A Writer Who Happens to Like Street Fighter · @matbookworm2
8th Nov 2022 from TwitLonger
The Clone Wars, Street Fighter Style: The Hidden Role of Urien and Decapre
Before I begin, I'd like to draw your attention towards a Steven Mane Street Fighter lore article (https://manestreetblog.com/2021/05/21/street-fighters-group-project/) that is relevant to this piece. In fact, it's what's in this article that has kept me thinking about this from time to time for months. While I did provide some input, the article itself is all Steven's and he had most of the information even before I helped out. But we both felt like there was even more to article's subject; information that remained elusive. So, about a year later, I've taken what Steven started and worked this theory out further and I'm pretty sure that the events below are correct. I'd like to thank Steven for writing the article above and being so persistent about Street Fighter being deeper than it appears. There's definitely a lot more going on than Capcom is letting out.
As I continue to write my Street Fighter: Sidekick story, I've often come across interesting tidbits of information as I research characters for story arcs.
One such example led, in my opinion, to unearthing clues about why Urien and Decapre play more important parts than would first appear in Street Fighter V's (SFV) story, A Shadow Falls (ASF). In addition to these two characters, there are three others who play supporting roles in this theory: Kolin, Juri and Cammy.
I'll start with Decapre, who was a member of Bison's elite bodyguard, the Shadaloo Dolls. We know very little about her origins, other than that she was born in Russia. It's even unclear whether she's an original person or a clone, and Capcom (perhaps deliberately) has kept this subject very murky indeed. In Decapre's SF Wiki, she is called 'an imperfect product of the Shadaloo cloning experiments that created Cammy.'
This viewpoint is reinforced in Capcom's How to Make Capcom Fighting Characters: Street Fighter Character Design. On page 015, a side note states that 'Decapre is a clone of Cammy and a member of M. Bison's elite guard unit. Unable to fully turn to the dark side, she is left mentally unstable, all the while holding a deep contempt for her "original," Cammy, and an obsession with carrying out Cammy's annihilation.'
However, in other character wikis, it's stated that the Dolls were 'brainwashed female assassins.' Decapre's SF wiki does specify that she's a clone and not just brainwashed. But in Juni's wiki (she's another one of Bison's Dolls), it's stated that 'all of the Dolls were teenage girls who were kidnapped by Shadaloo and brainwashed to be M. Bison's assassins and bodyguards.' Since Decapre is a Doll, this conflicts with the idea that she's a clone of Cammy. Furthermore, while Cammy is British by her association with one of that country's elite military units, Delta Red, Decapre does have a country of origin, Russia. The same Capcom book noted above also states on page 015, that 'Decapre is of Russian nationality....'
The problem is that either Decapre is a clone or she isn't. The definition of a clone is 'The copy or imitation of something already existing, especially when designed to simulate it.' (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clone (I'm using this website as an example, but the same definition is also seen elsewhere). The evidence does tend to slightly skew to her being a clone however, but it begs a very problematic question. If Decapre is a clone, then what happened to the original person (who was very likely from Russia)? Do we even want to know the answer to that question? Perhaps it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.
The first we see of Decapre in the SF games was a sprite in that appears at the end (right end side) of the Dolls for the Street Fighter Alpha (SFA) games. They all leapt in and then back up and out of sight, leaving only two, Juli and Juni, as a sort of semi-boss fight before engaging Bison (for most characters, but not all). Since Cammy was already a character in that game, it means that both her and Decapre had been in Shadaloo for some time.
Decapre's mask in the SFA games, covered her entire face, and this is also true when a brief glimpse of her is shown in some sort of stasis pod on an S.I.N. transport plane in the animation, Juri OVA.
In Ultra Street Fighter IV (USFIV), her mask covered only the upper portion of her face, above the nose. Given that Juri OVA happened just before SFIV, it's entirely possible that the mask was S.I.N in origin, since she was captured by that organization. Her final mask in ASF covered more of her face, leaving only the tip of her nose, mouth and chin visible.
It was in USFIV, that we finally see Decapre as a playable character with her own back story. She broke free from S.I.N. control and spent the game trying to find Seth and Cammy, aiming to kill them both. While Decapre's ending had her standing over a defeated Seth clone, it was her association with Cammy (who showed up afterward) which provided the link between both of these women.
Decapre went berserk when she saw Cammy and tried to kill her. However, as Cammy fended off Decapre's attacks, something happened to the latter (It's not exactly clear what happened, but Cammy did not cause it). She fell to the ground, screaming to Cammy that she hated her and hated her face. Decapre then removed her mask to reveal a facially scarred mirror image to a shocked Cammy. Bison teleported in just at that moment, telling Cammy that 'this was never coincidence.' Since Decapre was on the verge of death, Cammy reluctantly made a deal with Bison: she returned Decapre back to him since he could keep her alive.
In USFIV, Decapre displayed a wooden personality, often speaking like a robot as she fought and defeated various characters. The mask was mistakenly assumed in several sources to be something that covered up her scarring. However, it's clear that the mask helped keep Decapre under control above the regular brainwashing done to the other Dolls. It regulated her mood and prevented her mental instability from coming to the surface. In USFIV, the only time Decapre did not act like a robot was in her ending when she saw Cammy. Aside from the brief berserker attack, Decapre made an emotional 180 degree turn, displaying a bit more affection and understanding of Cammy, and going so far as to call the latter, her 'big sister.'
I don't want to reveal too much more about Decapre at this point, so I'm now going to switch gears and focus on Urien.
Urien was initially Vice President of a mysterious organization known as the Secret Society or the Illuminati. The institution had been around for centuries, with selected people taking up leadership positions as others became too old to continue. Urien was at odds with the Secret Society's current leader and president, Gill.
We first saw Urien in Street Fighter III (SFIII), where he was plotting to take over the Illuminati as president. While he was successful in defeating Gill (who allowed him to win), it was revealed at the end that the latter had already been promoted to Emperor. Urien became the 'president' only to find that, like his previous title, it was meaningless and he had no real power.
In ASF (which occured before SFIII), Urien was seen only a couple of times throughout, with the assumption that he was the one leading the Illuminati portion of the anti-Shadaloo faction (the other being led by Karin Kanzuki). His appearances were brief and geared more towards keeping abreast of the situation while Kolin, Gill's assistant and the more public Secret Society representative, handled the details. However, that's not the entire story. In fact, it's barely scratching the surface.
Urien was, by nature, very antagonistic and arrogant. He was only interested in himself and would do anything to achieve his ambitions, which often included undermining the Secret Society. In fact, his two appearances in ASF are little more than belittling sessions with Kolin where he mocked her and made sure she understood her place in the Society. Hardly the person to lead an important operation like defeating Shadaloo.
In fact, Urien was so antagonistic with Gill most of the time that it seems hard to fathom why he would go along with the Secret Society's operation. Kolin's battle with Shadaloo in ASF had to with an ancient Illuminati prophecy that, if successful, would catapult her boss, Gill, into the position of a world leader. The prophecy called for Charlie Nash to be the one to defeat Bison and end Shadaloo's terror reign. Such an outcome would increase Gill's power and leave Urien in his shadow forever with no chance to become the Secret Society leader. So, what exactly was Urien's motivation for helping Kolin (and by that extension, Gill) if it harmed his chances for power in the long term?
Urien's actions were easily one of the most mystifying in ASF and make no sense whatsoever on the surface...but it's actually one of the best kept secrets of ASF in my opinion. Urien was helping Kolin because it was in his own interest to do so. In order to understand why this was the case, we have to look at Urien's SFV prologue story, where there is quite a bit of information on the matter.
Before I continue, I would add that there were a number of things in ASF that didn't make much sense and it's not because Capcom didn't know how to tell a story (although ASF was their first attempt at putting a standalone SF story together in a game). Much of the issues in ASF have, in my opinion, more to do with the use of Unreal Engine 4. There did seem to be a bit of a struggle trying to tie that game engine with the story line and it (again, in my opinion) limited certain parts of the storytelling.
In contrast, Capcom used an MT Framework for SFIV. However, they never attempted to create a standalone story for that game. They opted for anime to convey the numerous character prologue stories and endings and it worked out pretty well for the most part. There were also two anime prequel movies in The Ties That Bind and Juri: OVA that did provide further context going into SFIV. However, it would have been impossible to combine both anime scenes and the MT Framework for a complete standalone story.
Therefore, when Capcom rolled out SFV, there were parts of ASF that looked awkward at first glance, but I really don't believe that it was as bad as some claim, despite there being several major holes in the story. Capcom did alleviate this mostly by giving out additional details in artwork styled prologue stories with dialogue by the character voice actors and actresses.
It wasn't until Urien's prologue story (which was separate from ASF) that one begins to understand his motivations during the Black Moons Crisis (the conflict in ASF).
The beginning of Urien's prologue story started with him studying Eleven, the current model of Illuminati biological super soldier that had been created. Urien was in charge of this project overall, with one scientist, Dr. Woo, featuring in very largely as well. Urien was obsessed with creating an army that would be loyal to no one but himself and he figured that this was a 'Plan B' if he could not defeat Gill directly.
Dr. Woo had high hopes for the current model, which looked very powerful at first glance. It was heavily muscled, had an intimidating Hammerhead Shark looking top to its head and could copy any character (Dr. Woo called it a 'duplication ability'). Urien was more skeptical and wanted to fight Eleven to test its abilities. In the subsequent contest, Urien defeated Eleven easily. Afterwards, he was utterly contemptuous of Eleven, calling it a 'repugnant failure' who 'might as well be a walking mirror.' At this point, he told Dr. Woo to 'accelerate the program and improve its potential.'
At this point, the reader gained access to Urien's thoughts; 'There is some time before we proceed with my plan. Hmmm. It'll be a good idea to ready a puppet bent only to my will.' We'll go back to these thoughts a little further down since they'll make more sense later.
Urien next traveled to New Zealand to meet with Kolin, Gill's personal assistant who was preparing for the upcoming showdown with Shadaloo. She had a problem, though. In order to fulfill the prophecy regarding Gill, she needed Charlie Nash to defeat Bison. Unfortunately for Kolin, Nash was long since dead, having been killed by Bison years before.
However, the Secret Society had apparently found a way to resurrect people from the dead, even if it was for a short time. That was fine with Kolin, who only wanted Nash around long enough to defeat Bison. But she didn't have enough 'material' to create Nash, so she was forced to go to Urien in order to obtain a replacement body, Eleven.
She told Urien that Shadaloo was ready to launch their Operation CHAINS (the use of Black Moon satellites fueled by Psycho Power on a number of major cities). Urien didn't really seem to care much for Kolin's problems, but admitted that 'it (Kolin's request) helps that the Council pushed for this', meaning her project. It's apparent that Urien considered the Council largely irrelevant (referring to them as 'old crocks') because her next comment to Urien stated that 'it seems like the "research" being conducted by you is going well beyond what was agreed upon.'
Urien responded with contempt, uttering the following reply. 'Hah! You shouldn't veil your concerns behind the words of the Council."
From these statements, we can infer that Urien was not exactly following the Illuminati Council's instructions regarding the super soldier project. Kolin didn't seem to care about what the Council thought either since she was merely using their position to cover her own concerns. The Council might have made proclamations, but Gill and Urien (to a lesser extent) held the real power in the Secret Society. It's clear that Kolin didn't trust or respect Urien at all, but given her subordinate status, she couldn't call him out directly.
For the time being, Kolin had her hands full trying to stop Shadaloo and couldn't do anything about Urien. In addition, she desperately needed Eleven to create Nash (who was the key), otherwise the prophecy would be stillborn. Urien accepted her request and made arrangements to hand over Eleven. The looming question was why would he do such a thing.
Urien and Kolin both needed something. Kolin's requirement was obvious: the body of Eleven so she could resurrect Nash. Urien's was not as straightforward, but the hints were in his thoughts at the beginning of his prologue. Urien was planning something and it seemed like there was some time to spare before it came to fruition. He wasn't talking about the events of ASF, which was coming up quickly as Kolin stated. It was something else. He also talked about gaining a 'puppet bent only to (his) will.' Whatever he was insinuating, it had nothing to do with what Shadaloo was planning.
Kolin also provided a hint when she said that Urien's research was going way past the original Illuminati intentions, meaning that she wasn't referring to the Eleven model, but to something else. Even so, she was still probably unsure about Urien's ultimate intentions.
The clues continued in the next portion of Urien's story, where he was doing an information search in an abandoned S.I.N. facility in China. The first scene had a picture of Ed on the screen, while Urien muttered "Another of his vessels, as I thought."
At that point, Crimson Viper made an appearance and hinted of internal turmoil going on in the Secret Society due to several deaths of important people. That's likely what she's referring to, though I suspect that her intervention was being used by the developers to keep the reader from looking too closely at what Urien said about Ed.
He remained in China while arranging a deal with one of Shadaloo's leaders, Balrog, who was accompanied by Ed. Oddly enough, Urien wanted more data on Shadaloo's upcoming Operation CHAINS in exchange for a large payment of money.
The question is, why did Urien feel the need to hire Balrog for data about a project that Kolin already told him about in New Zealand? There were two possibilities. The first was that while Kolin did know that Shadaloo was planning something and that it was called CHAINS, she didn't know all of the details. That seems pretty incredible considering the intelligence network that the Secret Society likely had.
For example, in Juri's SFV prologue story, Kolin asked her (almost as if it was an awkward attempt at small talk) if she got a replacement eye from the abandoned S.I.N. laboratory. Obviously, Kolin had been keeping tabs on Juri since the latter lost her Feng Shui engine eye to Bison, and that was not likely public knowledge. Furthermore, if she didn't know exactly what CHAINS entailed, then how would she have known to get Nash ready to fulfill the prophecy?
The other possibility was that Urien didn't know about CHAINS and/or didn't really care. This was much more likely given that at the beginning of his story he was busy with his research into the biological super soldier project. Kolin would have been much more invested in knowing what Shadaloo was doing, given her connections with Gill and the prophecy.
Be that as it may, Urien ultimately did decide to find out more about CHAINS through Balrog. The Shadaloo boxer, however, wanted more money for the deal, which pissed Urien off. Not due to the money, but because Balrog had the temerity to change the agreement. Urien was having none of that because Balrog wasn't worth altering the deal for.
The two had a brief tussle, with Urien coming out as the winner. The fight itself had no real importance, other than Ed making a late attack to cover for Balrog. Ed shot a bolt of Psycho Power at Urien, who dissipated it easily. His only remark regarding this was pretty dismissive: 'Hmm so you've inherited some of Bison's power, interesting.' The statement shocked Ed, who couldn't figure out why Urien knew this information about him.
Urien did nothing else with the two, instead sending them on their way while making the following statement: 'And I, will enjoy watching this farce through to its end.'
The information in this transaction was more important than one realizes. For one thing, Urien was calling the coming events a 'farce,' which proved that he didn't really care about what Shadaloo was doing, though he still wanted to prepare for every angle anyway. His research project into super soldiers was still more important than the upcoming conflict.
But there was something else. In the S.I.N. facility, Urien was looking at a picture of Ed, calling him a 'another of his vessels.' Kolin used the same term in New Zealand when she was referring to Eleven ('For us to restore Nash's body in time, I need you to provide me with the empty vessel, Eleven, from your laboratory.').
The key word, however, was not 'vessel', but 'another'. At the time Crimson Viper interrupted Urien in the S.I.N. facility, he had been scrolling through a number of items, of which Ed was merely the latest on whatever list Urien was viewing. What he considered a 'vessel' were the subjects involved in Shadaloo's own super soldier project. Urien was hunting for information on Shadaloo's project to see if he could find a shortcut for his own research.
Moreover, when he mentioned 'another', he was looking for a specific individual. Bear in mind that there were a number of different models that Shadaloo had experimented on for potential super soldiers over the years (as well as doubling as bodies for Bison's spirit should it become necessary). There were a bewildering array of models for Urien to choose from. From the original Dolls (kidnapped girls who were physically enhanced, brainwashed and infused with Psycho Power), to the synthetic models of Seth/Abel, as well as the improved Doll Unit Zero (Seth II) and the Falke/Ed versions.
None of these models really suited Urien's needs, though. He seemed largely disinterested in Ed when they met during the transaction with Balrog. If Ed was a potential target for Urien, the latter most likely would have taken the former right then and there. However, Urien had nothing more than a passing comment for Ed, and besides, the former wasn't looking to add Psycho Power to whatever new model he envisioned. His SFV win quote to Ed, proved that he didn't think much of Ed at all ("Insolent pest! You have no business even being in my presence!"). The same went for the synthetic models of Seth/Abel/Doll Unit Zero (SFV win quote to Seth was, "Out of my sight, defect! I won't waste any more time with you!"). Besides, the Seth models were long since destroyed (not to mention synthetic and Urien was leaning organic) and Abel, while looking human, was still an artificial construct (and at the time had infiltrated Shadaloo to spy on them so he was 'off the grid' so to speak). The Dolls were essentially human women who were physically enhanced, but Urien probably considered them outmoded as far as his research interest was concerned.
However, there was one model that Urien almost certainly had a use for and he found the information in that S.I.N facility: the Cammy/Decapre series, or more specifically, Decapre. It's unlikely that Urien even considered Cammy for a couple of reasons. Cammy broke free of her conditioning and as Urien noted earlier in his story, he needed a 'puppet' that would 'bend to his will.' Cammy, in his opinion, was damaged goods. His arcade win quote to Cammy in SFV stated as much: "The weak protecting the weak...Your arrogance is astonishing!" No, Urien didn't think much of Cammy at all.
The idea of Urien's interest in Decapre was not as silly as it sounded. Once again, on page 015 of the Capcom book noted above, there was an eye-opening passage of several paragraphs under the header, Tales from Behind the Scenes: The Birth of Two Brits. It's worth restating that passage in its entirety.
"SFV features two characters hailing from England: Cammy and Birdie. There's an interesting story to this.
Surprisingly, Cammy's inclusion was not actually in the plans in the early stages of SFV's roster selection. Instead, the plan was to use Decapre, who had appeared in the final iteration of Street Fighter IV, Ultra Street Fighter IV. But after careful deliberation, the team decided to limit Decapre to a supporting role in Story Mode and go with Cammy instead.
Decapre is of Russian nationality, and since she was originally the one who was supposed to be a player character, the England slot was first given to Birdie. But Cammy's promotion to playable character as mentioned above left the roster with both her and Birdie representing England. Who knows? Perhaps the team's decision on this matter has even further deepened Decapre's contempt for Cammy, haha."
Decapre was going to be a playable character before Cammy, of all people. That clearly signified that Capcom had a much larger role for her than what wound up occurring, and she still had a considerable supporting role in ASF. Apart from the obvious fallout that would have occurred regarding fan reaction with Cammy not showing up initially, it's likely that the developers didn't want to give out too much information since it might have impacted future projects. However, that's just a hunch. Regardless, the fact remained that Decapre was deemed important enough to be made a playable character.
Decapre, if she truly was a clone, was created, not born. But despite that, she was still very much human. She was also likely more enhanced than the other Dolls, but the trait that Urien probably keyed in on more than anything was the fact that, while she was loyal to Bison, she had also displayed initiative.
Urien needed a super soldier that could not only be mass-manufactured/grown, but one that could think for itself in addition to being utterly loyal. This was the main reason why Urien had dismissed the Eleven model with contempt. While it could follow orders easily enough, it had no true will of its own ('might as well be a walking mirror', Urien had spat after defeating Eleven). It was nothing more than a biological robot, which would have been an issue if someone wasn't nearby to issue orders. It couldn't react to situations if they changed on a dime. Eleven was made of plant material, but the next model needed something more, animal material, preferably human.
Remember, Decapre was the only Doll who had showed initiative after S.I.N. captured them by breaking free in order to hunt down Seth and Cammy. Decapre didn't have a superior nearby to issue orders; she knew what had to be done. That trait alone told Urien that Decapre was the 'vessel' who would suit his purposes.
But that still doesn't explain why Urien wanted information on Operation CHAINS. If the whole conflict that Shadaloo and Kolin were getting involved with was a 'farce', then why bother obtaining data? The answer could be found in Cammy's SFV prologue story in her dialogue with FANG. Before driving Cammy away from the Shadaloo base, FANG told her that '(t)he Dolls (were) to serve an integral part of Operation CHAINS!'
Urien's deal with Balrog, therefore, could have had two objectives in mind. The first was regarding Doll deployments. If he could figure out where Decapre was going, it would be easy enough (supposedly) to scoop her up. The second was that CHAINS provided the perfect cover for his own research project, and knowing Shadaloo's plans would help keep him a step ahead so that there were no unwanted surprises.
Which brings us back to Kolin and Urien. As stated before, Kolin needed Eleven for Nash. Urien needed Decapre for his own plans. Although it's not stated directly, Urien's price was for Kolin to find a way to capture Decapre and there is evidence that something like this conversation took place off game at some point.
Enter Juri. It's worthwhile to take a look at Kolin's interactions with Juri before ASF and they're centered on Juri's SFV prologue story. When Kolin caught up with Juri in China, her side of the conversation comprised of three lines. I mentioned one of those above, but the other two pertain to Juri's coming role in ASF.
"Good evening, you didn't reply to my invitation, so I've come to pick you up."
"About the offer I proposed...have you considered it? I think it would be a good fit for you."
Juri had blown her off the first time and Kolin went to China to make the offer to Juri again (and possibly to keep an eye on Urien, who was also using the S.I.N. facility). The fact that Kolin had asked Juri twice about joining the Illuminati cause seems to indicate a bit of desperation, and it's reinforced by the fact Kolin was simply ready to 'pick (Juri) up,' regardless of what Juri wanted (at that point, Juri had no intention of joining). Kolin was clearly not taking no for an answer. In fact, Kolin would probably had been even more persistent if Balrog hadn't then shown up to investigate Juri's activities. At the end of Juri's story, she became interested enough to make a call to a relieved Kolin. The ex-S.I.N. assassin was on board.
The second comment sounds like Juri had a specific role to play ('a good fit'). The question is, what role would that have been? The conversation didn't clarify, though it became more apparent in ASF. Juri's addition wasn't just a good fit, it was the perfect fit and Kolin knew it.
As of ASF, Kolin had put together a three-person team (she had no direct role, remaining a planner and coordinator) in Juri, Rashid and the resurrected Nash. Kolin's main plan was to send Nash into the Shadaloo HQ, face Bison and defeat him. Rashid went along as support as well to find his missing friend who had sent him information regarding Shadaloo's plans (not to mention that he was the best chance for stopping the Black Moons).
One would think that Juri going along on that mission would have been totally logical and it's hard to imagine Juri willing to pass up a chance to face off against Bison and get some measure of revenge. However, she instead departed on a seemingly random joyride to chase after Cammy in Brazil. This idea was reinforced in Cammy's prologue story when it showed Juri at the end watching Cammy from a distance with the comment, "Ahah! Looks like things are getting interesting." It was Capcom's attempt at telling its audience, 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.'
However, the reality was much different. Not only was Juri not going off on an illogical tangent, but was, in fact, following Kolin's orders explicitly. How? It's because Juri wasn't tracking Cammy. She was following Decapre. In fact, the proof was in what Juri said to Cammy after she 'rescued' her from Brazilian law enforcement: "Get on board. You can pay me for this with that." She emphasized it by kicking Decapre's mask off to reveal the latter's face.
Of the team that Kolin had put together, Juri was the most qualified to go after Decapre since she had dealt with the Dolls before. That's why Kolin thought Juri would be a good fit for the Illuminati group. Besides, the prophecy stated that it was Nash who would defeat Bison, not a combination of Nash and Juri. A lucky strike by Juri (who loves chaos) to take Bison out would have been a major moment of elation for her (not to mention likely finding it extremely entertaining to screw up Kolin's plans), but it would have wrecked the prophecy. Although Juri almost certainly would have tagged along with Nash and Rashid if given the opportunity, there was no way that Kolin was going to risk a potential problem with Juri and Bison.
Instead, Kolin sent Juri off to find Decapre and bring her back. Urien demanded that particular Doll and Kolin was determined to keep him happy enough by sending an operative that was fully capable of performing that task.
The only thing that remained for Juri was to find an opportunity to nab Decapre. The problem initially was that Decapre was with a number of Shadaloo soldiers and FANG. It was compounded when Ken, Chun Li and Cammy showed up to get the chess piece that was a trigger for the Black Moon satellites (it's also possible that Juri was to grab that chess piece, but Decapre was clearly her main priority).
Fortunately for Juri, Cammy made the process of scooping up Decapre remarkably easy. After FANG was defeated (that and he fled the scene when he had heard that the Shadaloo HQ was under attack by Karin's recon mission), Laura showed up dragging a couple of unconscious Shadaloo soldiers, implying that the only one left was Decapre. However, it still meant that Juri would have to contend with Laura, Chun Li, Cammy and Ken in order to get to Decapre...still long odds. Then Sean, Laura's brother, showed up with several Brazilian cops to take Decapre away.
Cammy, not wanting to leave Decapre in jail, then resisted the cops, subduing several and placed her friends in an awkward position: Should the three street fighters help Cammy or watch her get arrested? Or worse? Bear in mind that the last cop had drawn his gun and was ready to shoot Cammy.
The situation suddenly presented a golden opportunity for Juri to get involved and she took full advantage of it. She knocked the remaining cop aside with her trike and landed between Cammy/Decapre and the other three street fighters. All she needed to do was persuade Cammy to go with her. The issue was never in doubt. Ken, Chun Li and Laura were still too stunned by the turn of events to react. Cammy, of course had no real options, so she chose to go with Juri with Decapre in tow.
The only other roadblock that remained for the fugitives was Vega, who had actually been the one following Cammy, although from a distance (it's doubtful that Juri even knew that Vega was around). The fight between Juri/Cammy and Vega was largely unimportant, although he made a very prophetic comment that was probably added in by the developers as a hint: "She may be an ugly doll...but she must surely have a role to play." Vega was more right than he probably realized.
With Decapre finally in Illuminati hands, Juri and Cammy were next seen hanging around at the Secret Society staging area in Russia. However, Decapre was nowhere to be seen. So where did she go?
The answer is that she was hustled away by Urien's flunkies. Perhaps it was Dr. Woo himself. Ultimately it doesn't really matter who took Decapre away. Cammy looked despondent in that scene as she leaned against a wooden pillar. She was clearly worried about Decapre, although I'm sure the Illuminati powers that be promised her that the Shadaloo Doll would be ok and that they needed to take care of her. Again, Cammy didn't really have much choice in the matter since she very well couldn't help Decapre herself. She pinned her hopes on the Secret Society.
Since Decapre showed up later on at the Shadaloo HQ to assist Cammy in fending off Vega and several Dolls still under Bison's control, she obviously survived whatever the Illuminati did to her. They likely ran a few tests, collected some samples and revived her. Whatever the Illuminati did, it looks like they also broke the Psycho Power control over her.
They probably didn't need to do more than take some samples, given their levels of technology. After all, this was the same group that was able to temporarily revive people from the dead. Besides, a dead Decapre would have raised too many questions, particularly by Cammy and Urien definitely wanted to keep his project a secret. Decapre, of course, was almost certainly unaware of what the Illuminati did to her.
So, after all of that, what was Decapre's DNA used for? The answer was in SFIII.
Remember how Urien thought at the beginning of his SFV story that he had some time before he would proceed with his plan. The operation involved the events of SFIII and the puppet that he could bend to his will was none other than the newest Illuminati biological super soldier model, Twelve.
SFIII actually showcased two different Secret Society experimental super soldiers, Twelve and Necro. By the time SFIII occurred, the latter had broken away from Illuminati control and was slated for extermination by none other than Gill himself.
However, Necro was actually just a regular human named Illia (who ironically, like Decapre, originally hails from Russia) who was kidnapped by the Secret Society. They undertook a number of experiments on him, which included 'softening' his body so that it was more elastic. He could stretch far more than an average human. He could also produce electricity in his body and had a cybernetic computer implanted into his brain so that he had enhanced fighting skills. In SFIII, Second Impact, it was implied that other animal materials, such as octopi, were used to give Necro those abilities. However, SFIV arrived about 10 years after SFIII and the developers likely modified this background, since SFIII came out at a time when Decapre was still just a sprite in the Alpha games.
The main problem with Necro, however, was that he was too independent, much like Cammy was for Shadaloo. He didn't want to be a super soldier. Obviously, that didn't fit well with the Illuminati's plans, hence their incentive to kill him at all costs. That and they needed to recover whatever abilities he possessed. To the Illuminati, Necro's model was a dead end as well as a potential threat should he get out into the public. The secrets he carried was far too valuable for someone else to get their hands on that information.
But Twelve wasn't and Urien clearly had high hopes for this model. It could not only mimic other people like Eleven could, but also had the ability to change into different shapes as well as turning his limbs into a variety of weapons. It was Twelve who was tasked with hunting down Necro. Most importantly, though, unlike Eleven, it had a will of its own, although not to the point of becoming completely independent (just like Decapre). Or did it?
It's very likely that SFIII happened about a year or so after SFV, hence Urien feeling that he had some time prior to ASF. For example, Li Fen, a supporting character in ASF who became Chun Li's adopted daughter, also made an appearance in Chun Li's SFIII story. She looked almost exactly the same in both games. Contrast that with how she looked in the SF6 trailers and it's obvious that the time between SFIII and V was much shorter than SFIII and 6.
Decapre's genetic sample was one of the breakthroughs that Dr. Woo and Urien needed to create Twelve. There were actually some striking similarities between Decapre and Twelve within the game. Both speak in robotic tones and there were some physical similarities that become apparent when viewing pictures of them side by side.
Here are a pair of Twelve's images:
https://streetfighter.fandom.com/wiki/Twelve/Gallery?file=Twelve.jpg
https://streetfighter.fandom.com/wiki/Twelve?file=SFVTwelve.jpg#Gallery
Now, a pair of Decapre's images:
https://streetfighter.fandom.com/wiki/Decapre/Gallery?file=DecapreSFV.jpg#V_
https://streetfighter.fandom.com/wiki/Decapre/Gallery?file=Decapre.png#V_
Twelve's images show him wielding a pair of blades for weapons, much like what Decapre had in her forearm gauntlets. However, one of the images had a certain stance which looks familiar with the first Decapre picture; that of an upraised arm sporting a blade. The second Decapre picture was added because I wanted to show the similarities in head design between the two characters. Twelve looked like the top part of his head is of a similar shape to Decapre's SFV mask. Could Decapre's stance and the shape of her mask (as well as the twin arm blades) in the first picture had been a move by the developers to show that Twelve had some residual memories of her within it? I'd say it's a pretty good bet.
Although Twelve used axes more often than the blades in his SFIII moveset, the fact that official art shows him (and Decapre) with these dagger-like hands means that it was quite capable of morphing into them. And there were several moves in Twelve's SFIII moveset that showed it using something like knives for weapons.
Twelve was literally a living weapon that could show independent initiative without being insubordinate, which is what made it so dangerous. Ultimately, that was Decapre's real strength. She could think on her feet and make deadly decisions when the other Dolls could not. In SFV, an interesting observation that I made was that every time the Dolls were shown in ASF, they were always in pairs, save once. That exception was Decapre while she was in Brazil.
One final question remains. Was there is some hint of Decapre in Twelve's SFIII moveset? Before I answer, bear in mind that Twelve was not Decapre in a literal sense, since she was still very much a human. Twelve was humanoid and could change shapes and stretch in ways that Decapre simply could not. That said, if this theory is true, then there should be some residue of Decapre's genetic memory within Twelve. Interestingly enough, there is.
The first real example of true similarities (neutral and crouch attacks were pretty basic) was in the jump attack. Both had roughly similar stances and leaps. The heavy punch was the first indicator of Decapre's influence. Both used their weapons in that attack and Twelve's selection was roughly similar to the dagger that Decapre wielded.
Both Decapre's Focus and Red Focus attacks were also very similar to Twelve's J.S.P. Overhead attack (both were unique attacks). They use a leap up and a diagonal weapon thrust (Twelve's hand momentarily turned into a long dagger as it thrusted).
Decapre's Rapid Dagger and Twelve's N.D.L (special moves) both used a rapid and unrelenting series of weapon strikes to attack their targets.
The Break move that had Decapre gliding through the air was somewhat similar to Twelve's Air Dash, where he sprouted a parachute-like membrane to glide around.
However, the biggest and most obvious clue was in Decapre's USFIV and Twelve's SFIII ultimate attacks (SFIV used the term Ultra Combo, while SFIII used Super Art, but they were effectively the same, the 'big guns' regarding moves). Decapre's DCM, and Twelve's XFLAT both had, although sequentially different, the exact same attack pattern.
Here are the movelist videos for each character (Hat tip to DrewTony'Z, who made the original Youtube videos):
Decapre (go to 7:48 for the move): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buhDhyRmJGs
Twelve (go to 2:50 for the move): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVIE8n7PjJw
I even checked Cammy's Ultra Combo, since if anyone could have had similar attack (which she does in other moves), it would be her. She didn't; it wasn't even close. This was likely due to Decapre's reliance on her dagger weapons while Cammy did not use any weapons in general game-wise. Same clones, but different techniques.
But the fact that the developers made a move to copy Decapre's attack pattern in her most damaging move after Twelve's (which was years before Decapre showed up on the scene) couldn't really be coincidence, could it?
At the end of Twelve's story in SFIII, Dr. Woo could be seen talking to it as it sat dormant inside of a stasis chamber. He mused that "...the 'never dying warrior' has been born. All of the pain and pleasure will be gone. You will be born once again...In your deep slumber, what kind of dream are you dreaming? No, he does not possess such an ability. Because his memory is in a constant state of activity, he cannot dream..."
However, after Dr. Woo leaves, the final frame showed Twelve's red eyes ominously opening up behind the black eye veils. While Decapre could never truly escape Shadaloo without help, Cammy, her 'little sister' so to speak, did so and went on to be one of Shadaloo's most implacable opponents. Could Cammy's true independent streak, also encoded within Decapre, have carried over to Twelve?
If this was the case, then Twelve could wind up being just as much of a headache for the Illuminati as Cammy and (later) Decapre were for Shadaloo.
Before I finish this, I would like to point out one more thing that I considered by accident. It may be something, it may be nothing, but here it goes...
Twelve was, as of SFIII, the final version of the Illuminati biological super soldier project. While that was hardly the case for Decapre with regards to Shadaloo, she was nevertheless a Doll. All of the Dolls were named after months of the year, and Decapre was no exception to that.
Decapre, in Russian, means December...which is the 12th month of the year. Twelve and twelve. The question is whether that is just coincidence or a deliberate, yet subtle clue provided by Capcom. Perhaps SF6 will provide an answer to this at some point.