After putting seven to eight hours into Capcom’s hotly anticipated Street Fighter IV over the last few weeks, it became apparent that there’s a real lacking of female fighters on the roster. Out of the 25 fighters currently represented, only four of them are female. And if you exclude Chun Li, a regular for almost any Street Fighter title, then you have even less. So with that as a starting point, it’s became even clearer of what fighters are currently missing that would go over well with the Street Fighter fan base. Sure, Yoshinori Ono has said time and time again that no download content would be released for Street Fighter IV in the form of character downloads, but with the lack of Street Fighter III love, we can only hope and dream of these fighters showing their face in updates after Street Fighter IV releases.
#10 – HugoFighting Style: Pro Wrestling - Birthplace: Germany
Weighing over 400 lbs and standing at 8’0” Hugo is one of the biggest fighters to ever fight in the World Warrior Tournament. With his desire to take over pro-wrestling, Hugo would make an excellent addition so he could face off against Zangief who stands in at 7’0”. Hugo has withstood Ryu’s Shin Shoryuken so it would be interesting to watch these to watch these two fighters face off once more.
#9 – DudleyFighting Style: Boxing - Birthplace: England
Many die-hard fans find it disappointing that Balrog made it into Street Fighter IV while Dudley hasn’t. Balrog is usually categorized as a high tier fighter due to how easy it is to dish out an insane amount of damage in little time while Dudley is concentrated on juggles and tricks. The debate is always out there of which boxer is the best in the Street Fighter universe so let’s get Dudley in the game and settle the score once and for all.
#8 – Dee JayFighting Style: Kickboxing - Birthplace: Jamaica
“The Southern Comet” deserves a place within Street Fighter IV as he’s one of the two fighters (T. Hawk being the other) excluded from the upcoming release that were originally in Street Fighter II. He’s also a peculiar character to use as he maneuvers can throw off even the best Street Fighter players. He’s definitely one of the more unique fighters from the early days of Street Fighter and deserves at least one more shot at the spotlight.
#7 – Birdie Fighting Style: Brawler / Pro Wrestling - Birthplace: England
Another brute that deserves a spot in Street Fighter IV, Birdie has been around since the original Street Fighter and is vastly distinctive for his punk rock looks. Already losing once to Ryu due to his excuse of having the flu, Birdie needs to join the ranks of big men in Street Fighter IV as he’s one charismatic crook.
#6 – MakotoFighting Style: Karate - Birthplace: Japan
This young Japanese girl is an exceedingly ambitious karate practitioner who always loves a great challenge. Already fighting Ryu and losing, her powerful and brutal attacks could help round out the character roster that has several fast women already in place. Dressed in her karategi, she isn’t about showing off her flesh, but rather concentrating on dishing out pain to her opponents.
#5 – Karin Fighting Style: Kanzuki-style Hand-to-Hand Combat - Birthplace: Japan
As a rival to Sakura, she’s a natural fit for Street Fighter IV as her storyline could easily be told. Dressed in colorful clothing, her blonde hair and schoolgirl outfit would be very appealing on the eyes to players who like their women to show off their skin while kicking major tail. While she may be a little snooty in terms of attitude, make no mistake about it, her quest to face Sakura again is the most important aspect in her life.
#4 – AlexFighting Style: Professional Wrestling - Birthplace: United States of America
The main character from the Street Fighter III series, Alex needs to be included to help represent SFIII and give the title some merit within the franchise. While he’d be another wrestler added to the mix, he’s a much different fighter as he’s much smaller than Birdie, Hugo and Zangief. On top of that, he’s more agile and the victor of the third World Warrior Tournament. Also, like many characters already in this list, he faced off against Ryu and lost in a match so it would great to see if he has greatly improved since their last match-up.
#3 – Oro Fighting Style: Sennjyutu - Birthplace: Japan
Having Gouken, Gen, Ryu and Akuma already in Street Fighter IV, there’s a personal desire to see another legendary roaming warrior show his face in the title. Oro has already fought Akuma and fought to a draw. It’s been said that Oro is one of the most powerful characters within the Street Fighter universe so it’d be incredible to see him show up and face off against the best warriors once again to test himself. Having already defeated Ryu in a bout, Ryu deserves his rematch against this mysterious hermit.
#2 – ElenaFighting Style: Capoeira - Birthplace: Kenya
As an African princess, Elena is one of the lone fighters to only use kicks as her attacks and was able to heal herself when in combat. Her exotic looks (white hair, blue eyes, and vibrant outfit) Elena would bring a lot of depth to character roster that truly needs more women representation. Plus, if guys drool over Cammy’s legs, then Elena should make them blush in the company of other women.
#1 – IbukiFighting Style: Ninjustu - Birthplace: Japan
Every fighting game needs their ninja representation and outside of Geki, there’s not many fighters within the Street Fighter franchise that practice ninjustu. Ibuki is, of course, an agile competitor that already fits in with the women already implemented in Street Fighter IV, but her fighting style and looks are one of a kind in comparison to other fighters. If there can only be one fighter that needs to be brought to Street Fighter IV, then Ibuki is the character of choice.
Having said all of that, Ono has already ruled out the possibility of downloadable characters so this list is nothing more than a pipedream. There are a handful of fighters outside of this list that would be equally as appealing such as Necro, Sean, Geki, Adon, or even Yun, but the fact still remains that Capcom isn’t committed to delivering character download content.
