The closest thing to a main character in the EX series, Hokuto is a practitioner of the Mizukami style of Kobujutsu and the daughter of a branch family's leader. After turning 17, she learned from her adoptive father that she has a brother named Kairi, who disappeared when Hokuto was still an infant and was now walking the path of the "Asura." Hokuto was given the duty to eliminate her now renegade brother and as a failsafe in case she hesitated, she was implanted with the "Seal of Blood" to ensure she would accomplish her duty.
Badass Family: With Kairi and Nanase. To date, one of the truest (and largest) examples of this trope in the series. Hokuto can even initiate Meteor Tag Combos with both siblings.
BFS: Her Shirasegatana Meteor Combo, where she pulls out a gigantic naginata from Hammerspace and brings it down upon her opponent like the wrath of God. If they're hit by the blade's tip, the opponent is blanketed in flames.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Bloody Hokuto's ending in EX Plus Alpha. She took out the entire roster.
Expository Hairstyle Change: In EX2, she ties her hair in a ponytail and dons a new kimono (as seen in the image to the right). She switches back to her old outfit◊ in the next game.
Mini-Boss: But only in EX3 while playing through Original Mode as Garuda (thus avoiding a Mirror Match scenario).
Miko: An unlockable outfit in EX Plus Alpha has Hokuto dress as such, complete with substituting her fans for ceremonial tamagushi/haraegushi. Supposedly, Hokuto is also a Shinto priestess within the clan, explaining the robes.
Power Glows: As part of her Meteor Tag Combo with Kairi.
You can make her hands glow purple in EX3 by consuming one level of meter. This turns her to Bloody Hokuto, but without the Seal on her forehead. Her attacks do higher damage until the end of the round, and she can access her Meteor Combo at Level 3.
Refusal of the Call: Despite her skill in kobujutsu, Hokuto would eventually forsake her title of seiden among the Mizukami clan, passing it along to her sister Nanase.
Retcon: Hokuto's original bio stated that she was a student of the Bushin school of Ninjutsu like Guy.
Spell My Name with an S: Her and her siblings' clan name/fighting style. Depending on where you look, it's rendered either as Mizukami or Mizugami.
Superpowered Evil Side: Bloody Hokuto. Playable secret character in the first EX, integrated into Normal!Hokuto's repertoire in EX3. She does have to consume a super gauge to access Bloody Hokuto's moveset, though.
A bodyguard and bouncer for hire, "Cracker" Jack entered the first Street Fighter EX to protect Blair Dame. In EX2, he enters the tournament to save his younger sister, who was taken captive by a rival underground fighter. After rescuing his sister, he was pursued by a criminal organization and ended up hiding in Blair's home by the end of EX3.
Ambiguously Brown: Though from the United States, his appearance and theme music seems to imply Spanish or Latino descent.
Badass Baritone: And how! His pitch does go a bit higher in EX3, though.
Attack Reflector: The dude can redirect projectiles with a swing of his bat.
Big Brother Instinct: When his little sister is held hostage by an underground boxing champion, he risks regaining the attention of his pursuers to save her.
As far as his moveset, he has Balrog's Dash Straight, Dash Upper and Crazy Buffalo Super
Heel Face Turn: Not so much the character himself undergoing a change, but a shift in alignment thanks to the drastic changes in his backstory caused by the retcon. In the first game, he was a thug who served Shadaloo, in the later games he is more or less a good guy.
Meaningful Name: He's named "Cracker Jack" because he wields a baseball bat. If you don't get it, Cracker Jack is a snack food commonly sold at baseball games.
Megaton Punch: Used to derail a Shadaloo train in his EX Plus Alpha ending. If that wasn't badass enough, Jack finger wags at the train before he punches it sky-high and departs with an Unflinching Walk as it detonates in the background.
Retcon: Of all the changed backstories, his was one of the most drastic. Cracker Jack's original bio stated he was originally an enforcer for Shadaloo who used to train grunts by teaching them how to recover from serious injuries, but ended up betraying the organization. In later versions of his backstory, he is no longer a criminal and is on the run from an unnamed organization.
Sharp Dressed Man: In the first game he was dressed like a thug. Now, you can't deny that his white suit with the pink lotus boutineer is damn sharp.
A man named Holger once served under Guile with his own special tactical reconnaissance unit. He was injured during a scuffle with a rival unit led by Rolento (from Final Fight), which turned into a bloody battle. Holger was the only member of his unit to survive, but was severely injured, emotionally and physically. Outfitted with a portable breathing apparatus, he eventually escaped from the hospital and went into hiding, only to re-emerge as the deranged psychotic killer Doctrine Dark. Dark holds Guile responsible for starting the fight that caused the massacre of his unit and seeks to kill him as a result. Rolento, who actually started the fight, does not appear in the EX series. In EX2, it is retconned that Holger's insanity is actually a result of his upbringing in a mercenary training facility that taught him how to kill as a child—and his subsequent murder of his own squad.
Gas Mask Mooks: His mask is actually a medical ventilator (a necessity since his breathing organs were apparently damaged in the battle with Rolento), but it resembles a gas mask closely enough.
Irony: On at least a subconscious level, he has been influenced by Rolento, the man responsible for his current mental state and whose motto is "Use any means available to win."
Knife Nut: Funny enough, the devs for EX said that D. Dark (who they nicknamed "Mr. Foulplay") was influenced by Rolento's mantra of using whatever is available to win. Ironically, Rolento is the man responsible for D. Dark's current mental state.
Skullomania is the superhero identity of a third-rate salaryman from Tokyo named Saburo Nishikoyama, who works to support his wife and children. After dressing up as a superhero for a department store attraction, Nishikoyama decided to become a superhero for real, choosing to fight crime as a hobby during the weekends. Outside the EX series, he also appeared in Arika's Fighter Maker for the PS1.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Face it; you probably wouldn't take this guy seriously at a first glance, but it turns out that he's actually quite competent, making him a very goofy Badass.
Dance Battler: But only once. At the end of his Super Skullo Slider, Skullo breakdances to put the cherry on top, knocking his opponent away as he hops back to his feet.
Distaff Counterpart: His EX3 ending gives him one in the form of Skullo Lady.
Full name Pullum Purna. The daughter of a wealthy and powerful magistrate in an Arabian country who tries to investigate her grandfather's connection with Shadaloo with the help of her bodyguard Darun Mister.
Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Her outfit is hot, but about 1000 years out of date — no woman in modern Saudi would or even could wear something so revealing.
Disappeared Dad: Who is implied to be working for Shadaloo. Pullum is currently searching for him.
Double Jump: Since the first EX. Starting in EX2, it's reworked as a special named Femina Wind; the hop's trajectory is now dependent on the command (LP = diagonally back, MP = straight up, HP = diagonally forward) and slows Pullum's descent after reaching the apex of her jump.
Full name Allen Snider. A fighter once touted as the greatest Karate master in the United States, he was once the undefeated and favored champion of the U.S. Martial Arts Tournament until he was challenged by a then-unknown Ken Masters. Ken easily defeated him, telling him that he was still a "big fish in a small pond." Encouraged by Ken's words, Allen decided to travel the world and fight other warriors from other countries to prove himself otherwise. His special techniques, the "Soul Force" and the "Rising Dragon", were based on Ken's Hadouken and Shoryuken respectively. Allen's only subsequent appearance after the original EX and its re-releases was in Fighting Layer, an Arika-produced fighting game released exclusively for the arcades.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: As evidenced by his taunts, although he seems to have gotten better according to the above blurb.
Ass Kicking Pose: After a few of his attacks, most notably Justice Fist, Vaulting Kick (his command throw), and Galaxy.
Canon Foreigner: Notable in that he, alongside Kairi, also appeared in a manga adaptation of Street Fighter III (particularly, an adaptation of the pre-existing manga Street Fighter III: Ryu Final) chronicling the adventures of Yun and Yang, Street Fighter III: The Twin Dragon.
Shotoclone: Although he incorporates kickboxing and a few command throws into his moveset to give himself some variety. In-universe, his status as such is justifiable in that Allen wasn't originally a Shoto; he only developed the SoulForce and Rising Dragonafter he lost to Ken and realized he still had a long way to go in the fighting circuit.
Blair - Europe
Voiced by: Hikari Tachibana
The young heiress of the wealthy multi-millionaire Dame family in Europe. In addition to having a formal education and training in etiquette, Blair also practiced and mastered various martial art styles since her childhood. She trains not only for the sake of the hobby, but also in case she would ever need to defend herself. In addition to attending social events, Blair also likes to travel the world and participate in various fighting tournaments and events. Due to her overprotective parents, she is accompanied in these events by her bodyguard Cracker Jack. Blair is also a close friend of Pullum, as they're both members of the International Debutante Club. Like Allen, her only appearance after the original EX and its re-releases was in the Arika-developed arcade-exclusive fighting game Fighting Layer.
Cute, but Cacophonic: Subverted. While her voice is almost girlishly high-pitched, it's never unbearable. It's just that fans were expecting a hottie like her to have a more alluring voice.
Averted in Fighting Layer; same seiyuu, but a much, much sultrier voice.
Hollywood Atlas: Her nationality is only ever given as "European", which is ridiculous considering the huge number of countries that make up the continent of Europe. It's bizarre that her actual country of origin is not referenced in a series that plays on national identities, with a plethora of characters from various countries within Europe - England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Hokuto's elder brother. When he was young, Kairi fell off of a cliff after fighting his own father. Kairi survived, but suffered a memory lost and began wandering the world, with nothing but his innate knowledge of the Mizukami fighting style and his will to survive to guide him. His body is covered with all kinds of scars from past battles, and his hair eventually changes from black to white due to all of his stress.
Hair Color Dissonance: Before his hair turned white. Artwork from EX suggests Kairi's hair color is naturally black (with a blue tint at times), but his in-game model sports brown hair closer in hue to that of his sisters. His CGI model in his EX Plus Alpha ending is most likely supposed to have brown hair as well, although it appears indigo-ish, which is also reflective of a few pieces of EX artwork for Kairi.
Power Glows: In the second and third games, his hands emit an eerie blue glow once his super meter starts to fill up.
First two levels with the glow are just for show. When his super meter is at max, all of Kairi's regular and special moves inflict greater damage and are capable of burning the opponent. Plus when timed right, you can even negate hits from projectile attacks with your own attacks.
This also happens with his chest scar in Street Fighter EX3 when he gains Maki Hatsudou. The move can be executed either when you have filled your Super Bar or automatically triggers after you performed a Shouki Hatsudou. Kairi's chest scar will glow red and he gains enhanced versions of his Shinki Hatsudou (fireball will travel towards foe instead of being fired a certain distance from Kairi) and Maryu Rekkou (now a multi-hitting attack). Unfortunately, his health bar will slowly drain while Maki Hatsudou is in effect which makes this ability a case of Awesome, but Impractical.
True Final Boss: In Arcade Mode of EX2, Kairi is a secret challenger faced after Garuda. In EX2 Plus, he remains a hidden character to fight against in Arcade Mode, but no longer supplants any of the final three bosses (Garuda, Sagat, and Bison/Bison II).
Vague Age: From his looks, Kairi can't be any older than his 20s, but how young he was when he first disappeared from the family is unknown.
Said to be the strongest and most popular professional wrestler in India, Darun Mister seeks to travel the world to fight against other wrestlers such as Zangief and Victor Ortega. He travels the world as Pullum Purna's bodyguard.
Difficult, But Awesome: His Meteor Combo, the G.O.D. (Gamble Of Darun), requires multiple 360+P/K spin commands and a tight-frame charge u, d, u+P/K command, and is also escapable at several points. If the move connects in its entirety, though, it is a One-Hit Kill.
Trampoline Tummy: His (Super) Indra Bash is this trope weaponized (and for bonus points, he ends with a Badass Arm Fold on the way down). Darun's Meteor Tag Combo with Pullum also counts, as it involves Pullum and her opponent bouncing off of Darun's stomach until Pullum smashes them down to earth from above, allowing Darun to catch them in a backbreaker.
Possibly the closest thing to an antagonist the EX series has (besides Bison, OF COURSE!), Garuda is a demon dressed in samurai-like armor. Depending on the source, Garuda is either a composite of undead souls of warriors who killed by the Satsui no Hadou (according to the first EX), or the embodiment of every negative feeling mankind has ever felt (according to EX2).
Attack Reflector: Either hit of his Zanki (his forward + HP command normal, a lunging one-two palm strike) can negate/deflect normal and super-level projectiles.
Big Bad: Arguably, although Bison remains the Final Boss in most titles (barring EX2, Garuda is instead a midboss encountered two or three stages before the big man himself, depending on the game).
Ghost Lights: His Soukondan super utilizes these (or something similar). He's also surrounded by these in his intro when faced as a boss in EX2 (Plus).
Screaming Warrior: There is no such thing as an "off switch" when it comes to his yelling. The only exceptions are two of his victory poses (one of which is a creepy Evil Laugh) where his voice drops to a nearly inaudible murmur.
Secret A.I. Moves: His CPU and Shin incarnations are notable in that they gain Maboroshi, a move that allows Garuda to teleport when hit and appear above the opponent, where he then pounces on them with his spikes. This is tempered slightly in that Shin Garuda—alongside the Shin/CPU versions of the other bosses—is unlockable in EX Plus Alpha. note Shin Garuda is unlocked by obtaining 800 points in Expert Mode, whereas Bison and Akuma require 600 and 1000 points, respectively; all of the souped-up bosses are then selectable by placing the cursor over the respective character and holding Select while choosing them (the boss' portrait should turn red and yellow if done correctly).
Teleport Spam: He will teleport when you hit him, counterattack, and then teleport again.
True Final Boss: In EX Plus Alpha, it's possible to face Shin Garuda
reach Bison without losing any rounds while winning every round with a Super Combo finish
, a version of Garuda clad in splotchy black-and-red armor and red hakama pants who deals far more damage than regular Garuda and takes roughly 1/4 the amount of damage as his normal counterpart, superseding Bison (the default Final Boss) and (Shin) Akuma as the most difficult challenge in the game. This form of his did not stick around for the next two games, as the True Final Boss position went to stronger incarnations of Bison (Bison II in EX2, True Bison in EX3).
Debuting in Street Fighter EX Plus
Cycloid-β and Cycloid-γ
A pair of Dural-like cyborgs who were programmed with the combat data of various fighters. One of them is just a generic wireframed polygon character, the other is just an untextured model.
Ditto Fighter: The Cycloids used techniques from other characters' movesets.
Debuting in Street Fighter EX2
Hayate - Japan
The son of a legendary swordsman from the mountain village of Kukunochimura, Hayate decides to follow up on his father's footsteps by becoming a swordsman himself. His father is a legendary hero who sealed the beast of Orochi. When Orochi escapes from his imprisonment and kidnaps the local shrine maiden, Hayate slays the demon like his father did before him. Hayate and the maiden then become the new guardian deities of the village. Oddly enough, Hayate appears in the original EX2, but was omitted from the arcade version of EX2 Plus (being re-added in the PlayStation port) and is completely gone from the series afterwards.
Generation Xerox: He follows the footsteps of his father, a legendary hero who once saved his home village from the demon Orochi. In Hayate's ending, he too defeats Orochi, saves the local shrine maiden, and becomes the guardian of his village.
Put on a Bus: He does not appear in the arcade version of EX2 Plus (he only shows up in the PS1 version as a bonus character), and doesn't reappear for EX3.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Subverted. All three of his super moves have been collaborated in Garuda's three-part Meteor Combo. The remainder of his specials are unique to him.
Introduced in EX2, Hokuto's younger sister who was also trained in the ways of Mizukami Kobujutsu, who goes on a journey to prevent her older siblings from fighting each other.
Brilliant, but Lazy: Unlike Hokuto, who rigorously strove to perfect her martial art, Nanase only trained in her family's style of kobujutsu to keep tradition and had a habit of sneaking out and avoiding practice whenever she could. In spite of this, she's a bojutsu master.
Death from Above: Her Machiyoi Meteor Combo, where her pole grows in size to the point that Nanase zooms up into outer space. She then jumps down, catching fire as she achieves atmospheric re-entry. [Insert name here], meet Nanase's fist.
Little Miss Badass: Her older sister Hokuto is 17 when the EX series begins and there is no word on how much time passes between each game. Nanase is clearly a few years younger.
Nice Shoes: A bit hard to not notice when she's the only one in her family to sport 'em.
Debuting EX2, Sharon is a redheaded woman with a tattoo of a rose on her right chest who leads a secret double life, working as a nun by day, taking caring of orphans at the monastery where she was raised, but by night she's a top-class agent employed by an intelligence group to conduct assassinations. When she learns that a member of a certain criminal organization she was hired to eliminate has the same rose tattoo she has, she ignores her orders and decides to chase after her target in order to learn about her past.
Double Consciousness: Given that she must juggle her work as a kindly nun and an ice-cold agent, it's implied at times that Sharon might be suffering from a slight identity crisis.
An anti-hero from a nameless dystopian nation who decides to avenge his lost wife and daughter by bringing the totalitarian government responsible for their deaths to justice. He has artificially enhanced his body with cyborg implants. Essentially a darker version of Skullomania.
First appearing in EX2 Plus, Area is the daughter of a scientific inventor who works as a clerk in her father's store, where she sells his inventions. One day, her father invents a large mechanical arm codenamed "Cancer", developed for the purpose of digging. Area modifies it as a weapon and decides to test it against other martial artists from around the world.
Big Word Shout: "GOMENASAAAAAIIIII!!!!!" (Who exactly she's apologizing to is unclear, though her father is a likely bet.)
Death or Glory Attack: To a degree, her Final Cancer Meteor Combo. Cancer explodes from overload after the attack and is unusable for the rest of the match, leaving Area without her Cancer setups and only half of her moveset.
Also debuting in EX2 Plus, Vulcano is an Italian fighter employed by some kind of secret organization. When his girlfriend is murdered, he leaves his organization to seek revenge. Possibly the most stereotypically Italian character in a fighting game ever, his special moves are named after locations in Italy (i.e: Pisa, Canossa).
Bruce Lee Clone: Technically, he's only one by proxy. The single element Vulcano shares in common with the Dragon is his dazzling flying kick, but he seems to be modeled after Soulcalibur's Maxi, who is one of these to the hilt (in spite of also drawing inspiration from the King).
Counter Attack: Canassanote as shown above and below, it should be Canossa. Similar to Geese Howard's Atemi Nage, it even comes in three flavors (Light Kick = high/anti-air, Medium Kick = mid, Heavy Kick = low), with each variant able to be followed up with a combo or super if successful.
Flash Step: Sciara Del Fuoco is a downplayed example; it's nothing more than a quick dash and Rosso's vulnerable while performing it, but he can pass right through his opponent and get behind them with it if he's close enough (provided there's a suitable amount of space for him to occupy, naturally). It also, with the right timing and some experience, doubles as an approach for some of his trickier moves. In EX3, however, the move is given transparency effects so that Vulcano's movements more closely resemble the trope in question from a stylistic standpoint.
Kick Them While They Are Down: His Quattro Panorama Meteor Combo, which starts with hoisting his opponent into the air, punching them in the gut, then a series of boots to the head, flipping them over with his foot, followed by a fiery geyser punch to the face (similar in effect to his Torre Pendante super), and then a final kick to the back of their skull that sends his opponent rolling.
Latin Lover: Just listen to his theme, look at him, and try to tell us that Rosso doesn't strike you as a grade-A charmer.
Meaningful Name: Vulcan, as in the Roman god of fire who worked as a blacksmith. Which is the etymological source of the terms vulcano (Italian) and volcano (English). Rosso is Italian for red, a color usually associated with fire. His name is Italian for "Red Volcano."
This Cannot Be!: His K.O. cry ("Bakana!") roughly translates to this. note More specifically, it'd be something along the lines of "I can't believe it!" or "Impossible!"
Debuting in Street Fighter EX3
Ace - Unknown
The sole "new" character in Street Fighter EX3, Ace is a secret government agent from an undisclosed nation who has the special ability to learn the techniques of his opponent after gathering battle data. He is asked by the Prime Minister of his country to gather information of a secret weapon being developed in an underground base.
Ditto Fighter: Ace could use techniques from other characters' movesets if they were bought in EX3.
Continuity Cameo: He can even learn moves from fighters not represented in EX (like Cammy), or even outside the mainline Street Fighter series (like Shadow Lady); he can also use Blair's and Allen's new Fighting Layer supers.
Suspiciously Similar Song: His theme, "Harem Beat," sounds like something you'd hear in a Mega Man game. More specifically, it sounds like a rockified version of Gravity Man's theme from 5. It also resembles Shang Fenghuang's theme from Fighting Layer (an arcade-only game also developed by Arika in 1998, three years before EX3), albeit sped up.
