Fatal Fury developer reveals there is no particular reason Terry Bogard raises his hands before a Burn Knuckle, other than looking cool 

Now that Terry Bogard has made his debut in Street Fighter 6, more people are starting to wonder why the Fatal Fury protagonist lifts his hands in the air before executing his iconic Burn (or Burning) Knuckle. Is he doing a “banzai” gesture? Is it similar to how Dragon Ball’s Goku charges up a Spirit Bomb? Thanks to a RocketNews24 interview with Fatal Fury game developer Yasuyuki Oda, we now know that this exaggerated animation is just for show. 

According to Oda, whose work on the Fatal Fury franchise goes as far back as 1993’s Fatal Fury Special, Terry lifting his hands was a way for the character to look cool while doing his special move. “It’s a pose that was created to match the image of going “Burn!” As fighting games became popular and game speed got faster, we gradually made it less noticeable or even eliminated it.”  

Sadly, it doesn’t look like Terry will be raising his hands in the upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Like the more recent iterations of the move, Terry simply pulls back his arm before letting loose a Burn Knuckle. While this makes it somewhat faster and thus requires less work from the developers, Burn Knuckle doesn’t quite feel the same without Terry’s iconic charge-up. 

Terry Bogard is now available as a guest fighter in Street Fighter 6. He will also be appearing in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which launches in April 2025. Both games are available on the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Windows).