E. Honda (Character)

E. Honda

CHARACTER» Edmond Honda

A Japanese sumo wrestler in the Street Fighter series and one of the original eight World Warriors of Street Fighter II. He tends to join international fighting tournaments to prove the strength of sumo to the world.

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Overview

E. Honda, full name Edmond Honda, sometimes known by his shikona Fuji-no-yama, is a Japanese sumo wrestler in the Street Fighter (Franchise) series of fighting games. Debuting as one of the eight playable fighters in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Honda is one of the most well-known interpretations of a traditional sumo wrestler throughout video games.

Valuing the honor and tradition of the sport of sumo, Honda tends to participate in worldwide tournaments to prove its strength and gain disciples. He has also managed a bathhouse (which served as his stage in Street Fighter II) and later built a sumo-themed Chanko restaurant in Metro City (Location).

Both very heavy and very muscular, his original appearance has him sporting a striped folded-down yukata, with his black hair in a chonmage and face paint resembling the kumadori style used in kabuki. His outfit was later changed in Street Fighter V to a traditional keshou-mawashi, then in Street Fighter 6 to a more elaborate yukata (with only the right sleeve folded down).

Along with the Street Fighter II (Franchise) series, he was a playable character in Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Game), the Street Fighter IV (Franchise) series, Street Fighter V (Game), and Street Fighter 6 (Game), as well as the Capcom vs. SNK series. Along with his sumo-based sweep and throw attacks, he is best known for two of his signature special attacks: the "Hundred Hand Slap" (in which repeatedly mashing a punch button causes him to launch a flurry of thrusting palm strikes) and the "Sumo Headbutt" (a charging move which has him launching himself forward head-first like a flying torpedo).

Story

Honda, in initial designs for Street Fighter II, was dubbed simply as "Sumo", and stated that he would be a character recognizable by Americans and popular in Japan. In his backstory, E. Honda is mentioned to have began his training as a child, singularly focused on becoming the greatest sumo wrestler of all time. He would eventually achieve the highly-revered titled of "Ōzeki" (in the English localization, he was incorrectly stated as having achieved the title, Yokozuna). E. Honda became upset that the rest of the world did not view sumo wrestling with the reverence of the Japanese. He entered into the second World Warrior tournament, intent on showing everyone that sumo wrestlers rank among the greatest fighters in the world. Beyond this, he yearns also to improve and prove his own strength, as well as earn the title of Yokuzuna.

His involvement with the second tournament is also part of him investigating the Shadaloo organization, in response to sumo wrestlers taking drugs, and learning of their involvement after capturing some of the dealers. His face painting and dual nationality name assisted him to an extent with remaining covert during this. This aspect of his character was conceived well before Street Fighter Alpha 3 and his storyline there.

After the tournament and the fall of Shadaloo, Honda returned to Japan, where he continued engaging in sumo wreslting and continuing to run his bath house and training his disciples.

Honda appears in Street Fighter Alpha 2 as more of a cameo, but a significant one to Sodom's storyline, and a bit to his own in the next game. Sodom, obsessed with both japanese culture and trying to revive Mad Gear, attempts to recruit sumo wrestlers, citing them as strong warriors. To achieve this, he enters a sumo wrestling competition and faces Fujinyoma, who is revealed to be Edmond Honda. Agreeing to join Mad Gear if Sodom wins, Honda gives the match a go and defeats Sodom, though is impressed by his effort nevertheless according to their dialogue in Alpha 3.

Gameplay and Techniques

Honda's fighting style, as already mentioned above, is based on sumo wrestling. In his first appearance in the original Street Fighter II, he has two special attacks, the Hundred Hand Slap and the "Super Zutsuki" (commonly referred to as the Flying Headbutt). In Hyper Fighting, Honda gains a third special attack, the Flying Headbutt, as well as the ability to move while performing his Hundred Hand Slap. He has three Hundred Hand Slap moves based on his three different punches. Low punch does a quick slap. Medium does a longer one with a small forward rush. Heavy punch lasts much longer and has a very long forward lunge.

In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Honda's super combo is the Super Killer Head Ram (also known as the Oni-Mu-Sou), a powered-up version of his Flying Headbutt. If timed correctly it can travel through a fireball. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, Honda gains two additional super combos, the Fuji Drop, and the Orochi Crush.

Film & Anime Adaptations

In the 1994 motion picture based on the Street Fighter franchise, the role of Honda is played by Peter "Navy" Tuiasosopo. In the movie, Honda is portrayed as a close associate of Chun-Li (Character), serving as her news crew technician, and aiding her on her quest to avenge her father's death, alongside Balrog (Character). Like Balrog, he has a personal grudge against Shadaloo, who ruined his reputation as a sumo (though no details on how are given). In the film's climax, he battles Zangief (Character), smashing through Bison's base.

Unlike the games where Honda is Japanese, he appears to be a Hawaiian. His personality is rather laid back compared to his video game counterpart, and is shown to have a near immunity to pain when one of Bison's goons attempts to torture him, something he attributes to his discipline in sumo when Balrog asks about it. He does seem to enjoy fighting when he gets a chance to with Zangief, despite the degree of damage that it causes.

This version of Honda appeared in both the arcade and console games based off the film. In his arcade ending, it states that he returned to the world of professional sumo and regained the title of yokuzuna. The console game took this and expanded upon it, stating that he and Zangief had formed a friendship and had practice matches with Honda, only having one win over Zangief. The outcomes of said matches, however, seem to be just as calamitous as their original bout, resulting in the destruction of five sumo dojos.

Honda appears as one of the more prominent characters to appear in the second half of the Street Fighter II anime, unlike a majority of the characters that were not heavily involved in the backstory of the game. He is voiced by Daisuke Gōri in the Japanese version, and Richard Epcar in the english dub. His personality is relatively unchanged from that in the games; however, his goal is shown to be to fight for cash, compared to his in-game goal of proving the strength of sumo to the world. Several aspects of his character appearance here saw usage in the Street Fighter Alpha series, much like many other characters, but moreso in the Capcom vs. SNK games, where outright nods, such as his run animation being a direct copy of his attempt to charge into Bison, were included in the game.

He's first seen wrestling with Dhalsim (Character) in Calcutta, to win prize money. Dhalsim manages to slip away from his grip however, and attempts to mentally subdue Honda. Ryu's presence, however, distracts Dhalsim enough for Honda to regain control of the match and win due to forfeit. Honda catches up with Ryu, recognizing he helped him win, and the fact Ryu is a fellow Japanese fighter, giving him half the prize money, as well as a place to stay for a while.

Guile (Character), then Bison, find Ryu eventually however. While Ryu tries to deal with a brainwashed Ken, Honda charges forward to take on Bison, only for Bison to teleport out of his path and Ken to send him stumbling forward, straight into Balrog. He and Balrog end up fighting, eventually with both of them falling off a nearby cliff. However, Honda seems to recover quickly enough, seen lugging both the unconscious Balrog and Guile back just as Ryu and Ken defeat Bison.

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