The Embarrassing History of Sean ! - A Street Fighter Character Documentary (1997 - 2022)

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In today's episode we look at the history of Sean. Why has Ken's protégé from Street Fighter 3 never ascended past his original appearance. Let's look back at why this characters existence was shaky from the start.
#streetfighter #fgc #fightinggames
Additional Gameplay & Other Footage Sources
• Street Fighter III: Ne...
Street Fighter III: New Generation (PlayStation 4) Arcade as Sean
TheInnocentSinful
• Street Fighter III: 3r...
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike - Fight for the Future (Arcade) - (Longplay - Sean Matsuda | Hard)
TurkishBullet19
• Street Fighter III 2nd...
Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack (Arcade) - Sean
VideoGaming4U
• Street Fighter III: Ne...
Street Fighter III: New Generation (PlayStation 4) Arcade as Ryu
TheInnocentSinful
• Video
Street Fighter® 30th Anniversary Collection STREET FIGHTER 3 Third Strike PS4 Arcade Mode Sean
TLWG Keith
• Street Fighter III: 2n...
Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact - Sean Move List
DrewTony'Z
• Street Fighter V - Lau...
Street Fighter V - Laura Arcade Mode (HARD)
XGAMER 744
• Street Fighter-Alpha-W...
Street Fighter-Alpha-Warriors' Dreams-Dan Hibiki-Arcade Playthrough
Wounded Turtle
Further Info Sources
streetfighter....
capcom.fandom....
www.fightersge...

[@JRyoga]

Sean is the ultimate underdog, done dirty from the start by his own creators, accidentally made OP in 2nd Impact, then done dirty again by being nerfed in 3rd Strike and humiliated at every possible opportunity. Yet fans still love him anyway and want to see him win.

[@BankkeyAoshi]

Facts💪🏾💙

[@scottblack7182]

I was furious not to see him added in USF4. F*cking Elena made it but not Sean ? Ugghhhhh 😭 For crying out loud even Armika had a comeback moment in 6 but still no Sean.

[@biddergick2890]

He lost his qualifying round he's a waste. Like imagining wanting another Dan. xD. Lore wise he's useless.

[@BankkeyAoshi]

@@biddergick2890 😒

[@scottblack7182]

@@biddergick2890 Lore wise? 😂 Nobody cares about the lore bruh. Its all about them techniques and his was def far better than ryus or kens boring asses .

[@pduction]

Sean is a great character. I hope he’s in sf6 give him the shine he deserves

[@henriquedearruda8902]

Maybe Capcom Will and maybe give him a unique power like a monster sealed inside him that comes out when he is angry or scared maybe a huge Jaguar he is from Brazil afterall

[@neonsamurai4604]

Sean and Alex for SF6 it’s their birthright 🙏

[@premosuave9311]

A blk shotokan fighter. I was desperately hoping he would be good and I used him a lot in the arcades. Hopefully they do himsome justice

[@flewis02]

Sean is PERFECT for Street Fighter 6, a nice redesigned street look and he's already halfway ready

[@biddergick2890]

Why add another Shoto just add Laura again since she's actually unique compared to him. He'd just be another Dan

[@magnus231]

If Sean ever does come back they should rework him into a shoto/grappler hybrid

[@mikejonesnoreally]

@@biddergick2890 That's a lot more likely, Laura was a very popular character and well balanced. i think this Street Fighter will have a larger roster though due to some *very* long legs. :3

[@tactical-funky9565]

She’s nowhere near as cool as Sean imo

[@onceuponagamemaster1588]

@@tactical-funky9565 Also it's been practically confirmed Sean will be returning in 6. Being the current US. Martial Arts champ. I'm actually not concerned if we'll be seeing Sean or not. I am however concerned about Laura. She MAY not make it.

[@malik2978]

I hope they bring my boy Sean back in SF6 . I'd love to see him & Sakura fight 🔥

[@mikejonesnoreally]

Yeah, considering they gave one of his best moves to Luke and created and entirely new shoto character just for this game, that's not going to happen.

[@emperormegaman3856]

@mikejonesnoreally They had a million shotos in Iv. That would not stop them.

[@BlackGambit7420]

I am glad that him winning the tournament in Laura's ending is canon. It was good to see my boy finally lift that trophy above his head 😌

[@therealrazpy1265]

!?!

[@DGKnightWind18]

Absolutely. Sean did won the tournament on his own and it's canon I'm not the only one who find out this

[@MCWFanatic]

Taking away the follow up punch from Sean's DP in 3rd Strike was a big mistake. I enjoy playing Sean to this day but not having that follow up move that he had in NG and 2I is baffling and really takes away from his move set

[@WaffleKrushaTTV]

Now Luke has it 😑

[@RAWSKILLZ1223]

@@WaffleKrushaTTV it's terrible....

[@WaffleKrushaTTV]

@@RAWSKILLZ1223 Agreed!

[@stevensonchambers5577]

Kudos for playing Sean's catchy and infectious Second Impact theme at the end of this video. That theme has been stuck in my head since Second Impact came out and is so underrated.

[@fattychaser3406]

Sean is highly underrated. He was sensibly a scaled down student version of the typical Shoto characters. His unrefined move set made him challenging to master if you relied on Ken or Ryu’s polished style to play as Sean.

[@henriquedearruda8902]

Huh, maybe Dan really isn’t the worst fighter in Street Fighter

[@muffinman2349]

Blasphemy!! Seans amazing. Only reason hes trash in third strike was because he was so op in 2nd impact

[@archiedx]

No one can't say he wasn't OP in second impact 💯

[@g0ddish434]

According to the devs, he was bad for lore reasons

[@jeremyhall2727]

His supers was crap. But he looks cool & I like his ground & pound

[@sebastienc.2257]

@@jeremyhall2727 Sadly, Capcom made his supers trash on purpose.

[@Ucey365]

Always loved Sean despite capcom seemingly trashing him at every opportunity. He can still be redeemed. Both him & Alex deserve better treatment.

[@shenloken2]

Sean: One of the other reasons Blanka still represents Brazil in Street Fighter.

[@YeldellGW]

I feel sorry for Brazil if that’s the case.

[@shenloken2]

Don’t be. From what I understand many Brazilian Street Fighter fans love Blanka.

[@gannielukks1811]

Blanka is cool, but Eddy Gordo is the coolest brazilian in fighting games.

[@renren47618]

​@@YeldellGW As a Brazilian, we love Blanka, it's a weird representation but we really like the character.

[@AnointedFlow]

Dang Sean got sidelined by his sister. Crying shame! Sean's first Dragon Smash drew me to him. He was unique.

[@oddseyede]

His dragonsmash was so 🔥

[@7woundsfist]

I was having a good day until I watched this. (Not your fault THG,great work as usual) Sean was a highlight for me in my younger years. As a huge SF fan having a Black (Afro-Brazilian) shoto was great. 2nd Impact Sean is goated but 3rd strike Sean is 💩. In story is musha shugo to find and beat Ryu should've made him god like. Hopefully he'll be dlc in SF6 and hopefully he'll be good. I'm not even going into how Capcom gave his dragon smash to fucking Luke...😑

[@RAWSKILLZ1223]

Man everything you said is facts. Giving his Dragon Smash to Luke is THE ULTIMATE insult to Sean Fans.

[@nbanextlegend7497]

I hope he comes back with a moveset that shows how much he has improved,his shoryuken could be an air command grab where he gives the opponent a flurry of punches before slam dunking the opponent towards the ground full force,his tackle could stay the same except it would be also a command grab I love his moveset since he's a shoto that doesn't rely a lot on ki based attacks and focus on the physical,they could expand on that making him a very fast and aggresive grappler-shoto with a basketball projectile that serves as a small poke or distraction,he could also have more capoeira and matsuda jiu jitsu moves

[@gannielukks1811]

He's afro-japanese-brazilian, which is cool since Brazil is the blackest country outside Africa and the most japanese country outside Japan.

[@Grimm--]

​@@gannielukks1811You are right and Japan has greatly influenced Brazilian culture such as cuisine, martial arts such as Brazilian jiu jitsu and more...

[@ShawnMarlay]

I really thought I was the only one who noticed the dragon smash and his tackle too

[@ggguNeck]

Sean is my all time favorite Street Fighter character, I just wish the creators see what I see in him.

[@billfusion]

Anyone can whatever they want about Sean. I still love him as a character.

[@Dare5358]

Justice for Sean, and the 3rd Strike cast!

[@calvomedia8427]

Capcom dropped the " ball" on Sean. It's not the fans fault. We have requested a Better Sean or just a updated Sean but after many years , no response. SNK has this problem with Shinko

[@TheLuconic]

Because they actually care about their characters. Like most franchises, their story is questionable but at least they show growth and lots of fun content.

[@akilcharles3473]

I say its partialy us fans fault given how responsive we didn't like esthictic of the game and its cast of characters, apart from Sean there was Alex who was suppose to be the new main protaganist of SF but failed hard due to fans reception.

[@dragons_hook]

SHINGO KIIIIIIIIICK!

[@calvomedia8427]

@@dragons_hook he one of my favorite . His stage music is awesome too.

[@aaronrowell6943]

I'll be honest I never played Street fighter 3 but I kind of have a soft spot for this character as a character just because nobody likes him and it's I just always have a soft spot for characters that nobody likes ha

[@jeremyhall2727]

It's a fun game. But people hated it when it first came out. Because people was tried of 2d at that time. People used to hate Dan a long time ago

[@TomiSomolu]

Exactly Aaron! Exactly!

[@chrissnow9438]

May Sean return much more experienced, skilled and strong in this street fighter 6 Sean is great, he doesn't deserve to be humiliated, it's understandable that he's inexperienced because he doesn't have experience in martial arts, but if Ken trains him, he'll be one of the best! Sean deserves to be improved as a character, Sean is very requested much cooler than Laura. the entire Cast of 3 strike is great and many wishes that Alex, Dudley, Makoto, Urie, Gill, Ibuki, Q and Yan return

[@BlackGambit7420]

I still gotta fault capcom for going in the direction they did with Sean. No other young fighter was made to seem inept at fighting and none of them ended looking like comical jokes, even if they are canonically weaker than other series veterans like Ryu and the like. Nothing about Sean's design, attitude or the way he fights would lead me to believe that he is a joke or someone to be pushed around. There is a lot of potential for an apprentice type character but Capcom said screw that with Sean. Regardless of whether the sf3 series characters failed to gain the wide level of appeal as the sf2 cast, they were never made to look like they can't fight or suffer comical losses and I hate that Capcom decided to single out Sean to do that to : /

[@DSan-kl2yc]

He's not a joke. He was just made to be inexperienced. There's a lot of humour with ibuki too. From disliking work to reacting to training. And there aren't that many young apprentice fighters. Makoto is a master. Ibuki is in training. The other two aren't in things with levels. And what's his name seems older. I think over time they did play the humour. But then you see that sf ending where he wins too. So Sean is not a joke character. Edit: Sakura also has a similar half finished move set and a lot of humour. So he's basically a male, ken oriented, Sakura.

[@SDSOverfiend]

@@DSan-kl2ycSakura would like a word with you… Inexperience but TOO FORMIDABLE

[@umbrellacorp.]

Sean is the perfect character that would of done great in Capcom's Rival School. And since they are adding New Young characters in Street Fighter 6 Sean would be perfect for it.

[@sebastienc.2257]

Ryu beating up Sean didn’t even make sense, he was like 17/18 with no formal training in that fighting style. Ryu has a similar code of fighting to Akuma and if capcom stuck to Ryu’s character in that particular situation he would’ve likely just left and told Sean he’s not ready yet. Capcom needs to stop making joke characters. And unlike Dan who is a caricature of another character people don’t even find anything about Sean particularly funny.

[@krishrama]

well ryu didnt go all out on sean tho. he didnt even want to fight him. sean attacked first. and ya ryu was holding back tho. which is why he just spammed weak hadokens to counter sean. lmao. instead of beating his azz with his fist and seasoned to perfection ansatsuken techniques. imagine if ryu just busting out shin shoryuken on sean. so yeah ryu was taking it easy on sean there. he wasnt out of character. he didnt want to continue that fight. if u want to even call that a fight. ryu also stopped and questioning why sean even started his shit in the first place!! but sean just kept attacking on like a fool. ryu didnt want to fight him. but sean just kept charging in at him... due to being a ken fanboy and following his idols words. dont know how that fight ended tho. if ryu had to K.O. him or just walked away after awhile or sean just quit attacking after awhile. in game leaves it to your imagination. idk about other sources. and ya capcom wasnt really making fun of sean in new gen or 2nd impact. he was formidable in those games even with no hadokens except in super arts. until third strike when he got toned down and weaker. still he still isnt that low in standard to dan hibiki in my eyes. the only cruel joke is capcom neglecting him. first with laura and now not even being included in SF6 base roster or leaked!! its just sad to see. but then it makes since capcom never truly wanted this character. he was a last minute addition. but if they ever bring sean back i hope to see him improved on his third strike incarnation. hes gotten stronger since then as shown in lauras ending. so theres that at least.

[@FireBomberBassist]

Its crazy how good of a design Sean was. He really coulda went somewhere.

[@brettwood1351]

He also kinda suffers from more popular characters kinda taking the niches he could be in, with Sakura being the imperfectly trained student Shotoclone, and Dan the joke Shotoclone. Maybe if the did more with him combining Ken's style with his families to differentiate him.

[@FireBomberBassist]

@@brettwood1351 I came in with Third Strike and didnt play the others. I wonder what made them nerf him to hell like this? He was so bad that he was pointless even being there.

[@mrborif4245]

I mean, street fighter isn’t over yet. He could be dlc for 6

[@dreadxplayzs7849]

@@brettwood1351 seans character is based on him being a novice who eventually overcomes which is diffrent from dan who is literally a joke shoto character.problem is seans endings in sf3 took it way to far making him appear to be a joke character basically another dan for literally no reason when a joke shoto existed already.the fact that he waa a joke in the last iteration of sf3 in plot and character in the game is the most disapoint part of his character because it took capcom over 20 years to finally show that sean has won a tournament but it is in a laura ending which is stupid and disapointing but not so much that its in a laura ending but that it took over 20 years for it to acknowledged as a real thing

[@similaritiesendhere]

@@mrborif4245 If they dump Laura. I'd be shocked if Capcom found room for both.

[@SmCxDramatik]

Fingers crossed he's at least a dlc character for SF6.

[@JRyoga]

Even better, make him an OP BOSS character.

[@warrenbradford2597]

This is what KZbinr, "Thorgi's Arcade", when putting Sean as DLC for Tekken X Street Fighter. "Honestly, even if I didn't feel like Sean is a good matchup for Xiaoyu, I'd still try to sneak him in here somewhere, because listen I don't know if anyone from Capcom is seeing. But I'm just going let you all know is that if there is one thing I learned over the last two years of doing these videos is that you are sitting on money with Sean. Every single time that I talk about Street Fighter in any video, the comments and chat are always loaded with people asking, "where's Sean? Why isn't Sean here? Why aren't you getting Sean into the game now?", and etcetera. The people that like Sean freaking love Sean and they will totally show up to support their man no matter where he is and no matter how much DLC money he might cause." Basically, Capcom is wasting this character's potential by doing absolutely nothing with him these past 25 years. He needs to appear Street Fighter 6 already.

[@jjyhawk1]

Sean is awesome! I really hope he's in Street Fighter 6

[@donniebravo19]

*_Sean Matsuda is an awesome character!_*

[@jeremyhall2727]

He was ok, I didn't like some of his moves

[@JRyoga]

Sean was amazing in 2nd Impact.

[@TheBeird]

Goodness, I'm beating a dead horse here but Street Fighter 3 has such beautiful animation. Must be the peak of pixel art, right?

[@krishrama]

indeed. it is the epitome of 2D spritework. capcom when they were at their best and prime... the only other game that comes that close is prob KOF 13

[@mikejonesnoreally]

Increasing the character animations was a focus of the game.

[@Dougfunny324]

Sean was my favorite character but not my best character in that game. I love the way he fought. Sean was played by the developers and didn't give him Sakura treatment. I think he had more potential than Alex.

[@snapclub8751]

Sean definitely has a lot of potential to be a good character. I can definitely see him and Ken’s son, Mel, be good friends/rivals.

[@xDivinemindx]

Sean will always be a favorite of mine. I do hope we see him again. He had a quirky fight style but it's preferred

[@Unpopular_Duality.]

I'm fire hot at Capcom for not including Sean in SF6. He's a perfect fit for that game. I personally felt he should have been in the reveal trailer with Luke not Jaime. SF has enough Kung Fu practitioners with 6 including Jaime. Sean should have been redone and showed that he has grown to some extent as a fighter and opposite Luke in the reveal trailer. I'm hyped for the game but sadden that Sean wasn't in the initial roster of fighters for SF6. That was a missed opportunity for Sean to shine to me. Kung Fu is a great Martial Art but it doesn't need to be this heavily represented like it is now. Capcom really ran with the push on yung and yun so now it's gotten a bit to much to me.

[@bl1ndpr0phet]

Sucks how he was done so dirty. He seems to have fans who really love him, and I think his character had potential. Like you put it, he gets up and keeps going when he's defeated, and thats respectable yknow?

[@gokuskywalker2442]

At the time of release, in Brazil we were told a different story by the game magazines: the story goes that the series producer went to Brazil to study Capoeira, and promised that there would be a character practitioner of the fighting style in the game. When the character turned out to be Helena, an African character, controversy ensued, and Sean was added last minite to apease the rage of Brazilian fans.

[@jamiedenton2748]

Easily my favourite character from street fighter 3

[@3Rayfire]

The Burial of Sean is a true sin of the franchise. Especially them weakening him in Third Strike, that was some bull shit. I'm disappointed that he's not in VI he's got a nice style mixing Matsuda Jujutsu and Ansatsuken. Also Ken fobbing him off on Ryu makes him look much more like an asshole than I think they intended, as well as criticizing him for not training himself hard enough when Ken refused to train him.

[@derekbackofen6]

I hope Sean comes back I really like him

[@JMrealgamer]

This is sadly a throw away character they never cared about like Ryu or Akuma. He had to be dark skinned character too. 🤦🏽‍♂️ It gets old. U know what I’m talking about.

[@hollywoodbound912]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@wtfsamusidk7574]

Right

[@n.b.l.5709]

Never mind I see they did black face on em

[@retrowomgafgc]

Subtle Racism is the reason out loud racism is prevalent

[@p4rt_t1me_g0d]

Sean is my favorite Street Fighter 3 character and I've been waiting for his return. Sean is one of few black characters that wasn't a caricature and he's slightly more mixed than the average black American, so the character really stands out. Now we're stuck with goofy looking DJ and Balrog and his messed up hairline.

[@RAWSKILLZ1223]

Agreed!

[@sunshinekid7799]

I wouldn’t say he’s more mixed than the average African American. Most have all sorts of different ethnic bloodlines

[@gannielukks1811]

@@sunshinekid7799 Sean has also japanese blood, hence the "Matsuda" last name, as a homage to the japanese immigration to Brazil, the biggest in the world.

[@MrIronJustice]

Don't forget about his cameo in Marvel vs Capcom. He appears in Ryu's little pre-fight sequence, and his ending.

[@seananderson7153]

I was always impressed at how they made Sean feel like a student of Ken and Ryu’s style. I found him a lot of fun to play. Also, playing Sean gave me a chance to see my own name in the game. 😉

[@licmir3663]

Wait. The character is from Brazil and his name is “Sean” and he likes basketball? Couldn’t the developers at least read Brazil’s Wikipedia article?

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

Haha, I heard somewhere that he was originally from the USA, but they later retconned him. I don't know how accurate that is though.

[@dhawkes5096]

Around for 19 years...immediately gets overshadowed by his own sister.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Sean: I WILL BE THE BEST FIGHTER EVER! Capcom: NO! Sean: Aww c'mon.....! Capcom: STILL NO!

[@SeanMac-]

An older version of him with longer dreadlocks and some kinda hybrid shoto -capoeira style would be dope

[@shenglongisback4688]

I had a storyline where Sean leaves Ken as a student. Frustrated with Ken,Sean heads back too Brazil where he meets Elena whos there for a Capoiera workshop and Deejay whos there for a concert. He trains under Laura,Deejay and Elena... Mixing the 3 styles and his love for Bball Too create Shoto Matsuda.

[@brettwood1351]

@@shenglongisback4688 Honestly, I'd love to see that crazy combo style. Besides Lord Raptor can't be the only Capcom character with a slam dunk command throw forever.

[@kadosho02]

Eddy from Tekken trains Sean.. Uh wait that's not a bad idea

[@shenglongisback4688]

@@brettwood1351 lol true... But yeah like a had other moves like his fireball can be charged up and throw like a bball where it can bounce off the ground ... Matsuda upper with electric effect...

[@thegreat1007]

He didn't fail at all he was a good character and he was cool

[@n.b.l.5709]

Sean is the next ken

[@DiscoJoseph]

In my opinion Sean will be DLC and will bring Ken back to glory through his story.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

This is one of those rare times I think Sean would've been in better hands with Dan instead of Ken! Like Sakura, Sean would've been able to grow to an even greater fighter than one expected!

[@super_robot_punch]

Sean gets pummeled as much as you pummel the word canonically! Cannononononically

[@VictorHernandez-nj2lo]

I still hav high hopes for Sean in SF6,maybe even Mel Masters (Ken's son). I don't pay attention to rumors or speculations

[@jalenikezeue4114]

I don't care what people Say about Sean I Still ❤ him And Also ❤ his Power move ⭐The Tackle ⭐🇧🇷⭐ Ahhhhhhh Toe Nay 🏀

[@ghostboy9899]

im scratching my head on what happened to ken cause if 6 is after 3 then that had to effect sean

[@_Redtro]

Sean is my favorite SF character. His will to never give up, his 90's influences, Ballin' 🏀. He's exactly the kind of character you want to succeed you. Not great at the start, but he *WILL GET THERE* 😌

[@lbwwffan]

I love Sean and Alex they were my fav's in SF3 still are till this day

[@negrosaki7597]

It’s okay, my world tour character will be Sean. I’ll pick up where they left off.

[@zeroxlulu]

I hate how much SF3 fighters are completely overlooked. Pretty much all my favs come from the 'new generation'. So constantly seeing SF2 characters get all the love/merch really sucks. Like, can I please just get a lil Dudley or Sean figure? Like, damn.

[@denshidirect3182]

Capcom doesn't want SF fans to like Sean but he is one of the most appealing characters to be added to the franchise, even if half-heartedly.

[@ikedatike2533]

It's so jarring to know about Sean really because he was so good in new generation and second impact and then to see him fall from grace in third strike is quite sad

[@OnimaruAnji]

I posted this in the 'Who's Dat' Video series by DiGi Valentine, it gives a full explanation WHY Sean got raked over the coals : New Generation Sean was the 'New Kid' Ken felt like he was a tag along, and didn't really like him but he did see the potential there, his moveset and abilities were unrefined but he was still a good character. 2nd Impact came out, Ken tries to get rid of him and sends him after Ryu, but we see the determination, we see that he won't STAY down, against even the impressive power of someone like Ryu, his skills get a polish up and he's literally a top tier character in Tournament Play..... Then 3rd Strike comes out, Sean's moveset has.... changed, one thing for the better, a bunch of others suddenly have frames upon frames more making easy to parry and punish, he loses the second strike to his Uppercut, he's hobbled and is now literally BOTTOM Tier in the Tournaments. Also any and all development, acknowledgement of his determination, and the seriousness of his character, is jobbed to him getting stomped by some random fuckhead in man panties in the PRELIMS of a NATIONAL fucking Tournament, when he literally just got off facing some of the worlds strongest, and holding his own, now he's a fucking joke character? What happened? Why did he get such a downgrade between two versions of the same game? Balancing? Retooling that didn't work out the way the developers planned? Nope... One word.... Sakura. Or to be more fully accurate Sakura FANBOYS. See, ever since Sakura appeared she's been a HUGE fan favorite, and while she didn't make the transition from the Alpha's to SF3, people were content to imagine that at some point Ryu was going to train her and have her be the Successor to the Style.... Then Sean makes his appearance, and the idea that KEN's Disciple is the future of the style, well that upset some of them.... But it got worse when a new craze hit the Internet, a 'Make your own Fighting game' program called M.U.G.E.N It let you take sprites from other games and put them together in to face off, and this was it, this was going to be the vindication, that a good Sakura Player could stomp any Sean player because she was the 'better character/fighter'.... The result? Sakura LOST. Sakura lost BIG time, Sean's style and moveset in 2nd Impact let a skilled player almost dominate Sakura players, basically answering the question beyond a doubt who was the 'Better fighter/character'... And they LOST IT and created such a backlash that Capcom freaked at the potential loss of fanbase for a character who at that time was doing better with cameo and merchandising than almost any other Female Character in the roster, this includes Chun-li, Cammy, and the recently added Elena and Ibuki, why? Because the School Girl Fighter Trope is HUGE in Japan and she was well loved. Thus to assuage their feelings that she was the TRUE successor, and better fighter, etc. They completely sabotaged Sean in the next iteration of SF3 3rd Strike, making him go from a determined and growing character to a pathetic punching bag to be shit kicked for comedy in his own ending. Gone is any of the rage and determination of the, "I wasn't concentrating, I need to Train HARDER!' Instead it's a teary eyed smile, "Oh well, maybe next time, *A-HYUCK!*". And that Lack of Respect for the Character that carried on all the way to SFV as they decided to leave him on the cutting room floor to make room for his Sister, but STILL put him in the game as a pathetic whiny child just to make sure there's NO chance of anyone considering him a viable option to ever be a respectful candidate in Canon to be the successor to Ansatsuken.

[@gspeedy619]

You know what I can see this all being vaild as to why Capcom tried hard to sandbag Sean and push Sakura in his place which is a huge shame because I like both characters and I can see them easily forming a friendly rivalry with one another as the student's of Ken and Ryu respectively. They can maybe even have a romance angle between the two if they wanted but maybe that's going a bit too far.

[@bboym80irskdtsholex15]

Sean was top tier in Street fighter 3 second impact and got hella nerfed in third strike because of it.

[@dsixtosan]

I would much rather have Sean be the new face of SF over Luke. He has a backstory, existing fanbase, and his return would be perfect for reintroducing him as a redeeming character. Luke just gives off cocky, arrogant privileged, gen Z vibes.

[@bw4348]

Capcom created and treated Sean worse than Dan.

[@icecreambeats101]

Please do Elena, I love her.

[@matmusada]

Thanks for the video. So pretty much just like Alex, crap booking, and pretty much buried. Man, I really feel like Luke is what Capcom wanted Sean to be. 😔

[@ryanm.8720]

Notably, Luke's Arcade ending shows him sparring with, and defeating, Dan in a street fight. Had Sean been in SFV's roster, he would've taken Luke's place as a call-forward to one of his win quotes in the English version of 'Street Fighter III: New Generation/Second Impact'.

[@IKONIKBeats]

Awesome Video Top Hat as always 👍🏾. I wish they could have pushed Sean a little harder, definitely a potential there. While I didn’t use him much, I could appreciate the direction where I thought they were going for the “New Generation”. I guess we shall see when Street Fighter 6 drops.

[@mastermed7724]

LUKE IS THE REPLACEMENT FOR SEAN, BUT HOPEFULLY HE WILL RETURN!

[@dragons_hook]

12:19 oh man that clipping on Sean's shirt!

[@MOONWOLF7395]

There is a theory within the Fandom that the reason the sf6 leaked roster is lacking sf3 characters is because they will be the first wave of dlc. Fingers crossed for Sean.

[@ganjatheninja]

wouldnt mind seeing an older sean in the new game with a more him fighting style

[@Aardie_Aardwolf]

I would recommend those who are interested in seeing digi valentine who dat episode of Sean, Cuz I feel like that he is underrated character even being treated dirty within SFV.

[@plasentaman6061]

Luke is Sean, Luke haves all his moves even his ground and pound

[@shadowopsairman1583]

Sean's Tornado Kick should have a version that knocks down like Ryu's Hurricane Kick/Tatsumaki Senpukyaku

[@featherguardian6023]

Like Mortal Kombat,every Character in the Roster isn't Bad,they Just Need Alot of Work and they can be Possible,Sean can Work if the make Him Look and Fight Different because the More you Add New Characters,the More You Don't Want The Old Characters that needs a Comeback get the Redemption they Deserve,Plus not Moving Forward.

[@JogBird]

even Dan had more sucess 😁🤣

[@neonsamurai4604]

Alex and Sean should’ve been the ryu and ken of the future but Capcom pushed them very poorly. I also think Sean was supposed to be an American New Yorker along with Alex because both share the same stage, theme and him playing basketball despite soccer being Brazils most well known sport. He was made Brazilian because they needed other countries and there were too many Americans.

[@gokuskywalker2442]

Read my comment above, it might be the other piece to your theory

[@gokuskywalker2442]

See if this makes sense: Helena was supposed to be the Brazilian character, but was made African due to representarion. When Brazilian fans were angry for being promised a Brazilian fighter, they turned Sean, Brazilian

[@walterandradde]

A Brazilian character named Sean, an unusual name in Brazil. The most common male names in Brazil are José, João in English Joe or John. Also his favorite sport is basketball? And not soccer? Really? This explains why this character was such a failure.

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

Don't worry I've never met a Cammy, Eagle, Birdie or Dudley here either lol

[@walterandradde]

@@TopHatGamingManChannel that was good hahaha... Capcom has to review its concepts!

[@nNumba5]

Sean being a “joke character” makes me so mad, the ground work, design, and fan support are there but capcom keeps fumbling

[@devonnepalmer8713]

Unpopular opinion: Sean was one of the best character on 3 til they tweaked him in 3rd strike

[@rafaelalejandrogutierrezro9224]

If sean not in sf6 not even as dlc we riot

[@zeroxlulu]

I'm skipping out on SF6 until some SF3 characters get announced.

[@g0ddish434]

It's a shame we live in a world where we had Luke instead of him. No disrespect and all but Luke is such a boring character with the entire aesthetic simply being Just Ken's. With Sean at least he had a lot of cool features that differentiate him from Ken completely.

[@devinperson242]

Should of really put him with Sakura, would of been great rivals, a couple even.

[@kumaSOevl]

His basketball taunt and ex DP (2nd edition) are some of my favorite moves in all of SF

[@BlueMageWithSoulEdge]

OR... he could be DLC, like how all of the SF3 cast has been so far (even back to SF4). Capcom know the current market actually likes the SF3 cast, hence the reason why we keep seeing them in cameos. Capcom is purposely holding them off to use as "shock" reveals, or stimulants to revitalize "X" product. They did this is SF4, they did it in Super SF4 and they even did it again with Ultra SF4 with the Final Fight cast. They continued to this in SF5. When the game was at it's "lowest" (because only the FGC and journalist tried to bury the game), Capcom sparked interest in the game starting with the announcement of Alex. And then they did it again with Poison and Oro being revealed, when the numbers may look lower than first year's. I don't think the current SF directors sees SF3 cast as failures, but the opposite. They see them as successes and that's why they're used as cash-grabs. Small tangent here: It's only the "FGC" that see Sean [SF3TS] as bad. Most players actually like Sean and you see him on line pretty often. The reason why the "FGC" don't like Sean is because he was changed to be a more defensive fighter-- you have to think more when using him. Which is the opposite of the playing style of most of the "FGC Celebrities"-- and most of the "FGC" are mindless drones that arguably don't play the games.

[@sadowolf]

I was always under the impression that Sean was meant to be the only shoto in the game (similar to how Marco Rodriguez was the only kyokugen-ryu fighter in Mark of the Wolves), but early focus testing reactions caused Capcom to add Ken and Ryu later in development to have familiar faces. To me it explained why Sean was a pretty strong character in New Generation but got nerfed down the line and became a joke character. Very interesting to learn that he was just a last minute addition. Also, maybe don't blow a gasket just yet about him not being in SF6. We all know the initial roster at least doubles in SF games eventually haha.

[@sonicfan2403]

With Ken's state in 6, this could be a perfect time for them to bring Sean back, not only to make something new for him in terms of play style but also maybe have him and Mel really try and bring Ken back to his roots.

[@luisreyes1963]

Had it not been for Sean, there wouldn't Kimberly for Street Fighter VI. Just a thought.

[@Dara-up1pt]

They made luke job to ryu too in arcade, but they didnt go to humiliate luke as much as sean.

[@Ayo_Bruh22]

Failed hard?yet the character has millions of fans,I think not son

[@luizmoura3088]

He's Brazilian, He'll never surpass Blanka's fanbase 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@n1hondude]

I know who's Ken but who's RYE-YU? Sean Matsuda is proof of the creators' laziness and/or ignorance If he's supposed to be from Brazil then: 1) his name should be "SHON" because "SEAN" is not how Brazilians would write or would definitely not pronounce as such 2) being born in Brazil he'd be a fan of FOOTball, not basketball At least they got the Japanese heritage right

[@gannielukks1811]

The japanese heritage is a unknown cool fact about Brazil outside the country, but some japanese media recognize this with characters like Jetstream Sam of Metal Gear Rising; Oro, Laura and Sean Matsuda of Street Fighter, South Terano from Tokyo Revengers, etc.

[@tl8211]

@@gannielukks1811 Oro is Japanese-born, but I always felt he was a reference to Maeda, who became Brazilian later in life.

[@gannielukks1811]

@@tl8211 Yeah, Oro is japanese-born but naturalized brazilian in 1908 with the immigration, he lived more years in Brazil than in Japan. And he's actually a reference to Hélio Gracie, BJJ founder.

[@tl8211]

@@gannielukks1811I know his face looks similar to Hélio's, but because he's a Japanese martial arts guy that came to Brazil in the early 20th century, stayed in the Amazon, and because he tried to teach Laura some judo (Laura being the resident BJJ girl, and Maeda being one of the guys that taught judo to early BJJ masters) it makes me think apart from his face he's more of a reference to Maeda.

[@nicholebabygirlboo539]

Since Sean can't get help from Ryu and Ken Masters to become a great fighter I was Sean I would seek out Gouken or Akuma. If Ken doesn't want to help train Sean to become a good fighter, then Sean should seek help from someone else like Akuma, or Gouken.

[@deronlouis88louis52]

I WONDER IF HE'S BASED ON THE ORIGINAL BLACK POWER RANGER ZACK! THE FIGHTING STYLE AND THE HAIRSTYLE KINDA REMINDS ME OF HIM

[@exoticdragongaming]

Ken makes a reference to Sean when your train under him in street fighter six so it seams Ken did end up training Sean a bit at some point so it seams Sean is either still alive off training on his own or something or he is indeed dead

[@TheStriderSyd]

All throughout SF3's run from NewGen, to 2ndImpact, to 3rdStrike, i've never understood why Sean's character was blackballed the way he was. I do recall that game magazine articles were the 1st to make Dan/Sean comparisons before the game even came out. When the SF3:NG game actually did come out and it was discovered that he wasn't anything like a Dan, once again I noticed that game magazines kept calling for the need of a "Dan" character in SF3, and that Sean be that character. Me, my buddies and all other players we ever came across NEVER had this opinion of him. (D**m game journos) If anything, Sean is a testament to Ken's lore by showing him to be a really bad teacher. Sakura has canonically improved her skill under minimal teaching from Ryu, while Sean has canonically not only not improved under minimal teaching from Ken, but has gotten worse. I guess Laura was right....he should have stayed at their family school instead. This also calls into question Ken's own son Mel, whose future as a fighter under Ken's tutelage doesn't bode well. Zing! Both Mel and Sean may be better off by going to the Matsuda school where they might actually excel.

[@dreadxplayzs7849]

seans character is based on him being a novice who eventually overcomes which is diffrent from dan who is literally a joke shoto character.problem is seans endings in sf3 took it way to far making him appear to be a joke character basically another dan for literally no reason when a joke shoto existed already.the fact that he waa a joke in the last iteration of sf3 in plot and character in the game is the most disapoint part of his character because it took capcom over 20 years to finally show that sean has won a tournament but it is in a laura ending which is stupid and disapointing but not so much that its in a laura ending but that it took over 20 years for it to acknowledged as a real thing

[@SpectreRyder]

At the very least it could create some character development for Sean. Let's say Ken trains Mel and Mel turns out to be pretty damn good. Sean cigs hold resentment against Ken forcing him down a path similar to Akuma. Thus creating a New Generation of rivalry and fulfilling Sean's duty as a member of the New Generation.

[@azuresaiyan9005]

First of all, neither Sakura or Sean were ever directly trained by Ryu and Ken. They only copied their techniques by watching them. The reason Sakura excelled and Sean didn’t is because Sakura is a gifted fighter while Sean wasn’t. You’re basically blaming Ken for what Sean lacks. Ken is under no obligation to train Sean and there’s nothing to suggest he’s a bad teacher.

[@ocularrecords8914]

Agreed. Sean has so much potential.

[@dreadxplayzs7849]

@@azuresaiyan9005 sakura isnt gifted she is just a female version ryu and she exceled because shes japanese?not because she is gifted.

[@tonysanders1299]

Okay Top Hat I Must Say This Was A Good Video. I Understand All Your Facts & Opinions About Sean & Capcom. I Can Only Hope For A Very Good Sean Redesign & Remake Of Him. Sean Is A Representation Of EVO Fighting Tournaments Spiritually. So Many Of Nobodies Come & Compete For Bragging Rights & Fame. It's Sad Capcom Don't Seem To Understand That Sean Is Inspiration To Many Players That Play Fighting Games. To Never Give Up & Master Your Fighter's Skills

[@HH-sn5qp]

I love Sean and I want him to get some wins. He has the best stage music in 2nd impact

[@supersmashbro596]

you keep mispronouncing ryus name. and each time it becomes more noticible and less easily ignored. >w< ree-yoo not rie-yoo. if it were pronounced your way it would have been raiyu. like raiden from metal gear.