Analysis of the powers that characters wield in the Street Fighter universe
Oro is often considered the wisest and most powerful of all of the characters in Street Fighter, although his abilities — or at least his desire to use them — may be waning by the time Street Fighter 6’s timeline takes place.
As part of an official lore series that was released after Street Fighter 5 came out, we get to see a conversation between Oro and Dhalsim, and how the franchise’s various abilities are seen by these two individuals.
The piece starts off with Dhalsim and Oro enjoying a meal cooked by the Yoga master’s wife, Sally. After they finish the food, Oro asks Dhalsim what he thinks of Psycho Power.
“That power is too much for any man to possess,” responded Dhalsim.
“What about your Yoga, eh? I suppose that’s perfectly safe, and only good for street performances?” Oro asked.
“No, Sennin. If used incorrectly, Yoga can also be a dangerous power,” replied Dhalsim.
At this point, Oro taps into the Satsui no Hado, or at least an imitation of it, and Dhalsim stands at the ready for a fight to break out between the two wise masters.
“That was the Satsui no Hado. Well, an imitation,” Oro says, after he rids himself of the energy and the two masters get back to their discussion.
From there, Oro states that Psycho Power, Ki, Yoga and the Satsui no Hado are all the same, while Dhalsim includes Soul Power (Rose’s power) into the mix as well.
“You know what I think? These powers are all the same, when you follow them to their root,” said Oro. “I do not claim they are completely the same. Merely connected. The same, but different.”
“Yoga and the Satsui no Hado are not the same,” Dhalsim replied.
From there, Oro responds with various comparisons as to why these powers are similar, specifically noting that boundaries are important in this context while using parables to explain his statements.
“Break through boundaries…” said Dhalsim.
“What’s important is that there is not just one boundary between this world and the next,” said Oro.
“Ki techniques, Psycho Power, my own Yoga Power… they come from the same source of power, but the ways we achieve that power, and rise above our limits, are different?” asked Dhalsim.
“Exactly. With training, we fish too may fly,” responded Oro.
From there Dhalsim considers the unique ‘boundary’ that he crossed to utilize Yoga power; that of stoic training and devotion to the Hindu god of fire, Agni. He begins to understand what Oro is speaking about.
He could see how endless physical training pushed other fighters across their boundaries to attain ki powers, and how even the abominable Psycho Power and Satsui no Hado had their own boundaries, and their own methods to cross them.
“So the real question is, what power is at the root of all these things?” Oro asked, while giving another parable to explain his point.
“Power itself is neither good nor evil. Even in the case of Psycho Power, or the Satsui no Hado,” Oro further explained.
From there, Oro doesn’t say this out loud, but thinks that labeling a power as evil only invites errors when working to suppress it.
Dhalsim isn’t happy with this simple explanation, and wonders whether Oro had glimpsed some greater truth beyond what he had revealed, possibly finding the source of Psycho Power, and potentially a way to cut M. Bison off from it.
If that’s the case, Dhalsim wonders if Oro could be the person to destroy M. Bison in Street Fighter 5 (which Ryu actually does later on.)
“My days of crying good this, evil that, and acting like I can save the world are long behind me. It’s up to the likes of you now,” Oro states.
Dhalsim deduces that they should learn to approach the source of power. And use that knowledge against those who rise, again and again, to use that power for evil.
Dhalsim knew then that this knowledge must be passed down through the generations, as Oro was now passing it to him. Dhalsim closes out this story by offering a gesture of respect to Oro, and the great power he represents.
The official story ends there, with fans left to make up their own minds on what this means, but there are some important takeaways.
Dhalsim and Oro are set up as two of the wisest members of Street Fighter’s cast, and as such, their discussion and conclusions should be taken to heart.
Most everyone associates Psycho Power and the Satsui no Hado as evil, but it’s interesting to hear that this doesn’t have to be the case.
We know from Rose that Psycho and Soul Power are very similar abilities, and we see characters like Ed and Falke imbued with Psycho Power, but not use it for evil purposes. While it has corrupting properties and rapidly ages people to maturity, it seems possible to control the evil intentions that spawn from it — at least for a while.
Sagat is also battling the Satsui no Hado, and while it’s possible that he may overcome it in the same way that Ryu does (the Power of Nothingness), it’s possible with Oro and Dhalsim’s discussion here that he comes up with his own unique solution.
Ingrid was long thought to be a non-canonical character in the Street Fighter universe, but now that she’s officially coming to Season 3 of Street Fighter 6, her story deserves a closer examination.
She has her own gifts from the Egyptian goddess Isis, which M. Bison steals and uses in his Psycho Drive, and she has meaningful interactions with both Ryu and Rose, two characters very central and important to the lore of Street Fighter.
We also have plot threads like G and Gill who haven’t been covered heavily in Street Fighter 6 so far, with G set to potentially destroy the earth, which is somehow avoided by Rose time traveling back to the past.
Plus there’s the unsuspecting Satsui no Hado user, Lily, who has tapped into this power as well.
How all of this will come together and how Team Good Guys will save the world will be quite interesting to see unfold as various DLC characters are released and we’re able to piece together clues about what’s happening currently in Street Fighter 6’s timeline.
It’s very clear the developers are leaving breadcrumbs for the community to follow and building up to some very large showdowns against the evil cast members. Let’s hope we get to see more in the near future.
Here are links to the Oro and Dhalsim story part 1 and part 2 on the Capcom CFN website, which the characters quotes are taken from.