Introduced in Street Fighter

This is a list of characters from the Street Fighter fighting game series. This list covers the original Street Fighter as well as other related games.

Ryu
Main article: Ryu (Street Fighter)

Ken Masters
Main article: Ken Masters

Retsu
Retsu (烈?) is a former Shorinji Kempo instructor who was expelled from his temple after getting involved in too many fights. He is the first opponent the player faces in Japan in the original Street Fighter.[1] Although Retsu has never appeared in another Street Fighter game, his character has been depicted in later Street Fighter related media, including in two Japanese Street Fighter II audio drama albums and in the US Street Fighter comic book by UDON, and as a trading card in Card Fighters 2 for the Neo Geo Pocket Color.


Geki
Geki (激?) is a Japanese ninja who fights with a claw and shuriken stars and has the ability to teleport. He is the second Japanese opponent in the original Street Fighter.[2] In an issue of Udon's Street Fighter comic book, Geki appears as an assassin sent to kill Gen.[volume & issue needed]
Joe
Joe (ジョー?), who appears as the first American opponent in the original Street Fighter, is an underground martial arts champion who practiced by participating in street fights. His special technique was a rolling sobat.[3]
Mike
Mike (マイク?) is an African-American boxer who formerly competed professionally until he accidentally killed an opponent during a match. He is the second opponent the player faces in the USA in the original Street Fighter. He is thought to be a precursor to Balrog (who is known as M. Bison in Japan) from Street Fighter II due to his similar profile and outer appearance.[4][5]
Lee
Lee (李?) is a Chinese martial arts expert seeking to test his skills against worthy opponents. He is the first Chinese opponent in the original Street Fighter.[6] He later appears in Masahiko Nakahira's manga Sakura Ganbaru!! as an opponent who challenges Sakura in a street fighting event sponsored by Karin Kanzuki at the Setagaya Ward. He also appears in UDON's Street Fighter Legends: Chun-Li to challenge Fei-Long for the honor of revealing a Chinese artifact. Lee is also revealed to be a relative of the Street Fighter III characters Yun and Yang.
Gen
Gen (元?) first appears in the original Street Fighter (1987) as the second opponent the player faces from China in the single-player tournament (the first one being Lee). Gen is portrayed as an elderly martial artist who according to the game's backstory, works as an assassin as well.
Gen would resurface as a playable character in Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996) and its sequel, Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998). Gen is the only character in the game who can switch between two fighting styles during gameplay: the Mourning Style and the Hateful Style, also known as the Mantis and Crane styles respectively. He changes not only his fighting stance and basic moves, but his special moves and Super Combos as well. In Alpha 3, this feature is removed when Gen is selected in X-ism mode. In the storyline of the Alpha series, Gen is a terminally ill assassin who seeks to fight Akuma as his last opponent before dying. Gen also confronts Chun-Li (whose father was Gen's student according to the backstory) as a secret rival character in Alpha 2 and Ryu as mid-boss in Alpha 3, believing that he uses the same murderous style as Akuma. Gen appears in home version of Street Fighter IV as an additional character. Gen's connection with Chun-Li's father and his conflicting emotions with her plays a role in his backstory in the game.[7] He was played by Robin Shou in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.
Birdie
Birdie (バーディー?) first appears in the original Street Fighter as the first of two opponents the player faces in England. In this game, Birdie is depicted as a tall white punk rocker with a beak shaped mohawk. He and Eagle are named after the golfing terms Birdie and Eagle.
The character would reappear in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams in 1995 and its subsequent sequels, Street Fighter Alpha 2 in 1996 and Alpha 3 in 1998. In this game, Birdie was depicted as a hulking black punk rocker with a blonde blade-shaped mohawk. The character jokes about this inconsistency in Alpha 3 by stating he "looked pale because (he) was sick". Birdie fights in the Alpha series with a grappling style similar to Zangief's, using his chains to slam opponents and a dashing headbutt similar to Balrog's punch rush.
In the first two Alpha games, Birdie is characterized as a former pub bouncer who seeks to gain fame for himself by joining M. Bison's organization, Shadaloo. In the endings of both games, he defeats Bison in combat and is allowed to join his organization. In Alpha 3, Birdie is already a member of Shadaloo, but seeks to take over the organization by rebelling against Bison.
Birdie appears in the Street Fighter cartoon series in two episodes. He is first shown as an unknown fighter in the episode "The Medium in the Message" and later appears in "Cammy and the Bachelor", teaming up with Final Fight's Sodom as the two fighters cause a crime wave in England under orders from Bison and Shadaloo.
Eagle
Eagle (イーグル?)　 is characterized as a bouncer from England and master of singlestick. He craves to experience all fighting arts, searching for the perfect duel.[7] He is introduced in the first Street Fighter as the second computer-controlled opponent the players face in England. He would re-emerge as a selectable character in the crossover game Capcom vs. SNK 2, having become a secret agent for MI6, and from there was included in the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3.
Adon
Adon (アドン?, based on Thai อาดอน) appears in the original Street Fighter as a Muay Thai warrior the player faces before the final match against Sagat. He would re-emerge in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and its subsequent sequels: Alpha 2 and Alpha 3. In the first two Alpha games, Adon is characterized as a former pupil of Sagat seeking to surpass his disgraced master by defeating him[8], and in Alpha 3 he tries to track down and challenge Akuma.[9] He briefly appears in Sagat's Street Fighter IV prologue where he is defeated by Sagat once again. In the same way as Birdie and Eagle, Adon and Sagat share a motif: both characters' special moves are inspired by felines, the jaguar and the tiger.
Adon appears in the Street Fighter cartoon series as a non-speaking fighter in the episode "The Medium is the Message".
Adon is set to appear as one of the new characters in Super Street Fighter IV.[10]
Sagat
Sagat (サガット?, based on Thai สกัด) made his first appearance in the original Street Fighter. After the player defeats the eight initial opponents, their character Ryu (or Ken on Player 2's side) is taken to Thailand to face the final two opponents: Adon, Sagat's apprentice, and Sagat himself. After being defeated, he tells the player that he or she is the "strongest Street Fighter in the world".
Sagat's next appearance was in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, where he appears as one of the four Grand Masters, being the last CPU-controlled boss in the single player mode before M. Bison. He appears in this game with a scar across his chest that he received from Ryu as a result of his loss in the first game.[12] Like the other bosses, he became a playable character in the subsequent revisions of the game beginning with Street Fighter II: Champion Edition.
Sagat would then appear in the prequel sub-series Street Fighter Alpha. In addition to fleshing out his rivalry with Ryu, a rivalry with his former apprentice Adon is introduced as well, and Dan, a character whose father was killed by Sagat years before, is introduced. The Alpha series also show him to become part of M. Bison's criminal organization, but leaves in Street Fighter Alpha 3 after he discovers that Bison had wanted to experiment with Ryu. Sagat is an unlockable character in Street Fighter EX3, where his story has his resentment for Ryu fading. He returns in Street Fighter IV once again as a playable character.
IGN ranked Sagat at number eleven in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" article, noting him as one of the few characters in the original Street Fighter and adding "The shaved head, the scarred chest, and most of all the eyepatch, they come together to make a guy who means business."[13] Gamespy named him one of the "25 Extremely Rough Brawlers" in video gaming with comments focused on his appearance.[14] GameDaily listed him at number eight on their "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" article, citing his role as the first boss in the series and praising his appearance.[15] Sagat also ranked at No. 22 in the list of Best Characters of 1991 from the February 1992 issue of Gamest magazine in Japan.[16]