Part 1

STREET FIGHTER

（街头霸王）

Ryu & Sagat and Mas Oyama/Yoshiji Soeno & Reiba

From 1UP's "This is not SFIV part 2"

Masutatsu Oyama, a legendary Karateka has a lot in common with Ryu although he was a Korean, while Ryu is Japanese. Both trained in the mountains, under icy waterfalls, have unknown parents and are fighting in a Karate style, although Ryu's (or Goutetsu's) style has never been given a name by Capcom (Capcom USA's "Shotokan" doesn't count). Check out the link above for more details.

From "The design of Ryu and Sagat"

Since I don't know anything about it I'll just post what is said ont the site, click on the link above to see the original page with the background story and mofe info.

(GF2 pointed this out at the Shoryuken.com Forum)

"Yoshiji Soeno, a Kyokushin Karate legend; & "Reiba", the "Dark Lord of Muaythai", as potrayed in the old Japanese martial art comics "Karate Baka Ichidai" (The Karate Idiot). After Mas Oyama, Soeno was the only other Karateka mad enough to launch a solo challenge on the strongest fighters in Thailand. Not surprisingly, the above real persons inspired the creation of the famous Street Fighter game characters Ryu & Sagat two decades later. Notice the striking resemblance of the comic and game potrayals. There is not a gaming youngster in this world who does not know these two characters, but hardly anybody would know the true story behind them"

Wow, that's amazing, they really look the same (gi, eye patch bald head etc.) and it's a Karate or at least Karate like style vs Muay Thai in SF, too. And in SFI the first Street Fighter game, Ryu was the main character (and the only selectable) while Sagat was the endboss (see screenshot below) and unbeaten champion "King Of Street Fighters".

(Main character Ryu vs Muay Thai boss Sagat in SFI; pic from the Red Cyclone site)

Do yourself a favor and read the complete text. The aerial tripple kick sounds a lot like the Tatsumakisenpuukiaku to me and there are more similarties.

The picture shows Ryu and Sagat in jail before their fight starts.

In SFIIV the fight of Ryu and Sagat and their two styles, Muay Thai and the Karate(like) style, were shown quite well, eventhough the story was a bit different.

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Ken Masters and Joe Lewis

Ken Masters might be influenced by Joe Lewis, too. Lewis is also a Karate legend and with the similar haircut and clothing he looks a lot like Ken who's fightingstyle at least somewhat resembles Karate. (image and info from Ryu's Temple, a French Street Fighter site)

Ken Masters and He-Man

Ken's family name might be based on famous cartoon, comic and toy hero He-Man.

When Capcom first released GIJoe Street Fighter figures in the US, Mattel forced them to make up a second name for Ken, because he might be mistaken for Barbie's betrothed Ken. Until then his name was just "Ken".

Of all names in the world they chose Masters. At that time The Masters Of The Universe (often just called "Masters" by the fans) were Mattel's other big seller and their muscular main character He-Man (aka wealthy Prince Adam) had medium long, blond hair just like Ken of Street Fighter. I doubt that this just happened by chance. Maybe they wanted to make fun of Mattel.

While the other name changes (Ryu Hoshi, Chun Li Xiang, etc.) only appeared in American non-canon products (toys, cartoon, Van Damme movie) the family name Masters was included in the official Capcom canon and the Masters became a world famous family of billionaires in the Street Fighter universe and were pictured more than anywhere else in the non canon anime series Street Fighter II V.

Retsu(烈，隆的师兄) and Riko's grandfather

In the anime series Street Fighter II V Ryu works with a man named Somabito (thanks to vasili10 for translating the name) who is also the grandfather of Riko, the girl that gives Ryu her beads.
He looks a lot like SFI character Retsu. Both are quite old, have a bald head and bushy eyebrows. They also both wear dark vests.

(left: Retsu in Dan's SFZ1 artwork; right: Somabito in the 1st episode of SFIIV)

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Adon and Naseem Hamed

Adon, who first appeared in Street Fighter 1 and got a redesign for his comeback in Street Fighter Zero, might be influenced by Featherweight Boxing Champion 'Prince' Naseem Hamed.

Both skinny fighters are known for their arrogance and have edgy faces.

(far left: Adon's Jaguar Kick; far right: Naseem with jaguar fur)

Just like Naseem sporting his jaguar fur pants, Adon seems to admire the jaguar, giving some of his moves names like "Jaguar Kick" as opposed to Sagat's "Tiger" moves.

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Eagle(老鹰，双棍打手) and the bodyguard/Freddie Mercury

Eagle the British bouncer looks a lot like the bodyguard in Bruce Lee's movie Jing wu men (Chinese Connection/Fist Of Fury in the US). Both security forces wear the same clothing and have a mustache. While fighting, the bodyguard gets hit and has a big scar on his forehead. Eagle has a vertical scar.

(thanks to PotS for this one)

Eagle first appeared in SFI. I'm not sure if he was always planned to be a Freddie Mercury copy (lead singer of the band "Queen") or if they realized that he looks like him and then decided to make him one.

Either way, now he is a Freddie Mercury copy and that includes him being gay (Mercury was bisexual). Capcom USA doesn't like that of course so they try to hide it but in the original Japanese versions of the games you can read his homo preference in his winning quotes.
Look at the pic, in SFI he had darker hair, now they made him blond for a SFZ1 drawing and his SFZ3 Upper and Capcom vs SNK 2 sprite.
I personaly think Final Fight's Haggar looks like a muscular version of FM sometimes.

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Joe(乔伊，美国拳手) and Joe Lewis

Kickboxer Joe of Street Fighter I might be based on Kickboxing legend Joe Lewis who also trained with Bruce Lee.

Unfortunately Joe didn't appear in any other game, instead of him Capcom put Cody of Final Fight into SFZ3 with similar moves so we don't know much about him. But the kickboxing Joes look alike.

(image and info from Ryu's Temple, a French Street Fighter site)

STREET FIGHTER ZERO

（街头霸王ZERO / 少年街霸）

Gouki/Akuma, Gouken, Goutetsu (their master) and Sheng Long

(from left to right: Sheng Long, Gouken, Gouki)

Dan & Go Hibiki and various SNK characters

By now you probably all know that Dan Hibiki is a parody of SNK.
He first appeared on a drawing of Sagat of SFII (WW) and was not meant to be an actual character at that time. It was just a beat down guy who looked like a mix of various SNK characters. He had an orange gi and a black shirt under it, just like Ryo Sakazaki and a head like Robert Garcia, both from SNK's Art Of Fighting. Here you can see the original version of Dan on the drawing:

(Sagat vs Dan; Street Fighter II drawing)

Later when the SFZ series came out, Capcom decided to make Dan a special secret character in SFZ1, he had no storyline back then. Eventhough he had a pink gi (to make him more rediculous), they also added the original orange Dan to the game. When you fought Sagat, you could see his fight intro, where he held Dan just like he did on the drawing. This was just a gag.

Like mentioned above, Dan is mostly based on SNK's Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia.
Here you can see a few screenshots of him and Ryo comparing their moves. I got them from a site that no longer exists.

Not only do both wear a black t-shirt under their gi, they also have a similar character. Both are very stiff.

Unlike Ryu, Ken and Gouki's Tatsumakisenpuukiakuu, Dan's kick special move looks more SNKish.

Ga-Do-Ken! This projectile special move is another good example for their similarity

Here you can see a picture of SNK's Robert Garcia, the other SNK character Dan's based on (head).

Dan is also the only character in most Street Fighter games that can taunt several times within one round. He even has a taunt super combo. This is another SNK parody where taunting is more important than in Capcom games.

Dan also seems to be based on Donovan, one of the main characters of Capcom's Vampire/Darkstalkers/Night Warriors series. (Or you could say they're both based on Robert Garcia)
Not only are their names alike, their hairstyle is also similar. Their personalities are completely different though. They are often speculated to be related somehow but there is no evidence or even a hint to it so far.

(Dan vs Donovan; source: All About Super Puzzle Fighter II X)

Dan's father Go Hibiki, who was killed in a fight against Sagat who lost his right eye, was officially a Muay Thai fighter like Sagat and Adon but for the fun games like Pocket Fighter, Capcom made a more SNKish version of him. He basically looks just like Dan wearing a long nosed "tengu mask" like SNK character Mr. Karate and a green gi with the symbol for "father" on his back. His hair is a little darker than Dan's and he has a beard. Later they announced that he does not wear a mask but that it's actually his face. This punctuates that this version of Go Hibiki is not meant to be taken seriously.

(left: Capcom's Go Hibiki; right: SNK's Mr. Karate)

Nash/Charlie and Egon Spengler/Devilotte's helper

Nash of the Street Fighter Zero series has blond hair and a crazy hairstyle just like Egon Spengler of "The Real Ghostbusters" and both of them wear glasses. So Nash could be based on Egon.

I got this one from the Videogame Lookalikes site.

Nash and one of Devilotte's two helpers (Capcom's Cyberbots) with the green face and the Frankenstein's monster look have the same hair style and wear glasses. The guy has a face shape like Nash's friend Guile.

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Rose and Lisa Lisa

Rose who first appeared in Street Fighter Zero 1 is based on "Lisa Lisa" of "JoJo no Kimyo na Boken" or "JoJo's Bizarre Adventures", a manga (book and anime) series of which Capcom also made a streetfighter-like 2D fighting game (entitled "JoJo's Bizarre Adventures") available for Sega Dreamcast and I think also for other video game systems.

Not only Rose's look but also her fightingstyle are based on Lisa Lisa's. Main character JoJo meets Lisa Lisa in Venice, which is also Roses SFZ2 stage.

Here is what I found about Lisa Lisa online (can't remember where, sorry):

Age: 50 (I am not kidding!)
Blood Type: A
Residence: Venice, Italy
Hobbies: Fashion and taking baths
Favorite Food: Carrot
Description: Lisa Lisa is a master at Ripple technique. Don't think that she will go easy on you just because she is a women. She trained Joseph and Caesar mercilessly. During her fight with Wired Beck, she used her silk to send a ripple and kill him in one hit with Wired Beck not even realizing it. During her final fight with Kars, she was wounded but she was able to recover from it.

(left: Rose taking a bath in her SFZ2 ending; right: Lisa Lisa taking a bath, click to enlarge)

(Thanks to Keiko for the scan)

For more info on Jojo's Bizarre Adventures check out this link:

Rose seems to not only be based on a character from JoJo's Bizatte Adventures but also Doomed Megalopolis (just like Vega is based on Kato). The scene in her ending of SFZ2, where she's shocked by the sight of her tarot card, seems to be quoting a movie scene with a tarot reader.

(screenshots from the movie Doomed Megalopolis)

bobgray2000 sent in the pictures and explanation:
Basically at the end of the live-action film, the fortune teller is looking over his cards, when a fierce wind hits, knocking off his hat and sending one of his tarot cards flying out into the street. He chases after it, picks it up and flips it around...but the image has changed to that of a demon! He looks up in some shock and confusion while in back of him, Kato disappears into the crowd...The scene's of course not played out exactly the same, but the idea is exactly the same. They think that Kato is gone forever, but the tarot cards suggest otherwise, and we get to see the evil guy one last time before the credits roll.

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Rainbow Mika and Emma/Bubbles/Estrellita

Rainbow Mika first appeared in SFZ3.
She looks a lot like Emma Bunton aka "Baby Spice" from the Spice Girls with her hairstyle and her boobs.

Another very similar character, who existed before R. Mika was made, is Bubbles from the popular Cartoon Network show "The Powerpuff Girls". Colors and hairstyle are nearly the same.

There's actually a real female wrestler looking like cutelike her, with pigtails: Estrellita (Little Star) from Zamora who comes from a wrestling family.

Both have the heart thing going on also:

(Thanks to Big Mex for this one!)

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Karin Kanzuki/her father and the Olsen girls/Heihachi

Karin Kanzuki of SFZ3 (originally from the non-canon SFZ2 based manga Sakura Ganbaru) has a lot in common with Nellie Olson and another girl from the later seasons of Little House on the Prarie. They have the same ringlet curls and are snotty/snobby. The series is very popular in Japan.

(Thanks to Stefan of CammyFan.com for this one!)

Her second name Kanzuki might be based on Masaomi Kanzaki, who did the Ryu VS mangas, known in the West simply as "Street Fighter II".

(Big Mex mentioned this on his 1UP.com blog series "This is not SFIV")

Her father looks a lot like Tekken's old badass Heihachi Mishima with the beard, clothing and angry eyebrows and the bald head with hair on the sides.

He only appears in the manga for a brief moment, not in any game.

Juni & Juli and Clones & Gunm

Left: Juni and Juli of SFZ3; right: Clones from Gunm

More on inspirations for the Dolls on Rip Off Page 5.

Part 2

STREET FIGHTER II

（街头霸王 II）

Guile and Stroheim/J. Geil

Guile's most striking feature is his weirdo hairdo. But Lieutenant Rudolph von Stroheim, mentioned earlier as an inspiration for Vega, had the same hair style before. It's obvious that Capcom took another idea from the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Although the characters have nothing else in common, the scans below should be evidence enough.

(click to view larger version)

(Thanks to Kataklysmic and Bo for this one)

Jean-Pierre Polnareff has an equally crazy hairstyle that seems to be the main influence on SNK's Benimaru Nikaido. Both Guile and Benimaru appeared in the Capcom VS SNK crossover games. Even his name "Guile" could be based on a character from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: One of Polnareff's opponent's name is J. Geil who's name is based on The J. Geils Band (with the lead singer John Geils).

(Thanks to Josef for this one)

(left: J. Guile from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, click to view another scan; right: The J Geils Band album cover)

(Thanks to Keiko for the scans)

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Dhalsim and the Indian Yoga master

The Indian Yoga master of the movie "Master Of The Flying Guillotine" has stretchy arms like Dhalsim.

From a movie review:

... this guy is berzerk,talks with that funny accent,tracks down the one armed boxer,and attempts to destroy jimmy wang yu with his retractable rubbery arms...

(left: Dhalsim's SSFIIX ending; right: a scene from the movie "Master Of The Flying Guillotine".

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Edmond Honda and Kabuki

E. Honda of SFII looks a lot like Kabuki, a character from Nintendo's "Armwrestling" (an arcade game released in 1985 and related to the hit game "Punch Out"). They're both Japanese sumo wrestlers and both have red face paint (like Kabuki characters in the Japanese theatre).

(left: E. Honda from SFZ3; right: Kabuki in Armwrestlers)

This game is available as a rom file for MAME (only legal if you own the arcade).

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Blanka/Zangief and Rico Banderas/Bludge/Kan-U/Chou-Hi

(This one's from VideogameLookalikes)

Both Blanka and Bludge start with "Bl". The enemy character from Capcom's side scroller beat em up Cadillacs and Dinosaurs also has green skin, orange hair, metal bracelets and ripped shorts.

(Thanks to Neal for this one!)

They also have similar ingame moves and a similar stance:

(Blanka and Zangief compared to various other characters from Capcom games)

Kan-U (aka Portor) from Capcom's side scroller beat-em-up Warrior's Fate, the sequel to Dynasty Wars (original title Tenchi wo Kurau II: Sekiheki no Tatakai) has a similar lariat move as Zangief and Haggar and their pile driver is used by Chou-Hi (aka Kassar) from the same game. Kan-U has a beard like Zangief, Chou-Hi has similar scars.

(Thanks to Red Cyclone for this one!)

(Thanks to Kataklysmic for the names, more on Dynasty Wars!)

Zangief and Victor Zangief

Could this real wrestler named Zangief have been a big influence on Capcom when creating SFII?

Sometimes the name is also written Zangiev. They're both Russian wrestlers that spin around like crazy.

(Got it from GetReadyToRumble.WordPress.com/)

Some might say they even have similar moves too, probably not as similar as in this video though.

(Got it from Capcom-Unity).

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Fei-Long and Bruce Lee

They look very similar (face and body), wear the same trousers and shoes and both use nunchakus. They are both actors for Kung Fu movies. Feilong's Kung Fu style looks a lot like Bruce Lee's "Jet Kune Do".
If you're a fan of the game Tekken you will know the two Laws who are Bruce Lee copies just like Fei-Long.

The difference between the Mike Tyson rip off and Fei-Long is, that Bruce Lee exists within the Street Fighter universe. Mike Tyson on the other hand is never mentioned.

(left: a photograph on Chun-Li's case, could be Fei-Long or Bruce Lee; right: a poster of Bruce)

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Feilong's director and Steven Spielberg

In Feilong's Super Street Fighter II X/Super Street Fighter II Turbo ending you can see the director of his Kung Fu movies on the set.

(left: director from Feilong's SSFIIX ending; right: Steven Spielberg)

It is easy to see, that he is based on world famous director Steven Spielberg (glasses, blue hat, beard, clothing).

Cammy/Dolls and Gally (Alita in the Western World)/Clones

Cammy is highly influenced by Gally of the Japanese manga series Gunm ("Gun Dream") also known as Battle Angel Alita in the Western World. But because of the different hairstyle of Cammy and the original, many don't recognize it, eventhough both characters are quite well known.
The best site I found about this topic is CammyFan.com (the number one Cammy fan site). Most of the info posted here about Cammy and Gally is from there.

(moody Cammy and Gally – the names aren't that different either)

Both seem young, have big eyes, suffer from amnesia and have artificial bodies making them super soldiers for their organizations. Cammy, who first appeared as a brainwashed human in SSFII, got turned into a Shadaloo experiment involving Vega/M Bison's DNA when she returned with her new outfit in SFZ2A/SFA2G and SFZ3/SFA3. Gally has a human brain but a robot body. They were similar suits with no arms and Cammy's gloves look a bit like Gally's hands. They also share very similar fighting moves. Check out CammyFan.com for a detailed list.

(left: Cammy performing the Spiral Arrow; right: Original sketches of a similar move by Gally)

Even Cammy's appearance in the non-canon shooter Gunspike/Cannon Spike resembles Gally. In this game Cammy is the leader of the Anti Robot Special Forces.

(left: ARSF Cammy from Capcom's Gunspike aka Cannon Spike; right: Gally's Motorball version)

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Dee Jay and Billy Blanks

Dee Jay is a very special character.
1.He was created in the USA, all other SF characters were made in Japan.
2.He has nearly no official connection to any other character.
3.He's always grinning which makes him a happy, not very serious character.
4.The guy who invented him (James Goddard of Capcom USA) made him look like Billy Blanks. (http://www.billyblanks.com/)

If you're into Tae Bo you will know Billy Blanks.
He is famous for his often copied Tae Bo videos that help you staying fit and losing weight and he's a famous kick boxer (yes, Dee Jay is a kick boxer, too) and actor.

From Wikipedia:
Dee Jay's braided mohawk also resembles Blank's role as Khan in The King of the Kickboxers

At Ryu's Temple you can see a picture of Blanks with the braids.

James Goddard also uses the name "DJames" on the SRK forum, so the name "Dee Jay" might be based on Goddard's name or on the character being a DJ, if he is one. It's not clear what instruments Dee Jay plays besides rattles and a keyboard but his stage performance (ending) reminds me a bit of MC Hammer.

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Mike Bison and Mike Tyson

	"Mike Bison" sounds just like "Mike Tyson" so it's pretty obvious. As you might already know, the boxer called "Balrog" in the American version of SFII was originally designed as "M. Bison" but Capcom felt they had to change the name in the USA to avoid getting sued by the original (or Don King). SF1 character Mike (who is officially NOT M.Bison) was probably already based on Mike Tyson. As you can see on the pics they really tried to make him look like Tyson, even the tooth space is there. Capcom also includes hints like "I'll bite your ear off" (SFZ3), which Tyson did in a fight with Evander Holyfield. I don't know if this quote is also in the Japanese version of the game. They also made him stupid like Tyson. In SFII M. Bison's Versus screen image also looked a lot like Tyson. For the SFZero line they made him a lot darker and more like the SFIIAM version, since the SFZero game series is a result of SFIIAM's impact on Capcom.
Here two pics that I cheaply threw together to show the similarity between the two boxers and one of Tyson from an old boxing video game.

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Balrog and Dio/Gold & Silver/Snake/Eligol/Pisces

SFII's psychopathic Spanish bullfighter Balrog (aka Vega in the Western World) hates his ugly father who killed his beautiful mother.
Dio of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure hates his father who talks bad about his dead mother and who Dio says, has worked his mother to death. Both Dio and Balrog are depicted with roses, more pictures coming soon.

(Click to view larger version. Read images from right to left (Japanese way))

(Scanned and translated by Manga.Ignition-One.com)

Gold and Silver, the twins from Golgo 13 The Professional, have a lot in common with Balrog. They are "Bishonen", a typical type of male manga character with a feminin beautiful look.

They are assasins like Balrog. Silver wears a mask just like Balrog. While Gold has a golden glove, Balrog has a golden claw (at least sometimes it is depicted golden as you can see below). Their fighting style is somewhat similar to Balrog's and they also do the very high screaming.

(thanks to Ultima for this one)

Now this one right here might go a little too much into speculation, but there is a third assasin (by the way, all three of them are quite sick sadistic individuals, like Balrog).

His name is Snake and he always wears purple (top to bottom) and moves like a snake and Balrog has a big tattoo of a purple snake all over his upper body. Incidently, some scenes with Balrog from the anime SFIIAM seem to be quoting scenes with Snake from Golgo 13 The Professional (more on this in the future).

Two characters from Saint Seiya might have been an inspiration for Balrog. The first one is Eligol, a fast, murderous villain who wears a similar white mask and uses his claws. He also screams a lot while attacking. Click here for a part of Saint Seiya – Warriors of Armageddon featuring him.

The other one is Pisces Aphrodite who's also a cold hearted narcisstic killer. Both like to carry Roses in their mouths. Coincidence?

(Thanks to Vlad Fischert for these two!)

In movie Project A (Part 1) Jackie Chan fights a Kung Fu pirate named San-Po who has a big tattoo going all around his body, wears similar pants with yellow stripes and has a thick red belt. He seems to have been an inspiration for Balrog, too.

(As posted by Big Mex at his Capcom Unity blog)

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Vega and Kato/Stroheim/Washizaki/Brocken/Brocken Man

Vega (aka M. Bison in the Western World) shares the dictator look with many other Japanese characters. Take a look at the Steet Fighter II' CE art and the cover of the DVD Doomed Megalopolis!

Kato of Doomed Megalopolis and Vega of Street Fighter II are two villains with lot's of similarities. They both got the 4 letter name, the hat and the glowing eyes. After SFII The Animated Movie and the SF Zero/Alpha series, Vega was depicted mostly very muscular. In SFII he was thinner, more like Kato.
I'm quite sure that the SF II' drawing was meant to look like the DM cover, just compare the way ears, mouth, eyes and the hat were drawn.

Here's another pic of him:

Kato looks just like Vega except for the symbol on the hat. Vega used to have such a star on his hat instead of the skull with wings he has now (which is the symbol for Shadaloo). You can see it on earlier designs and also in SFIIWW (see below).

Here's a video with some pictures of Kato (manga and real live). Notice how Kato used to have a Katana to kill his opponents, typical for an imperial officer. It is now associated more with Washizaki. Vega is never depicted with one unfortunately.

(thanks to bobgray2000 for the info)

Washizaki is another manga character with the same look.
(thanks to SNK Zantetsu for the info)

Washizaki is from the famous manga Riki-Oh aka The Story of Ricky (that was also produced as an anime show and a popular very violent slapstick/martial arts movie.

This Japanese website has some more pics and infos, check it out! See how the poses and the backgrond match Vega from SFII?

(thanks to Bo, SNK Zantetsu and Neal for the link)

Here you can see Washizaki in the anime (YouTube.com).

(thanks to mimo for the link)

Washizaki seems to be based on Kato from the live action movie DM, since he has the big chin like the actor and sports the star/pentagram symbol. Vega seems to be based on both characters.

The Nazi Cyborg Rudolph von Stroheim

Rudolph von Stroheim (of manga/anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) is a Nazi who wears an SS uniform similar to Vega. He has a skull and wings logo like Vega (more on Vega and the Nazis in the Various Info setion) and comes back after being killed as a bionic. He also has a high tech base like Vega.
The name von Stroheim seems strange at first, as the most famous person with the name was a Jewish film director (Erich von Stroheim). Giving that he played villainous German roles in various movies during WWI, it makes sence though.

(Thanks to Keiko for the scans)

Note: Capcom has based other characters on JoJo's BA characters and has released a Street Fighter like 2D fighter of the series. More on JoJo's BA and von Stroheim further down the page.

The Brockens

Another inspiration might have been Brocken Man (or Blocken Man or Brockenman, depending on how you translate from Japanese) of the wrestling manga/anime Kinnikuman. Unlike the other inspirations mentioned, he already has the skull and wings combined into one symbol. Sometimes he's also shown with just a skull logo though.

(Thanks to SNK Zantetsu and Toulouse for this one!)

	The toys were sold in the US as M. U. S. C. L. E. but the Blocken Man toy was not sold in the Western World, probably because he was a Nazi with swastikas on each arm. The picture is from this website with more information on the toys. Apparently MUSCLE stands for Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere. Brocken Man has a son named Brocken Man Jr. who has a similar look and was one of many fan submittions to the Kinnikuman series. Here is a video that shows him performing high jumps, flips and head stomps like Vega.
	Finally there is Brocken from the 2D fighting game World Heroes. While the name is based on Brocken Man, the look and ability to hide weapons in his cyborg body is based on Stroheim. Because it's another "Sreet Fighterish" game, one might think that he's based directly on Vega, if one doesn't know the presented characters. The fightingstyles are very different, the Psycho Crusher (video) is almost identical though and his backward flip looks like Vega's Scissor Kick: (Thanks to SNK Zantetsu for this one and Neal for the left pic!) SNK Zantetsu put together this comparison.
Other video game dictators: Colonel Red of Gunstar Heroes is obviously based on Vega: (Thanks to César Rodrigues Lobo for sending this one in!) Another Lookalike is The Leader, a dictator boss character from Capcom's video game Bionic Commando. Both illustrations to the left were done by Shinkiro.

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STREET FIGHTER III

（街头霸王 III）

Alex and Hulk Hogan

One of the most famous professional show wrestlers (if not the most famous) is Hulk Hogan.

Just like him wrestler Alex of Street Fighter III has blond hair, wears headbands and rips his shirt before the fight begins and his fight intro with Hugo is based on the famous fight Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant.

More on this and on other wrestlers on Rip Off Page 4 (Andore/Hugo).

(Alex rippin his shirt at the beginning of a fight, sprite from Zweifuss.com)

(thanks to SNK Zantetsu for the info)

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Yun & Yang and Duo & Trowa

This is something else I knew absolutely nothing about but people told me bout it and I also read about it in Tiamat's Plot Guide so I thought I just had to put it up.

SFIII's Kung Fu twins Yun and Yang look like Duo and Trowa of Gundam Wing (official site)
Check out the pic:

Yup, pretty obvious that Yun with his baseball cap and braid is based on Duo and that Yang with his extreme spikey hairstyle is based on Trowa. Don't know if they are twins, too.

Yun, like Duo, is more carefree. Yang, like Trowa, is serious.

(Thanks to SNK Zantetsu for this info)

If you know more about them let me know.

Yun and Kien Lieu

Street Fighter III's Chinese Kung Fu twins Yun and Yang are based on two characters from Gundam Wing, as mentioned on page 2. Yun seems to also be based on Puma sneakers wearing skateboard legend Kien Lieu. While Yun rides skateboards, Yang prefers inline skates. Wether Yun was first based on Kien or on Duo is not obvious, all three have the same hairstyle and wear baseball caps.

(Big Mex mentioned this on his 1UP.com blog series "This is not SFIV" part 3)

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Elena and Nadia

Nadia of Fushigi no Umi no Nadia aka Nadia – The Secret of Blue Water has a couple of things in common with SFIII's Elena.

Both are from Kenya but don't really look like they are, due to their bright reddish skin color. They wear bracelettes/necklaces and and a white top. Additionally Nadia wears red textiles to her white top, so does Elena in her 3rd Strike ending, showing her travelling around the world, another thing they seem to have in common, as well as riding bikes and having human and animal friends from all around the globe of course. Elena's background stage from SFIIING also resembles a typical background for Nadia (blue sky, huge white clouds, large tree, flat grass landscape, mountains in the back).

(left: Elena of SFIII fighting and travelling with dog; right: Nadia)

(Thanks to Oliver for this one!)

Elena and Storm (of X-MEN)

They are both black and have white hair. Yeah, not much.

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Makoto and Akane Tendo/Shun

Makoto might be based on Akane Tendo of Ranma.

Makoto wears her ribbon around her neck, not her forehead, the rest is identical (bright yellow karate ki, short black hair,...).

Rumours are, that Makoto was originally planned to be Ryu's sister and might be influenced by Shun, Ryu's little brother in the Street Fighter Zero/Alpha anime:

(Shun from the Street Fighter Zero anime)

(Thanks to an anonymous visitor for sending this one in!)

Makoto Tsumura does her voice in Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. Maybe that's where she got her name from.

(pointed out by felineki on the SRK forum)

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Sean and Bobby –Brown Bullet–

Sean of Street Fighter III seems to be a rip off of Bobby from Tsuukai GANGAN Koushinkyoku (or just GanGan) also known as Aggressors of Dark Kombat in the Western World. The game by Alpha Denshi Corp. and SNK was released in the mid '90s and is a mix of classic 2D beat em ups and side scrollers like Final Fight. I think they're both on this action card of SNK's SNK VS CAPCOM Card Fighters DS.

Bobby isn't a very innovative character himself but the commonalities in skin color, yellow dress and the young black basketball player stereotype make Sean an even less innovative creation. Also note the colors of the US flag on Bobby's left leg being quoted with Sean's basketball. Due to the lack of ingenuity with most SFIII characters it's not clear wether Ansatsuken-clone #5 Sean is actually based on him or if the two 2D fighting game characters just look alike.

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

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Remy and Iori/Mick Jagger

Remy, the Frenchman from Street Fighter III, is based on SNK character Iori from the popular King Of Fighters series. They have a similar stance and clothing (both of them wear red pants and black jackets. Also both have the same hairstyle.

While Iori has a white "c" or moon on the back of his black jacket, Remy has a white capital "omega" on the front of his black jacket. I'm not very SNK educated, maybe there is more.

Mick Jagger (lead singer of the rock band The Rolling Stones) can be seen wearing a black longsleeve with a white Omega in the movie Gimme Shelter (documentary about an infamous free concert in San Francicso).

(left: Mick Jagger from Gimme Shelter, click to view larger version; right: click to buy Omega shirt)

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Oro and Helio Gracie

While semi grappler Oro is most likely not Brazilian, his stage is. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend Helio Gracie, has a similar nose and wrinkles. More on Oro on page 5.

(Big Mex mentioned this on his 1UP.com blog series "This is not SFIV" part 3)

Oro and Yoda (Star Wars)

they are both old and wizenly and Oro might become Ryu's teacher like Yoda teaches those eh...jedi guys, sorry I don't know much about Start Wars but anyway...

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Dudley and Lenny/Seth

Lenny of Shadow Hearts (video game) is one of the closest rip offs of a Street Fighter character (Street Fighter III's Dudley). He wears the exact same things (suspenders, bow tie, white shirt,...), he has a dark skin and a deep voice. While Lenny is a butler, Dudley is rich enough to afford his own butler.

(left: Dudley of SFIII; right: Lenny of Shadow Hearts; click each to view larger versions)

As I got told he also has at least one of Dudley's moves:
The "Corkscrew Blow".

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

American ghetto child Seth of SNK's The King Of Fighters might have been an inspiration for Dudley, at least clothingwise. Can't find any other similarities.

(left: Dudley of SFIII; right: Seth of KOF; click each to view larger versions)

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

Dudley and Evander Holyfield

And another famous boxer rip off in a Street Fighter game. Dudley of SFIII has a similar face and expression as Evander Holyfield.

(left: Dudley sprite from SVC CFC; right: Evander Holyfield)

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Necro and Bazoo/Ivan

They have a similar stance and both have very long arms that reach to the ground

Here you can see the similarity very well.

Both characters have a thin nose, bright skin, paintings or tattoos and they both have suspenders, boots and gloves. Street Fighter III New Generatin is probably older than Rumble Fish so Bazoo is the rip off.

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

Necro (real name Illiah) seems to be based on Ivan The Terrible of Giant Robo. Ivan is Russian and Necro's stages in SFIII are the Russian Railroad and a roof in Moscov showing the famous catherdrals.

Necro and Ivan have very bright skin, a bald head and a long thin nose. Both have a mark across the eye.

(Ivan's mark across the eye)

If you know more similarities, let me know.

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Twelve and Clayface/the T-1000/some alien/Glacius/EVA

Twelve's ability to form his hands to weapons is nothing new. The way it looks when he (I assume it's a he but it could be anything) transforms into other people or parts of him into weapons reminds me a lot of Clayface from the Batman tv series:

(left: Twelve's hands turning into axes; sprite from ZweiFuss.com ; right: hands as weapons, click to view more Clayface pics)

Ok they don't look the same but their movement does. They can both turn into other people including their enemies:

(Clayface turns into Batman, like Twelve can turn into other characters)

(Twelve VS Dudley)

We also know this ability from other characters such as the T-1000, the "evil" robot of the movie "Terminator 2" with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

When he turns his hands into blades they look a lot like Twelve's weapons in SFIII 3rd Strike and he consists of a liquid-metal-like substance that can turn into solid stuff and can copy other people, just like Twelve.

(the T-1000 turned into a policeman, his hands are formed to blades, he has bullet holes)

On the Shoryuken.com forum felineki posted this:

I remember an old post on SRK mentioning that Twelve's design was based on an alien that appeared in an old Japanese TV show. The episode it appeared in was rather infamous for some reason (can't recall at the moment), and it just so happened that it was the Twelfth episode of said show... hence Twelve's name.

I don't think this post still exists on the board (or if it does, I can't find it). However, when doing a Google image search the other day in hopes of finding Twelve fanart, I came across a Japanese movelist page for Twelve that included this rather interesting image as a header

Could this be said alien? It certainly resembles Twelve, the show is called Ultra 7.
Summary of episode 12, which was banned from Japanese TV.

Now there already was a character in a Beat Em Up game just like Twelve (also a rip off of the T-1000): Glacius from Killer Instinct.
Twelve looks a lot like Glacius, they are both able to form their arms and legs into weapons (ie blades). So Twelve could be named "the Glacius of Street Fighter".
(thanks to J. Murray for this submittion)

Twelve might also be based on EVA of the popular Japanese manga/anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. They have similar movements and abilities.

(left: Glacius of KI, click to view in full size; right: EVA of NGE)

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Q and Poseidon/Iron Mask/Kelly/Pero/Robot Detective K

/The Question

Street Fighter III Thrid Strike character Q might be based on Poseidon from Babel Nisei by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. They have the same yellow eyes, the same metal face and the same lines going from the eyes to the bottom of their faces. They have the same mouth, too.
Maybe they even move the same or maybe it's where Q has his strange way to talk from, I haven't seen the anime Babel Nisei. (if you know it, send me a mail)

Poseidon seems to be some kind of giant robot with weird "ears". Here are some pics of him in action:

On the pics you can see Poseidon stretching his arms away like Q when he loses through a time out (zombie style). It's not clear wether Q is a robot or part robot or not a machine at all. His neck can be seen in the game and it looks like usual skin.

From the same manga a character named Iron Mask has the same face and a "detective look" like Q.

(Thanks to Mai for this one)

In the anime to Giant Robo, also by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, a female character disguises herself as Iron Mask.

(click to view YouTube video)

(Thanks to Mai for this one)
More Giant Robo rip offs on the next page!

In Mitsuteru Yokoyama's other manga named Tetsujin 28 there is another character that looks like Q (mask and tie, coat, hat, gloves). His name is Kelly.

(click to view different image of Kelly)

By Mai :

Kelly, a man who replaced his own body for a mechanic one in order to live long enough to carry out a project which involves flying into space, which is also Kelly‘s dream. However, Kelly goes berserk during heavy lighting storms, causing him to malfunction and kill Dr. Dragnet (the man he assisted in the space project and turned him into a robot) and another fellow scientist.
Of course, he can’t parade around as a robot so he disguises himself as a human (the appearance of his former self) with clothing and fake skin (though he does covers his own face up with bandages and wear gloves). Kelly also weights heavily, though he doesn’t seem to have any problems moving around.

I read on several sites and forums that Q is a rip off of Tekkaman but this must be a mistake. Tekkaman looks nothing like Q (see pic below) and has nothing to do with him or any of the other characters shown here. I don't know how that rumour came up.

(Tekkaman)

Now for Pero (or Perro) , the robot detective from Metropolis (the manga and anime, not the city DC's Clark Kent/Superman lives in). He really looks a hell lot like Q (who looks like a detective, too).
The Metropolis anime was based on the manga Metropolis by Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy and many other classic series) who was inspired by a poster of the old German real live movie Metropolis by Fritz Lang (black/white).

"The anime was changed to be more like the original movie. Perro himself was not in the original Metropolis manga, although he was still a Tezuka manga character. He instead appeared in the Astro Boy manga. He was originally a dog named Perro (owned by the character Mustachio/Shunsaku Ban) who was turned into a cyborg. In the Metropolis anime, as a nod to this, Mustachio/Shunsaku Ban is the one who names the robot Perro, after a dog he once owned.
I should also note that Yokoyama (who did Babel II and Tetsujin 28) and Ishinomori (who did Robot Detective) were both once assistants to Tezuka, and they all draw in a similar style and created stories using similar concepts (which is why they all have Q type characters). I don't know which Q character came first, but his appearance seems most similar to the Iron Mask and Kelly characters created by Yokoyama (the design that was later used in the Giant Robo anime, which is based on the various works of Yokoyama)."
(Thanks to SNK Zantetsu for the info)

Check out these pics of Pero (thanks to Golden Dragon of the SRK forum):

Here you can see Q and Pero right next to each other. As you can see they wear the same coat, hat, gloves, tie and even the masks look a lot alike. The eyes and the color of the mask are different, but you can see the lines going from top of the eyes down the face.

(left: Q official Street Fighter III 3rd Strike artwork; right: Pero)

"The robot Pero questions why humans always use violence to resolve issues."

This doesn't really fit to Q, rather to Remy. Maybe he was an inspiration for him, too.
I also read that the creator of Pero named him after his dog, who finds everything (the detective aspect again).

And finally the last Japanese Q character:

Robot Detective K (thanks to Golden Dragon of the SRK forum):

Again we have the yellow eyes, the metal face and the lines through his face from top to bottom. As the name says he's also another detective roboter. By now I'm sure that the presented characters are somehow rip offs of each other, not sure what the first one was but Ultraman and Robot Detective K both have this typical Asian Power Rangers style.

(More about the series named Robotto Keiji/Robot Detective here)

An American inspiration for Capcom's Q could be "The Question" also called just "The Q" by DC Comics (Batman, Superman etc). Not only the name but also the look is the same except for the mask.
Official desrciption:
"Vic Sage is a journalist that is always able to break the tough stories, thanks to his activity as the Question."

(The Question)

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

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Urien and Roy Batty/Brian Fury

Brian Fury of Namco's Tekken and Urien of Capcom's Street Fighter III 2nd Impact have similar hairstyles and hair colors. They're both caucasian with brown skin (before fighting, Urien turns darker with white hair).

Both could be influenced by Roy Batty of the hit movie Blade Runner. Unlike Roy and Brian, Urien doesn't have a scar though.

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

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Gill (& Urien) and Kashon/Kikaider/Santana/Freezard/Malekith/Geegus & Dio

There's a character named Kashon from a video game named SOL DIVIDE –Sword of Darkness– by video game company Psikyo, the ones that have made games like Guilty Gear and have worked with Capcom already. He looks a lot like Gill and I'm pretty sure he was invented before Gill, who first appeared in SFIII New Generation. (Thanks to Neal for the name and game title!)

Take a loot at the pic below. Both have wings, are blue (at least half) got long hair and don't wear a whole lot more than what you could call underwear. And the hair color is not that different either.

Are there more similarities (storyline)? Tell me if you know it.

Sano from the Shoryuken.com forums said, that Udenko (of Udon) said, that Capcom designer Shoei said (*sigh*), that Gill was based on Japanese action hero Kikaider who is half red/half blue just like Gill (except for Gill being red on his right side and Kikaider on his left side).

Gill might also be based on Santana of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, with a similar look and abilities. I've seen some fanart that shows him in the same colors (blue skin, golden/blond hair) but I couldn't find any color images of him (send that in if you want). More JoJo's Bizarre adventure info below.

(Thanks to Bo for this one!)

But that's not all. We also have Freezard of the manga/anime Dai No Daibouken aka Dragon Quest. He's half blue half orange and controls Fire and Ice, just like Gill.

(Thanks to Vlad Fischert for this one!)

(click to view whole image)

(screenshots from the anime)

And even in the Marvel universe (Thor) there is a villain looking like Gill who "has found a way to escape death". His name is Malekith The Accursed and his face his half blue/half black while his body (clothing) is half red/half black. Could be interesting to see the two in a crossover game.

More on him here:
ImmortalThor.com
Marvel.com

An early design sketch of Gill shows him with a symbol on his chest too:

(Thanks to Ultima for the name and link!)

As described by BigMex in his "This is not Street Fighter IV" series, Gill is most likely influenced by or based on Geegus of ADK's Street Fighter rip off "World Heroes" (also mentioned above in Vega's entry). It seems that Capcom's way of revenge for all the copying is to copy characters back from SNK and ADK. Of course the ADK characters Geegus and Dio are based on other manga/anime/game characters.

(Dio and Gill with corresponding stages)

"Geegus was superior to the player in every way, he was humanoid whose final stage would raise the themes of the ragnarok / armageddon. This character also had a contemporary in the series named Dio. Think of the relationship and similarities between Gill and Urien."

"Geegus" sounds like "Jesus" and I remember reading somewhere that the development team of SFIII feared that Gill might have too much in common with Jesus (diapers, messiah etc).

As if that wasn't enough, I also got a possible Gill inspiration on Rip Off page 5 from Hokuto No Ken.

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The Secret Organization and the BF group

Gill's Secret Organization in Street Fighter III (later called "The Illuminati") is uniformed with KKKish hoods to cover the face and a weird symbol on the front side that doesn't look like eye holes, just like "The BF Group" of the anime Giant Robo.

(left: The Secret Organization; right: The BF Group from the Giant Robo intro; click to enlarge)

They all want to rule the world of course.

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The SFIII New Generation look-alikes

In SFIII NG Capcom included lot's of sub characters that look like old Capcom characters. Why? No idea, they just did. Here you'll find some, I don't know if I found all though.

Adon (of Street Fighter I)

In Elena's stage after you fell down the bridge there are sometimes two Muay Thai fighters grabbling in the background. The right one looks a hell lot like Adon. If Adon had green pants he would look just like this guy.

(Unknown Muay Thai fighters in Elena's stage in SFIIING)
(Thanks to Neal for the screenshots!)

Tessan Hagane (of Cyberbots)

One of the Ninjas in Ibuki's stage looks like Tessan Hagane of Cyberbots. His name is Raion.

Face and body shape and the big beads (similar to those of Gouki) plus the blue and white clothing make me think that he really is based on Tessan. Both of them also carry a traditional metal rod with rings.

(left: Raion in Ibuki's SFIIING stage; right: Tessan in Cyberbots drawing holding a similar rod)
(Thanks to Neal for the screenshot!)

Geki (of Street Fighter I)

Another ninja named Enjou is often taken to be Geki of Street Fighter I because they look so much alike.

He's hanging upside down from a tree while you fight in Ibuki's SFIIING stage and if Ibuki loses he's slowly hovering down. He's masked and armed with claws like Geki, the color of his ninja suit is different (Geki was purple) and he has a scar across the eye.

(Enjou in Ibuki's SFIIING stage)
(Thanks to Neal for the screenshot!)

Cammy, Sally Karin and Chun-Li (of Street Fighter)

The judges of SFIII seem to be based on already existing Street Fighter characters.
Anna looks like Cammy in a fur coat.
Lilly looks like Sally, Dhalsmim's wife. She's obviously an Indian, too.
Julia looks a bit like Karin of SFZ3 and also seems to be rich.
The three judges that look like triplets have hair like Chun-Li.
For more on this check out the SFIII judges page.

Part 3

STREET FIGHTER IV / SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV

（街头霸王4 / 超级街头霸王4）

Abel and Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko

Both are grapplers and wear white handgloves and a blue gi with stripes. We don't know much about Abel from SFIV yet. His hairstyle is not very different though. Capcom might have made a mistake with Abel's nationality.

The flags have the same color but SFIV's Abel has a French flag while Fedor isn't French.

His nationality and his head butt might be based on French football/soccer player Zinedine Zidane who's spectacular head butt can be seen below.

(images and infos from Capcom Town, a Spanish blog)

Abel's upturned nose and front quiff could be an attempt to make him look like French speaking Belgian Tintin.

(Pointed out by Diggx)

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C. Viper and The Dog/Angelina Jolie/hide

Little is known about Crimson Viper, Street Fighter IV's mysterious newcomer. She's the answer to Capcom of America's request for a sexy female character. And she has a few things in common with the very American Duane Lee Chapman aka "Dog –The Bounty Hunter" and his team.

Black leather clothing, gloves, hight tech sunglasses with microphone and a weirdo curl along with the typical Chapman braid. Just like the Dog she is tough when it comes to business but has a soft spot for her children. Is she a bounty hunter too? Who is she after and has she found Christ yet?

Because of her haircut Viper has also been compared to Elvis and manga character Josuke of JoJo's Bizarre Advemture (more JoJo rip inspirations on page 2).

With her sun glasses and full lips she looks a lot like superstar Angelina Jolie and considering team leader Ono's approach to the creation of SFIV characters (marketing research) she probably seemed to be the perfect model for Crimson Viper. Worth mentioning is that Viper, who's real name is Maya, and Angelina Jolie both have Native American blood.

(Thanks to Ark and Big Mex for this one)

Given how much C. Viper looks like hide, a Japanese rock star, the whole US research factor might be smaller than I first expected.

At least now we know where the hair color is from. He was the main guitarist in the huge Japanese rock band X JAPAN, and died in 1998.

(Thanks to ROCKET for this one)

Juri and Jolyne Kujo

(Thanks to poseidal for this one)

Seth and Dr. Manhattan

Besides the Silver Surfer and about a million other characters, a lookalike of Seth is Dr. Manhattan (real name Dr. Jon Osterman) from the comic Watchmen. Right before SFIV the Watchmen movie was a big hit and Dr. Manhattan's lab, poses and abilities are surprisingly similar to Seth's, who's name is said to be based on Capcom's Seth Killian.

Despite their unusual looks, Seth and Manhattan tend to dress properly for certain occasions.

(Thanks to Samuel Cazetta Arlindo for this one)

STREET FIGHTER EX

（街头霸王EX）

Hokuto and Kasumi Todoh

SNKs Kasumi Todoh (Art Of Fighting, King Of Fighters) has the same colors (white, red, blue) and similar clothing as Hokuto of Arika's Street Fighter EX. Both wear large martial arts pants and a white headband.

While Hokuto is dead serious and quiet, Kasumi is a rather funny character. But their fighting styles (Jiu Jitsu and Aikido) both involve counter attacks and Hokuto is the only SFEX character with couters.
(Thanks to ILIAN for the info)

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Skullomania and Kamen Rider/L. A. Park

Skullomania of Arika's Street Fighter EX is an ordinary salesman who suddenly becomes a super hero (might be just in his fantasy). In SFEX2 he got a redesign and now features a red cape/ribbon and a belt similar to the Kamen Rider/Masked Rider characters in addition to the letter S on his forehad and some minor changes to ephasize his Henshin origin (Japanese TV heroes).

(Big Mex mentioned this on his 1UP.com blog series "This is not SFIV" part 4)

He might also be based on luchador La Parka aka L.A. Park (video) who also wears a skull dress. He's obviously slightly chubbier than Skullo but has similarly weird wrestling moves.

Kinkotsuman of the Japanese wrestling series Kinnikuman (MUSCLE) has even more in common with Skullomania from SF EX2 on. His name means "Muscle and Bone Man".

Besides the red scarf and, the writing on the forehead and of course the skelleton look, Kinkotsuman's moves might have been a main influence on Skullomania too. As you can see in this video to his Theme, he tends to spin around in a similar way.

In the same video Kinkotsu man is as big as a building. In his SFEX1 ending Skullomania grows into a huge hero fighting a big robot character. Not sure if that has anything to do with Kinkotsuman as it happens in many Japanese series.

(left: Skullomania's ending in SFEX1; right Kinkotsuman similarly huge in this scene)

(Thanks to Red Cyclone for this one)

　

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Ace and Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson)

Ace is "only" a Street Fighter EX character by Arika, not by Capcom. He's not part of the official Street Fighter plot and has no real background story (or ending like all SFEX3 characters) but he's still worth to be mentioned here.

Ace looks a lot like Max Rockatansky from the movies Mad Max 1-3 played by Mel Gibson. His clothing is quite similar, especially the single shoulder pad on one side of his black leather suit (see right image). I couldn't find good images of either of em but here are some at least:

If you got better images of Ace send them to me please.
Especially if he looks like Max on the pics.

Here is a site, dedicated to Mad Max, that features different Mad Max references including Ace of Street Fighter EX 3: madmaxmovies.com/flubs/references/
Check that out if you need more info on the topic.
I only saw Mad Max 3 with Tina Turner so I can't tell you much about the storyline. All I know is that it is set in the future after some gigantic nuclear war or something.
Here you can see Tina Turner's video (Real Movie, you need Real Player) "We Don't Need Another Hero" from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to the movie Mad Max: Beyond The Thunderdome. Cool title huh? Beyond The Thunderdome. Wow. Anyway since I don't have a lot of images just watch it you're bored (or a Tina Turner fan) and check out Max' black suit with only one shoulder pad just like Ace of SFEX3 (you can see it alot better in the video than on the pic above). That's all I got. For more Tina Turner stuff (or if the direct link doesn't work) go to www.Tina-Turner.nl.

It's also possible that he's not based on Max directly, but on Kenshiro of Hokuto No Ken, who is based on Max. More about that on page 5.

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Darun Mister and Yusuf Ismail/Great Gama

One of the best wrestlling characters in a Capcom fighter is Darun of Arika's Street Fighter EX series. His beard looks like that of various Turkish wrestlers including Yusuf Ismail:

Darun, who happens to be Blair Dame's bodyguard, might also be based on Muslim wrestling legend Great Gama from India who's birthname was Ghulam Mohammed.

(Thanks to Big Mex of 1Up for this one)

The Indian heavyweight was a good counterpart to Russian muscle mountain Zangief. Once Gama fought against the world famous Polish wrestler Zbyszco:

From WrestlingMuseum.com:

"However, despite his problems finding suitable opponents, Gama did come across one world-famous competitor who was not unwilling to face off in a bout. That man was Stanislaus Zbyszco (pictured, standing on the left) and the two superstars wrestled to a controversial draw. Nearly twenty years later, Gama and Zbyszco had a rematch in India that drew the largest crowd ever for a wrestling event in that country. This time around, though, the veteran bulldozer Gama attacked the aging Zbyszco and secured the victory (by knockout) in an amazing 21 seconds before a rabid hometown audience."

RPG game Shadow Hearts II by Nautilus also features a wrestler named Great Gama:

(image from RPGGamer.com)

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Allen Snider of SFEX and Chuck Norris

because they have a similar hairstyle (sideburns) ie in the movie where Bruce Lee kills him.

==============================================================================================

其它类别

G-13EX Zero Gouki and Giant Robo

The big robot named Giant Robo seems to be the main inspiration for Gouki's Cyberbot version, the G-13EX Zero Gouki.

As you can see, not only the colors of each body part (red, blue and black) are the same, also the form of the feet and especially the hands are similar.

(left: Cyberbots' ZeroGouki; right: Giant Robo's Giant Robo)

Capcom also used Giant Robo's look for the giant Robo-Raizo statue in Justice High/Rival Schools.
More about it on this website.

(click to view larger image of Robo-Raizo)
(thanks to Mai for this one)

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Rockman/Mega Man and Astro Boy

Capcom character Rockman aka Mega Man who appeared in MvsC 1 & 2 seems to be a rip off of cartoon character Astro Boy, look at the pic:

Both are robot boys with simple looks and well you see the similarity.
More info on the lil fella:
I guess Astro-Boy.net is the official Astro Boy site.
Note: You need Macromedia Flash support to view the site.

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Tom and Jean Reno

The internationally know actor Jean Reno (who appeared in the Capcom video game Onimusha 3 and in movies like Ronin, Leon, Mission Impossible, Rollerball, French Kiss and Godzilla) looks a lot like Tom, a very good friend of Alex from Street Fighter III. Tom only appeared in Alex' endings. You can see the pics above: The nose the hairstyle, the beard, the haircut. When I first saw him he reminded me a lot of Jean Reno and if they ever make a SFIII movie they just have to pick him as Tom.
Maybe Capcom threw in that easter egg as a tribute because he appeared in their game.

Don't know who drew the caricature.

Part 4:
Final Fight (1) & Muscle Bomber characters

On this page you can find various characters of the Street Fighter related games "Final Fight" and "Muscle Bomber" and the originals they are based on.

Final Fight

（快打旋风 / 街头快打）

SNES art – Final Fight's Haggar, Jessica, Cody and the Mad Gear Gang:

(old FF1 art; click to view larger image)

The game idea to Final Fight is based on Street Fighter I and was planned as the sequel named Street Fighter '89 and originally was supposed to feature Ryu and Ken as main characters. The name "Mad Gear" itself is based on Capcom's game Mad Gear/LED Storm. The city "Metro City" is based on New York City. The basic story of Final Fight is primarily based on the movie Streets Of Fire - A Rock & Roll Fable (cover, trailer). So are many characters and the emphasis on Rock music.

Cody and Tom Cody/Joe

With his average speed and strength compared to Haggar and Guy, Cody was the best choice for beginners in FF1 and also storylinewise he could be considered the main character (if there is one) as he's the one who kills Belger at the end of the game. He, just like the whole story, is based on Streets Of Fire and its main character Tom Cody.

Cody's hair in FF1 (ingame) wasn't as bright as in FFR and SFZ3 so he looked a lot like Tom. Both are very good with the knive. Cody was the only character in FF1 who could keep the knife and use it several times.

(left: Cody with knife in SFZ3; right: Tom Cody grabbing a gang member's knife)

Both have to rescue their girlfriends (Jessica Haggar and Ellen Aim) who were kidnapped by gangs and both decide to leave them at the end.

(Except for usually wearing red dresses, Jessica and Ellen don't have much in common.)

Cody's moves in SFZ3 are based on Joe of SF1, who probably was planned to be in the game first but then got replaced by the jail version of FF's Cody, a more popular character.

Some old art of him already seems to reseble Joe from the SFII intro with his bright blond hair and white shirt. The intro was originally planned for FF or Street Fighter'89 as a sequel to SFI.

(left: Cody of FF1; right: Joe of SFI in the SFII Arcade intro)

Guy and Guy Picciotto

Guy seems to be based on a rock musician by the same name from the American rock band Fugazi.

Both sometimes have hair long enought to cover their eyes. Guy's name is written with the kanji meaning 'victory song'.

(This info is from Arcade-History.com)

(the band Fugazi)

Mayor Mike Haggar and Governor Jesse Ventura

Final Fight and Muscle Bomber character Haggar is the first character that has a real live rip off!

Haggar is a prefessional show wrestler but he's also the mayor of Metro City. An unusual combination? Jesse Ventura, a famous show wrestler from the WWF decided to start a political career after his live as a wrester and action star. Both are big muscular guys with mustaches. Jesse Ventura became governor after Final Fight and Muscle Bomber so he is the rip off.

(Thanks to Crayfish for sending this one in!)

By Crayfish:
Just done a bit of reading up on Ventura's political career. Seems he was a bit of a peoples champion too, Due to his background I'd imagined he may be a bit of a Neocon, but turns out (despite being atni tax and pro gun ownership) in his time he supported: Abortion Rights, recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, sepeation of church and state, the use of medicinal marijuana, denounced the economic sanctions of the US against Cuba, supported Kerry for Pres and spoke out against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's position on taxing Native American Casinos.
Go Haggar!

Also by Crayfish:
The Running Man is set in the future, about a barbaric tv show where criminals are hunted by WWF like hunter-gladiators, much like the Roman games… This is the film I think, that must have done it, because its the appearance where he has hair (a wig), and in a very similar style to Haggar too!

(click the image above to see the depicted scene or watch the trailer)

Now you know why Metro City's criminals are hunted by Haggar, the wrestling mayor in Final Fight (released 2 years after the movie Running Man with Arnold Schwarzenegger). Maybe they are both rip offs of each other.

Poison and Poison

Like other Final Fight characters, Poison has a name that comes from a rock band.

But the name, the long hair and their gender are not all they have in common.

Poison wears a hat just like one of the band members did for a while and it has the exact same skull logo on the front side.

Roxy and Roxy Music

As Drew Mackie mentions on his blog, Poisons friend and pallette swap Roxy might have gotten the name from the band Roxy Music (or the Roxy Theatre).

Wikipedia describes the band as an English art rock group initiated during the early 1970s.

Sodom and Sodom/Jack Burton

In the Western World Sodom's name in FF1 got changed to "Katana".

The name "Sodom" is based on a German trash band by the same name.

(the band Sodom)

With the SF Zero series Sodom got a truck that has not appeared in Final Fight.

With the truck, his blue jeans and boots and the fact that he's another out of place American in an Asian world he has a lot in common with Jack Burton, main character of Big Trouble In Little China played by Kurt Russell.

(Thanks to Crayfish for sending this one in!)

Axl & Slash and Guns N' Roses

Final Fight's leather wearing thugs Axl and Slash are based on members of the Rock band Guns N' Roses.

(the band Guns N' Roses)

Axl is based on singer Axl Rose:

Both have long blond hair and a bandana.

Slash is based on Slash aka Saul Hudson:

They've got dark brown, curly hair.

Abigail and King Diamond

Mad Gear's Abigail is based on Andore because he's almost a complete sprite color swap. His face paint however is based on Rock band leader King Diamond of Mercyful Fate.

The name "Abigail" comes from one of Diamond's album titles:

(CD covers of King Diamond's albums "Abigail" and "Abigail II")

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Bred/Dug and Raven

Bred and his color swap (clone) Dug from Final Fight 1 have the same leather outfit with suspenders, that Raven wears in the movie Streets Of Fire. See pictures below:

(left: Bred of FF1, click to view larger version; right: Raven from SOF)

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Rolento and Jack Krauser/Clayton

Rolento Schugerg (Final Fight and Street Fighter series) seems to be an inspiration for Jack Krauser of Resident Evil (also by Capcom). Both have an English first name (Rolent probably mistranslated to Rolento) and a German sounding second name. Both have the military look, wear a red beret and have grenades and knives. Both have a big scar through the whole face.

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

Rolento and Clayton of Disney's Tarzan share the same type and colors of clothing and both have a red shawl.

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

Rolento is originally based on Fist Of The North Star's Colonel Golan (see Rip Off Page 5 soon).

Rolento's henchmen and the camouflage trio

In the movie Golgo 13 The Professional three guys in camouflage may have been an inspiration for Rolento's henchmen, that appear in his winning pose and one super combo in Street Fighter Zero/Alpha 2 and later games. The only known individuals of the bunch are El Gado and Holly Wood, who also appeared in Final Fight first, like Rolento himself. They too wear green camouflage clothing sometimes.

(left: Hollywood of Final Fight 1; right: three assasins attack Golgo 13)

They attack from above with knives and sharp objects, just like Rolento's henchmen in SFZ2.

The weapons and the way they move are similar, both groups have a hook, Rolento uses it to hang his opponents. One of the trio in Golgo 13 walks like the enemies in Final Fight.

In the artbook Capcom Design Works –Early Days– designer Akiman also mentions that Holly Wood is based on a male character from a pocket novel.

(Thanks to vasili10 for translating!)

Bill Bull and a real person

Bill Bull, one of FF's heavyweight characters is based on a real person according to the artbook Capcom Design Works –Early Days– in which Akiman states that he is inspired by a "hard-hitting old man seen at a restaurant nearby Capcom's headquarters".

(Thanks to vasili10 for translating!)

J & Two P and Duck King/Player 2/Harimao/Tetsuo

In Capcom's Final Fight there are two Mad Gear clones (palette swaps) named "J" and "Two P". If you mix both you get Duck King from SNK's Fatal Fury.

Duck has J's colors (yellow hair and blue and yellow vest and clothing) and he has Two P's hairstyle and sunglasses.

+ =

(Thanks to Neal for sending this one in!)

Two P then again is based on Player 2 (hence "Two P") of Capcom's game Forgotten Worlds.

In the artbook Capcom Design Works –Early Days– designer Akiman mentions that the spikey hairstyles of the FF characters are based on characters like Harimo of the boxing manga Ashita No Joe ("Tomorrow's Joe") and Tetsuo of Akira.

(Thanks to Rikoseph and Red Cyclone for the translation and some of the pics!)

It is also possible that Harimao of Lupin III: Pursuit of Harimao's Treasure is meant, depending on when it was released (as a manga).

(thanks to vasili10 for this one)

Another inspiration for J of Metro City's Mad Gear Gang seems to be Romeo from John Carpenter's movie Escape From New York. Metro City is considered to be a fantasy version of New York.

(thanks to Crayfish for this one)

Andore/Hugo and Andre The Giant

Mad Gear member "Andore", who appeared in every Final Fight game, maybe was meant to be called "Andre" like Andre The Giant aka Andre Rene Roussimoff, a famous show wrestler (http://www.andrethegiant.com/).
It's more or less official that Andore (wrestler) is a parody/copy of Andre The Giant like Mike Bison (boxer) is one of Mike Tyson. The reason the name is not Andre is probably the same as the M. Bison one: Capcom feared to get sued. But it might also just be another mistranslation from Japanese written language to English.

(left pic: Final Fight 1; right pic: Andre The Giant; click pics to view larger versions)

Andre's early look included wild brown hair just like Andore has it in FF1-3. Later Capcom changed Andore's hair to black.

They both wear that Tarzan thing (don't know what it's called) eventhough the color is different, it still reminds you of Andre The Giant.
They are both very tall and talk with a deep voice (and don't talk a lot).
Also look at the face, the eyes are covered by shadow and the mouth looks kinda sad/mean.

The original was quite chubby while Andore is more muscular but this changes from time to time. Sometimes they draw him fat sometimes he's pure muscles.

The fact that Hugo looks exactly like Andore and might even be exactly the same character means that he is a parody of Andre The Giant, too.
Not only is Hugo a wrestler who looks a bit like Andre (see above), there is also a real hint to Andre:

In Street Fighter III at the beginning of a fight between Alex and Hugo, Hugo pushes away Alex with his big body while Alex who is smaller looks up to him in an angry way.

(this pic is from the Red Cyclone page, a Japanese site full of infos on SF characters
click here to view a gif animation of it from this SFIII 3rd Strike site)

This was a parody or homage on the fight Andre The Giant VS Hulk Hogan. Alex has blond long hair, is a wrestler and smaller than Hugo.

Andre The Giant doesn't live anymore. Don't know anything about wrestling so some of the info might be wrong, I'm sure a wrestling fan could tell you more about this topic.


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Edi E and Ed Price

Both have the name Edward and in both cities (Metro City and Richmond) the police is corrupt.

Final Fight's Edi E wants to see Cody in jail just like Chief Ed Price of Streets Of Fire wants to see Tom Cody in jail. At the end of the movie Ed is on Tom's side though.

Belger and Raven

Belger and Raven, the bosses of the bad guys in Final Fight and the movie Streets Of Fire have similar faces, eventhough their ages are very different. The gin and cheeks have the same folds.

Both terrorize a city and both kidnapped a girl, that needs to be rescued by the Codies. Both have a fight with them at the end of the story.

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Muscle Bomber/Saturday Night Slammasters（摔角霸王 - 肌肉爆弹）

Here are some lookalikes for the Muscle Bomber characters, drawn and probably designed by (or at least with) Tetsuo Hara, creator of Hokuto No Ken/Fist Of The North Star. More of his influence on Rip Off page 5.
If you have more details for these charaters's similarities (moves, storyline etc.) let me know.

El Stinger and Lizmark

El Stinger (known in the Western World as El Stingray) is based on Lucha Libre Lizmark. Blue mask,white pants and shoes, glitter.

(Thanks to Crayfish for this one, check out his collage)

Astro and Tinieblas

The Astro (aka The Scorpion in the Western World) is based on Lucha Libre Tinieblas (Wiki). The helmet looks similar and Tinieblas often has the same outfit with bit shoulder pads and charms.

(Thanks to Crayfish for this one, check out his collage)

Sheep The Royal and Big Van Vader/Hawk

Sheep The Royal (aka Alexander The Greater in the Western World) is based on Big Van Vader (Wiki). Both fat guys with similar beard and hair type/color. Both wear alsmost the exact same horned helmet. While Van Vader has leaher straps in his face, Sheep wears them on his chest.

(Thanks to Crayfish for this one, check out his collage)

Another inspiration could be a wrestler named Hawk who also has a similar hairstyle and likes to stick his tongue out the same way (see picture below). He was in a popular WWF tag team with Animal named Legion of Doom but before they were known as the Road Warriors.
Tetsuo Hara, the artist who drew the Muscle Bomber characters, also featured two lookalikes in his famous Hokuto No Ken mangas. What's interesting, is that both the look of the manga and the wrestlers is based on the Mad Max movies. That's probably why they were called the Road Warriors.

(Thanks to Toulouse, Evan Jacobson and ydx7 for the this one)

Kimala and Earthquake/Kamala

Kimala The Bouncer (aka Jumbo Flap Jack in the Western World) and Earthquake aka John Tenta (Wiki) are both fat guys with a similar dark beard. The name and tribal look (star/moon symbols, face paint) are from a wrestler named Kamala or sometimes Kimala, too (Wiki). They have similar moves and winning poses/dances.

(Thanks to Crayfish for this one, check out his collage)

Mysterious Budo and Great Kabuki/Great Muta

The Mysterious Budo (aka The Great Oni in the Western World) spits green mist at his opponents, similar to Raiden (from SNK's Fatal Fury), who also appears as Big Bear without mask and who seems to be based on earlier mentioned Big Van Vader. An actual wrestler using this Japanese weapon, also known as "poison mist" or "green fog", was The Great Muta, who also wore face paint, and who seems to be the main inspiration for Red Dragon (from SNK's 3 Count Bout). But the first Japanese wrestler to use it was The Great Kabuki, who played Muta's father and used the Kabuki theatre gimmick, similar to E. Honda (Rip Off page 2). Kabuki also wore a similar wig sometimes.

If you have some sceenshots or a YouTube video of the game characters using the mist, let me know.

(Thanks to Toulouse for some of these)

Victor Ortega and Superstar Billy Graham

Superstar Billy Graham (Wiki) a famous wrestler and Hulk Hogan's main inspiration looks a lot like the mighty Muscle Bomber champion Victor Ortega. Both have long blond hair, a blond beard, a bandana and huge steroid muslces.

(Thanks to Crayfish for this one, check out his collage)

Part 5: Dragonball, Dr. Slump, Fist Of The North Star

Here are all Street Fighter and related characters based on or influenced by characters from Akira Toriyama's Dragonball and Arale Chan/Dr. Slump and Tetsuo Hara's Hokuto No Ken/Fist Of The North Star:

Let me know if you have something to add or correct.

Dragonball/Dragonball Z characters

（龙珠 / 龙珠Z）

Chubby man inYang's SFIII NG stage/statue and

King Kai/Monkey King

Yun's twin brother Yang has a Dragonball background appearance, too. The upset way the guy moves and his chubby look, the sun glasses and the clothing makes me think that he is based on King Kai of the Dragonball universe.

In the same stage you can also find a Monkey figure inside of a stone that is revealed when fighting. It looks like the main character of Journey To The West, an old Chinese story that was the main influence for characters from Dragonball and Capcom's SonSon.

From Big Mex' blog on 1UP.com:

Zhu and the "Monkey King" Sun Wukong were featured in many moral pieces and turn up again and again in animation and pop culture. Even Street Fighter has played an homage to the mythological heroes in their legacy. The monkey king, once imprisoned in stone, was actually a detail in Yun and Yang's level in Street Fighter III.

(f.l.t.r.:  Sun Wukong from Yang's SFIIING stage;  Sun Wukong (Journey To The West);  Son Goku from DB;  SonSon from Capcom's classic game SonSon;  female SonSon remake from Marvel VS Capcom 2)

Oro and Muten Roshi

Oro of SFIII known as "The Sennin" seems to be based on "Muten Roshi/Roshii/Roushi" aka "Kamesennin" of the popular Dragonball series.

(Muten Roshi, the lord of the turtles from Dragonball)

They're both very old (very very very old) and are very good and experienced fighters.
Muten Roshi is Son Goku's teacher and Oro of SFIII seems to become Ryu's (main character like Son Goku) teacher.

Both live with a turtle (symbol for a long long live). I have not found any official info on Oro's turtle, such as its name, but it shows up in Oro's winning poses sometimes. Of course it doesn't talk like the turtle in Dragonball.

(left: Oro and his turtle; right: Muten Roshi riding on his turtle)

There seems to be a connection between Oro and Ibuki or at least from the old man to teenager Ibuki. This could be a hint to the Japanese stereotype of old men being perverts. Muten Roshi defenitely is an old pervert who constanlty gets smacked by young girls for his behaviour.
There are many of those old pervert characters in other mangas and animes for example in Ranma.

Another similarity is that they're both ill-bred. Oro is defenitely the most disgusting Street Fighter ever. He pulls projectiles out of his nose like boogers and when he sleeps he has the Dragonball like bubbles coming out his nose. Muten Roshi is the same type of character, he likes to fart a lot and is not very well reared either. In addition to the booging Oro just looks like a weirdo who hasn't had a wash in quite some time.

Old man in Yun's SFIII NG stage and Muten Roshi

Same beard, same head, same pants, same type of shirt, shoes and stance. Not sure if Muten Roshi has such a fan but the rest is the same. Maybe the woman yelling at him is based on someone popular, too?

Genda and Krillin of Dragonball

Genda is the small guy in Ibuki's SFIII NG stage. Like Krillin (or Kulilin/Kurinrin) he has a bald head and dots on it (monk look), is very small and well they just look the same, especially when Genda wears his orange ninja outfit.

(left: Genda; right: Krillin)
(Thanks to Neal for the Screenshot!)

Dhalsim and Nam of Dragonball

Dhalsim and Nam are both Indians who fight to raise money for their village. Dhalsim sometimes wears a turban just like Nam. They both are yogis.

(left: early design sketch of SFII; right: TV screenshot of Dragonball)

Blanka and Super Android 13

Blanka's SFII'CE color (or his Player 2 color) is blue skin with bright orange hair. With these colors, he looks a lot like Super Android from Dragonball Z. However you can still see the similarity when Blanka has his usual green look as shown below.

(left: Blanka from an old SFII Manga by Masaomi Kanzaki; right: Super Android 13 from Dragonball Z)

Thanks to Nathan for sending this one in!

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Arale Chan/Dr. Slump characters

（阿拉蕾 / I.Q.博士）

Area and Arale

Area of Street Fighter EX3 is probably based on Arale Norimaki from Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump/Arale Chan mangas and anime shows.

Besides the similar names and looks there are other similarities. Arale Norimaki is a robot, invented by Senbei Norimaki a brilliant scientist who is like a father to her. Area's father is a scientist, too and builds robotic body parts and other inventions, that Area uses when fighting.

From Wikipedia:
"Area believes that fighters are battle robots."

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Vega's dolls and Dr. Mashirito's dolls

In one or several episodes of the '97 Dr. Slump anime show (first digital anime tv show), Dr. Mashirito (the evil professor who builds giant robots named "Caramelmen") had a crew of girls, that had different skin and hair colors but all wore the same purple uniforms and hats.

(left: Udon comic; right: TV anime screenshot)
(Thanks a lot to Neal for the Dr. Slump anime screenshots!)

It's possible that the episodes are based on the later mangas, that were not released in the Western World and only appeared in Shonen Jump (in color).

(left: Dr. Mashirito in Dr. Slump the manga; right: the girls in a TV episode)

I believe, that the girls were an inspiration for Vega's "Shadaloo Dolls" of Street Fighter Zero/Alpha 3 including Shadaloo Cammy who first appeared in SFZ2 Alpha/SFA2 Gold. Actually I think it's pretty obvious. If you know anything about them, maybe their names or something, let me know. More on the Dolls on page 2.

Hokuto No Ken/Fist Of The North Star

（北斗之拳）

General similarities

Before going into details about each character, it should be mentioned that HNK has had a big impact on manga and anime especially Martial Arts related ones. Both Dragonball and Street Fighter (official games as well as non canon movies and mangas) have elements of HNK such as the fireballs and other special moves.

Just like in SF there are two guys , the main character (Kenshiro) has dark hair and big dark eyebrows like Ryu and his partner (Shin) has long blond hair like Ken and is also less serious and more laid back. Also the syllables "Shin", "Ryu" and "Ken" appear in both series in character, fighting style and move names. Kenshiro is also called "Ken" but I'll call him Kenshiro to make things clearer. They also named one female character of Street Fighter EX "Hokuto" (North Star).

They were drawn by Japanese manga artist Tetsuo Hara who also drew the art for the Capcom game Muscle Bomber/Slam Masters that looks quite similar.

The series takes place after a nuclear escalation like the movie Mad Max. Kenshiro also wears a suite that looks a bit like Mel Gibson's in Mad Max with one shoulder pad (see Ace on RipOff page 1).

(Early design sketch by Capcom; shoulder pad and drawing style like HNK)

In the early designs of SFIIWW (above) you can see how the designers emulate Tetsuo Hara's style.

Ryu and Kenshiro

(left: Ryu; right: Kenshiro)

Both are the main characters, can channel energy to shoot projectiles, do hurricane kicks and tend to wander towards the sunset. Both were orphans and were adopted by a martial arts masters who tought them.

(left: Ryu in SFII, SFIIT, SSFII; right: Kenshiro)

Eventhough Street Fighter and Ryu never had anything to do with the desert, Capcom decided to let Ryu walk through the desert in their Street Fighter II commercial (YouTube video). HNK happens to play in the desert and Kenshiro wears a similar headpiece.

Zangief and Gouda

Hokuto No Ken's Gouda has the same beard and irokese haircut as SFII's Zangief.

Zangief loves to wrestle Siberian bears and Gouda fights like a bear. Again the similarities are striking.

(thanks to Evan Jacobson for the scans)

Check out the bear at the beginning of the fight, right behind Gouda: YouTube video NEW

(thanks to Mario for the link)

Birdie and about every second HNK villain/Mr. Heart's gang

At the time HNK came out, the punk irokese haircut was very popular and remained popular for villains in mangas, comics and cartoons (ie Rocksteady of the Tenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

(left: Birdie of SFI, click to view larger version; right: a gang from the HNK anime movie)

For HNK villains it's almos unusual not to be tall, muscular, to wear a vest and to have that hairtyle. While some characters had letters on their forehead, others had playing card symbols such as heart and spade. So does Birdie in his Street Fighter Zero/Alpha comeback look, where Capcom made him black for some reason.

(left: Birdie of SFA anime movie; middle: Mr. Heart from HNK anime movie; right: one of his thugs)

Balrog and Yuda/Rei/Club/Shura

A common type of character in Japanese mangas and animes is the "Bishonen", a beautiful feminin looking man. Balrog is one of them and so is Rei of HNK. Both Balrog and Rei have the voice actor Kaneto Shiozowa in anime movies.

(thanks to sano for this info)

For Yuda of HNK beauty is essential and he can't fight Rei because of his beauty. Balrog is obsessed with everything beautiful in the same way. In SFIIWW he doesn't want to fight Chun-Li because she's so beautiful.

(thanks to vasili10 for this one)

(click screenshot to view YouTube video)

Kenshiro's brother Jagi hides his face, because Kenshiro wrecked it in a fight. He freaks out when he realizes that others are scared of it and he hates Kenshiro for ruining it. In SFIIAM Balrog too freaks out when Chun-Li kicks him in the face (more on this soon).

Balrog has claws like Club and other HNK characters and a mask to protect his face like Shura.

Gill/Urien and Various characters of HNK

In HNK men wear these diapers when taking a bath. In case you wonder where Gill and his brother Urien have hat look from, one example would be Yuda/Yudah/Judah/Judas (or whatever you call him).

So besides the characters mentioned on Rip Off page 3, there are even more Gill look a likes, that's how unoriginal his design is.