The Hadouken (波動拳, "Surge Fist") is a special attack that originated in the classic Capcom fighting video game series Street Fighter. The practitioner thrusts his or her palms forward, sending a surge of spirit energy (or ki) flying towards the opponent. It is referred to colloquially as the "Fireball", even though most versions of the Hadouken do not involve the use of fire.
Not to be confused with the Kamehameha. The Hadouken is a ball rather than a beam, though the Shinkuu Hadouken in the VS. series of fighting games is a beam possibly as an homage and that Ryu probably wouldn't be able to keep up with the other fighters if it wasn't a beam.
The "Hadouken" was inspired by the Wave Motion Gun ("Hadou hou") from the legendary Uchuu Senkan Yamato science fiction series from the 70s.
