[1] F.A.N.G is first unveiled in a gameplay trailer as a "tall and spindly member" of M. Bison's villainous organization Shadaloo who uses a "tricky and deceptive fighting style" and speaks with a high-pitched voice.

[3] As part of his Critical Art, special attacks introduced in Street Fighter V which are similar in usage and requirements to a Super Combo, F.A.N.G leaps into the air, flaps his arms like wings, and drops poison bombs on the arena floor while exclaiming "I'll turn into a bird!".

F.A.N.G also appears in the Street Fighter comic book series published by UDON, where he fixes Seth's Tanden Engine for Shadaloo in an effort to reprogram him.

Due to his fundamental design concept as well as subsequent patches released by Capcom which further reduces the character's offensive capabilities, F.A.N.G is noted for his steep learning curve.

[3] The character fights using poison, a mechanic which involves a slow whittling of the opponent's health bar introduced into the Street Fighter series via its fifth mainline installment.

F.A.N.G also has access to an array of confusing moves to mixup the opponent which benefits a skilled player; any time he manages to get a knockdown, his foe will rise from it only to contend with more unfamiliar setups.

[10] In a review for Street Fighter V shortly after its 2016 launch for Kotaku, Evan Narcisse's initial observations of F.A.N.G assessed him as "the kind of character who seems tailor-made for players concerned with developing upper-tier skills".

[14] Within the professional esports tournament scene, F.A.N.G was associated with prominent Street Fighter player Xian, known for his execution and optimization of "unusual, unlikeable, and oft-misunderstood characters".

[18][19] Commenting on the incident, Ian Walker from Kotaku explained that the character's "wacky moveset" does not always translate to wins in serious competition and that the tournament organizers, like some quarters in the fighting game community, appeared to have an issue with respecting playstyles or matchups which are not considered to be legitimate or exciting.

[18] Walker noted that this mentality often manifests whenever a zoning character "who relies on heavy fireball usage and hit-and-run tactics" sets the tone of a match, because it often means spectators may expect "a slow fight with little engagement".