Street Fighter (animation)

"Colonel William Guile, one of the greatest martial artists in the world, travels the global tournament circuit, using it to conceal his top secret mission as leader of an elite group of international crime fighters, known only by their code name: Street Fighter!! The heroic Man-Beast, Blanka; hard-kicking fighting machine, Chun-Li; and a team of the most amazing warriors ever seen have joined forces with Guile to combat the criminal empire of Shadaloo, and its superhuman leader, Bison. They have their own code of honor: Discipline, Justice, Commitment, and together they will triumph against the forces of evil. Street Fighter!"

"This is delicious!" "YES! YES!" —M. Bison

In 1995, the USA Network and InVision Entertainment decided to make a kid-friendly Animated Adaptation of Street Fighter. The problem was that they didn't seem to know which Street Fighter to use as the template: the video game Street Fighter II or the American-made movie based (loosely) on Street Fighter II.

As the Opening Narration above explains, Guile leads a group of Street Fighters against terrorism, mainly the evil forces of Shadaloo. The majority of the Street Fighter movie's story had taken place in this show and most of the characters who were given full names (William F. Guile, Ryu Hoshi, Carlos "Charlie" Blanka, Chun-Li Xiang, etc.) and new roles (Dr. Dhalsim, computer-savvy Honda, Dee Jay and Balrog) were kept. However, the characters look like they did in the games, Fei-Long and Akuma (who were omitted from the actual movie) appear in the show, and everybody's alliances in the show (except Zangief, who even at the end of the movie was good) reflect how they were in the games.

The series had its share of problems. Some fans didn't like how the characters retained aspects from the movie - for example, Guile being the main character rather than Ryu. The show also had inconsistent animation and artwork, mostly generic storylines, and weird moments and dialogue that appear in many episodes.

That being said, Street Fighter lasted two seasons for a total of 26 episodes. It had more Street Fighter characters seen throughout its run than any other animated adaptation of Street Fighter, considering the inclusion of the Street Fighter Alpha characters during the second season and an entire episode devoted to Final Fight.

Tropes used in Street Fighter (animation) include:

• Actor Allusion: Akuma, voiced by David Kaye, drops a dramatic "Yesss!"
• Adaptational Badass: Ken is the one to defeat Akuma in "The World's Greatest Warrior", something Ryu usually does.
• Adaptational Villainy: Zangief, who is among M. Bison's lackeys.
  • In addition to working with the Mad Gear Gang, Sodom is also a member of Shadaloo.
• Aesop Amnesia: Even after being called out for being an irresponsible Jerkass, Ken still acts like one.
• Animated Adaptation: The American series is the source of many YouTube Poops. "YES! YES!"
• Artistic License Physics: The series has far, far, far too many examples of this to list here, so let's just have a quote from Dhalsim sum it up:

Dhalsim: "Not if I were bound by your immutable laws of physics. Fortunately, I have advanced beyond such simple-minded perceptions and embraced the limitless enlightenment of metaphysics."

• A-Team Firing: Lots of it.
• The Atoner: After M. Bison forced him to experiment on Blanka, Dhalsim completely shunned technology and retreated into the Himalayas, eventually settling down at a Tibetan monastery.
• Beam Spam: Guile. When all else fails, he'll just constantly throw Sonic Booms and Flash Kicks. Case in point: Guile and Sagat's method of ambushing M. Bison in the series finale "Cammy Tell Me True".
• Big No: All over the place. One of the more notable examples is when Guile screams this and shakes his fists like an angry toddler when a brainwashed Cammy retreats with Bison and kisses him.
• Big Yes: Uttered twice in a single scene by a certain character... *DONK* Yesh!
• Bittersweet Ending: Season 2 ends with M. Bison's apparent death and the world saved from a potential nuclear holocaust, but Cammy has no idea what to do anymore.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Bison is able to brainwash both Guile and Cammy on separate occasions.
• Broad Strokes: The series implies that the events of the movie occurred, but not exactly as depicted there. "Keeping the Peace" shows a flashback of Guile being court-martialed for going AWOL and invading Shadaloo City against the AN higher-ups' orders, which happens in the movie, but the fact that Dee Jay and Balrog are now working on opposite sides (among many other inconsistencies) makes it impossible for the movie to completely fit into the show's continuity.
  • Not to mention, both Blanka and Dhalsim were heavily implied to have died at the end of the movie, but show up alive and well here.
• Bullying a Dragon: Yes, Middle Easterners, go ahead and throw rocks at the big green monster with electrical powers!
• Canon Foreigner: Satin Hammer, Wo Fat, La Lupa and Sachi, amongst several others.
• Catch Phrase: "Discipline, justice, commitment!" is used on a fairly regular basis, not just in the intro either.
• Composite Character: Blanka and Charlie were made into one character, just like in the movie. A flashback in "The Medium is the Message" shows a pre-mutation Blanka looking just like Charlie did in Street Fighter Alpha, but with a color scheme closer to Blanka (black hair with a green vest and brown pants). He reverts back to his human form for a while in "Eye of the Beholder."
• Continuity Cameo
  • "The Medium is the Message" features almost all the new characters from the first Street Fighter Alpha (which was being released for home consoles at the time) as competitors in an underground tournament. Birdie, Adon, Rose and Guy are all featured in this episode, along with weird renditions of Sodom (who is not wearing his mask) and Dan (in a green gi instead of his usual pink and with a different hair style). Most of the cast from the original Final Fight (along with Carlos and Maki from Final Fight 2) appear in crowd shots as well.
  • Guile's opponent in "Keeping the Peace" is Bred from Final Fight.
  • In "New Kind of Evil", Blanka's opponent is Mike Haggar in his Saturday Night Slam Masters incarnation.
• Continuity Nod: Despite a few inconsistencies with the source material, there are points in the show that follows the continuity of the games.
  • Chun-Li's father was killed by Bison.
  • Sagat getting his scar from Ryu's Shoryuken.
  • Dhalsim abandoning science for Yoga.
  • Cammy being brainwashed by Bison.
• Crossover: One episode revolves around Ryu and Ken helping Cody and Guy rescue Jessica. This happened during Season 2 when Street Fighter Alpha 2 had just been released on home consoles, which had Guy, Rolento and Sodom as playable fighters. As such, Season 2 had several episodes focusing on Alpha characters instead of the one-scene cameos from Season 1. Too bad the show ended before we could get a Dan episode...
• Cultural Translation: In two ways. First off, Guile is clearly intended to be the primary character of the series. This goes to the point that he overshadowed Ryu and Ken themselves. Secondly, Ken (the American half of the duo) was the one who received most of the spotlight in comparison to Ryu (the Japanese half). For example, Ken was the only character who actually defeated Akuma in single combat and became "The World's Greatest Warrior" for his success.
• Curb Stomp Battle: Guile tends to knock down most opponents with one Sonic Boom, including Sagat and Zangief, both more physically imposing than him.
• Cutting the Knot: Guile disarming a bomb. With a Sonic Boom.
• Dating Catwoman: T. Hawk and Satin Hammer.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Guile, who explicitly states that "Guns are for wimps!". Not only that, he manages to rip apart the license for getting the weapons by just crumpling it in his hand.
  • Ironic, considering that Guile had absolutely no qualms about using guns in the movie.
• Doomsday Device: In "Cammy Tell Me True", under the influence of a priceless statue Cammy stole for him in a previous episode, Bison decides not to Take Over the World, but instead destroy it by activating all the nuclear missiles on Earth.
• Easter Egg: An unintentional one is contained in the 5th episode of season 2, with a frame of Blanka heads hidden during the climax.
• Enemy Mine: In the appropriately titled episode "Strange Bedfellows", Guile and Bison are left with no choice but to form a temporary alliance to counter Akuma.
  • I Owe You My Life: At the end, in an extreme Out-of-Character Moment, Bison spares Guile's life as payback for saving him earlier.
• Evil Laugh: Plenty.
• Evil Tastes Good:
  • For Bison, watching Guile get his ass kicked by one of his mutant soldiers in "The Medium is the Message".

"This is DELICIOUS!"

• • Satin Hammer is also prone to stating her view on the tastiness of whatever is currently happening.
• Family-Friendly Firearms: Specifically Bison and his followers.
• Flat Character: How most of the characters are handled.
• Follow the Leader: The premise resembles G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero more than it does Street Fighter.
• Heel Face Turn: Sagat in the final episode, as he does not want the planet to be destroyed by Bison.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: When it's not A-Team Firing, nobody can hit anyone with bullets or lasers. Ever.
• Jerkass: These American adaptations have a thing for turning Ken into a colossal douchebag.
• Large Ham:
  • Bison. Richard Newman was obviously having way too much fun with this role. Coincidentally, this ends up making him the most well-acted character in the show.
  • Ditto with David Kaye as Akuma, and he's in two episodes maximum.
• Limited Wardrobe: Many of the Street Fighters wear the same thing all the time, even in places where it would be seen as unprofessional or impractical. Subverted by Chun-Li, however, who wears a business casual lavender skirt when she works as a reporter.
• Loads and Loads of Characters: To the point that characters from the Alpha series (most notably Sakura and Rose) and Final Fight, as noted, appeared.
• Made of Iron:
  • If "Desert Thunder" is to be believed, Escher. He takes a shot from a misfired laser superweapon in the arm and head, and suffers no ill effects despite said laser's island-destroying power.
  • Literally in the case of an iron gate in "No Way Out", which takes a lot of punishment from Sagat's platoon before they finally get it out of the way with tanks.
• Magic Countdown: In "Cammy Tell Me True", as the countdown to apocalypse happens, it's incredibly slow, even when it speeds up.
• Moral Dissonance: Despite boasting about "Discipline, Justice and Commitment", Guile very often attacks his opponents from behind.
• Motor Mouth: In "The Hammer Strikes", everyone sounds like this at times, especially Sawada.
• Never Say "Die": Characters often substitute it with "destroy", but there are rare exceptions.
• No Pronunciation Guide: Ryu, again being called Rye-you.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Cammy in "Cammy Tell Me True".

Cammy: "Everything is lies! EVERYTHING IS LIES!!!"

• Off-Model: Everybody, at least once.
  • One particular moment is when Dee Jay appears to shrink. He got out of an elevator by running out of it, and then he turned to his left while still running. Some guy was shooting at him. But by running towards the left, he was supposed to become "closer" to the camera. Instead, it's as if the distance wasn't even changed; if anything, he was actually getting smaller. And that's how he avoided being shot. Plus they spelled "MAXIMUM" wrong on his trousers.
  • In "Keeping the Peace", a sniper take aim at Sawada. Guile pushes him out of the way. The sniper misses, but the shot appears to hit Guile's shoulder anyway, with no lasting effects.
  • "Desert Thunder": At one point a superweapon that Satin Hammer commandeers misfires thanks to Guile and one of her shots goes wide and heads in Escher's direction. It looks as if it was supposed to miss Escher according to the script, but seems to hit him in the arm and the head. It doesn't affect him in any way, despite having the power to obliterate islands.
  • Sometimes characters are drawn with the wrong emotions, or look like they were. For example, in "Second to None", Ken is in the hospital and Escher is supposed to be comforting him, but the way he was drawn makes him look menacing as hell.
  • Bison, Akuma and Guile all have a different facial expression in "Strange Bedfellows".
  • In "The Warrior King", Bison has eight different facial expressions.
• Out-of-Character Moment:
  • Ken, while he's fighting Akuma. While it's OOC in comparison to his normal douchiness in this series, it's ironically closer to his actual in-game persona.
  • As mentioned above, Bison saving Guile's life.
• Percussive Maintenance: At one point, Guile throw a Sonic Boom at a time bomb to disarm it.
• Plot Hole: T. Hawk and his power of flight in "Desert Thunder". In his next appearance, he has no such ability.
• Poirot Speak: Zangief dips into this.
• Say My Name:

"BISON!" (flames spontaneously appear behind Guile) "DHALSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!!!"

• Self-Made Orphan: Bison, as he reveals to Chun-Li in battle after she angrily reminds him that he killed her father:

"I killed my father too and you don't hear me whining about it!" (...and for him, it was just another ordinary Tuesday.)

• Shallow Love Interest: Mai-Lei, the girl Blanka falls in love with in "Eye of the Beholder", doesn't really have much going for her in terms of personality.
• Soundtrack Dissonance:
  • The famous "YES! YES!" scene is accompanied by a brassy, heroic fanfare (actually "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor"), even though Bison is the Big Bad and might've finally triumphed over the heroes. Guile's Big No mentioned above also features a brassy stinger that wouldn't sound out of place on The A-Team.
  • While the build up to it is much shorter, the upbeat, heroic fanfare returns in a similarly inappropriate spot in the Final Fight episode, where Belger is firing a laser gun at Cody, Guy and Jessica, who are hiding behind a table.

"It's only a matter of time until you're all FRIED!" (cue upbeat heroic fanfare)

• • That same fanfare is used when Guile and Bison go into the house which then turns into a bacon monster in Guile's nightmare.
• Third Person Person: Blanka starts speaking like this for no reason when fighting Zangief (who also speaks the same way) in the episode "The Flame and the Rose".
• Vocal Dissonance: The feral boy in the episode "The Beast Within", who has the voice of a 10-year-old despite having the body of a teenager.
• Wham! Episode: Two of them early in the second season.
  • "Cammy and the Bachelor" has Cammy being awakened as Bison's sleeper agent and helping him escape, shaking up the status quo and leading Guile and the Street Fighters on a season-long quest to bring her back to her senses.
  • "New Kind of Evil" has Blanka being accidentally subjected to a mega-dose of mutagen ooze, causing him to become even more feral and dangerous.
• Wham! Line: In "The Hand That Feeds You", Fei Long and his movie director, Raymond Wang, have this exchange when the former finds out that the latter is involved in a drug ring:

Fei Long: "Ray! So it is true. You're involved in all this evil!" Raymond Wang: "Correction - we're involved. Without this money, none of your films would ever have been made!" Fei Long: "You financed my career with blood money?!"

• What Happened to the Mouse?: Balrog never appears after his first appearance. Where did he go? Never explained!
• What the Hell, Hero?: Fei-Long chews out Ken in "So, You Want to be in Pictures" for allowing his fame to get in the way of his training, making him a sloppy and unreliable mess during filming. To elaborate, he and Ken were filming a scene where Ken's character was meant to die. However, thanks to getting more funds for the film from his dad (and being handed creative control for the film), Ken rewrote the scene to have him get up triumphantly, amongst other things.

"And you... you're a LOSER!"