yes”, he frowns as you reach for your back, placing it across your shoulder before zipping your jacket and giving a light nod to begin your walk.

He doesn’t ask you to let him carry your bag, he have seen how that question had bothered you at least 20 time before. So, he just walks beside you, in silence.

“Hey that’s not the street we were supposed to take” you stop, pointing at the opposite side, “That’s the one to Shimada’s-san store!”

“I know, I’m walking you home first”, you blink and a strange lump settles on your throat, “I can practice later”, a closed-eye smile crosses his face, it is amazing the way your face burns at the effortless cuteness of the first-year.

“But it’s really late already–“

“Oh, I stay until much later! It’s no problem really” ‘Why is he so damn sweet???’

“Fine. Whatever” your mumbles make Yamaguchi’s lips curve up, he looks at you dreamily, you are absolutely gorgeous. That silly nickname doesn’t equal everything you are, and it makes his heart drop to the ground.

Suddenly, you quicken your pace making him take long steps to match yours.

“Come on, Yamaguchi, I don’t want you to blame me for falling asleep in class tomorrow!”

Good thing you’re walking a few steps ahead of him, otherwise you would have seen clear as day his flushed cheeks shining under the moon.

///

That was the very only walk you had alone with Yamaguchi, but even though he was always around Tsuki, you promised yourself you would cope with the middle blocker, so you didn’t have to walk alone. From being just teammates, you started calling them friends.

The sun is falling on the horizon, a mix of orange and red painting the sky as Karasuno’s volleyball club left the gym where they just had a long practice match.

“Oi! The pretty manager! Wait!”

Your foot just landed on the step of the bus, when three boys from the other team come at you. Yamaguchi is behind you, waiting for you to step in when you turn back, sighing.

“Hey. I’m about to leave so I’m sorry–

“Aww, sweetheart, don’t be like this”, the boy eyes you from to toe to head, making Yamaguchi frown at him but then, when he looks at your face, your sweet smile turning into a dangerous grin, he just backs away, “I only want your phone number”

There is a little pause and Yamaguchi can feel his features relaxing, understanding you are in total control. He had watched you closely, not with obsessive stares but with subtle glances here and there, picking up your gestures and actions. Not noticing, how strong his crush on you was getting.

“Oh, but why on earth would I do that?”, you look so cute but there is nothing cute in the words you spit at them, it makes Yamaguchi gulp harshly. ‘Maybe you learnt too well from Tsuki’.

Noya and Tanaka were already running his sleeves up getting off the bus when they heard you, becoming statues.

“I mean, you don’t seem like the kind of guy I’ll date so- No. I’m tired and I want to go home” you say, swaying your hips as you enter the bus, “Are you coming Yamaguchi?”

“Y-Yeah!”

You drop your weight on an empty seat as Yamaguchi searches for another spot without luck. He looks at the seat next to you with nervousness, not wanting to bother you.

“You can sit here, you know? You can’t stay up the whole ride, can you?”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable”

“Why would you?” you quirk an eyebrow at him, smiling as you see the soft redness spreading on his cheeks, “I’m messing with you, Tadashi! Just sit”

And as a soldier listening to a command, he sits.

He watches you as you take out your earbuds and plug them in, scrolling down your playlists.

“Did the album you were waiting come out?”, he points shyly his finger at your phone, making you blink as you turn to him

“I-Yes! How do you know I was waiting for it?”

“Uhm–I remember you said that last week”, you fight vigorously the red that threatens your cheeks with fake coughs, “I-I didn’t mean to overhear you, I swear!

“No-no. It’s not that. It’s just–guys don’t usually listen to me, not really anyways. It’s nice knowing someone does”

A comfortable silence settles in as you brush the butterflies in your stomach away before turning to him, eyes glistening with a little mishief.

“That guy was SO annoying!!”, you sigh, “I’m sure Noya and Tanaka would have eaten him alive” you giggle a little before staring at him expectantly for his reaction.

“I–“, his eyes run away from yours before mumbling softly, “I don’t think you needed someone to protect you, your presence itself is…overwhelming–In the best way possible!”

Tsuki turns his head to where you both are siting, sighing, when he sees two blushing messes sinking in the seats.

“I mean if he kept insisting, of course I would do–something!” you feel again that weird knot in the pit of your stomach and without thinking you unplug one of your earbuds.

“Want to listen with me?”

“yes”, Yamaguchi just feel as if he is the luckiest guy in the world and he wants to enjoy every minute of it, but playing five practice sets was tiring

His eyelids grow heavier and his head staggers from right to left as the ride continues, accidentally landing on your shoulder.

“Sorry! I didn’t meant to–“

“D-Don’t worry, I want to sleep too so–“

‘Are you asking to–?’

“You can rest on my shoulder–If you want” you nod shyly causing Yamaguchi to stare at you shocked, he had never seen you this timid.

His brain freezes as he feels the weight of your head falling on his right shoulder, breath almost stoping when you snuggle a little more to find the best position to finally sleep.

“Thank you, Tadashi”, the loudness of his heartbeat nearly doesn’t let him hear your soft whisper.

Finally, he lets his head cautiously fall on top of yours as if he was scared to mess a single strand of your hair but not before he had taken the sight of you. Your face looked almost angelical as the sunlight poured throght the window onto your features, your breath slowing down continuously.

Yamaguchi truly never had felt this lucky.

///

Since then, you realized you did have feelings for the pinch server and even though he showed a little smile and a light blush now and then, you didn’t know if he felt the same. It was unknown to you that his chest brimmed with nervousness and excitement every time he was in your presence.

You’ve never felt this anxious before, and watching the cute, blushing exchanges between Yamaguchi and Yachi only made it worst. This time, Yachi almost passed away when a volleyball landed right next to her, Yamaguchi was quick getting the first-aid kit and sitting next to her. A bright red in both of their faces as he touched her hand, searching her pulse, making your eyes roll.

You hated going alone to the storage room, but you hated much more the ongoing scene in the gym.

Dust gets in your lungs, causing you to cough violently as you search for an old net in one of the shelves.

“Why nobody cleans this??”

“Y/N, do you need help?”

The moment you hear Yamaguchi’s voice you huff.

“No. I’m fine”

“But you can fall, Y/N. Let me reach that for you”

“Just let me do it!” you turn way too quickly to face him, losing your balance on the chair, falling forward.

Yamaguchi is fast grabbing your waist, but gravity had already pull you down by the time his hands secure you. Your chest crashes with his as your eyes close, his back landing with a loud thump over the wooden floor.

When you open your eyes again, your lips are on top of his. Yamaguchi’s eyes are still tightly shut, and you take the moment to feel his lips

‘Incredibly soft’.

You drift your stare from his lips to his face, his freckles almost disappearing for the shade of red that tints his cheeks. He is just so pretty!

“SORRY, Y/N!!” he moves his head away not giving you time to react, detaching his lips form yours.

“You didn’t like it?”

“I–Of course I did”

“Then why did you pull back–

“Y/N–

“No! Really, Tadashi, tell me. Just tell me you like Yachi, already!”, he blinks in confusion, his heartbeat hammers his ears as he feels numb by the words you’re about to say, “I like you Tadashi”

“But you’re out of my reach. I like you so much, but why would you–“, you grab his face with both of your hands, the urge to feel him, overwhelming you as you gaze at him overflowed by confidence

“Shut up and kiss me, Yamaguchi” you’re still on top of him and his hands find its way to your waist as you press him against you. The kiss is filled with your eagerness and soon is follow by Yamaguchi’s softness and tenderness, a little moan escapes his lips, making you smile.

The door opens for a second only to show Tsuki with disgust all over his face before he disappears again, causing you to break the kiss. His shy eyes look at you and pepper his beautiful freckles with kisses for reassurance.

“Don’t ever put yourself down in front of me Tadashi, ever”

A/N: I promise, now I’m gonna work in the event :3 Hopefully I can publish some of them in the next week, I have more math presentations xd

❀ Please reblog if you like it! ❀

♡Thanks for reading ♡

@kouffee-ink

↳ ∴ Master List ∴

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osita-iza · 4 years

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First Choice

Tanaka Ryūnosuke x Reader

Soulmate AU: You have a matching mark as your soulmate in the same place on your body, marking the link between the both of you.

Being Kiyoko's cousin comes with its own set of challenges. Everyone's eyes always drift to her. Just because it’s been having your whole life doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when you see Tanaka’s eyes drift to her too.

“You weren’t sure what was worse: the pain of knowing him or the pain of not knowing him”

Genre: Mix of fluff/angst

Word count: 12.2 k

A/N: I've only watched the anime, and I'm only on Season 3. Sorry if any of this goes against canon tooooo much.

You loved Kiyoko. Both your parents and hers were always busy running the family shop. She was the older one, and you called her your older sister more than your cousin. You wouldn't trade her for the world.

That being said, it wasn't long for you to realize there was a difference between the two of you.

The difference being Kiyoko was gorgeous, even by kid standards.

Her looks and maturity gathered admirers at the playground by the time she was in third grade. The boys in her class would race each other, proclaiming that the winner would be the one right for Kiyoko. She never gave them the kiss on the cheek they wanted, but she giggled with them, racing them herself.

You were six, and you didn't mind that Kiyoko got attention. You got to play with her, and her attention automatically meant that you both got to play with more friends. She was running laps around the playground with some boys in her class, an almost daily occurence. But this time, you had your own friend. He was seven, which made him a big deal in your class. And he chose to play with no one but you after school.

You were playing the wonderful game of 'dig a hole', talking about dinosaurs when you realized he had stopped digging. You looked up, seeing him stare at something with an open mouth. You furrowed your eyebrows, following his gaze. He was staring at Kiyoko. "Why are you looking at her?" you asked.

"She's really pretty!" he practically yelled.

You tilted your head. You knew that. You still didn't get why that meant he had to stare at her. Lost in thought, you missed Kiyoko and her friends walking over to the pair of you. "Hi, y/n." She smiled. "Sorry for leaving that long, the race took a long time."

"You know y/n?" your friend asked, and you giggled at how his eyes shined.

Kiyoko nodded. "She's my cousin. Are you a friend of hers?" He nodded excitedly. "Well, it's nice to meet you then," she said.

You stopped giggling when you realized your friend was ignoring you in favor for trying to talk to Kiyoko. You finally gave up, choosing to dig your hold by yourself until it got dark, when Kiyoko suggested you both go home.

It was after that day that you began to notice more differences. How your grandparents always gushed over her and pinched her cheeks. How they gave her fancy dresses and hair accessories. Your grandparents loved you, you knew that. But you didn't garner the same attention that Kiyoko did.

Even as a child, you knew it wasn't her fault. That it was a roll of dice of life that decided Kiyoko's fate of being pretty. She was far too nice for you to be mad at her.

But it made you press your hand against the back of your shoulder, where your soulmate mark resided. And you hoped and prayed with all the might that a six year old could muster up only one thing: That your soulmate would give you more attention than Kiyoko. That their eyes would drift and focus on you and you alone. That, for one second, you would get the spotlight that had always followed her.

Kiyoko leaned against the wall as she watched the boys practice. The squeaking shoes and shiny floors reeling her into a relaxed state after hoe much time she spent there. She was relaxed as she watched Tanaka land from his spike. Relaxed as he pulled off his shirt, far too used to this quirk of his to blush anymore.

But her body tensed up as her eyes caught sight of the black mark that decorated the back of his shoulder. She had seen that sign before.

She took baths with you as a kid for Christ’s sake.

That was your mark. Everything was exactly the same.

She didn’t explain why she dragged you to practice the next day. Kiyoko told the Coach that she didn’t like the idea of you walking home alone, but you knew she didn’t actually have a problem with it. But you loved Kiyoko, so you went along with it.

You went along with it as she told you to stand against the wall and to focus on one player specifically, despite your protests of not wanting to be hit with a ball. But you listened and focused on the player with a buzzcut. You recognized him as Tanaka. He wasn’t in your class, but his energy was so big that you were pretty sure everyone in your year knew of him. You had laughed at some of his jokes in the cafeteria or as he walked down the hallways but had never talked to him.

As you watched him run across the court, hitting spikes aggressively, you had to admit- he was handsome. You didn’t find many guys attractive, too scared to get your hopes up. But it was undeniable. The way he scrunched up his face when a spike was blocked was cute. His focused glare was hot, along with how he slammed his hand against the volleyball.

Then, after finally hitting a spike and relishing in how its slam against the floor echoed across the gym, he ripped his shirt off. Your eyes immediately focused on the back of his shoulder. And you could feel your soulmate mark burn against your skin as you stared at his.

Your eyes shot up to meet Kiyoko’s gaze, which was focused on you. With a burning chest, you walked over to her with wide eyes. “That’s why you asked me to-”

“Yes, but we can talk about it later,” she whispered. Her eyes glancing over to where the boys continued playing before her eyes focused on you with a small smile. “It was really hard for me to not say anything though,”

You sighed, biting your lip as you sat down. Now your eyes were following Tanaka without you meaning to. That was your mark; you knew it without a doubt.

And that was how you noticed that, while you were looking at him, he was looking at your cousin.

Ignoring the growing rocks in your gut proved to be a pointless feat as he looked to Kiyoko with a big smile on his face. You had gotten used to it; everybody’s eyes drifted to her. At the same time, there was a small part of you that wanted your soulmate to be different. The fact that he wasn’t different...

You shook your head, as if to shake the thought out of your head. Finally, their practice ended. You helped them pick up the stray volleyballs, tossing them into the cart. “Hey, you’re Y/N, right?”

“Yeah?” You looked up, breath catching in your throat as you made eye contact with him.

“I’m Tanaka Ryu.” He smiled brightly as he tossed another volleyball towards you. You caught it, throwing it into the cart as he got ready to throw another one towards you. “We’re in the same year.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you around before,” you replied. You were acutely aware of each beat of your heart. God, how did your friends have a new crush every week? Maybe you should ask because you felt like you were going to die right now.

“Why didn’t you talk to me then?” Tanaka tilted his head.

He’s like a confused puppy. You rolled your eyes with a small smile as you grabbed the cart, ready to push it into the supply room. “Well, why didn’t you talk to me?”

You expected him to go off with his friends, but he followed you as you walked. “You have a point,” he said, opening the door for you. You smiled at him as you pushed the cart to what looked like was the correct spot. “I guess I’ll have to talk to you more often.”

“What? Why?”

Tanaka smiled at you as he stepped back and out of the supply room. “Well you’re cute and nice. Why wouldn’t I want to talk to you?”

You were alone in the room, surrounded by volleyball nets and practice jerseys, as your mind struggled to catch up with his words. “He’s really blunt,” you mumbled to yourself, still not sure if you were breathing, as you walked out of the supply room.

Kiyoko smiled at you before waving to the team before walking out the gym with you. The pair of you got a couple of steps before you heard a loud yell, and you were sure of who was yelling. “Kiyoko! You forgot your jacket!” Tanaka shouted. You stopped as Kiyoko grabbed her jacket and thanked him. “I-it’s no problem, Kiyoko,” he said as his face turned rosy, “I didn’t want you to get cold.”

He was blushing for her. She nodded at him before she grabbed your wrist, pulling you to keep walking home with her.

A silence fell over the two of you as you walked before Kiyoko asked, “So, what do you think of him?”

Tanaka was blunt, you answered to yourself, but he was also into Kiyoko. Instead you said, “I don’t know,”

“You don’t know?”

“He’s nice but...” The words caught in your throat. They would just make Kiyoko feel guilty. Finally you sighed, “I just don’t know if we’re compatible,”

“Get to know him,” Kiyoko said, grabbing your shoulder. She had never been this insistent with you, and it made you feel worse for wanting to avoid him. “I’ve spent a lot of time with him, and I think you could really like him,”

“I’ll try,” you said.

“Good. Then you’re coming to practice again tomorrow.” You considered fighting Kiyoko on this, but the idea of seeing him again did excite you, so you just nodded along.

You were thirteen when you finally met someone that made your heartbeat speed up. Your best friend promised you over and over again that he must be as head over heels for you as you were for him. A small part of you believed her when, unprompted, he offered to walk you to the park on his way home, knowing that you went that way yourself.

With wide eyes, your friend smiled and threw you a thumbs up before she ran off. Your hands were fidgety, continually messing with the straps of your backpack as you two talked. Your friend's words echoed in your mind as you began approaching the park’s picnic tables. Your chest hammered as you gained the courage to look at him.

And just like when you were six, you noticed he was staring at something in front of you. After following his gaze, you saw Kiyoko... just like when you were six.

Your gaze shifted over to him, and you could see the awe in his eyes. He never had that look when he looked at you. “I should get going. My cousin’s here,” you mumbled, breaking away from the stride you had with him.

“That’s your cousin?”

You glanced back at him, and the excitement was evident in his eyes and voice. Your intestines tangled up and fell to the bottom of your stomach as you stared at him. “Yeah.”

“She’s really pretty,” he said.

“Yeah... She is.”

��What’s h-”

“See you later,” you rushed out and walked away.

Kiyoko grinned at you, standing up from the table, and she began walking home with you. “How was your day?”

As you stared at her, you wished you could be mad at her. You wished that you could feel a white hot anger towards her. Find her soft and sleek voice annoying. Find her symmetrical face overrated. Find the way she kept her thoughts to herself aggravating.

Instead, your gut just dropped five more levels. Kiyoko was Kiyoko, and you were you. And Kiyoko got more attention. This was just the way things were; that fact alone stabbed you in the heart over and over again.

“It was good. I have to work on my book report today though,” you muttered.

She nodded, walking with you to her house to wait for your parents to be done with work. You nodded along as she spoke, each word and step acting as another knife in your heart.

You became a regular at the volleyball practices. Ukai had accepted you as an unofficial assistant team manager to help Kiyoko and Yachi. The team accepted you in as well, always welcoming you and bringing you in on their activities. Kiyoko would argue that Tanaka was more welcoming and excited than the rest of the team; you would argue that he had the same amount of excitement that the rest of the team had.

One thing you couldn’t argue that Tanaka was the one who spoke to the most now. You weren’t in the same class as him, but he would talk to you in the hallways and during breaks. You had to admit that Kiyoko was right- he was really nice. He was also funny, caring, and energetic. You both were a regular part of each other’s day.

Except for this day. You had a case of food poisoning, so your parents insisted that you stay home for the day. Usually you were the one asking to stay home, but the one thing they disliked more than you staying home was leaving work in the middle of the day to pick you up from school.

It was around noon- lunchtime- when your phone buzzed with a message.

Unknown: Why aren’t you at school???

You furrowed your eyebrows before typing out a response.

Y/N: Who is this?

Unknown: Oh shit sorry! This is Tanaka I asked kiyoko for your number when I saw you weren’t at school

Unknown: Hope that was okay!!!

You rolled your eyes with a smile on your face. Of course Kiyoko gave him your number.

Y/N: It’s fine don’t worry about it. I got food poisoning so my parents made me stay home :/

It took maybe two seconds for you to get an answer.

Tanaka: I’m sorry! I hope you’re feeling better

Tanaka: I can bring you the work you missed if you want me to?

A warmth spread through your chest as you read his message a couple of times. It was such a simple thing to offer; something he would probably offer to do for all of his friends. Despite knowing that, your heart rate sped up at the idea that he cared about you.

Y/N: If it’s not out of your way then I would really appreciate it. Don’t feel pressured though!

Tanaka: Of course I will! What’s your address?

Y/N: Just let me know when you’re on your way beforehand or else I might be passed out lol

Y/N: Here’s my address...

Why was this so exciting? He was just going to drop off a couple of worksheets. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

Tanaka: Okay I’ll come by after schoo!!

Y/N: Thank you again <3

You groaned as soon as you hit send. You always sent hearts to your friends; it was a habit. Yet this made your stomach drop. You set an alarm for the end of school, trying not to think about why you were preparing to get ready for him.

‘Why the hell did I send that damn heart?’ You rolled your eyes, pushing your face into your pillow to muffle your complaining. Tanaka wasn’t the type to overthink that kind of thing, but it still made you want to curl into a ball.

You didn’t know that Tanaka was blushing at his lunch table as he stared at his phone screen. You didn’t know that he stuttered out an answer when Nishinoya teased him about it. But you also didn’t know that he had asked Kiyoko for your number weeks ago, and that he had been stressing over how to start a conversation with you for weeks and had jumped at the opportunity to finally message you today.

Tanaka had no idea how you felt about him; something that he agonized over pretty much every night now. However, whether or not you liked him right now, he was determined to make fall for him in the future.

It was with this plan in mind that he went to the convenience store and got all of the healthy food you should get when you're sick. It wasn't until he was walking to your home with the bag in hand that he began to question if this was a normal thing to do for someone that you had barely become friends with. Probably not.

He exhaled through his teeth, stopping in front of your house to slap his face. It was too late to turn back now. He was already pushing it with Ukai by being late to practice. Plus, if he didn't give you this stuff now, he would've wasted his money. Tanaka knocked on your door, sticking his hands in his pockets as he waited for you to open the door.

"I'm coming!" He heard you yell from the other side of the door before it opened. Your hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, strands escaping into the front of your face. There were bags under your eyes, and you were still dressed in your pajamas.

Tanaka would've said you were the most beautiful person he ever saw in that moment.

"Oh my god!I feel asleep. I'm so sorry," you rambled out, bowing your head for a moment before you saw the bag in his hand. "What's that?"

He was pulled out of his focus on you, rubbing the back of his head as his cheeks warmed up. "Oh, I got you some stuff that I know helps me when I'm sick. I figured it might help since you were home alone."

You tried to control your racing heart, before you smiled at him. "Thank you so much! You really didn't have to do that," you said.

"Hey don't worry about it. I was just worried about you is all," he responded.

You stared at him for a moment, not sure how to respond. He went to the store and bought stuff for you just because you were sick? How were you supposed to respond to this? You were just overwhelmed with the care he was willing to show you.

"Um..." Tanaka spoke up. You winced; you took a little too long trying to thing of an answer. "Sorry, you caught me off guard. Please come inside," you said, stepping to the side and opening the door. It was when you felt the breeze from outside that you realized you were wearing a tank top- meaning your soulmate mark was exposed.

"Thanks." He smiled at you, sliding his shoes off. Tanaka began setting down some of the convenience store items onto the table. There were plain crackers, bread, ginger ale, and water. You kept your front facing Tanaka as you closed the door behind him, crossing your arms and stepping sideways to face him across the table.

"You bought me bread?" You raised your eyebrows as you picked up the loaf.

Tanaka furrowed his eyebrows before he chuckled. "Uh... I was just thinking of stuff my sister told me is good to eat when I throw up- didn't really think about what you might actually not have."

"Are you supposed to just eat straight bread?" Tanaka nodded. "I didn't know that. We have bread here though, so you can bring this to your house if you want,"

"Okay," Tanaka cringed as you handed him back the bread.

But then you smiled back at him. "It's still a really sweet gesture though. Thank you so much, Tanaka,"

His entire body relaxed at your words, and a smile slotted onto his face. "Don't worry about it!"

You reached over to your backpack and grabbed your wallet, taking special care to keep your front towards him. "How much did everything cost?"

"No, you don't have to pay me back."

"I feel bad." You frowned. Though you weren't sure if you felt bad because he paid or because hiding your soulmate mark at the moment made you feel like you were lying. It was one thing to not tell him when you had your uniform on; it was another to be aware of the dark mark resting on your shoulder and keep him from seeing it too.

"Don't. It's my gift to you," he promised.

Him being nice was also not helping that guilt.

It would be so easy to tell him the truth. You would just have to move your mouth into the correct motions and voice out the words 'I'm your soulmate'. You've been talking since you were a toddler. He was Tanaka. Yeah, maybe you wouldn't date, but you could be friends with him like you already were.

Who knows maybe he would want to...

As soon as your hope came up, so did the memory of him and Nishinoya running up Kiyoko, immediately crushing those hopes. You sighed at the thought, frown deepening.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tanaka asked, going to step closer, looking you over for any signs of nausea.

"I'm fine!" You tensed up as he came to your side, turning yourself and pushing your shoulder back slightly. You didn't miss the way he pressed his lips together, making the guilt sink deeper into your gut. "Are you sure I can't pay you back?"

Tanaka's eyes lit up, making you somewhat suspicious. "I don't need money-"

"Okay..."

"But I could use a tutor."

"A tutor?" You squinted at him.

"Yeah. I overheard the Coach say if we're not passing our finals we can't go to some training thing. Right now... Let's say that I wouldn't be able to go," he confessed with a laugh.

If you spent more time with him, this guilt would probably get worse. The fact that he liked Kiyoko would hurt you more too. But if you didn't, well, you wouldn't get to spend time with him.

You weren't sure what was worse: the pain of knowing him or the pain of not knowing him. You weren't sure if there was a real answer.

"Please?" Tanaka asked, "I'll be a good student for you," He put his hands in a prayer motion and pouted his lips dramatically.

And it's because you have no answer to your question and his pleading soft eyes that you said, "Of course I'll tutor you,"

Was there ever really a question of you accepting? You weren't sure if you knowing him would hurt you, but you knew hurting him would hurt you too much.

"Yes! Thank you so much!" Tanaka yelled, pulling you into a tight hug. You were frozen in his arms, just feeling his warmth, before he pulled back. "Sorry. But still thank you!"

You smiled at him. "It's fine I just wasn't expecting it." He stared at your face, and you weren't sure what he was looking for. He opened his mouth to speak when your eyes widened. "Wait! You have practice today."

"Oh, I told Nishinoya to tell Ukai that I was bringing your homework for you. Figured it would buy me some time," Tanaka replied. As if he was barely remembering his original reason for visiting, he reached into his bag and handed you a small stack of papers. "I should probably be heading out though,"

You bit your lip, watching him put his shoes on and reach for the door. "Thanks again, Tanaka," you called out. You cringed as your voice rang out a bit too loud than the small space between you two warranted.

"Don't worry about it- really." Tanaka grinned. "Take care of yourself! Practice is boring without you," he said. With that, he shut the door behind him.

You stared at the closed door for a moment, finally sitting down at the table with a sigh. Did your stomach feel weird because the bad chicken you ate was eating you up, or was it the guilt? This was too much. No, he was too much- affected you too much.

Maybe soulmates do mean something. You always wondered if they were overrated- a tradition that didn’t mean anything. However, there was definitely a pull towards him you had never felt before. A pull that took over your whole body and mind. You couldn’t think clearly when he was there, but there was an emptiness that filled you up when he wasn’t there- maybe thinking clearly was overrated.

As if on cue, Tanaka's voice yelling out to Kiyoko echoed in your head. That, having a boy fall for her in front of you, was something you had felt before. That was a feeling you were accustomed to; a feeling you swore you wouldn't deal with in a relationship.

And you decided that that meant something too.

You were five when your kindergarten teacher told your parents that she thought it would be a good idea for you to skip first grade. It took exactly a couple of hours for your parents to not so subtly brag about it at the family dinner that night.

You remember how your grandfather's eyes shifted over to you, and they shined as he smiled. "That's amazing, Y/n!" He cooed, reaching over the table to pinch your cheek, "You're so smart,"

The pinch of your cheeks didn't hurt. You weren't embarrassed as both your grandparents gushed about you. Instead, you smiled so hard it hurt your cheeks, looking down so your hair would cover your face.

How was Kiyoko able to deal with them doing this everyday? You couldn't look up the whole night, but you loved hearing them say your name so many times. That night, your grandmother pulled you aside, praising you and telling you to keep working hard.

It was after that day that you began working harder in school. That decision that led to you getting an ounce of your extended family's attention.

As you got older, you got less attention for your intelligence from them. However, your parents always complimented you when you brought back a good test score- no matter how many times you brought back an 'A' before.

You didn't mention your grades to anyone, but you did sometimes leave the rally good assignments or tests out at the dining table when you knew one of your grandparents would come over.

And it still felt nice when your grandma would gasp at the paper and gush about how she had "such a smart grandchild", smiling at you the entire time.

You sat in the back of the library, body hunched over the math test that was handed back the class before and breathing in the scent of old paper. Tanaka had agreed to meet up with you for a study session during lunch. You knew you should be reviewing the material you knew he would have questions on, but you were too preoccupied with the score on the top of you math quiz to focus at that moment.

You got a freaking 65.

It was only one quiz. Your teacher let you do retakes, and you knew she would help you review beforehand. Even if you bombed the retake too, you were pretty much guaranteed to get an A for this semester based off of your past tests.

You knew all that, but the tears still burned in the corner of your eyes and throat. You had stayed up late so many nights working on this unit. And you were still only a couple points away from failing. Struggling in itself wasn't exactly rare for you, but struggling at this level was.

"Hey, Y/N! Sorry I'm late, I stopped by the vending machine for some snacks-"

You looked up, quickly rubbing at the tears on your face. "Oh, hi. Thanks," you mumbled.

He frowned and practically ran to the seat next to you. "Hey," Tanaka said, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," you answered, pulling out the papers you had worked on with Tanaka last time intentionally covering the math test. "I'm just being dramatic. We should focus on your studies."

"How am I supposed to focus on studying when I just saw a girl crying?" He dragged out, "I'm a gentleman, Y/N,"

You rolled your eyes. "Tanaka..."

"Seriously-" One of his arms shifted to the back of your chair, ghosting over the back of your neck, and he leaned in closer, "You can tell what's wrong. Even if it's not a big deal, it's bothering you,"

Tanaka's strong gaze was completely focused on you. Despite it just being the two of you in the back of the library, it felt like a hundred people were staring, even though it was only him. You opened your mouth, ready to deflect again, when he tilted his head a few degrees to the side; his gaze never leaving yours.

As if that action alone was the key of your heart, you relented. You grabbed at the edge of your math test, pulling on the page to place it at the top of the stack. You didn't look up to meet his eyes again, but you could feel his gaze burning into you. His hand entered your gaze to reach for the paper, pulling it closer to him, so he could get a better look at it.

"I'm sorry. I know how much work you put in," he muttered. Those words crumbled the walls you had been trying to keep up, and you covered your mouth to keep the volume from echoing in the silent library. The hand that was on the back of your chair lowered to grip your shoulder tightly. "Hey, it's okay,"

"It's just-" You sighed, never putting these feelings into words before. "I'm supposed to be the smart one, ya know?"

"No, I don't know." He let out a chuckle as the crease between his eyebrows deepened.

You took a deep breath. This was something that you had never told anyone before, and it felt like you were exposing everything that encompassed your soul to voice it out loud. "Me and Kiyoko are practically sisters. When we were younger, if we weren't in school, we were with each other. Even as kids, everyone knew that Kiyoko was pretty. At Halloween, the kids would always give her the best candy when we traded. Everyone wanted to be her friend. My grandparents gave her so much attention, and so did everyone in the world," you rambled out. You glanced at Tanaka, and he nodded for you to continue. "And then I got to skip a grade in school, and suddenly people paid attention to me. I remember my grandma took me aside when she found out and she told me-" You leaned closer to Tanaka, looking him in the eye. "-You're smart. If you work hard, you could make anyone listen to you. They won't have a choice but to at least listen to you,"

Even though you were still emotional, you couldn't stop the smile on your face as you thought of her words. You sighed, feeling nauseous. "I know that failing a math test doesn't mean I'm not smart. I know grades don't really measure that but-" The tears were coming back again. "There's a part of me that is... terrified that if I'm not the smartest one in the room, no one will have a reason to listen to me anymore,"

"I'm..." Tanaka's mouth opened before closing for a couple of moments. "I've never had a class with you, but I knew you were smart the second I met you,"

"What?" You furrowed your eyebrows.

"Everyone can see that you're smart just by you existing. Hell, me, and everyone, can see how amazing you are just by you existing," Tanaka said. His eyes darted around the room, looking everywhere but you. "You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. People that are worth it will listen to you anyways,"

You believed every word he said. Tanaka was able to tell the voices in the back of your head to just shut up, even if it was just for a minute, you had to admit that it felt nice. "Thanks."

Tanaka smiled at your acceptance. His already crimson cheeks somehow turned redder before he spoke, "Plus, you're really pretty too," he whispered, as if he was afraid of you hearing him, despite saying it to you directly.

You became aware of his hand that was still resting on your shoulder, and you realized it was resting right on your soulmate mark. This was wrong.

His eyes drifted down to your mouth, and that was all it took for your heart to begin racing. You leaned in closer without realizing it, and Tanaka mirrored your actions. His breath fanned over your lips; all it would take was angling your head for your mouth to meet his. A small angle, and you could finally experience what you had imagined so much at night ever since you met him.

This was wrong.

You leaned back a bit, just enough so you couldn't feel his breath anymore. His closeness was making your mind haywire, but you refused to leave his close embrace. "I should tell you something."

This was wrong. This wasn't right if he didn't know.

Tanaka raised his eyebrows, waiting for you to continue. You opened your mouth to speak when footsteps coming closer caught your attention. The incoming person's presence pushed the two of you away. His arm abandoned your shoulder as you both began staring at the papers in front of you.

The first-year ignored the pair of you, instead focused on the shelves. They mumbled to themselves for a moment before grabbing a book and walking back towards the front of the library, completely oblivious of the moment they walked into.

You sighed, realizing what you were about to tell him. Him finding you smart and pretty didn't mean he liked you. It meant he was a nice person. It meant he was one of your friends; any of your friends would have said the exact same things. Just because it felt different didn't mean he meant it any different.

"What were you going to tell me?" Tanaka asked, turning to you with still burning cheeks.

You wondered if he did mean it any different. None of your friends would have leaned in to kiss you. But none of your friends was as open about wanting a girlfriend as he was.

"I don't remember." You forced a laugh, and both of you knew it was fake. You grabbed your pencil before looking at him. "What did you want to go over?"

Tanaka stared at you for a moment or two before a frown settled on his face. You wanted to make it disappear, but you were utterly lost on how. He reached for a spare piece of paper. "Uh... I was confused on the second section a bit." " That stiff tension didn't leave until lunch ended. You went to class, and Tanaka usually walked with you between classes. You noticed that he wasn't there that time, and you tried to convince yourself that it didn't bother you.

"Y/N!" you heard someone yell, and you smiled as soon as you recognized the voice. He stopped next to you with a dramatic sigh. "You didn't wait for me! I had to run!"

"I'm sorry. I thought you were busy with something," you said, pressing your notebooks against your chest as it hammered. "I'll wait longer next time, okay?"

He stared at you for a moment with a bright smile. "I'm counting on it!"

If it was anyone else, you would've rolled your eyes at their yelling. Since it was him, you couldn't stop smiling. You both acted the same, but you felt different. Instead your soulmate mark seemed to burn with every word you spoke to him. It really did hurt to talk to him, but you couldn't imagine not talking to him.

You grabbed your bag and stood next to the gym doors, waiting for Kiyoko to get back from the storage closet. Hinata and Kageyama’s shoes squeaked against the shiny gym floor as they continued practice, while the rest of the boys were packing up. Nishinoya yelled from one of the corners where they kept their gym bags were, "Y/N! We need a girl's opinion,"

"What are you talking about?" You asked, stepping closer to where Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Sugawara were sitting.

"Do you think soulmates are a big deal?" Nishinoya asked.

You rose your eyebrows, trying to ignore the nausea that grew in the pit of your stomach. "What do you mean by big deal?"

"Like do you believe that being someone's soulmate means you're meant to be?" Suga clarified as he zipped up his gym bag.

"I think being someone's soulmate just means that you and them will always have a deep connection. I don't think it means you have to be with them in a romantic way," you said, purposely avoiding Tanaka's eyes, "I wouldn't want them to date me just because I'm their soulmate,"

Suga glanced over at Tanaka for a moment before asking, "So if you were in a relationship and then met your soulmate, would you break up with them?"

"I don't know," you shrugged, "I don't think so. It would take a lot for me to open up to someone in order to date them, so it would take a lot for me to break up with them just because I met another person,"

"Even if the other person was your soulmate?" Tanaka asked.

You looked over at him and noticed how his lips were drawn in a tight line. "Well... even if someone is my soulmate, they're still a new person to me. If I met my soulmate and we immediately started dating, I'd also wonder if they're with me only because I'm their soulmate. I'd rather be with someone I know and trust than drop someone just because I was born with a birthmark," You squinted as Tanaka nodded. What the hell was going on with him?

"That's what I was saying!" Nishinoya said, clapping the back of your shoulder, and you tensed up as his hand made contact over your soulmate mark. "I was telling that to Tanaka!"

Suga smiled turning to Tanaka. "See? A lot of people date non-soulmates now. They even choose those relationships over their soulmates sometimes."

"Yeah, I know you're right," Tanaka nodded and turned towards Suga, "I don't know. Everyone in my family married their soulmates. One of my aunts even left a guy she dated for years because she met hers, so I'd hate to get to know someone only for them to choose their soulmate over me,"

"Wait-" Your voice made Tanaka turn back towards you, and his eyes widened as if he forgot you were there. "-Are you into someone, Ryu?"

"I... uh..." Tanaka stumbled, and Nishinoya chuckled from your side.

So that's a yes.

You forced a small smile on your face. "Whoever it is, you should ask them. Anybody would be lucky to date you," you said, "Plus, my parents aren't soulmates, and they're still married,"

"So you would date someone that's not your soulmate?" He asked.

You nodded, refusing to say the words you actually wanted to verbalize. "Of course. Especially because I would never date someone just because they're my soulmate. If I loved someone, I wouldn't leave them for anyone," you said, "I just want my soulmate in my life; it doesn't matter how they're in it,"

"You're talking as if you've met your soulmate," Suga said. You tensed up, acutely aware of the fabric of your shirt rubbing against your mark.

Kiyoko walked up, throwing her backpack onto her shoulders. "Are you ready to leave, Y/N?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," you rushed out, your body relaxing as you turned towards Kiyoko. "I'll see you guys later!"

Sugawara and Nishinoya waved, and Tanaka nodded bye at you. You crossed your arms as you began walking home with Kiyoko. "Are you okay? You seem tense," she said.

"I'm fine, just tired," you smiled at her for a second before you looked forward again. She definitely didn't believe you, and you knew that. Despite that, she didn't press forward instead walking forward with you in silence.

Tanaka liked someone else, to the point where he was talking about it with the team. You knew Tanaka. Once he was set on something, he wouldn't stop, so you knew it was only a matter of time before he asked her out.

What if it was Kiyoko? Actually, you were pretty sure it was Kiyoko. That would suck. You hated the idea, but you were still hopeful he'd listen to you. All you wanted was him to be happy and in your life.

Because you had made a decision, it hurt a lot more to not know him.

"So you've been hanging out with Tanaka a lot lately," your best friend, Rika, said as she grabbed a chip from the bag you were both sharing. You and her were sitting at a table that was outside on school grounds. It was one of the few times you weren't shadowing the volleyball practice, instead choosing to spend time with Rika and work on your English project together.

You rolled your eyes, a smirk on your face betraying your true feelings. "Yes... We are spending some time together."

Rika froze tracing the pencil marks on your posterboard to look up and raise her eyebrows at you. "Is that it? Just spending time together?"

"What exactly are you fishing for?" You chuckled as you grabbed another marker.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me!" She shouted, laughing the entire time.

"I'm not playing," you snapped back with a smile, "Please tell me what you're implying,"

You took your eraser and began working at some of the pencil marks Rika had already traced over. She pouted from the other side of the table. "Fine. Just tell me how many times you guys have slept together."

You reached over the table to hit her on the arm, making her cackle. "We haven't done anything for your information!"

"Okay, how many makeout sessions then." She shrugged with a Cheshire cat grin.

"We're just friends."

"Oooookay." Rika rolled her eyes. "You do not look at your friends like that. And if you do look at your friends like that, I am very offended that I do not also get those loving and longing looks, and I want my apology right now."

You smiled before sighing. "You're gonna be mad at me, but you have to promise that you wont' utter a word of this to anyone," you said, leaning forward on your elbows.

"Of course," she said.

"So sometimes Tanaka will take off his shirt during practice when he does something really good," you muttered, "I've seen his soulmate mark... He's my soulmate,"

Rika smiled and looked like she was about to jump up and down. "Oh my god! That's amaz-"

"I haven't told him yet."

Her face immediately dropped as you finished your sentence. "What the hell? Why wouldn't you tell him?"

"I think he likes Kiyoko."

"I love you so much Y/N," she said with a shake of her head, "But god damn... You think that every person on the planet has fallen head over heels for Kiyoko!"

You frowned and shook your head. "Him and his friend literally flirt with her all the time during practice and games."

"I've literally told you that you're so hot I want you to get me pregnant," Rika deadpanned, "But trust me, I see you as nothing other than a friend,"

You chuckled. "I know, but it's different because we both know there's no chance of anything like that happening."

"Maybe him and Kiyoko both know that there's no chance of anything romantic happening between them too," Rika suggested. She grabbed another marker and began filling in some of the drawings on the corner of the poster.

A gust of wind came, and you put your hand on the poster to keep it from flying away. "I get what you're saying," you muttered, "I don't know... I've seen how he talks to her,"

"And I've seen how he talks with you," Rika retorted, "Besides soulmates are a big deal. He's not just your soulmate; you're his,"

Guilt exploded in your stomach at her words. "He did tell me all the couples in his family are soulmates," you muttered. Even if he was considering asking someone who wasn't his soulmate out, you knew that it must be a big deal if he was having discussions with the team about it.

Your parents weren't soulmates, but you watched movies- you knew that soulmates were a big deal. It was a big piece of information, and you knew you were wrong to not tell him.

"I don't know why I can't just tell him," you muttered.

"I know," Rika gave you a small smile, "But the longer you don't tell him the worse it's gonna blow up in your face. And the worse it's gonna hurt him,"

"I should tell him," you sighed.

Rika nodded. "You should tell him."

Just as she finished, Tanaka came into view, still in his gym clothes and sweat rolling down his face. "Hey!" He practically yelled as he stood next to the table. "Are you ready to go or do you need more time to..."

"We're good," you rushed out with a smile. You turned to Rika, and the smug look on her face made you instantly regret it.

She smiled. "Pretty excited?"

"It's a tutoring session," you answered.

"Sure," she deadpanned with a smile, "Wanna meet up during lunch tomorrow to finish this up?"

"Sounds like a plan," you replied grabbing your bag and standing up, "Bye,"

"Bye!" Rika called back before winking, "Be safe!"

Your heart went into overdrive as you understood the real meaning of her words. You sent her a pointed look before Tanaka replied, "Be safe too!"

He's so innocent, you thought with a shake of your head before you both began walking to his house.

Your body felt light as you walked to the gym, smiling when you heard the distinctive squeaks of shoes and huffing of the players. The floor was shiny and smelled of lemon from the janitor's cleaning of it over the weekend. Practice hadn't officially started yet, but some of the boys were already warming up. Ukai was muttering to himself and making notes on his clipboard.

Tanaka stopped stretching for a moment to walk over to you with a smile. "Hey, Y/N. I didn't see you at lunch today."

"I was working on an essay. My teacher offered to give me feedback before I turn it in, but I had to give it to him today," you said.

"You didn't eat lunch, did you?" Kiyoko's voice cut through, and you tensed up as you turned to her with a small smile.

"No, I ran out of time before I could," you muttered. To anyone else looking at Kiyoko, they would think she was stoic. To you, you noticed how her eyes squinted and her jaw clenched just a minuscule.

She let out a breath. "It's not healthy."

"I know, don't worry," you said, "I'm fine,"

"You've been skipping meals in order to study a lot lately, haven't you?" Kiyoko asked.

Tanaka raised his eyebrows. "Is that true?"

"I've been busy with school this week," you defended, looking between the two of them, "I'm fine, really,"

Kiyoko tsked before walking over to her gym bag. Tanaka cleared his throat, making you focus on him. "You really shouldn't skip meals. It's not healthy. You're gonna burn yourself out," he said with a frown.

"I'm sorry," you replied with a tight smile, "I honestly didn't even realize I was doing it,"

Kiyoko showed up at your side with a bento box and a pair of chopsticks before shoving the items into your hands. Your eyes got wide and sparkled. You weren't paying attention, but Tanaka smiled at your reaction as his own eyes softened.

"Is this your special bento?" You asked, and Tanaka's heart lifted at the wonder in your voice. Kiyoko simply nodded. You threw your arms around her. "Thank you, Shimmie!"

"Shimmie?" Daichi asked as he took a sip of water.

Kiyoko pulled back and placed her hands on your shoulders. You smiled at her as she led you over to the gym doors. You asked, "What are you-"

Without a word, she pushed you out of the gym. "Skipping meals is not a good habit. You can come back in after you have completely emptied that box," she said before shutting the door.

You stared at the door with your jaw dropped before you shouted with a giggle, "You're a bully, Shimizu!"

Inside the gym, Tanaka glanced at her as she zipped up her bag. "Don't you think that's a little harsh?"

She glanced up at him, staring at him for a moment with a stoic face. "Y/N does this every year. If she stayed in here, she'd probably get distracted and forget to eat again," she said as she stepped closer to him. She sent Tanaka a pointed look, but he wasn't sure what it actually meant. "She's smart, but she doesn't take hints well. You have to be blunt with her sometimes to get what you mean,"

"Uh... yeah," he muttered with furrowed eyebrows.

She looked at him for another moment before Ukai called to her.

Meanwhile, you were sitting in front of the gym, eating the bento box Kiyoko made for you- full of your favorite things. She made it for you every finals week. She must've been really worried about you if she was making it right now.

When Tanaka's eyes drifted to you later in practice, now with an empty bento box, he saw how your smile seemed brighter. He took a sip of water and overheard you thanking Kiyoko and promising to take better care of yourself. He couldn't hear Kiyoko's response, but it made you giggle, and Tanaka felt the same excitement you get as you hit the drop on a roller coaster.

As if you could feel his gaze on you, you looked over at him from across the gym before smiling. He smiled back widely, feeling the heat on his cheeks. He had crushes before, and he was always afraid of looking dumb in front of them. But he didn't care if he looked dumb as his smile got wider. You furrowed your eyebrows at the gesture, still keeping your smile as you mouthed, 'What?'.

Tanaka shook his head with that dumb smile; his heart forcing him to break the gaze and look at his bag. Daichi cleared his throat as he put away his own water bottle, making the second-year look over. "It's none of my business, but I'm pretty sure she likes you too."

"I-I don't know what you're-"

"Of course you don't," Daichi interrupted with a chuckle as he stood up, "But I think it'd be really dumb of you to not tell her soon. Heard some third-year has his eyes on her,"

"Really?" Tanaka asked with wide eyes, following the captain back onto court.

Daichi smirked and glanced over his shoulder at Tanaka. "No, but your reaction shows that you can't handle the idea of someone else."

He walked away as Tanaka froze before glaring at him. "Hey, that's mean!" Daichi shrugged at the accusation as Ukai started the next drill.

Tanaka realized his eyes were always drifting to you, and he realized Daichi was right. He wasn’t sure if you did reciprocate his feelings, this pull towards him, but he knew he couldn’t handle you being with someone else. Not if he could stop it.

Not if you could be with him.

You sighed as you stepped off the bus, stretching your legs immediately. You enjoyed going to their games, but the ride over always killed you. You grabbed your overshirt with Karasuno's colors on it, fanning it, and sighed as cool air began to hit you.

"Hey," Tanaka's deep voice pulled you out of your moment, "I have something to tell you," Your hand holding onto your shirt froze. Tanaka looked down at your shoes and groaned. "Man, this is really hard to get out."

You sighed and crossed your arms, feeling your intestines tangle up. You had no idea what he wanted to say, but you felt guilty every time you looked at him. It wasn't right. "I have something to tell you too," you said, voice croaking through your dry mouth.

He furrowed his eyebrows, finally getting the courage to look up at you. He opened his mouth to speak when Ukai cleared his throat, getting the team's attention. As he began listing the time of the game and other details, Tanaka whispered to you, "After the game, yeah?"

You looked at him, focusing on how his jaw was clenched. "Yeah, that's fine," you muttered.

You were tense the entire game as you watched with Yachi and Saeko. Yet you were still cheering with them. Watching Tanaka now reminded you of the first time you met him. Even as someone who had never played the game, you could tell that his technique was improving, and it made your heart light up as you remembered all of his ramblings about practice.

He was working so hard, and it made you proud that it was showing.

The crowd around you cheered as Tanaka hit another spike perfectly. He glanced up at you with a grin. You smiled back at him with a thumbs up before an elbow hit your side.

You whined as you looked up at Saeko's Cheshire cat grin, "I saw that."

"I don't know what you're talking about," you muttered, avoiding her gaze and focusing back on the game.

"Oh, please." Saeko rolled her eyes with a loud sigh. "I've seen your guys'study dates." She put air quotes around study.

"We do study," you retorted.

"You also flirt the entire time," she chuckled before she looked over at you, "Don't worry. I think you're good for him,"

Your head whipped over to look at her before you could even question about how that action would look. "You think so?"

Her eyes softened as she shook her head with the same smile. "Yeah, I do." Before you could question her further, the boys scored another point, making Saeko jump up and clap loudly.

Your eyes focused back on the game. Your legs bouncing as you sat on the bleachers. It was match point, and you could feel their confidence as the referee blew her whistle.

Although it took a few minutes for them to score the point, it felt like a couple of seconds. You yelled cheers with Yachi and Saeko, about to stand up when you felt something cold and wet run down your back. "Oh my god," you flinched, turning around to see a five year old fallen over the bleacher behind you, his soda cup open.

Your overshirt began to feel sticky as the soda seeped into the fabric. His mother grabbed his hand to pull him back to his feet. "I'm so sorry," she said, "He got excited when they won and tripped and-"

"It's fine," you replied, pulling your overshirt off, "I'm wearing something underneath. It was an accident,"

The mother gave you a relieved smile before she tugged on her son's hand. "Apologize to her."

He looked up at you with a deep frown as he squeezed his cup. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," you smiled, "I know you didn't mean to," You turned to Yachi. "I'm going to the bathroom to rinse this off. I'll meet up with you and the team later, okay?"

Yachi's eyes widened, too consumed with the win to even notice the interaction. "Yeah, I'll let them know."

You thanked her as you walked away, trying to remember your way to the bathroom. You sighed as you went into the bathroom; it was full of people using the bathroom after the game. You turned on the faucet, running it underneath the cold water.

Meanwhile, Tanaka was cheering with Nishinoya and Hinata. He looked around for you- the adrenaline coursing through his veins making him want to pull you close. He felt like he was on top of the world. He felt like the kind of guy that could look you in the eye and confess.

"Where's Y/N?" he asked as Saeko hugged him.

Yachi rose her hand to get his attention. "She went to the bathroom. A kid spilled his drink on her so she had to wash her shirt."

Nishinoya hit Tanaka's arm. His eyes glowed. "Dude! You should go and give her your jacket!"

"Give her my jacket?"

"Yeah!" Nishinoya was practically jumping as he explained his idea. "You give her something of yours to protect her from the cold. And while she's thanking you- Boom! You ask her out!"

Saeko rolled her eyes as she listened to the boys, but Tanaka's smile just got wider. "You're a genius!"

"I know," Nishinoya shrugged his shoulders.

Tanaka looked at Yachi. "Where are the bathrooms?" She muttered out directions, and he was off. He sprinted towards the bathroom, panting as he stopped nearby, barely missing the line of women waiting outside. He was bouncing as he waited.

Then you stepped out of the bathroom, squeezing some of the spare water out of your shirt. Your hair was pulled up, and you were left in your tank top. Tanaka smiled at the sight of you, still not used to you dressed in casual clothing. You stood in the hallway, looking around as you tried to remember the way back to the bus, and he stepped closer towards you. You turned to walk forward, turning your back to Tanaka.

His mind went blank as he stared at the mark etched onto the back of your shoulder. Tanaka couldn't think at all; his feet moved forward. He reached out and touched your shoulder, making you jump and turn around.

You relaxed as you met his gaze, a smile appearing on your face. "You scared me," you laughed, "Couldn't wait ten minutes for me to get to the bus?"

"I heard your shirt got messed up. Here's a jacket, so you can cover up," he mumbled.

"Thanks," you said as you grabbed the jacket, pulling it on quickly. You furrowed your eyebrows at his facial expression. "Hey! You should be smiling. You just won a game!"

"Yeah..." he muttered.

You squinted at him. You grabbed his wrist, pulling him out of the crowded hallway and towards the wall. He followed you without protest. "What's wro-"

"You're my soulmate."

Your blood ran cold at his words. "I can ex-"

A bright smile appeared on his face. "We're soulmates!" he yelled, catching some of the strangers around you to glance over at the pair of you.

You smiled back and rolled your eyes as he began bouncing with excitement. You reached out to his hand to pull him back towards the wall, clearing the way for people walking in the hallway. "Tanaka, calm down, you're making people look over."

"Let them look!" he retorted with a smile before he furrowed his eyebrows, "This is amazing! This is a big deal! How are you not freaking out right now?"

The small smile you had on your face vanished. You sighed as your stomach began twisting itself. "Um..."

"What?" he asked.

You knew he would probably move on if you didn't mention it. He would probably believe you too. You could move on, and he would never have to find out. However, the guilt was already overwhelming you as you thought about it.

"I already knew."

His eyes widened, staring at you. "You already knew?" You nodded. "How long?"

You pressed your lips together. His stoic expression wasn't doing anything to calm you down. "Since the first practice I visited."

"That was months ago!" Tanaka said. His frown deepening as he scoffed.

"I know," you said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

You sighed. Tears were burning in the corner of your eyes as you shook your head. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" he repeated, drawing out the words.

"I'm sorry," you said, voice choking up. "I should have told you sooner. I was going to tell you today, believe me. It's what I was going to tell you-"

"I-I-" Tanaka sighed, looking away from you. "I need some time."

"Tanaka-" You reached for his hand, but he pulled it out of your reach. You sighed, crossing your arms as the crowd in the hallway passed around you. You stepped into the hallway, tears burning as you walked back towards the bus.

Yachi smiled brightly at you. "Isn't that Tanaka's jacket?"

You glanced down at it, pulling the fabric around you tighter. "Yeah, it is." You looked over as Nishinoya's laugh, catching sight of Tanaka. His face was stoic as he listened to the boys talking to each other. Yachi spoke up again, "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," you blurted out. Yachi nodded, but you knew that she didn't believe you. You sat next to her on the bus, and you listened as she rambled about her ideas for the next fundraising poster.

You kept glancing over at Tanaka, who was sitting with Nishinoya a few rows in front of you. Even from that distance, you could tell that he was still upset. Knowing that you were the reason he was upset made you want to burst into tears.

Which is exactly what you did when you got home and laid in bed. = To say you were miserable over the weekend would be an understatement. You texted Tanaka an apology, but he didn't respond.

The radio silence was killing you the most. Every time you were upset that he would never love you the same way, you would tell yourself that he would at least be in your life. That losing him entirely would be worse than him not loving you.

And here you were- losing him entirely.

Kiyoko definitely noticed the change. She had asked you multiple times what was wrong but didn't manage to get any information out of you. Kiyoko was a protective person, and you didn't want your hurt feelings to make her have any animosity towards Tanaka. Mostly because you did know that it was your fault.

You were both excited and terrified at the idea of going back to school when Monday came around. The thought of seeing him, even if it was just a glance, seemed like a saving grace. This was the longest you'd ever gone without talking to him since you met, and you felt like you needed to see him in order to calm down your mind. However, you had a gut feeling that he was still upset. And the idea of him turning down talking to you felt like it would break you in half.

He was the first, and only, person you had ever opened up to you on such a personal level. The fact that he felt betrayed by you hurt you to your core.

Monday, you were broken in half. You didn't realize how much you were used to walking to classes with him until you watched him walk in the hallways with his own classmates. You skipped going to practice that day, telling Kiyoko that you had to study for an upcoming test.

Tuesday, you felt like someone was trying to tear your heart out of your chest. There was a dull ache in your body as you walked to class, glancing at him for as long as you could before going inside your classroom. It had now been four days since you last talked to him- four days of crying and hating yourself. So you decided to try to go to practice and talk to him before or afterwards. Your hands were shaking as you walked to the gym. You pushed the gym door open slowly. It was weird to be this anxious stepping inside when you've spent countless hours in here. You looked around when you saw Kiyoko and Tanaka talking to each other. You clenched your hands into fists until your nails were digging into your skin, hoping that the small amount of pain would keep you from crying yet again. Assuming Tanaka's feelings was what had gotten you into this mess, but you couldn't help it as he stepped closer to her. "Hey," Hinata practically yelled, "I didn't see you yesterday! I'm happy to se-"

"Can you tell Kiyoko that my parents wanted help with the shop, so I'm leaving early today?" you asked.

He froze, before nodding with a frown. "Yeah, I can. Make sure to drop by soon though!"

"I will!" you called back, already turning around for the door. You didn't see how Tanaka's head shifted over to you at your voice.

Kiyoko cleared her throat to get his attention again. "I don't know what happened with you two, but my cousin has been miserable for the past couple of days. You have too. Whatever happened, make sure you fix it."

Wednesday, you were a ball made out of anxiety and nausea. After you got home and cried until you had a piercing headache, you decided that it was you that hurt Tanaka, which meant that it was your responsibility to apologize and explain. You stopped him as he was going to lunch, grabbing his wrist the same way you did that day after the game. His eyes widened as he looked at you. "Y/N-"

"Please just let me explain," you said, ignoring the confused looks Suga and Nishinoya were sending each other as you two talked to each other.

"I-" Tanaka sighed and clenched his jaw before letting out a deep sigh, "I can't."

Your hand dropped, falling to your side. "What do you mean?"

"It's a big deal," Tanaka said, frown deepening as he saw your eyes begin to shine. "I need some more time before I..."

He didn't finish his sentence, and you didn't ask him to. Instead, he turned around and walked to lunch with his friends, dodging their questions. You went into the bathroom and wiped at your face, taking a deep breath to calm down the overwhelming pressure to hyperventilate.

Thursday, you were more frustrated than anything else. You understood Tanaka better than you understood yourself. When you saw him in the hallways, he wasn't smiling like he used to; you were lucky if you saw a smile from him at all. Kiyoko had casually (but you knew she did it intentionally) mentioned to you that Tanaka was more aggressive than usual in practice. You weren't sure if he was as miserable as you were, but you knew that he was hurting just the same.

Tanaka was sitting at a table in the courtyard with Nishinoya, Hinata, and Kageyama during lunch. You took a deep breath as you walked across the lawn towards the table. Hinata and Nishinoya kept talking, but you could feel Kageyama's eyes on you as you stood next to where Tanaka was sitting. "Y/N-" Tanaka started.

"Is this silent treatment making you feel better?" you asked. You took deep breaths in order to try to keep your emotions in check enough to talk.

Tanaka furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"If it is, I'll leave you alone till you want to talk to me," you said, "If not, then please let me talk to you,"

Tanaka stared at you for a moment before he stood up. "I'll be back," he muttered to his friends before he walked past you and towards the school. You followed him into an empty hallway. You leaned against one of the walls as he stood in front of you. It was silent for a couple of moments before he spoke up, "So what do you have to say?"

You had always heard some people say that Tanaka was scary, and you didn't understand that until now. You didn't think he was scary, but his anger was definitely intimidating as he stood in front of you.

With a deep breath, you said, "I'm sorry. I should've told you sooner. I should have told you the second I found out. It wasn't fair, and you had a right to know."

"What was the plan? Were you just going to move on and let me think I never met my soulmate?" he asked. His eyes were rich with anger and hurt.

"I kept meaning to tell you, but I chickened out every time." You shook your head. "I was planning on telling you after the game that day. That's what I was talking about when I said I had something to talk to you about. I didn't mean to keep it to myself for as long as I did,"

Tanaka stared at your face for a moment before he sighed; his shoulders relaxing as he did. "Did you want someone else as your soulmate?"

Your eyes widened, and words fell from your mouth without thinking. "No. No. No. I never wanted that. I'm glad you're my soulmate."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" he exclaimed, hurt highlighting every word.

"I-" You sighed, taking a moment to collect yourself. "I thought you liked Kiyoko."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why would you think that?"

"I saw how you and Nishinoya talked about Kiyoko at the first practice, and I thought it was obvious," you said, tears finally escaping your eyes. "I've never had someone look at me and look at Kiyoko and then choose me..." Tanaka's eyes widened as he took in your words. You sighed. "That doesn't mean that it was right for me to keep it from you. Soulmates are a two-way street; you should've known,"

"Do you still think that I like Kiyoko?" he asked slowly.

"I-" You opened your mouth but you shut it when you realized you didn't want to say the answer. He sighed, remembering Kiyoko’s words; you needed things to be blunt sometimes.

Tanaka took a deep breath. "Ya know, I've had a crush on you since we were first-years."

"What?"

"I bumped into you in the hallways, and I've liked you ever since," he said, "When Kiyoko brought you to practice, I was just so excited to get a chance to talk to you. I saw it as my first chance to actually make a move. To understand why when I look at you... I don't care what anyone else in the world thinks.

"I liked you way before the soulmate thing was even involved in this," Tanaka continued and stepped closer, "You're my first choice." Your breath hitched as you took him in. His eyes were shining with the same passion you had only seen him have while he was on the court. As if he would fight anyone that disagred with him. "And I will always choose you first. No one else is even an option,"

You were frozen as you two stared at each other. "Tanaka-"

"I will tell you that a hundred times a day if that's what it takes," Tanaka said, "Because it's the truth, okay?"

You grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer to you, making him trip in the process. His arm reached out and slammed against the wall next to you to keep himself from falling against you. Your mouths slotted against each other. His cologne and the soft fabric of his shirt invaded your senses as your lips moved against his.

You were wrong. It wasn't a glance at him that cleared your mind; it was having him against you like this. Having him take you in and tell you that it was okay- you were okay. Tanaka's hand traveled to your waist, bunching up the fabric of your shirt as he deepened the kiss. You gasped against him as you were pressed further into the wall. His lips were soft, contrasted by his harsh movements against you. Tanaka was gentle, but he wanted to prove to you that he wanted you. That you could trust him with yourself.

The guilt that had lived in you for months dissolved into excitement. The pull towards him that you had repressed for so long, that need, finally being pushed to the surface was refreshing. It felt like you were drowning before, and this was the first breath of air you took in after he pulled you to the surface.

You sighed as he pulled away, panting as you stared at each other. He stayed close to you, lips ghosting over yours, sharing the same breath as you. "You're my first choice too," you whispered.

A bright smile appeared on his face as he stared at you. He leaned in closer, capturing your lips in a small kiss, leaning in to capture them as soon as they were released. As if he cared more about kissing you than breathing.

When the bell rang, finally pulling you away from each other, he intertwined his hand with yours. Smiles on both of your faces as he walked you to your class. And those smiles stayed on your faces as you both went into the gym. You tried your best to ignore the congratulatory pat on the backs he got as the team saw your connected hands. But you smiled when Yachi began pestering you with questions.

A promise made between the two of you, one without words. He would remind you of your worth every second of every day if he had to.

And you would believe him.

#haikyuu imagines #haikyuu imagine #tanaka ryuunosuke imagines #haikyuu x reader #tanaka ryuunosuke x reader #he's not even my favorite character and i spent the better part of a week writing this

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teppencheatjewels-blog · 5 years

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TEPPEN Guide

TEPPEN Guide was recently released. There is no point in having more than three copies of the same card, and the Cards screen allows you to reap any extra card you can't use. You can reap any card that isn't part of the Basic set, so if you don't expect to be playing some cards in the near future, feel free to reap them if you really need the Souls to craft a card you need to finish a deck. You earn additional Basic cards by leveling up with each specific hero, so make sure to play all of them! This comes in handy when you don't want your Action card to be countered, as your opponent will have expended his Mana Points on something else, and won't have enough left to counter your play. For example, when playing against a Red deck, they could play Path of the Warrior to deal 3 damage to your defending creature, kill it before it could defend from an attack, and kill you. But you can then answer this play by playing a card like Secure Supply Route, whose effect will resolve before Path of the Warrior's and save your creature, saving you the game. The motivation behind why there is no unbiased cards, is on the grounds that every group or shading has unmistakable fight techniques and players can blend them to make fascinating and complex mix deck, subsequently not by any means requiring nonpartisan cards. Blending the red group's unnecessary animosity in buffs and direct assaults with green's protecting and wellbeing buffs is only one case of how mixes can end up obliterating. There is a stunning expense for blending hues, a player's absolute MP is chopped down and a player might most likely play certain cost cards. Not awful. The card fights occur continuously, bringing a fresh out of the box new component to the conventional card put together interactivity that we see with respect to cell phones. What's more, guess what? TEPPEN is extremely lovely darn great, genuinely. I know, I know. I didn't hope to state that either, yet Capcom and Gung Ho Online Entertainment truly thumped it out of the recreation center with this one. In this guide, you will discover truly all that you could wish to think about TEPPEN. One of the significant draws of the game is that players will get the chance to see battles, for example, Street Fighter's Ryu versus Occupant Evil's Leon Kennedy, and Monster Hunter's Rathalos versus Darkstalkers' Morrigan. Different characters from the beginning program of eight are Street Fighter's Chun-Li, Monster Hunter's Nergigante, Mega Man's X, and Resident Evil's Albert Wesker. What sets TEPPEN separated from most computerized card diversions is that the activity occurs continuously, which may change into a turn-based arrangement through the Active Response framework. GurenFrog has made a Morrigan deck in TEPPEN that has a 85% success rate. Nonetheless, before players can assemble the deck, they should do some legwork. Initially, they should open Morrigan in TEPPEN. To do that, essentially play through the three parts of her story mode, which incorporates battles against Ryu, Nergigante, and Dante. When they've been finished Morrigan's story mode, players will probably make their very own Morrigan decks. Be that as it may, to get the Darkness Illusion Hero Art that GurenFrog suggests, players should get the opportunity to level 3 with Morrigan. Cards additionally have a class, they can be Normal, Golden, or Secret. This grouping is only for corrective reasons: Golden cards gleam, and Secret cards have a similar sparkle as Golden cards, while additionally being enlivened. They look extremely pleasant, however you can't create them, so it's up to possibility whether you discover any in your packs. Creating is extraordinary and all, however you will require Souls to specialty cards, and Souls are earned by pulverizing the cards you as of now have in abundance. Every saint is extraordinary, and the best decision of Hero Art relies upon your deck organization. You can check what these do by making another deck and choosing a pioneer, the three expressions will be there in a jiffy. You open new Hero Arts at level 3, and 10. Units can have different characteristics, a few, similar to Flight or MP lift are constantly dynamic, some actuate when the cards are played, others enact when the unit slaughters an adversary unit, and finally, there are capacities like Resonate or Revenge that initiate separately when you play an Action card and when the unit passes on. TEPPEN hangs out in various ways however. To start with, we should discuss the game's set up. Every legend has 30 wellbeing and there are three spaces in which players can set flunkies/animals. A player's hand size is five with two included spaces utilized in different ways. The game looks and feels progressively like a functioning battleground in light of the arrangement and the more restricted field of play Second, TEPPEN utilizes a functioning fight framework. Consistently that goes in the match gives you one MP, your MP is utilized to gather animals or characters or use activity cards, so utilize your time/MP shrewdly. You can manufacture decks that contain different hues, however there are confinements in doing as such. A deck with cards of two distinct hues can just have cards that cost up to 5 MP in them. You can get considerably crazier and play cards from 3 unique hues, yet then the confinement will happen to 3 MP. Furthermore, you don't really need to play cards of a similar shade of the pioneer, yet this likewise gives you a similar punishment as though you were playing two distinct hues. Capcom will add more Heroes and cards to TEPPEN after some time, which should given aficionados of its establishments more things to anticipate in the game. Pose an inquiry about working or talking at TEPPEN Corporation. Our people group is prepared to reply. Nobody anticipated this game. No one requested it, yet here it is. Truly it isn't too pitiful either. TEPPEN is a card game with a turn from Capcom and GungHo Online Entertainment. This game takes card fighting to a better place taking into account wacky game play and more activity and speed; In the Land of Illusion, numerous incredible creatures from various pockets of reality merge to fight. Activity cards resemble Instants in Magic: The Gathering, you can play them at whatever point you need. The game obtains another idea from Magic: The Gathering: impacts from Action cards settle dependent on when they were played: the last Action card played purposes first. When you play an Action card the game clock stops, and your adversary has a few seconds to choose whether or not they need to answer your play with their very own Action cards. You can likewise play Action cards that don't straightforwardly impact the result of the present line. This pushes players to buy new card packs from the in-game store, frequently through microtransactions that cost genuine cash. Highlights characters from Resident Evil, Mega Man, Street Fighter, and other well known game establishments. Guardians need to realize that TEPPEN is an allowed to-play collectible card game accessible for download on iOS and Android cell phones. Players manufacture decks of virtual cards and fight in story-based missions just as player versus player matches. Matches are introduced to players as battles, but there's almost no onscreen savagery really appeared. That is a completely included versatile card game, and keeping in mind that it's not the best one I've at any point played, it offers a pretty darn great resistance to the huge young men available. Contingent upon your preferences, it may even drag you away from Hearthstone. Besides, the cast of Capcom characters is truly alluring. Ryu, Morrigan, Albert Wesker, Nergigante, and a bundle more are incorporated. The quantity of arrangement that are included right presently is quite little thinking about Capcom's broad library, yet I'm certain we can anticipate that more cards should be included what's to come.

#teppen gu #TEPPEN guide #TEPPEN cheats #TEPPEN cheat #guide for TEPPEN #TEPPEN jewels

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xeno-odyssey · 5 years

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Top 10 (Slightly Revised) Smash Ultimate - Fighters Pass Predictions

Keep in mind, these are fighters I personally want in Smash Ultimate. With the surprise reveal of Joker, and that he’ll be joining the roster soon with only a month away, anything is possible at this point. Also, Mii Costumes and Spirits usually does not mean a fighter is de-confirmed. For example, Mario is a fighter and he has multiple Spirits of himself from other Mario games. This will be a slightly lengthy list, so I’ll put a cut underneath.

Rex & Pyra/Mythra - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Unfortunately they did not make it into the final roster as Smash Ultimate’s development period was around the time Xenoblade 2 released in December 2017, and Smash Ultimate released the next year. As compensation, we got a Mii Fighter costume of Rex if we pre-purchased the Fighters Pass DLC for free. I still have hope for Rex being in Smash. Some people say they want Pyra & Mythra as solo fighters, I have to disagree on that. They share their life-force with Rex, and without him as the Driver, they’re not at full strength, even if they are the Aegises. I COULD see Mythra as a solo fighter, should Sakurai and his team choose to use her Torna iteration. For their special attacks and Final Smash, here’s what I got: Sword Bash in Neutral-B, Rolling Smash is Side-B, Double Spinning Edge is Up-B akin to Link’s Spin Attack, and Down-B can be Blade Switch by changing between Pyra or Mythra respectively. For Rex’s Grab, it can be Anchor Shot akin to Young/Toon Link’s Hookshot, and it can also work as a tether-grab on ledges. For their Final Smash, it can be something like how Ryu and Ken have a 2-in-one Final Smash; Chain Attack - Burning Sword (Pyra), and Chain Attack - Sacred Arrow (Mythra). Rex call upon either Nia & Dromarch, Tora & Poppi, Mòrag & Brighid, and/or Zeke & Pandoria. They let their Blades go all out with the Special Attacks, and Rex deals the finishing blow with Pyra or Mythra using either of their respective Level 4 Special Attack.

Elma - Xenoblade Chronicles X Elma is one of many highly requested fighters to be in Smash, especially during the Fighter Ballot back in 2016 for Smash 4. Even if Elma doesn’t make, I can see the avatar, Cross, be in it. Elma’s moveset can be directly pulled from her origin game, and from Xenoblade 2: Neutral-B is Stream Edge, Side-B is Sliding Slinger, Up-B is Shadow Strike, and Down-B is Ghost Factory as counter akin to Lucario’s Double Team. For her Final Smash, it can be call Full Metal Jaguar Overdrive: This can be similar to Shulk’s Chain Attack in a way. Elma activates Overdrive, then splits clones of herself with Ghost Factory like in her boss fight from Xenoblade 2. Elma and her clones then go all out using moves like Violent Streak, Executioner, Electric Surge, Hundred Shells, and the original Elma finishes the attack with her signature Art being Shadow Strike. For a special aesthetic, one of Elma’s alternate costumes can be her True Form, where she’s actually one of the mysterious peaceful aliens trying to protect humanity from the Ganglion Alliance.

Kazuma Kiryu - Yakuza series I know what some of you might be thinking; “But Kiryu has never been on a Nintendo console before!” This is where I say, not true! The first two Yakuza games had HD ports on the Wii U. Sales didn’t do so well though.... But that’s okay! If we can get characters like Bayonetta and Joker, why not Kiryu? For Kiryu’s fighting style taken straight from 0 and Kiwami 1 & 2, he has Brawler, Rush, Beast, and Dragon of Dojima. For most of his standard and aerial attacks, Kiryu can use both Brawler and DoD styles. When dodging, that’s where Rush Style comes in. For his grab attacks and throws, Beast Style is in play. So all in all, Kiryu will mainly be using Dragon of Dojima with hints of his other 3 fighting styles mixed into one, just like in Kiwami 2 and onward. I’m not entirely sure what his B-specials can be like, but they’ll be something straight out of his DoD style. For example, his Down-B can be the Tiger Drop as a counterattack, where Kiryu gut-punches foes causing them to be stunned, similar to Ryu & Ken’s Focus Attack. For his Final Smash, Kiryu goes into Extreme Heat, unleashing powerful Heat Action attacks on anyone that gets in his way. The finisher is using his signature high kick, causing foes to be sent flying. A Kiwami symbol (極) will appear as an aesthetic when the Final Smash is finished.

Byleth - Fire Emblem: Three Houses With FE: 3 Houses recently announced and coming to Nintendo Switch soon, it won’t be a surprise if yet another FE avatar makes it into the roster alongside Robin and Corrin. Corrin especially since both them and Roy were originally put into Smash to promote both of their respective origin games. Roy being The Binding Blade, and Corrin being Fates of course. Robin, Corrin, and Byleth. Wouldn’t that be amazing? As of making this list, we don’t know much of Byleth other than they can use swords and have mysterious powers in Three Houses and how that’ll be incorporated into Smash Ultimate, but I have a feeling they’ll be an original FE fighter much like Robin & Corrin. Robin using their tomes & Levin Sword, Corrin wielding the Omega Yato & using their Dragon Fang ability, so I’m curious and I’d like to see what Byleth could bring to the table.

Shantae - Shantae series Reminder once again, Spirits don’t usually de-confirm fighters. In Smash Ultimate, Shantae & Risky’s Spirits are represented in their Half-Genie Hero appearances & design. So what I’m thinking is that we can bring in the “recent” Shantae iteration from one of her more popular games being The Pirate’s Curse. Shantae’s Smash design can be a mix of all of her past and present iterations, like her vest from PC. All of Shantae’s attacks can derive from all of her games. She can use her magic, and use other means of weapons & attacks from Pirate’s Curse. Shantae can be slightly similar to Robin, and how they use swords & magic. Like she can use her signature Hair Whip attack on the ground, shoot magic fireballs or use a flintlock pistol for projectile attacks, and use a pirate cutlass for her aerial attacks. She can even use moves like Power, Drill & Uppercut Kicks. Her dodge can even come from her notable Backdash. Her most iconic magical bellydances can be her special attacks, and her taunts. Shantae’s Final Smash can be something like unleashing powerful Genie Magic via her magic bellydancing.

Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney series & VS. Capcom series I mean, c’mon now. We gotta have another joke-fighter in Smash. Nick works as a joke fighter in the VS. Capcom games because most of his moves are taken from his games and from Project X Zone 2. Shouting an “Objection!” can be a forward-Smash attack, his Up-B can be a powerful sneeze, and other attacks can involve his partners such as Maya & Pearl Fey (with the Steel Samurai), Apollo Justice, and Athena Cykes. For his Final Smash, the name can be something like “Final Evidence Presentation” A.K.A., “TAKE THAT!” Phoenix presents the final key evidence on the “suspect”, belittling them even further that they were at the crime scene with no alibi and hope left, with the finisher being a powerful “TAKE THAT!” shout sending the suspects flying. For this, both Apollo and Athena join Nick like they both did in Dual Destinies.

Neku Sakuraba - The World Ends With You I was one of the people that voted for Neku to be in Smash during the Fighter Ballot. If you’ve played TWEWY, you probably already know how Neku can fight. Most of Neku’s powers come from pins, allowing him to use pyrokinesis, electrokinesis, shockwaves, energy projectiles, quakes, soundwaves, and more. If he were to be a fighter, Neku can be similar to Robin. In his game, the pins’ powers have a limit use and time limit. After a certain amount of use, Neku must wait to use the pin again until it reboots. This goes for all of his special attacks. Neutral-B can be Energy/Force Rounds, Side-B can be Shockwave akin to Marth/Lucina/Roy’s Dancing Blade, Up-B is Vulcan Uppercut or Teleport, and his Down-B is Pyrokinesis which is controllable. Neku’s Final Smash will be Final Fusion. He summons Shiki, Joshua and Beat where they put all of their power in the Harmonizer Pin with Neku dealing the finishing blow. If Final Fusion manages to KO opponents, this fully reboots all of Neku’s pins.

Monster Hunter - Monster Hunter series Smash Ultimate feels nearly complete as it already has the armor as Mii Costumes and Rathalos as a boss & Assist Trophy. I know very little of the Monster Hunter games, but they can work as a fighter with their various weapons.

Ruby Rose - RWBY series Ruby seems very unlikely for a fighting game like Smash Ultimate, but she already has her own game which is RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, and stars in another crossover fighting game being BLAZBLUE: Cross Tag Battle. But what she can bring to the table is that she’s the most unique fighter out of everyone in Smash. Ruby wields her favorite weapon, Crescent Rose, a high-impact sniper-rifle scythe hybrid weapon. Most of her attacks from the show involve using her Speed Semblance, and attacking from a distance thanks to the rifle part. In a way, she can be similar to Bayonetta as both characters uses guns and attack from far away. Her speed can even match Sonic’s and Shulk’s Monado Speed. For Ruby’s Final Smash, it can be similar to Shulk’s Chain Attack, where she summons the rest of Team RWBY; Weiss, Blake, and Yang. All four girls use their unique team attacks, and the finishing blow is all four of them attacking together with their respective weapons.

Sora - Kingdom Hearts series Sora is on the very bottom for this list because I feel he’s highly unlikely to be the next DLC fighter. He’s technically a Disney character, and Square-Enix is usually careful with their IPs, though some producers seem to be okay with his inclusion in Smash Ultimate. Anyway, should Sora become a fighter, of course he would bring his Keyblade, the Kingdom Key to the battle. All of his attacks can derive from his origin games, like moves from Limit & Second Form. Sliding Dash is his Dash-Attack, Ripple Drive can be his Up-Smash, Stun Impact can be his Down-Smash akin to Zero Suit Samus’s, and Magnet Burst can be a Neutral-Air as an example. I’m not sure what his Neutral-B will be like though for the rest of the Special Attacks; Side-B will be Strike Raid akin to Link’s boomerang, Up-B is Aeroga, and Down-B is a Counterattack being Zantetzuken (or even his latest reprisals from KH3). Sora’s Final Smash is a bit tricky as he has a lot of powerful finishers and attacks. They can be either Ragnarok, Sonic Blade, Ars Arcanum, Union χ, Ancient Light, or Trinity where he teams up with Donald & Goofy to unleash a powerful attack.

#nintendo #nintendo switch #super smash bros.#super smash bros ultimate #predictions #top 10 list #xenoblade chronicles 2 #xenoblade chronicles x #yakuza #yakuza kiwami #fire emblem #fire emblem: three houses #shantae #phoenix wright #ace attorney #the world ends with you #monster hunter #rwby #kingdom hearts

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bittenappletv · 5 years

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Capcom Live Concert Review; 9/29/18 Gramercy Theater NYC

Mega Man 2 on the NES was that video game for me. The one that made me realize video games can be art. The music! The graphics! The music! Doctor Wily's Castle! The music! The ending! Oh and did I mention, the music! Because... THE MUSIC! I've been a lifelong fan of Capcom ever since. Mega Man used to be my favorite Capcom franchise. Eventually it became Street Fighter and later in life it became Devil May Cry. So it's almost like I've grown up with Capcom throughout the years. As I've matured so have my interests. So of course I’m going to attend a concert that features music from Capcom video games because… Just in case I haven’t mentioned this before… THE MUSIC!

The Capcom Live Band spun out of Video Games Orchestra. Video Games Orchestra has their own show called Video Games Live where they play music from lots of different video games. I've seen them perform twice and I definitely recommend checking them out if they come to your neck of the woods!

The members of the Capcom Live Band originate from Boston. They made the Chrono Trigger song that was performed at Video Games Live and is available on one of the Video Games Live CDs. Well they have broken off into their own thing just to perform Capcom music but they will still get down with Video Games Live when the occasion arises.

On to the performance! I also saw Capcom Live perform at Anime Next in 2017 so I will be comparing both performances. Spotlighting what was different between both shows when I can.

So first up at the New York show was an arrangement featuring a lot of classic Capcom video games while they displayed video footage of said games. The first one was Commando, the first Capcom game I ever played in an arcade a long time ago! Followed by Trojan, Sonson, 1942, Strider, the NES version of Bionic Commando and wrapping up with Ghosts 'n Goblins!

On to Street Fighter! They played the intro song from Street Fighter II. You may be more familiar with it as Ryu's theme in the first Marvel vs. Capcom game or the intro song to the American Street Fighter cartoon. "Ba Da Da Da Daaaa Da Daaaa!" You know that song! While the track played we got to see Ryu face off against a lot of the Street Fighter II characters finishing up with his confrontation against Master Bison! The next track was a medley they also do at Video Games Live. Ryu, Guile and Ken's themes mashed together as a rock song. When they did this at Anime Next they showed images from the HD version of Street Fighter II, essentially the new imagery from Studio Udon that you can currently see in Ultra Street Fighter II The Final Challengers on the Nintendo Switch. For the New York show they stuck with imagery from the original version of Street Fighter II. While I fig both versions and Udon did an amazing job, I liked seeing the older version at a show like this. Events like these are even better when they evoke nostalgia.

Now for something new! They played the music you hear in Street Fighter V when you are in the mode select screen or waiting for an online match. Now if you've upgraded to Street Fighter V Arcade Edition it is no longer the first song that plays, but if you stay on mode select long enough you'll hear it. It's the song that starts off with a Spanish guitar. You know, I never even gave too much thought to the Spanish guitar that comes on during the track until I heard it live. I'm Latino so naturally my heritage woke up WORD! What was cool is that a performer who looked kind of like Reuben Langon (AKA Dante's voice and motion capture actor in the Devil May Cry series) just with longer blonde hair and a smaller frame sang English lyrics to that Street Fighter V song! The singer's name is David Vives by the way.

So yeah we got a Dante look alike IN THE HIZOOOOOOUSE so OF COURSE he's going to sing something from Devil May Cry! When the beginning of Devil May Cry 4's "We Shall Never Surrender" (AKA my current smartphone ring tone heh heh heh) started playing David Vives yelled for everyone to get up! I was sitting down and normally don't get up and dance, pretty much ever unless I am drunk out of my skull. But I love Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition. I played that game until I finished Bloody Palace Mode with Dante and Vergil, and I still fire it up now and again. So if you tell me to get up and dance during a Devil May Cry 4 song MAAAAANG I'm gonna be on my feet dancing all night and that's how I spent the remainder of the concert! So David sang the lyrics to the song and the New York venue had two levels. When he got to the middle part of the song that sounds like a prayer sermon he got up on the balcony level and looked down at those of us on the lower level. For the third part we all sang "Come With Me. We'll Fight Until Eternity..." We all raised our arms and waved them left arms right. So much fun. Felt like I was part of the game for a bit. I didn't get Lady's phone number though. D'OH!

"Go Tell Aunt Rhody!" You guessed it! David Vives sang the main song from Resident Evil VII. He did this at Anime Next too and when I went to the bathroom at that event someone in the stall near me asked me if David was the original singer of that song in the game. Um nah it's a cover the song is sung by a female in the game, Jordan Reyne. That just goes to show how talented David is!

Monster Hunter time! At Anime Next the band was surprised that there were a lot of Monster Hunter fans in the audience since the franchise is a lot bigger in Japan. Well it wasn't a shock that there were even more Monster Hunter fans in New York since this year we saw the release of Monster Hunter World, which has become the highest selling video game Capcom has ever made! We got to hear three Monster Hunter instrumental tracks while seeing images of warriors, Felynes and Monsters on the screen!

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney time! I didn't hear any OBJECTION to that! First they played the famous arrangement from the first game followed by some music from the latest game. The music from part 6 was accompanied by footage and anime cut scenes from the game!

Video Games Live has this great set that includes the Mega Man 2 intro song, the Mega Man 3 intro song and the famous music from Doctor Wily's castle from Mega Man 2. I wish we did hear that track at Capcom Live, but I've been to two of their shows now and that hasn't happened yet. The tracks they do play are really cool though. First up is a rock version of Cut Man's theme from Mega Man 1. I'm still dancing at this point so I can cut a rug to Cut Man's theme word! After that there's a Spark Mandrel theme from Mega Man X!

SENGOKU BASARA OH MY GOD! I knew that it was part of their show in Japan since it's way more popular there but I never expected to hear any of it in the US. It wasn't at Anime Next but New York definitely had my fam Date Masamune, Sanada Yukimura, Kasuga and more up on the screen while they played the main track of the last game we did get in the US, Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes. Myself I'm a huge fan of the series but it's not always at the top of my mind when I think of Capcom because I always have to import the games to play them. Playstation 3 and 4 are region free systems and there are lots of online guides to help you play the games so this isn't extremely difficult to do at least. As an aside, the current Gakuen Basara anime airing on HiDive is hilarious and makes me laugh every week! Check it out if you can, the Sengoku Basara franchise needs all the love it can get in the West!

That's not all for Sengoku Basara! Following that track they had a special song for Ii Naotora! Wait a second hang on, she debuts in part 4 and has never been on an American console. So this must be a track just for their Japanese show right? Wrong! They played her main theme while David sang lyrics to the tune, AND THE LYRICS WERE IN ENGLISH! THE SONG WAS JUST FOR US! WE WENT NUTS AAAAAH!!!!! I guess this is how young women felt in the 60s when the Beatles performed! The footage on the screen was a lot of Sengoku Basara part 4 with a bit of 3 mixed in. Anyway, go ahead and import some games. The universe said it's okay!

Two Okami tracks! One instrumental and another with English lyrics. For the one with lyrics we were asked to hold up our smart phones and wave them from side to side. So a few days prior to the show my Samsung S4 got water damaged and I upgraded to a Samsung S9. The flashlight button on my S9 is much easier to locate and a lot brighter than my S4, so it was way better for this candlelight... or smartphone light vigil! Big up to the Okami God Amaterasu for messing up my S4 to make me get an S9 so I could be concert ready word!

Since this was the first time the Capcom Live Band played in New York City they wanted to play something special for us. At Anime Next, since it's an anime convention we got to hear the One Piece "We Are" song in English and The Attack on Titan original intro song in it's original language. Well us New Yorkers got something a little different. David Vives noticed that some of us went nuts and jumped up and down during the Sengoku Basara songs. That was me of course! So they played the Van Halen song "JUMP" for us! I guess it didn't have much to do with Capcom, but if you hear it you can think of Bionic Commando 2 Rearmed where they added the jump feature. Only maybe pretend Rad jumped into a barbershop and got rid of that stupid mustache! Not a fan of that mustache! The Shinkiro design from Grin's first Bionic Commando Rearmed game is my favorite.

The show closed out with a Resident Evil 6 song with English lyrics! 6 is not my personal favorite Resident Evil game, but it's a good song to close things out with! Also 7 is such a departure from all of the previous games so it was nice to see a few familiar faces up on the screen.

ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE! We all chanted for an encore and we got it! David Vives sang the first Attack on Titans intro song in Japanese and German, "Feuerroter Pfeil und Boge" for us just as he did in Anime Next! And hey this one is kind of Capcom related since Capcom almost made an Attack on Titan Japanese arcade game! Something fell through the cracks and it didn't happen. However it's probably for the best since Arthur from Ghost 'n Goblins would sneak into the arcade machine and defeat all of the Titans in two seconds. Oh hey I saw a documentary called "Wreck-It Ralph." Stuff like that is possible I tell you!

Suffice it to say I had an amazing time both times I attended the concert, but I had more fun at the New York show. Mainly because the energy was different and there were a lot more of us dancing and having a good time. There's things I'm leaving out like how each member gets introduced to us and they get to shred on their instruments. The was also stage diving and fun stuff like that but those are the parts you are better off experiencing yourself.

Final grade: I give the concert 5 Felicias from Darkstalkers performing in front of a live audience out of 5! If you're a fan of Capcom music and games or if you just want to hear some cool music accompanied by nice imagery and have a good time I definitely recommend checking out Capcom Live! - Anthony

http://www.capcomlive.com/

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demifiendrsa · 2 years

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Street Fighter 6 - Pre-Order Trailer

youtube

Japanese version

Street Fighter 6 adds returning fighter Dee Jay and newcomers Manon, Marisa, and JP.

Street Fighter 6 will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam on June 2, 2023.

Key visual

Screenshots

Latest details

Pre-Orders

All pre-orders will receive alternate colors for Chun-Li, Jamie, Manon, Dee Jay, Juri, and Ken’s Outfit 1, while PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 digital pre-orders will also receive exclusive items like 18 in-game Special Titles and 18 Stickers featuring unique art from the launch roster to personalize their profile.

Game Editions

The three editions available for pre-order starting today are:

Standard Edition ($59.99; Physical/Digital) – Includes the base game of Fighting Ground, World Tour, Battle Hub, and the 18-character launch roster

Deluxe Edition ($84.99; Physical/Digital) – Includes the base game and the Year 1 Character Pass (containing four characters), colors 3-10 for each of those Year 1 characters’ Outfit 1, and a bonus of 4,200 Drive Tickets for in-game purchases

Ultimate Edition ($104.99; Digital) – Includes the base game and the Year 1 Ultimate Pass, which contains content from the Year 1 Character Pass, two additional costumes and their alternate colors for the four Year 1 characters, two more stages, and a bonus of 7,700 Drive Tickets

World Tour Mode

Next up, we shared new details on the all-new World Tour mode. Visit exciting locations like an arena in Italy, a festival in France, a beach in Jamaica, and more as you travel around the world learning Special Moves from Masters. You can even mix and match Special Moves from different Masters meaning that your avatar can throw out a Hadoken or Sonic Boom, perform a Spinning Bird Kick, and execute a Yoga Flame, all in the same match as long as they’re using different inputs. World Tour also introduces Master Assist, allowing players to fight alongside a Master like Ryu by calling upon them in battle to help for a period of time, a useful tool for when you encounter more than one opponent. Lastly, play your heart out with minigames like karate-chopping bottles, enjoying Italian cuisine, parrying basketballs, and more. Minigames are playable in between matches in the form of part-time jobs where you can earn World Tour mode currency to purchase in-game clothing, food, and more.

New Characters

And now, we welcome to the Street Fighter 6 stage, one returning legend—Dee Jay—and three newcomers—Manon, Marisa, and JP.

Dee Jay – First appearing in Super Street Fighter II, Dee Jay is a globally popular dance music superstar with a burning love for music and fighting. As a returning character in the series, Dee Jay retains his trademark moves that will get you in the rhythm such as Air Slasher, Double Rolling Sobat, Machine Gun Upper, and Jackknife Maximum, while adding new moves like Jus Cool and Weekend Pleasure to his arsenal. Visit Bathers Beach, Dee Jay’s stage in Street Fighter 6, to find a beachside party full of life amidst a setting sun.

Manon – A supermodel and world champion judoka, Manon struts the catwalk of street fighting to become the world’s strongest model. Manon’s move set is a graceful union between judo grappling and classical ballet with moves like the Manege Dore, Renverse, Pas de Deux, and more. Find her in the Fete Foraine stage in France, a dazzling carnival amidst the French skyline.

Marisa – Marisa is an up-and-coming jewelry designer from Italy who claims ancestry to ancient Greek warriors. A powerhouse of a character, Marisa utilizes her long limbs to unleash slow yet gargantuan strikes like the devastating Gladius, defensive counter Scutum, powerful Quadriga kick, and the almighty Goddess of the Hunt. Bask in the scent of victory in Colosseo, Marisa’s stage, with battle-ready warriors in the background cheering you on.

JP – JP is the head of an international nonprofit organization responsible for many successful investment projects, and the man behind Nayshall’s present prosperity. He has a beloved cat named Cybele. JP takes control of the entire map from all angles with moves like the powerful void-creating Departure, the clone-deploying Torbalan, the Embrace grab, and the destructive Interdiction.

#Street Fighter 6 #Street Fighter VI #SFVI #SF6 #Street Fighter #Capcom #video game #PS5 #Xbox Series #Xbox Series X #Xbox Series S #PS4 #PC #Steam #The Game Awards #TGA 2022 #long post

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damnwyverngems · 6 years

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“So how do I get these Street Fighter outfits in my Monster Hunter?” you ask. Well, here’s how:

First up: a quick reminder these are full sets of armor that have to be equipped as one single entry and cannot be mixed with other armor pieces. However, these full armor sets can be equipped by both male and female hunters, even changing their voices to match either Ryu’s or Sakura’s.

In just a few weeks, we’ll be featuring the quest to get Ryu’s set as an exclusive early opportunity to PS4 players that also have a save data file from Street Fighter V (including Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition). Hunters with that save data will receive a special quest called “Down the Dark, Muddy Path.” Just channel your fighting spirit, complete that quest and you’ll get “SFV Tickets” as the special reward item. Bring that, along with other necessary materials, to the Smithy and you got yourself a Ryu armor set!

x Capcom-Unity

#monsterhunter #monhan #monhun #monster hunter #mh #モンスターハンター #モンハン #street fighter v #mhworld #monster hunter world

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gabrielokun · 2 years

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#My Mate Match #โหวตให้หน่อยผมไม่ค่อยกล้าเลือก #asianLGBTQdramas #Match #Jet Jetsadakorn Bundit #Mix #Jame Kasama Khanjanawattana #Ryu #Big Thanakorn Kuljarassombat #Mix x Match x Ryu #OT3 #ThaiBL #Thai BL #Thai series #Thai Drama #BL Drama #BL series #mine edit #Gabriel makes stuff

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jrpgbookclub · 3 years

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What Were They Thinking?!?! - SFxT - Gems

Intro

“What were they thinking?!?!” is a phrase in the dictionary of anyone who has played a terrible game. How could this make it past testing? How did the designers put this in with no issue? Why did they put this in? What were they thinking? When something about a game is bad, it’s easy to ask any of the above questions, but people rarely seek answers to these questions, and I want to use my knowledge of game design and theory to answer the question: What were they thinking? Let’s find out.

Street Fighter X Tekken

The year is 2010. Acclaimed fighting game Super Street Fighter IV has been out for several months and is a hit with Street Fighter fans, amassing 1,800 entrants in EVO that year and another Capcom fighting game is being teased. Tekken is still riding it’s release of Tekken 6 several years prior with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 in the works behind the curtain. The fighting game revival of the 2010s is in full swing with fans on both sides of the Tekken And Street Fighter aisle and at Comicon Street Fighter X Tekken is announced.

Cross over fighting games are nothing new to the Street Fighter and Capcom, with other acclaimed fighting games like Capcom Vs Snk 2, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, and Tastunoko Vs Capcom. This is Tekken’s first foray into the cross over fighting sub-genre but the first teasers look amazing. The hype for this game continues to go through the roof and fans are excited to see gameplay. Eventually, gameplay is shown and fans are able to get their hands on the new features doubts begin to sprout amongst the fans.

First is the Pandora System, which is a system which allows the player to sacrifice a character (each player uses 2 separate characters) to power up the other character for a limited amount of time and this causes some stirring after Marvel Vs Capcom 3 has launched with the relatively overpowered X Factor comeback system. Pandora ended up just being a small speed bump compared to the other big new feature of Street Fighter X Tekken and the largest reason it’s remembered in infamy:

The Gem System

The Gem System was something completely unique to SFxT and is a feature that hasn’t since and may never be repeated in a fighting game in the future. Before fighting the opponent, the player may select 3 “gems” to add to their team. Gems give your character a buff depending on what happens in the match and come in several colors which affect the game differently. Some gems increase the damage your character does, some reduce the damage your character takes, and some even makes inputs easier for the player to preform and some even auto block for the player in exchange for meter. The entire system is rather odd and brought up many questions of balance and the idea of pay to win. Gems can be won through gameplay, but before SFxT had even released Capcom had announced that some Gems would be DLC and there were even pre-order exclusive gems. While they may try to keep them balanced, some gems will be better than others and if some of those gems are locked behind paid DLC, a player only has the choice of buying that DLC or playing at a disadvantage.On the other side of the coin, if them gems barely affect the game or if they’re too hard to activate, why have them in the game at all? Both of these doubts came to a head when Capcom doubled down on them by announcing that the gems cannot be turned off which was answered with groans from the community. The players would get the ability to not equip any gems which became standard for some tournaments, but online not running gems was putting you at an immediate disadvantage. At the end of the day, most gems didn’t impact the game, with the exception of the auto-block gem, which players used not as the training wheels as intended, but instead as a anti-mix up tool. Other than the auto block gems, they were largely ignored and people tried not to use them when possible because it felt off. They barely affect the game, so why use them? Why include them in the first place? One may ask:

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?!

As opposed to my Final Fantasy II WWTT?!?!, I have interviews with both Seth Killian and Ono-san to refer to, but for the purposes of this article, I’m going to be primarily drawing on the interview with Seth Killian that can be found here

Without the input of Seth Killian, from my perspective, the main reason to introduce the Gem system is to, in a way, create more characters. Even though Player A and Player B both play Ryu, one may play a more offensive Ryu that gets rewarded for knockdowns and cross ups while the other may play a much more defensive Ryu that prefers to throw fireballs and keep a distance. Each player has gems that reward them for doing what they prefer, and they end up with two different characters, not unlike the Grooves from Capcom vs SNK 2. This allows players to explore characters they know and love in different ways or try to change their play style to tailor themselves to certain gems. A major hurdle a fighting game has to overcome is how to keep people playing when they’re just playing the same gameplay loop over and over, and changing the way your play your characters is a good method of reaching that end as we’ve seen in other successful fighting games like CVS2 and Street Fighter Alpha 2. Not only do players find a character they like but they can further explore the character by experimenting with different Gem combinations and changing the players experience with the primary gameplay loop. Now, moving onto what we learned through Seth Killain from the Eurogamer interview.

Seth largely talks for Ono-chan and the design decisions for the game in defense for the Gem system and gives good insight into the thought process on the developers side. The auto block and auto combo gems are primarily to help newer players get into the game. They’re mostly there for the friends of the people who play fighting games to help bring them into the game, but it seems from the interview they didn’t think people would use the gems in more competitive play. Moving onto the rest of the gems, Seth goes into details of the mind games that goes into choosing gems. If player A has a gem that require 3 grabs to activate and they’ve done 2 grabs so far this game, Player B now know that A is trying to fish for another grab to activate the gem. Player A also knows that player B is going to try to avoid getting grabbed again and can now take advantage of their fear by playing the mind game. This is an interesting reason, however, something interesting is that Seth downplays the affect of the gems later in the article as not completely game changing and something that won’t make a lesser player beat out a better player. He mentions the balance of the gems is something they have worked on for the better part of development and none of them will be overpowered, but the end result was underwhelming and a weird addition to a game that didn’t need it.

Conclusion

In my opinion, every fighting game is an experiment. Every fighting game brings something new to the table which makes every fighting game, even the bad ones, interesting in their own way. The Gem system was a worthy experiment into character customization that ultimately failed. The idea of making everyone’s character unique is a worthy pursuit in fighting games, but when the major focus on these games is competition where people are going to find the most efficient, strongest, and best gems for every occasion to create a meta, balance is a hard thing to keep up. This gives the designer two choices: Make the gems extremely important and ultimately overpowered to the point they dictate the main game, or make them barely affect the game to not damage the main game. Personally, I think the way they went with Gems, the latter choice, was the best choice to go with, however, there was also the choice of including them in the first place. I would love for something like this to work in the future, but SFxT was ultimately a reason why this can’t work.

Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions of games with design choices that made you ask “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?!” feel free to submit it into our ask box at the top of the website page or comment it on our facebook page!

#JRPGBookClub #What Where They Thinking?!?!#WWTT?!?!#WWTT #SFxt #Fighting games #oh look ty's talking about fighting games again #welcome back to ty's fighting game corner #I didn't mention the on disc dlc or the pandora system a lot #but that's intentional #because I feel that the Gem system was the most unique failure of the game

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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50 Best Fighting Game Final Bosses from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and More

https://ift.tt/2N1eIZQ

When it isn’t about rage-quitting against your best buddy sitting next to you on the couch, or some guy playing against you across the country, fighting games are all about beating the arcade mode. Doing so means defeating the pesky final boss.

We’ve fought so many final bosses over the last 30+ years. Whether they’re godly megalomaniacs or bloodthirsty loners out to prove they’re the best, there are pleny of cheap-ass villains standing in the way of character-specific epilogue cutscenes.

So I’ve decided to rank the 50 best final bosses in fighting game history. This ranking includes both default final bosses and special secret bosses, but they have to be the last guy you fight. That means characters like Goro, Cervantes, Apocalypse, Vega, and Antonov don’t count. I’m also not counting games like Street Fighter Alpha and Vampire Savior where there’s no real set boss and different people have different final opponents, which is why Jedah isn’t on the list.

Now let’s face it straight!

50. JINPACHI MISHIMA

Tekken 5

I think this is the moment when Tekken’s story started going off the rails. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the lore of the series, but after doing a game about Heihachi vs. Kazuya vs. Jin, they decided to go further and bring in Heihachi’s dad. And he’s possessed by a demon because why the hell not.

But really, the reason he’s possessed is because otherwise he’s the one member of the bloodline who isn’t a jerk. That doesn’t make for a good boss design. In Tekken 5, he takes over the Mishima Zaibatsu and sets up a new King of the Iron Fist tournament ASAP just so somebody strong might be able to kill him before he completely loses control and wipes out all life on the planet. His ending cutscene even has him cry blood over this because he’s that hardcore.

The tragedy is that, in the end, he was killed by his great-grandson Jin, but Jin came out of it learning the wrong lesson. Jin, suffering from his own possession problems, went and took over the Mishima Zaibatsu and started a world war as part of an elaborate plan to commit suicide by putting a giant target on his back. It took two more games for him to finally get his head on straight.

49. SILBER

Buriki One

SNK shamelessly ripped off Akuma, but at least the studio did it with style. Coming from the lesser-known fighter Buriki One, Silber is a Victor Creed-looking urban legend who is obsessed with increasing his power and challenging worthy opponents. At the end of the game’s big MMA tournament, when the player is ready to face his fellow finalist, your opponents’s busted carcass is instead knocked through the entranceway like a punted football. The mysterious Silber takes their spot.

Win or lose, Silber’s response is to just quietly jump off and exit the arena. The endings are mainly about the winners being asked by the press what the hell that was even about. And if you unlock Silber and beat the game with him, he just leaves the press hanging by jumping off into the distance.

Silber also appeared as a hidden mid-boss in King of Fighters XI, but his fighting style lacks anything really bombastic. No fireballs or energy explosions or anything like that. Just brutal karate with his flashiest move being a flipping legdrop.

I do really get a kick out of how one of his King of Fighters intros has him throw a non-descript martial artist to the ground before jumping into the fight, like it’s his regular thing to kick some schmuck’s ass and take their spot in a tournament.

48. SHANG TSUNG

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat’s attract mode sold the game by going, “Yo, check out this huge claymation beast with his four arms and topknot! He will break you in half if you even blink!” But this unstoppable monster was actually second to some floating geezer. Surely, that at least had to mean that Shang Tsung was a special kind of threat in his own way.

Indeed he was. A shape-shifter was a fantastic gimmick for a final boss, especially since it jibed with his tendency to eat souls. Even though he was turning into other playable characters, the insinuation was that you were more or less fighting all the dead warriors from the years that he had absorbed into his being. Then Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played the HELL out of him in the movie and his legendary status was solidified.

While lesser on the totem pole in later games, Shang Tsung regaining his youth made for a good trade. It’s just too bad that once games were on discs and had loading times, Shang’s tendency to morph mid-match took a powder. As one of the final bosses in Deadly Alliance, it just didn’t feel the same. He was just some guy.

47. SOUL EDGE/INFERNO

The Soul Series

As far as I’m concerned, the Inferno concept peaked in the first game. Cervantes was an evil dude, but he was still just a pawn. As shown at the end of that fantastic CGI intro that still holds up to this day, the swords were really running the show. So after taking down Cervantes, the swords came to life to fight you as a more powerful version of Cervantes with a flaming skull head.

The development of Siegfried wielding the Soul Edge and being transformed into Nightmare was a wonderful twist and selling point for the sequel’s storyline, but it made Inferno look a little redundant. The flame body was neat, but he was just Nightmare with a weaker design. Inferno never really had a personality of its own. Then Bandai Namco started having Inferno adopt random movesets, but there are like a dozen characters like that in SoulCalibur.

The concept of Inferno did translate well in SoulCalibur V where they showed that the Soul Calibur sword has its own counterpart in Elysium. It appeared in the form of a scantily-clad Sophitia in order to manipulate Sophitia’s son, Patroklos. Man, Inferno may be evil personified, but at least it didn’t try to seduce Siegfried by turning into his dad in a speedo.

46. MISS X

SNK Gal Fighters

The Neo Geo Pocket Color game SNK Gal Fighters features an all-female roster in a comedic story about a mysterious Miss X putting together a Queen of Fighters tournament, with some kind of wish-granting talisman up for grabs. When you reach the end of the game, you discover that Miss X looks an awful lot like Iori Yagami wearing a mask and a dress. While many of her opponents aren’t fooled, nobody outright says Iori’s name, and Miss X insists she isn’t who they think.

But also, please don’t tell Kyo about this.

Of course, she still fights exactly like Iori Yagami and is flanked by Iori’s former King of Fighters partners Vice, Mature, Billy Kane, and Eiji Kisaragi. Miss X is REALLY committed to the act, but it’s never really explained why she’s created this whole disguise.

Miss X made a few more appearances too, including when Dimitri performs his Midnight Bliss attack on Iori in SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos and as a DLC character in SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy.

45. SAGAT

Street Fighter

As the boss of the first Street Fighter game – which nobody really cares about – Sagat being on this list is more of a courtesy. While a difficult opponent, Sagat’s position as a final boss isn’t really that memorable. If anything, he’s defined by his defeat here. It’s why he has that cool scar on his chest, why he suddenly has a Dragon Punch knockoff in the sequel, and it’s the crux for his redemption story and frenemy relationship with Ryu.

Sagat’s spot as the original Street Fighter boss actually helps build up M. Bison and Shadaloo in general. He returns in Street Fighter II, scarred both physically and mentally, while physically stronger and more driven. Yet he is still only the penultimate boss, showing that this time he’s outranked by a big-chinned dictator.

44. ZEUS

World Heroes 2 Jet

World Heroes 2 Jet doesn’t have any character-specific endings. Instead, the endings are based around Zeus, a jacked behemoth who watches your penultimate victory from a balcony, acts jazzed about finding a worthy opponent, then makes the grandest of entrances by flexing off his suit (revealing body armor underneath), walking down some stairs, and kicking the doors off the entranceway.

A regular old pain in the ass, Zeus’ reaction to his defeat is decided by how much health the player has left. If it’s a close match, he’ll berate you until realizing that it was a fun fight. If the player has half a life bar left, he’ll threaten to kill them the next time they meet. If the player has almost all of their health, Zeus will mope as his henchman Jack tries to cheer him up. He insults the player, then cartoonishly cheeses it across the image of a map.

What makes this so golden is the iffy English translations. Here are some of Zeus’ lines from his endings:

“Why you, you, YOU… YOU CRAZY FUNSTER! To think that you were this strong!”

“YOU FILTH, YOU SLIME, YOU LAWYER! To think you had such power… But, heh, heh, heh…it was a crazy, hip time!”

“Hey, you. Still can’t walk and chew bubblegum at the same time? Oh, nooooooo!”

Classic.

43. DARK KAHN

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe felt like a joke someone made about Marvel vs. Capcom that someone else took as a serious suggestion. Quality of the game aside, the two worlds meshed well together, which is why we’ve seen the two parties meet up again a few more times. Mortal Kombat and DC, for the most part, didn’t so much match up as they complemented each other.

One pairing in particular matched up perfectly. Darkseid and Shao Kahn were both evil overlords, two peas in a pod. Rather than fight each other or team up, they did one better: they merged.

Dark Kahn isn’t exactly better than the individual characters but this modern Amalgam design still kicks ass. Darkseid’s stony flesh mixed with Shao Kahn’s skull face to create a lava beast who lives to blow up the multiverse.

Dark Kahn IS…OUTSTANDING.

42. MISTER KARATE

Art of Fighting

Just because someone is designed as comic relief doesn’t mean they can’t have their moments of serious competence. See also: Deadpool, Mankind.

Mr. Karate started as the original Akuma type. In Art of Fighting, Mr. Karate was a mysterious mob enforcer who happened to look and fight just like protagonist Ryo Sakazaki, but with a different head and more damaging attacks. In another light, Mr. Karate’s tengu mask could be seen as silly, but considering how brutal he was, it was easy to see it as a threatening symbol of martial arts dominance.

After that game, where it was established that Mr. Karate was Ryo’s father, Takuma Sakazaki, who’d forced to work for the mob, he became a secondary character. He showed up in King of Fighters regularly as just Takuma, but became something of a joke. When he appeared in the Mr. Karate mask, he acted like a total goof and everyone rolled their eyes at his lack of self-awareness. But comedic or not, there were still moments here and there that made him look tougher than the rest of his family combined.

But it was SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos that revitalized him. Depicted as Akuma’s SNK counterpart, Mr. Karate was given both a silly base version and his “serious” boss alter-ego, who reminded the world of what kind of force he was in his Art of Fighting days. Right on.

41. ASMODEUS

Mace: The Dark Age

The Nintendo 64 was lousy when it came to compiling a fighting game library, so we had to do the best with what we had. Mixed in the shallow pile was Mace: The Dark Age, which was like if the guys who made Mortal Kombat were tasked with making a SoulCalibur game. The basic story was roughly the same: an insidious, medieval weapon of ultimate power falls into the hands of evil and everyone wants a piece. The difference was that while the Soul Edge brought demonic chaos in its wake, with its wielders just wandering around destroying stuff, the Mace of Tanis brought demonic order, as its wielder used it to rule Eurasia and its corrupt council.

This created a conflict where everyone wanted a shot at holding the Mace. Not just the heroes, but also conniving members of the Council of Seven because they’re evil and power hungry. And wielding the Mace of Tanis? None other than Asmodeus. His name popped up in exposition dumps but he didn’t even have a pre-fight profile image. You didn’t get to see him until you actually faced him in the final battle and, all in all, he met the hype.

For all of the limitations of the Nintendo 64’s graphics, Asmodeus looked amazing. He appeared as a gigantic, reptilian demon so big that only his upper half was peaking out of a portal. His offense wasn’t much to talk about, as it was mostly just swiping attacks and pounding at his prey, but damn if he didn’t look like how a final boss should look.

40. MUKAI

King of Fighters 2003

The 10th and 11th King of Fighters games released in the final days of the franchise’s classic art style, and included some great designs, like Oswald. But while the bosses in these games looked and moved exceptionally, they were mostly really lame otherwise.

Mukai from King of Fighters 2003 provided a great balance, though. He didn’t have much going on besides being the harbinger for lesser villains, but he looked totally sweet and his stone-based motif led to a fun boss fight that wasn’t too hard to figure out. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for the glowing lava design usually reserved for rock creatures, but making that classic design monochrome feels fresh and absolutely badass.

Too bad he died like a punk in a random cutscene several games later.

39. KULL THE DESPOILER

Way of the Warrior

It’s disappointing to me when a ridiculous and/or stupid fighting game doesn’t have that final boss that just pushes it further into hilarity. I’d love to discuss ClayFighter here, but it’s not like N. Boss or Dr. Kiln were anything to write home about. Tattoo Assassins is a total trip, but there’s not much to say about its big bad Koldan. Death from Time Killers is just lame and ugly to look at.

Way of the Warrior is an extreme piece of garbage and sweet Jesus does that translate to its final boss, Kull the Despoiler.

This 3DO classic is one of several Mortal Kombat knockoffs that tried to cash in on digitized graphics and bloody violence. Other features included a White Zombie soundtrack, hideous backgrounds, a character who just a regular guy’s sprite but enlarged to look like a giant, and a couple boss characters brought to life by mid-‘90s CGI.

After the player has gone through the main cast and a CGI dinosaur named High Abbott (with another CGI dinosaur watching from a throne in the background), we take a trip to the citadel graveyard stage. There’s a memorial statue of the great warrior Kull that suddenly breaks apart to reveal that his living, 8-foot-tall skeleton is inside.

“Not even death shall keep my name from the Book of Warriors!”

You must fight this silly skeleton warrior, who is armed with a bloody hammer and iffy voice-acting, all while the guy who made Devil’s Rejects is singing. A fitting finale for such a game.

38. HEIHACHI MISHIMA

Tekken Series

In terms of pure power, Heihachi is one of the weakest boss characters in relation to his series. He’s played the final boss a few times in the Tekken series, but these fights are always less about him being the ultimate force of destructive evil and more about his importance to the story as a scheming bastard with the occasional redeemable moment as a human being.

It’s also about how he measures up to his son, Kazuya, the would-be protagonist who is ultimately more evil than Heihachi. The first game’s plot focuses on Kazuya as a vindictive monster who smiles at his father’s assumed murder, and Tekken 4 finally brings the three-way generational conflict between Heihachi, Kazuya, and Jin to a head for the first time. Then in Tekken 7’s story mode, Heihachi gets his final battle with Kazuya in a war that’s been ravaging the whole world.

Despite being hilariously unkillable in the past, Heihachi appears to be dead for real now and it’s solidified his true purpose as a final boss: to pass the torch to his son, who is both stronger and straight-up worse as a human being.

37. ATHENA

SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos

If there’s anything resembling a story in SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos (not counting the completely bonkers Hong Kong comic adaptation), it’s that all the street fighting going on in the world has caused havoc on time and space. Beings from the past and future have ended up in the present. By the end, it gets so out of control that by defeating Shin Akuma or Serious Mr. Karate, you create a rift that sends your character to Heaven or Hell.

(Let’s rock!)

If you’re in Hell, you fight Capcom representative Red Arremer from Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins. If you go to Heaven, it’s SNK’s Athena, but not the annoying pop star from the Psycho Soldiers team in King of Fighters. It’s the original SNK Athena from the sidescroller where she’s a bikini-clad goddess. Funny enough, despite there being pre-fight dialogue specific to each pairing, none of the King of Fighters crew pay any lip service to this.

Rather than annoying you with constant screams of, “PSYCHO BAAAWWWWW!!!” this Athena uses lots of summoning and shapeshifting powers to get the better of you. If King of Fighters Athena brought out a giant baby chick to destroy her opponents, I’d probably choose her more often.

If you lose the fight, she transforms you into an animal specific to the fighter. If you win, you get to meet God. Either way, it’s a pretty eventful day.

36. ABYSS

SoulCalibur III

I was thinking of putting Algol on this list before realizing that I have absolutely nothing to say about the guy. He was fine. Nothing especially memorable about him.

In terms of end bosses wielding both the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, Zasalamel’s final form, Abyss, is where it’s at. Mainly because Zasalamel is one of the last great SoulCalibur characters (along with Grizzled Owl and Harley Quinn Gollum). He’s a fantastic neutral warrior who ironically uses a Grim Reaper scythe despite being cursed with immortality and wanting a permanent death.

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After Zasalamel is transformed into Abyss, you actually begin rooting for Zasalamel to come through. This is his chance to put a stop to his endless cycle of resurrection, but it’s unfortunately turned him into an uncontrollable demon.

In the end, Zasalamel comes out of it better. During the experience, he sees a vision of the future (our present), and after reverting to his normal self, he goes from, “I must use the two swords to kill myself for good!” to “I have to prevent the two swords from ever killing me because the future looks fun as hell!”

Which reminds me, where’s my Zasalamel in Tekken, Harada?!

35. ONAGA THE DRAGON KING

Mortal Kombat: Deception

After Shinnok disappointed Mortal Kombat fans, Midway decided to introduce a new final boss who was a Shao Kahnier Shao Kahn. Fortunately, Onaga worked.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance made an effort to clean the slate and start fresh, removing Liu Kang, Shao Kahn, and Goro from the board. Having Shang Tsung and Quan Chi share the final boss spot went against that attempt for freshness, but Midway made up for it by planting the seeds for the sequel.

The whole plot was about introducing the Dragon King – the most Mortal Kombat villain name possible – who ruled Outworld before Shao Kahn. They built up anticipation through the game’s lore without showing him or even outright naming him, and we just knew the heroes were on a collision course with something monstrous. Reptile’s ending, in which his body was possessed and mutated by the Dragon King’s soul, made it definite.

Deception revealed that Shang Tsung and Quan Chi defeated the heroes, but it didn’t matter. Onaga was back and he made the two look like jokes. Things were already dire after the good guys lost, but now there was also this 10-foot-tall tank covered in scales with gigantic dragon wings just sauntering around.

Unfortunately, he got stuck being archenemies with Shujinko and that dude straight-up SUUUUUCKS!

34. NECROSAN

Primal Rage 2

The holy trinity of almost-to-completely-finished fighting games that didn’t get released are Thrill Kill, Tattoo Assassins, and Primal Rage 2. Primal Rage 2 is a fascinating unreleased game that not only had action figures, but a novelization that I would love to read one of these days. It’s always crazy expensive on eBay, though.

The first Primal Rage didn’t have a final boss, but legend has it that Atari Games originally planned to introduce Necrosan in an updated version. Instead, the studio saved him for the sequel, and while the game never saw the light of day, he simply rules too much for me to ignore. Much like King Ghidorah, Necrosan is an alien invader in a world of Terran kaiju. An extremely well-animated winged dragon skeleton coated with muscle tissue, Necrosan looks metal as hell. His backstory complements his look too: he singlehandedly kicked the asses of all the beasts from the first game.

Also cool is the twist that the big meteor that caused the first game’s post-apocalyptic origin was actually an egg housing Necrosan who planned to conquer the planet for his race.

33. KRIZALID

King of Fighters ’99

After spending several years doing the Orochi storyline, King of Fighters finally moved on to something different: mad scientists. The NESTS Cartel was a neat idea in theory, but the further the story went, the more they revealed themselves as dorks. In other words, don’t expect to see Zero or Ignis on this list.

Krizalid had a great look…er, well, his first look. That coat with the fur top covering his jaw was great. The more flexible S&M garb from when he burns it away, not so much. He made for a great first threat in this new story, especially due to how the endings painted him as a tragic figure and made NESTS look like bigger dicks because of it.

For all his posturing, he’s just a deranged clone, pitied by the heroes and exterminated by his bosses at the first opportunity. Then again, maybe they were also annoyed that he got rid of the coat.

32. SHINNOSUKE KAGAMI

Last Blade

The Last Blade games are some of the most underrated titles in the SNK library. Despite only having two installments, the series features plenty of interesting moments, including a redemption arc for its initial villain, Kagami. Originally guard of a portal to evil and darkness, the high-and-mighty Kagami lost his faith in humanity and decided to use that portal to wipe out life on Earth and purge mankind completely. Using his refined swordsman skill and ability to wield flame, he killed a lot of people to help pull off his scheme.

In the end, he was defeated by the hero character Kaede and banished himself into the portal to be tormented. But was resurrected to fulfill his original role as guard of the portal as well as help take down Kouryu, a former victim of his whose reanimated body was possessed by evil from within the portal. This made Kagami second guess his role in the initial adventure, deciding that humans aren’t bound to evil after all and may even be good.

I always liked how he’d have a normal stance in the first round, but after taking a loss, he’d levitate half a foot off the ground. It’s just ominous enough without having to completely change his style.

31. SUPERMAN

Injustice: Gods Among Us

“Evil Superman” has been done to death. It can be used well, but a lot of the time you just end up with Brightburn. Injustice: Gods Among Us did a decent enough job by taking an interesting episode of the Justice League cartoon and leaning harder into it. The main difference between the two Supermen was that, while the animated version was driven, he wasn’t as mentally cracked as his video game self.

The animated Superman still had Metropolis and Lois, but Injustice Superman lost them both at the hands of the Joker. As shown in the better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be comic book tie-in, Superman began his reign of terror by killing the Joker in a fit of anger, and bitterness, time, and betrayals caused him to become obsessed with order and a world where there was no war because he said so. It didn’t help that so many of his superfriends sided with him.

Superman is so regularly pushed as the top guy at DC that it’s not that surprising he’s the final boss in a DC fighting game. In fact, the only way to beat him was to get the good version of Superman to do the job.

30. NU-13

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

When I played through BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger’s arcade mode, I made sure to use Ragna the Bloodedge last. The fact that he was the protagonist, yet very rarely appeared as an opponent for everyone else’s arcade mode path made him seem special. This ended up being the right way to play the game as his dialogue with Nu-13 hit me like a train.

BlazBlue’s plot of, “Wait, I think I understand, but… No, you lost me,” means I can’t fully explain what Nu-13’s story is but the gist of it is that she’s some kind of experiment gone wrong and she’s showing up around a portal that’s messing with the time-space continuum. Everyone comes across her in arcade mode and she usually greets them with extremely dry robot talk throughout the boss fight. When she meets with Ragna, she suddenly acts like an excited schoolgirl who has been pining for this guy and writing his initials in her diary. It’s extremely off-putting and unexpected.

As a boss, she’s a great fit for the game, which takes place about 200 years into the future, but Nu-13 is the only one truly diving headfirst into the futuristic look. Even the game’s resident cyborg Tager comes off lacking compared to all the crazy sci-fi shit Nu-13 has going for her.

29. KARNOV

Fighter’s History Series

There is a holy trinity of ’80s video game asskickers who are remembered fondly due to a mix of genuine nostalgia and internet irony: Abobo, Mike Haggar, and Karnov. The latter fighter is a fascinating bloke. Not only did he star in his self-titled platformer game, but developer Data East also decided that this dadbod adventurer should just show up in several of their games like a mascot. This is why Fighter’s History is treated as a sequel to the original Karnov game in which the bored treasure hunter holds a fighting tournament with lots of his money on the line.

Fighter’s History is such an obvious Street Fighter II clone that Capcom tried suing Data East. The game’s only real saving grace is the use of Karnov as the carrot to lead you to the end. And while the sequel/update of the game is just the same cast with the bosses playable, Karnov looks completely different. In the first game, he’s completely jacked, albeit extremely short. In the next game, he’s taller and fat with a nasty stomach scar and has moves that allow him to morph his body like Jake from Adventure Time.

I suppose if it wasn’t weird, it wouldn’t be Karnov.

28. PYRON

Darkstalkers Series

When the gimmick of your game is that all your characters are Japanese takes on classic monsters, it’s only logical that the biggest threat is extraterrestrial. Pyron is far from the best alien in a video game, but he does the job here as both Silver Surfer and Galactus wrapped in one.

Seriously, look at his ending. If he can turn as big as the sun, he probably could have saved time by leading with that. But what do I know? I’m just a human who hasn’t been murdered by a vampire with stupid hair.

Pyron gets by with his design, which looks absolutely beautiful in that mid-‘90s Capcom arcade animation. The rippling energy waves of cosmic flame almost make you forgive him for what he was like on that terrible Saturday morning cartoon show.

27. MASTER HAND

Super Smash Bros. Series

Chucking a bunch of Nintendo icons into a game and trying to make a narrative out of it is a fool’s errand. Luckily, Nintendo didn’t overthink it too much and just decided, “They’re figurines or something having an imaginary battle.” It’s Lego Movie meets Secret Wars.

And after so many dream fights like Mario vs. Link and Kirby vs. Yoshi, who would be at the top of the ladder to threaten the heroes? Bowser? Ganon? Andross? King Slender?

No. It’s a hand. Just a big, disembodied glove dead set on crushing the player. I suppose Nintendo didn’t need to have a recognizable final foe. The four-way Nintendo slugfest was enough. So why not have a big hand that can do silly big hand attacks? It’s just the bizarro icing on the cake at this point.

I love how random Master Hand is. It’s a boss fight version of the Toy Story toys revolting against Sid the bully. With every new game, Nintendo had tried to add needless context, and this has caused Master Hand to expand into transcendent final boss concepts like Crazy Hand and Tabuu. That’s just a special kind of weird. Imagine creating a giant hand as your villain and then in each sequel thinking to yourself, “How do we build on that?”

26. KRONIKA

Mortal Kombat 11

Despite rebooting the series’ winding and convoluted storyline, Mortal Kombat 9 ended on a low note. Sure, Shao Kahn was dead, but so were most of the heroes just as Shinnok was preparing to make his own move. Meanwhile, Mortal Kombat X, while not having the happiest ending, culminated with most of the major threats taken off the board. Kahn was still dead, Quan Chi was dead, Shinnok was just a head, and Onaga’s resurrection was prevented. Things were looking up for once!

But in Moral Kombat 11, a cosmic Tilda Swinton appeared as not just Shinnok’s mother, but as a meta representation of video game designers at odds with the story. Kronika wants good and evil to war with each other on equal enough footing forever. The status quo doesn’t allow enough juice for what she wants, so her plans include bringing back dead characters with a hand wave, reverting characters who have developed farther than she cares for, and even rebooting the franchise itself.

Even her kind, the Titans (higher up on the chain than the Elder Gods), play into this. Scorpion’s ending shows that reality simply won’t exist without the backstory that his wife and child were killed, all because the Titans deemed it so. These games are getting dangerously close to the fourth wall.

Meta or not, Kronika is a fantastic addition to the Mortal Kombat mythos. That endless time-reverse Fatality of hers is one of the highlights of that game’s many kills.

25. ULTRON SIGMA

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

Despite its huge roster, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 didn’t have much in terms of Capcom-based villains. Plus, the big boss was Galactus. Where do you even go from Galactus in a sequel? For Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, bringing Galactus back was a no-no due to Disney being stingy with the Fantastic Four property at the time.

But Capcom had a pretty good solution. First, introduce Sigma from Mega Man X into the world of fighters. Second, bring in box office superstar (at the time) Ultron. Third, take a page out of Dark Kahn’s book and merge the two into one being. They’re robots. Robots love that shit.

For the record, the most hyped I got for this game was the stinger on the announcement trailer where they showed a shadowy Ultron sitting on a throne with Sigma’s glowing eyes appearing on his torso.

Not only do you get each meatbag-hating robot on their own and in merged form, but then there’s the over-the-top design of their final form. Transforming into a nightmarish and gaudy final form is Sigma’s MO, so it’s nice to see Ultron just go with it.

Yeah, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite didn’t have staying power, but it did have a giant Sigma head with Ultron’s body sticking out…as well as that head-scratching plot point where Thanos made a gauntlet powered by Ryu’s inner evil for the sake of throwing fireballs at Death. See, that’s why you need arcade mode endings in games like these. Let your crossover freak flag fly.

24. VICTOR ORTEGA

Ring of Destruction

Saturday Night Slam Masters is remembered well enough, partially due to its SNES port, but few talk about its sequel Ring of Destruction, which had more of an emphasis on fighting game mechanics. Players of only the first game would still recognize Victor Ortega, as he’s the Billy Graham/Hulk Hogan guy in the intro, tearing his shirt off. Though not part of the game’s roster, his identity is revealed if you’re able to beat the game without losing a single match.

This mountain of muscle was a previous CWA champion who was so dominant in the ring that he left out of boredom. Getting the first game’s best ending has Ortega return to challenge your wrestler, ending in a cliffhanger.

The sequel is about the Capcom Wrestling Association being invaded by heels representing the Blood Wrestling Association. This situation piques Ortega’s interest, as hewants the last man standing to challenge him for the title. He proves to be a pain in the ass to take on — not only can he uppercut so hard that fireballs fly out but he was busting out jumping Yoshi Tonics all the way back in 1994!

23. ZANKURO MINAZUKI

Samurai Shodown Series

In fighting games, having a katana means getting some extra range and damage. In a series like Samurai Shodown, what does one do for an extra range advantage when everyone is armed with a sword? Easy. Create an 8-foot-tall Brock Samson samurai guy with a katana befitting of his size.

Zankuro is one of the rare examples of a character who talks about “the demon within” but isn’t actually possessed by one. Ryu is a good person despite having a magical dark force inside him threatening to turn him into a rage zombie. Zankuro is just an asshole. He slaughtered villages of people because killing people is his vice. And really, who’s got the skill to get in his way and tell him to stop?

But the outcome is inevitable. He has to die. In Samurai Shodown III, Zankuro had a fake-out death followed by a real death, just as he lamented his horrible acts. He was be sorry about his sins, but sidestepped having to live with them.

Except…he keeps getting resurrected.

22. DIO BRANDO

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

It’s kind of crazy how popular Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has become in the US in the past few years, especially when you look back at how niche it was in the late ‘90s when Capcom’s Jojo fighter hit the arcade, Dreamcast, and PlayStation. Back then, the best you could do was find some low-quality manga scans and hope that someone online could translate them. All Capcom had was the manga and a few episodes of an anime, but they still managed to turn those into a kickass video game adaptation.

Dio was a major part of this. His moves and animation set him up as someone who could be cold and collected one moment and a slinking psychopath the next. The way he’d jump off-screen, return with a steamroller, and smash you with it while laughingly clawing at the vehicle defined what kind of series-carrying villain he really was.

The biggest mark against him is that regular boss Dio is not nearly as cool as his faceless counterpart Shadow Dio, based on the stretch of the manga when nobody knew what Dio’s powers actually were but understood that he was scary as hell.

21. WOLFGANG KRAUSER

Fatal Fury Series

SNK did Krauser dirty. His appearances in Fatal Fury 2 and Fatal Fury Special made him the most epic boss fight of the era. First off, the dude was so jacked that he was able to burst out of his chest armor with a mere flex. Second, he got this epic line:“I’ll chisel your gravestone! Sleep well!” Most importantly, his background music was only a version of “Dies Irae” but it was played by own personal orchestra during that fight!

Dude wasn’t even up to no good. He was just an intense man who wanted a good fight. Even in defeat, he stood back up to dramatically yell, “You were perfect! I have met…my match…” before collapsing. Legendary presentation.

Unfortunately, then we got the second Fatal Fury anime, where SNK inexplicably got rid of Krauser’s amazing purple mustache. Why would you do such a thing? That mustache never did anything wrong.

He was almost completely forgotten by the time King of Fighters rolled around. He appeared in King of Fighters ’96 with a lanky redesign that made it look like he had a swimmer build, but everyone knows that Krauser needs to look like 2003 Triple H.

Oh, well. At least they didn’t get Ray Park to play him in a movie.

20. FERNANDEZ

Waku Waku 7

Waku Waku 7 is one of the liveliest and enjoyable fighting games that nobody has ever heard of. With one installment to its name, this Sunsoft creation has a handful of anime archetypes and knockoffs fight to free a magical fairy and earn a wish. In order to release the fairy, they have to grow into a giant and take on the kaiju known as Fernandez.

Known as Fernandeath in Japan, Fernandez is a large, black ball with a smiley face, bat wings, ball-shaped limbs, and a glowing aura. The giggling beast seems cute at first, but the more time you spend with it, the creepier and more malevolent it becomes. Its eyes turn red, it sometimes has pointy teeth, and at times it’ll turn full-on demonic.

There are some silly move animations thrown in there, but getting devoured and then shot out of its butt like a cannon can’t be the most enjoyable experience out there.

19. JUSTICE

Guilty Gear

Guilty Gear gets a lot of flack for its confusing plot and ridiculous titles, but the gist of the story is unique and surprisingly simple: Once upon a time, humanity took part in a devastating war called the Crusades, where they fought against robo-mutants (a cross between SkyNet and the Age of Apocalypse) and barely survived. Now, with the world reaching borderline utopia, it’s constantly threatened by the possibility of going back to the bad old days. In other words, we missed out on seeing the exciting, explosive, action-packed era of this fictional world, but we absolutely have to prevent that from happening again.

Adding to the terror is that Justice was never fully destroyed in that war. She was simply sealed away for all eternity, which never lasts in fiction. In the first Guilty Gear, losing to this lizard mech meant endless death and destruction. But through her defeat at the hands of Sol Badguy, we not only got a tragic origin story for our main hero that explained what the hell a “Guilty Gear” is, but Justice opened up this world to the possibility that the Crusades could return in various ways despite her death.

18. BRAINIAC

Injustice 2

When your first game is all about Batman taking down an evil Superman, where do you go for the sequel? Easy. You figure out a threat so huge that both Batman and Superman have to put their feud on hold in order to save Earth. The logical choice is Darkseid, but NetherRealm went in a smarter direction with Brainiac. Even though he’s an established character in other continuities, Brainiac had yet to show up in any form in Injustice canon, so the studio could treat him as a brand new threat.

He was the perfect fit, too. Since he was the one responsible for blowing up Krypton, the game used this backstory to also introduce Supergirl and gave us a villain that Superman would hate just as much as the Joker. Even in defeat, Brainiac’s plan created another violent moral argument between Batman and the murderous Superman.

Above all else, Brainiac felt like a big deal. His moves during the boss fight made him seem like an even more advanced take on Doc Ock. The inside of his space ship added to his cyber nightmare aesthetic, too. Last but not least, he was voiced by Jeffrey Combs, whose chilling delivery made him sound like the most menacing threat in the universe.

Sorry, Darkseid.

17. THE GENERAL

Kaiser Knuckle

Kaiser Knuckle is your average Street Fighter II knockoff from the early days of fighting games, and there’s only one reason anyone remembers it at all. That reason is the General.

At first glance, he’s little more than a blatant ripoff of M. Bison. Then you fight him. Without a doubt, the General is the absolute hardest boss in fighting game history. He’s unbelievable. Not only are his attacks unfair variations of Bison’s offense, but he has a move where he releases Green Lantern construct projections of himself in various directions.

He’s an afront to God and when he wins the round and calls himself a perfect soldier, it’s hard to argue.

16. RYO SAKAZAKI

Fatal Fury Special

Some time after Mortal Kombat gave us Reptile and mere months before Street Fighter gave us Akuma, Fatal Fury Special introduced a very special hidden boss: Ryo Sakazaki. Sure, King of Fighters ’94 would be released within a year, but this was our first time seeing a major SNK fighting game crossover. This was the first Terry vs. Ryo matchup.

One of the reasons this debut hits so hard for me is that Ryo and the Art of Fighting crew never seemed to be too prominent in the King of Fighters games. There are two main continuities when it comes to SNK’s fighters. King of Fighters puts everything together and says it all coexists in the same era. Meanwhile, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Buriki One, and Savage Reign are on a staggered timeline. With Art of Fighting taking place in the ‘70s, it means that the Ryo in Fatal Fury games and Buriki One is a hardened, middle-aged legend and not just another young upstart like he is in King of Fighters.

In other words, Ryo showing up in Fatal Fury Special isn’t just an early crossover, but a passing of the torch.

15. EYEDOL

Killer Instinct

Killer Instinct always valued character designs first and everything after. Ninja, robot, dinosaur, T&A secret agent, boxer, Native American, skeleton, werewolf, ice creature, and fire guy. Then came the story.

To that effect, Eyedol, much like Spinal, is a tribute to the stop-motion fantasy movie monsters of the old days. Specifically, he’s a two-headed version of the cyclops from the 7th Voyage of Sinbad. He made for a memorable final battle, thanks in part to the cheap-ass healing ability that he’d spam while the other fighter recovered in between rounds.

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Eyedol was the last classic character released for the Killer Instinct reboot, and they redesigned the HELL out of him. Depicted as a holy chosen champion turned demonic and ogre-like due to his own ego, Eyedol’s two-headed cyclops look was explained as the result of having his head cleaved in half down the middle, then being resurrected. The wound is healed, but not undone, resulting in some gnarly body horror.

Much respect to his old ending, which was not only a parody of Blanka’s Street Fighter II ending, but by having his would-be mother refer to him as “Billy,” it becomes both a sly reference to Double Dragon (Billy and Jimmy) and musician Billy Idol.

Get it?

14. GILL

Street Fighter III

Following up on M. Bison was never going to be easy. For a long time, he was the poster boy for fighting game final bosses. For the third major installment, Capcom needed to introduce someone who felt different but also as big a threat as his predecessor. Rather than introducing “M. Bison’s boss” or “M. Bison’s dad,” the studio instead went in a completely original direction with Gill. Was he powerful? Yes. Did he use street fighting tournaments as a front for some kind of maniacal scheme? Yes again. Was he the ultimate evil? Well…I guess that depends on your thoughts on organized religion.

Rather than a villain delusional enough to call himself a god, Gill might as well BE a god. And he both wants to be virtuous, but he’s also an egomaniac about it. It’s definitely a fresh take on the mustache-twirling monsters in these games. Even Alex, the main character of Street Fighter III, only wants to fight him to get revenge after for his mentor, who Gill beat so bad in a street fight they had to send him to the hospital. Alex doesn’t seem to really care about the whole new world order cult gimmick.

With Street Fighter III being such a beautiful-looking sequel, Gill also brought the novelty of an asymmetric 2D character who wasn’t just mirrored when he looked in the opposite direction (i.e. Sagat’s eyepatch switching eyes depending on where he’s facing). That fit well with Gill’s mastery over fire and ice.

Screw him for that cheap resurrection power, though.

13. KING LEO/TRUE KING LION

Savage Reign

A lot of times in fiction, futuristic designs are based on the decade when they were conceived. That’s how we got King Leo, a villainous champion in the future of the Fatal Fury/Art of Fighting timeline, who looks hilariously try-hard ‘90s. The angular mask/boots/codpiece combo, the boxing gloves with sword, the ridiculous flat-top mullet, the cap, the ab window, etc. He has it all. He is pure extreme.

In both Savage Reign and its sequel Kizuna Encounter, he’s playable but not really. King Lion is selectable from the beginning, but it becomes apparent that he and the final boss are two different entities. Playable King Lion is an impostor meant to test the challengers, while King Leo is the far more powerful real deal.

Even when Jyazu appears in Kizuna Encounter as the actual final boss by impaling King Leo with his giant sword, King Leo is still able to later shrug off that major wound in a post-credits sequence. God, I wish that game had a follow-up.

12. GALACTUS

Marvel vs. Capcom 3

I’m surprised it took Capcom so long to bring in Galactus. The studio had the giant boss thing going in its Marvel games with Apocalypse, Onslaught, and whatever the hell Abyss was, and probably should have gone with Galactus for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, but I guess Capcom wanted to do multiple forms for the battle and that’s what Abyss brought to the table. Fortunately, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 finally brought in the Eater of Worlds.

Galactus isn’t the kind of guy who is supposed to get taken down by Ryu and Wolverine, but considering Capcom made a Marvel fighter where Spider-Man can take down an omnipotent Thanos, and that there’s an in-story reason that Galactus isn’t at 100%, one can give this story a pass. He still fights like Galactus should with cosmic energy beams flying all over the place.

Probably the best thing about him is his silly appearances in various endings, like being put on trial with Phoenix Wright as his defense lawyer or an annoyed Wolverine telling X-23 to get Galactus’ defeated body off his lawn.

11. MARIE KORBEL

Skullgirls

The Skull Heart from Skullgirls is terrifying and interesting enough to build a fighting game story around. It’s a demonic relic powerful enough to grant you any wish you’d like, but it will possess you in time. How fast it possesses you depends on how selfish your wish is, but the sad fact is that no matter how altruistic or heroic your actions are, every wish is selfish on some level. To use the Skull Heart is to damn yourself and doom everyone else.

That’s the tragedy of Bloody Marie. She grew up an orphan, abused and treated as a slave. Her thirst for vengeance was justified, but it didn’t make a difference. As the all-powerful Skullgirl, it was only a matter of time before she lost herself completely and slaughtered everyone. This struggle translated to her appearance, which seemed normal enough…until you notice the glowing, bare ribs peeking out the side.

Marie has several forms, and each one depicts her as being less in control until she’s just scraps of bone being manipulated by the Skull Heart. Defeating her not only means wiping out a young girl who really doesn’t deserve it, but for some of her challengers, it means they’re walking towards their own tragedy with the Skull Heart.

10. ONSLAUGHT

Marvel vs. Capcom

Capcom pulled off a miracle when it made Onslaught cool.

In general, Onslaught is like the Star Wars prequels. A solid idea in bullet points, but terrible in practice. The idea of an insane Xavier/Magneto/Juggernaut hybrid commandeering all the Sentinels and becoming such a threat to the Marvel heroes that the only way to stop him is to send a purified version of the Hulk after him sounds so awesome, but…well, ‘90s comics are ‘90s comics.

Marvel vs. Capcom’s Onslaught makes for such a sweet boss fight and is a big improvement over Apocalypse, who bypassed the normal-sized battle for the sake of immediately turning giant. Onslaught is Magneto on steroids, who turns into Apocalypse on steroids, and works because ‘90s Capcom was so damn untouchable.

We’re at a point in pop culture where War Machine is a mainstream superhero and “Lethal Protector” Venom made more in the box office than the Justice League. Onslaught is still considered a very specific time capsule that’s yet to be redeemed, which makes Capcom’s use of him here that much more impressive.

9. OGRE

Tekken 3

Tekken is like WWE where it’s so much better when isn’t focusing on the old man running things and his shitty family. When the bosses aren’t part of the Mishima bloodline, they’re usually some kind of unearthly being. You have your Egyptian demigod, you have your goth lady wearing sludge overalls, and you have your Aztec God of Fighting.

Ogre is the one Tekken boss who doesn’t directly tie into the Mishima family. It’s refreshing and makes the whole world feel bigger. He’s a completely unrelated force who reveals himself by beating the crap out of different mainstays in between Tekken 2 and 3. Granted, it was more impressive early on because Ogre got credit for wiping out so much of the early cast. But those guys returned in later games, and it seems Ogre only really killed the first King and MAYBE Jun, who sucks so good for Ogre.

Outside of non-canon stuff, Ogre didn’t last long in the Tekken series, but his death brought forth the rivalry between Heihachi and Jin, springboarding the Mishima war into a new direction. It was also explained that the Ancient Ogre form was defeated by Paul Phoenix, which is sadly one of the last times that character was treated like an actual threat.

8. OROCHI

King of Fighters ’97

Nailing the landing on a long-running story isn’t easy, and it’s truly impressive when a franchise pulls it off. Fans of Avengers: Endgame know that feeling well.

While the first King of Fighters game was all about Rugal, his return in King of Fighters ’95 built on the idea that he was tapped into a greater power that dwarfed him. Then King of Fighters ’96 continued that by showing us Goenitz, who was also a player in Orochi’s game. Even Iori Yagami – an antihero who wanted nothing to do with the evil god – was powerless to be anything but its bloodthirsty pawn.

King of Fighters ’97 not only acted as the climax to this whole saga, but it really felt like the peak of the whole franchise. There were great King of Fighters games afterwards, but this was where everything really felt like it lined up. And so, after all this build up, we got a team of Orochi worshippers, two insane pawns slaughtering in his name, and one guy so insane and bloodthirsty to start with that he shrugged off the magical need to go feral. Then by the time you got to Orochi, he felt like a true final boss that they spent several years building towards. He was the right level of malevolent celestial being and, while challenging, was never too hard compared to other SNK bosses.

As the exclamation point, most endings in the game warned that he’d be back someday. The only way to truly do away with him was to beat the game with a very specific trio of fighters, which happened to trigger one of the coolest endings in the series. The following arcs of King of Fighters would try to build towards other masterminds, but none of them held a candle to Orochi.

7. DIZZY

Guilty Gear X

As I said earlier, the true conflict of the Guilty Gear series is that shit was bad long ago, and the heroes have to keep the world from unwinding back into that chaos. When it came to the villainous Justice, things were pretty cut and dry. Justice had been released from her prison, cloned, and even resurrected at times. But Dizzy was a deeper take on the idea. She is the daughter of Sol Badguy and/or Justice and is an omega-level threat who could very well relaunch the war between humans and Gears.

It just so happens that she’s also an innocent, young woman who just wants a peaceful existence, someone who just wants to be left alone where she can’t hurt anyone. Despite being possibly the most powerful character in the series (give her Instant Kill attack in Guilty Gear Xrd a look), Dizzy is left alone in the end. She ends up finding friends, love, and even has a son.

6. THANOS

Marvel Super Heroes

Marvel Super Heroes is a very loose adaptation of Infinity Gauntlet, and that’s part of the reason the final battle with Thanos work so well. You spend all game accumulating Infinity Gems, adding more power-up options to each fight. Then Thanos steals them away and you have to take on a fully-Gauntleted Mad Titan in front of a backdrop very reminiscent of the big heroes vs. Thanos fight from Infinity Gauntlet.

Now, for those of you who haven’t read the comic that inspired Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos got the Infinity Gauntlet and became omnipotent. A bunch of heroes dogpiled him, and Thanos even gave himself a handicap to make it the slightest bit challenging, but the heroes still lost BADLY.

So here you are, playing as Spider-Man or Iron Man or whoever, having to have a kickass one-on-one brawl with Thanos and having to do alone what almost 20 superheroes couldn’t do in the comics. But because fighting games exist in a reality where everyone can win (and not just Jim Starlin’s Jim darlings), everyone — from Psylocke to Juggernaut — stands a chance at dethroning Thanos and truly earning the Infinity Gauntlet.

5. RUGAL BERNSTEIN

King of Fighters Series

I’m a huge fan of this character despite his tendency to be a bullshit SNK boss. Fighting him in King of Fighters ’94 should be banned by the Geneva Convention. It’s just that…man, the dude has so much swagger and radiates such coolness that I can’t hate him. He’s Rugal Goddamn Bernstein and we’re better for knowing him.

As with most early villains of fighting games, Rugal is overshadowed by his replacements. Shang Tsung works for Shao Kahn. Sagat works for M. Bison. Heihachi is the son of Jinpachi. Eyedol is the rival of Gargos. Geese is the weaker brother to Krauser. Rugal got the ball rolling in his own way as a way to build to the Orochi storyline, which practically defined all the following King of Fighters storylines. Yet in the end, despite being the first step in the saga and being killed for good during the second entry, Rugal has solidified himself as THE villain of King of Fighters. Dream match games and non-canon adventures tend to just go with Rugal as the final boss by default, usually with some extra bell and whistle, my favorite being God Rugal from Capcom vs. SNK 2. A coked up Rugal with Akuma gimmicks is my kind of boss battle.

Rugal is mostly a collection of awesome motifs and special attacks, but I also love that he’s just as defined by his number one weakness. Yes, he’s good enough to crush a team of three like nobody’s business, but he has his physical limits and his downfall is that he doesn’t see that. In canon and as God Rugal, he loses because he absorbs and uses up too much power for his body to handle. It’s nice when a villain is done in by their inability to leave well enough alone.

4. SHAO KAHN

Mortal Kombat Series

The worst thing I can say about Shao Kahn is that, while I dig the way his latter appearances lean into his “painted on the side of your van” metal design, he will never be as completely rad as he was in Mortal Kombat 2 and 3. Probably because loud growling doesn’t hold a candle to his eerie whisper and proud laughter.

Kahn is more intimidating than most bosses. The attract sequence in Mortal Kombat 2 showed a silhouette of Kahn reading Shang Tsung the riot act followed by a more direct look at his appearance, and it was immediately clear that this guy was absolute trouble. The first game tried to make Goro seem terrifying, but we knew that he was still second to Shang Tsung. Shao Kahn was THE boss, and we knew that, even if we climbed up that ladder (with Kahn STANDING ON TOP A MOUNTAIN), Kahn would be the end of us.

And a lot of the time he was. He would beat you with a war hammer, kick you across the room, and taunt you and you’d love him for it. He was so perfect as a boss that Midway simply had to bring him back for the next game.

Even after taking a backseat in the subsequent games, Mortal Kombat Armageddon’s story revitalized him by making him the winner of what was essentially the Mortal Kombat Royal Rumble. It was such a tragic turn of events that Raiden had to go back in time to stop it. Even with nearly all the good guys dead, it was all deemed worth it just because Kahn was killed. At least for a few years.

3. M. BISON

Street Fighter Series

As a kid, I was always confused about why this bus driver was running his own fighting tournament, but that feeling was replaced by my rage at his damn slide kick and arm-hook throw combo. You have fire-hand powers. You don’t need to be that smooth, dude.

Bison isn’t as deep a character as Sagat or as hardcore as Akuma or as naked as Gill, but he is possibly the hammiest final boss in the history of fighting games. All the various actors who have portrayed the character seem to be taken by the infectious fun that comes with playing him, whether it’s Raul Julia in the first live-action movie, Gerald C. Rivers and Kenji Utsumi in the games, Richard Newman on the cartoon, and, hell, even Neal McDonough had his moments in that crappy Chun-Li movie.

As the first final boss that anyone ever cared about, Bison is a wonderful pile of escalating craziness. Over time, he’s become a comedically-jacked guy with a constant smile whose plots involve Buddha statues with laser faces, running over Ryu with a bigass truck, shoving his soul into gender-swapped clones, and dropping satellites onto civilization for the sake of causing chaos. Capcom can try to write him out of the series, but he’s just too iconic to destroy for good.

2. AKUMA

Street Fighter Series

It’s crazy to think how Electronic Gaming Monthly did an April Fools’ joke about there being an enhanced version of Ryu as a secret final boss in Street Fighter II and Capcom decided, yes, that’ll do. That’s how one of the most iconic fighting game characters ever was born.

“Ryu but darker and more powerful” could have ended badly, but Akuma’s always shined as the X-factor of Street Fighter’s roster. He’s more than just an evil final boss. He’s a malevolent force that is somehow neither good nor evil…which is for the best, considering Capcom eventually labeled M. Bison as literal pure evil.

What’s funny to me is how Mortal Kombat introduced the idea of the hidden boss fight with Reptile, then gradually turned him into the biggest jobber in Mortal Kombat lore. Akuma showed up, wiped out M. Bison with his so-powerful-we-can’t-even-show-you super move, gave you a nigh-impossible boss fight, and then Capcom made sure to keep him going as the guy who will make you shit your pants every time he shows up. When SNK made its SNK vs. Capcom crossover game, the team even put an ending in there where a bored Akuma challenged God to a fight.

1. GEESE HOWARD

Fatal Fury Series

As fighting games are ensemble pieces, so are their storylines most of the time. Fatal Fury, not so much. Fatal Fury is really the story of Terry Bogard vs. Geese Howard with a bunch of supporting characters. Even Andy Bogard, who has just as much a reason to be the protagonist as Terry, is relegated to being “the guy who is reluctant to sleep with his hot girlfriend.” Fatal Fury is really about Terry and Geese and everyone else is, at best, an extension of the two of them.

Geese is everything you could ever want in a final boss, unless you’re looking for a giant shooting lasers out his eyes. He’s slick as oil and tougher than brick, with a moveset that’s based around throwing you like a ragdoll or blasting you into the stratosphere. He’s the right balance of difficult enough to make you curse, but not cheap enough to make you throw the controller through your screen.

Not only is he unique in battle, but he just has so much personality. His cockiness is on another level. His every gesture makes him look like he knows he’s superior to everyone else in every way, but kicking their ass is a better use of his time than whatever else he has planned. Even his counter moves (“PREDICTABLE!”) make him seem untouchable.

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His canon death scene in the Fatal Fury games is also second to none. Hanging off a tower rooftop, he sees Terry reach his hand out. Rather than be saved and maybe even forgiven by Terry, Geese chooses to smack it away, let go, and fall to his death while looking up at the winner and laughing maniacally at him. What a boss way to go.

The post 50 Best Fighting Game Final Bosses from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and More appeared first on Den of Geek.

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