FGN TOP10: Street Fighter Characters

10) GARUDA

Wiki Entry: Garuda (ガルダ) is a playable character from the Street Fighter EX series. He is a demon dressed in samurai-like armor wearing a skeletal mask who can make thorns appear from every part of his body. He first appeared as a secret boss in the arcade mode of the original Street Fighter EX.

Why I like Garuda: I give the EX series more love than it probably deserves. The gameplay isn't great and visually it is the worst Street Fighter series of games. That being said EX did do some things right, the OST among the three games is some of the best music in fighting game history, as well as making a good chunk of characters people enjoyed. Those being Kairi, Garuda, Skulomania, Doctrine Dark and Pullum Purna.

Garuda takes my top spot for an EX character mainly because he looks cool. He is a demon samurai who was born from the souls of everyone that died from the Satsui no Hado! Not only that but he can shoot thorns out of any part of his body! He is so strong that Akuma tried to run away from him! Akuma! A cool character with a cool design and a cool backstory, Garuda takes my number 10 spot.

9) SAKURA

Wiki Entry: Sakura Kasugano (春日野 さくら Kasugano Sakura) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter Alpha 2. She is a Japanese schoolgirl with an intense fixation on Ryu, having copied and learned many of his techniques, and chasing him around the world to prove herself to him.

Why I like Sakura: See? I don't always go for the evil and edgy characters. Even I can like something as pure as a schoolgirl trying to get better to impress someone. Sakura is one of the biggest underdogs in Street Fighter along with Sean. Not only does she admire Ryu and copy his style. She has made her own version, her running Shoryuken and jumping Tatsumaki being some examples. She is one of the more fun shoto characters and has an enjoyable and simple story of self-improvement. Sakura is my number 9.

8) ALEX

Wiki Entry: Alex (アレックス Arekkusu) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter III: New Generation. He is an American from New York who enters the third World Warrior tournament after its sponsor, Gill, seriously injures his best friend and father figure Tom.

Why I like Alex: Street Fighter III: Third Strike is considered by many as the greatest fighting game of all time. And Alex is one of the biggest characters in a game that holds a lot of fan favorites. As you've probably figured out by now, there is no specific reasoning on my picks outside of they look cool, play fun and have some story bits here and there. Alex plays as a pseudo-grappler, using grappling moves mixed with charged attacks which tend to be my favorite type of grapplers (though my favorite grappler is a pure grappler character so foreshadow to the future). A fun pseudo-grappler who takes on the Illuminati, Alex takes number 8.

7) HUGO

Wiki Entry: Hugo (ヒューゴー Hyūgō), also known as Andore, is a video game character who debuted as a common enemy in the beat-em-up game Final Fight before appearing as a playable fighter in the Street Fighter series starting with Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact. He is a professional wrestler, managed by long-time friend Poison and former member of the Mad Gear Gang.

Why I Like Hugo: Hugo is the most fun you'll ever have with a grappler, period. He is a big, dumb, muscle of fun and hype that no other grappler can compare to. Moves like Meat Squasher and Shootdown Backbreaker will frighten any opponent. All he wants to be is a potato and for that he gets number 7.

6) NECALLI

Wiki Entry: Necalli (ネカリ Nekari, "Battle") is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter V. He is an ancient, mysterious entity searching for souls of powerful fighters to devour.

Why I Like Necalli: If we were going by who I liked purely on story Necalli would be near the bottom. Capcom gave no explanation to his exact origin, gives a vague reasoning behind his actions and then proceeds to not give Necalli a single victory because we can't have someone who eats his victims win any fight in the story unless we kill a character. Necalli probably wouldn't have even made this list if it wasn't for the fact he plays well and his character design which looks so cool that gets even cooler when he transforms. If we take Necalli at face value he is an ancient being who consumes the souls of his victims and that is pretty metal right there. Congrats Necalli, you made it to number 6 purely on how awesome you look.

5) AKUMA

Wiki Entry: Akuma (悪魔 Akuma, "Devil"), known in Japan as Gouki (ゴウキ or 豪鬼 Gōki, "Fortitude", "Great Demon", "Great Devil" or "Great Ogre"), is a video game character and recurring antagonist of the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a hidden boss. He is an emotionless and powerful warrior fixated on mastering the Satsui no Hado.

Why I Like Akuma: Cause it is Akuma, nuff said. I mean seriously, we all know Akuma is great. He is a badass who gets number 5 AND HE IS COMING BACK FOR SFV!

4) VEGA

Wiki Entry: Vega, known as Balrog (バルログ Barurogu) in Japan, is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing as a non-playable boss in Street Fighter II before becoming playable in it's update, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. He is a claw-wielding, narcissistic, Spanish ninja, obsessed with beauty and personal bodyguard to M. Bison.

Why I Like Vega: I started out playing Ken when I first started playing the Street Fighter series (like most people did, it was either Ryu or Ken) but I eventually moved to the masked assassin himself and have used Vega for most of my life. The reasoning for the switch was childishly simple, he had a weapon. Because of his claw I figured he had an advantage and for the most part it was. Vega had some of the longest pokes outside of Dhalsim. As a kid I also thought he had the coolest design out of all the Street Fighter II cast (I'd like to point out Akuma was super well hidden in the game so I never saw him). While I may not use Vega as much as I once did he is still a fun character I like to play at least a few times each time I jump on SFV. Vega gets number 4.

3) URIEN

Wiki Entry: Urien (ユリアン Yurian) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact. He is a ruthless former disciple of the Illuminati, resenting the supremacy that the organization entrusted to his benevolent older brother, Gill.

Why I Like Urien: So I previously said I used a lot of Vega. I stopped using him in Street Fighter III since SFIII decided to stop using Vega along with almost every other Street Fighter character besides Ryu, Ken, Akuma and Chun-li. So I went back to Ken for awhile because of it while trying out all the new characters. Gill, the final boss of the series, gave me a ton of trouble. No matter who I tried I just couldn't beat him. I tried everyone until I got to Urien and with a lot of time and effort not only did I beat Gill but I ended up having a ton of fun using Urien. Uriens mix of charge and motion moves along with his Aegis Reflector being one of the best setups ever in Street Fighter. Besides, nothing screams Crazy Chili Dog more than a naked man. Urien is number 3.

2) KEN

Wiki Entry: Ken Masters (ケン・マスターズ Ken Masutāzu) is a video game character and deuteragonist of the Street Fighter series, first appearing in the original Street Fighter. Similar to his friend Ryu, Ken's goal is to test his power against many different fighters and strives to become stronger, but holds more restraint due to not wanting to jeopardize his family life.

Why I Like Ken: You knew either Ryu or Ken would show up in this list at some point. Like many Street Fighter fans my road started with Ken but it wasn't because of a Street Fighter game. The very first fighting game I ever played was Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix also known as Pocket Fighter. In that game I used Ken for the longest and you could say that Ken is still my strongest character because no matter what changes between games you can count on Ken staying roughly the same. His simple design and cocky attitude is what drew me to him and nostalgia keeps him near the top. How fitting for Ken to be number 2.

1) JURI

Wiki Entry: Juri Han (ハン・ジュリ Han Juri, Hangul: 한주리, Hanja: 韓蛛俐) is a character in the Street Fighter series. She makes her debut in Super Street Fighter IV, where she is a main character in the storyline. She is 25 years old (as of Super Street Fighter IV) and is described as a brutal and sadistic member of S.I.N. who relishes fighting and inflicting pain upon her foes. Juri returns in Street Fighter V as the fifth of the first wave of six DLC fighters.

Juri is the first South Korean character and the first Taekwondo user in the main Street Fighter games (in the overall series, she is the second after Shin) as well as the first true villainess/anti-villainess and one of the anti-heroes, the first being Sagat.

Why I Like Juri: Of course she is number 1, anyone who knows me knows Juri is my favorite character in all of Street Fighter. She's sexy, strong, cool looking and extremely fun to play. She is the reason I even got into Super Street Fighter IV. There was a period of time where there wasn't many fighting games coming out which led to what many consider the dark times of the FGC. Many played older fighters like Street Fighter III: Third Strike and Marvel VS Capcom 2. I went away from fighters in general for awhile, mainly playing shooters, these were my Halo and Call of Duty days.

Eventually, thanks to Yoshinori Ono, Street Fighter came back with Street Fighter IV. I didn't get into it cause like I said I was in my shooter phase. So SFIV passed me buy and I would continue to not play fighting games again until I saw the opening for Super Street Fighter IV. In it had a badass chick in purple kicking ass. From there I decided to find out who the character was and along the way look more into the game itself. So I bought SSFIV and loved every minute of it, buying the later versions as they came out. If it wasn't for Juri I would never have gotten into SSFIV and if it wasn't for that game I would never have discovered EVO or the FGC or Maximilian Dood. So much is linked to Juri and for that she is my number 1.