Shout Out / Street Fighter

aka: Street Fighter I

Here we're going to list the references (Captain Ersatzes, Expies, Shout-Outs, "No Celebrities Were Harmed", etc.) of the Street Fighter series.

NOTE: Spoilers will be left unmarked in the examples below. You Have Been Warned!

Characters and stuff introduced in Street Fighter

• Ryu
  • Ryu is inspired by the founder of Kyokushin Karate and protagonist of the 1973 manga Karate Baka Ichidai, Masutatsu Oyama (Changed to Ken Asuka in the anime adaptation), known for his mysterious origins and rigorous training regimen.
  • According to Akira Yasuda (who redesigned him in II/Alpha), Ryu's design in the original Street Fighter owes more to kung-fu styled Bruce Lee clones than to any karateka — not coincidentally, Ryu's kanji name in the first game (隆, which can also be read as Takashi) is shared by the main characters from Capcom's Trojan and Avengers, all of them created by Takashi Nishiyama of Kung Fu Master fame. Ryu's association with karate probably began in the sequel, where his design was merged with the concept character Masaaki Kakuda, a karateka.
  • In the early development of Street Fighter II, Ryu's concept design was clearly a blatant expy of Kenshiro from the Fist of the North Star manga. In Street Fighter V, Ryu's alternate outfit (famously known as Hot Ryu) closely resembles Kenshiro from the Fist of the North Star movie as he also had the same beard.
  • His belt has four kanji emblazoned upon it: kaze (wind), hayashi (woods), hi (fire) and yama (mountain); these four kanji make up the furinkazan. The four words are based on chapter seven of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, which dictates how one should conduct battle. The fuurinkazan also appears on the breakable signs in Ryu's Street Fighter II stage.
  • Takashi Nishiyama, in an interview with 1up, explained that the Hadouken as a whole was an explicit reference to the Wave-Motion Gun (Japanese name 波動砲, Hadō-hō) in Space Battleship Yamato.
  • His Halloween costume is of a ghostly looking samurai, making him look like Bishamon from Darkstalkers, which the CFN website comes right out and says.
  • The B-Boy outfit from V gives Ryu a hip-hop look, which includes an oversized clock necklace.
  • His school uniform in V makes him resemble Momotaro from Sakigake!! Otokojuku , who also has an expy in Makoto Mizoguchi from Fighter's History, who was a blatant Shotoclone from a blatant Street Fighter knockoff. The CFN website even makes reference to one of Mizoguchi's moves, Tiger Bazooka.
  Cpt. Ashida: If you take off his jacket his hot-blooded meter goes up, and he can throw a mid-air Tiger Bazoo...nah, I'm just messing with you.
• Ken
  • Ken is a Head Swap of Ryu loosely based on American kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, who usually wore red trousers, and gained popularity in the 1978 manga Shikakui Jungle (itself a Stealth Sequel to Karate Baka Ichidai) as the Designated Villain / Anti-Hero of the first third of the story.
  • Ken Masters shares names with two Mattel properties, Barbie's Ken Carson and Masters of the Universe.
  • Ken's Jigoku Guruma (Hell Wheel) throw is a reference to the most famous "judo" throw of the manga Judo Icchokusen.
  • He's also similar to martial artist Joe Lewis, an American who learned a traditional style of Karate in Japan, only to come back to the US and become the champion, first in karate tournaments, then in Kickboxing and Full Contact Karate (both sports that he actually created, at least in the West). He was a friend and student of Bruce Lee, and during the height of his fame, he appeared several times on various media sporting his well-known RED colored Karate uniform and the long, flowing blonde hair he used to have.
  • Amongst several other changes to characters in Ultra's Omega Mode, Ken's new Reppu Hadou move resembles King's Venom Strike.
  • Color 15 of Ken's Battle Outfit 1 in V gives him brown hair, a black leather jacket, and dark green pants. The CFN website gives a clue as to who this is referencing.
  Sgt. Ashida: With color 15, it looks like he's ready to pick up a nearby object and start smashing some zombies.
  • His look in 6 resembles old Terry Bogard from Garou: Mark of the Wolves, also this could be a hint of Ken and Terry being rivals in SNK vs. Capcom series.
• Retsu
  • Retsu seems to be inspired by Sonny Chiba's biopic of Shorinji Kempo founder Killing Machine, the most popular representation of the martial art that Chiba himself practiced.
  • Speaking of Sonny Chiba, his most famous martial arts movie series, Satsujin Ken, was translated overseas as The Street Fighter. Given the movies' popularity, it's probably no coincidence that the video game series shares the exact same title.
• Joe
  • Joe is even more similar to Benny Urquidez than Ken himself, even sharing his iconic red trousers and Rolling Sobat kicks. In Shikakui Jungle, Urquidez's fighting style was literally translated as "Martial Arts", a Fantastic Fighting Style which was basically American kickboxing created by the US military (thus, "martial") that would be later seen on many 80s-90s fighting games and beat'em ups, Joe being one of the prime examples. He shares a name with Joe Lewis, former pupil to Bruce Lee.
  • The train yard stage in the first Street Fighter Alpha is reminiscent of Joe's train yard stage.
• Mike is named and loosely modeled after Mike Tyson. He also shares a name with Mike Stone, a karate champion and another pupil of Bruce Lee's.
• Gen
  • Gen's retconned story in Street Fighter Alpha 2 is similar to the one of kung-fu master Master Asia from Mobile Fighter G Gundam, which came two years earlier (and to a lesser extent to Toki from Fist of the North Star, who also uses an Ansatsuken/Assassination Fist-derived fighting style). All of them are extremely powerful martial artists, whose only thing that prevents them from being unsurpassed is that they're on the verge of death.
• Birdie
  • Birdie's original giant punk rocker design is reminiscent of the generic brute mooks from Fist of the North Star. However, his drastic redesign in the Alpha series is an homage to DC Comics character Lobo, and his physics-defying mohawk is taken from the titular character from Ultraman Ace.
  • Birdie's old backstory says that he was a wrestler and had a rivalry with Titanic Tim from Saturday Night Slam Masters - their tag team name was "500 Trillion Powers", an homage to the "20 Million Powers" tag team from Kinnikuman. A drawing of the tag team shows Birdie with a Kinnikuman tattoo on his head, a Destron tattoo on his arm and two Convoy / Megatron rings.
  • In his SFV appearance, he wears a tattoo on his stomach similar to CM Punk.
  • His Battle Outfit 1 resembles an outfit◊ worn by Freddie Mercury, complete with moustache and all.
  • As said before, part of Birdie's redesign was based on DC's Lobo. As a kind of fan version of "going full circle", the M.U.G.E.N version of Lobo used Alpha's Birdie as base.
  • His Halloween costume depicts him wearing a butcher's apron and a pig mask, is an Expy of Leatherface.
• Eagle
  • While starting out as Capcom's version of the bodyguard in Bruce Lee's movie Fist of Fury, he was slowly retconned from Capcom vs. SNK 2 onward into an Expy of Freddie Mercury; from being the first openly gay character of the franchise to the uttering of phrases like "The show must go on" and "No time for losers."
  • Each of Eagle's special attacks and Super Combos are named after a British city, locale, or historical reference.
• Adon
  • Like his fellow Thai Sagat, he is likely named after a real-life Thai-boxer — in his case Àdun Sěesǒhtor (อดุลย์ ศรีโสธร).
  • Since the Alpha series, he gets a win pose where he proudly displays his back muscles - it's supposed to be an homage to the Hanma bloodline's ogre backs in Baki the Grappler.
• Sagat
  • Sagat is a blatant expy of the Muay Thai expert Reiba from the manga Karate Baka Ichidai, right down to the bald head and eyepatch, whilst Ryu was inspired by the series protagonists Mas Oyama and Yoshiji Soeno. Even his alternate costume in IV has leggings like Reiba in the manga.
  • It is generally believed that Sagat is named after the real-life Muay Thai fighter Sagat Petchyindee, but Capcom has yet to confirm this.
  • His Arcade Mode ending in V has shades of the backstory of Anji Yukyuzan from Rurouni Kenshin. While away, his residence gets burned down with those he cares for still inside, and he goes ballistic on those responsible, likely killing them considering in the last shot, he's crying Tears of Blood.

Characters and stuff introduced in the Street Fighter II series

• The African-American character and the Caucasian character featured in the original Street Fighter II intro were initially believed to be Mike and Joe from the very first game. However, the Street Fighter V website later revealed that they were separate characters named Max and Scott, respectively.
• E. Honda is a sumo wrestler wearing facepaint, a practice not exactly common in real sumo. However, this aspect of his design might have been inspired by the character Kabuki from the game Arm Wrestling.
  • E. Honda was originally based on sumo legend Mitsugu Chiyonofuji, but his design was seen as too dull, so art director Akira Yasuda made him overtly Japanese - Yasuda mentions the arcade Ninja Gaiden and Mr. Yunioshi from Breakfast at Tiffany's as examples. His name comes from automobile manufacturer Honda, although he was briefly named "E. Suzuki" after another car manufacturer.
• Blanka was inspired by Wild Man enemies from 1970s Ikki Kajiwara mangas, namely Gorillaman and Lone Wolf from Tiger Mask and Harimao from Tomorrow's Joe. He shares Gorillaman's appearance (in fact, his original bio is identical to Gorillaman's story - the anklets are leftovers from chains), Lone Wolf's biting / scratching attacks, and Harimao's spinning attacks. His original name was Anabebe, shared with The Rival of the main character from Jungle King Tar-Chan.
  • His palette was inspired by The Amazon from the NES game Pro Wrestling, who also shares the idea of a character who fights using savage animal instincts.
  • The Harimao comparison roots from how both Blanka and Harimao spoke in grunts, had unorthodox rolling attacks, and shared headbutt and biting moves. The funny thing about Harimao is that the last two moves are outright illegal in his sport of choice, which is pro-boxing.
  • Blanka's name was a leftover from his one of his placeholder names: "Hama Blanca" (Japanese-Brazilian for "white beach"), a former leisure center from Wakayama.
  • Blanka's story in V has him become the subject of a mass produced line of dolls made to look like him. The dolls themselves resemble a Super-Deformed version of Blanka with big bulging eyes and a toothy grin, and their design calls to mind Domo.
  • Color 13 of Blanka's default costume in V acts as an obvious nod to The Incredible Hulk (he previously appeared in Hulk's ending in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter). Additionally, his default Color 14 calls to mind Goku in his Super Saiyan Blue form, his Battle Outfit Color 11 is a nod to Mudman, and Battle Outfit Color 13 is a nod to Tizoc.
• Guile's design actually comes from two separate JoJo's Bizarre Adventure characters: Originally he was going to have a tall flat-top like Jean-Pierre Polnareff from Stardust Crusaders, but the pixel artist widened the top into "the always distinctive Stroheim look" (referring to Battle Tendency's Rudol von Stroheim). The team liked the look and decided to keep it. Like Stroheim, Guile is a muscular soldier with a lot of national pride; however, whereas Guile is all-American, Stroheim is a Nazi. Finally, Guile's name came from Polnareff's arch-enemy, J. Geil.
  • Guile's fighting style is "Martial Arts" (see Joe above), so he's very indirectly related to the first game's Joe and Benny Urquidez.
• Chun-Li's original design was based on Tao from the Genma Wars OVA, although there are some similarities to other Japanese kung-fu girls like 1980's Kung Fu Lady (a hit children's song choreographed by Ryuichi Matsuda, also known as the writer of the manga Kenji), Star / Lang from Yie Ar Kung-Fu, or Strider (Arcade)'s Kuniang trio.
  • She is also seemingly inspired by Tong Pooh from the Strider games. Due to Chun-Li being the more popular and exposed character, many actually think it is the reverse and that Tong Pooh was based on Chun-Li.
  • Chun-Li has a win-quote in Street Fighter III where she says "Hey, leave me alone! I'm a fighter, not a news reporter!" This is a reference to Street Fighter: The Movie, where Chun-Li was portrayed as a news reporter.
  • Colors 14 and 15 of her Battle Outfit 1 in V are based on Morrigan from Darkstalkers. Color 14 gives her green hair and adds a purple trim to her outfit, referencing Morrigan's default colors, while 15 gives her blonde hair and a pink trimmed outfit, which is Morrigan's second color scheme.
  Sgt. Ashida: Colors 14 and 15 have a kind of dark, stalkerish look...I want them both!
• Zangief's design is similar to Gōda the Bear-Man from the Fist of the North Star one-shot, himself inspired by Mr. T. One of his placeholder names was Vodka Gobalski, probably named after soviet boxer Vodka Drunkenski from Punch-Out!! and Sakigake!! Otokojuku's wolf tamer opponent Siberian Gobalski, although the developers settled on NJPW / UWF wrestler Victor Zangiev's name.
  • He's also an expy of the Russian pro-wrestler gimmick, specifically WWE legend Ivan Koloff. He wears a cape into the ring, has the bushy beard and is even associated with bears (Koloff's ring nickname was The Russian Bear).
  • An even closer physical match would be Alexis Smirnoff, who also wore identical ring gear down to the cape seen in some of Zangief’s entrances
  • His Siberian Blizzard Ultra Combo in Super Street Fighter IV is the Kinniku Driver. The only difference is the lock up and the landing.
  • His purchasable costume in Street Fighter IV is the same attire worn by Mike Haggar.
  • His second alternate costume is Mecha Zangief, from Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.
  • His premium alt in Street Fighter V gives him longer hair and a vibrant, multicolored bandana, making him look like a dead ringer for "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Color 12 changes the colors to be primarily yellow and orange and gives him blonde hair, an obvious allusion to Hulk Hogan, which the CFN website none-too-subtly points out.
  Sgt. Ashida: For color 12...looks like he's ready to rip his t-shirt off.
  • His Sports Outfit in V is a clear reference to the wrestler Big Van Vader, specifically the giant armored mask◊ he wore in Japan.
• Dhalsim is suspiciously similar to a villain from an old kung fu film, Master of the Flying Guillotine. The villain, La Seng, was a Hindu mystic who could stretch his limbs.
  • According to Akira Nishitani, the idea for Dhalsim's stretchable limbs came from Jojos Bizarre Adventure, specifically the Zoom Punch attack used by Zeppeli and Jonathan, which dislocates the user's joints and extends their reach.
  • Dhalsim is also similar to Nam and King Chappa from Dragon Ball, and his teleport technique was originally called Zanzouken, just like in the manga. To a lesser extent, he's similar to Rubber Man yogi Raja Mahal from Sakigake!! Otokojuku. Dhalsim's placeholder name was Great Tiger, much like the indian character from the Punch-Out!! franchise, although his final name comes from a restaurant close to Capcom's Osaka office.
  • Dhalsim's name was taken from an Indian restaurant in Osaka near Capcom's office ("Dhal" is lentils, "shim" is Hyacinth beans).
  • His Halloween costume in V appears to be a standard mummy at first, but he's also invisible.
  • In Street Fighter 6, his Critical Art resemble quite a lot like Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Gatling. This is possibly a gag over the fact Luffy has being compared with Dhalsim for years, due to both characters being elastic men.
• Balrog, called Mike Bison in Japan, is such an obvious allusion to Mike Tyson that they had to switch three character names around out of fear that Tyson would sue. One of his quotes from Alpha 3 even references the infamous match when Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield's ear.
  "If you fight like that again, I'll bite your ear off!"
  • In Super Street Fighter IV, he has an alternate costume based on Apollo Creed. He wears a very similar outfit as his default in V.
  • Balrog's star-shaped haircut comes from Yoshiyuki Takagi of Osu! Karate Club, where it was a symbol of status and a Creator Thumbprint of writer Takahashi Kouji. One early chapter where Yoshiyuki takes on a boxing match might also have influenced this. A few references to Street Fighter appeared in Osu Karate Club in turn, including a chapter cover of Yoshiyuki cosplaying as Balrog.
• Vega is an expy of the Nameless Shura, the Elite Mook from the second saga of Fist of the North Star.
  • His Halloween costume in USFIV gives him a Hannibal Lecter style mask.
  • Several of his Faces of Defeat in Hado Stone draw him like he was a character in Glass Mask.
• M. Bison's outfit and physical appearance are based on Yasunori Kato, the Big Bad of Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis.
  • Another source of inspiration for Bison can be found in Washizaki, a villain from the infamous Gorn manga, Riki-Oh who himself is also an expy of the Yasunori Kato. Some of Bison's original sprites and poses in Street Fighter II look like they used Washizaki as a reference image◊ when drawing them.
  • According to Zangief / M. Bison designer Ikuo Nakayama (who was a big Pro Wrestling fan), Bison's shin guards were heavily inspired by the kneeboots used by Universal Wrestling Federation wrestlers. In a Hilarious in Hindsight twist, one of the UWF alumni's biggest stars, Nobuhiko Takada, would later create Fighting Opera HUSTLE where he would star as the main villain, which some spectators have compared to a "M. Bison cosplayer" (although he seems to be more based on Leader Dessler).
  • His DLC outfit in Super Street Fighter IV makes him look like Sigma.
  • His 30th anniversary outfit in Street Fighter V couldn't be more Napoléon Bonaparte if he tried.
  • In the live-action movie, Bison states that his Psycho Power (the term was not used in the movie) was "merely superconductor electromagnetism" (the details of the power was not revealed until the Alpha games, which was released later), which sounds like Magneto's mutant powers. (They later clashed with each other.)
  • The way in which he dies in the cinematic story references both Dio Brando and Makoto Shishio. Both he and Ryu clash with final blows, while Ryu's fist is imbued with his new power. Suddenly, Bison's body begins to crack and fall apart as his Psycho Power is nullified and replaced with Ryu's. What does Bison do as his death is certain? Maniacally laugh as he is burned away by Ryu's power.
  • His Halloween costume in V has him dressed as Satan, but the design is extremely reminiscent of The Lord of Darkness from Legend (1985).
  • Bison's line in the movie "For I beheld Satan as he fell from Heaven like lightning!" paraphrases Paradise Lost:
    So spake this oracle, then verified when Jesus, Son of Mary, second Eve, saw Satan fall, like lightning, down from Heaven
• Fei Long takes Bruce Lee Clone to a whole new level. Other fighting games have done their own homages, but Fei Long goes the extra mile, in that the only differences between him and the real Bruce Lee are their names and Fei-Long's more fiery moves. In addition to looking like him, Fei Long is also an actor known for starring in martial arts films. Oddly enough, though, Bruce Lee is apparently a figure that existed in the Street Fighter universe, as Fei Long makes a reference to him and his son in his original English ending in SSFII.
  Fei Long: There could never be another legend like the great one and his son! I will honor their memory by training harder for the real fight so someday I can pass on my knowledge.
  • One of his alternate outfits in IV is taken from Enter the Dragon. His second alt in Super IV is Kato.
  • In IV both of his Ultra Combos, Rekkashingeki and Gekirinken, are very similar to Kenshiro's Hokuto Hyakuretsuken.
• Dee Jay (a kickboxer and musician) is based on fitness guru/Tae Bo instructor Billy Blanks (a famous kickboxer and actor, whose general demeanour was considered to be good a basis for a positive and fun character), although his Rolling Sobat-filled moveset and red trousers seem to be another reference to Benny Urquidez.
  • One of his victory quotes from SSFIV is a reference to Cool Runnings.
  Dee Jay: Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it's Dee Jay time!
• Cammy is directly inspired by Alita from Battle Angel Alita. In fact, her alternate outfit for SSFIV is directly inspired by Alita's clothes in Last Order.
  • Her Halloween costume in USFIV maker her look like a demonic bee not unlike Q-Bee.
  • Her default outfit in SFV was based on her appearance from Psikyo's Cannon Spike, which also was based on Alita / Gally, where Cammy also wears rollerblade skates to move in the game.
  • Her battle outfit in V has a color option that is blue and yellow, with a red visor. The CFN site points out that she looks like she might fire off an optic blast.
  • When describing her Holiday outfit in V, Sgt. Ashida almost makes a reference to the Final Fantasy series.
  Sgt. Ashida: If it were up to me, I'd make the coat white and the ears and lining red, to look like the white mage from...
  • Her level 3 super in 6 pays a direct homage to Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, where she uses the same lethal neck-snap-into-body-lock move on politician Albert Sellers at the beginning of the movie.
• T. Hawk's gigantic size, strength and peaceful nature are similar to Geronimo, Jr. / Cyborg 005 from Cyborg 009 - in fact, his placeholder name was Geronimo.
• Akuma owes his existence to the famous Sheng Long April Fools' Day joke from Electronic Gaming Monthly, as does his brother Gouken.
  • He very much resemles Yujiro Hanma from Baki the Grappler.
  • As of late, Akuma's face has gotten a bit more gonk and monstrous looking, and players have noticed a resemblance to Nosferatu Zodd from Berserk.
  • His default outfit from SFV became a Memetic Mutation because fans called him as Mufasa.
  • Whether coincidental or not, Akuma and Yujiro Hanma are very similar, both being red-haired, battle-hungry, inhumanly powerful fighters capable of causing/stopping natural disasters with their fists, feared by almost everyone in their series, obsessed with making the main character strong enough to pose a proper challenge to them, known for having an iconic symbol on their back while being heavily associated with demons/ogres/onis.
  • He takes after Nosferatu Zodd while also borrowing his leonine facial features and a similar theme of forsaking humanity in the pursuit of power.
• SFII has a "trash the bad guy's car" mini-game, similar to the one in Final Fight. In fact, in Super Street Fighter IV onward, if you win the car smash bonus stage with Guy, Cody, Rolento, Hugo or Poison, the same guy from Final Fight, Bred, walks on screen sobbing, and cries "Oh My Car!" just like in Final Fight!
• Ken's stage and Zangief's stage appear to have been inspired by scenes from the 1975 film Hard Times, starring Charles Bronson.

Characters and stuff introduced in the Street Fighter Alpha series

• Charlie's haircut is similar to Kakyoin, one of the companions to Polnareff (the main inspiration behind Guile) in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders.
  • Charlie's hard kick variation of his Sonic Scythe in V is Rugal's Genocide Cutter. The EX version does two back to back, much like Rugal's DM version.
• Guy's new Ultra Combo in IV ends with the an Izuna Drop (a technique created in a manga called Ninpu Kamui Gaiden and used by several ninja in fiction such as Strider Hiryu and Ryu Hayabusa), its buildup and execution remarkably similar to the Front/Primary Lotus. The name of the Ultra is the Bushin Goraisenpuujin.
  • He also gets three references to Final Fight in the Alpha series:
    • His Bushin Gokusaken chain combo is his basic combo.
    • His usual intro pose involves him destroying Final Fight oildrums several times. (His regular intro, SFA manga, SFA3 intro with Cody, Super SFIV intro, etc.)
    • His intro against Cody in Alpha 3 has Guy performing a Bushin Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku, losing some health, and then regaining it by picking up some food. Said move was a Desperation Attack that sacrificed some of Guy's vitality (health could be recovered by eating food pickups located inside said barrels).
• Sodom gets his name from the Thrash Metal band Sodom.
  • In the original Final Fight and in the X-ISM mode in Alpha 3, Sodom uses two katanas, which he named as Muramasa and Masamune. The names are based from two Japanese blacksmiths, Muramasa Sengo and Masamune Goro. They're changed into twin jitte in the Alpha series, which is similar to how Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles's Raphael uses two sai - keep in mind that Sodom is an american japanophile that tends to get details wrong, while TMNT's sai are Okinawan weapons, something that a ninja would never have used.
  • Sodom also shares various similtudes with Yoshimitsu. Both wear samurai-inspired armor and masks, and both use two swords in combat (although Yoshimitsu hasn't always used two swords in combat). In addition to this, they both appear in two different games (Sodom in Final Fight and Street Fighter and Yoshimitsu in Tekken and Soulcalibur) and both also have a serious and determined personality, but often leave a rather goofy and comical impression. One major key difference between the two is that Yoshimitsu is actually Japanese, while Sodom is not. Lampshaded in Street Fighter X Tekken in which Poison's winquote against Yoshimitsu says that he reminds her of Sodom.
• Rose's appearance and fighting style are clearly inspired by Lisa Lisa from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency, with them having nearly identical outfits and fighting by channeling energy into their scarves. Her Alpha 2 stage is also in Venice, which is where Joseph trains under Lisa Lisa in the story.
  • Her SFV Battle costume is basically a female version of what Joseph Joestar wore in Battle Tendency.
  • Her downloadable alternate outfit in IV is remarkably similar to Moriah the Thief's outfit.
  • Her Soul Satellite Ultra is very similar to Strider Hiryu's Ouroboros super in the Marvel vs. titles, earning it the Fan Nickname of Souloboros. To a lesser degree, it also resembles Athena's Shining Crystal Bit DM. The attack's activation includes a chime reminiscent of Power Stone.
  • The Rome stage shared by Rose and Birdie in Street Fighter Alpha is taken directly from the Bruce Lee film Way of the Dragon where he fights Chuck Norris in the Coliseum. Stray cats are seen watching the fight in the film, as well.
• Dan is a Take That! to Art of Fighting. When several members of Capcom's development team jumped ship to SNK to help make Art of Fighting and other fighting games that would go head-to-head with Street Fighter, Capcom struck back by creating him.
  • He's basically Robert Garcia's head grafted onto Ryo Sakazaki's body with Yuri Sakazaki's mannerisms, to the point that Terry and Kasumi, among others, in SVC Chaos mistake him for Robert. Hilarity Ensues when Kasumi doesn't buy it:
    Kasumi Todoh: It's useless to feign innocence. Defend yourself!
    • To which he responds with this win quote:
    My name is Dan Hibiki! Dan Hibiki! Dan Hibiki! That's Dan Hibiki! Got it?
  • His father is based on Takuma Sakazaki as Mr. Karate.
  • In IV, one of his Idle Animations is the Haoh Sho Koh Ken, and he gains the Haoh Gadouken as his second Ultra in SSFIV, an attack so strong that the recoil sends him flying backwards^noteOfficially first appearing in an SNK crossover game, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
  • Saikyo-ryuu Karate is a knockoff of Kyokugen Karate, starting off by name (Saikyo^note which also doubles as a knock on KOF, as Saikyo is taken from series hero Kyo Kusanagi and his dad Saisyu = strongest; Kyokugen = extreme limit). The attacks are visually similar (Gadouken = Kou'ou Ken/Ryuugekiken, Dankuukyaku = Hien Shippuu Kyaku, Koryuken = Kohou/Ryuuga; Dan even throws his fireballs with one hand) but are ineffectual, as a nod to Art of Fighting, where specials would be useless if the player exhausted their spirit gauge, as well as the incessant taunting, because AOF had this as a method to make said gauge rise back.
  • The Hisshou Buraiken is the Ryuko Ranbu, only from a stationary position.
  • He sometimes screams "Saikyo-ryuu ougi!" instead of "Kyokugen-ryuu ougi!"
  • In the Alpha series, Dan was the only character able to taunt indefinitely, much like his source inspiration.
  • He even gains Ryo's "Ora ora!" taunt in IV.
  • His ending in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter is a parody of the ending to AOF, with Akuma taking the place of Mr. Karate.
  • One of his win quotes in Alpha 3:
  I hate the Art of Fighting, but I want to be The King of Fighters!
  • In several pictures (and even a game or two), his father's appearance mocks that of the masked Mr. Karate from Art of Fighting; where Mr. Karate wears a tengu mask with a red face and a long nose, Go Hibiki's face is actually red and that's his real nose.
  • Naturally, SNK retaliated by giving Yuri moves and intros that not only parodied Ryu, Ken, and Sakura, but Chun-Li, Makoto, and Felicia as well. Also, in The King of Fighters 2000, they gave Robert an alternate Striker who is another version of himself, decked in a white gi, whose only function is taunting the opponent before taking off. Both companies were willing to bury the hatchet and make fun of themselves in the SNK vs. Capcom series. Specifically, Dan received even more parody attacks. Of note is his Kyuukyoku Tenchi Gadou Zuki in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, a knock-off of Ryo's Tenchi Haoh Ken which, upon connection, will cause Dan's hand to strain! He'll take time to fix it while the opponent is flying, all the while assuring the player that there's nothing wrong.
  • Heck, SVC Chaos is dedicated to cementing his Joke Character status. Notable in which it was SNK Playmore that made the game, the very same company Dan was created to parody. Even the Gadoken is reduced to a puny ball of light, smaller than the usual chi blast.
  • In V, his Idle Animation ends with him striking Ryo's idle animation for several seconds. Most of his move set also ends with some variety of boisterous recovery animation, making him look more foolish than usual. Capcom also ported over his Zanretsuken parody from IV's Omega Mode, Danretsuken, just to cement the comparison further. His battle costume is basically Mr. Karate's Tengu mask.
• Sakura's costume can be seen as a response to the popularity of Sailor Moon and the kogal fad. "Sunburned Sakura" from the Vs. series takes it further, as a parody of Evil Ryu with a ganguro-like color skin.
  • Sakura visually resembles Shinobu Kawasaki from the Asuka 120% series, who herself is an expy of Ryu and Ken. "Sunburned Sakura" takes the resemblance even further by giving her Shinobu's Ambiguously Brown skin tone and predominately black uniform color.
  • Sakura states that she enjoys street fighting as opposed to "sparring with rival schools." She was a playable character in the first Rival Schools.
  • While Sakura's Battle Outfit is clearly a homage to Ryu, it can also be considered a homage to Yuri Sakazaki as well, which is made even more ironic and fitting given the fact that both Sakura and Yuri were Alternate Company Equivalent rivals to each other in the SNK vs. Capcom series. Aside from the Yuri reference, Color #12 of Sakura's Battle Outfit is a shout-out to Sie Kensou and his original Psycho Soldier fighting attire that was brought back in The King of Fighters XII and XIII.
• Rolento, a former military commander in a red beret seeking to creation his own utopia. Isn't that the backstory of the Golan Colonel from Fist of the North Star?
  • Rolento can also be considered an Expy of Big Boss. Both are strong, charismatic men with far above average fighting skills, both lead large fighting forces, and seek to create a "utopia" using military means. Both also obtain technology far beyond the standard of their times, namely Metal Gear and the Tanden Engine and S.I.N's "enhancement system" in Big Boss and Rolento's respective cases.
• Rainbow Mika, according to Akiman, is influenced by Lisa Kusanami's blond hair/baby blue costume/white boots palette in Last Bronx, and Ai Kaminari/Yatterman 2's personality in Yatterman.
  • Rainbow Mika may also be a wrestling Expy of Tiffany Lords.
  • She does the Stone Cold Stunner as her Counter-Attack in V.
  • Nadeshiko, Mika's partner and Assist Character in V first appears in one of Alpha 3's Mika artworks. Also, the way she appears in the fight resembles the Striker System from The King of Fighters.
  • Color 14 of Mika's Story Outfit in V gives her light blue hair and a light grey outfit, making her look like Hatsune Miku from Vocaloid.
• Cody is modeled after Michael Paré's role as Tom Cody from the action movie, Streets of Fire. A few years after his debut, Cody would get an expy in the form of Streets of Rage's Axel.
  • Cody's Rolling Sobat moves and pre-SFIV fighting style are, once again, references to Benny Urquidez.
  • One of his win quotes from Alpha 3 states that it's good to "know more than two moves" after being absent for so long.
  • Another quote referenced the first Final Fight game, where he saved the city (Metro City), saved the girl (Jessica), but couldn't save himself (from keep fighing and being jailed).
  • His Final Destruction Super in Alpha 3 is an extended reference to the arcade version of Final Fight, where, playing as Cody, you could hit the opponent twice, turn around, quickly turn back, and repeat, for an infinite combo. The X-ism version of this move simply turns his punches into his basic combo from FF and his jumping kick into the Crack Kick.
  • His Dead End Irony super in Alpha 3 ends with the Cyclone Kick, Cody's Desperation Attack and answer to the Hurricane Kick in Final Fight.
  • This victory quote is a Title Drop reference towards his origins:
  "With so much riding on my fists, this will not be my final fight!"
  • In the intro for Super IV and in some artwork from the time of Alpha 3, Cody breaks through a wall with "Street Fighter" written in graffiti, reminiscent of the intros to both the first Final Fight and the first Street Fighter.
  • In SSFIV, one of his Ultra Combos has him break out the pipe, one of the weapons from Final Fight.
  • There's also his victory quote in his rival match with Guy:
  "Guess I'm better at street fighting."
  • The fact that Cody can actually wield a knife here is a nod to Final Fight as well; in FF, he was the member of the trio most proficient with knives.
  • His recent appearance in V: Arcade Edition is a homage to his fellow friend Mike Haggar, in which more than just being rehabilitated, he also becomes the new Mayor of Metro City, has one of his V-Triggers with a pipe as weapon, his Story costume has him literally wearing Haggar's oversized green pants with the brown belt over his chest and even the Cinematic Trailer starts with a live-action version of the first FF intro with Cody in his office, the mysterious call and the TV (with none less than Kenny Omega as live-action Cody, who also has his Finishing Move in wrestling called the "V-Trigger.")
  • Also from this game, the moves from both V-Triggers resemble Cracker Jack (the way he managed some moves with the pipe) and Chris Redfield (the pose and moves with the knife, similar to his Marvel vs. Capcom 3 appearances).
  • Cody's colors in V contain a lot of references to the Ace Attorney series. Color 11 of Cody's default is Apollo Justice, 12 is Athena Cykes, and 13 is Godot. Colors 11 to 14 of Cody's Battle Outfit are also references, with 11 being Phoenix Wright, 12 is Bobby Fulbright, 13 is Dick Gumshoe, and 14 is Miles Edgeworth. Additionally, Colors 14 and 15 of Cody's default costume reference Art of Fighting/The King of Fighters characters Robert Garcia and Geese Howard.
  • Cody's V-Skill I Side Arm appears to be named after the Capcom Shoot 'Em Up Side Arms: Hyper Dyne.
  • Due to the size of Haggar's pants in his Story costume it gives us a small glimpse of his underwear, and he has a little cow printed on them. This is the "Holstein", a little cow item that has appeared in many old Capcom games.
• Karin is a clear Shout-Out visually (especially the hair) and in personality to Nellie◊ Oleson, a Rich Bitch from Little House on the Prairie who was the snooty antagonist to the series' heroine Laura, which mirrors Karin and Sakura's schoolgirl rivalry. The series is still very popular in Japan.
  • Color 2 of Karin's Story Outfit in V gives her a red dress, red shoes and a green bow, a reference to Roll from Mega Man.
• Maki has been accused of being Capcom's version of Mai Shiranui, due to their similar designs and the fact that they are both kunoichi, hence the emphasis on Maki's roots as the leader of a biker gang.

Characters and stuff introduced in the Street Fighter III series

• Alex is a combination of Biff Slamkovich from Saturday Night Slam Masters and Hulk Hogan. From Slamkovich, Alex gets his general appearance, including his long blonde hair and headband, and from Hogan, Alex gets his tendency to rip his shirt off and his special intro against Hugo, where the two stand with their chests pushed against each other, in reference to Hogan's WrestleMania III match against André the Giant. He also has the same shoulder / face scars as Devilman, which is taken even further with V, as his Halloween costume basically dresses him up as Devilman himself.
  • And about Slam Masters, in the Story Mode, Alex fights in a CWA tournament and wins. After the tournament, an exhibition match has Alex and Laura fighting against Zangief and R. Mika.
• Dudley's moveset is a gigantic reference to classic boxing manga: the "Cross Counter" is one of the iconic techinques of Tomorrow's Joe (complete with Joe Yabuki's signature drooping-arms pose); "Jet Upper" shares the name with Takeshi Kawai's special uppercut (although it behaves like a Shoryuken) from Ring ni Kakero; "Thunderbolt" is based on Ishimatsu Katori's aerial Hurricane Bolt also from Ring ni Kakero; "Machine Gun Blow" is a mix of Kazuki Shinatora (of Ring ni Kakero)'s Rolling Thunder / Special Rolling Thunder (a three / five-hit combo with the same arm) and Ryo Mashiba (of Hajime no Ippo)'s Flicker Jab; and his "Rolling Thunder" is Makunoichi Ippo (of Hajime no Ippo)'s Dempsey Roll — although its new animation in Street Fighter IV ends with an uppercut and pose much more reminiscent of the original Jet Upper from Ring ni Kakero. The "Corkscrew Blow" is more ambiguous, since the three manga had a similar technique (José Mendoza / Joe Yabuki's Corkscrew Punch in Tomorrow's Joe, Black Shaft's Black Screw in Ring ni Kakero, and Date Eiji's Corkscrew Blow in Hajime no Ippo), but its new animation in Street Fighter IV as "Corkscrew Cross" makes it a much more obvious reference to Ryuji Takane's Boomerang Square from Ring ni Kakero.
  • He can also be interpreted as an Spiritual Successor to Eagle, since they're both English and their design is almost identical, with the only difference being their clothing/skin/hair colors and Dudley's boxing gloves. In fact, when Eagle appeared on Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium four and a half years after Dudley's debut, his bowtie was changed into a cravat.
  • Dudley has a tenth alternate costume in SSFIV which consists of a yellow shirt, purple overalls, and white gloves.
  • On his gloves for the 10th color scheme of Dudley's alternate costume, the phrase "Flash" (as in Flash Gordon) can be clearly seen.
  • Speaking of which, his new alternate costume◊ in Super Street Fighter IV is a cross between the famous outfit that Freddie Mercury wore at Wembley Stadium in 1986 and something that came from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The 10th color scheme for his alternate costume removes the jacket altogether, something which Mercury did in the Wembley concert.
  • Dudley's character seems to be inspired by real-life British-Jamaican boxer Chris Eubank. Both are Afro-British boxers who dress in the dandy fashion, display snobbish mannerisms and have been described as fighters who crawled up from the bottom (Eubank grew up in relative poverty, whereas Dudley was determined to win back everything his father had lost).
• Yun and Yang are dead ringers to Mobile Suit Gundam Wing's Duo Maxwell and Trowa Barton, respectively.
  • It may be a coincidence, but Yun is also remarkably similar to real-life professional skater Kien "Donger" Lieu, who was at the height of his fame in the 90s. Both of them are Asian skateboarders with noticeable braids who tend to use baseball caps.
  • Yun also gives anime-related nicknames to other characters, like "Sune-chama" to his brother Yang, "Yasai Oji" (Prince Vegetable) to Sean, "Kyokanchin" to Hugo, "Dekkopachi" to Ibuki and the more generic "Kotetsu Majin" (Steel Devil) to Urien.
  • A statue in Yang's stage of Street Fighter III Second Impact has a statue of the Monkey King Sun Wukong/Son Gokuu himself trapped in his prison of Wuxingshan/Gogyouzan (lit. Five Elements Mountain^note though it's known as Wuzhishan/Goshizan (Five Fingers Mountain) in most Chinese sources), which can be broken if a strong enough impact occurs around it; doing so will have the Wukong/Gokuu statue itself will be freed in prime condition.
• Elena's initial design concept was to make an "African Yuki Uchida◊", an enormously popular Idol that influenced character designs on Persona 2, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing or The King of Fighters and is similar to her stint as a swimswuit model. It's important to note that Capoeira was the only fighting style that didn't make it past Street Fighter 2's initial concept, used by the early character Bunbobo.
• Ibuki's 9th color in Super Street Fighter IV bears a striking resemblance to the main character in a certain popular ninja manga...
  • Her schoolgirl outfit resembles a lot of Taiyo High School uniforms. Confirmed by Hideaki Itsumo that Ibuki's uniform from III endings was the one based to make Hinata's. So yeah, Ibuki IS a Taiyo student.
    • The point of Ibuki's status as a Taiyo student is highly debatable, her own high school has been shown many times in games and media and not once does any Rival Schools influence show. It should also be noted in the comic that Elena was allowed to wear a completely different school uniform while in said school.
  Hideaki Itsuno: Right! For Hinata, I thought the uniform Ibuki wore during her Street Fighter III ending was cute, so I asked if I could use the same design for my character and say they were from the same school. That was also insurance, haha.
  • Her Story Outfit in V is very similar to Karin's, and color 15 serves as a reference to the same character that Karin's color 2 does; Roll from Mega Man.
  • Color 15 of her Battle Outfit is a reference to Genkai from YuYu Hakusho.
• Necro shares his story with Kamen Rider, since he's a "modified human" against his will by an evil secret organization, but he resists their brainwashing to fight against them. This theme would be reinforced on Third Strike, since his successor Twelve is a more successful version of the organization's experiments - much like the Kamen Rider manga's twelve Shocker Riders.
  • He also looks similar to Quan Chi in terms of skin color, markings, and baldness.
  • Effie, Necro's girlfriend, looks very similar to Harley Quinn in her CFN redesign.
• Oro was directly inspired by Yoda. They're both old, short Hermit Guru with unusual skin colors and the ability to move objects with their minds.
  • In SFV he has an alternate costume that's a Hawaiian-style shirt and he has a tortoise with him. A clear Shout-Out to Master Roshi from Dragon Ball.
• Gill's fighting attire (or lack thereof) and long hair are based on Yuda from Fist of the North Star. As it goes, the outfit part of the comparison also applies to Urien.
  • Gill's Grecian Olympian nakedness and appearance is also highly reminiscent◊ of a Palette Swap of Kars.^note The Big Bad of the Battle Tendency arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Even more so than Necalli on his entry below.
    • In fact, both Gill and Kars are immortal^note (Kars by gaining invulnerability to sunlight plus enhanced body manipulation and Gill via his resurrection ability) and share similar One-Winged Angel forms. Just compare the◊ two◊.
  • Gill's dual-color is probably a reference to the eponymous character from Kikaider — in addition to sharing the main character's split-color palette, he also shares the name with the main villain of the show, Professor Gill. Gill's generic Nebulous Evil Organisation is possibly a tribute to similar '70s Toku enemies, most notably DARK from Kikaider and Kamen Rider's Shocker as seen on Necro above.
  • Gill's dual elemental ice-fire theme might be borrowed from some anime villains, such as Monster of the Week Weathers on Devilman or Flazard from Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai.
  • The dual-color change when Gill change from left to right and vice-versa was also inspired by the monster Gi Gi from Red Earth, another Capcom game that also runs in CPS3 as SFIII. When facing left, the main parts and trimmings of Gi Gi's body will be red, but when he is facing right, they will be blue. Seeing this worked well on Gi Gi, Capcom would later use this advanced technique for Gill, but to a much more detailed degree.
  • Considering games that were released around the development of Street Fighter III, he and Urien are very similar to vital antagonists from the Street Fighter and fighting game inspired JRPG Tales of Phantasia. Gill in this case is very reminiscent of Dhaos, who wishes to save his home world from its utter annihilation. Urien is similar to the crucial secondary antagonist Reisen, a magiteknology scientist who is seeking glory and fame, and in turn uses Dhaos in his plans, labeling him as the Demon King, essentially forcing him into antagonism and playing the evil side in a war that could have been easily avoided. Even Alex is similar in some regards to main character Cless Albane and one of Alex's character stories from Gamest noted that Gill seemed reminiscent of Nordic Gods and those who lived at the height of Yggdrasil, the Aesir; JRPGs were heavy on their inspiration of olden tales and mythologies from European folklore, especially Scandinavian and Viking classics. Capcom during this period was inspired during the golden age of the SNES RPG train, and this even goes for Mega Man X, whose armor upgrade system was also inspired by the idea of equipment mechanics from this era of JRPGs.
  • In his return from within the fourth season of Street Fighter V (Champion Edition), Gill has a costume based on Pyron from Darkstalkers.
• Hugo is Andore from the original Final Fight, and as such is based off of André the Giant. For some reason, his backstory in 2nd Impact doesn't mention any of the other Andores from Final Fight (Jr., Father, Uncle, Grandpa), but instead it makes references to Hugo having farmer parents and two younger sisters still living in Germany. In other words, an odd combination of retcon, Flip-Flop of God, and Multiple-Choice Past. His mother in his story flashbacks in USFIV has the Andore hairstyle and encourages Hugo to grow big and strong, so it seems the female Andores, either by marriage or birth, stayed in Germany with the farms.
  • In his ending in 2nd Impact, Hugo and Poison goes to recruit the Final Boss (could vary between Gill, Ryu, Elena or Necro) and as a tag team both goes to fight into CWA pro-wrestling federation against Biff Slamkovich and Gunloc (staple called as the Hyper Cannon as in Slam Masters games.)
  • One of the artworks of 2nd Impact is a giant Hugo fighting planes a la King Kong.
• Urien could be confused for Yashiro Nanakase's twin, especially with his Street Fighter V look. Furthermore both Yashiro and Urien have earth elements as part of their powers.
  • In Street Fighter V, it's possible to use a special 4th costume for Urien by holding down a special button combination after selecting him: his original thong costume. What's the code? Light Punch, Medium Kick, and Heavy Punch at the same time, AKA the button combination used to select the fan-beloved secret 7th colors from 3rd Strike.
  • His appearance, egotism, and emotional instability call to mind Thouzer from Fist of the North Star
• Makoto is probably based on Koharu Hotta from Princess Nine, which came a year before Third Strike: they're both strong, tomboyish women from Tosa with parental issues. Her trademark yellow scarf is probably a reference to the main characters from Cyborg 009, which fits with the rest of the Toku / Shotaro Ishinomori homages in the game.
  • She also might be an expy of Akane Tendo from Ranma ½, sporting an extremely similar fighting style and personality, in addition to some superficial visual similarities.
  • Makoto might be considered a Spiritual Successor to Retsu, since both of them fight with traditional Japanese martial arts without fireballs, and her background in Street Fighter III is similar to Retsu's background.
• Remy's ending in 3rd Strike (deceased sister being encased in ice in the depths of an icy sea, especially his ending in which he dives into the sea to visit her) is one big reference to Cygnus Hyoga and his deceased mother Natassia.
  • He's also similar to the silent, blue-haired Tokiya Mikagami from Flame of Recca, whose sister is also dead.
  • His look is meant to evoke SNK character Iori Yagami (comparison here◊). Things would come full circle when Ash Crimson (making his debut in KOF 2003) would further emulate Remy in design, right down to the moveset.
• Q resembles K from Robot Detective, from the series by Shotaro Ishinomori, creator of Kamen Rider. (This is why there's a poster that says "ROBODEKA-Q" at the right side of the last frame of his ending, 'deka' being slang for 'keiji'/detective.)
  • He's also seen as a homage to superheroes The Question and Mr. A.
  • Q's ending features a pair of CIA agents called David and Juliana, likely referencing David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson of The X-Files fame. Also, Q made his debut in 1999's Street Fighter III: Third Strike - Fight for the Future. 1998 saw the release of the motion picture The X-Files: Fight the Future.
• Twelve is the Street Fighter universe's version of the T-1000 - an emotionless, shapeshifting killer machine.
  • The twelfth episode of Ultraseven (Famously a Banned Episode) featured the Alien Spell, white-skinned beings with beady black eyes and helmet-like heads, to which Twelve bears a very close resemblance. It also shares Ultraman's characteristic hunched wrestler pose.
  • As an internal homage, one of Twelve's intros has a group of identical clones standing around him before they all take flight, leaving behind the one who is to do battle with the opponent. This is very similar to the intro Juli and Juni use during their Dramatic Battle in Alpha 3 (where the other ten Doll agents surround them before exiting the battlefield, leaving only Juli and Juni). To further this, the reference is in Twelve's name (the Doll agents were each named after the twelve months of the year).
  • It's also reminiscent of the classic Toku character Robot Detective K.
• One of the lyrics to the music for the basketball parrying bonus stage is "It's Jason, and Michael Meyers, and Freddy all combined."^note The rap used in this song is actually a sample called "Masterbits Rapsody Vocals 2 Climax 9", and it can be heard in multiple other game soundtracks, including the tracks "Shudder" from Einhänder and the Pipotron theme from Ape Escape: Pumped and Primed.

Characters and stuff introduced in the Street Fighter IV series

• Crimson Viper's moveset as well as the idea of a combat suit and the shades were actually taken from Captain Commando, Capcom's original mascot, who reappeared in titles such as Marvel vs. Capcom and Namco × Capcom. Not only does she share some similar moves and normal attacks, her third alternate outfit from Super Street Fighter IV bears a not so visible star emblem similar to CapCom's. The fact that Captain Commando takes place in the future of the same Shared Universe has led some fans to speculate that her gear is an early version of what will eventually become CapCom's armor.
  • C. Viper's physical appearance seems to be inspired by Angelina Jolie, especifically by her roles in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
  • Crimson Viper's new Optic Bright / Optic Laser in UMVC3 is taken straight from Cyclops' moveset in the earlier Marvel Vs. Capcom games, who is missing in the later entries.
  • Her backstory and appearance also mirror that of Vanessa.
• Abel's alternate outfit in SSFIV has been compared to Solid Snake and Rambo.
  • It is highly implied that Russian mixed martial arts expert Fedor Emelianenko was the inspiration for the character; the fighting style reflects that inspiration, and in fact his main blue outfit is an exact replica of the gi and gloves Fedor used to wear; the only exception is that his Russian flag on his gi is inverted and misordered in color to look exactly like the French flag.
  • Several comparisons have been drawn between Abel and professional wrestler Rob Van Dam, due in part to Abel's alternate attire (a wrestling singlet adorned with the French flag and wrestling boots), highly athletic wrestling style and wheel kicks.
  • Abel's voice acting and face resemble that of actor Jean-Claude Van Damme who has also been known to wear a wrestling singlet in his films. Van Damme himself did portray Colonel William F. Guile in the 1994 Street Fighter film.
  • His first Ultra Combo bears a resemblance to Captain America's Final Justice Hyper Combo from Marvel vs. Capcom games.
• El Fuerte is highly reminiscent of popular WCW and WWE wrestler Rey Mysterio Jr. in terms of size and agility with a dash of Mexican lucha libre legend El Santo in terms of his mask design.
  • He might have been inspired by Brother Ignacio from Nacho Libre as well, since he is a masked wrestler who also happens to work as a cook.
  • His Ultra Combos in Super Street Fighter IV are Kinnikuman references. One of them, the Ultimo Spark, is a modified Incomplete Muscle Spark, and the Flying Giga Buster resembles Big Body's Maple Leaf Clutch.
  • According to SFV Japanese profile, El Fuerte was trained under the famous luchador Meteorito Jr., the same teacher as El Stinger.
    • Meteorito Jr's CFN profile states his finishing move was a modified moonsault called the Yucatan Tornado, which sounds a lot like Último Dragón's corkscrew moonsault, the Cancun Tornado. The reference to starting a school in Mexico might also be a nod to Ultimo Dragon's school/promotion Toryumon.
• Rufus is an Alternate Company Equivalent to Bob from Tekken, both of them being morbidly obese Americans who are surprisingly fast for their sizes. For this reason, the two are made rivals in Street Fighter X Tekken.
  • He wears a yellow jumpsuit, similar to the one worn by Bruce Lee's character in Game of Death, except he's so fat that he can't zip it up above his navel.^note Alternatively, he's basically Alexander the Grater dressing similar to Lien Neville.
  • While him having a Chinese Vampire costume (Alternate 2) isn't notable by itself, one color scheme resembles Hsien-Ko, including blue skin.
  • His Halloween costume makes him look a lot like Marumori from Blue Dragon.
• Gouken, much like Akuma, owes his existence to Electronic Gaming Monthly, as he was inspired by their famous Sheng Long April Fools' Day prank. One of his win quotes even references it.
  Gouken: You must defeat me to stand a chance!
• Seth was named after Seth "S-Kill" Killian, the former community director for Capcom and Street Fighter tournament champion.
  • Also, there is the visual resemblance to Doctor Manhattan which didn't go unnoticed. Capcom saw it as well and lampshaded it with his 8th color palette.
  • His 5th, golden-color palette makes him look like an Oscar.
  • Seth's backstory of being M. Bison's clone is a reference to the Metal Gear series, where the character Naked Snake/Big Boss gave birth to several clones such as Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, and Solidus Snake. It helps that Seth is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka, who also voiced Big Boss.
  • His silver colored skin and having all the fighting stypes of other major opponents is similar to Dural.
  • Much of Seth's moveset in V references his abilities showcased in the OVA The Ties That Bind, as well as other fighting games. His Hecatoncheires special move is both Jotaro's Ora Ora special and DIO's Muda Muda special (complete with the "Wry!" pose) from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future. His Mad Cradle is Demitri's Demon Cradle and during his Tanden Ignition V-Trigger it gets an extension into Demitri's Bat Spin. His low sweep is the same move Black Panther uses in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. His Tanden Maneuver V-Trigger is based on Millia Rage's Secret Garden and Yamcha's Spirit Ball.
• Juri bears more than a striking resemblance to Jolyne Kujo, which have also not gone unnoticed.◊ It helps that Capcom has borrowed from other anime series in the past, including JoJo's.
  • Her battle outfit in SFV has a color that mimifies Elena, as noticed in CFN:
  Sgt. Ashida: Color 15 has a Savanna feel to it. Like she could do capoeira. She wouldn't, though.
  • Her reveal trailer for Street Fighter 6 has her perform the famous sliding bike stop from AKIRA.
  • She wears purple clothing, has a constant Slasher Smile as her default expression, has a bleak and nihilistic outlook on life, is prone to fits of maniacal laughter, is violently insane and sadistic, and has an obsession with one of the main protagonists. It's not difficult to find more than a few similarities between Juri and the Clown Prince of Crime.
• Hakan has a taunt where he says "I haven't even begun to fight." This is very similar to John Paul Jones' iconic Badass Boast, "I have not yet begun to fight!"
• Poison is named after the late '80s glam-metal band Poison, known for their effeminate dress sense and use of make-up, by an unnamed female employee at Capcom.
  • Her creator, Akira Yasuda, confirmed that Poison (and Roxy's) designs, were specifically inspired by an outfit Jeanne Basone wore as her character "Hollywood" in a professional wrestling magazine accompanying the GLOW women's wrestling show.
  • For anime fans, the concept of the long pink hair and the riding crop as a weapon in both Street Fighter X Tekken and Ultra IV brings to mind a certain Tsundere Cute Witch named Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière.
  • Her summer costume in V: AE is a skimpy version of the female police uniform that bears a minor resemblance to the police uniform worn by Kelly in the sequel of Bust a Groove.
  • Her standard look in the same game also bears a minor resemblance to the late Ashley Massaro during her time in WWE between 2006 and 2008.
  • One of her special moves looks a lot like Terry Bogard's Rising Tackle.
• Decapre's Super and Ultra 2 resemble Wolverine's Berserker Barrage X and Wesker's Lost in Nightmares Hyper Combos, respectively. And about the latter, has gained the Fan Nickname of the Street Fighter version of Spider-Man's Maximum Spider Hyper Combo.
• See those kids in the Overpass Stage? Ever read 20th Century Boys?
• The announcer for Super Street Fighter IV shouts "ULTRA COMBO FINIIIIIIIIIISSSHHHHH!!!"

Characters and stuff introduced in Street Fighter V

• Necalli is practically a Pillar Man. His V-Trigger form looks a lot like Kars. He also has other nightmarish abilities like absorbing people into himself a la Majin Buu and melting into a black and red shadow a la Angra Mainyu.
  • He's actually very similar to Ogre from Tekken, with both of them being non-human Blood Knights with long hair, Mayincatec style designs, and a hunger for human souls.
  • His default colors 03 and 07 makes him look like Broly.
• Rashid wears a scouter over his eye similar to several Dragon Ball Z characters.
  • Rashid seems to have similarities with Shaheen from Tekken 7, another Arabic character. Word of God is that this was intentional, as Katsuhiro Harada, director of Tekken, actually encouraged Yoshinori Ono to include a Middle Eastern character in V.
  • Also, he has been compared to Alfred Airhawk from Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: Dominated Minds.
  • Rashid exhibits many shout-outs to Aladdin;— his premium costume is basically a Prince Ali outfit, complete with bejewelled turban, Azam in look and character plays the role of his wise genie, and his stage is essentially a modern take on flying-carpet, with the "carpet" in this case being a private plane (controlled by his "genie"), but instead of medieval Agrabah, it buzzes around the very modern (though still Arab) setting of Dubai. The CFN website even comments on this.
  Sgt. Ashida: This look reminds me of someone...like he's from a whole new world.
  • In 6, his Super Rashid Kick Level 1 super resembles the Hokuto Hiei Ken and Nanto Gokuto/Gokusatsu Ken used by Kenshiro and Shin respectively from Fist of the North Star.
  • In the Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers comic crossover, he believes in the idea of Ancient Astronauts influencing ancient civilizations, with one panel◊ even having him mimic Giorgios Tsoukalos' memetic pose from Ancient Aliens.
• Laura shares some similarities with other Brazilian fighters from Tekken: Eddy Gordo, Christie Monteiro and Katarina Alves.
  • And visually looks a lot like Black Orchid from the Killer Instinct series.
  • She's extremely similar to real life Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and Ms. Fanservice Kyra Gracie.
  • Color 15 on her default outfit gives her black clothing and blonde hair, alluding another Capcom-created lightning user; Trish from Devil May Cry.
• F.A.N.G strongly resembles the Harpist Assassins in Kung Fu Hustle, specifically their similar hats, glasses, sleeves and sharp nails.
  • His affinity for poison and is general oddball behavior make him similar to Warden Magellan.
• Kolin, in her new Street Fighter V outfit, bares a strong resemblance to Maetel from Galaxy Express 999, with both of them being mysterious women in Russian garb with long blonde hair. Alternatively, she looks a lot like Millia Rage from Guilty Gear, both of them being Russian women with long blonde hair and ushanka hats.
  • Also, for her ice powers (especially her ice spike hyper), resembles another famous ice user: Kula Diamond.
  • Color 15 of her Battle Outfit 1 is green, and the CFN points out it looks like a frog suit for use underwater, not unlike Tsuyu's outfit from My Hero Academia.
  • Her Holiday outfit is a blue Christmas themed dress, and both Dan and Sgt. Ashida make references to Frozen.
  Dan: Hey, since she controls snow and ice, do you think this is a cosplay of... Nah. I should just let it go.
  Sgt. Ashida: Kolin with her own take on the holiday look. You might be thinking - those are the wrong colors! I'd agree, but sometimes you just gotta let it go...
  • Further going into the Illuminati trio's Tales of Phantasia inspirations, her character appears to be based on both a post-Moral Event Horizon and Break the Cutie Winona Pickford and the original Tales of Phantasia concept of Rhea Scarlett.
  • Color 9 of her Ada Wong costume is very reminiscent of Zelda's appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Ed, in his playable design, resembles General Blue from Dragon Ball and both the physique and fashion sense of a Joestar. His V-Skill even resembles Joseph's Hermit Purple, especially as depicted in Capcom's own JoJo fighting game.
  • Overall, he's a blend of Rock Howard, and Steve Fox. From Rock Howard, he gets his angst over the possibility of becoming like the series Big Bad, and from Steve Fox, he gets his boxing fighting style and the fact that he was experiments on by a villainous organization with the intention of containing the powers of the Big Bad.
  • The CFN website notes that in his school uniform, Ed resembles Roy from Rival Schools.
  • Before beefing up and gaining his Hiding Behind Your Bangs hairstyle, a lot of fans compared Ed's appearance to Eminem. This is helped by the fact that his theme song is a rap, which the composer has admitted was based on Eminem's "Lose Yourself".
• Abigail is named after the King Diamond album of the same name. His face-paint is also modeled after King Diamond's.
  • His Battle Costume has been compared to Lobo, but it also bares a resemblance to Caine's outfit from the third Final Fight, given their similar hair, mustaches, goggles, gloves, pants and boots. Alternatively, this outfit and his Story Outfit are reminiscent of something you might see worn in a Mad Max movie, where badass cars are a driving force in the plot.
  • The fact that his nationality is listed as Canadian could also be a shout-out to fellow Canadian Edouard Beaupre, the tallest strongman and wrestler in history. His death certificate described him as being 8' 3" (2.51m) tall, and like Abigail, he was still growing.
  • When performing his Abigail Punch move, he'll say "ABABABABABA" while punching the opponent in rapid succession, which parodies Kenshiro's "ATATATATATA!" Similarly, when punching during his Critical Art, he'll say "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
  • His V-Trigger II grants him access to a chargeable headbutt that is extremely similar to Juggernaut's Head Crush attack in Marvel Super Heroes.
• Menat has a very similar fighting style to Viola from Soul Calibur V and Amakusa from Samurai Shodown, as they all battle using floating crystal balls.
  • Menat's Battle Outfit color 13 has her clad entirely in white and changes her hair color to orange, emulating Leloo from The Fifth Element.
    Sgt. Ashida: For color 13, I can envision her leaping off a futuristic skyscraper.
    • Some have also suggested that the color is a reference to Shadow Futaba from Persona 5. Both have orange hair, wear ancient Egyptian style clothing, and Menat even shares Futaba's voice actresses, both in English and Japanese.
  • Her overall design, with her bob-haircut, form-fitting body suit and gathered fabric at the waist, is very similar to the circus performer Eilie from Suikoden II.
  • For similar reasons as above, including her Ancient Egyptian motiffs, she is pretty similar to Menace from the Queen's Blade franchise, up to their names in both English and Japanese^note Menace/Menat and メナス/メナト. Keep in mind Menace's name is a pun of a real life pharaoh named Menes, while Menat is named after an Egyptian goddess.
• Zeku, when in his young form, has brown hair with a blue outfit and red scarf/mask. Given that he has ambitions of creating his own ninja group, Zeku is presumably the first ever Strider.
  • His ability to switch between being an old man and a young man might have been inspired by Shina Yamamoto from Nintama Rantarou, who is able to shift how old she is. Also similarly to Zeku, she acts friendly and gentle when she's old but is more serious and strict when young. Color 12 of his default is pink, the color worn by her students, and the CFN website points this out.
  Sgt. Ashida: The pink Color 12 reminds me of a beautiful female ninja who could also do the age trick.
  • Some have compared the way Zeku looks to David Carradine as Bill in Kill Bill.
  • His status as an elderly previous leader of a shadowy organization who seeks to expand and reshape it calls Slayer from Guilty Gear to mind. His winquotes are even written entirely in haiku.
  • His use of razor sharp business cards in his character story might have been inspired by Answer from Guilty Gear, who also happens to be a ninja.
  • Young Zeku's design has some elements borrowed from Kirin, the main character in Cannon Dancer (Osman in English), a Spiritual Successor of Strider created by the same guy. Word of God not only confirms this, but also states some of Zeku's moves were named in reference to the game: the Bushin Kirinkyaku (after Kirin) and the Bushin Gram - Teki (Teki is the group Kirin belongs to).
• Falke is a German word, which means "falcon". When you consider that she's associated with Ed, it's clear that Capcom is making a nod to Edward Falcon from the Power Stone series.
  • Falke's Battle Outfit is a leather costume with goggles, similar to something Catwoman might wear. The store description for it even points out the catlike qualities of the costume.
• G dresses like a sinister Abraham Lincoln, and his introduction in the Arcade Edition intro has him Giving Someone the Pointer Finger, evoking the image of Uncle Sam Wants You. He's also been compared to Vermin Supreme and Emperor Norton.
  • He's been compared to Greg from Bloody Roar, given their similar top hats and beards. This led to speculation, prior to release, that he would actually turn out to be the gorilla that appears in Ed's Story Mode ending, since Greg can turn into a gorilla.
  • G has some post-attack idle animations where he dances very similarly to Michael Jackson.
  • G's default outfit Colors 12 and 13 are a combination of blue, red and yellow, which the CFN website says resemble "a certain cat shaped android from the future". His Story costume also features a number of references to other characters who wear trenchcoats and/or masks. Color 2 is The Green Hornet, Color 3 is The Joker, Color 7 is The Spirit, Color 9 is Carmen Sandiego, Color 10 is Dick Tracy, Color 12 is Jason Voorhees, Color 13 is Hazama, and Color 14 is The Mask.
  • G's win quote against Kolin has him proclaim "I am here!", he's very well-built physically, and acts like a man of the people, just like All Might.
• Kage takes many conceptual cues from Omen. Both are the Enemy Without for their series' respective protagonists which have secretly been trying to corrupt and manipulate them for their own purposes. However, while Omen is an energy being who serves a higher power (Gargos), Kage serves no master and is merely the evil legacy of a brutal killing art once used by assassins, which has since been toned down and refined into a more proper fighting style for the modern era.
  • One of his alternate costumes is none other than Asura, who faced Ryu (and Evil Ryu) in their Optional Boss appearance within his home game.
• Lucia has been compared to and possibly inspired by the real-life martial artist and movie actress Cynthia Rothrock, who was active around the time of Lucia's debut in Final Fight 3 (both are blonde and blue-eyed with similar short haircuts, their fighting styles comprises mostly of attention grabbing kicks, and the two of them share a similar character archetype, in that Lucia is a cop, like many of the characters played by Rothrock from within her own films).
  • Being both based on Rothrock on the looks and their kicks arsenal, SNK fans may say that Lucia could be King in disguise.
  • One of her V-Triggers is "Burning Fight", one of the many beat-em-ups aping Final Fight that followed its release. The game is set in Osaka, and she speaks in Kansai-ben to further the joke in her Japanese audio.
• A young, blonde man named Luke S. who's the hero of a new generation of warriors? Must be a Skywalker then.
  • His default outfit's blue and yellow color scheme is based directly on the Capcom logo in case you weren't sure of his importance to the future of Street Fighter.
  • The star marks on his skin (tattoos in his case) and Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs super complete with the "ORA ORA" battle cries also call to mind the various members of the Joestar bloodline.
  • Some of his Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs moves, like Sandblaster and Thermobartic Thrasher, resemble less flashier versions of Seiya's Pegasus Ryusei Ken, as well as John Crawley's Mega Smash.
  • Because of his big arms design in 6, fans usually call him the "Popeye" of the series.

Characters and stuff introduced in Street Fighter 6

• Jamie is one big reference to Hong Kong martial arts movies, and his Drunken Boxing style has a lot of influence from Jackie Chan's role in Drunken Master.
• The Ancient Grome-inspired Marisa has a massive front kick attack, "Quadriga", which is described by Capcom as being "a powerful front kick to show opponents that This. Is. Marisa!"
• Beautiful supermodel and judoka Manon is likely inspired by Belkins, a similarly pink-haired supermodel/judoka (from French-speaking Belgium), who appears as a key rival of heroine Inokuma in the late 80s judo-based manga, Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl.
  • Manon's sunglasses and bangs also call to mind Lady Gaga's during The Fame's promotional cycle.
  • Her ballet-based fighting style and haircut make her a gender-swapped version of Keizaburo Sawada from Kengan Ashura.
  • She’s something of a Virtuous Character Copy of Shermie from The King of Fighters, both being fringed pink-haired beautiful French grapplers who are quite flirtatious. Although, where Shermie is a Femme Fatale and part of the villainous Team Orochi, Manon is one of the heroes and has no Superpowered Evil Side like Shermie does.
• For the English dub, Wally Wingert gives JP a voice very evocative of the late Christopher Lee. Even his appearance looks somewhat similar to Lee's, particularly how he looked when playing Saruman the White.
  • Seemingly ordinary businessman? Uses a power that manifests a Fighting Spirit? Seeks to uphold an image of someone with good publicity while secretly being evil? Is associated with explosions? JP is the Street Fighter equivalent of Yoshikage Kira. Add in his association with the one of the series' previous main villains as a then-unknown associate of theirs who took an interest in them, and you get Enrico Pucci.
• Kimberly's uncle, Albert, bears a very strong resemblance to Morgan Freeman. His position as an advisor on the board of the Masters Foundation recalls said actor's portrayal of Lucius Fox in The Dark Knight Trilogy.
  • Their last name, Jackson, is derived from the family of entertainers of the same name, with Kimberly's color scheme and 80's obsession pointing specifically to Michael and Janet.
• A.K.I. is a reference to Zan Partizanne from Kirby Star Allies, both being the right hand women of an insane villain they serve (F.A.N.G. and Hyness) and were recruited after a situation they found themselves in. (Zan tried to commit suicide from lightning until Hyness saved her and let her use the very powers that could've killed her, while A.K.I. tried to rob F.A.N.G., who offered her money or a dagger, though once she asked about the words engraved on the dagger since she never learned to read and felt those words would change her life, F.A.N.G. decides to take her under his wing.)

Characters and stuff introduced in the Street Fighter EX series

• Cracker Jack's appearance is based on Lupin III's Daisuke Jigen. Jack's Japanese voice actor also voiced Jigen for one of Lupin's movies: The Fuma Conspiracy.
  • Cracker Jack's initial name was "Miyauchi", named after actor Hiroshi Miyauchi, who played the cowboy-ish Ken Hayakawa in Kaiketsu Zubat.
• Darun Mister is similar to Pakistani wrestlers Akram Pahalwan, who famously "fought" his last match against Antonio Inoki in one of NJPW's "style vs style" events, and Akram's teacher and legendary undefeated wrestler Great Gama. He also haves some moves from Kinnikuman, like the titular character's "Kajiba no Bridge" or the Hell Missionaries' "Cross Bomber" with Zangief.
• Doctrine Dark uses a Razor Floss to reel his opponent a la Scorpion. Also, in Dark's CGI rendered ending in EX Plus Alpha, it is revealed that his special unit's emblem is a scorpion. Other MK details seen in D. Dark is that the mask he uses is similar than Kabal and the blades on his arms are similar to Baraka.
  • Doctrine Dark's fighting style and dressing are similar to YuYu Hakusho character Karasu, as both are homicidal maniacs who use explosives and wear breathing masks.
• Skullomania is a combination of Skull Man, Kamen Rider and Kinkotsuman (Skullduggery in English) from Kinnikuman: Skull Man was the initial skull-themed design of Kamen Rider, but he was changed into the grasshopper-themed Kamen Rider, whom Skullomania shares the superhero aspect of his story and his bombastic personality, and starting from SFEX 2 he also shares the belt, boots, gloves and scarf. Kinkotsuman is, coincidentally, a parody of Kamen Rider with a skull theme, just like Skullomania.
• Given his appearance and backstory, Allen Snider might very well be the SF equivalent of Chuck Norris, the young one seen in Way of the Dragon.
  • Allen was once modeled after singer Elvis Presley, and was even referred to as Elvis (エルビス) in concept art, where he had blond hair and was shirtless.
• Nanase uses a Telescoping Staff as her weapon. She might as well call it the Power Pole. EXTEND!
• Given that Shadowgeist is an anti-hero / villain counterpart to the Tokusatsu-inspired Skullomania, he's most likely to have been inspired by evil counterparts like Apollo Geist from Kamen Rider X, Kamen Rider BLACK's Shadow Moon, or the Shocker Riders from Kamen Rider (who also wear yellow clothes).
• Vulcano Rosso's winning pose is a flying kick, not unlike that of Bruce Lee.
  • The character in general has many references to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. To name a few: his poses are similar to various JoJo's characters, some of his moves are similar to Dio Brando and her appearance looks a lot like Bruno Bucciarati.
  • His moves are named as Italian cities, included Vessuvius, a special move named after the vulcan of the same name.
• Ace's specials mostly come from Street Fighter, but he has a few from other games, including Rugal Bernstein's Gigantic Pressure (Giga Gladiator), Li Xiangfei's Chou Pai Long (Geifuu Danjin Soushou), Roy Bromwell's Touchdown Wave (Shouran), and Morrigan Aensland's Finishing Shower (Massive Missile).
  • Ace's appearance and outfit could have been inspired by Max Rockatansky, the main character from the Mad Max film franchise.
  • The look given◊ in SFV database (especially with the cyan shirt under the jacket) makes him look as Maxima.
• EX3 had 2-on-2 matches with a similar feeling to those of Tekken Tag Tournament.
  • The Critical Parade mechanic functions similarly to that of the Duo Team Attack from Marvel vs. Capcom, right down to calling both teammates onto the screen at the same time and allowing for infinite use of supers for a short period of time.
• Area is a visual shout to Dolly, the love interest of steel-toothed assassin Jaws in the Bond classic Moonraker.

Characters introduced in other media.

Street Fighter: The Movie

• Many of the characters in the film do at least one of their signature video game moves while fighting:
  • Guile does his Flash Kick
  • Ken does the Dragon Punch (delivered as a rather crude uppercut)
  • Vega does his Rolling Crystal Flash (the rolling claw stab)
  • Ryu performs his iconic Hadouken and Hurricane Kick (minus the special effects).
  • T. Hawk performs the Mexican Typhoon
  • E. Honda does the Hundred Hand Slap
  • Cammy does a "Thrust Kick" (Cannon Spike), though it appears to be just a hard kick with a Narmy ADR line by Kylie Minogue over it.
  • M. Bison does a Psycho Crusher
  • Balrog, Zangief, Chun-Li and Sagat fight, but don't get to do any of their Special Moves. Blanka, Dhalsim, and Dee Jay go the entire movie without throwing a single punch.
• At one point while Guile and Bison are fighting, Guile appears to actually back Bison into a wall (which is a common tactic in fighting games).
  • Bison also does his Psycho Crusher on Guile multiple times, which was a viable, yet cheesy tactic in Street Fighter II: Championship Edition.
• Captain Sawada was created partially to avoid paying royalties to the Bruce Lee estate since Fei Long is based on his likeness, and partially to give Sawada's actor something to do since his English wasn't strong enough to play Ryu.
• When Bison is seen in his living quarters discussing with Chun-Li and changing into his smoking jacket, the hat stand with multiple colors of the same hat corresponds to the Street Fighter II Palette Swap colors of Bison's video game incarnation.
• Several of the movie's sets are patterned from the stages in the game:
  • Bison's hostage chamber is based off of the giant bell in his stage.
  • E. Honda's bathhouse is represented.
  • The Stealth Boat docks are a nod to Ken's stage.

Street Fighter: The Movie (The Game)

• The Bison troopers Blade, Arkane, F7 and Khyber from the game based on the movie are expies of Cyrax, Sektor, and Cyborg Smoke. Khyber and Arkane also fill in for Dhalsim and Blanka.
  • Additionally, Blade's ending reveals him to be Gunloc from Saturday Night Slam Masters, which may or may not make him Guile's brother.

Marvel Vs. Capcom series

• Shadow, Mech Zangief and Shadow Lady (Charlie, Zangief and Chun Li's alternate modes), much like SF III's Necro, share their story with Kamen Rider, since they're "modified humans" against their will by an evil organization, but they resist their brainwashing to fight against it.
  • Shadow Lady's ending in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes is an homage to Kamen Rider V3, since two former "modified humans" save a dying person (in this case, Jin Saotome) by turning him into their third member.
  • Mech Zangief is similar to X-Men's Colossus, which was playable three years earlier in X-Men: Children of the Atom. Both are grappling-themed Russian characters made of metal and are Immune to Flinching.
• Cyber Akuma, while an homage to Capcom's own Giant Robo-based Zero Gouki, owes more to Mazinger Z than to Giant Robo, most notably for his Rocket Punch and Jet Scrander-based wings.

UDON Comics

• The comics turn Mike Haggar into a thinly-veiled, mustachioed Arnold Schwarzenegger, down to his action movies (like "The Eliminator") and catchphrases like "I'll return." This is a natural extrapolation of their pre-existing similarities as gargantuan musclemen turned politicians (except Arnie never took to the streets of California busting criminals' heads that we know of...).
  • Funnily, they don't seem to remember to associate him with Jesse Ventura, who had become mayor in 1990, right between Final Fight and Street Fighter II.
• Miles Edgeworth is mentioned by a woman when telling a police officer that there was not enough evidence to incriminate Geki and thus had to be set free from custody.
• The enemies Fei Long faces in the Chinese sector of the Street Fighter tournament in II Turbo are all parodies of famous Kung Fu movies: there is a drunken fist-using Jackie Chan parody, a parasol-using Jet Li parody, an old man using the Flying Guillotine, a woman with long white hair presumably based on the wuxia character, and a masked fighter resembling the title character in the Iron Monkey. Chun-Li fights against martial artists whose styles are all based on animals: Monkey, Crane, Tiger, Snake, and Mantis — human versions of The Furious Five (which she actually lampshades).
• In one of the backup features depicting Chun-Li's days with the Hong Kong Police Department, one of her partners is called Po-Lin, which is the same name as one of the female protagonists from Masaomi Kanzaki's SFII manga (she was the owner of a restaurant who was sheltering Ryu after he saved her establishment from being assaulted by a gang of mobsters).