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Zangief in Harvey Birdman GameHarvey Birdman: Attorney At Law (2008, produced by Capcom) contains a number of cameos from Street Fighter characters. Provided the correct choice is made on a specific question, (one per case) Guile, Dhalsim, Zangief, Ryu and Chun-li all make appearances. Avenger (the eagle, Harvey's legal secretary) can also be seen disassembling a 'precious' Street Fighter III NTSC cartridge for the Super Nintendo (a deliberate anachronism; it certainly would be precious as no version of III has ever been released on a game cart, let alone on a SNES!)

Akuma in X-Men: Children of the AtomX-Men: Children of the Atom (1994) is the first fighting game produced by Capcom using characters under license from Marvel Comics. Released shortly after Super Street Fighter II: Turbo the game features Akuma as a playable, hidden character and a hidden opponent. To select Akuma as player one, highlight Spiral at the character selection screen, wait three seconds then press ←, ←, ←, ← to highlight Iceman. Wait three seconds then press →, ↑, →, →, ↓ to highlight Silver Samurai. Wait three seconds then press and hold HP, LK and HK simultaneously.

Tom, Patricia and AlexAlex is a young fighter from Manhattan who left his parents' home when he was still a boy. During New Generation and 2nd Impact Alex lives with his father's friend Tom, a war veteran, and his young daughter Patricia, with whom he has a fraternal relationship. Tom manages the gym where Alex trains and when he is wounded and defeated by Gill, Alex seeks to avenge him (despite Tom's protests that it was a fair fight). In 3rd Strike Alex has left to seek Ryu and other worthy opponents. Tom bears an uncanny resemblance to the actor Jean Reno. Capcom would work with the actual Jean Reno in 2004 as the actor lent his voice and appearance to the character Jacques Blanc in Onimusha 3: Demon Siege. Character profiles written for Street Fighter V give a little more information about these characters; for instance, Patricia's specialism is making sandwiches and Tom used to be a highly skilled and well-rounded fighter.

Lucia Training with Chun-LiFinal Fight 3 is, to date, the last of the 2D scrolling beat-'em-ups in the series. As per Final Fight 2 it was produced for the SNES without an arcade precedent. This time the battle is against the Skull Cross Gang who have displaced Mad Gear in Metro City's streets. The game introduced two new characters, Dean (whose family have been murdered by the gang) and Lucia Morgan (a detective, head of Metro City's Special Crimes Unit) who fight alongside Guy and Haggar. Of particular interest is a piece of official art (first printed in Gamest magazine but reprinted in SF20: The Art of Street Fighter) that seems to depict Lucia training with Chun-Li. Considering the similarity of their kicks and the fact that they are both detectives, this sparks the possibility that Lucia was a student under Chun-Li. Also note the poster of Bruce Lee in the background, it's an image from Enter the Dragon. For legal reasons this detail is missing in the SF20 artbook. The other two women in the picture? None other than Maki and Rena from Final Fight 2.

Carlos MiyamotoCarlos Miyamoto, one of the protagonists from Final Fight 2, makes a very rare cameo appearance alongside Jessica Haggar in Alex's Capcom Evolution ending. The image depicts Alex wrestling Mike Haggar, with Patricia and Tom also at ringside. Carlos was born in Brazil, grew up in South America and studied numerous martial arts before moving to Metro City to finish his training. His specialism is the martial art of Iaido which emphasises being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to a sudden attack (thanks Wikipedia!) He boards with Haggar. During the intro to Final Fight 2, a friendship with Guy (or at least a debt of gratitude) is also implied as Carlos says: 'I owe you and Guy so much, please let me go with you Mike.' (This line is followed by one of my all-time favourite, era defining video game quotes; the beautifully typeset: 'Besides, I love kick'n butt'!)

Balrog in Ring of DestructionBalrog unmistakably appears in the background of the Las Vegas stage in Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II; an appropriate cameo considering that Balrog's Street Fighter II stage also takes place in Vegas. This is quite an unusual depiction of Balrog as he is not wearing his boxing gloves. There is also a mirrored character in the crowd that superficially resembles Cammy (due to the red hat) and, likewise, a mirrored figure appears in a number of backgrounds who closely resembles Honda (with the same kabuki face paint).

Sakura's Puzzle Fighter StageA little more on some of the Street Fighter characters' names: Sakura is the Japanese flowering cherry tree, an omen of good fortune representing spring (and visually referred to in her Puzzle Fighter stage). Russian professional-wrestler Victor Zangief, active in the late-eighties and early-nineties may have provided the name for Street Fighter's own Zangief, who went under the working title 'Vodka Gobalsky' during the game's planning. Sean’s full name is Sean Matsuda, Rolento is Rolento F. Schugerg and Sodom was renamed 'Kitana' for international ports of Final Fight (due to being remindful of sodomy). Thunder Hawk went under the working name 'Geronimo' but this was wisely changed when it was suggested that it could be considered racially offensive.

here comes a new challenger....

"..."

NAME: Akuma

NATION: Japan

HEIGHT: 178 cm

WEIGHT: 85 kg

B/W/H: 118 84 86

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