I've decided to do what I thought could not be done. I'm going to create a list, counting down the greatest characters in the Street Fighter Franchise, and I'm not going to stop until I've gotten every single one of them (that's right, even the ones from EX)
Â
So here we go, mission start.
Alright, let's be honest here. Even though Street Fighter has had a huge range of characters, each with their own unique storyline, the story of Street Fighter has always and will always be Ryu's. Sure, he hasn't been the star of each of them, but he has helped carry the series throughout each game, he helped create the most iconic attack in gaming history, and his stoic sense of honor has helped to create an iconic gaming character type. Heck you can even see his influence on other fighting games outside of Street Fighter or even outside of Capcom, whenever you play a game and have to hit down to forward and attack, well then there's just a little bit of Ryu in that character. And for that, he takes home the number one spot.
Ryu pretty much had to be number one, but because of that it was so hard to have to move Ken down to number 2. He's Ken's eternal friendly rival, and because of this he serves as the perfect mirror to him. Similar fighting style but still different enough to be his own guy, shared parts of their history but still has his own story and supporting characters. Basically Ken is like the cool fun version of Ryu, the Ryu you'd want to have a beer with.
Hands down the leading lady of fighting games and the first crush for numerous video game nerds from my age range. She had a very unique fighting style in the first game that really showed off the range of fighters Street Fighter was capable of creating. Not to mention, the character herself showed that women in games can be strong and compete with any guy. Not to mention, who doesn't love that laugh of hers when she wins.
We in America often wonder how the rest of the world views us, and if this military flat topped stereotype is how they see us... then kick ass! Guile is a great combo of muscles and agility, which normally you only get one of in a fighting game character. He also is more connected to Bison in the first street fighter than either Ken or Ryu, almost making that game as much his storyline as theirs. And when you get right down to it, Guile is one of the strongest icons for justice and the law in any video game, making me proud to have him be our all American representative.
Chun-Li stole the hearts of many female fighter fans out there, until Cammy came along and they kicked her to the curb. Cammy not only has a great fighting style in the games, she's also got one of the best storylines. She's been a special agent, a brainwashed assassin, and now a hero in search of redemption. Her history has been closely tied to the villains and heroes of the series, making her worthy of a spot in the top 5.
Okay, enough of the heroes, time to bring on the bad guys. Bison is such an iconic villain in video game history, he's a dictator who has committed acts of terror across the globe, but he's not one of these pansy ass dictators who hides behind his subordinates. No, when you finally face him you know true horror when he crushes you, providing easily one of the greatest challenges for any kid at the arcade who just spent his week's allowance on quarters. It's common now for the final boss in a fighting game to be insanely powerful, but that all started with one massive spinning Psycho Crusher.
Sagat is the ultimate gaming half hero/half villain. He's been on both sides of the spectrum because he has had such a complicated storyline, making him one of the most three dimensional characters in fighting game history. He has served as a rival, mentor, and threat to Ryu throughout the games, and to this day when you see that gigantic bald headed eye patch wearing mountain of muscles bearing down on you, you can't help but worry that you're not making it to the next round alive.
Who doesn't love hearing "I am the Red Cyclone" being shouted out in that thick accent? Heck I'd say that Zangief has the second best accent in the game history (see further down below for number one). Zangief provides great gameplay in that he revolutionized the brawler character, creating a whole new fighting style for those who want to get up close and personal. Also he's served as an odd metaphor for the state of the world. In his first appearance the USSR had just collapsed and America was still nervous about the Soviet Union, making him a villain early on. But now that we're allies with Russia, he's become everyone's favorite big hearted Mohawk sporting wrestler.
Akuma is a demon, I don't mean literally (although that's up to debate) I mean when you fight him you might as well be fighting a demon. Akuma made one of the greatest entries into the Street Fighter world when you thought you were about to go head to head with Bison, then suddenly Akuma teleported in, the screen went black, and then you see Bison unconscious on the ground with Akuma standing over him ready to fight. For many young gamers that is a moment that will live in our memories forever. Also Akuma introduced the Dark Hado, which gives us more backstory on Ryu and really helped to make him a more three dimensional character.
Every game that comes out of Japan needs one sporty peppy girl in it, and Sakura is pretty much the poster girl for that. She's got lots of heart and lots of spunk, and we love spunk. She's a high school girl who wants to be a great fighter, so she travels after Ryu asking him to help train her. This provides some great character dynamics and relationships between them, but it also helps to show the softer side of Street Fighter's main hero. And as for her fighting style, its similar to Ryu and Ken, however each move has been altered to match her younger and more upbeat agility, creating a familiar yet unique gameplay experience.
I give Dhalsim a lot of credit for being the character that really helped define what to expect from Street Fighter. In the first game we had a lot of fighters who were semi real, semi super powered. But then in the second one we got Dhalsim, who let us know that we were in for a truly unique gameplay experience. A lot of people say that honor could go to Blanka, but every fighting game has some kind of monster man in it, how many of them have a skinny yoga master who looks human, yet can still stretch his arms all the way across the field. Dhalsim introduced gamers to the concept of trading in strength to gain an additional advantage, letting us know this game series would provide some thinking, not just button mashing.
In Super Street Fighter 4 whenever you defeat Dudley, about half the characters say the same thing, "You've taught me a lot about boxing." Those words could not be truer for Dudley. Before he showed up in SF3 all we knew about boxing in the SF series came from Balrog, the dirty cheating street level boxer. But Dudley showed us that boxing can be full of grace, elegance, and you can keep it classy. Dudley scores a high mark here because not only is he the perfect level of over the top in his design and personality (something all good Street Fighter Characters should be) but also his boxing style proved that just because one character already uses a fighting style, doesn't mean that there isn't a lot that can still be done with it.
Dan Hibiki gave us the joke character in video games. Sure there had been some before him, but he made joke characters cool in fighting games. What else can you say about a guy who in his first few games, would use up all of his super move gauge all so he can do one gigantic taunt? You can't deny that we all got a laugh out of that the first time we saw it, and for several times after that. So for reinventing the joke character and making them actually worth playing, we've got to give Dan some respect.
Much like Dhalsim, Blanka helped cement Street Fighter's place in gaming history thanks to his wild and crazy design as well as his unique gameplay. When you first picked up Blanka you really got the sense that you were letting your inner beast come out, everything from his crazy rolls to hulkish walk across the field to his apish grunts made Blanka stand out from anyone else in the game. And who can forget the first time they saw lighting shooting out of him just by tapping one button enough, basically rewarding those of us who didn't fight with strategy, but with pure beastly button mashing.
Ibuki is indeed on the scene. We've seen tons of ninjas in fighting games before, so many so that at this point its almost a requirement that all games come with one, but Ibuki was truly unique. She wasn't one of those mysterious shadowy assassin type ninjas, no, she was a high school girl who just wanted to hang out with friends, meet boys, and live a normal teenage life. Remember everyone, this was years before Naruto, so this was the first time we had ever seen a cute, bubbly, goofy ninja. So for proving that there are always new approaches to old character types, we have to give Ibuki the respect she deserves.
Alex was the first character in the games history that tried to take attention away from Ryu and Ken as the protagonist of the game. And while his success in that is up to debate, you can't deny he was flat out cool. Hailing from Brooklyn, Alex was the embodiment of that raised by the streets, bad boy attitude, and to this day he remains one of the only grapplers to be the protagonist of a fighting game. Normally grapplers are considered to be a niche character type, always forced into the back seat or supporting role while an evenly balanced close and far range attacker is in the spotlight. But Alex was a wrestler who liked to fight up close, which went to show all those people who spent years playing as Zangief that now was your time to shine.
I know it might sound odd, but when I was a kid even though I couldn't play as Vega at all and he always kicked the snot out of me, I was blown away by him. When I saw that his mask and claws flew off I was shocked, at the time that was so insanely advanced for a fighting game. But he's not on here just because of my fond childhood memories. No, Vega's elegant fighting style perfectly reflects his pompous attitude and his savage bloodlust that has helped to make him one of the cruelest villains in any video game. It takes a real nut job to be able to yodel and still come off frightening.
To me Charlie is the embodiment of what Street Fighter Alpha was all about. It was meant to show us what the SF world was like before SF2, and Charlie had been mentioned several times in reference to the past, but never seen. So when he finally popped up, and we found out that not only was he Guile's old friend, he also invented all of his moves, it really gave us a stronger sense of the world of SF. (Not to mention he wears glasses. Doesn't sound impressive to you? Then name three other video game fighters who wear them... go on... look around the site... I'll wait...)
Street Fighter has always tried to have a hand full of characters that were just the right amount of over the top. But then Hakan came around and blew all of them out of the water. "Over the Top" was a term made for Hakan, he owns that title. He's got the best accent of any character in the series and by comparison to him even Dan seems serious. A Turkish oil wrestler who covers his body in oil (which probably resulted in that insane sunburn) and slides all over the place, and literally turns his body into a slip n slide for his ultimate moves. And that's not even approaching his home life, involving his insanely hot wife and seven daughters who he loves because "they are so pretty." Just quoting the guy makes me laugh.
Juri is one of the newest Street Fighter characters but I have to give her a lot of credit and a pretty high ranking because not only does she have a great design (fun fact, she went through over 200 different designs), not only because she's the first Tai-Kwon-Do character in SF history, not only because she's the first Korean character in SF history, and not only because she has one of the coolest ultimate moves in gaming history, but because all those combined to make her have a huge impact the moment that she showed up in the previews for Super Street Fighter 4, she was more than enough to get fans excited for this game. Also as far as her character goes, she's one of the best supporting villains this game has had in a while, she's just as malevolent as Vega and has the crazy agility to back it up.
Balrog has a special place in our hearts as being the first boxer in the game's history (except for Mike, but... well... you'll see what I mean when you read Mike's description). But he also served as a great character in the game's early history simply for his motivation. Some of the characters fought for pride, some for honor, some to take over the world, some just because they loved it. But Balrog fought just because he wanted that fight money. And his greedy motives matched his rough street style fighting. He was the first character in SF to actually fight dirty, because as we all know headbutts are illegal in boxing, not that that would stop Balrog.
Cody is one of the few Street Fighter characters to have originated in another game franchise, which did something that most gaming companies never even think about, attempting to link their worlds together. But Cody makes it this high on the list not just for that, but because his appearance in the SF world let us see a whole new side to him. Who would have thought he would have ended up becoming a falsely accused convict and going on the run from the law? It was a major shock and for that we have to give him a spot here, for proving that even though a character might have appeared in another game beforehand, the moment they step into the SF world they can still be completely new again.
Elena is currently at the top of several people's "Want in" list for the next installment of Street Fighter 4 (you know there will be one) and for good reason. The animation on her in the original SF3 really helped her stand out because this wasn't just somebody standing there and bobbing up and down, she was actually showing off what they could do with their technology now. Not to mention, who doesn't love an upbeat perky six foot something African Princess who grew up in France and Japan. Seriously, Street Fighter is all about unique characters, and that's probably the most unique description of any character in any game ever.
Abel helped to add a lot of depth to Street Fighter 4 with his mysterious pass, that while it did harp back to several other game characters we've seen who have no past or amnesia, unlike those other characters he fit very well into the Street Fighter mythology by leaving us fanboys with tons of questions to answer. Is he Charlie? Is he Remy's dad? Is he just another Seth clone? Who knows, but it sure is a mystery that we Street Fighter fans love to unravel.
Every series needs a good firecracker character and how can you not nominate Makoto for the perfect spot in this. Her angry aggressive nature makes her lovable, until she starts wailing on you. You see, Makoto isn't like all those other spunky young game gals, no she actually has the fighting style to back it up. And unlike most of the other fighters in this series, she actually does real martial arts moves, she actually provides a sense of realistic battle to this franchise.
Rose gave Street Fighter a sense of mysticism, her powers come from training but not as in lifting weights but as in the mental arts. This added a new level of creativity to the SF world. Not to mention her backstory with Bison really gave his evil a new face. And in the end, with the story of Street Fighter, Rose has proven to be one of the strongest supporting characters in it, providing assistance that no other character could.
One of the earliest representations of Bruce Lee in video games, Fei Long help set a standard for fighting video games by letting the world know that this Hollywood Icon belonged not only on the silver screen but on the game console as well. However you can't get this high on the list just simply by being a bad ass representation of Bruce Lee (although that will get you some major points), Fei Long's fighting style which allowed you to basically slide across the screen on a series of punches to your opponent always felt like you were trapped in an inescapable combo when he started into them, and that's what you want in your fighter.
Many of the characters in Street Fighter 3 were made with fighting styles to sort of resemble previous characters as a way of making up for their absence, sort of a way of reintroducing these moves but in a new way. Necro's moves certainly brought back memories of Dhalsim, but he totally stood out as his own thing. Basically he was the fighter who made you think "What if Dhalsim was a bad-ass?" Not to mention he's one of the few characters with a storyline that not only stood out from the rest but still really played a major roll with the rest of the game, and the fact that he even had his own supporting characters gave him more than most characters get in these games.
Back in the 90s it was all about making young characters "cool" and "hip" and most of all "extreme," and Street Fighter could not escape this. However, what they could do is make these characters fun, and that's what they did with Yang and Yun. Two characters who fought with a skateboard and roller blades might have seemed a little goofy at first, but the fun designs and likable characters behind each of them made them in demand enough to even be brought back for the arcade version of Super Street Fighter 4. It was hard of me to choose who to put above the other here, but since Yang started off more as just the sidekick to Yun, but eventually moved into his own roll, I think that speaks more highly for how well the audiences took to him.
See above. (What? I'm not going to write all that out again.)
One of the first sumo wrestlers in a fighting game, E-Honda walked that thin line between traditional and real to wacky and over the top. He was one of the first characters to have an actual real world fighting style and to use attacks that actually resembled them, such as his hand thrust, not to mention he had one of the more realistic designs of any character back when he first made his way to the scene, yet E. Honda still showed all of us that you can still have moves that take that realism and blow them out of the water with how far you take them.
Before SF4 Remy would have been much further down this list, so how could a game that he wasn't even in cause him to be bumped up the list? Well in SF3 he was basically meant to be that game's version of Guile or Charlie, a character who used charge attacks and even launches spinning light attacks just like those two. So even though he was similar to those two, SF3 was trying to introduce new characters that resembled previous ones enough that players could adapt to them, so Remy certainly served a purpose in this game. But we learn that his father disappeared, and in SF4 we find a French fighter who Guile sees similarities to Charlie in, so a connection could be drawn between Remy and Abel. This new mystery of Remy possibly being Abel's son causes all the fanboys to erupt in conversations, and for that I have to give Abel a good size bump up the list.
Q only appeared in one Street Fighter game, and yet he has a massive fan following. This should tell you something about the appeal that he has. Earlier I mentioned how Abel gave us fanboys something to cheer for over the mystery behind him, but Q is a total mystery, and that's how we like it. This character is so different from every other character in the franchise we've seen, not only in design and personality, but really in everything, including his fighting style.
Guy get's a lot of respect for the same reasons as Cody, the fact that he originated in another game but easily made the switch over gives us Capcom fans plenty to geek out over, but Guy also provides a new type of ninja for a fighting game. He's the street level vigilante kind of ninja, a fun character that's easy to get behind, and while Ibuki may always be the number one ninja in the game's series Guy is able to provide a good balance to her.
As you have seen, so far I am giving props to characters who play into the lives and backstories of other characters and serve a roll in their lives because they help to expand the Street Fighter world. Gen serves this role greatly because he shows Chun-Li's past and what made her who she is, but not just that he also is one of the greatest villains that the series has created just for those creepy white eyes. And as far as gameplay goes he completely stands out as a character with two different fighting styles you can switch between.
I'll admit that C Viper took a while to grow on me, at first I thought her design didn't really pop to me enough and that her moves didn't really stick in my brain. However over time, and largely thanks to MVC3, I've started to see the appeal of her. The fact that she fights with weapons rather than with skills it helps her to stand out and serve as a foil to the rest of the cast of this series, and her backstory of having a daughter who she tries to be the good mom around really makes her a character I want to see more of. Here's hoping that in future games they take this and decide to run with it some more, showing us all the dimensions this character can have.
Rivals are fun, they just are, and when it comes to video games, spoiled rich girls are fun too (especially when they do that Noblewoman's laugh that is just the height of arrogance). So what could be more fun than a spoiled rich rival? Karin served as the great counter weight to the tomboy Sakura, but she also provided a unique character to the game's series. Who else would actually beat someone, then offer them sponsorship? And the fact that her family's empire was so great that Shadaloo was a threat to them actually made for a rational reason for Karin to enter the tournament, other than just wanting revenge on Sakura.
Incredibly... original... costume aside, Rainbow Mika still brings a lot to the table. Many characters throughout the series have had apprentices, either willingly or just groupies, however Zangeif was one of those characters who you never would have pegged to have someone running after him begging to be his pupil. Not to mention that said pupil is a bubbly upbeat blond wrestler, which makes her serves as a great foil to the giant Russian bear of a man. Also, how can you dislike someone who has a move named "Rainbow Sorbet"
Whoever knew that a totally white body with no facial features could make such a wild character? This guy has to get a lot of props simply for being the only root that actually talks like a robot in one of these games. Using binary was a great way of making this guy stand out and it still remains as such. And as far as the fighting goes, the only thing wilder than his look were his attacks.
T. Hawk was one of the first Native American characters to be used in a fighting game, helping to pave the way for many future ones. Capcom was able to use the struggle of the Native Americans in real life to help give T Hawk some backstory, originally introducing him as a character whose land was stolen by Shadaloo, and when he finally got it back it had been desolated and was now empty. Hawk has been portrayed as having a big heart and being very caring, going so far as to try and save Juli from M Bison's mind control and being haunted over it when he couldn't. This sense of honor helps put T Hawk high on this list.
I always liked Sean simply because he seemed to me like he could have been Ken's version of Sakura, the spunky young protege who wanted so badly to be trained but never quite got it right. I've given out lots of points on this countdown for potential that has yet to be realized and Sean probably gets the most for that. But that's not the only reason he's up here, it's also because he is notable for many people thinking that he was meant to be a joke character because of how bad his controls were, however it was then shown that he actually was probably the best character in the game, and that the designers didn't make his controls bad, they just made them incredibly hard on purpose to test who out there was really a die hard fighting game fan. Looks like the joke was on us.
Luchador wrestlers are known for being rather over the top, so El Fuerte being the first Luchador wrestler in Street Fighter history had a lot to live up to if he was to really capture the feel of the sport. However as soon as you hear him shout out "Super Dynamic Cooking Time" and you watch his high flying intro, you know he's nailed what they were going for. And the team behind his creation knew they had to give him more than just being a Luchador, his fighting style couldn't be all there was too him, so giving him this dream of becoming a great chef really gave him some depths and was the source of some good laughs. If they continue this story then he'd be a fun character to see again.
Dee Jay has many features to him worth noting, his overly upbeat attitude, his capoeira fighting style, and his easygoing attitude. However the most fascinating thing about him and one of the reasons I have to give him such a good spot on here, is because Dee Jay is the only character in the series history to be designed by Capcom USA. His appearance was based on at the time kickboxer and action star (and later creator of the Tae Bo workout routine) Billy Blanks, making him one of the early characters to be based on an actual person.
When we first saw Adon was going to be in SSF4, many people made the same joke. "Adon? Don't you mean Add-on." But the truth is that Adon isn't just some run of the mill character, his fighting style may resemble Sagat's but he has been made much faster and more agile to make up for his size, making him a specialty for players who might not be able to handle Sagat. And his maniacal laughter and mad quest for fame and reputation makes him a worthy addition to the storyline behind Sagat.
He's the master of Ken and Ryu, he's the brother of Akuma, how much more can you give to just one character? Gouken had always been mentioned and assumed dead but was never seen until Street Fighter 4 when it was revealed he was just in a deep sleep. So after all this lead up we got to finally see him and boy did he impress, he was basically Ken and Ryu on steroids. So why is he so far down on the list? Well because even though he was a cool character, did we really need him to come back to life? Was Gouken a character who worked better just as motivation for Ken and Ryu and as a reminder of what Akuma is? Was he greater in death than he could be in life is what I'm trying to say, and the verdict is still out for me.
Bison is not an easy act to follow when it comes to being the boss in a Street Fighter game, and while Gill doesn't live fully up to him, he still is rather memorable. As the leader of a cult with almost godly powers, Gill was the first boss in the SF series who actually took on sort of a "beyond human" figure and feel. Even Akuma, while fighting like a demon, was still a human who just had demonic levels of power, but thanks to his design and backstory Gill actually made it feel almost like you were fighting some ancient deity, something pretty new to the Street Fighter series.
I have to admit, the moment I saw Birdie's design I was pretty much sold on him when I was a kid and picked up the Alpha series for the first time. However, wild mustache and far out mohawk does not make a great character alone. Birdie gets this decent sized slot on the list for a few reasons, one being that he is notable for having gone through a larger design change within the series than any other character, having originally started off as a white character but then having his appearance changed and the creators saying he just had the flu during that first appearance But the main reason that Birdie gets so high on the list is his fighting style, sure there have been characters who fought dirty in SF before, but Birdie was the character who turned fighting dirty into an art form. We're not talking about one simple move that hit below the belt, Birdie used a wide variety of attacks that would get you kicked out of any fight.
Garuda is a character who deserves more respect than he got as a result of being introduced in the Street Fighter EX series. If you think Akuma is cool for being overcome by the Dark Hado, then you'd love Garuda, he's the living embodiment of all the souls corrupted by the Dark Hado. Also he's one of the most violent characters in SF history, in the Japanese version of the games he'd cause players to bleed profusely with his attacks. With this Garuda showed just how far this series could go.
One of the oddest of the oddballs from this series, Oro probably will go down in fighting history as one of the most bad ass old men in fighting game history. His backstory is something of legends. Being over 100 years old, moving to the Amazon in order to practice a fighting style so dangerous it almost killed him, now he's a hermit who waits to find a fighter worthy of learning his powerful technique. I won't even go into the fact that he fights with only one hand. But all this really makes Oro stand out, too bad though that they haven't done enough with him yet.
Sodom is one of the few "jokey" characters in any fighting game. All fighting games have a "Joke" character, such as Dan higher up on this list, but Sodom is a Jokey character, a character who is still pretty tough and bad ass but still has running gags to accompany him. Sodom was a white guy born in America but he was so in love with Japan that he coated himself in Japanese armor, carries little fans with him, and constantly getting the language wrong when trying to speak it. However, despite these jokes that keep us laughing, he's still a big bruiser who smacks characters around with ease and has a distinct fighting style. (Also his intro onto the scene in the Alpha movie was awesome)
A lot of the characters on this list are less remembered than they should be simply because they suffer from the cruel fate being in Street Fighter EX, a game that was pretty much forgotten by everyone. But none suffer more than Hokuto. A lot of people have said Sakura is the female Ryu because of her moves, but the truth is that honor belongs to Hokuto. She has the same sense of honor and stoic responsibility that he does, and she has her own storyline deeply rooted in Japan culture and even has her own version of the Dark Hado curse. She really could have become the new female face of SF if she had been in a better game.
I always sort of view Rolento as being the anti-Guile. A big time military fanatic except he decides to fight on the opposite side of the law and is trying to build up his own army. It's a good source for conflict in the game, but the main reason I put Rolento up here this high is because I was impressed by the fact that while he first appeared in another game, he was able to make the leap to Street Fighter pretty easily because they actually kept many of the same moves and fighting styles that he used in Final Fight.
It's Chuck Norris... Chuck Norris in Street Fighter. Seriously, I think that's all I have to say. Okay, I do need to say more I guess. Allen was Ken's rival for the best karate master in America (meaning that he should have been in 4 instead of Rufus, sorry Rufus fans) and he has trained hard to be able to compete against him with similar attacks. Recently Chuck Norris has gotten a boost of fandom his way (not sure why but who cares) and because of that Allen Snider would be a welcome addition to the next game (not to mention, who wouldn't want to see him go up against Fei Long. The Chuck Norris clone versus the Bruce Lee clone, it practically writes itself.)
As I've already said, several of the characters from SF EX deserved to come back simply because they had so much story in them left to tell. And Sharon is a great example of this. Why is she a great story to bring back? Well SPOILER ALERT.... She's Bison's daughter. I could go on about how she went on to run a double life as a super secret agent and a nun at a monastery taking care of orphans (essentially making her like an early version of C Viper) but who cares about that, she's Bison's daughter, how that doesn't get her in a sequel is beyond me.
You have to at least give it to Urien that while he may not rank high on here he sure is memorable, everyone remembers the guy from Street Fighter Third Strike who was dressed only in a speedo (whether you want to remember or not). But he also played a large roll in the game as he is the brother of Gill and hopes to overthrow him and take control of the Illuminati cult. Now they were able to represent his brotherhood to Gill very well by giving him similar moves, but making his attacks mostly charge ones rather than strait button hits in order to show the difference between the two, and rather than giving him control of fire and ice he had the powers of lightning and steel. This fighting style that tied him to his brother but still tweaked it to show how different they were is a clever bit of character design on Capcom's part.
Blair was a fun character because she combined the three B's, brains, beauty, and brawn. She was raised with a very elegant upbringing and education, however she didn't want a life of tea parties and dresses, so she traveled the world to grow stronger and become a great fighter. Now am I the only one who loves the idea of a dignified and studious body building tank? In the game she fought mostly with her feet, but I think they could really make her a popular character if they brought her back as a grappler, making her the female Zangief (R Mika tried for that title but with some work Blair could snatch it away).
Juli and Juni both helped to flesh out Bison and his Shadaloo forces, showing that Bison had his own team of twelve specially trained assassins, each brainwashed just like Cammy had been. Because of this Juli and Juni, when they were made playable characters, actually had movesets taken from Cammy in the VS series of games. The reason why Juli gets higher on this list than Juni is simply because unlike Juni she was given more of a story, making her a member of T Hawk's tribe who he had set out to rescue.
What I said for Juli above remains true for Juni, however I have to give her the spot below her simply because she wasn't given much character development, her story was pretty much nothing but her being sent to capture Ryu.
It's really hard for me to give any character who only uses moves from other characters a very high ranking, simply because to me they seem to lack any originality. However Seth did have a very intimidating look to him and the way he was able to merge all of these varied attacks together actually did take some work on the designer's part. Not to mention his connection to Able still raises questions the fans love to discuss, so for that he gets a good size bump up the list.
Cracker Jack's appearance was based on Daisuke Jigen from Lupin the 3rd and his outfit from his second appearance was taken from Michael Jackson, just think about the fact that this is the only time you'll ever hear those two people mentioned together. But beyond that Cracker Jack was one of the most brutal characters in the EX games with strong attacks, even bringing out a bat to smack the fighters around. And with a backstory of being a Vegas bouncer and having ties to Shadaloo, Cracker Jack was very much the Balrog of the EX games and could be a great character to bring back.
There are many first that Eagle is notable for. He was the first British character in the game and the first to use a weapon. He is similar to Dudley in that he sees great honor in his fighting style and he even goes out in search of a perfect combatant. However aside from some creativity with the fact that all his attacks are named after British Cities, there isn't a whole lot else to Eagle, although it is worth noting that he is the first and quite possibly only potentially gay character in the game's series, which does earn him respect for adding diversity to the game.
Maki barely made it onto this list because she's the only character on here who only appeared in portable versions of the Street Fighter series. She originally appeared in Final Fight 2 as a character looking for her kidnapped father ans sister, and served largely as the replacement ninja for Guy in the game. However after being added to Capcom VS SNK 2, her fighting game potential was finally shown off, leading her to be officially added to the Street Fighter world in the portable versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3, which helped to give her overall storyline from Final Fight more depth.
Skullomania wins the award for having the most surprising fanbase in the series, with many people requesting him as Super Street Fighter 4 DLC. And they're not wrong to request this, Skullomania has a crazy backstory even by Street Fighter terms. He was originally a Japanese businessman whose superiors were displeased with him, so he decided to dress up as a super hero for a carnival to make some extra cash, but then something inside him snapped and he decided to become a real super hero. Granted for America this backstory was changed to him being a freedom fighter in an unknown country, but come on, we know which backstory is the real one. Skullomania not only serves as a representation of how stressful the business world is in Japan, but at the same time will go down in history as one of the wackiest characters in this series. The only reason he isn't higher on the list is because even though we all like his backstory, at no point does it explain how the heck he's a good fighter or how he's able to compete with the rest of these characters, so I have to take some points off.
Rufus has been voted by many to be their least favorite of the new characters from Street Fighter 4, but he still has his fans, and for a reason. Rufus is in many ways what Street Fighter has been leading to for many years. The games have always tried to feature people using fighting and skills that seem like actual martial arts but don't really exist because they simply couldn't. Rufus was the character who finally just said "You know what, let's just have someone make up their own fighting style that is just pure insanity, all those things that some fan boy would do if he just thought of fighting attacks." And low and behold it turned out to make a fun character in the end.
Pullum meets many tropes that the series has used before and she hits them with some reasonable success. She's a princess of a wealthy family who seeks revenge on Shadaloo for causing her grandfather to fall into a hypnotic state, which leaves a lot of room for future storyline development if she was to ever be brought back. And her design was so liked that it was partly the inspiration for Rouge in Power Stone.
Vulcano Rosso's power over lava and eruptions made him a pretty cool character in the SF EX series, but I've got to give him props for just being so over the top in personality and style. Now he might not be that requested of fans to come back for future games, but you can't deny with that crazy sense of style and insane powers, he would look pretty good with next gen graphics.
Several of the characters in this series have been based on actual people, and Hugo is a great example. He was based on Andre the Giant and his fighting style and massive stature really help remind us (or teach those of us who weren't around back then) just how impressive the persona of this pro-wrestler was (that and watching the Princess Bride). Throw in the baditude of his sidekick Poison and you've certainly got a great team for this list.
Retsu is another one of those characters from Street Fighter one who made that one appearance and then was given no backstory and was never seen again. So it's hard for me to give him really any props, except for the fact that in the comics (which I'm counting as partial continuity) he is actually seen as being a friend of Gouken, Ken and Ryu's teacher. So for that I have to give him some points for playing a roll in the backstory of the series, even if he himself has none.
Another great grappler and wrestler in the game series, Darun was inspired by the Great Gama, a classic wrestler from the early Twentieth century. His rivalry with Zangeif helped to provide him with some dimensions, but he never really had much fleshed out beyond that. However it is clear that his design helped to inspire the future fighter Hakan, so he gets a few points for that.
Characters who have amnesia are so "been there done that," however Kairi in the Street Fighter games takes that and makes it interesting again. Having only the need to get stronger and believing this will bring his memories back, Kairi followed the path of the demon and because of it we got to watch Kairi's fall into madness, even his hair turning white, eyes changing color, and body being covered in scars as the games went on. It's rare in the Street Fighter games to see a character change this much in both appearance and story, so for that I have to give Kairi props.
Whoever came up with the roster for Street Fighter EX must have had a major super hero thing going on, which isn't necessarily bad but it made some characters seem out of place. Shadowgeist for example has a fun design to him, but it's odd even for Street Fighter standards. However, his backstory of wanting to rise up against the oppressive government that killed his wife and child could easily be twisted to tie him into the other dictators of fame in this series, so even though he's rather low on the list now, Shadowgeist, if done right, could rise up this list pretty quick.
Mike was an interesting character because he's the first Street Fighter Character based on a real person. There's been a few since then but he was based on Mike Tyson, and was a boxer kicked out of the professional boxing world for killing someone in a fight. Also, I have to point out that he was the inspiration for Balrog, who in Japan is known as M. Bison, or Mike Bison (Mike Tyson, get it...) So for being an early prototype for a steady character, we salute you (also you fought him in front of Mt. Rushmore, you gotta give him some props for that).
Ace is fairly unique, because unlike other characters that came with preset moves, you could complete challenges in the edit mode of SF EX3 to unlock moves for him from other characters. Because of this Ace was far more customizable than any other fighter in the game's history, but he was basically just a glorified Cycloid (which makes sense because in the game he was just the final version of the Cycloids).
Street Fighter EX and all its sequels suffered a lot from having characters that were fairly basic and just didn't have enough done with them. Nanase sadly is one of these characters. She comes from a family that has trained in a special fighting style for many a years, but her sister passes the next title of Seiden down to her, so now she goes out in search of her sister and long lost brother. Honestly this isn't really anything new to this storyline, and the only thing that makes her stand out is that she doesn't like training so she sneaks out whenever she can, but we've already seen that with Ibuki in this game series. But still, she does have a well done design and there's nothing preventing her from coming back in future games with more details.
Dark is a tad odd, it feels just plain uncomfortable to be playing as a character who's suffering from psychological damage from seeing too much violence in war. However, you can't deny that it is cool to see a character who ties in greatly to so many other SF characters, seeing as how he was a member of Guile's reconnaissance team and suffered this psyche damage at the hands of Rolento's crew.
Sadly there isn't that much of originality to Hayate. He's a swordsman whose father sealed a demon away and now he must go and seal him away as well. We've seen it before in action games, but it's a little odd to throw a character like that into a Street Fighter game, or any fighting game for that matter. However, that sense of honor to him and also the originality as far as other Street Fighter characters go does keep him from hitting the bottom of this list.
Joe is one of the most generic fighters in the Street Fighter games, seeing as how he has no real history or background to him. However, he does get some props for making a guest appearance in the Final Fight series as the character "Ghost" and also he was originally supposed to be the escaped prisoner in Alpha that Cody later became. And may have speculated that Joe is the blond man at the start of Street Fighter 2 who punches the other fighter in the opening credits, which gives me enough reasons to keep him off the bottom.
Honestly there's nothing much to Geki other than a semi cool stage in the first Street Fighter and being the first official ninja in the game's franchise. However, there are rumors that he trained Vega (since he said he went to japan to train and they have similar claw attacks) and others believe him to be Ibuki's father. So these rumors alone raise some interest in this character and could make him a valuable addition to a future game.
I won't lie, if you're this far down on the list I can't say too many nice things for you, however it isn't all bad for Area. Yes many people have called her one of the most annoying characters in the game's history, but a nerd girl with mechanical fighting enhancements who thinks all the other fighters are robots could actually make for a fun character. If this character came back and was well handled then hey, I could easily see her jumping up the list.
Lee is another character from the first Street Fighter who really is of little interest on his own, but he does have strong ties to other characters. For example, he is good friends with Gen, and his nephews are Yun and Yang, which means that even if this character will never be seen again, he will still hold important ties to future installments.
The Cycloids were robots that borrowed attacks from other characters throughout the street fighter series, so I have to give them props for providing good sparring partners in the Super Street Fighter EX games, but other than that not much is known about them, making it hard to give them too much credit.
2 Comments