Remy and His Sonic Boom

It doesn’t matter what Remy calls his techniques. Light of Virtue is a Sonic Boom. Rising Rage Flash is a two-legged Flash Kick. There’s no question that Remy has Guile’s and Nash’s moveset. The question is, “How did he learn it?” It would be easy to mark this off as a coincidence between two fighting styles and leave it be, but where’s the fun in that? This is Street Fighter, a game series that holds so many mysteries that people are still finding things 30 years later. This is a series so deep that Scott Cawthon of Five Nights at Freddy’s fame would go insane trying to solve the mysteries it holds. Street Fighter may seem like a simple fighting game, but for speculators and fans of the story, it is the ultimate puzzle, and every character holds a piece of it.

Remy is as much of a mystery as any other enigmatic character in the game. However, for a character who has only appeared in one game, the riddle of who he is may just be one of the easiest to solve. By following a few subtle clues, Remy’s backstory becomes clear, and it all starts with his fighting style.

For the backstory of savate, feel free to read the Wikipedia article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savate
However, for Remy’s story, all you need to know is that savate is a French martial art that was developed in the 19th century by French military men, sailors in particular. The name “savate” actually means “old shoe,” the etymology coming from the heavy footwear soldiers wore at the time. Already, we have our first link to Remy having some link to the military, and even though savate was developed in the streets of Paris and Marseille and Remy was a kid from the slums, it was enough for Remy to have a predilection towards a more military style of fighting, and one he would hone by learning from members of his family.

Both Guile and Nash are members of the American military, and both received Special Forces training, a mixture of several different fighting styles. The real life Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, also known as MCMAP, has influences from styles such as wrestling, aikido, and Brazilian Jiu-jutsu as well as savate, so it’s safe to say both Guile and Nash were trained with savate techniques at some point in their military careers. We could end this here and simply proclaim that the Sonic Boom and Flash Kick are savate techniques in the Street Fighter world, as this would be the simplest explanation. However, Remy’s story does not end here.

Remy’s entire purpose for fighting is to take revenge on his deadbeat father, who he said abandoned him and his family to “become a warrior.” So, does this mean that Guile or Nash is his father, someone who left his family to become an American “warrior” and fight for the red, white, and blue?

No.

It has never been established that Nash ever had a family, and Guile already has a wife and kid who he loves and would do anything for. Guile would never abandon Remy if he was family.

So who taught Remy how to do the Sonic Boom and Flash Kick?

Guile. Remy IS family. Guile is Remy’s uncle. Guile felt bad for the struggles Remy had already gone through, so he taught him how to fight using the savate Remy was already familiar with fighting in Paris.

So now we get to the heart of the issue. If Guile is Remy’s uncle, that must mean Guile’s brother is Remy’s dad. Who would that be?

In Saturday Night Slam Masters, there is a character who is rumored to be related to a famous Street Fighter, and who looks an awful lot like Guile. That character’s name is Gunloc, and he is Remy’s father.

Gunloc was an aspiring pro wrestler whose career would take him all around the world. He met Remy’s mom in Paris and had two children with her, Remy and his sister. Realizing he was not a family man like his brother Guile, he abandoned his family and left to pursue a career as a warrior and pro wrestler. Why doesn’t Guile ever talk about him? Because they’re estranged. Guile never forgave Gunloc for what he did to Remy, and Remy never forgot.

So, this is a nice speculation, but there’s one last piece of evidence that confirms it. Gunloc’s name in Japan is Lucky Colt, and Remy wears a symbol to remind him of the disdain he holds for his father: the omega sign on his jacket. It’s customary for a horseshoe to be hung with the ends pointed up for good luck. The omega sign is a horseshoe with the ends pointed down.

He wishes nothing but bad luck for his father, Lucky Colt.