A look at Ed from Street Fighter V, design meets legacy...

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about a new Street Fighter character, I haven’t been happy with most of them. I’m not going to talk about Kolin, probably ever, sorry about that. Instead I’m going to look at one of the new guys. Ed, revealed at the end of Street Fighter V Season 1 as the understudy of M. Bison / Boxer, was now a playable character. As a whole I think his design and assignment of moves and powers was done very well. There were the things that seemed off, like his animations which seemed to lack polish. Then there was the ability to perform special attacks with simple button combinations instead of traditional joystick+button inputs. Long time fans of Street Fighter thought this was pandering to Nintendo’s Smash Bros. community. But speaking from a visual design standpoint I would say Ed was probably the best new character in the past few years. The reasons for this were subtle but well done.

The first thing we should look at was his age. Ed was a young character. Most people in the series were adults. Young characters in a fighting game had mostly been girls, rarely men. In the Season 1 cut scenes he looked like a skinny kid, someone that you might see in real life. The use of a sleeveless hoodie was a good costume choice as it was not too modern. It made sense given that he was learning the art of boxing. Fighters had been wearing training sweatsuits for over half a century. It worked in any era the game was taking place in. This look was also used in pop culture. Rappers like Eminem used street fashion to build an identity. He dressed the part because he was genuine. He was from the streets and not created by a marketing wing of a record label. It was Ed’s updated costumes that worked even better.

The black and red motif of Ed’s Battle Costume worked extremely well, especially against the light skin and blonde hair the character. The three colors, red, black and yellow were considered a triad of colors. The main color red, contrasting color black and accent color gold worked well visually. Go back through your fighting game history and look at the other characters that had similar color choices. Ken or course had a red gi for most of the games but in SFV he was paired with a black rash guard as well. The other blonde characters with similar color schemes were Paul Phoenix from Tekken, Jacky Bryant from Virtua Fighter, Rugal from the King of Fighters and Andrei the boxer from King of Combat. Having a strong color pallet was something that had made previous characters so memorable. Of course the use of the colors, jacket and military cap was also a callback to the organization that made Ed unique.

Ed had matured some, had gotten bigger and stronger, from the last time he appeared. Season 2 saw the addition of multiple costumes, the Default, Story and Battle uniforms. Each one of the costume choices complimented the character very well. In his Default costume Ed now looked like a full-fledged Shadowlaw officer. In the story he was aging quickly because of the experiments that S.I.N., the Shadowlaw weapons group, had performed on him. When I saw his militaristic costume and fingerless gloves it worked on multiple levels. He was now using the striking techniques taught to him by the former world boxing champ. Yet he was also his own unique fighter. He wouldn’t be riding the coattails of M. Bison for long. When I saw the character going toe-to-toe with his mentor I wasn’t put off. In fact seeing him in action reminded me of another young fighter taking on a veteran.

Brad Allan, a martial artist, stuntman and fight choreographer was a villain in the 1999 Jackie Chan film Gorgeous. Allan was a cocky young fighter that gave Jackie a run for his money. In the movie Allan didn’t want the fight to be over too quickly so he allowed Chan to wear light sparring gloves while he wore heavily padded boxing gloves. At that time Chan was a well-established movie star. Fans had seen him beat up all sorts of different martial artists over the years. Most of the people he fought were about the same age and the same size, yet every now and then he took on much larger opponents. Chan had lightning fast punches and was a master at improvisation, he could adapt to his opponents and overcome them quickly. People expected more of the same in this film. Imagine their surprise when they saw the kid trading punches and kicks as fast if not faster than Chan. For the first time in a long time it appeared as if the veteran had been outclassed. The stakes had suddenly become much higher because of this villain. When I saw Ed’s assortment of boxing moves I got flashbacks to how Allan was portrayed in the film. It got me excited for his potential in the Street Fighter series.

It wasn’t enough that Ed was a striker. His costume revealed a lot more about his true purpose and the extend of his powers. He was being groomed by the Dictator himself to become an important member of Shadowlaw. Would he perhaps become a general in the organization? Would he replace Sagat, F.A.N.G. or even the Boxer on the roster? Or would he assume total leadership of the organization some day? In order to accomplish this goal it meant that Ed would be given powers that went above those of normal people. This was where the fictional “Psycho Power” was reintroduced into the series. It had first appeared in Street Fighter II and was used to explain the awesome powers of Vega / the Dictator. The origins of Psycho Power were touched upon in the Street Fighter Zero series in 1995. The character Rose was a fortune teller whose powers were harnessed by Vega. This form of psychic energy allowed people to float, throw balls of energy and strike with burning force.

Psycho Power faded into history as Street Fighter III changed the main villain in 1997. Gill represented a secretive group known as the Illuminati. He had some sort of elemental powers, fire and ice specifically, at his disposal. This was never full explained in the series making him more fantastic in origin. In 2008 Street Fighter IV returned back to the SF II timeline. The head of S.I.N. was developing a new form of energy that could be weaponized. The character Seth had a Tanden Engine, installed into his abdomen, which allowed him to generate fields of energy and attract or repel opponents. A miniature version of the Tanden Engine was placed behind Juri’s eyepatch, which gave her superhuman strength. The Tanden Engine was combining the spiritual studies of Yin and Yang with science. It was the spiritual energy that allowed Ken and Ryu to throw fireballs but for the first time had been recreated mechanically. This technology took a back seat when Ed showed up and brought Psycho Power back to the forefront.

Psycho Power was a great explanation for why Ed was more than just another martial arts master in a tournament. It allowed the artists at Capcom to pull design elements that went into both the Boxer and Dictator and create something new. For the artists and budding designers reading this it was an important lesson in creativity. Take a look at your favorite character and try to pinpoint the best features. Look at the colors used, look at the cut of the costume. Look at the moves they had. Then take a look at a another one of your favorite characters and do the same thing. Now imagine how you could combine their features. For bonus points try making a good guy or bad guy version of the character. Or try changing the sex of the character or ethnicity. But Ed was more than just a distilled mix of the Dictator and Boxer. He had a unique special attack all his own.

Ed could use his Psycho Power to create a web of energy and pull his opponents to him, it was called the Psycho Snatcher. It looked like the sort of move Spider-Man might use. This attack opened up the potential from a game play standpoint. The web of energy could cut off projectile attacks mid-air. It could also snatch opponents right out of the air. At a close range it could stun opponents and ensnare them even if they were blocking. From a design standpoint this also meant that Psycho Power was malleable. It didn’t have to be used as concentrated bursts of energy, and it didn’t have to be used to engulf the player in a psychic flame. Psycho Power could be used like a whip or net as well. Its other uses were limited only by the imagination of the designer. This special attack actually had its roots in the manga series Super Street Fighter II X Gaiden by Mami Itoh.

In the manga Chun-Li, acting as an INTERPOL agent was investigating a dangerous new drug that had hit the streets. It lead her to Los Angeles and eventually San Francisco where she ran into Ken’s wife Eliza. A handsome young investigator was assigned to the case as well. The two were tracking down the drug trafficker and assassin known by the alias the Spider. Chun-Li’s partner turned out to be the Spider and he was working on behalf of Shadowlaw. He tried to kill Chun-Li before she bring down the operation. The Spider had developed a deadly neurotoxin which he coated spikes with. He would use these poison barbs to kill his enemies. The trap that he set, the web symbolism used in the comics especially, made him a unique opponent. If he could have been presented in a fighting game with monofilament wires (like the kind Rolento uses) and his poison spikes then he could have made for a very unique Street Fighter villain. Seeing the Psycho Snatcher reminded me of the the Spider. I wondered if this double agent was not an inspiration for Ed. Even if he wasn't I think Ed’s design was well done. It worked in the lineup better than most of the new heroes and villains introduced up until now. What did you think about this character? Were you a fan or not? Why was that? Please let me know in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!