Characters That I would Like To See On The Street Fighter V Roster

The Street Fighter V starting roster is already shaping up to be one of the most unique in this history of the franchise, expanding on the old, working with the new and resurrecting those we thought we'd never see again.

Street Fighter V looks to go back to the basics and I truly felt that when I got a chance to go head to head with the online warriors during my time with the beta. I also talked about the new mechanics and how some characters have changed, which you can read here - http://www.weknowgamers.net/2015/08/preview-hands-on-with-street-fighter-v.html

With all that has essentially changed, one thing that seems to be overlooked is the roster and how different it is in comparison to the other entries of the franchise. Our normal starters are yet to be seen and characters that fans have been clamouring for are finally getting a spotlight, those more specifically being Rainbow Mika and Karin.



So what do we know so far? At launch 16 characters will be available, with 12 of them returning to do battle once again and four entering the street fighting ring for the 1st time. We already got two newbies announced with them being Necalli and Rashid, that just leaves two more new challengers and two returning characters... but who could they be?



The roster currently looks like this: 
1. Ryu
2. Chun Li
3. Nash
4. Bison
5. Birdie
6. Cammy
7. Ken
8. Necalli *NEW*
9. Vega
10. R. Mika
11. Rashid *NEW*
12. Karin
13. *NEW*
14. *NEW*
15. (Returning)
16. (Returning)

Now we can't predict what crazy new character Ono will add to the game, however in terms of Rashid, an apparent leaked list from not too long ago had his name on it, well before the character was announced, however things can always change or could have been changed because of it.

What I'm more interested in is who will actually come back? Now there are a crazy amount of characters to choose from, however here are a few that I would like to see in Street Fighter V starting with...

Juri (Street Fighter IV) 
Ok, now I know what you must be thinking. Juri was probably one of the least used characters on Street Fighter IV and generally not that good, however I believe the character's style works perfectly with what Street Fighter V is trying to do. Her Feng Shuei Engine can easily be a V trigger that speeds up her attacks or add better combo functionality, something I believe Capcom can get very creative with. Also she was quite the foe against Chun Li and Cammy, something I would like to see explored more. Did she stay with Seth after S.I.N was destroyed? Is she working with Bison now or better yet, gone her own way?

Garuda (Street Fighter EX) 
Now this one may be a little difficult... actually scratch that, maybe a miracle would need to happen to have this guy join the roster. For those not informed, Garuda is from the Street Fighter EX series of games which were co produced with a company called Akira, who own the rights to the characters. Unless they give the nod, you may never see this beast in all his HD glory.

Garuda is a demon born from the Satusi No Hado and he could be a perfect opponent for Ryu to go up against. I'm thinking story wise that Ryu eventually got over the evil power, however the remnants of it created Garuda, who now seeks to take down the world warrior for whatever epic reason I'm sure the creative at Capcom can come up with.

Sodom (Street Fighter Alpha)
Final Fight and Street Fighter are the two places you can catch this guy, however since Street Fighter Alpha, he was never to be seen again. Why is Sodom on this list? Well as mentioned earlier, it looks like the fifth iteration is bringing together a bunch of individuals that truly stand out on their own and when it comes to fighting styles, Sodom's is as unique as it gets.

He uses Jitte for goodness sake, I mean who uses those? He also utilises a good mix of quick close attacks and rushdowns that send you to the other side of the screen, covered in fire. In all fairness, he was seen as more of a comedy act, slightly above Dan in that regard, however it has been a while since the character has been in the ring and therefore, if repackaged just right, could become a serious contender.

Gill (Street Fighter III) 
Now I know this guy actually has been requested and while I found him an absolute pain to take on in Street Fighter III, I would like the character to return for one reason only, his connection to the newly resurrected Nash.

If you look closely at artwork of both characters, you can clearly see that they both sport the glowing orbs on their forehead. Could it have been Gill who ultimately pieced a dying Nash back together? Other than this, Gill has a variety of moves that can easily be adapted to the new gameplay mechanics making him a very powerful opponent or one of those secret ones you take on after completing certain objectives.

I also asked the rest of the team who they'd like to see in Street Fighter V, here's what they had to say:

Cody (Street Fighter Alpha III - IV) 
I seem to only play the even number Street Fighters as I've only played Street Fighter II and IV, my main being Cammy in both of those titles. Seeing as she has already been added to the V roster, I'm going with Cody. Maybe it was the stripy jumpsuit and handcuffs that made me curious about Cody, maybe it was my love of Final Fight that made me try him out, either way I found him a interesting addition to the Street Fighter franchise, and his fairly unique approach to picking up weapons to use in a scrap is neat. Chris - @chaosriotzero

Akuma (Most Street Fighters) 
The first game I ever "completed" was Street Fighter 2 on the SNES. I really loved the game and have fond memories of spending a whole day at my Auntie and Uncle's house in France running through arcade mode. I was useless at the time, somehow got myself all the way up to M.Bison with Guile (I couldn't even Sonic Boom or Flash Kick) at which point I simply hit a wall. I ended up beating the last fight with Blanka and it was a fun memory for sure, but really it wasn't until Street Fighter IV came out that I decided I wanted to get really good at the games. So, there I was in the queue to play SFIV at the very first Eurogamer and within 5 seconds I got destroyed each round. I queued up a further two more times and eventually won a round against the best guy there when I knew no moves and hadn't used a stick in my life.

Since then, I'm a lot better on stick, favouring the d-pad on a standard Dual Shock controller. I can use those well and feel the commands can be more accurately input, so that's where I get my full enjoyment from.

The point here however is that I got really quite good with Ken but found Akuma to be equally as fun to play. whenever Ken isn't available to play and Akuma is, I play Akuma. If Akuma's not featured within a game, I play Ken. It's win win really, but ideally I'd love to see the psycho return for Street Fighter 5. He was great fun to play on Marvel vs Capcom 3 and on next gen consoles I see a lot of potential behind him. Nik - @CaptainCortez

So with Paris Games Week coming up, Sony will have a presence there and along with them, Street Fighter V will be right by their side. We may get a brand new character or a returning one, who knows, but dear god please don't let it be Blanka... anyone but that guy.

What characters would you like to see included on the roster? Although this hasn't been confirmed, chances are more will be added after the launch of the game via DLC which apparently can be unlocked the old school way by just playing, playing and... playing!

Like our Street Fighter V character choices? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on twitter - @TheLibanAli

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