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    Seth

    Character » appears in 9 games

    Seth is a playable character who appears as the final boss of Capcom's Street Fighter IV series.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Seth last edited by reverendhunt on 12/19/19 10:51AM View full history

    Story

    Seth is the head of Shadaloo's weapons division, S.I.N., and organiser of the tournament played out in Street Fighter 4.

    Seth is number 15 of at least 26 genetically engineered replacement bodies created for M. Bison. Seth displayed a higher level of intelligence and humanity than the others, claiming they were merely puppets, and was made the head of S.I.N., the weapons R&D arm of Shadaloo. He was leading research on the BLECE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Cell Explosion) Project, meant to augment one's own natural ki energy, when he organised the Street Fighter 4 tournament in order to gather data on the ki of the different fighters, with particular interest in the energy of Ryu and his Satsui No Hadou or Dark Hadou. After Bison's apparent death at the hands of Akuma at the end of Street Fighter II, Seth positioned himself to take control of the remnants of Shadaloo, taking Juri Han as a protege.

    Seth produced the Feng Shui engine for Juri, replacing her missing left eye, lost as a teenager when her family was targetted by Bison. In return for the Feng Shui engine, which greatly augments her abilities, Juri works for Seth. She is tasked with collecting Bison's elite bodyguards, the "Dolls".

    Bison eventually confronts Seth, revealing he was manipulating him and that everything had gone according to his own plan. Bison then defeats Seth, having no use for a replacement shell with a will of its own. Juri also reveals she only wanted to pit him against Bison, hoping they'd destroy each other, but is disappointed by how easily Bison bested him. She then crushes the Tanden Engine in his chest.

    Design

    Seth is extremely tall, similar in size and physique to Gill and Urien from Street Fighter 3. He has vaguely chrome-like skin of a slightly blue hue. Around his abdomen, he has the Eight Trigrams of Taoism and a giant glowing orb with a Yin Yang motif. This orb, which spins in the core of his stomach, is known as the Tanden Engine and is believed to be the source of his power, interpreting data gathered from other fighters in a way that grants the ability to copy their moves. Using the abilities of the engine sometimes causes a change in colour of the engine itself and also the colour of Seth's skin. Seth's pupils appear to segment his irides in a plus shape. His eyes can also change with his skin. The concept art in Street Fighter 4 shows Seth's design very similar to the end product, but with occasional differences such as Taoist symbols on his forehead and the location of the Tanden Engine.

    Seth's Design
    Seth's Design

    According to David Crislip, the Assistant Producer of Street Fighter IV, on the Top Secret Bionic Commando Podcast: File 032, Seth's name comes from the story of Kane and Abel; Seth being the name of the lesser known third brother of Kane and Abel. This has to do with a connection between the last boss and the other SFIV character, Abel. They were going to name the last boss Kane, but this name had already been used for a last boss in the game 'Garou: Mark Of The Wolves'. David Crislip also notes that they had the added bonus of telling people that they named the boss after Seth Killian, who worked at Capcom USA and is known for his fighting game expertise, although Killian has jokingly expressed displeasure at being associated with such a character.

    Gameplay and Moveset

    Seth's moveset is made up of aspects of other fighters that he has collected data from. He has aspects of Guile, Dhalsim, Zangief, Chun Li and the Shotokan style characters such as Ryu and Ken. Seth also has the lowest vitality in the game, with 750 health and 750 stun in Street Fighter 4 and Super Street Fighter 4 and 800 health and 900 stun in Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. He is also an incredibly versatile character who can play a strong keep-away game, but can rush down effectively and deal a lot of damage thanks to very strong mix-up potential. In essence, he is a high risk/reward character. He can't afford too many mistakes, as he takes so much damage compared to most characters, but he also has the tools to be extremely dangerous. His walking speed is very slow, but he has very good mobility options via dashing, wall jumps and teleports. He is also perhaps one of the flashier characters in the game, with elaborate combo options and a strong ability to juggle opponents.

    Normals

    Seth has a fairly standard set of normal attacks, with his only command normals being whilst airborne. Just like his special moves, several of his normals are taken from other characters.

    Some notable normals are:

    Far Fierce
    Far Fierce

    Far Fierce - From about a body width's distance, Seth's far Heavy Punch is an imitation of Dhalsim's far fierce, in which his arms stretch most of the length across the screen. Seth could also perform Dhalsim's jumping fierce, also known as the Yoga Sniper, on a neutral or backwards jump, but this was removed as part of the re-balancing in Arcade Edition.

    Crouch Fierce - This is the same as Abel's crouch fierce, a slow starting uppercut that hit's twice. The second active part of the move launches the opponent in a juggle state such that any follow up attack that can intersect the opponents hurtbox will hit. This includes both of Seth's Ultra attacks.

    Jump Forward/Back Strong - This has similar properties to Ryu's jump forward/back strong in that it hits twice. Like Ryu's, you have some options to combo (ie super) if you land it as an anti-air with both hits, but the interesting property of the move is that if you only hit with one of the active portions of the move, it creates a juggle state very similar to the Crouch Fierce

    Third Hit of Yosokyaku
    Third Hit of Yosokyaku

    Yosokyaku - Performed by pressing down and medium kick aka forward, this move is taken from Chun Li. Seth drops from above, hitting with his feet, and if contact is made, he will bounce up slightly, allowing for the move to be repeated. This can be done up to 3 times in one jump, as there is a sequence of 3 kicks. The move is very versatile, as it can be executed on a jump in any direction at any point in the jump, it can be done after a wall jump, it has such a high juggle property that it can actually hit up to 4 times in a combo and it can be followed up with any other air normal straight afterwards. It can also link off some specials in certain situations, such as a Hyakuretsukyaku in the corner, which can lead to some great reset mixup pressure. It also has the interesting property of treating the jump after the yosokyaku as if it were a forward jump. This means that he can't perform Dhalsim style jumping fierce, but it also allows him to perform his down and heavy kick aka roundhouse akuma style dive kick off neutral jump or even a jump back if you can get a yosokyaku to hit/be blocked first.

    Tenmakujinkyaku - Performed during the peak of a forward jump by pressing down and heavy kick aka roundhouse. It is very similar to Akuma's down and medium kick divekick. It has some crossup applications and can be useful for altering the arc of your jumps, but it can also be used after Yosokyaku to reset the opponent for mixups.

    Other than these, Seth has a variety of good poking and countering tools for different situations. His crouching light punch aka jab and crouching medium punch aka strong are some of his most useful normals for various hitconfirming link combos, crouching jab having a 4 frame start up and being +6 on hit, while crouching strong has a 5 frame start up. Close Fierce also has some applications in some hitconfirms, as the start up is 4 frames, but can be dangerous, as if you space it wrong, you may get a Far Fierce, which is extremely slow to start up and extremely punishable on block. It can lead to some big damage combos though.

    Specials

    Sonic Boom - Quarter Circle Foward + P

    Seth's projectile is a sonic boom very similar to Guile's, although his throwing action is a one-handed motion similar to Remy. Like other character's projectiles, the strength of the punch determines the speed of the projectile. It has the typical zoning applications you'd expect from a projectile. It's quite low damage and has fairly limited use in combos. It can be used to add a little extra damage to a combo through an FADC, eg cr.lk, cr.lp, hp xx Sonic Boom xx FADC, hp xx Hyakuretsukyaku etc and it can also be thrown then FADC'd, leaving you able to teleport to either side of your opponent just before it hits, creating an ambiguous cross-up situation that easily allows you to continue the combo if it's not blocked correctly. The EX version throws a second sonic boom instantly after the first. No form of this move causes a knockdown on hit. Sonic Boom is Super cancellable.

    Shoryuken - Forward, Down, Down-Forward + P

    This move is similar to the other shoryukens in the game, albeit with a slower start up than most. All forms of this move hit on their 5th frame.

    When facing him at the end of arcade mode, Seth can prove to be a brutal boss, as this version of the character has higher damage and health than the playable version. However, there are holes in the AI that can be abused for anybody having trouble with him. The AI has trouble recognising jump in Heavy Kicks or Punches from the round start spacing, for example and will often let you jump in like this, which you can then combo to sweep and use the knockdown time to space the exact same jump in again.

    Seth's Quotes

    • " Hmph! You call yourself a fighter? "
    • " You possess neither power, nor technique. There isn't any reason to let you live. "
    • " My name is Seth and I shall unleash destruction upon this world. "
    • " I am the most powerful being on the planet! No ordinary human can compare! "
    • " Etch my name upon your soul, and know that the one who killed you is called Seth. "
    • " There is no need to put up a false front, it is only natural to fear me. "
    • " Your business here is finished. Be gone! "
    • " This body is merely a vessel. Should it become frail , simply find a replacement. "
    • " Yes that's it. Bow your head before me, this won't take long. "
    • " When I'm finished, I will be the sole survivor of this world. "
    • " I rule all. "
    • " I thought you will be more valuable then this. "
    • " Useless. "
    • " Show me something worth taking. "
    • " Finish already! "
    • " You can not compare to me. "
    • " Foolishness! "
    • " You have no value or purpose. "
    • " Why do you hold back?"
    • " You look tired - need a break?"
    • " Within my body lies the whole of the Universe. I am eternal. "
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