Street Fighter 6 characterizes its fighters in odder, more specific ways than prior games in the franchise. The broad strokes—the character archetypes—are still the same. Ryu is a stoic warrior. Dhalsim is a serene yoga master. E. Honda is a prideful sumo fighter. But Street Fighter 6 grounds these iconic characters with additional, eccentric, world-building details that humanize them and make them more than just cultural archetypes of their home countries.
The game exhibits a bemused sense of humour and asks what would happen if these individuals had to navigate the larger world outside of fighting. True, they are masters at their respective martial arts. But that does not mean they are masters in all areas of their lives.
I played through the entire single-player World Tour mode, in which you create an avatar, journey across the world, and receive mentorship from all the games’ characters. And along the way, they share details about their lives, both past and current. Here are 15 of the most interesting character revelations I learned in Street Fighter 6, about the inner lives of these world warriors.
Ken Helps Ryu Handle His Money
Ryu’s entire modus operandi is that he lives for the fight and nothing else—that he spends the majority of time traversing the world in search of worthy foes. But how, exactly, can he afford to do that? Air travel isn’t cheap.
In between fighting, Ryu works construction and bodyguard jobs to take care of those types of expenses. And if he needs to make a big purchase, Ryu has a black credit card, which Ken gave him. It turns out that Ken manages Ryu’s money for him—tournament winnings, guest appearance fees, and cash rewards for solving local problems.
Ryu doesn’t know how much money he actually has; he just knows that it’s enough to last him for the rest of his life. Again, Ken takes care of the details, and he had to talk Ryu into accepting payment in the first place. Ryu was willing to work for free, but Ken told him it would be rude to refuse payment, and declining money would prevent him from procuring more work in the future.
Cammy Is A Vigilant Texter
Cammy is socially awkward, the inevitable result of being a brainwashed clone of M. Bison. And ever since Bison’s death, Cammy’s strived to live a more normal life. She bonds with her fellow Shadaloo dolls, and shares a special bond with her twin Decapre, with whom she tries to grab lunch whenever she gets the chance.
But Cammy also has attachment issues; she confesses that she gets very worried if someone doesn’t answer her text messages, and she checks her read statuses obsessively to ensure her loved ones are okay. During World Tour, Cammy texts you to test your response, in case of an emergency.
So how long do you have to read Cammy’s texts before she starts to worry? About 10 minutes. Better stay on top of that, unless you want her flying over from England to verify your well-being.
Chun-Li Took Ryu Out Clothes Shopping
Chun-Li spends her free time helping other people. Sometimes, it’s the locals in Metro City’s Chinatown, whom she trains in Chinese kenpo. Often, it’s Li-Fen, her adopted ‘little sister.’ But occasionally, it’s her fellow world warriors.
Ryu tells us about a time that Chun-Li took him clothes shopping in Japan so that he could do a better job of blending in when traveling between countries; he recalls that he used to go to the airports dressed in his gi, which frequently created difficulties. Chun-Li helped him pick out a jacket with cherry blossoms on it, which he now wears over his other clothes wherever he goes.
Blanka And Dan Hibiki Are Bros
Blanka is close friends with Dan Hibiki, the result of being travel buddies during their various exploits. Dan is the joke character of the Street Fighter franchise; he is noticeably underpowered and possesses numerous unsafe moves. He also has unlimited taunts (including a level 3 “ultimate” taunt) and a foolish amount of confidence, given his skills.
Blanka seems to be aware of his buddy’s limitations, but is too polite to say so. He demurs on the question of whether or not Dan is a good fighter, and redirects to insist that Dan is a nice guy. Blanka values his friends for their camaraderie, not for what he can learn from them.
Juri Had A Happy Childhood
Juri is a sadistic brat, but she didn’t start out that way. Juri recalls a happy childhood—she was a straight-A student, and a prodigy at taekwondo. Her dad was a successful prosecutor, but he and her mom were killed in front of Juri as a reprisal for his investigations into Shadaloo.
Juri then laughs, and insists that everything she just said was made up. So who really knows, although we have reason to believe she’s telling you the truth. The story she tells comes with unlockable artwork, and her denial may be a defence mechanism to prevent people from getting too close.
Lily and T. Hawk Share More Than Just Moves
Lily shares a lot of moves in common with T. Hawk, the massive Native American warrior in Super Street Fighter II. And that’s for good reason, because they’re both from the Thunderfoot tribe, and Lily looked up to him while she was growing up.
T. Hawk has a wife named Julia, who was once kidnapped by M. Bison and brainwashed into becoming Juli, one of the murderous dolls who did Bison’s dirty work. This is probably nothing, but this Julia looks suspiciously like Julia Chang from the Tekken franchise, who is also a Native American fighter.
Guile’s Now A True Family Man (But Not A Dee Jay Fan)
In the years since the Street Fighter II tournament, Guile has reconnected with his loved ones and become a family man, and part of that deal is chaperoning his teenage daughter, Chris, to pop concerts. This is the same Chris who, along with her mother, stopped Guile, who was seeking revenge for the murder of his best friend Charlie, from killing Bison in Street Fighter II.
Guile confesses that he doesn’t care for Dee Jay’s songs; he’d much rather listen to country music.
Dhalsim Can’t Play Baseball Anymore
Dhalsim shares a memory from his past, from when he was invited by some locals to play baseball. After hitting the ball, he reaches first base by stretching his leg over to it. And at that point, he’s thrown out of the game for cheating. Dhalsim expresses frustration at this and states that sports have always been a problem area for him even when he follows the rules, implying that other mishaps similar to this one have occurred.
Guile’s and Dhalsim’s Kids Are Pen Pals
Guile mentions that his daughter, Chris, and Dhalsim’s son, Datta, are pen pals. Their friendship led Guile and Chris to visit Dhalsim in India on a family trip, and the two warriors trained in yoga together. Guile says that his musculature got in the way of him being as flexible and bendy as Dhalsim’s poses would have demanded.
Marisa Is Polyamorous
Marisa is looking for love, and she’s willing to find it in multiple partners. During one of the World Tour missions, Marisa asks you to fight two suitors—one man, one woman—and tell her which one you prefer. No matter which one you choose, Marisa will take both, and she extends an offer for the player to be the third. In arcade mode storylines, she also flirts with both Manon and Zangief. Zangief declines her advances, but Manon seems both flustered and intrigued.
Manon Has A Difficult Time With Compliments
Manon has problems with positive compliments and with being called “strong,” thanks to traumas in her childhood. When her mother left her, she told Manon that she would be okay without her, because Manon was “strong.” This proved traumatic, and ever since then, she’s associated compliments about her strength and abilities with her mother’s abandonment.
This starts to change during Street Fighter 6, however. Marisa compliments Manon on her fighting ability, and Manon feels liberated to interact with someone who takes such joy from being in competition and excelling at something, without any of the psychological baggage attached to it.
Yun And Yang Saved Jamie
Beyond the main cast, Street Fighter 6 features a lot of appearances by fighters from prior games. We learn that Jamie was an aimless punk who ran afoul of criminals while fighting in the streets. Yun and Yang saved him, and from that point on, he followed their example by taking on his role as protector of Metro City’s Chinatown.
Yun and Yang made their debuts in Street Fighter III, as twin kung-fu masters. Their uncle is Lee, one of the CPU-only opponents from the original, single-player Street Fighter.
E. Honda’s Real Name
I’ve known since the ‘90s that the “E” in E. Honda’s name stands for Edmond. What I didn’t know was that this was a westernization of his real name, Edomondo, which is itself a callback to the Edo period in Japanese history. E. Honda says that he chose this alias as a matter of convenience: “To bring sumo worldwide, I needed a name that could work anywhere.”
Kim’s Sensei Is Guy, Who Prioritizes Tradition
In the single-player story mode, Metro City is a fully explorable location, reinforcing that the Final Fight franchise and the Street Fighter franchise are both part of the same universe. Guy, the heroic ninja originally from Final Fight, cameos in SF6 as Kim’s martial arts master.
Kimberly trained under Guy, and like her, he emphasized the value of training in old-fashioned ways. One act she undertook was meditating under a waterfall, which helped her feel connected not only to nature, but to the generations of ninjas who had come before her and practiced the same way.
Zangief Is A Voracious Reader
Zangief is more than just his muscles—he is an intellectual and one of the most well-read individuals in fighting games. The Red Cyclone invites the player to go to the local library to take out some books, and he states that he himself reads at least 300 books each year.
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