Street Fighter 6 already confirmed the first 4 characters for the Season 1 DLC, but what about the future DLC? Read on to find out our predictions on Capcom’s possible picks for the next characters of SF6.
Street Fighter’s Massive Cast of Characters
So I use the term “forgotten” quite loosely in the title, as some of these characters were actually shown in the current game. But, there are several characters that didn’t even get a chance to appear as a cameo in SFV or SF6. With such a massive roster, I’d imagine Capcom would have a hard time deciding which characters make it past the first draft. Today, let’s take a look at characters that I hope will make it onto the SF6 roster in the near future.
One-Hit Wonders
From the mainline games, there’s already been a ton of characters that got left behind. Some of the characters listed made appearances in Ultra Street Fighter IV or Street Fighter V’s massive rosters, but nevertheless, these characters are poised to have appearances in the latest iteration of Street Fighter due to reasons we’ll talk about in their specific sections.
These characters only appeared once in the series, but I think they’re due for a reappearance, especially since some of them are iconic in their own right. Here are some of the characters that were "one-hit wonders" or appeared in just one game and may have a chance to have a reappearance in Street Fighter 6.
Sean Matsuda - Street Fighter III: New Generation
Sean Matsuda was a unique addition to the SFIII roster. He was originally supposed to be the ONLY "shoto" character in the game, but ultimately Capcom decided to add Ryu and Ken Masters due to their popularity. He is of half-Brazilian, half-Japanese descent, and is driven to become like his idol, Ken Masters, even swearing that he’ll become his student someday. He is actually a college basketball player, which is referenced by his taunt in SF3, and a martial arts practitioner as his main pastime.
He is the younger brother of Street Fighter V newcomer Laura Matsuda. After losing to her in a Brazilian Regional Jiu Jitsu tournament, she lectures Sean that he should break away from the traditional fighting style that was taught to them by their grandpa and try to incorporate new techniques with what he already knows. After the match, Sean caught a glimpse of Ken’s tournament victory and found his resolve to defeat her sister using Ken Master’s style.
Similar to the other other Shotokan fighters, Sean wears a gi with ripped sleeves at the shoulders and a unique yellow color. He also ties it with a black belt and fights barefoot. He is a dark-skinned Brazilian with black dreadlocks with the sides shaved off, similar to a fade.
Sean’s fighting style and gameplay are unique in the fact that, while he has similar moves to those of Ryu and Ken, he is not your typical palette swap character. He has several moves that are quite different from the standard Street Fighter Shotokan fighting style.
First off, he actually can’t throw out "Hadokens" except for one of his Super Arts in SF3. Instead, his taunt button had him shooting a basketball as a projectile. Second, he puts his own spin on the Shotokan moveset, like using both fists for his "Shoryuken," using both feet for his variant of the "Tatsumaki Senpukyaku," and even has Jiu Jitsu moves with the "Sean Tackle" where he goes for a takedown and mount. While the student-master dynamic is not anything new to Street Fighter with the existence of multiple generations of students under the same fighting style, Sean is unique due to both being a student of Ken as well as a student of his own family’s fighting style.
So why does he make the case for a reappearance despite having a ton of Shotokan representatives already? Mainly because of his connection to Ken in relation to the Street Fighter 6 story. To those who are unaware, Ken was framed for a terrorist attack in Nayshall by JP. While his name was eventually cleared, his reputation was not free from public scrutiny. This forced Ken into hiding away from his family, and now has a transformed demeanor with the intent of exacting revenge on JP for what he did to him.
With this in mind, Sean may be the perfect candidate to support Ken, who’s fallen on hard times. Sean can be the one to help find Ken a new purpose for fighting, as he’s grappling with his own problems. He can be a "distraction" of some sort to Ken’s current situation as he can officially become Sean’s mentor. Of course, this is all just speculation, and honestly, I just think he looks great and would fit in the Street Fighter 6 theme of both the hip-hop vibe and looking for the true meaning of strength.
In addition to story reasons, the devs can now update his moveset with more choices from either Laura or Ken, as well as put more of his own flair to their existing moves. Only time will tell if Sean ever makes a return, but I certainly am hoping for his return with improved visuals and moves.
C. Viper - Street Fighter IV
C. Viper, or Crimson Viper, is undoubtedly one of the most unique characters in Street Fighter history. She appeared as one of the newcomers in Street Fighter 4, as an undercover CIA agent working for S.I.N., which was the main antagonist force of the game. She is an American single mother who loves her daughter, Lauren, more than anything else in the world. While she’s a loving mother at home, she is completely different at work. She is shown to be superior and condescending, and she will not let anyone stop her from accomplishing her missions.
As an undercover agent, she encountered both Cammy and Chun-Li during her time there and almost had her cover blown by the latter when she tried to arrest her. She is shown to be a very ruthless and capable fighter, with her brand of fighting using a different array of tools and gadgets in her battle suit.
Visually, she is shown to wear a black suit, which is actually the battle suit she is known to wear, along with metal-knuckle gloves and yellow-tinted shades. Along with this, she has long crimson-red hair that is fashioned into a long braid all the way down to her knees.
Gameplay-wise, she is a rushdown character with different layers of offensive moves to keep the opponent guessing at all times. She was regarded as one of the game’s hardest and most complex characters in Street Fighter 4, and maybe even the whole franchise. She had a unique array of special moves but had a special feature of being able to feint these as well as having a super jump. Without going too far into the deep end, she had a certain mechanic where she could super jump cancel her attacks into each other, as well as use the feint in her specials to recover faster and even give her access to combos that shouldn’t link together.
So why does she make the case for coming back? Mainly due to her connection with the CIA and several characters in the game, as well as her unique gameplay. While she actually appears in both Street Fighter V and Street Fighter 6 as a side character, she actually isn’t a playable character in either game. She is eventually revealed to be Juri’s partner-in-crime in several events after the story of Street Fighter 4. She can actually be one of the independent parties looking into the incident, either alone or with the CIA.
Viper is described by Juri as a snake, apropos to her name. Why exactly Juri calls her that is something that could be explored further in depth.
She also has the most interesting and complex mechanics of any Street Fighter character, which leads me to believe that they’ll have a hard time balancing her moveset for the game. That will be a challenge for the developers with how to keep her complex style.
G - Street Fighter V
G is one of the most mysterious fighters in the franchise, mainly due to his appearance, demeanor, and his connections to a certain character in a past game. He appeared in Street Fighter V in the 3rd wave of DLC characters. Not much is known about G’s background, except that he calls himself the "President of the World" and has gold markings on his skin that form the map of the globe. He is a confident and charismatic individual with the way he speaks as he sees himself as the savior of the Earth.
He is implied to be the embodiment of the Earth itself in Street Fighter V. He regards humans as fellow "Citizens of Earth" and claims that everyone is equal due to the traits that humans possess and that all share a common cause, regardless of gender, age, or beliefs.
From a visual standpoint, he appears to have a resemblance to Abraham Lincoln, who was the sixteenth president of the U.S.A. His signature pose is also reminiscent of Uncle Sam’s iconic "I want you" pose which is a very telling sign of his inspiration as a "fighting president." As mentioned before, he also has gold markings on his skin, which resemble the map of the world rotating around his body. He sports a long, unkempt beard and wears a tall top hat and a black waistcoat with sleeves folded up to the shoulders. Other than this, G draws power from the earth’s elements to empower his special moves, even being able to use magma for his fully powered special moves.
G is also known to have a momentum-based playstyle due to how his unique mechanic, Presidentiality, works. He can power up all his special moves, gaining multiple hits, better combo usage, and higher damage. At the third or maximum level, he has access to his EX moves for free, as well as canceling into his EX moves from his powered-up special moves. Knocking G down while he’s buffed makes him lose a Presidentiality level, which essentially powers down G’s damage output if he is halted in his advance.
He is also notorious for stealing matches due to the sheer power of his V-Trigger (which is a mechanic unique to SFV) which powers up all his moves to maximum level. He can single-handedly turn a match around due to his damage and multiple offensive options, leaving G as a character that was known to be an offensive nightmare to deal with.
G is a man shrouded in mystery and leaves the players to wonder who he really is since there’s no actual confirmation of his connection to Q (who was a playable character in SF3 with an eerily similar moveset minus the lava and magma powers). He can be another character that can tie into Street Fighter 6’s open story since he can just fill in as another godlike figure with an unknown motive. G can also become a potential foil to JP’s currently unknown motive, as he’s not exactly motivated to do anything evil but more for the Earth’s betterment, or at least according to him.
One thing is for certain: the man is a fan favorite with his design and his play style. It may be frustrating to lose to him due to a few interactions (guilty as charged), but you gotta admit the guy is visually impressive and equally as mysterious as they come.
Other Notable Possible Returns or Additions’
While the three mentioned above were only one-time additions to the mainline series, the next few characters came out in multiple games already, but are still warranted for an appearance in the current game due to several different things as we talk about them.
Fei Long - Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
Fei Long is Street Fighter’s homage to the famous Chinese martial arts practitioner, Bruce Lee. His appearance, fighting style, mannerisms, and even name are all loosely based on the late great one. He first appeared in Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers and later also appeared in Super Street Fighter IV. He is an action film star from Hong Kong who enters martial arts tournaments to test his skills. Being the only SF2 character that hasn’t appeared in either Street Fighter V or Street Fighter 6 (T. Hawk is Lily to some extent), his appearance is very much long overdue, and by no means is he a generic fighter.
His "Hitenryu" style is based on Jeet Kune Do and showcases a number of different kicks, punches, and even the famous "one-inch punch" in one of his super moves. His gameplay revolves around his great normal attacks and his patented "Rekkaken" series which are great for finishing and confirming combos, closing the distance, or checking his opponents as well.
His moveset encourages an aggressive yet poke-heavy playstyle which allows you to get in with certain moves and stay out with great pokes. They doubled down on this in Super Street Fighter IV, where he even got a command grab to encourage this "hit-and-run" playstyle. It’s been a long time since Fei Long ever appeared in the series, and I think now is the perfect time to get him in again with SF6’s theme of going worldwide once again.
Makoto - Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
Makoto is a special case simply because she’s one of my favorite characters to watch in whatever game she’s in. She first appeared in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and in Super Street Fighter IV as part of the additional characters. She’s a young Japanese tomboy trained in Rindo-kan karate. She’s solely motivated to revive her late father’s dojo to its former glory.
Her fighting style is often regarded as a combination of being strong, loud, and aggressive, much like her own personality. Makoto was also regarded as one of the strongest fighters, but she was often quick to anger. Her gameplay is all about getting that one opportunity to get in and continue snowballing from there. She’s a unique case of a rushdown fighter, as her movement is one of the worst in the cast, and she heavily relies on her attacks to move her forward.
Her moveset highlights her karate, utilizing a number of dash punches, huge chops, and her command grab, which leads to a full combo. Specifically in SFIII, she is known for taking rounds when given the opportunity to hit them once. In the games she’s appeared in, she has the identity of dealing one of the biggest amounts of damage when using all of her resources.
The sole reason I want her to appear again is simply because she’s entertaining to watch. Seeing Makoto melt someone’s health bar in SFIII: 3rd Strike is very fun to watch, especially in big tournaments when the crowd gets into it with every hit she lands. While Marisa exists in SF6 as the big damage juggernaut, she can be another one on the roster to deal amazing amounts of damage while being small in stature.
More Fighters To Arrive
There is a lot of untapped potential with some of the older characters that Street Fighter already has, and a lot of them deservingly need a second chance. There are still more characters, even out of the franchise, that are still open to being in the game, like the Rival Schools characters and other Final Fight additions. We can only hope and wait for Capcom to add all of our favorite characters to what is most possibly the best iteration of Street Fighter yet.
