Dan
"The Ronin Warrior with the side kick attitude"

"The only master I need is myself". Only a Man destined to be a Ronin Warrior would say such a thing. Yep Dan is a Ronin, or "Masterless Warrior" derived from the Bushido Arts of the Samurai. Well, he's not Samurai material but he's good enough for the masters of this game. As pointed out in his moves section, all move are constrained to close range and there's a lot of mistakes you can make, but to master Dan, is to master anticipation and aggressiveness. Dan must be more aggressive than Wolverine or you can call it quits. As a matter of fact, Dan can kick Wolverine's tail easily, if placed in the right hands. Dan must also be cunning and you need to know about all of his attributes when pulling off his supers. I love this guy because you have to have a sense of humor cuz you know there's a good chance of losing. Hell just choosing Dan sends fear into the heart of some players. They're thinkin "No one plays Dan unless they are awesome" and usually they are right. Actually, Dan is the best challenge attracter cause of the fact that everyone thinks that he's an easy win! They learn their lesson after two or three matches though....

Now here's a question that I've been wanting to ask...when are the spiderman, wolverine, akuma, 11 hit combo freaks play Dan? Are you so determined to prove that you can win by choosing the easiest guys on the game to do it, that you neglect the fact that you have no skill except a good memory of when to press jab and when to press strong? Now there are alot of obsessed and avid spiders, wolvies, and akumies out there who are just plotting to raid my mailbox with tainted letters. Go right ahead and take your best shot. Cuz you still haven't proved anything until you won a few games with Dan against the toughest players. I truely believe he is a master's character. Masters don't always win...yet they know when to choose their battles. All you Zangief players can hear what I'm sayin. You play with Dan, you master him and win some battles, I'll give you your recognition. I love spiderman cuz he's my favorite comic character, but you know, I play Dan because I know that he's a character you have to use your head with. Beating the best Ryu, or Akuma, or Omega Red just once gives you a triumph like no other character can and It feels cool cuz that guys getting off the game thinkin, "He kicked my ass with Dan". Now that's a cool feeling. Let's begin with this Jean Claude Van Damme wanna be, and go into a combo I created with a little luck and a lot of skill.

--------THE GALE KICK OF DAN THE MAN--------
Ahhhhh yes, the designers of this game were thinkin when they gave him this move. The gale kick has great recovery time pending on what kick button you use and it keeps him out of harm's reach. Did you know that the gale kick stops jump kicks? That's right, I've stopped more brutal attacks that way cuz they think that they can hit me. You'll have to do it when they are diagonally over your head, any sooner and they will hit you. Go for the Round house to chip at their health, use middle kick to stay on them without getting hit and use short for the fake out! I use the short a lot because when it only hits once and he just stays there, people think "hey he's close...and he's Dan, so I'll super or throw him." WRONG!!!!! Throw them first, or if you have a guilty conscience, Do either the fire ball super or the uppercut super. Fireball is safest and chips away at them but to really take advantage of the situation, pause for a super quick moment to make it look like you're still recovering, then pull it off. Hey, if you're using Dan you either win big or you lose hard so pull out all the stops. Pulling off his super uppercut will beat them to their super in a heartbeat cuz they don't expect it.

--------TO MY GREATEST FAN IN THE WHOLE WORLD...FROM DAN------
That's pretty much what he writes when you use roundhouse to sign an autograph, but it's funny. If you are a master and use Dan, chip away at their energy until there's only one pixel left, then make him sign a jab autograph. Kaboom! Even if they block no energy left and Dan looks good and throws the autograph at them. Hehehe. Here's another thing, signing autographs cancels all hand attack supers, even spiderman's spider sting. The catch is that you have to get him to show the autograph at the moment of impact with the opponent. I did this a couple of times Alpha guarding out and accidentally signed and autograph, but it stops even ken and akuma's super uppers. Oh, yeah don't forget to sign an autograph after they die. Hehehehehe.

-------FIRE BALL CONCENTRATE-------
You ever bought concentrated orange juice at the store, well that's what Dan's fireball is like. It's the strongest fireball in the game but the range sucks.
Use it often when near opponents. You'll need every advantage you can get, even if it just chips away from blocking opponents. Use this combo like it's the last meal of your life: Standing forward kick and fierce fireball. Locks them in and if all of it connects, does great damage...and I do mean great damage. Remember he is part of the Shokotan Clan so his standing forward kick can be canceled out early before the second strike hits. So in knowing that, jumpkick into your opponent, then standing forward kick, let the first kick hit then super fireball. Works everytime as long as you cancel correctly. Only let the second kick hit when you are deep enough into them and you can pull off your super.

Let's go one more step... instead of super fireball, use DOUBLE TEAM SUPER!! Dan's fireball will set them up and your partner will finish the rest. Ouch. Remember, the super fireball has bad recovery time so make sure they are very close to you. One of my fave combos is J.Short \/ C.Short --> Team Super! Dan is the best character to combo a team super cause of the damage that it does plus the fact that in order for it to connect, he has to be right next to his opponent! Any of the partners will be able to connect after Dan in a team super! Well....maybe except for Sakura :(

--------THE VENGENCE OF DAN-----------
I was upset to see Sabertooth go away cuz of his vicious air throw (which was unfair but so fun to do). Dan has the same air throw except he has his own style...AND THEY CANNOT RECOVER UNTIL THEY HIT THE GROUND. I have used this combo many times and not once have they been able to recover from it until they hit the ground. Now this doesn't mean that I'm totally right. This feature may depend on your version of the game. Yet, I know if you can chase them with the gale kick and hit them on their way down, this throw cannot be recovered...This is why: Launch your victim and press jab p., strong p., forward k., then press forward and go back to strong p. Air throw will commence and even if you don't pull it off, Dan's combos are so fast that you'll connect with another strong punch. Keep pressing that strong punch until you grab them cuz you'll still be hitting him for every time you don't air throw.

Now you could just strong punch and forward kick all day in the air , but here's why you should just do air throw. One, once he slams him to the ground, don't go chasing after him with gale kick. Even if you hit him, it's not effective. Do your DOUBLE TEAM SUPER!! Your fireball won't get him but that's not the point, your character will definitely hit him with his super. HAHAHAHAHA OMEGA DESTROYER!!!! Oops, sorry, wrong character but you get my drift. Second is if Dan is close enough to the wall when he air throws, they'll pop up and you can launch them again!!! OH YEAH! Then combo and air throw them again and they'll bounce in the other direction(sorry his air throw is not infinite)!!!! DOUBLE OH YEAH!! Then you do your DOUBLE TEAM SUPER!!! TRIPLE DECKER OH YEAH!!!! No one in the game can do such a combo, no one, not even the Wolverine's 33 hit combo has this kind of power! Not even Zangief's Final Atomic Buster has this Power. NO ONE!!!! We measured it and Final Atomic Buster came damn near close, but only one character can beat this and that's Cyber Akuma's Raging Demon and he's not selectable. DAN IS THE MAN!!!!!

Note: I would advise that you get a teammate who's super can hit across the screen for this to work. Zangief, Chun Li, & Ken won't cut it. Spider Man, Captain America and Blackheart's Team up will need timing to get the best results. The best are Omega Red, Sakura, Shadow, Cyclops, Ryu, Bison, Dahalsim, and Shuma Gorath. This took a while to do, but all it takes is making sure the joystick is forward, not diagonally forward. You just don't know the kind of fear this places on people. I have people at my mall who call me Dan. And even the best players kinda slowly walked away because they knew that when they played against Dan, they could run...but the couldn't fly. Hehehehe. Master this one opportunity, and you will be feared.

------THAT GOOD OLD BUTT KICKIN FOOT-------
Dan's standing forward kick is one of the best counter buttons. It has the range of Kens Roundhouse Kick but twice the speed. Hey if you look close enough, the actual hit range of the kick is about a few pixels longer that his actual leg. Now who in the development team did that hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmm. Ok, now here's what that kick can do to the others:

Wolverine, Spider, Chun Li, Shadow: Forget that dash and attacking the feet. By the time you get there, you will already have Dan's foot in your mouth. Dan, when you see them run and getting in mid range, kick out that foot and it will connect cuz they think that they are faster. Since it's a double hit, you don't have to worry about missing and you can easily recover if they do block it.

Black Heart, Zangief, and Hulk: If you can get close, do the double kick and pull of your uppercut cuz they are big enough for it to connect. After gale kicking them, your kick has the range to hit once to keep them in check. Watch out for hulk resistence.

Sakura, and the Shokotan Clan: Your kick can occasionally stop them as they jump attack you. Just step back or walk under them and kick them in the butt litteraly.

Note: If you miss with the kick and they jump over you, quickly switch to your strong punch and Dan will do a kidney punch that's well hidden and does good damage.

-------------SUPER TAUNT------------
Ok, Does anyone know how much damage this move does? It's not like you can pull it off instantly hehehe. Yet I was facing a Hulk Player on his last few pixels of energy. I was going to do Super Taunt cuz I had Omega still ready to finish him. Well this guy super jumped to avoid me as I did the super taunt. Well, he came down right when I showed my super autograph and I did multiple hits that hulk blocked but died trying cuz he was so low. It says nothing but the screen explodes like it does when you kill someone with a regular autograph. How much damage does this super do!!??

-----------THE DAN SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION----------
If you've read the technique with Shadow and his final mission team up move...Do this with Dan and the other demon ragers by tripping your opponent and cancel out calling your teammate! Huh you say? Well as soon as you call them hit the buttons to do your demon rage. They'll have no choice but to block your teammate. Need I say more? However, this is a little harder to pull off without getting hit. Another good way of pulling this move off is to jump in with a Fierce and then finish off the sequence after that! They'll still be reeling from the Fierce and they probably won't get away in time! Just cross your fingers and hope that they don't ech hit it though!

-------DESPERATE MEASURES--------
Bet you didn't know that you can suck in jump kicking characters with the desperation super if you just measure the distance. Usually you'll want to step back a bit so you'll still be in range for them to hit you (the bait). When they are close enough for you to anticipate that they will press the kick or punch button, do the super. It's so funny how they get sucked in like a dirt devil on a pile of crumbs. The Desperation will also connect after a S.Forward! It might knock them away but the move will suck them in anyway! Also, after you air throw in a corner, pull off a Desperation! The opponent almost always never blocks it! Even if they do, they're in for some good chipping damage!

-------FOR YOUR TROUBLES----------
Hey, don't forget to give them an autograph when you beat them. The unlimate insult, or if you have a super, do the super taunt, or walk up to them, press down and the start button and he'll duck and taunt them while they lay helpless, then do desperation move. Hehehehe How about my personal favorite? Otoko Michi!!!!! When I pull this off on someone, they always leave disgusted at themselves! Muhahahaha!! It's the best feeling in the world!

----The Mind Game---- I decided to add this because this is Dan's most important fighting technique! You must play your opponent like a piano in order to win with Dan. What do I mean? Well you have to piss em off....make them predictable and use Dan's power to make them pay! You ever notice how a fight involving Dan goes really slowly? This is because Dan sets the pace! He doesn't need to kill his opponent quickly or attack a lot. He just has to wait and attack when they mess up! Picking Dan means controlling the fight. It's as simple as that!

Do I really have to make a column on how to beat Dan???

If you see someone sit down and pick Dan, you'd better be careful and never lose your cool cause that's just what we want you to do! We'll taunt, we'll autograph, we'll jump around all in an effort to piss you off enough to make you attack blindly! Be cool and play keep away. However, if you're Wolverine, who can't play keep away for shit, then you're in trouble! Wahahahaha!!!

Suggestions, questions or feedback? Mail Migs and Silver Sage here!

Migs here! Check out the main Dan page here to learn the move commands and combos!