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Crimson Viper: Street Fighter 4 Character Guide

Last updated on Sept. 11, 2008

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Character Overview

Some players think Crimson Viper is most similar to Cammy in the Street Fighter games, but after playing her you'll find she has a style all her own.

She's a cross up master because of her Burning Kick and Super Jump abilities, and quick reflex players can consistently keep the other fighter guessing which way to block.

Viper does most of her damage within sweep distance and when she scores a knock down.

• Strengths •
+ Exceptional ability to cross up her opponent, with her Burning Kick
+ Only character with a Super Jump and it can be canceled into her Ultra
+ Her moves come out pretty fast and her foot speed is good
+ Great High/Low mix up attack game
+ Excellent overhead attack
+ Most of her regular moves can be canceled into a Special Move
+ Attacks do a lot of stun to your opponent, which can make for a quick dizzy

• Weaknesses •
- Low defensive rating mean she takes more damage than most when hit
- Doesn't do great damage
- Lacks consistent anti-air and "get the heck off me" moves

Special Moves

• Thunder Knuckle (Flashing Fist) •
The Light Punch version hits low, while Medium is high. They both make Viper slide forward with her fist out. These moves can be done over and over again because the recovery time for them is very quick and they'll usually have higher priority than most moves. Careful though because they can still be countered, don't get predictable with them.

Hard Punch makes her do somewhat of an uppercut which is a good anti air move, it hits about 65% of the time, but if you trade hits with it, you'll likely lose out on damage because Viper is weaker than most characters.

Light Punch Thunder Knuckles can also go through fireballs, but the timing is tricky. When the move is first starting up it won't go through, but after that you should be able to hit people out of their projectiles.

All three versions have pretty good juggling ability, but Hard Punch is particularly good when used against a jumping opponent because if you didn't hit them late or trade hits you can usually juggle them with another Hard Punch Knuckle, Super or Ultra.

Note the timing for juggling with the Ultra is very strict, and it's easier on the bigger characters.

You can stop the Light and Medium Thunder Knuckle animation by pressing the other two punch buttons almost immediately after doing this move. For example, if you execute it with Light Punch, pressing Medium and Hard Punch right afterward will cancel the move.

Stopping this move will not increase your Super meter.

• Burning Kick (Flame Kick) •
This makes Viper jump kick her opponent with her legs engulfed in flames, and it's mostly safe from counter attacks if blocked. This is a really good attack, and it can eat projectiles if timed correctly.

Note that this move will not combo when canceled from most normal attacks. If you're looking to use this in a combo, your best bet is to go for the EX version.

(In the air)
• Aerial Burning Kick (Air Flame Kick) •
If timed correctly this can can negate projectiles. Also holding diagonally down/right after executing this will change the trajectory.

The Light Kick version will stop Viper in mid air and drop her down, which can be useful in baiting Shoryuken's and other anti-air attacks. Also if you're directly above the other fighter while descending from a jump, you can use this to land directly on their head to cross them up.

This thing is dirty because you can cancel from a normal jumping move in to the Burning Kick to 'cross' your opponent. For example, if you jump in with Hard Kick and then cancel into Viper's Hard Kick Burning Kick you'll hit the other fighter in the back of the head. Canceling into the Light Kick Burning Kick will hit the front side. Nasty.

You can cancel into this move after hitting with the following in the air:
• Jumping towards Weak or Hard Kick
• Jumping straight up Weak Kick or Hard Punch

Note that this move will not combo when canceled from most normal attacks. If you're looking to use this in a combo, your best bet is to go for the EX version.

• Seisumo Hammer (Explosive Ground Pound) •
Viper punches the ground and an explosion appears underneath her opponent's feet. The strength of the button determines the range of this move.

The Light Punch version hits close and is mostly safe from counter attacks if blocked, and can be canceled into her Super.

Medium Punch hits about midscreen, while Hard Punch hits from about a full-screen's distance.

This move is effective against a jumping opponent who isn't in range to hit you. Time your Seisumo Hammer to hit them right as they land. If done correctly, this will nail them and possibly set them up for a juggle.

The tricky part is guessing which button to press, and this just takes time to learn, but if you want to eliminate the guess work, just use the EX-Seisumo.

The Seisumo can also be effective against characters with slow fireballs like Chun Li and Guile. If they're firing projectiles from far away, nail them with a Hard Punch Hammer.

You can stop the Seisumo Hammer animation by pressing the other two punch buttons almost immediately after doing this move. For example, if you execute it with Medium Punch, pressing Light and Hard Punch right afterward will cancel the move.

Avoid using the Seisumo Hammer at close range because the start up and recovery time will often get you hit.

• Super Jump •
Similar to Rolento in the Street Fighter Alpha games, Viper has a fast jump. You can also press diagonally up-forward or up-back to Super Jump in those directions.

You can cancel the following normal moves with the Super Jump:

• Standing and Crouching Light Punch
• Standing (close) and Crouching Medium Punch
• Standing (close) and Crouching (close) Hard Punch
• Standing and Crouching Weak Kick
• Crouching Medium Kick

A good tactic after hitting with a Crouching Medium Kick is to cancel into the Super Jump towards your opponent and immediately do a Burning Kick. The faster you pull this off, the lower the trajectory you'll get giving you more of a chance to cross up the other fighter.

This can really mess with your opponent's head because it's not easy to anticipate which way to block correctly in this scenario.

Viper can also cancel into her Ultra after a Super Jump. To do this you do a Tiger Knee like motion (a fireball ending with an up forward on the joystick), which counts as the first part of her Ultra along with executing the Super Jump, then very quickly do another fireball motion and press all three kicks.

This lets you pull off Viper's Super Jump cancel to Ultra very, very quickly.

Executing a Hard Punch into a Super Jump cancel into her Ultra would look like this on the joystick.

 

EX Moves

• EX-Thunder Knuckle (Flashing Fist) •
This has a long start up time, so it's very difficult to use it in combos. There are very few practical uses for this move, but one of them is against opponents who miss with their Super/Ultra.

If you jump over Chun-Li, Balrog (Boxer) or M. Bison (Dictator) when they unleash their Super/Ultra, just peg them with the EX-Thunder Knuckle.

• EX-Burning Kick (Flame Kick) •
You can cancel normal attacks into the EX-Burning Kick and actually combo, unlike the normal versions of this move.

This can be a good attack against an opponent doing anti-air moves because it usually has higher priority. If you know an anti-air move is coming, do this when you're close after jumping in and your opponent will usually get hit.

This also works well as an anti-air move when you're jumping.

• EX-Seisumo Hammer (Explosive Ground Pound) •
This thing comes out very fast and can be used in combos. Also unlike the normal version which you must pick the proper button depending on the range the other fighter is at, this will track the other fighter wherever they're standing.

This move is invulnerable to most high normal attacks and Sagat's high fireball, and it can be a decent wake up attack or used to get the other fighter off of you in pressure situations.

If you hit with this, cancel out of it with the Super Jump and then go into Burning Kicks for extra damage.

You can stop the EX-Seisumo Hammer animation by pressing two punch buttons almost instantly after doing this move, but you will still lose EX meter as if you'd fully done the move.

Super and Ultra Moves

• Emergency Combination (Super Flashing Fist and Kick) •
Viper runs forward and hits with her fist then goes into a flip kick.

• Burst Time (Ultra Flashing Fist) •
Viper winds up and does a huge Explosive Ground Pound followed by several flip kicks. This move is... weird, as it doesn't hit consistently, so be careful when and where you use it.

You can cancel from many of her normal attacks into Super Jump and then cancel that into her Ultra.

These are the best times to use her Ultra:

• When the opponent is descending from a missed attack
• After hitting with Focus Attack, then Dash Cancel to get in close while they crumple
• Immediately after jumping attacks with either Hard Punch or Hard Kick
• In a combo
• When your opponent is dizzy

You should not use Viper's Ultra as an anti-air weapon, because it's difficult to hit with it consistently, and if you miss you'll be wide open to punishment.

Normal Moves

Note this is not a complete list of all of Viper's normal moves, just the ones we think are noteworthy.

• Hard Punch (outside of close range) •
You can cancel this move into Viper's Thunder Knuckle, Seismo Hammer, Burning Kick or Super Jump. You must execute the cancel move motion within 1/4th of a second of pressing Hard Punch.

• Overhead Attack •
Arguably one of the best Overhead Hits in the game. This hops over some projectiles if timed correctly. Works well outside of sweep distance. Use this often.

Also depending on how you hit with this, it's possible to combo into a Crouching Medium Punch and cancel into a Thunder Knuckle for three hits.

Combos

This is not a complete list of all of Viper's combos, just the core ones you should know.

• Jumping Hard Kick, Crouching Medium Punch, cancel into Thunder Knuckle •
Viper's Bread and Butter combo. The Thunder Knuckle recovers very quickly if blocked, but there's still a small window where you can be counter attacked if you don't hit with it. You can also do a fake Thunder Knuckle and walk up and throw to keep your opponent off guard.

• (Close) Medium Punch, Link into Crouching Medium, Cancel into Medium Punch Thunder Knuckle •
A pretty good combo which can help keep the pressure on your opponent when you're close in.

• Seismo Hammer, cancel into Super Jump, Light Kick Burning Kick (air) Medium Kick, Hard Punch Thunder Knuckle •
Note that you can do the first three moves of this combo any where, but the last two hits can only be done when your opponent is in the corner.

• Crouching Hard Punch, cancel into Super Jump, cancel into Ultra •
Several of Viper's normal moves can be Super Jump canceled into her Ultra, including crouching Medium Punch and Kick and standing Hard Punch. The timing on this is difficult though.

• Jumping Hard Kick, Crouching Medium Kick, cancel into Thunder Knuckle, cancel into Super •
A variation of her Bread and Butter combo, works well if you have a full Super Bar.

• Jumping Hard Kick, Hard Punch, cancel into EX-Seismo Hammer, cancel into the Super Jump, Aerial Burning Kick and juggle with her Ultra •
It's easier to do this combo in the corner, but it can be performed any where, although the timing is stricter away from the edge.

• Crouching Hard Punch, cancel into EX-Seisumo Hammer, cancel into Super Jump, Hard Kick Aerial Flame Kick, EX-Thunder Knuckle, Ultra •
This is a great punisher with Viper. If your opponent leaves themselves open, nail them with this.

Post Bread and Butter Combo mix up game

Viper has a strong mix up game after landing her Bread and Butter Combo (Crouching Medium Punch/Kick into Thunder Knuckle).

After landing this, you can do the following:

• Towards + Medium Punch (Overhead) — Goes over sweeps and fireballs if timed right.
• Burning Kick — Hits any low attacks.
• Light Punch Thunder Knuckle — Good against high attacks.
• Bait an attack and punish.
• Jump towards and cross up with Medium Kick into her Bread and Butter again, repeat.
• Anti-air with Hard Punch Thunder Knuckle if they jump at you.
• Also you can do another Crouching Medium Punch into Thunder Knuckle

Contributions to this guide by Kunai, Gasp, CFAY, Forgenjuro, Azrael and MAGUS1234.