Sheng Long is a character from Street Fighter that emerged from a hoax created by the magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) in an April Fools’ prank (February 1992), a while later, he would be a secret character and master of Ryu and Ken. Capcom created Gouken, the master of Ryu and Ken and his evil brother, Akuma.
Its name came from a translation error, at the end of Ryu in Street Fighter II, the following sentence appeared: “If you cannot overcome the Shoryuken, you cannot win!” (?????????????????????, Sh?ry?ken wo yaburanu kagiri, omae ni kachime wa nai!), which has been translated as “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.”, Sh?ry?ken is the name from Ryu and Ken ‘s special attack and means “Rising Dragon Fist”, in the English instruction manual for the SNES Street Fighter II referred to “Master Sheng Long” as Ryu and Ken’s master.
As it came from an Aprils Fool’s joke, his birthday is April 1, 1941.
The name Sheng Long resembles Shenlong, the legendary Chinese dragon, present in the franchise Dragon Ball created by Akira Toriyama.
Other Media
Comics
Sheng Long appears in the Malibu series as Ryu’s master, Ken and Nida, after being poisoned by an evil Ryu clone, created by M. Bison, becomes taken care of by Nida, who believes that Ryu is the real culprit and swears revenge.
Video games
Sheng Long is mentioned as Ryu and Ken’s master and Akuma’s brother in the game Street Fighter: The Movie (based on the movie) for arcade.
He has a Shadaloo C.R.I. profile.
In Street Fighter IV, Gouken was an unlocked character and given the title “AKA Sheng Long”.
Sheng Long made his debut as an NPC in the World Tour mode of Street Fighter 6, released in 2023.
