The Monk clan
"Shaolin-style kung fu monks with a bo staff." The Monks are the clan whose biggest moments are its quietest: one of the hardest-hitting finishers in the game starts with a palm that barely touches.
Robe, beads and a bo staff
A Monk wears an orange robe over grey trousers, with a diagonal sash, a string of twelve prayer beads and a bo staff, the long wooden staff of Chinese martial arts, held in hand. The Shaolin Temple in China is famous for its kung fu, and the staff is one of the weapons most associated with it. On the minimap the side is orange.
The names are calm words and nature images: Zen, Tao, Lotus, Koan, Bodhi, Sage, Ember, Stillwater, Pebble, Juniper, Sable and Echo. When a Monk wins a fight it either bows or sits down cross-legged in meditation on its square, a fittingly unbothered way to celebrate.
Still palm and the silence
Still palm is the move to show someone who thinks the fights are all noise. The Monk settles into a meditative stance and pushes a palm forward in slow motion until it barely touches the defender. Then nothing happens for about two thirds of a second. When the blast arrives it comes all at once: a shockwave, an impact frame, a sixth of a second of frozen time and a heavy shake, with HAAH! across the screen. The narration describes it well: "Zen barely touches Chonk. The blast arrives a moment later."
Staff whirlwind is the opposite: the Monk spins three full turns in slow motion with the staff out, a whoosh and an arc of motion every turn, and the defender is swept away (WHUMP!).
Pole vault kick
Pole vault kick is a flying dropkick. The Monk crouches low, then launches into a high, slow-motion dropkick with afterimages trailing behind and drives into the defender (THWACK!). Of the three Monk finishers it is the one that covers distance through the air rather than standing its ground.
Mandala Palm
For the ultimate the master rises off the ground and hovers in meditation while a golden mandala forms at the chest for most of a second. Then a palm strike sends three shockwaves rolling toward the defender (HAAH!!). Mandala Palm ties with the Karatekas' Heaven Splitter for the furthest knockback in the game.
Monks have their own knockout too. A Monk that loses folds into a paper airplane, FOLD! appears, and the plane glides away off the board, wobbling as it goes.
Badminton: everything comes to the Monk
Most of the Monk's badminton kit pulls the shuttle toward the Monk instead of chasing it. Staff Whirlwind (3 uses) spins up a 2.5 second whirlwind that pulls incoming shots toward you, which turns a hopeless chase into a reachable one. Still Palm (2 uses) loads a shot that stops dead in the air over their court and then blasts to the open corner, the badminton version of the delayed palm.
The badminton Mandala Palm fires as soon as you call it and draws golden rings on the floor around the Monk. Its tell is "For 7s every shot is drawn to the monk." For that stretch almost everything comes to you, so it is best called when the opponent is on the attack.
A computer-played Monk smashes less than any other clan, makes few errors and likes to hit deep and a little wide. It wins by not losing points rather than by winning them.
Picking the Monks
Pick the Monks for the pace of their fights: long pauses, then one big release. If you set Finisher choice to Ask me, the Still palm is worth choosing at least once for the silence alone.