Capcom vs SNK 2/Dan

Introduction

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Matchups

Health (at Ratio 2)
14800	High
Stun
70	Average
Dash Length
15 Frames	Short
Dash Type
Hop	Corpse Hop=Yes, Proj. Hop=No
Run Speed
8	Below Average
Roll Distance
140 pixels	Far
Roll Duration
27f	Long
Wakeup Speed compared to Ryu
0f	Average

Story

Dan Hibiki is the stupid and egotistical owner of the only dojo in the world that teaches Saikyo Style, Dan's self made martial art. Dan dedicated his life to creating and practicing martial arts after his father, Go Hibiki, was killed by Sagat. Go was known as one of Sagat's rivals, and in their last fight, gouged out Sagat's eye. In retaliation, Sagat beat him to death. Dan hunts after Sagat to this day, even after Sagat has changed and begun to atone for his crimes. However, Dan's ego and headstrong nature gets in his way a lot. He believes Saikyo is the greatest fighting style, and he is the greatest fighter in history. While he shows potential sometimes, he is overall very novice and unskilled. His belief that he is the best however holds him back from improving at all, and he constantly charges into fights that he can't win.

Famously, Dan's design is a jab at SNK devs. Once Street Fighter II: World Warrior was released, a lot of the team moved over to work for SNK. There, they created the Art of Fighting series, and the protagonist Ryo Sakazaki. Ryo shared more than a few similarities with Street Fighter's protagonist Ryu, from moves to personality to design. While Ryo has since evolved to be much more unique, Dan was created to be a mockery of Ryo in the beginning, and you can see many similarities in their moveset.

Gameplay

Dan is the original joke character. Most of his moves are bad on purpose, and he has very little that isn't entirely outclassed by other characters. He plays similar to the shotos like Ryu and Ken, with all-rounder normals, a fireball, and a DP. However, many of his tools are much worse overall. His fireball is tiny and doesn't go anywhere, his DP has no range and is slower than average, plus it only has invincibility randomly, and his 214K Dan Kicks barely work as combo enders at all. His supers aren't bad, but are overall underwhelming with a lot of flaws. He lacks any dangerous mixups, and his damage is much lower than average when he can even land a combo.

This isn't to say Dan doesn't have any unique strengths. The fact he is a joke character and is so underplayed is a strength in itself, as your opponent likely doesn't know the matchup. In reality, Dan's biggest strength is his j.214K Air Dan Kicks. These are great tools for mobility and getting advantage on block, and allow Dan to move around in the air more freely than almost anyone else. He also is still a shoto, and while his normals are the worst of them, he still has at least a mediocre tool for every situation

Groove Selection

Best - K/A: K-Dan is the best way to play Dan, which isn't saying much. Rage gives him a much needed damage buff, while run and hop give him better mobility and more legitimate mixups. JD doesn't work too well in his favor, but it is appreciated as a defensive tool in general. Dan's higher than average health means that he can more often have Rage as well, and his level 3 supers are actually pretty useful, making his offense a bit scarier. A-Dan gets access to all of the powerful A-Groove mechanics, and some unique and strong Custom Combos. CC in general is a powerful mechanic that Dan can abuse, though not that well. Rolls give him a much needed escape option, but without run or roll, his offense is basically nonexistent.

Useful - C: C-Dan gets all the same tools as A-Dan, plus airblocking, minus Custom Combos. Without CC his damage is a lot worse, but a solid hit into a level 2 combo actually does very respectable damage. Airblock lets him more safely take to the air, where he can abuse his Air Dan Kicks a lot more. You still have to deal with Dan's own weaknesses however.

Worst - S/N/P: All three of these Grooves are very hard to work with. S-Dan is a horrid character without meter, but with meter he at least gets to end combos in supers sometimes and replace his fireballs with the super version. Without any notable other strengths, and the necessity to charge meter, S-Dan has to give up a lot of screen space to build meter that he needs for damage. N-Dan gets run and hop, and roll too, but only having level 1 supers and having no mechanic like Rage or CC or level 2 combos to make any punish actually scary makes him very weak. N-Dan is inferior to K-Dan if you want the mobility and A-Dan if you want the rolls. P-Dan is basically worthless. Dan's meterless punish game is nonexistent, and his level 3's are good but not above average like other characters in P-Groove. Without any other mechanic to make P-Dan attractive, he has nothing of note really.

Dan is a joke character, and one of the worst characters in the game. He has very little in the way of offense or defense, and has to rely on basic neutral and his above average air mobility to even barely squeeze out wins. Dan is best in K-Groove.
Pros	Cons
Health: Dan's health is surprisingly high, letting him tank through more hits than average. Shoto: Even if his buttons are far worse compared to the shotos, they're still shoto normals, so he can still sort of control space with them Air Dan Kicks: Air Dan Kicks are great for Dan's aerial mobility, as well as a jump-in option and mixup tool, they can let him fly around the air unlike other characters.	Low Damage: Without meter, Dan's punish game is basically nonexistent, with weak links and inconsistent cancels. While a Raged level 3 or Custom Combo still hurts, Dan relies on these one shot high damage situations with meter, and without it he isn't scary in the least. Weak Neutral: Slow ground mobility and lack of many ways to get in or any good roll cancels means Dan gets zoned out hard, and while j.214K helps, it isn't as good as a standard divekick in this sort of situation Bad Defense: Dan does have a true reversal, but it is random whether it is invincible or not, and is very low range. Dan relies on mashing lights or using the game's mechanics like rolling to get by, and he doesn't perform well at using them. Bad Offense: Dan really doesn't have pressure that is worth respecting, and it has tons of gaps that can be beaten by a roll-cancel or a reversal Joke Character: In the end, excluding aerial mobility, everything Dan has is done better by other characters. If you want to play a character like Dan, you have so many options with the other shotos like Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Ryo, or Sagat. He is outclassed in almost every category

Normal Moves

Far Normals

5LP

Far Jab
Far Light Punch
5LP / Far LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	300	3	RF/SP/SU	Mid	High	3	4	7	14	+4	+4	None
A quick palm strike. While this jab does do the same damage as the other shotos, it starts up a frame slower, recovers a frame slower, has less range, and is +4 instead of +7. It can be rapid fired, but overall a worse jab compared to the other shotos. Semi-usable in anti-air situations due to the higher vertical range.

5MP

Far Strong
Far Medium Punch
5MP / Far MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	800	8	SP/SU	Mid	High	4	4	21	29	-1	-1	None
A quick gut punch. Pitiful range. While it is one of Dan's few normals that can combo into Koryuken up close it really can't be used for anything other than that. As a poke it can't land from anywhere and it has too much recovery. You can link into 5MP from 2LP, but it is a 1-frame link and it can't combo into anything but Gadoken or Shinkuu Gadoken. The damage is not worth the difficulty either. On top of that, you need to be close for this link to work because of 5MP's stubby range, so at that point you're better off using 2HP or cl.5HP.

5HP

Far Fierce
Far Heavy Punch
5HP / Far HP

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	1300/1200	13/12	SU (1st Hit)	Mid	High	6	4	21	31	-1	-1	None
Dan performs a big downward chop. Good whiff punish option, and can also be used as a midrange poke, since it is -1 they have to respect it. Since you'll be mostly landing the second hit in neutral, you can confirm those stray hits into anything. Just continue playing neutral. You can cancel the first hit into super, but you will find yourself landing cl.5HP instead at that range, which is a much better normal than this one.

5LK

Far Short
Far Light Kick
5LK / Far LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	400	4	SU	Mid	High	4	6	8	18	+1	+1	None
A quick midsection knee. Decent range with good start-up, it can be used as a good counterpoke and can frame trap semi-consistently. Can be chained into from both 5LP and 2LP, so it can work as a light confirm into super, albeit for mediocre damage.

5MK

Far Forward
Far Medium Kick
5MK / Far MK

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	500+400	5+4	SP/SU (1st Hit)	Mid	High	4	2,2	22	30	-4	-4	None
An upward kick. While looking like it can anti-air, it's incredibly inconsistent, you have to do it predictably and hope the opponent pressed their jump-in button after you. If spaced it can be a semi-decent poke, but it is crouchable by a majority of the cast, so there are much better options. Has longer range than 5MP on the first hit so you can pick up cancels more consistently, but you lose out on 300 damage. If you link into this from 2LP you will get the same damage, but a lot more consistency on it. Use this link for your 2LP special cancel confirms where cl.5HP falls out of range, even if it is a 1-frame.

5HK

Far Roundhouse
Far Heavy Kick
5HK / Far HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	1300	13	None	Mid	High	12	3	19	34	+2	+2	None
Dan performs a big roundhouse kick, very similar in appearance to Maki's far 5HK. Unlike Maki's 5HK, Dan's starts up in 12 frames, doubled that of Maki's, which is 6, making it more difficult to use as an anti-air. That said, it's still useable, as jump-ins from farther ranges will lose most of the time, but due to the heavy startup you either have to use this button anticipating a jump or have a really good reaction time. Unfortunately this button has no cancels, if it had even a super cancel it would be a great way to confirm into it but because it doesn't it is essentially just an okay anti-air. Whiffs against most crouchers.

clHP

Close Fierce
Close Heavy Punch
cl.HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close	1200	12	SP/SU	Mid	High	4	5	20	29	-1	-1	None
Dan performs a quick but more powerful gut punch. Your go-to button for cancelling into special or super. Deals decent damage if used as such. Can link from 2LP, which is the most damaging route from 2LP, but it is also 1-frame link. The only downside this button has is the fact that it's a proximity normal, and if you get far 5HP, you don't get nearly the same returns on hit as you do the close variant.

2LP

Crouch Jab
Crouching Light Punch
2LP / cr.LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	300	3	RF/SP/SU	Mid	Low	3	4	6	13	+5	+5	None
A fast low palm strike. Has the same startup, active and recovery as the shotos, but is again less plus, at +5 instead of +7. This is actually Dan's most plus attack on the ground, which is pretty bad considering some characters are +5 or more on their medium normals, most notably the shotos themselves with cr.MP. Worse at mashing and pressuring compared to the shotos. Very stubby range, you can only chain 2 at most before you fall out of your optimal light confirms. Links into 5MP, cl.5HP, 5MK, 2MP and 2LK. They are all 1-frame links, and they all give you okay damage at best outside of cl.5HP, which is admittedly a decent move to link into.

2MP

Crouch Strong
Crouching Medium Punch
2MP / cr.MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	800	8	SP/SU	Mid	Low	4	6	15	25	+2	+2	None
A slightly more open palm strike. A dumpster fire compared to the shotos' cr.MP. +2 instead of +6, somehow only having pixels worth of range over the already short-ranged 2LP, is outranged by 5MP which also has stubby range, and recovers in 15 frames instead of 9. Really can't be used for anything, just ignore this button completely.

2HP

Crouch Fierce
Crouching Heavy Punch
2HP / cr.HP

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1100, 700	11, 7	SP/SU (1st Hit)	Mid	Low, High	5	2	28	35	-6	-6	None
A high-reaching uppercut-like move. This looks similar to a typical shoto 2HP, but looks are deceiving. This button has 2 active frames, one for the first hitbox, and 1 for the uppercut. This is way below the 11 that the shotos have, which makes anti-airing with this button really difficult, as you have to specifically time it otherwise Dan won't hit the opponent at all, and on top of the 28 frames of recovery, if he whiffs the anti-air he is done for. First hitbox is decent, comparable with the shotos. While great for cancelling into special or super cl.5HP does that but does 100 more damage, and at ranges where far 5HP will activate the first hit of 2HP whiffs, so just use cl.5HP instead. Second hitbox however is not that good. It lacks the horizontal range and also has less vertical range compared to the shotos. This makes Dan's anti-air game very weak, and many characters with even decent air normals can jump in on him often without risking much.

2LK

Crouch Short
Crouching Light Kick
2LK / cr.LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	400	4	SP/SU	Low	Low	4	4	9	17	+2	+2	None
A quick low kick. While Dan not having a rapid-fire low like the other shotos hurts him, this isn't necessarily a terrible alternative. it may start up and recover a frame slower, but it does have decent range for a light, especially for one that hits low. You can stagger and badger with this button, being +2 isn't much but you need some way to get the opponent to respect your pokes. Unfortunately due to Dan not having any real good high attacks other than IOH j.LK, the opponent is most likely holding down-back against your strings so your mixups with this button are limited to strike-throw. Not exactly the best outcome, but being on offense is a luxury that Dan doesn't get much so he has to keep it going for as long as he can. Can be chained into from 2LP, making it a really reliable confirm, although the damage is poor.

2MK

Crouch Forward
Crouching Medium Kick
2MK / cr.MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	800	8	SP/SU	Low	Low	5	6	13	24	+1	+1	-
A slower low kick. This button is godly. It will rival Sagat 2HP and Cammy 5HP for centuries... Just kidding. This button is actually pretty good in all seriousness, it even recovers much faster than the shoto cr.MK, as well as being +1 over them being -1. It does sport slightly less range, but it's still by far Dan's best grounded poke. The only weakness this button has is that unlike the shotos, you can't cancel into a fireball safely. HP Gadouken will not be a true blockstring majority of the time you land this poke in neutral. This leaves a lot of room for roll-cancel punishes or just reversal rolls that put the opponent right up in your face and you have to block a potential mixup because you won neutral but decided to tack on hits with a bad special. Up close you can cancel fine, but from farther ranges it is best to just get back to neutral or try to get on offense since you are plus.

2HK

Crouch Roundhouse
Crouching Heavy Kick
2HK / cr.HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1200	12	None	Low	Low	5	6	32	43	HKND	-14	None
A standard turnaround sweep. If spaced this button is kind of safe in blockstrings. Up close it will be punished on block. While being faster in startup than the shotos, this sweep cannot be cancelled into anything, so spacing is really emphasized if you are using this button. Even if you could it would suffer the same issue as cr.MK, so it wouldn't make that much of a difference. Decent range, but not as much as the shotos' 2HK has. It also doesn't have that much disjoint either compared to the shotos, which they benefit from in their whiff punishes.

j.LP

Jump Jab
Jumping Light Punch
j.LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	600	6	None	High	High	3	22	-	25	-	-	None
A quick aerial punch. A worse air-to-air compared to the shotos. Their hitbox has useable disjoint, but Dan does share the same frame data. Still use as an air-to-air.

j.MP

Jump Strong
Jumping Medium Punch
j.MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	900	9	None	High	High	5	8	-	13	-	-	None
A downwards aerial punch. Hitbox is below Dan's fist, so it can still be a jump-in, albeit a very mediocre one.

j.HP

Jump Fierce
Jumping Heavy Punch
j.HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	1200	12	None	High	High	12	12	-	24	-	-	None
A big aerial chop. While being a slightly better jump-in option compared to j.MP, j.MK and j.HK are way better options. The massive 12 frame startup means you have to use it early in your descent to make sure it doesn't whiff.

j.LK

Jump Short
Jumping Light Kick
j.LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	500	5	None	High	High	5	22	-	27	-	-	None
A short aerial leg kick. A decent air normal all things considered. Pretty consistent jump-in, but has low hitstun. Can be used as an alright air-to-air, it's more consistent than j.LP. Where this button shines is it's ability to instant overhead most characters, not just big ones like Sagat or Zangief. While it basically ends your pressure if you do use IOH j.LK, it can be used when the round is about to come to a close and you need just one more hit, which legitimizes your mixups, especially in low hop grooves. The timing is strict though.

j.MK

Jump Forward
Jumping Medium Kick
j.MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	800	8	None	High	High	7	8	-	15	-	-	None
An outwards leg kick. Surprisingly your best air-to-air in terms of hitbox, but that's not saying much. The shotos air-to-air better with this normal and they don't even use j.MK as their main air-to-air. The above average startup means you have to press the button really early anticipating a challenge in the air. Better used as a jump-in. Diagonal version crosses-up, so you at least have decent left-right mixups like the other shotos.

j.HK

Jump Roundhouse
Jumping Heavy Kick
j.HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	1300	13	None	High	High	8	8	-	16	-	-	None
A powerful aerial swing kick. Your best air normal. Deals the most damage, has the most consistency as a jump-in and air-to-air, even works as a good poke in low hop grooves. If you find yourself in the air, j.HK is giving you the best results most of the time no matter what situation you're in. j.MK crosses up, so that's where you would use that normal but in most other situations use this button.

Throws

X

Saikyo Toss
Punch Throw
Near Opponent, 4/6HP

Throw

Taunt

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close /+	1800	-	-	-	-	3	1	11	15	HKND	-	None
Dan tosses the opponent over his shoulder, then taunts. Because of Dan's taunt, you can't immediately get on offense midscreen. If you're in a run groove and run jump towards the opponent, chances are they have already gotten up and you are now at their mercy. Dan's gloating essentially ends his turn and the ground game is back to neutral. In the corner, you can push some pressure, so throws that lead into the corner are great for Dan... As they are every other character in the game.

X

Saikyo Toss
Kick Throw
Near Opponent, 4/6HK

Throw

Taunt

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close /+	2000	-	-	-	-	5	1	11	17	-	-	None
Dan tosses the opponent over his shoulder, then crouch taunts. The throw itself starts up in two frames slower than the punch throw, but does 200 more damage, just like the shotos. In terms of strike-throw mixups and tick throws, use this throw over the punch one. Suffers the same issues as the punch throw. His taunt prevents him from getting in on the opponent to get decent okizeme, unless the opponent is thrown into the corner of course.

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