Hadouken

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(colloquially referred to as a "Fireball"), is an attack that originated in the classic Capcom fighting video game series Street Fighter.  It is normally performed by moving the joystick a quarter circle forward towards the opponent from the down position, which has led to that motion being colloquially dubbed the "fireball motion".

Contents

1 Background
2 Variations of Hadouken
3 Users (canon)
4 Other users
5 Trivia
6 References
7 See also

Background

The Hadouken was considered the signature move of the fictional fighters Ryu and Ken found in the original Street Fighter game from video game company Capcom. Later on, new characters appeared and developed their own versions of the famed Hadouken attack. The characters that can perform this move are: Ryu, Ken Masters, Sakura Kasugano, and Akuma (known as "Gouki" in Japan). Akuma's fireball appears as magenta and purple and may be thrown diagonally (as well as the traditional horizontal). Ryu and Ken throw a very similar blue-and-white horizontal-only Hadouken (though Ken's is colored green in the Street Fighter EX series). Sakura's version is a small blue-and-purple Hadouken that can be increased in size in exchange for giving up some of the attack's range.

The attack is very similar to the Kamehameha attack performed by various characters in the popular Dragon Ball manga/anime series, which came before Street Fighter. Both the Hadouken and Kamehameha attacks are physically performed by placing both hands together, charging ki energy and firing it at one's opponent upon achieving full power.

The Hadouken is a technique created by Goutetsu as a part of his application of the Hadou principle, one of the three elementals that makes up a fictional, life-threatening martial art called Ansatsuken (mistaken earlier as a form of Shotokan Karate in earlier times).

Due to its popularity, the move often makes a "cameo appearance" in other games. One of the more notable cameos appear in Capcom's Mega Man X series.

Variations of Hadouken

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Hadouken/Surge Fist—A staple surge fist in which one's willpower is utilized to contain the ki within the palms of the hands. As the fists are thrusted outwards towards the target, a surge of shock is expelled from the palms that results in a surge punch travelling in a straight line. The technique leaves the user drained for a short time afterward.
Shakunetsu Hadouken/Blazing Surge Fist—One of the original Goutetsu techniques—this life-threatening Hadouken requires even more concentration onto the palms to produce a life-threatening surge wave with enough force to burn cloth or flesh. In the case of Akuma, anyone touching this Hadouken risks immolation; for Ryu, however, the flames are painful, but will not kill.
Shinkuu Hadouken/Vacuum Surge Fist—The user utilizes all of his surge and will and gives even greater attention to the amount of will and ki the user places on his/her palms. With enough will to contain the surge within the palms, a user can then launch a more concentrated surge shock with larger gauge than a regular Hadouken.
*in the Vs. Marvel Games, the Shinkuu Hadouken manifests as a powerful laser-like energy beam.
Gou Hadouken/Great Surge Fist—One of the inaugural moves from Ansatsuken's beginnings. This Hadouken has the user placing his/her will onto his/her fists and with a strong thrust of both of his/her palms, a life-threatening surge shock travels through a straight line. This Hadouken is a life-threatening technique (though not as potent as the Gou Shouryuuken or some of the more powerful moves in Ansatsuken), but the lethality of the Gou Hadouken is literally increased whenever the "Satsui No Hadou" is being embraced. The gauge of the Gou Hadouken depends on how attuned the user is to the Hadou No Chikara, but the gauge increases dependent on how long the user embraced the Satsui No Hadou.
Zankuu Hadouken/Air Cutting Surge Fist—One of the inaugural moves from Ansatsuken's beginnings. The user has to be very quick to exert all of his/her will and/or ki into the fists while he/she is jumping and act quickly to thrust the surge contained within his/her palm to produce an air-to-ground surge shock attack.
Messatsu Gou Hadou/Death and Destruction Great Surge—A more life-threatening version of the Shinkuu Hadouken. The user widens both of his/her hands to insert all of his/her will into each of his/her arms and after all the will is charged up into his/her palms, an instant thrust tosses up a very high-gauge surge shock. Concentrated in power, a well-placed Messatsu Gou Hadou can mean instant death, but not as potent as either the Messatsu Gou Rasen or the Messatsu Gou Shouryuuken. The lethality and the overall gauge of this move can be increased whenever the Satsui No Hadou is being embraced.
*in the Vs. Marvel Games like the Shinkuu Hadouken, the attack manifests as an energy beam, but it also immolates its victim briefly.
Tenma Gou Zankuu/Heavenly Demon Surge Air Destroyer—An amalgamation of the Messatsu Gou Hadouken and the Zankuu Hadouken. The user does the same routine as with the Messatsu Gou Hadouken, but this time, does everything in the air. A more difficult technique to master, but with devastating results.
*in the Vs. Marvel Games, it's a shower of Zankuu Hadoukens.
Denjin Hadouken/Electromagnetic Surge Fist—A Hadouken backed by the power of a Japanese Thunder God. The user utilizes all of his will and calls for the backing of the Japanese Thunder God. The practitioner then charges up all will onto his/her palms and when fully charged, the user then thrusts both his/her palms to generate a thunder-powered surge shock that will dizzy an opponent if well-placed. The most deceiving Hadouken of all light-sided Hadoukens, Ryu, the originator of this Hadouken, took extra care to ensure that this Hadouken would not result in death regardless of the situation.

Users (canon)

Ryu
*Hadouken - As time progressed, Ryu's version was the most outstanding of its practicioners, with superior speed and recovery time than his rivals.
*Shakunetsu Hadouken - Initially, Ryu's version of this move required more preparation time and had slower recovery time, but by the time of Street Fighter III he can release this near instanteously.
*Shinkuu Hadouken - Strong, potent and simple, this move has seen little variation over the time Ryu has fought.
*Denjin Hadouken - Stuns the opponent.
Ken Masters
*Hadouken - Ken's fireball is noticeably weaker than his rivals, having not changed in power at all through the story.

Akuma/Gouki
*Gou Hadouken - Akuma's fireball is stronger than his rivals, but he has not focused on increasing the power of this move very much like Ryu has.
*Shakunetsu Hadouken - Akuma charges the full extent of his ki into this version of the move, and it has more potential power than Ryu's.
*Zankuu Hadouken - Depending on how much of himself he is fighting with, he can throw two air fireballs without much effort. He is notable in this respect for being the only Hadouken user who can create fireballs with one hand.
*Messatsu Gou Hadou - Similar to Ryu's Shinkuu Hadouken, Akuma channels the considerable power of Satsui no Hadou he has into this move.
*Tenma Gou Zankuu - An aerial version that propels Akuma backward with its force.

Sakura Kasugano
*Hadouken - Sakura, not having trained with a Hadou-style master, has nevertheless been able to imitate this move. Her version of the move is imperfect, however, with a capacity to only travel a certain distance before dissipating.
*Shinkuu Hadouken - Like Ryu's version, Sakura's Shinkuu Hadouken is quick, straightforward and powerful, albeit considerably less than Ryu's.

Other users

The Hadouken has been seen several times in the Mega Man X series. It was a hidden Easter Egg ability in the first game and its remake, and in Mega Man X4, Magma Dragoon uses the move. It was also available to the player in the Mega Man Xtreme games.
Dan Hibiki, another Street Fighter character, uses a variation of the Hadouken called the Gadouken. However, unlike the regular Hadouken, Dan's version is fired from a standing position using only one hand and has pathetically short range, often travelling only a few feet before completely dissipating. Dan has also developed a more powerful version of the move called the Shinkuu Gadouken, it is more powerful and has better range than the regular Gadouken, but pales in comparison to other moves of its type (such as the Shinkuu Hadouken).
The Black Mage of the webcomic 8-Bit Theater also uses the move , although it looks more like the Shinkuu Hadouken, is powered up very differently, and is spelled Hadoken. (Black Mage charges and fires it more like a Kamehameha wave from Dragon Ball Z.) According to Black Mage, his Hadoken attack is powered by Love. That is to say, it warps some of the Love in the universe into a destuctive beam when it's invoked (Apparently, the divorce rate rises with each shot). He can also only use it once every day.
In the Worms series, the Dragon Ball is an attack available to the worms, which is basically a Hadouken attack. The worms can also perform a Fire Punch, their variant of the Shoryuken. When preparing to perform either attack, a worm will put on a red headband like Ryu's. Then scream "Hadouken!"
Cyber Hero, from the cult classic Gotcha Force, is able to perform a Hadouken as well, though it is referred to as "Hero Shot". He is also able to perform the Vs. Marvel variation, though it is called the Hero Beam. He is also able to perform a forward-travelling variation of the Shinkuu Tatsumakisenpuukyaku, though it is called the "Hero Spin".

Trivia

In most Street Fighter games, if one looks closely at the Hadouken sprite animation, a pair of disembodied hands in the Hadouken firing position can be clearly seen within the projectile.