Art of Fighting 2/Takuma Sakazaki

Backstory

Takuma in his younger days grew many different rivalries with other martial arts practitioners, such as Ryuhaku Todoh and Lee Gakusuo, Lee Pai Long's father. Through these battles, he gains the nickname "The Ultimate Tiger", a name similar to one Ryo will inherit one day. He married an American woman named Ronnet and has two kids, Ryo and Yuri. He moved to America to raise his kids and spread the prestige of his dojo. He trained Ryo fiercly, and recruited Robert Garcia as a student as well. When Ryo turned 10, Ronnet died in mysterious circumstances, and he disappears fearing his family is being targeted, leaving Ryo to take care of Yuri. Years later, as Ryo refuses to work for Mr. Big as an adult, Big kidnaps Yuri and threatens Takuma to work for him. Reluctantly, Takuma agrees in order to protect Yuri, but first dons the iconic tengu mask and the persona "Mr. Karate" in order to hide his identity and protect his family's honor. Ryo eventually fights Mr. Karate to save Yuri, and threatens to kill him, but Yuri stops him and reveals Karate as Takuma, their father. Takuma repents for leaving them, and Ryo and Yuri forgive him. He returns back to his Dojo, and continues to train Ryo, as well as Yuri. One year after his unmasking, he receives an invitation to the King of Fighters tournament.

Special Moves

Ko'ou Ken - qcf + A (236 + A) [20% spirit meter]

• Takuma shoots a blast of ki energy from his palm
• This fireball is faster than Ryo's or Robert's, about about 1.25x faster
• With red spirit bar, this move will have very short range

Kishin Geki - qcb + A (214 + A) [20% spirit meter]

• Takuma unleashes 4 quick punches, 2 at a time
• This attack will not change depending on the spirit bar but will still drain it nonetheless

Hienshippu-Kyaku - db, f + A ([1]6 + A) [25% spirit meter]

• Takuma launches himself forward to deliver a kick attack
• If successful, he will hit twice, unless he has red spirit bar, where he'll hit only once and also launch at a slower speed

Shouran Kyaku - hcb + B (63214 + B) [40% spirit meter]

• Takuma rushes forward to grab the opponent and delivers multiple knee strikes to opponents head
• This move has priority over many other moves and pre-jump frames
• Takuma recovers extremely quickly if this move is blocked, leaving you safe
• This move will not come out with red spirit bar

Zanretsu-Ken - f, b, f + A (646 + A) [40% spirit meter]

• Takuma stands still and attacks with multiple punches
• Can be used as an anti-air against farther opponents and on wakeup to stop pressure
• If all punches whiff, there is no recovery, but if one punch hits a blocking opponent, Takuma will have a long recovery where he can be punished with a combo
• This move will not come out with red spirit bar

Super Moves

Haohshokoken - f, hcf + A (641236 + A) [75% spirit meter]

• Takuma creates a wall of ki energy to attack opponent
• Has slow startup compared to other super moves
• Can be dodged with a well timed jump or wall jump

Hidden Super Move/Desperation Move

RyuukoRanbu - qcf, b, f + AC (23646 + AC) [75% spirit meter]

• Takuma rushes towards the opponent to deliver an unlockable barrage attack, ending with Haohshokoken
• Does massive damage and can be safely performed on knocked down opponents
• Move can only be performed when health is low enough (Takuma's stance will change as a sign)

Important Character-Specific Tech

After a successful throw where the opponent doesn't tech, Takuma can jump at the opponent as soon as he recovers and can do a really deep unblockable jumping light kick into Kishin Geki, which will cause a knockdown into a dizzy even if the opponent tries to block it. This allows you to do a super move or a combo to the opponent, leading to a near Touch of Death. The opponent can spam jab to stop the knockdown, but Takuma can do different follow ups like sweep instead of Kishin Geki to secure unstoppable damage. Unfortunately, some character can beat this unblockable jump-in with a grab.

Strengths And Weaknesses

Takuma is definitely one of the best characters in the game. His moves are simple to input, and extremely strong and effective. His normaals have great range and quick recovery. His anti-airs are strong as well.

Strengths: As stated above, Takuma's moves are very strong. On top of this, Shouran Kyaku can be performed to catch your opponent off guard, and is especially strong after a blockstring to stop an opponent trying to push you off. Takuma also has one of the easiest unblockable setups in the game, which is helped by having the quickest throw in the game as well.

Weaknesses: Takuma has very few weaknesses, but one thing that can be an issue for him are characters who can keep him out, stopping him from applying pressure. This applies to characters like Temjin and Mr. Big, as well as King to a lesser extent.