The Street Fighter series has a storied history with dozens of characters in tons of games, so you can bet your ass narrowing them down to 25 was tough. But here we are with a ranked list of the best, coolest, and baddest Street Fighter characters ever. The only exclusions we made were the Final Fight characters, as we didn't want to make any more heartbreaking decisions than absolutely necessary.
No. 25. Rose
A personal favorite, Rose has an interesting storyline revolving around the big bad guy of the series, and she has a simple set of moves that rewards a more defensive playstyle.
No. 24. Skullomania
Skullomania just has that infallible tokusatsu superhero swagger. Unfortunately, he's only in those terrible EX games and due to rights issues has fallen into obscurity and those godawful Fighter Maker games since. Shed a tear for Skullomania.
No. 23. Fei Long
He's video game Bruce Lee and his leg catches on fire. That's hype.
No. 22. Elena
Elena is a capoeira fighter, which served two purposes: One, her fighting style allowed for some impressive animations that showed off the new tech for Street Fighter III's arcade machines, and two, Capcom got to play with the "fighter only uses punches" trope by reversing it; since Elena only used kick attacks and the way her moves linked together felt unique and fresh.
No. 21. Abel
Abel is very much tied into the overall story of the Street Fighter IV series, being involved with Seth, M. Bison, and Guile's best friend Charlie. He also has a fighting style based on MMA which is a lot of fun to see in action.
No. 20. Gen
Gen fills the "cool old man" character quota and does it with style. He's one of the more technical, complicated characters so if you see anyone using him you know they know what they're doing.
No. 19. Juri
Another stellar addition to the steadily growing female roster, Juri's angle is that she's completely insane. She has vague ties to the final boss of Street Fighter IV but is clearly more interested in just kicking the crap out of everyone. While not the most technical, she has some interesting tricks up her sleeves that more experience fighters can put to good use.
No. 18. Ibuki
Ninjas are always a plus, and Ibuki is appropriately acrobatic. She has a lot of options that can really mix up a player that doesn't know how to deal with her.
No. 17. Dudley
Seriously, why pick Balrog when you can play as this classy boxer? He can punch really fast, drives a sweet car, and has one of those fun item-throwing taunts. Dudley is a true gentleman.
No. 16. Crimson Viper
Viper is some kind of secret government agent James Bond-type character with access to sweet gadgets that amplify her fighting abilities. She's also a single mom, which is an interesting twist on this kind of character.
No. 15. Rufus
If Guile is representative of all that is great and cool about America, Rufus is the exact opposite. Truly a product of his time, Rufus is not only hilarious but surprisingly swift and deadly. Many pros swear by this guy.
No. 14. El Fuerte
This nutty chef is the latest in Capcom's respectable goal of covering all types of pro wrestling because wrestling is awesome and more fighting games need cool grapplers. Fuerte is all about mixups, forcing his opponent to try to guess what move he's going to use next. If you guess wrong, you can get stuck in a series of frustrating hits that seem cheap but are all part of his style.
No. 13. Rainbow Mika
Rainbow Mika is a Joshi Puroresu star (Japanese female pro wrestling). While Zangief is huge, slow, and brutal, Mika is super fast and flashy. When she activates her super moves she even summons a wrestling ring so she can leap from the top turnbuckle. In the UDON comics, El Fuerter is a huge fan of hers and wears a hilarious R. Mika cooking apron.
No. 12. Vega
For a lot of kids struggling to get through Street Fighter II on the SNES, Vega was as far as they got for a long time. His stage had a cage only he could climb on, which made his already devastating aerial moves even more of a pain to deal with.
No. 11. Makoto
Makoto is bizarre: her movement speed is incredibly slow and her moves all have weird properties. However, if your opponent lets you get your hands on them they won't have much time to regret it.
No. 10. Q
The great underdog of Street Fighter III, Q is a crazy robot man designed after some seriously obscure anime. His weird design draws in a small but dedicated fanbase that is more than willing to put up with some of his weaknesses because they can pay off in big damage.
No. 9. Hakan
If it wasn't for Hakan we would never have known that Turkish oil wrestling was a thing. Thank you, Hakan.
No. 8. Guile
That hair, those muscles, the tattoo, that hair... that Jean-Claude Van Damme movie role. USA! USA! USA!
No. 7. Cammy
One of the first additions to the cast post-Street Fighter II, Cammy was not only fast, but had some strange moves that really force your opponent to stay on their toes and pay attention to their blocking.
No. 6. Blanka
Blanka is a great example of some of the sillier aspects of the series. His plane crashed in Brazil, and somehow his skin turned green his hair orange and he also developed electricity powers. Yeah, we don't know either. He certainly stands out among the comparatively normal members of the cast.
No. 5. Alex
Hulkamania ran wild all over this character design, brother. He even has a WrestleMania 3-inspired stare down with Hugo (designed after Andre the Giant of course) whenever they fight. For a larger, grapple-based character he's surprisingly agile and has a lot of options besides throws.
No. 4. Chun-Li
Chun-Li was one of the first super-kickass women in video games and continues to be a formidable character decades later. In Street Fighter III, she's overpowered as hell.
No. 3. M. Bison
M. Bison is cartoonishly evil yet pulls off looking like a badass at the same time. His design is just brilliant. His purple, flaming psycho powers make for some brutal-looking moves and his voice actors are great (Norio Wakamoto and George Takei).
No. 2. Zangief
The Ultimate Atomic Buster is the greatest representation of professional wrestling in video game history. Also, he dances with Gorbachev and wrestles bears.
No. 1. Dan Hibiki
He's the master of Saikyo-Ryu and the sacred art of taunting. You may beat Dan in a fight, but really, you still lose. Yahoo!
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