Street Fighter: Ranking All the Characters

Street Fighter’s been part of video game culture—hell, pop culture—since...well, the second game. Nobody ever cared about the first game. Kind of sad, really. Capcom’s series has been reinvented many times over the last 29 years. With so many sequels and rehashes, the iconic cast of characters have clashed with the Marvel superheroes and even their SNK and Namco fighting game counterparts. They’ve had movies, animated adventures, lots of comics, and a really cool web series.

As the franchise gets ready to make its current-gen debut for Street Fighter V, I’ve decided to rank every character from worst to best. Hey, people seemed to like it when I did the same for Mortal Kombat. Only makes sense to try the World Warriors while I’m at it.

Of course, figuring out the guidelines was a bit tricky. At first, I was thinking of going with any fighter in a game with “Street Fighter” in the title. That way I could make jokes about Captain Sawada from Street Fighter: The Movie and the Shadaloo Cyborg from Street Fighter: The Interactive Movie. Then I realized that those qualifications would mean I’d have to include the cast of Street Fighter EX, and nuts to that! Sorry, but that cast is 80% terrible, and I really don’t want to have to talk about them.

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Instead, all you need to qualify is to be a fighter in one of the canon Street Fighter games. That means Street Fighter, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter III, Street Fighter IV, and all their respective upgrades and updates.

As with the Mortal Kombat article, I’m ranking these based on style, storyline, and personal preference. Not over who has the better infinite combos, hitboxes, or whatever wins you tournaments. Also, depictions in other games and media reflect on my opinion, so while Sawada won’t make it in, Raul Julia’s M. Bison will certainly factor to his spot.

Now, the Mortal Kombat cast is completely scattershot in quality. In comparison, Street Fighter’s roster is a lot more solid on the whole, so realize that I’m very much a fan of most of the entries on the list. Keep that in mind when your favorite ends up in the late-30s or wherever.

Now let’s start with the worst of the worst...

66. LEE

First Appearance: Street Fighter

When you try to figure out the worst Street Fightercharacter, you basically have to look to the first game and the cast members who never got revisited in any relevant way. While guys like Birdie, Adon, Sagat, Gen, and Eagle evolved and became more realized, a handful of opponents remained stuck in the past with nothing much to hang on to.

Lee falls behind the most with me. He’s just so boring and looks like a dork. At least with the other Street Fighter 1 characters, I can imagine them being badass. Not with Lee. Just looking at him saps away at my creativity and will to be productive.

How funny that the very worst Street Fighter character shares the same name as the very best Tekkencharacter.

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65. JOE

First appearance: Street Fighter

Joe is the most basic, generic character I’ve seen in a fighting game that isn't Virtua Fighter. He’s just a shirtless guy in red pants who does nothing special outside of a jumping roundhouse kick. Every single enemy from Final Fight has a more interesting design than this man.

Yet while Lee’s blandness puts me to sleep, Joe’s generic design intrigues me. I kind of love it in an ironic way. Word is that Cody’s Alpha 3 redesign was originally going to be given to Joe, which certainly would’ve made this ranking different. Instead, Capcom’s stayed away from him and made him “that guy.”

64. MIKE

First appearance: Street Fighter

Mike is baaaaasically Balrog, but not really. I mean, Balrog was obviously supposed to be him in Street Fighter II(as he’s called Mike Bison in Japan), but the naming switcheroo in America led to Capcom saying, “What? No. Officially, Mike and the boxer from Shadaloo are two different people!”

That means we’re left with this throwaway black boxer guy from the U.S. who will never show up ever again. He’s worthless outside of having that sweet Mount Rushmore stage.

63. RETSU

First appearance: Street Fighter

While Retsu lacks the innate coolness of Geki, he’s at least got a shin up on the other Street Fighter 1 bozos. For one, those eyebrows. Those wonderful, wonderful eyebrows.

He also has ties with the Gouken side of the Street Fighter universe and has always seemed like he’s on the cusp of being something more than a one-hit never-was. Like the way Capcom had official art of him beating the crap out of Dan Hibiki back in the Alphadays. I kind of get why people keep clamoring for him to make a comeback. It feels like he actually could be someone worth mentioning if they gave him the chance. Instead, he’s just another forgotten relic.

62. INGRID

First appearance: Capcom Fighting Jam (cancelled)
First appearance in a completed game: Capcom Fighting Evolution
First appearance in Street Fighter: Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max

Hey, look. It’s a sore thumb.

Ingrid was originally created for Capcom Fighting Jam, which was never finished. Then they used her for Capcom Fighting Evolution, which was the laziest fighter Capcom ever made. Since they had her sprites done, they put her in Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max for PSP. They explained her to an extent as a higher power in the Street Fighter universe who created Psycho Power and wanted to go take care of Bison for stealing it from her.

Ingrid breaks the Street Fighter universe. She’s essentially the Phantom Stranger, only she’s a cosmic teenage girl because anime. It’s like, you can have the guys from Street Fighter take on Galactus, Sigma, Master Hand, etc., and it works in a goofy crossover situation. But if you were to canonize it, it would just feel off. Plus her insertion into the story really cheapens M. Bison.

61. EL FUERTE

First appearance: Street Fighter IV

Listen, if you happen to know anything about me, you know I’m a big wrestling guy. Therefore, it says a lot that I have a luchador this low. Believe me, I was pumped when he was announced, but the spark quickly dimmed. The dude is annoying, and his flimsy gimmick of being a wandering chef who isn’t very good...isn’t very good. When I see he’s my next opponent and he’s leaping in with, “IT’S SUPER DYNAMIC COOKING TIME!” I can’t press the skip button fast enough.

As annoying and eye-rolling as he is, I will give him points for the Street Fighter comic where he’s shown to be an intense Rainbow Mika fanboy.