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!

Meet Street Fighter V's Menat, an old soul in a young body?

More news from the people at Capcom. The latest fighter for Street Fighter V; Season 2 has been revealed. This time it is a young female by the name of Menat. Harrison at Capcom-Unity gave the fighting game crowd a full preview of the character. In case you haven't seen her here she is along with her alternate costumes.

 

The character was actually teaser earlier, appearing in the visions of Ed. In her earlier debut she was listed only as a Fortune Teller. The connection between her and Ed was instant. I had mentioned previously that Ed was a return to Psycho Power. This was the mysterious psychic energy that powered Vega / the Dictator and allowed him to do things like fly, teleport and glowing orbs of psychic energy. The origins of this power were connected by a mystical person named Rose. She debuted in Street Fighter Zero / Alpha, which tied together the events that happened between Street Fighter, Final Fight and Street Fighter II. It looks like Menat is filling in that same role. Harrison said that Menat was the understudy of Rose. It made sense that Menat and Ed were connected. Rose and Vega also shared a psychic bond. This was explored in the various endings.

 

The moves and special abilities of Menat had a few things in common with Rose. She could reflect fireball attacks and even add energy to them to make them more powerful. Yet like Ed, she was her own unique character. Menat fought with a crystal ball, which she named Ankh. The Capcom designers called it a soul sphere, the name was based on the ancient Egyptian symbol which symbolized life. I didn't know if the crystal ball actually contained her soul, or was a conduit for her psychic powers. I suppose we'll find out shortly. There had been a few characters from the Middle East in the history of fighting games. Egyptian characters were not unique but they sometimes wore costumes that were more classical than contemporary.

 

I wouldn't say that Menat's default costume was daily wear for an Egyptian but her alternate costumes did seem eerily familiar. At worst the costumes could be considered culturally insensitive. I mean did Egyptians in the 21st century really wear mummy wraps? But more important than that, a lot of people have noticed that the alternate costumes looked like costumes worn by characters in other fighting games. Sadira for example was an assassin introduced in Killer Instinct. The fighting game from 2013 was a relaunch of a cult-classic Rare franchise. Sadira was inferred to be from the Middle East. The colors of her hood and patterns on her costume looked like traditional dress. Something inspired loosely by the bedleh, the light clothing worn by dancers. Sadira's uniform looked very much like the basis for Menat's costume. Then there was Eliza. This Pharaoh-themed character was introduced in Skullgirls Encore. The indy fighting game from 2014 pulled inspiration from dozens of different sources, including classic American cartoons and Japanese anime. Eliza was actually a design that was voted on by fans. The studio used Kickstarter to raise funds for new characters and Eliza was extremely popular in the voting. She really stood out when she was finally added. It was as if Cleopatra had become a fighter, her dress, Ankh symbol and crown were pulled from ancient history. And then apparently it looked like these things were poached by Capcom to be used for Menat as well. The similarities I think were too close for this to be more than coincidence.

 

Poaching costumes from a rival studio was pretty low in my book. But then it might all be coincidence. The first time I saw the Fortune Teller / Menat the very first thing that stood out to me was the cut of her hair. Her look, her costume didn't immediately strike me as something that was featured in any contemporary game. Instead the hair, the colors and overall look actually reminded me of a few characters that Capcom had designed previously. The hair specifically reminded me of Claire, an officer in the Fourth Empire. She had a look that was inspired by medieval Spanish knights. She even fought with a plasma rapier. Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein came out in 1998. It was the sequel to Star Gladiator, a 1996 3D game, that was essentially Capcom's version of Star Wars as a fighting game. The sequel also introduced us to Luca, an alien fighter that was the fiance' of the alien Gore.

 

When I first saw Menat I thought that she was a sort of combination design of Claire and Luca. As if the designers revisited the notes on other fighters and tried to create something new. Also, seeing her bubbly personality reminded me of ARIKA's Pullum Purna. The youthful and energetic girl from the Arabian peninsula predated Menat by 20 years. It was hard to deny that Sadira and and Eliza also predated if not outright influenced Menat's design. What Capcom did right was in approaching her move set, her special abilities and connection to the past. Menat worked in part because she was reminiscent of Rose. Just as Ed reminded us of M. Bison and Vega, the Boxer and Dictator. But Menat was her own character, with her own special attacks, strategies and techniques. She would bridge the legacy designs and make a unique spot in the lineup.

 

If you are an artist trying to crack the code of the Street Fighter designs just look at three of the newer characters introduced into the series. Juri, Ed and Menat were all inspired by previous characters, they were in essence mirroring legacy designs. Juri was like an evil version of Chun-Li. Ed was a hybrid of Vega and Bison. Menat was the fresh face. She was to Rose as Cammy was to Chun-Li. It was not a coincidence that audiences gravitated towards these characters. Whether they realized it or not Capcom was using the same design elements that brought people into the fold 30 years ago. You can't really say the same about Rufus, Hakan, F.A.N.G. or Necali could you? I'd like to hear your take on Menat. Do you like the character? Why do you think she does or doesn't work in the series. 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!