Jmcrofts recently put out an interesting video that talked about Zangief’s Banish Flat special, which was originally a mistranslation of “Vanishing Flat,” but is most commonly known as the “Green Hand.”
The Green Hand was a staple part of Zangief’s kit in Street Fighter 4, but was removed in Street Fighter 5. Though many fans expected the Green Hand to return in Street Fighter 6, this did not pan out. Needless to say, Jmcrofts shared a few of his theories as to why the move has disappeared from Zangief’s arsenal in the latest Street Fighter entries.
As noted in the video, Green Hand made its debut appearance in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. However, it was pretty much useless in that game.
It ended up being a different story in Street Fighter 4. In particular, EX Green Hand always proved to be difficult for Capcom to balance. Whether it knocked down or enabled combos thanks to the Red Focus Attack mechanic, EX Green Hand was generally one of the best moves in the game as it typically led to Zangief securing amazing Okizeme pressure.
During the video, Jmcrofts also noted how the idea of Zangief generating green energy from his hand doesn’t really mesh well with the rest of Zangief’s kit, from a conceptual and thematic standpoint. Combined with the fact that it’s always either too weak or too strong probably led to Capcom deleting the move in future titles.
Regardless, Zangief in Street Fighter 6 is regarded as being one of the hardest characters to win with in Season 1. As such, there is a chance that Capcom could add the move back to Zangief’s move pool, though it would probably need to have different properties so that it doesn’t conflict too much with the universal Drive Rush option.
Check out Jmcrofts’ recent video on the subject below:
