30 years of Street Fighter, 30 Days of Characters; #23

Today we celebrate Birdie, one of the original Street Fighter characters. He is one of the select few that appeared in 1987 and was brought back a few times as a playable character. Those old enough to remember the original game also recall that there were only two playable characters, Ken and Ryu. The duo traveled the globe and fought masters of various martial arts. Birdie was significant for a number of reasons. His size was one of them but aside from that he had a strong look. His mohawk haircut, leather vest, pants, and spiked bracelets let people know that he was a punk and not afraid of a fight. Also Birdie didn't represent any style of fighting, he was a legitimate street fighter. He swung his massive arms wildly and headbutted his opponents. There was nothing graceful about the character but he was very good at what he did.

Birdie wouldn't return again until 1995 with the debut of Street Fighter Zero / Alpha. When audiences saw him again he had a radical new look. Actually his look didn't change as much as the aesthetic. The legendary Bengus redrew all the characters and greatly exaggerated their proportions. Birdie was always a physically strong character, only now he appeared absolutely massive. His arms were now as thick as his legs. His mohawk, leather vest, and brown boots all returned. He had a few new accessories; jewelry, a tattoo, handcuffs and a chain all solidified his makeover. Of course the other thing that audiences noticed was his skin color. Birdie went from a white guy to a black guy in the span of eight years. The moves that he had in the original Street Fighter were preserved. He still relied on his club-like punches and headbutt. He could even use the chain on his arm as a makeshift lasso. The style wasn't pretty but it was very effective. 

Despite his odd appearance Birdie was a sympathetic character. His friendship with Ryu was explored in the Street Fighter Zero manga. He also happens to be a character that bridges together the various continuities. Birdie helped connect the Street Fighter and Street Fighter II timelines in Street Fighter Zero. He also helped bring wrestlers into the fold as well. Mike "Macho" Haggar, the mayor of Metro City, was one of the stars of Final Fight (1989). Most people know that he also appeared as a pro wrestler in the Muscle Bomber / Saturday Night Slammasters series. In the game they mentioned that the giant Titanic Tim aka Titan the Great was the tag team partner of Birdie. This became canon when the official team art was released for Street Fighter Zero. Birdie was always a fun character to play as. Up close he could mangle opponents with his "Murderer Chain" and he could even leap across the screen for a surprise beating. I'm not fond of what the designers at Capcom did to him in Street Fighter V but I will nonetheless remember him for how unique he made the Street Fighter universe. 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!

30 Years of Street Fighter, 30 Days of Characters; #27

The Wraith, like many of the characters at the start of my list of 30 is on the extreme end of designs. He exists in a group with characters like Blanka and Dhalsim. These fighters are designed to be visually shocking. They are used very sparingly by Capcom otherwise they lose their impact. As the list of Street Fighter universe characters I'm talking about gets smaller expect them to be more normal looking. But I digress... The Wraith as you can guess was never in a numbered Street Fighter game. He exists in the extended universe. He appeared in the game Super Muscle Bomber / Ring of Destruction: Slammasters II (1993). This character, like the others in the series (except for Mike Haggar) was designed by Tetsuo Hara, the artist behind Hokuto No Ken / Fist of the North Star.

As I mentioned previously Mr. Hara is a huge wrestling fan. He knows the wrestlers from different eras, different countries, and different organizations. He created exaggerated versions of real people and in some cases amalgamations of several different performers for the Muscle Bomber lineup. For the Wraith he wanted to make a nightmarish villain. He used Mark Calaway the wrestler known as the Undertaker as the template. The Undertaker in the WWF / WWE had a very strong gimmick, he was a giant of a man, seemingly undead with great strength and purported supernatural powers. The Wraith pushed that concept even further, he was a green-skinned giant (like Frankenstein's monster), moved like a zombie with long red claws. He also had supernatural powers. He could breathe fire and produce snakes from his head! The Wraith was also from India, but his look couldn't be any further from Dhalsim or any other Tiger Jeet Singh archetypes.

The Wraith was a very memorable Street Fighter universe character, not only for his look but also for what he represented in canon. He could have been interpreted as a wrestler that painted himself green and used some sort of showbiz magic to conjure snakes, or this guy was genuinely a death cultist that happened to be a wrestler. Like many of the best Street Fighter characters he was open to your interpretation. That was something that I really loved about the most iconic fighters. It was up to you to fill in the blanks. What do you think about over-the-top characters like Dhalsim, Blanka or even the Wraith, do they make the Street Fighter universe more or less interesting to you? The next character in the series also happens to be a mysterious fighter. I hope to see you back for that. 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!