Kage’s Misogyny

In my last theory, I discussed how the Satsui No Hado was the conflict of Ryu and Akuma’s sexuality. I argued that their power came from their struggle with the rejection of the opposite sex and of seeing women as the antithesis of who they were as fighters. Although I ended up with some good reader numbers, the reception was mixed, as some thought I was overreaching with the theory (especially because I was giving credit to Capcom for working on a story behind the scenes for 30 years).

And then it happened: Kage got released a few days later.

Looking at the quotes Kage says to each character, and their reactions to him, a pattern emerged: for female characters, his vitriol is at its peak, and for those women considered beautiful in-game, especially Chun-Li (considered so by Vega), Karin (considered so by G), and R. Mika (considered so by the FGC and who was way too much for even ESPN to handle; have we forgotten the censorship issue?), his comments are particularly cutting. After watching his tale unfold in story mode and reading his quotes, there were two things I gleaned:

1) Kage is looking for a home. He seems to be particularly interested in Ryu, Sagat, Akuma, and Sakura….

2) Kage hates beautiful women. Unlike Zangief, who is either canonically gay or feels women are a mild distraction depending on which you personally believe, this has more to do with who he is as the embodiment of the Satsui No Hado.

There are several hypotheses we can make from this second point. The first is that Kage simply prefers to be in the company of men, and his actions toward Ryu, Sagat, and Akuma are much like the actions of a jilted lover. If we are to look at his quote towards Vega (“There is no beauty. All will perish!”) the argument that he simply believes beauty can not, and therefore SHOULD NOT, exist.

However, his most telling quote of all is against Juri, and it’s a bit… risque (“Did you enjoy yourself? I know I did! Bwahaha!”). It’s safe to say Kage is a male Juri, who also gets off on destruction and death, and from this quote, we see what Kage wants most of all: to abuse, dominate, and destroy beautiful women (yes, he wants to destroy everything, but he really, really likes hurting girls).

Since Kage manifested from Ryu’s rejection of the Satsui No Hado, it also opens up a new personality facet for Ryu. If one of the things Ryu struggled with was his feelings towards women, would his separation from Kage open him up to dating? Capcom has been heavily pushing a Ryu X Sakura ship, and it is an idea that many fans are responding to positively (not including the Ryu X Chun-Li and Ryu X Ken shippers).

So the question remains: what is Capcom’s goal regarding Ryu and Sakura’s relationship? Will they force the ship? Will Kage find a way to interfere? Will Capcom give fans what they’ve been asking for since Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter and give everyone Dark Sakura?

Much like a certain manga that many Street Fighter characters were ripped from, this story is…

<—————————— To Be Continued