Miscellany Vol. II: Narumi, Dr. Woo and Card Fighters
This page of the Miscellany covers friendships, scientists and unused data from the Street Fighter III era and beyond.
Narumi, Elena’s friend
The bookish, bespectacled girl in Elena’s Street Fighter III endings is named Narumi. Udon’s Ibuki Legends series gives more attention to how she met Elena and became her friend; there she introduces herself as “Naru”. She admires Elena’s adventurous spirit and sense of being different, and the two love animals, as the New Generation and 2nd Impact endings suggest. Those same endings show them cycling downhill past a cherry tree. Since both wear traditional Japanese school uniforms, it is very likely an affectionate nod to Sakura Kasugano.
Card games from SNK
Around the year 2000, SNK made a pair of card and puzzle games that mixed Capcom characters with their own. SNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash (1999) came in a Capcom Edition and an SNK Edition, each favouring one company. Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition followed in Japan two years later, and the series’ success led to a third entry for the Nintendo DS in 2006. All of them enjoy the obscure: alongside the famous faces such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Blanka, there are cards for Lee, Retsu, Shadow Lady, Mech-Zangief, Sunburnt Sakura and Zero Akuma.
Dr. Woo and the G-Project
The man with the cone-shaped head who appears at the end of Twelve’s Third Strike ending is Dr. Woo, earlier translated as Dr. Kure. He is the chief scientist of the G-Project that produced Twelve, the mutant, and the army of Twelve clones in pods behind him. Twelve is the realisation of Urien’s theory of “body reconstruction”, and its power to heal itself leads Woo to call it the “never dying warrior”. Woo returns in Urien’s Capcom Fighting Evolution ending, where the clones turn into Urien clones.
In the Online Edition ports of Third Strike, Twelve calls Urien “dad” in its binary winning line, suggesting it knows who made it. A theory that Seth and the other S.I.N. clones in Street Fighter IV continue the G-Project fails on timing, because the Street Fighter III events precede those of IV. The Shadaloo Combat Research Initiative credits Dr. Woo with an IQ above 1300.
An alternative name for Cammy
The object test in Super Street Fighter II and Super Turbo suggests that another name was considered for Cammy late in development. Near the names of the New Challengers, and inside the Street Fighter II logo, are letters Sa, r and a, h in the same style as the splash screens. Together they spell Sarah. It could be an in-joke, except that the letters appear again lower in the test, in lowercase, matching the style under the life bar. That points to Cammy possibly being named Sarah under different decisions. A likelier reading is that she was always Cammy in Japan but another name was weighed for international markets, as with Nash and Charlie or Gouki and Akuma.
A defeated Bison portrait
None of the four bosses can be selected in World Warrior, and there is no win-quote screen after beating M. Bison, so it is surprising that the ROM holds a defeated portrait of him. It resembles the one in Champion Edition but with an extra cut below his right eye and a bloodier left eye. Capcom may have been keeping the option of a splash screen before each ending.
Dan’s nightmare
A comic moment in Udon’s Sakura Legends has Dan about to be crushed by an enormous red gem in a stormy field, an echo of the Ryu and Sagat setting in The Animated Movie. He wakes in a hospital bed after Zangief’s “final atomic buster” in the previous chapter. The dream was prompted by the patient in the next bed playing Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, where Dan is losing to Sakura. The handheld looks like a Nintendo DS, which is an anachronism, since Puzzle Fighter was only released for the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable.
Gill’s colours
Gill cannot be played in the arcade versions of Street Fighter III, yet Capcom prepared a complete set of colour swaps for him in New Generation and 2nd Impact, visible only through a hack. The colours run from his normal blue and red to black and white, according to the button pressed at character select. A black and white version returns in home ports, mirrored left to right and with blue hair rather than yellow.
Third Strike: Online Edition also added dialogue before the CPU Alex fight, told from Gill’s side. Gill says he has been waiting, that their destinies are intertwined and that Alex would come to learn the truth. Alex replies that he is not impressed by visions and just wants to defeat him, expecting to find what he is searching for once Gill is gone. Gill answers that he knew Alex would say that and invites him to embrace their destiny.
