Feature: An Introduction to Street Fighter V's F.A.N.G.

F.A.N.G. – now forever referred to as Fang, thanks – was the final character revealed for Street Fighter V's release. Not many people know a great deal about the lanky weirdo, as he hasn't been available during any beta tests, so allow us to shine a light on Bison's newest sycophant.

First thing's first: Fang's really going to bug people. Our initial assessments suggest that he's going to be incredibly tricky to pin down, which is unfortunate, as most of his special moves – his V-Skill, V-Trigger, and Critical Art – all poison opponents. This poison won't kill, mind – he still needs to land the finishing blow himself - but once poisoned, Fang's victims slowly lose health over a period of time until they can manage to land a hit.

And doing so is going to be tricky. He has a fireball – his Nishikyu – that launches two poisoned projectiles in awkward arcs not dissimilar to Dhalsim's, and his V-Skill launches a poisonous ball of gas that has no impact, but cannot be blocked. Fang controls space like no other street fighter to date, though his special moves are largely performed using charge commands, so must be planned slightly in advance.

Oh yes, he's also got a command dash, titled Nikankyaku, that can pass through opponents and under fireballs. What's more, the ex-variant travels roughly two thirds of the screen, and possesses an enormous hit invulnerability window. Good luck keeping him cornered.

Many of his normal attacks hit twice, too, negating some moves that have armour, and have incredible range – his sweep hits from about a third of the screen. Thankfully – though we're aware these are early days – his normal attacks don't seem to link together that well, somewhat diminishing his combo potential.

His other special moves make approaching Fang dangerous, too. Ryobenda plants a small poisonous cloud on the floor, which can remain for several seconds, and Sotoja is a quite safe move which sees Fang quickly lunge forward to poison his opponent – it also negates fireballs. We've included a screenshot of his command list below for your consideration.

In short, he's superb fun to play as, though we suspect tricky to master. As for playing against him... Well, that's a whole different matter.

Will you be playing as F.A.N.G. in Street Fighter V? Spray some poison all across the comments section below.