Top 5 Street Fighter Characters

Everyone’s who’s a geek has probably played Street Fighter (and all its variations) at one point in time. This week, Geekzkrieg pays homage to the fighting game that started the entire genre with a countdown of the toughest and the best SF fighters of all time.

5. Akuma

Akuma’s the ultimate bad guy. He’s got “I am Evil” (in Japanese characters) emblazoned at his back. He fights like a Ken or Ryu but more sinister. I personally liked Akuma due to his cool fireballs from the air. Akuma made his historic debut in Street Fighter II Turbo, the fifth incarnation of the arcade hit.

4. M. Bison

One of the now legendary villains of the video games, M. Bison is a well crafted character. He’s the guy that you love to hate. Aside from either killing the relatives of the major good characters, M.Bison is also the leader of his minions - the “bad guys” of the Street Fighter genre. Bison’s moves such as the Torpedo Crusher and the punishing scissors kick will make any n00b lose a ton of quarters. In the consoles, once unlocked, everyone and his brother would want to play him - if just to exact the same amount of punishment to other characters.

3. Chun Li

Everyone knows that the evil M. Bison murdered Chun Li’s father and she’s out for revenge! As a fighter, Chun Li’s style and speed are legendary. IGN says that “She’s by far the most popular female fighting game character out there, and if you try to start naming off better-known women in videogaming period, you’re going to wind up with a pretty short list.” We at Geekzkrieg couldn’t agree more.

2. Guile

Guile was the first “charge” character. Built on horizontals and verticals, it was tough playing against a good Guile player. His real name is William F. Guile, a true American and a colonel. He leaves his country and family to enter the World Warrior tournament and avenge his friend Charlie’s death, who was killed by M. Bison, the tournament’s sponsor sometime before the events of the game. In his ending, he defeats Bison, but is dissuaded from killing him by his wife Jane (Julia in the Japanese version) and their daughter Amy (Kris in Japan). Guile spares Bison and returns home to his family.

1. Ryu

The good guys are better loved. Ryu is, according to IGN, is a ”testament to the virtue of simplicity in character design. White gi, dark gloves, red headband for a little touch of color, and that is it. It’s rare, when you think about it, to see too many fancy pieces go into the making of an icon.” But there’s nothing simple about the many things you can do with his attack repertoire. A good Ryu player can compensate with range and do toe-to-toe in the damage department too. That’s just one of the reasons why he’s well loved. He’s my favorite too.

That’s it for our Top 5 list. Want to see the same Street Fighter characters in their later years? Click here to watch the funny video series.

With a list inspired by IGN