Fahkumram

Fahkumram (Thai: ฟ้าคำราม; Japanese: ファーカムラム Fākamuramu) is a new character in the Tekken series. He was announced at the Tekken World Tour 2019 as the fifth DLC of Season Pass 3.^[4] He was added to Tekken 7: Fated Retribution as of March 25, 2020, along with his accompanying home stage, Cave of Enlightenment. Fahkumram is a formidable Muay Thai fighter who is fighting under duress for the Thai military. He hopes to regain freedom for his family and himself.

Biography[]

Appearance[]

Fahkumram is a tall, intimidating man who possesses numerous tattoos and an incredibly broad muscular appearance. His overall appearance is that of a typical Muay Thai fighter, with bands wrapped over his arms and shins and sporting Muay Thai trunks. He also possesses traditional Muay Thai 'Pra Jiad' armbands on both arms. He has a Thai Garuda tattoo on his chest, along with a Lichtenberg Figure scar caused by a lightning strike. He has four raking claw marks on his face that he received in a showcase match against a tiger.^[5]

Personality[]

Fahkumram is a brutal Muay Thai fighter who is largely stoic and does not seem to enjoy talking much. In spite of his intimidating appearance, he appears to possess a humble demeanor, with one of his intros asking his opponent what they are fighting for. Fahkumram possesses a sense of honor and justice, initially refusing to engage in match-fixing. He is motivated to fight for his captors by the threat to his family's life, indicating his love for them and his willingness to do anything for them.

Outfits[]

Main article: Fahkumram/Outfits

Story[]

Tekken 7[]

Official Website Profile (English)
Struck by lightning at the age of 12, Fahkumram became a Muay Thai champion by the time he was 18.

Married and father of a daughter, his life took a dramatic turn for the worse.

Ambushed and kept prisoner by the military, his family was taken hostage, leaving no choice to Fahkumram but to comply with his captors' orders and fight in underground battle rings.

Unable to see a way out, the once proud champion gradually lost himself in more extreme acts of violence and rage.

He competes in the King of Iron Fist Tournament as his last hope to gain freedom for both him and his family.^[6]

Official Website Profile (Japanese)
Once lauded as his country’s greatest hero, Fahkumram was a legendary Muay Thai fighter, unparalleled in his field. Showing remarkable talent for the martial art from an early age, he was marked as a future champion until suffering the terrible misfortune of being struck by lightning at the tender age of 12. After spending days on the brink of death, he managed to make a miraculous recovery, eventually developing a mighty physique and growing to over two meters tall. Combining his tremendous physical strength and technical mastery with a clever tactical brain, he became Muay Thai champion by the time he was 18. Brushing aside all competition, he was feted as a national hero. On the personal front, he married at the height of his popularity, and was soon blessed with a daughter.

At the age of 24, however, his life was to take a dramatic turn for the worse. Approached by a group of unknown men and offered a massive sum to throw his next bout, he was subsequently threatened with physical harm if he failed to comply. With no intention of succumbing to such corruption, Fahkumram knocked out his opponent with a single blow shortly after the gong. Incensed, the match-fixing gang attacked Fahkumram and tried to murder him, but Fahkumram proved too strong, and managed to kill several of his would-be assassins.

Arrested on the spot once the police arrived, Fahkumram tried to assert self-defense, but as corrupt policemen and soldiers made up part of the group which had approached him, he was arrested and held by the military in a secure location. His wife and daughter were subsequently taken hostage, after which Fahkumram was given no choice but to act in accordance with the instructions of his captors, participating in secret underground martial arts competitions and show-fights against tigers and other wild animals. Unable to see a way out, Fahkumram became more and more desperate and disillusioned, and gradually lost himself in more extreme acts of violence and rage.

Four years later, with the world embroiled in the battle between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation, the military forces controlling Fahkumram determined that the Mishima Zaibatsu posed a threat to the nation, and dispatched Fahkumram on a new mission. His task was to represent his country at The King of Iron Fist Tournament and claim victory there. With the promise that depending on the results he achieved, his family may be even set free, Fahkumram entered the fray, determined to win liberty for him and his family once and for all.^[1]

Gameplay[]

Fahkumram is an offensive character that utilizes mix-ups to pressure opponents. He is particularly effective at pressuring opponents against a wall, as well as controlling the neutral game using his range.

Fakumram also bulks up his chest embedded in a red light from his chest scars resembling Jin Kazama's red lightning Hit Effect that amplifies all of his moves as well as utilizing his Rage Art.

Fighting Style[]

Fahkumram fights using Muay Thai, a combat sport renowned for its additional usage of knees and elbows for striking alongside punches and kicks. Unlike other styles, Muay Thai also holds an emphasis on clinching in order to control the fight and expose the opponent to knee or elbow strikes. It also, in regards to kicks, focuses almost solely on striking opponents using the shins and not the feet.

Unlike fellow practitioner Bruce Irvin, Fakhumram's style of Muay Thai is strictly traditional and more akin to the older Muay Boran which has several different forms and patterns compared to its modern counterpart. As such, his style of fighting could be classified as 'pure' Muay Thai, unlike Bruce's more Westernized version.

Moves[]

• Fahkumram/Tekken 7 Movelist

Quotes[]

Main article: Fahkumram/Quotes

Character Relationships[]

• Craig Marduk - Fahkumram fights him during his reveal trailer.

Gallery[]

Main article: Fahkumram/Gallery

Trivia[]

• Fahkumram (ฟ้าคำราม) in Thai means "Roaring Sky", another word for "Thunder", befitting his background as a survivor of a lightning strike.
  • This is not his real name^[7], as Muay Thai boxers usually use ring names.
• The veined scars that scatter throughout Fahkumram's body is an anomaly known as the "Lichtenberg Figure" which commonly affects victims of a lightning strike. It was mentioned in the developer diary that this was an intentional decision for his design in order to make him more imposing.^[5]
• Fahkumram is the tallest playable human character in the Tekken series.^[5]
• During his reveal trailer, Fahkumram was shorter than he later became was in-game. In the initial cutscene released in his trailer, Fahkumram dwarfs Marduk and towers over him. However, in the gameplay depicted in the trailer, he was the same height as Marduk. This was adjusted when Fahkumram was finally released for the game and he now stands as tall as Kuma.^[8]
  • A common theory was that the development team felt that his trailer appearance did not match up with in-game appearance and altered this. This, however, would have the unintended effect of hampering his hurtbox on release, and took several patches to fix throughout the later end of Season 3.
• Prior to his introduction, Katsuhiro Harada expressed interest in adding a character that officially used Muay Thai in an interview with IGN.^[9] He did not consider Bruce Irvin to be a Muay Thai practitioner, as the marketing team, at the time, noted that most Westerners weren't as familiar with Muay Thai, thus Bruce was simply left officially as "Kickboxing" instead.
• He is the first Thai Tekken character to appear in the series.
• His tattoo on his chest is based on the Garuda in Buddhism, and was stated to have been done to help emphasize his Thai heritage.^[5]
• During his original trailer at Bangkok, one of Fahkumram's Power Crushes was meant to be his Lashing Squall. When he was released, his only Power Crush was his Heel Strike.
• During one of his intros, the poses and gestures that Fahkumram performs is the Wai Khru Ram Muay, a traditional ritual of respect that is done before actual Muay Thai matches to show thanks to the fighter's teacher and family, and is usually accompanied with music to complement the fighter's movements.
  • This music can be heard in the opening part of the background music to Cave of Enlightenment, Fahkumram's home stage, meaning he performs the Wai Khru Ram Muay to its accompanying music when paired with this stage.
• Several of Fahkumram's attacks were motion captured from Muay Thai champions, Suakim PK Saenchai and Nadaka Yoshinari.^[5]
• According to the Tekken developers, their guiding principle when designing Fahkumram was "Make him so intimidating that one look makes you want to turn tail and run."
• Fahkumram's three scars on his face were received in an underground showacase match he was forced to participate in. He was slashed across the face by a tiger.^[5]

References[]

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