I love the Street Fighter games. I may not be in the serious tournament play scene, and the only arcade stick I have is a promo one that came with Tekken 6,but I’ve been a lifelong fan of the series, and it’ll take a serious effort on Capcom’s part to turn me off to the series in general. Although lately, they seem to be giving such a sentiment the old college try. With the upcoming release of Ultra Street Fighter IV, Capcom, in their infinite wisdom, decided to hype one of their five “new” challengers as someone who wasn’t playable in a SF game before.

And it’s…a Cammy clone.

Well, they were right about the whole never-been-in-a-Street-Fighter-game-before description, but it comes off as a massive cop out by Capcom. Here’s the abridged version of her story: Decapre is one of Bison’s twelve “Dolls”—a squad of bodyguards/assassins comprised of young, teenage girls from all over the world, kidnapped and brainwashed into serving Bison, and all named after a month of the year in their native tongues. They all have the same dress and fighting style as Cammy, a clone that at one point was supposed to be a new body for Bison. Two other Dolls have already appeared in Street Fighter Alpha 3, Juli and Juni, and Thunder Hawk is supposed to be searching for Juli (it was supposed to be Noembelu, a Native Mexican from Hawk’s tribe, but Capcom got lazy and retconned a relationship for the three of them after the fact).

All it boils down to is this: apparently shotoclones were passe, so they decided to go with Cammy clones. Decapre brings almost nothing to the table, and is gonna be remembered as “Cammy with charge moves” just like the rest of the dolls. That and they had to do something with the four other character models (Elena, Poison, Hugo, and Rolento) and stages from Street Fighter X Tekken, seeing how well that game turned out.

So I got to thinking…if they were that eager to release a new iteration of IV, were four rehashed models and a revamped current model the best they could do (especially since PC mods of the SFIV games give Cammy reskins of every other one of Bison’s Dolls)? The answer, obviously, is you’re goddamn right they could’ve. And with the vast collection of characters from Capcom’s various other game franchises, it was impossible to throw a stone and not hit someone deserving of being in USFIV. So I’ve come up with ten of such characters (click on the names int he article to learneven more about them), as well as possible storyline scenarios and rivals for them…

Honorable Mentions
I’m not the only one who had this thought, but I will say this, for clarification purposes. The EX games were developed with the aide of Arika, (makers of Tetris: the Grand Master games, among others), and they wound up maintaining the rights to the original characters they made for those games. So as much as I’d like to see Garuda, Pullum, Cracker Jack, and Skullomania in a legit Street Fighter game, it’s not going to happen. Oh well. A man can dream, can’t he?

#10 – Q
Q is…well, storyline wise, we don’t know much of anything about Q. He appears in exactly one Street Fighter game (3rd Strike), and you only get to fight against if you have a certain amount of perfects, clean matches, and super combo finishes. Q doesn’t even get his own home stage; he’ll just drop in after you’ve beaten the last opponent to satisfy the conditions to fight him. Hell, it’s not even fully certain if he’s even human. Also: his ending suggest that he may be a serial killer.

How he would fit in:

He’s a blank slate story-wise, essentially, so there’s plenty of potential for what he can do. But what was poignant for me was how Chun-Li retired after the events of II’—this was before IV was a thing, remember—only to be (shoehorned) back in(to) 3rd Strike. So I was thinking this: what if a very nasty run-in with Q was the reason Chun-Li stepped away? What if, even after taking down Shadaloo, having her career defining moment in Interpol, she runs afoul Q? Sure, Bison may have once been—and looked—human, but the savagery with which this man, this…thing…just beats the bajesus out of Chun-Li without any other motivation than “she’s directly in front of him” is something she is not prepared to comprehend. Even if she didn’t beat M. Bison all the time, at least Bison has an agenda; his objective is made quite clear over the course of the Street Fighter story. What if being on the receiving end of this beatdown is what helps push along her decision to retire and train orphaned children in the interim between IV and III?

Yeah, it’s farfetched, but it’s more than what Capcom is doing with Q.

#9 – SODOM

Sodom (or Katana if you got to play most home ports of Final Fight) was the second boss of the original Final Fight game. He was disproportionately difficult, swinging two swords and sporting an invincible charge. He then reemerged in the Alpha series, whereupon his swords were replaced with jittes, and he was cast as a massive Japanophile who butchers the Japanese language. Since Capcom is set on integrating the Final Fight and Street Fighter storylines together as closely as possible, and since they’ve brought over plenty of pro- and antagonists already, so what’s keeping Capcom? He’s more memorable than most other bosses in the series—and Hugo and Poison don’t count, as they were mooks.

How he would fit in:
It’s obvious he wouldn’t have too much concern for what Shadaloo and S.I.N. are up to. At first. At one point, Sodom tried to start up his own version of the Mad Gear gang. It crashed and burned. He hasn’t given up on the notion of being an influential gang leader, but he’s still missing the “gang” part of that statement. He also hasn’t given up on hoping his old buddy Rolento would work with him again, which would have them come to blows, just like in Alpha 3. And hey, if he manages to take down Seth and S.I.N., he might end up with the rest of the Seths at his disposal. So he ends up getting the gang he wanted after all. Alternately, he could be an alternate rival battle for E. Honda, as Sodom would want to test his strength against the sumotori again, just like in Alpha 3.

#8 – EAGLE

Eagle was a barely remembered opponent from the original Street Fighter game, and aside from a surprise appearance in Capcom Vs. SNK 2, he hasn’t been heard from since (the ports of Alpha 3to handhelds don’t really count). Supplemental material tells us that he was a bouncer for very high class bars and such, before being hired by a noble family to be a bodyguard. And…that’s about it. I won’t lie; he was underappreciated in Capcom Vs. SNK 2, and they could’ve taken some time to develop him more. An Englishman using escrima? And classy as fuck? What’s not to love?

How he would fit in:

Okay, sure, having some bodyguard/bouncer get tied up in the aggravation that S.I.N. has instigated throughout the IV series might be a little farfetched. But that’s not to say he could put the tournament on his resume. Being champion of the World Warrior tournament would allow him to virtually name his price, and have his choice of the finest nobles and bluebloods the world has to offer. Dudley might see him as a worthy employee. Just imagine a rival battle between these two, with the level of power and class the two of them have.

#7 – REMY

Remy is the fourth new character debuting in 3rd Strike, whose combat system is mostly similar to Guile’s. He’s also a nihilistic prick who is French. There probably isn’t any correlation between those two descriptors. Aside from his blue hair and looking like he ways about 50kg soaking wet, Remy’s defining trait is that he has a massive rage-boner when it comes to Street Fighters (but whether that means participants in the World Warrior tournament or people who fight like that regardless isn’t completely clear). Attitude problems aside, Remy is pretty fun to fight with. He’s got a lot of expression in his movements and attacks, and even his idle animation is well detailed…though most people don’t see it, since by the time it cycles through the whole animation, you’ve left yourself open for a wide variety of hurt from your opponent.

How he would fit in:

In 3rd Strike, he exposited his hatred of Street Fighters and their ilk in his rival battle against Alex. Alex, on the other hand, thought he was a sniveling little asshole. He wasn’t entirely wrong. But for USFIV, Alex wouldn’t be that which grinds Remy’s gears, but he’d still have his hatred of Street Fighters. And yes; he it is very ironic that he seeks to beat down Street Fighters by entering World Warrior tournaments. Regardless, he’d want to show that he means business by taking down one of the premier fighters in the World Warrior circuit—someone everyone recognizes and respects, and who has a list of martial arts tournament accolades to his credit. To that end, it’d make sense for him to go after someone like Ken. Striking Ken down with his lack of fighting prowess and a physique like a stale baguette, and explaining to him how all he’s done accounts for nothing, that would do serious damage to the man’s ego.

#6 – URIEN

Urien is one of the villains from the III series; specifically, he’s Gill’s younger brother. He’s in-story weaker than Gill, having only control of one element as opposed to two, and can’t resurrect himself in battle. The organization they both belong to, which is trying to take over the world, appointed Urien as its president after 2nd Impact, which pleased him…until Gill was named its emperor. Ouch. Now he seeks to take over the world on his own terms, and usurp Gill’s leadership and title in the process. I say “in-universe” because the shit that can be done with his Aegis Reflector super combo is positively sick.

How he would fit in:

Like anyone else brought up from III, they’d play up references to his backstory in the former. His motivation could be to show his power, abilities, and lack of mercy to his and his brother’s organization—while boasting that he’s the ideal choice to be in charge—by taking out others with designs on world domination. You’d think M. Bison would be a prime rival candidate, but that’s not where the canon IV story is going; plus, Urien alludes that Chun-Li took down Shadaloo in her rival battle against him in III. But destroying S.I.N. is still very much an option. Before taking down Seth, he’d take out Juri on his way, which just might even force Seth’s hand given what he does to her (makes for a good segue from rival battle to final boss, too).

#5 – RAINBOW MIKA

“Rainbow Mika” Nanakawa is another one-shot character that is loved despite only appearing in one game. Her story was one of the more entertaining ones, too, as her first concern was becoming a well-renowned professional wrestler. In a game genre where females tended to hit weakly but rapidly, she was a wrestler who brought all sorts of pain. While she didn’t see more than one game, she was featured rather prominently in the UDON comics, which only made fans ask why she was only in the one game. Go figure.

How she would fit in:

In Alpha 3, she had a huge idol worshiping complex in regards to Zangeif. And as it would turn out later (read: in the comics) that she would get to wrestle him. And she gains his respect, even though she lost. The comics also revealed that she’s now on the receiving end of it, with El Fuerte idolizing her to an extreme degree. A rival battle like that practically writes itself…especially if El Fuerte gets the rub in the same way that Mika did during the comics.

#4 – KARIN

Karin Kanzuki is similar to Mika, in that she only appeared in Alpha 3, ended up being a crowd favorite after the fact, and got a lot of development later on in the UDON comics. She has a strong competitive streak, and found a huge rival in Sakura. What made their rivalry special is that while it does kind of have allusions to Ryu’s rivalry with Ken, Karin fights with her own style, and not a knockoff of anyone else’s. And even though there wasn’t a rubber match between them (Karin lost to Sakura before the events of Alpha 3, and she evens the score in her rival battle against her), Karin still admitted that Sakura was the stronger fighter of the two. Other than that, all we have are the comics series where Karin continuously tries to one-up Sakura.

How she would fit in:

Well, she started sponsoring Mika’s rise to puroresu stardom, so the possibility would exist of her being an alternate rival battle for Mika; theoretically, if Karin puts Mika down with no trouble, she’d see it as a waste of her money and time. But for Karin herself, you can’t go wrong with an aforementioned rubber match between her and Sakura. Plus, her justification in fighting Seth and contributing to the destruction of S.I.N. can come from choosing to follow Sakura after their battle. That, and S.I.N. can pose some kind of unspecified threat to her family’s multi-billion dollar company. Worked for Lili in Tekken.

#3 – KYOSUKE

Kyosuke Kagami is one of the main protagonists of the Rival Schools games, a fighting game series where the fighters are all related to high schools in some way (students, teachers, etc.). He’s the friend of the main protagonist, Batsu, but Batsu has gotten more exposure than the rest of his friends—including a surprise appearance in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Project X Zone. Sure, Kyosuke himself was a surprise addition to Capcom Vs. SNK 2, but he was a solid fighter and, for many, was the first exposure anyone had to his series. It’d be nice to see him with an on-par 3D model—and interacting—with the rest of the cast, even if Capcom is a little schizophrenic when it comes to whether or not Rival Schools is set in the overarching Street Fighter storyline (the comics seem to act that way…but then again, they don’t even have a straight answer for what gender Poison really is, so this is the least of their problems).

How he would fit in:

For this to work, Kyosuke’s rival battle would be against Sakura. Since USFIV takes place well after Project: Justice, Kyosuke would’ve long since absolved his issues with his brother Hyo, and gotten back to what was normal (that is, the rivalries between the five high schools in the RS) games. Unfortunately, other students get stomped on by outsiders—goons working for S.I.N., it’ll turn out; hell, even Batsu gets hospitalized after trying to bite off more than he can chew. But they keep showing up around Sakura…who they can’t seem to get the better of. Not knowing Sakura all that well, he decides to tail her for a while, culminating in their rival battle that ends with Sakura telling all that she knows about Shadaloo, S.I.N., and why her idol Ryu is being targeted.

#2 – HAGGAR

Mayor Mike Haggar is the professional wrestler turned mayor of Metro City, the third and final selectable character from the first Final Fight game. I don’t know why Capcom insists on leaving him behind (Marvel vs. Capcom 3 notwithstanding), because growing up, I don’t know a single player who didn’t try to pick Haggar before the other player could…and get disgusted when having to stick with Guy or Cody. Nothing said “crowd control” (or “catharsis”) like grabbing a mook, jumping into the air, aligning said mook into pile driver position, and landing in a crowd of other mooks, flooring them all. Of course, swinging a pipe at the same speed as Cody swinging a knife didn’t hurt, either. He’s the most pro-active elected official in gaming (aside from Michael Wilson, 47th President of the United States from Metal Wolf Chaos, obviously), and if you can honestly say that you wouldn’t vote for him, then you’re a goddamn liar.

How he would fit in:

He’d be one with the chance at two rivals—Zangief and Cody. We know from supplemental material that Zangief and Haggar are friends and rivals with one another, and have influenced one another’s styles; Zangief does wonders with Haggar’s Spinning Clothesline, while Haggar took some advanced pile driver notes. So an intense friendly rivalry battle between the two would be something to really look forward to (like Ryu’s alternate rival battle against Ken). On the other hand—and speaking of which—he’d have Cody as an alternate rival. Cody would look forward to the opportunity to fight Haggar, as he never really got to test his strength himself. It may even knock him out the doldrums he seems to be permanently stuck in. Haggar, on the other hand, would finally admit he’s tired of Cody’s shit—he would constantly help bail him out when his fighting got him arrested, just because he was dating Jessica—and would be itching to put him in his place…though he’d be disappointed, too, as he rather liked how Cody made Jessica happy. Ah, what could have been…

#1 – ALEX

Alex is a wrestler from Brooklyn, and is the main protagonist of the Street Fighter III series. His mentor is brutally beaten by Gill, and he goes on a tear for revenge. In the tournament proper, he beat everyone in his path to get to Gill, and got to extract his revenge…and the championship (though to be fair, Oro beat Ryu in the other semifinals match, but decided to no-show the finals against Alex). After that, he took a liking to street fighting, and got more into it, eventually having a fight with Ryu sometime after 3rd Strike. Unfortunately, III is the last series in the franchise in terms of the timeline, so we don’t get to see much of anything from him in that regard, save for a chapter in one of the comics. The man’s worthy of being champion, too, but unfortunately his notoriety was hamstrung since Ryu and Ken—and later Chun-Li—were added to the game’s roster, and he gets pushed more into the background. His inclusion in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom seems more for pity’s sake than anything, as plenty thought he’d make a great addition to the Capcom Vs. SNK games. And I have no idea why they keep passing him over, especially when it came to adding characters from >III and Alpha to IV. It’s like they’re trying to make players remember everything about III except him. I just don’t get it.

How he would fit in:

Alex would still be searching for leads on where to find Gill (but obviously he wouldn’t find him in this game). He obviously hasn’t found his love of street fighting and seeking out stronger and more interesting challengers yet, not by a long shot. He’d slowly warm up to the notion, but not with the thought of a barely lucid Tom laid up in a hospital bed, and not with Tom’s daughter Patricia possibly becoming a target. Between that and Alex’s personality, he’d develop a really low tolerance for other fighters’ bullshit, especially unabashed arrogance. Yeah, Alex might not exactly mince words, but he can back up what he says in a fight. Someone who talks shit and can’t back it up won’t exactly make any friends with the big man. As much as it pains me to say it, Dan would be a perfect rival for Alex.

It’d also make serious bank for whatever arena, promoter, and/or cable company picked it up, but that’s a given.

Ari Rockefeller

When he is not training Pokémon and being the very best, the Master of the Written Word churns out convention, video game, anime and movie reviews like clockwork. No one is more productive and dangerous with a pen and paper (or, in this case, a keyboard).

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