Tam Tam is a tall
warrior of the Mayan country, hailing from "Green Hell" in South America.
He receives divine powers through the holy mask he wears, which influences
his fighting style. His weird movements like a crab are because he is partly
possessed by the mask. When he takes his mask off, he is a kind and
gentle guy who likes to play with kids.
In the first Samurai Shodown, Tam Tam hears from the village elders
that their sacred artifact, the "Palenke Stone" is missing, he
travels to Japan to retrieve it. He succeeds and returns peace to his village.
He later protects the village from
Amakusa
(again), but fails to protect the village's other sacred artifact, the
"Tangiers Stone". As divine punishment, he is transformed into a
chimpanzee, Paku Paku. In this
form, he helps his younger sister
Cham Cham
recover both stones for his village.
According to the storyline, the Tam Tam in Samurai Shodown V is a different
character than the original Tam Tam, and the priest of his village. After the
original failed, the second Tam Tam sets out to save the original. In his
ending, the second Tam Tam places the magical mask on the deceased original
Tam Tam. Once
the mask is back on, the original Tam Tam comes back to life. In the later Samurai
Shodown: Warriors Rage timeline, he is mentioned as chief of his village.
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Updated: May 16th, 2021
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In the original Samurai
Shodown, Tam Tam was a distinguishable design from the rest of the
Japanese-inspired characters. To me (back in the early 90's), he seemed like
sort of a "filler" design in the first game, and was kinda lacking in
the personality department. However, I always found it interesting how he fights
while crouching (and still manages to be just as tall as most normal-sized
characters in the game). Then when he wins, he finally stands up straight to
show how freakishly tall he is! :o
Tam Tam's epic return in SS4 redefined him as a design. His completely
redone 2D sprite & animations are just over the top, and his new voice gave
him a lot more in-game charisma. His
hilarious taunts, special moves, and bizarre movements are the high point of his
design, and definitely "original" in nearly every way. His
Mayan-inspired outfit works for him, and his badass, oversized scimitar is quite
scary (especially in the hands of a skilled player)! Seriously, Tam Tam might
have the longest reach and most effective "pokes" out of any fighting
game character in existence... he can hit you from very far away, even without
the use of his crazy special moves. I love using him in SS4 and after.
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Fighting
Style / Moveset |
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Personality
/ Charisma |
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Outfit(s)
/ Appearance |
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Effectiveness
in series |
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Overall
Score |
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