The Beast Within

Street Fighter episode 23
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For a detailed overview of this episode, click here.

Guile and Lucinda track down Blanka, and they all meet a boy who's not what he seems.
Original USA broadcast date: February 18th, 1997

Contents

1) Synopsis
2) Notes
3) Errors


Synopsis

Guile and Lucinda head back to the place where they originally found Blanka. The chieftain there tells them that Blanka was here, but nothing he said could tame Blanka's fury. He had then told him of a mysterious plant, which had unique healing powers. Blanka went off to find it. Not too far away, Blanka is searching for the plant, but is out of control. He then hears someone yelling, and finds a kid smashing up a village's statues with a sword. He manages to stop him, but the kid gets away and the villagers blame Blanka for trashing the place. They call him a monster, which sets Blanka's rage off. Blanka quickly gets into a fight with them, and is able to easily deal with them.



However he falls into a trap and is captured. Guile and Lucinda later find him, but the villagers, who are led by another, nastier chieftain, decide to kill Blanka. Blanka is sent out to be eaten by crocodiles, but he escapes and confronts the chieftain.



But the kid from earlier throws a snake at the chieftain. Blanka and Guile try to get it off, but the snake bites Guile's arm and poisons him. Blanka removes the snake, and then sees the kid. He goes after him and eventually manages to corner him. The kid jumps out of the way, but lands in a swamp and sinks. He begs for help and says he didn't mean to hurt Guile, so Blanka helps him out.



It turns out the kid is actually an alien, who crash landed here not too long ago. He and his parents went to the village looking for help, but the villagers attacked them, killing his parents. He wants to make the villagers pay for what they've done, but Blanka sees himself in the boy and tells him that they must learn to control their hatred. Lucinda then arrives, and says she's looking for the plant. The kid knows what she's after -the plant was mutated by a liquid that came out of his crashed ship. He gives her a leaf from it, and they all head back to Guile. Guile is given the remedy, but they are then spotted by the chieftain.



They run out of the village and head back to the spacecraft. They see that the inside is glowing, and the kid realizes that others are coming to pick him up. He still wants revenge on the villagers, but Blanka tells him that somehow, the villager's deed will be punished. But he has to get on with his life, as he must. Another spacecraft then appears, and Guile wakes up just in time to see the kid vanish in a beam of light. Lucinda suggests they get the plant, as it might be able to help Blanka, but the villagers then appear and set fire to the entire area.



Guile and the others are trapped, but he throws a sonic boom into the flames, creating a hole which they are able to escape through. The next morning, they return to the village, only to find it has been destroyed. The wind shifted, resulting in the fire the villagers created consuming the village. Blanka finds the chieftain and tells him that his anger has cost him everything, just as it almost cost him his humanity. The chieftain says that what his tribe did was wrong, and he knows that now. In their rage, they took the lives of two innocents, and nearly three others. Blanka says that fear and hate have cost their world too much, and they must all be tolerant of those who are different from them. From this day forth, Blanka swears he will never again yield to rage, and asks the chieftain to join him in this pledge. The chieftain says he has his word. Guile then welcomes Blanka back to the Street Fighters -they've missed him.



Notes

-This episode aired over a month after the previous one, and was the only new episode to air in the month of February 1997. It also aired on a Tuesday, rather than the usual Saturday.

-When the kid bites Blanka, Blanka's eyes comically pop out of his head for one frame. This is actually a reference to his lose & continue screen sprites, used in the first three versions of Street Fighter II.

-Last appearance of Lucinda. It's also the only second season episode she appears in.

-This episode also marks the last appearance of Blanka. Despite getting himself under control, and Guile welcoming him back to the Street Fighters, he is curiously absent from "Cammy Tell Me True".



Errors

-The chieftain seen at the beginning of the episode is clearly meant to be a different character than the chieftain shown later, but they use the exact same design.
-Blanka initially has his hands tied behind his back with rope, but after the first ad break, the ropes become chains.
-Guile screams in pain before the snake actually bites him.
-Guile's dogtag is missing during this shot.
-Look at this shot. Now look at this one -the kid's left arm is colored like it's Blanka's.
-During this shot, the kid starts to overlap the plane as he walks further away.
-Lucinda does not even question or mention what a spacecraft is doing there when she first sees it.
-When the group leave, Blanka can be seen running through a wall as he moves.
-When Blanka says "go back to the clearing", the camera rapidly zooms in and out of his face for a second or so during the "go".

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