That seemed to be all Capcom planned to announce last week but then a massive online leak spoiled the rest of the roster. Art for 22 characters found its way to the internet just hours after the title’s first official gameplay trailer dropped. Leaked footage also showed Ken in-game and a clip of Cammy (clad in her classic unitard) performing her Ultra attack against another Cammy (clad in her new costume). Ultimately, there were so many leaks that Capcom was forced to confirm that yes, all of these stolen assets were legit. Fortunately, fan reaction to the leaks was overwhelmingly positive. Gamers seems to be very happy with the roster the studio has put together for this installment. But just how good is this lineup? Let’s break down who’s who on this roster and what they might mean for Street Fighter 6: Ryu’s look in Street Fighter 6 is rather interesting in that he’s partially dressed like Oro. The elderly hermit Oro is considered one of THE most powerful characters in Street Fighter lore and has taken an interest in making Ryu his pupil. Have Ryu and Oro grown closer since we last saw them? Either way, Ryu still has yet to find enlightenment as a true master, but he’s on his way.
Ken Masters
Ken has always been like a brother to Ryu. They trained together for years, and tend to meet up every now and then to spar. While Ryu has dedicated his life to being a drifter trying to find enlightenment through punching people, Ken actually has a life. Ken is married, has a son, and is the heir to a corporation. He tries to balance that with his dedication to being on Ryu’s level and not falling behind. Leaks claim that Ken’s story in this game is that his obsession with being Ryu’s rival has finally taken its toll. His marriage has fallen apart and he’s estranged from his own kid. Ken continues to fight, but is now considered a has-been by the fighter community.
Zangief
“The Red Cyclone” is one of the world’s most legendary pro wrestlers. This massive man is happy to destroy all opponents for the sake of making children smile and making Mother Russia proud. Despite his intense appearance, Zangief is a friendly giant and is usually respectful to his opponents. At the same time, the guy is much too hung up on how muscular he is and how that’s the answer to all of life’s problems. Known for his extreme training methods (i.e. wrestling bears in Siberia during blizzards), Zangief has recently taken young fan and friend Rainbow Mika as a protégé. Since them, the two have been touring the world as a tag team, with Zangief trying to help her understand the might of “Muscle Spirit.” Recently, Dhalsim has taken on a disciple in Mahesh, an Indian police officer who wants stretchy yoga powers to help protect the community. Showing great patience and determination, Dhalsim has at least gotten him to the level of being able to spit out sparks.
E. Honda
Loud and proud, Edmund Honda is possibly the greatest sumo wrestler to ever throw salt. Still, it’s lonely at the top, and Honda considers himself a big fish in a small pond. Unfortunately, the Street Fighter world doesn’t really care for sumo, so Honda spends his time entering fighting tournaments to spread interest in his sport. He’s hoping to inspire a bigger fanbase and maybe some more chllenging rivals. Honda is good friends with Zangief and Turkish oil wrestler Hakan, though they tend to violently squabble over which form of wrestling is truly the best. When he isn’t promoting sumo, Honda runs his own bath house for martial artists and will regularly start fighting his customers for breaking bath house etiquette. Oh, and he once saved countless lives by having an oiled-up Hakan fire him into an oncoming asteroid, blowing the thing to smithereens with a flying headbutt.
Blanka
Jimmy survived a plane crash in Brazil but spent years stuck in the jungle because of it. Over time, he somehow evolved into a mutant creature with green skin and the ability to conduct electricity. Blanka ended up taking part in street fights around the globe and even befriended martial arts prodigy Sakura Kasugano and legend-in-his-own-mind-but-actually-a-loser Dan Hibiki. Through his notoriety, Blanka was eventually recognized by his mother, who had also survived that fateful plane crash. After M. Bison’s tournament, the two were reunited. While still a fighter at heart, Blanka spends much of his time living with his mother. He does feel like a burden at times, especially due to his freakish features scaring locals. Recently, he attempted to take care of his mother financially by marketing his appearance in the form of ugly dolls called “Blanka-Chan.” The product’s success is up in the air, but it has led to Dan completely ripping off his idea. No longer driven by revenge, Guile continued to believe that Charlie was out there somewhere. As it turned out, Charlie was resurrected and the two were able to reunite and work together to bring Shadaloo down for good. Now, with Charlie and Bison both dead and gone, Guile has moved on to keeping tabs on the new kid on the block, Luke Sullivan.
Chun-Li
At a young age, Chun-Li joined Interpol to follow in her father’s footsteps. Her father was dedicated to bringing down Shadaloo and one day – probably a Tuesday – he met his fate on the wrong end of M. Bison’s glowing, purple hands. For years, Chun-Li became a thorn in Bison’s side, culminating in the destruction of Shadaloo. During Bison’s final plot, Chun-Li rescued a kidnapped little girl genius named Li-Fen. Chun-Li ended up adopting Li-Fen and transitioned from police work to training local youths in kung fu. These days, she’s seen as an important and benevolent icon of her community. Meanwhile, Li-Fen has grown into a teenager and is more than likely to show up in this game as DLC down the line.
Cammy White
M. Bison created Cammy, his Killer Bee, as both his loyal assassin and a fail safe in case he were killed — Cammy is a female clone of Bison who was partially created for the sake of giving Bison’s soul another host body. After Bison’s first death, Cammy endured some trauma that left her physically scarred and suffering from amnesia. Bison’s subordinate, Vega, secretly saved her life and left her at the doorstep of Delta Red, an English intelligence organization. Cammy fought alongside Delta Red for years and eventually regained an understanding of who she was. She worked to save her fellow Dolls (kidnapped women brainwashed into being Shadaloo assassins and genetically altered as host bodies for Bison). Unfortunately, things got dicey when she came to the rescue of Decapre, Cammy’s horribly scarred and insane twin sister. Cammy fought off authorities to protect Decapre and ended up running off with Juri as a fugitive.
Rashid
Rashid was introduced in Street Fighter V as the game’s protagonist. A rich Middle Eastern fighter with control over wind and a love of modern technology, Rashid’s life was turned upside down by the sudden disappearance of one of his closest friends. Joined by his faithful bodyguard Azam, Rashid’s search led him to join a secret faction led by Kolin of the Illuminati that was intent on eliminating Shadaloo. Coincidentally, Shadaloo’s big plot involved kidnapping various geniuses to create a doomsday weapon. This group included Rashid’s missing friend. After he discovered that she had been murdered by Bison’s right-hand man FANG, Rashid helped foil Bison’s plans, defeat FANG, and received a recorded message from his friend insisting that he move on with his life and enjoy it. These days, Rashid continues to live a life of adventure, keeping an eye on social media for any news of up-and-coming names in the street fighting circuit.
Juri Han
At worst, Juri is an unrepentant monster. At best, she’s a chaotic antihero. With a backstory that makes her sound like the psychotic version of Chun-Li, Juri’s lawyer father was intent on prosecuting Shadaloo and he was killed for it. While Chun-Li dedicated her life to destroying Shadaloo in the name of justice, Juri was broken by her loss. She became an expert in taekwondo and honed her skills as an assassin. She joined Shadaloo (and its offshoot SIN), but while she fully intended on getting her revenge on Bison, she also took great joy in her murderous assignments. In Street Fighter V, Juri joined Kolin’s faction and helped destroy Shadaloo once and for all. During this adventure, she ended up coming to Cammy’s rescue a couple times, finding joy in the fact that the Killer Bee continued to owe her. Once Shadaloo was destroyed, Ed and Balrog continued to travel together. Ed began receiving ominous visions that led him to believe that he had to leave Balrog or his adoptive father would suffer the consequences. The desperate Balrog tried to force Ed to stay by his side through violence, but when he lost the fight, he brokenheartedly screamed at him to beat it. Afterwards, Ed started up Neo Shadaloo, an organization focused on tracking down and rescuing other Shadaloo experiments.
Akuma
In the world of Street Fighter, no one is as feared as the Master of Fist. For certain warriors, there is an inner darkness called the Satsui no Hado that can consume you and turn you into a mindless killing machine. Akuma became one with this darkness and transformed into a demon, becoming a brutal being obsessed with training in solitude to increase his power and fighting only those opponents capable of possibly killing him in battle. Akuma spent years obsessed with Ryu, a student of Akuma’s goody-two-shoes brother Gouken. Ryu constantly wrestled with the Satsui no Hado and Akuma goaded him into giving into it to become the ultimate opponent. Ryu ultimately shed the Satsui no Hado’s influence, adding to Akuma’s frustration. Now, Akuma spends his time increasing his moveset with attacks capable of shattering mountains, all while still searching for the one who might finally take his life in combat.
Luke Sullivan
As a child, Luke was at a mall when his father noticed a bomb planted by terrorists. Luke’s father sacrificed himself while helping civilians evacuate the scene. Luke was inspired by his father’s bravery and joined the military in order to take down the kind of people who took his father away from him. The experience left him empty, but after a sparring match with Guile, he decided to leave the military and try to work out his problems via globetrotting street fights.
The New Challengers: Kimberly, Jamie, Marisa, Mimi, Lilly, JP, and Aki
Street Fighter 6 will also introduce seven brand-new characters to the series. So far the only one we know anything about is Jamie, the drunken boxer who is inspired by series regulars Yun and Yang in the sense that he keeps the peace in his neighborhood by beating the crap out of any troublemakers. Other new characters include Marisa, Mimi, Lilly, JP, Kimberly, and AKI. What we find really interesting about this starting roster as a whole is that all eight of the playable characters from the original Street Fighter II are included, but none of that game’s four bosses are anywhere to be found. And while there’s a smattering of characters from other games in on the roster, there’s a noticeable lack of anyone from Street Fighter Alpha or Street Fighter III. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised if Gill and/or G popped up as boss characters down the line. We know Capcom initially intended to do a second story campaign for Street Fighter V with G as the big villain and we really want to know what the hell is going on with the self-proclaimed President of Earth. What do you think about Street Fighter 6‘s starting roster? Let us know in the comments!
