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

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In today's video we look at the embarrassing history of Alex, a Street Fighter 3 character from 1997 who Capcom were hoping would lead a new generation of characters and become the face of Street Fighter. What went wrong for the man that they tried to position as a star? Let us discuss and find out!
#StreetFighterV #Alex #GamingHistory
Edited by Ryan of Exploding Music Syndrome
Gameplay and Other Footage Sources
• Street Fighter V - Ale...
Street Fighter V - Alex Arcade Mode (HARD)
XGAMER 744
• SFV AE - Alex Arcade M...
SFV AE - Alex Arcade Mode (Full) [Street Fighter 3 Path]
DrewTony'Z
• Video
Alex's Super Moves Evolution (1997-2020)
Demonstrate
• Street Fighter III: Ne...
Street Fighter III: New Generation (Arcade) - (Longplay - Alex | Hard Difficulty)
TurkishBull
• STREET FIGHTER V : ALE... et19
STREET FIGHTER V : ALEX STORY MODE
PIKACHUAKUMA
• Street Fighter III: 3r...
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike - Alex Playthrough
DrewTony'Z
www.pinterest....
www.pinterest....
www.deviantart...
• Street Fighter 1987 - ...
Street Fighter 1987 - Arcade Longplay with Ryu
Game Archive - No Commentary Gameplay
• Saturday Night Slam Ma...
Saturday Night Slam Masters ARCADE 720P HD Playthrough with BIFF SLAMKOVICH
• Street Fighter III: 2n...
Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact - Giant Attack (Arcade) - (Longplay - Alex | Hard Difficulty)
TurkishBullet19
• Ryu vs Alex street fig...
Ryu vs Alex street fighter 3 3rd strike fight for the future
rex saurius
• SNK vs Capcom: The Mat...
NK vs Capcom: The Match of the Millenium (Switch) Review
Reviews 2 Go
• Tatsunoko vs Capcom UA...
Tatsunoko vs Capcom UAS - Alex and Batsu Longplay (Wii)
Game Archive - No Commentary Gameplay
• Street Fighter V Arcad...
Street Fighter V Arcade Edition - Alex Arcade Mode (Street Fighter 5 Path)
DrewTony'Z
Additional Information Sources
streetfighter....
capcom.fandom....
www.fightersge...
streetfighter....

[@omegarugal9283]

Alex failed because he s a grappler, grapplers are considered difficult to master, not for begginers. ryu is a balanced, basic style character, easy to learn how to play

[@Ironmanx37]

Agreed

[@Edwinschuur]

Exactly this. And not only that but grapplers are not as popular a playstyle as shotos. That why many fighting game have the shoto arche type as a main character.

[@network323]

ALEX is my favorite character. I've been completely over shotos for a long time. They are over rated and almost anyone can play with them. I'd even consider guile as a shoto because he has the flash kick. Playing with Alex I feel satisfaction pulling off his variety of moves not like the dull cheap moves the shotos have.

[@OptimumTaurus]

I think it is worth noting that Hulk Hogan's one-dimensional offense he's best known for was not really all he could do. He was never Ricky Steamboat or anything but his old Japanese matches showed he was more than capable of putting together a competent mat wrestling sequence. But being able to have a safe, mindless match crowds would go wild for was what Vince McMahon wanted so that's what he did

[@machomusprime50]

🎯

[@chrismoon2961]

It's too bad, Alex is a nice hybrid character in 3 that does a little bit of everything and his buttons are strong too. I feel like both Alex and SF3 was an attempt by capcom to really try to get out of the box, with many of the game mechanics and characters feeling more experimental and nuanced than we'd seen up until that point.

[@warrenbradford2597]

Yeah, it is kind of tragic.

[@brandonspencer5594]

Fans killed the push to get out of the box….and the same is probly gonna happen to Luke who is set up to be the new hero

[@coyotestylepro1150]

@@brandonspencer5594 Which is why i always say You cant trust t/ fans Fans are fickle

[@Kanti852]

@@brandonspencer5594 And that's why I'm not a Street Fighter fan. A majority of the fanbase seems to be unwilling to play outside the box, and in turn the developers are less willing to experiment and create outside the box.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

So are developers coyote. Being"fickle" isn't exclusive to one group of people.

[@TheDeFiler316]

Capcom to Ryu "So we need you to pass the torch to Alex" Ryu "That doesn't work for me brother"

[@MMBN4bluemoon]

Not the Hogan creative control card😂

[@cyric2010]

I've always loved Alexs visual design. I feel confident that his look was somewhat inspired by Axl Rose too.

[@blakemoore2660]

He is. The video failed to mentioned that.

[@capcelart]

Funny always thought he was inspired by axel from mad gear gang final fight who was also was inspired by Axl rose

[@phabiorules]

I think the main reason why Alex never caught on was because he didn't have any projectile attacks. A common strategy for new players is to just spam fireballs. The fact that he couldn't do that meant players had to charge into the danger zone, which intimidates many new comers.

[@skeeterious1]

I see where you were going but Yun, Yang and Makoto were all popular without projectiles. Alex skills actually beat firehall characters but for the general public they didn't like him. Even tho he is popular in the fgc.. just casual players didn't like him as much.

[@skipfuego6339]

@@skeeterious1 just like they didn't like Dee jay

[@rogeliotarucjr9380]

@@skeeterious1 yun, yang, and makoto has very fast pressure attack which if use properly is better than projectiles. Alex has none of neither plus he is agonizing slow recovery of his attacks making him very open to punish.

[@skeeterious1]

@@rogeliotarucjr9380 true yet they don't have the range of his attacks. If you understand the matchups, Alex beats them 7-4. Simply because he does more damage as well as has a higher health bar.

[@Uchiha-u7d]

@@skipfuego6339they didn't like DJ? 😳 I loved DJ

[@randomcharacter6501]

I honestly get the wrestling angle. Mike Haggar was hugely popular and that's his style. But a grappler is way easier to play in a beat em up than a 1v1 fighter.

[@BigOnum81]

Maybe that's why they wanted to push a grappler as the main character? How can they make a grappler be the focus? Balance mechanics around him, you got parries out of it. The problem probably lies in his moveset.

[@theotherjared9824]

If a company really tries to push a character as the face of a franchise, there is an 80-90% chance everyone except that character will go on to be fan favorites.

[@ironmaster6496]

yeah Disney pretty much proved that with captain marvel and the inhumans

[@pacman10124]

I get that you mean this as a rule in general, but don't forget Ryu is a much much worse offender of this category

[@dislikebomb6680]

@@pacman10124 At least in Ryu's case, he was there since the first game. He popularized the shoto archetype

[@tactical-funky9565]

untrue in lukes case

[@KKHell]

@@tactical-funky9565 Luke's reception is more mixed if anything. People dislike him because he's not a certain fireball-spamming Kenshiro knockoff.

[@LordCornshoe]

Lots of people have said it, but I'll say it too; Alex is fun to play as, but hard to win with. If you manage to get in your opponent's head and they fall into the Alex whirlwind, you'll have a blast. And then other times you can't get near an opponent and you feel utterly helpless with him.

[@paingain100]

Never push a difficult to master character as a main. Its almost universal to fighting games.

[@monchete9934]

@@paingain100 Meanwhile Tekken 7 has Heihachi and Kazuya as its main characters yet they are hard to master and it's still one of the most popular fighting games out there.

[@paingain100]

@@monchete9934 yes tekken is a 3d fighter and is exceptional unto itself at that. There is almost no comparison amongst other 3d fighters as they have not performed even comparably to tekken.

[@rogeliotarucjr9380]

@@monchete9934 i do not know if kazuya and heihachi is hard to master. i think they are incredibly easy to master.

[@theobserver4214]

@@monchete9934 There’s also the Virtua Fighter series, with Akira.

[@3Rayfire]

One thing I loved about Alex was how you could spin your opponent around with his flash chop and that would actually affect what throw was executed, like if the opponent had their back to him they'd get the German Suplex instead of the powerbomb, that was immensely cool. Even Hyper Bomb tuned into four suplexes.

[@somber8233]

Don't forget his back fierce went from a headbutt to a chokehold MGS1 style!

[@warrenbradford2597]

Alex may never be as big of a Street Fighter character as ryu, but he will always be remembered as great unique take on wrestlers to Street Fighter fans everywhere.

[@solblackguy]

He was definitely the closest Capcom came to making a SNK style grappler.

[@moyza_]

I really liked how they used mostly 180⁰ motions to his moves and the special was simply 360⁰ instead of 720⁰. Which I think is pretty close of he being a SNK grappler as mentioned in the comment above.

[@warrenbradford2597]

@@solblackguy I see.🙂

[@warrenbradford2597]

@@moyza_ I see.🙂

[@GHite-vf8wr]

I'm in the minority but Alex is actually my favorite Street Fighter. His move sets can be absolutely brutal if you learn to use him correctly. Also thought his design looked freaking awesome. But that's my opinion. Edit: Was not a huge fan of his redesign in SF5. In my opinion he was too thick and looked like he could barely move. Hope they slender him down a bit if he's in 6.

[@neonthunder3261]

FACTS! Alex and Remy are both two of my favorites, and I loathed Alex’s 5 design. Something is just off in his proportions, and ruins it. Alex regardless is an awesome character who could use more fleshing out

[@machewgun503]

Tank characters are extremly dangerous if you know how yo use them, Urien can punish you if you got on the corners

[@ericksoler1221]

Agreed 100%. I have a figure of his old design and it's possibly my favorite figure of any human I own. I never bothered with his new figures

[@yourewallsareveryconvenien8292]

@Aaron9 Opinions exists. Learn to accept them.

[@TheBurningEngram]

They definitely botched his design in 5. His model doesn't fit his old school idle animation, and he certainly doesn't look like the 17 year old he's supposed to be. Hoping to see him in a future fighters pass in 6

[@anotherunreliablenarrator]

Street Fighter fans complaining about absolutely every new character and feature and then collectively wondering why Capcom keeps going back to Street Fighter 2

[@theotherjared9824]

The embarrassing history of Top Hat Gaming saying "Rye-You."

[@brandonspencer5594]

Pretty sure he does it to fuck with people like you 😂

[@ThePunisher-si8ex]

2 years later lets talk bout yo mama son😂

[@blyat8832]

I noticed a lot of character in this game had a bunch of weird combinations of old fighters. Necro was dhalsim and blanka,Remy was Guile and Sagat,and Alex was zanfief and Dee jay. Weird

[@wtfsamusidk7574]

Love mileena

[@blakemoore2660]

That is because the game was originally designed to be a different IP.

[@blyat8832]

@@blakemoore2660 yeah, I honestly wonder what the original game was supposed to be instead of it being street fighter.

[@MLJ-zp3ju]

How is Alex at all like Dee Jay? Is it because he has a slash type move, one that works completely differently from Dee Jay's? He doesn't have anything close to Jacknife Maximum, Machine Gun Upper, or a projectile, and he has multiple command grabs that Dee Jay does not. How exactly are the two at all similar again, outside of both having some kind of "slash" move?

[@persona83]

Never liked SF3 roster. They're most a ripoff of SF2 but without the charisma.

[@Pewpewpew182]

Embarrassing? I love the dude, fun to play. Lex Luger of the street fighter series is an awesome comparison! Lol

[@darrellwilliams1714]

Lex Luger was a failure too. That's why he called him that lol. Remember his run after Hogan left wwf? Lol

[@heartbreakkid2]

@@darrellwilliams1714 he might be to young for that but I remember that and lex was garbage

[@chrischris-gs2vt]

After hearing this analogue, I want a Bret Analogue in Street Fighter.

[@RG-lr4pk]

@@jenn5628 because Luger was supposed to be Hogan's replacement but failed in that role.

[@runakobannister3316]

I mained him and makoto in 3rd strike. He really isnt a beginner friendly character but boy oh boy when u manage a comeback combo ended with his command grab super. Pure ecstasy

[@waddledee_legends3726]

Alex is my boy He's always my go to character whenever I can play him

[@TheOldest]

Everything about SF3 and its production is so peculiar. 20 years later SF3 chronological is the latest game in the franchise and I think Capcom been afraid to make a true sequel following because of all the mess behind it.

[@ironmaster6496]

its a shame becaue it is such a great game and the animations are just "chef's kiss"

[@Eunos]

Be interesting to see if Capcom learns from their mistakes with Luke who seems to be getting a bit of a push in Street Fighter.. That said I really like Alex, he has a cool design imho and even if he isn't the outright main character is still a great edition.

[@randomcharacter6501]

Luke seems like Alex 2.0 imo (not in playstyle, but positioning as the face of SF)

[@network323]

The thing about Luke is that he is still considered somewhat a shoto. His rapid punches are able to be shot from almost full screen and he also has an uppercut like Ryu and Ken. To me it seems like shotos sell more with the players and are more popular unfortunately.

[@SabreSmasher]

I dont even think Luke is going to be the quote on quote "Main character" of Street Fighter. I think what Capcom meant by him being the future of SF is mechanic wise which i can definitely see from his gameplay

[@kathrena1213]

capcom might connect to luke to alex brawler vs grappler

[@Kanti852]

@@network323 I agree that it's unfortunate

[@Ucey365]

Alex is an awesome character to use for veteran fighters. I truly enjoy using him.

[@marplatense31]

I'm not the biggest fan of grapplers, but I love Alex! I think he's one of the coolest characters in SF! Have you done an episode on Juri? Please do that! Also Terry Bogard! Please!

[@TheStriderSyd]

I don't think Alex was that much of a failure.....now Necali on the other hand, I think really was a real failure.

[@realamericannegro977]

Yeah Alex is no failure. People just don't like change but I can't see him defeating people like Ryu. Necali needs to be written out of canon. He made zero sense and was a weak villian over all

[@tokenstandpoint93]

SF3 was and still is my favorite series of the franchise; Alex is also my second favorite character from SF3. He was the third debut character I learned to use and the first person of the SF3 original cast that I beat Gill with. I really think Capcom should continue with him as the new main but I guess I'm in the minority.

[@coldh8terade737]

His story's done, so I'm sure he won't be the protagonist still. Regardless, his part in SFIII was meant to lead to something pretty significant, so he should definitely stick around.

[@brittislove]

He's a lot of fun to play, but I don't choose him if I am trying to win

[@network323]

I play with him a lot in SF5 but yes I lose a lot in ranked matches. I'm pretty good with him and I'll choose him any day rather than the cheap shoto characters.

[@marianoclerici3986]

I can't stand hearing people mispronounce Ryu like that. It should be punishable by law.

[@persona83]

English speakers will never learn to say it right.

[@antiseize11]

​@@persona83 Nuh, it's just TopHat

[@danielorozco2297]

THANK YOU! I have played Street Fighter for years and have never heard of this "Rayu" person.

[@hortinus]

Rye-yoo for life!

[@persona83]

@Aaron Roberto you may "see" it correctly. But you probably pronounce it wrong. English natives can't speak Ryu's name right, and that's a fact. Get over it.

[@pushguysvancouver736]

Since Capcom has so many wrestlers now. When are we getting Muscle Bomber Duo remix? Yes Zangief, Honda, Mika, Birdie, & Hakan should join Alex & Haggar in the Muscle Bomber world!

[@alvinjohnson5037]

I assume Hugo and Poison are also involved in this?

[@joelfamilia9989]

Dude is my main since New Generation. His move set alone signifies that Capcom was definitely attempting to make Alex the main character. He has the most versatile move set in SF history. It is a compilation of various SF characters: Birdie (Elbow Slash, DDT), T-Hawk (Flying Cross Chop), Guile (Stomp), Ryu/Shotos (Flying Knee). You can win a match with Alex without having to throw a single power bomb. He’s more than just a grappler, but rather more as the first attempt to create a “mma” style character by Capcom combining different styles of movesets.

[@Richterdgf]

Guile doesn’t have a stomp you fraud.

[@Old_Man_Jay]

@@Richterdgf forget to take your meds eh?

[@randybryantjr3909]

@@Richterdgf He's referring to the input of the stomp.😄

[@parkerkrakowiak2990]

@@Old_Man_Jay how do u get off being so smug when you're wrong

[@joelfamilia9989]

@@Richterdgf I was talking about the input genius lol. Someone got a medal today.

[@DecoyMcClary]

Capcom doesn't care about most characters. They have Ryu and Chun Li so they won't try to push new ones. Snk does a better job with new characters.

[@baskogitlog7276]

yep terry bogart,kyo,k dash,ash crimson and rock howard.

[@juanpineiro4507]

Indeed sir 👍

[@realamericannegro977]

SNK has always been more wholesome

[@ironmaster6496]

strongly agreed, thats why i prefer KOF

[@maxspecs]

After Street Fighter 3 largely failed *until* Ryu and Chun Li were put into the game, can you blame them? The general masses love them.

[@brendenhassler4613]

They figured; "all we have to do is make him blonde, and the Westerners will automatically love him"😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@juanchi2668]

It just works

[@eddylex4921]

Alex in his development stage and on paper but never mentioned in the games was a ex cop who quit the force. This is kinda like how in the planning stages Mokoto was Ryu's sister.

[@solblackguy]

Yo! I kind of remember that. Wasn't Q supposed to be Chun-Li's father too?

[@eddylex4921]

@@solblackguy don't remember that? That would have been cool though.

[@DenDensetsu]

Has less to do with the quality of the character, more with people hating change, and having their favorites missing from the roster. Not having them in the game at all was the big mistake. Really hate how they backpedaled on Alex's story in third strike and went back to making it all about Ryu. Back to the same old same old. Really hope when they eventually do make a game that takes places after Third Strike, they go somewhere interesting with it for once.

[@TheSoundSpell]

Oozing Americana… So, they wanted their own Terry Bogard?

[@ethelegendary6961]

Is there any chance you could look at ken's "deciple" Sean next?

[@snapclub8751]

I second that.

[@YTOW85]

@@snapclub8751 I third that

[@tiradegrandmarshal]

Poor Sean. a.k.a. "Don't call me Dan." Was actually a legit strong character (gameplay-wise) in NG and especially 2I, and then in 3S they actually made him Dan-tier, lol.

[@fredcasdensworld]

Oh I'm sure that the mixed reception to Street Fighter III as a whole had nothing to do with Alex's failure to become iconic

[@freakadelic7495]

Apropos of Street Fighter movies, they've never quite hit the mark with audiences, fans and general audiences alike. Some thoughts occurred to me recently on what would make for a Street Fighter movie that'd fit the core experience we all have. See what you think: It would need: -A very heightened world where honed fighters can high-jump kick and shoot energy projectiles cuz it's just a regular thing there. Nobody bats an eye about that kind of thing. None of this "toned-down" moves we've seen in SF movies thus far. -The core experiential 1v1, "be the best" quality that we all know and love about Street Fighter as the main focus, not the shadaloo stuff with 1v1 fights just shoehorned in. The shadaloo stuff is in there somewhere of course since it's key lore that must be addressed, but it's the tournament of "being the best" that takes center stage. -Fights actually take place at various home spots of different characters as a worldwide phenomenon, the spectacle of Street Fighters doing those street fights. Fighters travel to various spots to challenge a high profile fighter of the region so as to gain notoriety for themselves too, and climb the overall tournament ladder. Sometimes more than one fighter travels to somewhere, resulting in new challengers. Fights are usually taking place somewhere, and it's of some advantage that newbies and seasoned fighters alike travel to fight. -There always has to be witnesses to verify wins/losses, be it eager crowds (as seen in various stage backgrounds) and/or livestreamed cuz of course someone will always be livestreaming this stuff. (As far as streaming goes, fights can be streamed and watched at different venues and switched between not unlike an NFL Sunday package.) Or at the very least, a panel of judges that have always been there to verify the results that we simply never saw whenever we played Street Fighter cuz they were simply off camera. -Some fights of course can take place apart from tournament purposes, be it friendly sparring matches, shadaloo crime related stuff, personal scores, etc. The last thing that is worth a thought: should it be some kind of super stylized animation, like cgi or hand drawn? It'd have its advantages, such as getting to make idealized versions of every character that you couldn't find in real life, like Zangief or Bison. Or perhaps live-action is the best way to go with the trade-off that some characters won't be fully idealized.

[@WarriorBoy]

They should definitely not address or explain the powers and abilities of the cast, it should just be how that world is. Another key I feel would be having at decent amount of self-awareness, fun, and silliness in it...but intentionally, not like the Van Damme version (which is debatable, some of that was obviously supposed to be funny) but still including great fight scenes. SF isn't Mortal Kombat, something like Legend of Chun Li (uck) was way too serious of a tone for Street Fighter. Fun stuff like even including the bonus stages where some other character challenges Ryu or Ken to break apart a car or a bunch of barrels would be perfect for setting the tone.

[@aliastheabnormal]

Alex could always start his own NwO faction. That would set him apart from what's his face.

[@rockk9753]

@@hunterhuffman4520 wcw not wwe

[@blyat8832]

You know there was a problem when Alex was supposed to be a main character but no one even remembered him being one

[@coldh8terade737]

No one knew he was a main character because they're only familiar with the one epilogue game (3rd Strike) that didn't feature the full story to SFIII. That's what New Generation/2nd Impact was about. Those games stayed in obscurity for decades. The problem was not with Alex himself.

[@Unquestionable]

I still remember being a little bothered by Street Fighter III being a bomb back in the day. I used to play at least a few matches every time I was at the local laser tag place. Of course it didn't help it was up against stuff like Tekken 3, which was on of the most fun and easy to approach fighting games of the period.

[@Dave0G]

OOF - that SFV model does him soooooo bad! Enjoyed him in my limited Dreamcast play of 3rd Strike but that wasn't too much as we had to chose between that and Soul Calibur to play...

[@RDSArcade]

I hated the character model for Alex in SF5. The one used for TATSUNOKU vs. CAPCOM was superior. Played better too.

[@Flokoli1]

His model in 5 looks exactly like Ufc fighter Todd Duffee

[@Flokoli1]

@Dante Ryujin I remember telling him on IG a while ago and even him was shook 😂😂

[@TheMagnificentMongoSlade]

The huge muscle-bound American is such a stereotype in Asia. In the movie FEARLESS, Jet Li's character has to fight s huge muscular American fighter to prove the superiority of Chinese martial arts (that muscly American fighter was really Australian pro wrestler Nathan Jones who failed miserably in WWE). The stereotype is based on the success of big Americans in Japan. Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, Hulk Hogan etc. Hogan became the archetype due to worldwide popularity and his more muscular build.

[@n.b.l.5709]

wow, so thats its origin...

[@terryterryd]

Love the nod to Owen. One of his best and most memorable heel characters. "That last little nugget!"👍👍😍🤩

[@Wildzide00]

Over 30 years of Street Fighter and people still dont know how to pronounce "Ryu"

[@PHSDM104]

I never thought I'd feel the need for Richard to say, "jabroni". 🤣🤣🤣

[@barrysmith4610]

Alex was one of those characters that certainly grew on me with time. I think hes pretty cool. Hope hes in SF6. As for future character documentaries I would love ones on: Feilong, Deejay and Guy. Also Top hat if possible can you do vids on the status of the Capcom VS series. Is there a way for Capcom to continue it with other companies or to just fight themselves

[@SuperXAsh]

Ironically he was the only character I was able to get the closest to defeating Gill on the arcade machine. Never had ANY problem with Alex. I guess his move set worked for my style

[@blakemoore2660]

Gill is super easy to cheese. Spam what ever forward moving special your character has. After a knock down, walk back a little and spam the same move. Throw in a couple sweeps every so often and boom, an easy win.

[@Syntox]

Alex sounds like he was created by Vince McMahon, trying to force *insert large untalented giant from Ruthless Agression - Today* down the audience's throat

[@devingiles6597]

Hey, Top Hat Gaming Man. You should definitely do a Street Fighter character documentary video on Ryu's rival, Ken Masters.

[@snapclub8751]

I think Alex should appear in SF6, but in the story, he should team up with Ryu in order to defeat the game’s big bad villain.

[@VerdeAntico]

I think Sakura should be the main character of SF6 and Ryu should be retired, lost or the villain. Sakura should leave her moveset and have the moveset of Ryu instead as in the meantime he should have been her teacher.

[@DonShotta24]

@@VerdeAntico no.

[@VerdeAntico]

@@DonShotta24 Why?

[@blackout1524]

@@VerdeAntico Why should Sakura replace Ryu? Why would Ryu take her as his 1st student when he shows no interest in doing so?

[@VerdeAntico]

@@blackout1524 From a lore point of view, I'm not an expert, but I think Ryu doesn't hate Sakura and he can change point of view after Bison's defeat and having the satsui no hado under control. We know SF3 is in the future; do you prefere Alex or Sean as main character instead of Sakura? Sakura, Karin, Ibuki, Makoto, Ed, Falke.. the young ones.. what about them? Do you want to see Ryu doing something new or, again, having issues with the satsui no hado?

[@kaisser8915]

tbh even though Alex is one of my favorite Street Fighter characters, I really don't think he is good enough as mascot material even during Street Fighter 3's run

[@JihadBunnydick]

Who would you have chosen as SF3's mascot?

[@kaisser8915]

@@JihadBunnydick Probably Ryu.

[@kaisser8915]

@@jenn5628 if it ain't broke don't fix it

[@Ganmorg]

SF has a little something I’d like to call the “New Hero Curse” where if Capcom introduces a new character as the face of the game they’re inevitably going to be overshadowed by Ryu and left out of the next game. It happened with Alex in IV, happened with Abel in V, and while Rashid has kinda managed to avoid this fate he’s still relegated to DLC in 6, it seems. Same will probably happen to Luke in 7, but we’ll see

[@khalyolo8429]

I'll never understand why they didn't just give us Gunloc. He was already in universe, almost identical to what they wanted from Alex, and would have gotten us another Saturday Night Slam Masters.

[@rellmonshade3241]

I always thought Alex was from SNSM...

[@solblackguy]

Plus Gunloc was supposed to be Guile's cousin or something

[@phillipjohnson8903]

I'll eat my hat the day a heavy grappler character is flagship character of any franchise.

[@JokersVsZombies]

I think the problem with Alex being the main is his moveset wasn't really for the casual player.

[@solblackguy]

I think Alex would've caught on if he were a more traditional grappler with a 360 and some vacuum shenanigans. I'm a career Gief main and never liked using Alex because he was so awkward. As a main character, Capcom pretty much kneecapped him by adding Ryu and Ken into the game. People forget that Charlie was basically the main character of Street Fighter Alpha and literally beat Bison with his bare hands.

[@TheShockVox]

I disagree with the first part. In fact I think Alex being a hybrid worked to his benefit more than if he was more of a pure grappler. He’d be a harder sell for many people.

[@orchid_carmen]

It's also because he's never been a great character, he has like 2 special links in the SF3 series and both of them are standing that alone handicapped him enough with the general gameplay of that series but just in general he doesn't have great buttons along with plenty other things combined makes him not that great.

[@mr.checkyourself4672]

Looks like Luke taking over Alex role in the next Street Fighter game.

[@lordkwazz36]

And he'll probably be a big fail too 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@SouthTownChi]

As the new Lex Luger? lol

[@brandonspencer5594]

@@SouthTownChi well he is mma and has tatoos and a loudmouth like most mma champs these days so

[@TheRealJPhillips]

I only ever saw him as a zangief fill in. Hes not even mid tier. Maybe capcom should have finally made Slam Masters 2 and tried him there

[@matmusada]

Awesome video. I don't see this video as a rip but rather an objective look at the character. It's interesting just how applicable wrestling terms and the sort are to both the character and fighting games on the whole. I don't think that SF3 being on the ill-fasted Dreamcast really helped Alex case either. Between that, poor sales numbers, the struggling arcade scene at that point, one could say that Alex is also like Diesel in that he was a low-drawing champion and just Diesel it was through no fault of his own.

[@axiscrevite]

I still think Alex is a cool character. 💪🏽

[@snapclub8751]

Same

[@rickyandreou]

I grew up in the heyday of Street Fighter II & Street Fighter alpha series but Street Fighter III completely flew under the radar for all but the most dedicated Street Fighter fans. My older brother even had a Dreamcast & had third strike at one point but none of us played it much. I literally didn't even know that this Alex character existed until a decade & half later & learned about 90% of what I knew about the character from this video.

[@foughtthelol]

You didn't think it was worthwhile telling his name in Muscle Bomber is Aleksey Zalazof?

[@CometX-ing]

I'm getting the impression that you're not too keen on Alex.

[@nukelex]

I think what hurt him in SfV was the 3d model they used. With a weird looking face and strange build fans of Alex all exclaimed that he didn’t look right. Modders actually came up with a better 3d model for him inspired by his look in 3rd strike.

[@smith9747]

Conceptually, Capcon did nothing wrong. They used a pop culture icon as inspiration during a period in which professional wrestling was more popular than ever thanks to the Monday Night Wars between the WWF with their Attitude era and the WCW with the nWo angles. It's probably due to how bland Alex himself seemed as a character compared to the others, the lack of iconic fan favorites in the SF3 series in general and him not being easy to get into gameplay-wise as a newcomer.

[@joshmcgootermier2301]

I really like Alex as a character but have always thought the positioning as a main character was a bit questionable. Honestly a character that was on my list of ones I'd hope that you'd cover. Never open the KoF bag of worms! Like the distinction between what you'd LD are doing with your focussing on genres and characters while her channel touches on lesser known hardware or prototypes. (Outside of the most recent video)

[@LowellLucasJr.]

I thought Alex defeated Ryu in the SF3 canon...but with Capcoms ugly retcons/ changes in story, it's no surprise on the outcome. Still, great coverage my man!

[@solblackguy]

I remember when you beat the game with Alex, his ending is about being surprised Alex won lol.

[@realamericannegro977]

I remember reading Alex didn't stand a chance against Ryu

[@NoelComiX]

Alex is one of my favs!!

[@MKF30]

Lol I laughed so hard when he said "this ladies and gentlemen is the embarrassing failure of Alex! Yeaaaahh!" 🤣 can't be any worse than Dan.😁 nice video.

[@darrellwilliams1714]

But Dan is a popular character..

[@omegarugal9283]

failed because he was meant to be the new ryu...

[@heartbreakkid2]

@@omegarugal9283 facts you can't make the main character in a fighting game a grappler

[@randomcharacter6501]

Dan is bad on purpose, and is still popular. So a success lol

[@heartbreakkid2]

@@randomcharacter6501 true about the popularity but when has anyone won a contest with Dan or Alex

[@royjones3rd]

The slip up at 8:39 is killing me

[@FireBomberBassist]

If he wasn’t a grappler and something else he might have had more appeal.

[@nessdapkboyo4755]

He's still my favorite street fighter character

[@pclord20xx]

When SFIII launched I gave it a chance in the arcade paying $0.50 per game since it was considered a premium game, selected Alex thinking he was a Guile knockoff and was ultimately disappointed 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@AH-is5yg]

When I played Street Fighter 3 the first time, I didn't pay much attention to Alex.

[@konstantinkoverchenko9587]

I swear, the Alex character seems like he was based off the skinny teenager from the arcade raid in Robocop 2. >_

[@RainSpitter]

The character had fans asking for he's return in SF5 how is that a failure? also Ryu has been beaten it street fighter lore on numerous occasions and he uses that has motivation.

[@coldh8terade737]

He's just being a fanboy. Ryu is the stupidest, most bland and boring protagonist there is. Anytime you have a character being propped up as the new lead, his fans can't help but deflect. Which is ridiculous, because Capcom knows they have to keep Ryu in the game regardless. He just doesn't do anything important ever. The only reason Alex didn't catch on with people as the new lead is because New Generation itself didn't. And neither did 2nd Impact. Those were the only games that properly told the main story to SFIII, whereas 3rd Strike was just an aftermath where nothing substantial happened. It wasn't until the 30th Anniversary Collection came out that people finally learned 3rd Strike isn't the only SFIII game. Beyond that, Alex is a great character: one of the prime examples of what a real street fighter is next to Cody, with a backstory that some gold-star families can relate to. He's fun to play. And as you mentioned, he's proven to have a big enough following for him to be brought back in later games. He's anything BUT a failure, much to this guy's chagrin.

[@LobsterPuncher]

Alex didn't fail. The plebes failed to recognize his awesomeness. At ease losah!

[@venomfang8560]

👏

[@Lee-fw5bd]

He failed to prove his apparent awesomeness to the masses

[@StageInTheSkyCreations]

When I first got into Street Fighter in the early 90s, I was drawn to Ken and Ryu because I was a fan of karate. I played Street Fighter to play martial arts, not wrestling. The reason why Zangief wasn't popular (at least with the other kids I grew up with) was because he was a wrestler. And back then, I lived in Texas. Power Rangers, TMNT, The Three Ninjas, we were raised on that. To think that Americans would fall for Alex with that style was not so wise. His style aside, I did like Alex's design and character story. Just...his fighting style was not one to get excited about.

[@RafaelFMFerreira]

His mispronunciation of Ryu's name almost makes me want to stop watching, lol. Great video though

[@midnighter2k]

It's the worst, and no excuze in the modern world to say rAh yOu, RaY Uu or other english butchering of the name.

[@suryans5851]

Same! He is actually capable of pronouncing it properly because I've heard him say it in "shoryuken" & he doesn't pronounce "Ryo" as "rye-yo" either so I'm pretty sure he's just trolling us now to get a reaction.

[@brandonspencer5594]

@@midnighter2k he does it purposely to fuck with people who actually give a shit about that lol

[@jessemedina5436]

Alex is literally one of my fav sf characters ever

[@KaiRaisen]

It just seems like Street Fighter always gives us a blonde American fighter every game 1 - Ken 2 - Guile Alpha - Nash 3 - Alex 4 - Rufus 5 - Luke

[@chadthackston1992]

I don't know anyone in the US who ever thought Guile was the main character. Networks and studios decided on Guile to lead the cartoon and movie. Players always figured it was Ryu

[@antiseize11]

They tried but you're right

[@Hektols]

The mediocre live action movie with Guile as the main character and the superb anime movie with Ryu as the main character cemented Ryu's position as Street Fighter's favorite character worldwide. The Alpha series also gave a cliffhanger with Ryu's struggle with his evil part, something that was not adressed in the Street Fighter III trilogy.

[@TerryTurner]

Make video about Sean who's also from Street Fighter 3.

[@RichardHannay]

I thought Alex was designed after Axl Rose to be honest instead of Hulk Hogan. 😆

[@bryanc7094]

Great video Top Hat but Alex is still boring. Could we get a video on Guy ? Anti fire ball characters

[@dynamicentry6808]

He couldn't be the main character but still a great character non the less

[@AgentownshipRebelion]

I like Alex well enough. His entire game came out when interest in fighting games was waning. He's considered very hard to win with in street fighter 5 but if you look at his usage stats he is almost always middle of the pack. There have been times where there are more Alex players than Juri and Chunli players. Imagine if he was actually good in the game.

[@mich722]

Street Fighter III had mostly boring characters for me. Many of them just didn't seem to fit in with the series.

[@Prince.Mykal.Vision]

Agreed

[@j95lee]

Capcom made the same mistake that plagues Hollywood - trying to create a new prototype to appeal "to this demographic", when their classic characters or formula had already been embraced by the fanbase. Ryu is the face of the franchise and America was not going let a new kid on the block dethrone him just because he's white and military. Alex is actually a well thought out character and the SF3 series is among the best in the fighting game genre. Fans didn't quite warm up to the new direction. Hollywood continues to churn out projects and character based mostly on racial and gender identity.

[@shikarbabulall3897]

Nah I disagree Ken was my man from America! , Guile was tooooo slow

[@blackout1524]

Ken's Japanese tho.

[@bryanc7094]

Kens Japanese. Unlike Guile and Alex

[@shikarbabulall3897]

Studied martial artist with friend and rival Ryu in Japan but from America

[@blackout1524]

@@shikarbabulall3897 Ken's born and raised in Japan. His blonde hair is fake, his mother is half Japanese while his dad is full Japanese, Ken speaks Japanese even in his English Dub in SFV.

[@shikarbabulall3897]

@@blackout1524 Wait what 😳 ok this is new added recently, from Street Fighter 2 we always knew he was caucasian American .

[@czxr_8]

Another story of a Japanese company trying to cater to westerners and not doing so well when what we want is for a Japanese company to be, well Japanese. But even outside of that, being on the same roster as Ryu made this uphill battle even steeper

[@3Rayfire]

It hurt *my* feelings that you called Alex the Lex Luger of Street Fighter. I mean we're talking WWF run Lex. That's a deep cut man.

[@patricksierra1]

the biggest what if would be "what if Alex had a projectile?". I love the dude the way he is regardless. Love his SF3 Third Strike version.

[@hortinus]

8:12 just noticed spikey haired punk in the bg doing the moonwalk lol

[@convoyprimex]

I agree. They should have pattered him after The Undertaker, Sting, or even Rick Flair.

[@t0xcn253]

In spite of not having my desire for a Dhalsim video sated, this makes me very excited for the welcome arrival of the SF3 cast in a "new generation" of these videos. I at least hope that Oro will make an appearance so that my second favorite saffron-rags-wearing character gets some love!

[@jignaciovitale3460]

What do you think about Luke? Seeing your video i can't help but feel it will be the same, promote a character that seems cool but...

[@Asthenyer]

8:38 Top Hat Gaming Man: *"Ryu would canonically encounter and have a match with Ryu!"* Me: *...Wait what?* 😂

[@FarCritical]

Alex is honestly really cool as a roster character, but not as a main character

[@xafronicajones]

I do enjoy playing him on sf3. Bit challenging but yeah, he can't be the new hero. He didnt click like k' perse of kof

[@darrellwilliams1714]

Yeah trying to make a grappler the star doesn't really work lol

[@0hadd]

Watching this today gives me hope that Alex might be present on sf6. Even as dlc, it would be rlly cool getting the answer to the winner of his bout with Ryu