Ed, and Rashid. A look at two Street Fighter V stars in Street Fighter 6

Today is going to be a two-for-one special. We are going to look at Ed, and Rashid’s redesign in Street Fighter 6. The reason for this is because the two characters are relatively new. I’ve already done a deep dive on the origins of their look, especially in the case of Rashid. I covered Ed when he made his debut in Street Fighter V. In case you missed it, Ed is a punch-based fighter. Not quite a pure boxer as his mentor M. Bison/Boxer. He also has some psychic / psycho powers like Vega / Dictator from Shadowlaw. He was designed, and literally programmed to be a high-ranking Shadowlaw officer, but broke away from command with the help of Falke. His appearance in SF6 is similar to a few other characters. His look is more casual than before. His tights, and boxing gloves have given way to pants, and a jacket. Ed represents the new direction of how the fighting arts show up in the franchise. In one sense it’s much more realistic, but in another it steers us away from the things that make Street Fighter, well, look like a Street Fighter game. 

The series was never one about making the most realistic fighting game. Instead it took archetypes of the martial arts, caricatures essentially, and put them in different settings. This meant that karate guys walked around in karate gis, soldiers in their camouflage fatigues, boxers with punching gloves, and trunks. You get the idea. You could almost instantly tell two things just by looking at the character, what their nationality was, and what fighting style they represented. If you look at E. Honda you could probably figure out he was a Japanese sumo wrestler. If you look at Chun-Li you can guess she's a Chinese kung-fu practitioner. Most of the characters in SF6 wear costumes that make a little more sense in a casual setting. The trade off means they are more conservative in some regards. I think part of the appeal of the earlier fighters was their ability to reflect a country of origin, and legendary fighting arts. Ed is a shirtless pretty-boy with his hands wrapped in red athletic tape. Would you care to guess what country he is supposed to represent? If you didn't know he was German, you might have guessed a dozen other countries. I mean he has almost the same colors, and outfit as Ken. Maybe he was going to be Mel in the planning stages? We get he’s ready to fight, but with the blonde-haired Luke already the new punching star of the game what purpose does Ed serve? Or is he a redundant character?

Rashid's design was a lot more classic. It was easy to figure out that he was from the Middle East. He was Saudi Arabian, but it would be understandable if you thought he was from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, or Quatar. He was previously covered in a four-part series. I was glad to see his return. I always applaud any character of color returning to the franchise. The changes made to his costume are subtle, but help him stand out from the lineup even more. Rashid’s original design in SFV was a little bit lacking. His all-white outfit, with parts of black for contrast was kind of bland. Not to mention that Ryu pretty much had that color scheme for the previous 30 years. The studio realized that the he was lacking a third contrasting color. Ryu had red in his headband, and gloves. Rashid was given splashes of orange on his sandals, belt, backpack, sleeves, and bands of his keffiyeh. Now his look is much more distinct thanks to the use of an accent color. If there is one thing that makes both Ed, and Rashid’s updates work are the colors assigned to their costumes. They are solid colors that are well balanced, and help them stand out from the colors assigned to the other characters. With Ed having a burgundy, and deep blue combination that were not the shades of blue featured on characters like Guile, or Chun-Li. They were actually complimentary to the colors, and outfit of Ken.

What do you think about the return of Ed, and Rashid? Did you enjoy the two in Street Fighter V? Would you have rather seen another returning character, or a new character instead? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. In case you missed it here are the other entries related to Rashid. Middle Eastern series, Part 1. Middle Eastern series, Part 2. Middle Eastern series, Part 3. If you 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!