Ultra Popular Fighting Game characters that nobody actually plays

[@rooflemonger]

***Update 2 years later*** Since this video keeps popping in and out of the algorithm. Baiken? She got made more accessible and normal, hardly as difficult as she used to be. Juri? She's basically a completely normal character now in SF6, just build store and go, and you can still use her moves without it. Angel? Difficult as ever, and people keep trying her and bouncing off near immediately. She's the only one who has kept her difficulty since this video was made.

[@emsax]

Yep, I main both Baiken and Juri now - they're much more accessible. Also negative edge should die

[@The_medicine_frog]

I don't know, I've always mained Baiken in Ggxxac+r, as well as samurai shodown. Not very big on the idea of bringing more attention to her boobs, definitely prefere the classic dirty look, but the samurai shodown look is pretty good. The main problem I have with the new design direction of her outfit is that I can't really play her with my little brothers.

[@badtimes4998]

This is why you should use Mai Shiranui instead.

[@keeganseck7751]

Alt Title: 'Should characters be as hard as their players?'

[@Ronaldo-cj4zl]

damn

[@andvjuan]

Best comment

[@returnedtomonkey8886]

The internet prise for today goes to you.

[@dactyl2400]

LMAOO

[@soulsguy5954]

The likes on this comment have to stop at 569

[@vaezax9527]

They have a lot of.... Fan art, yeah.

[@purpledinosaur5118]

Yea...

[@Mr.9]

Yea...

[@Dasaltwarrior]

And its AAAAALLL on my hard drive.

[@VGGamess]

👀👀👀

[@anonimushaker4851]

Yea...

[@mozzarellacheese896]

I personally believe faust is the most fan service character,.look at him 9 ft tall ideal male body, arcsys is shameless

[@mozzarellacheese896]

And they did what you reccomended with giovana in strive so, cool

[@JZBai]

And he's a doctor too! That job security is just TOO SEXY!!!!

[@cthulhubecausewhynot1182]

SMH, Potemkin is CLEARLY the ideal male body.

[@RollingBobbyJones]

he got me into the game so it works

[@Grandmaster_Sub-Zero]

Faust = Chad

[@nunsense9489]

fun fact: the reason why baiken only has one arm is actually a reference to how the players act while playing baiken

[@Zoey587]

The double Stick technique I see

[@chonkycat841]

@@Zoey587 lmao

[@lucaswibisono1316]

Does this applies to Jack'O players?

[@bladedgambit3158]

@@lucaswibisono1316 Yes

[@fel524]

@@lucaswibisono1316 as a Jack O' main, yes.

[@Kralex121]

I believe Baiken is a bit of an interesting case though as she wasn't originally meant to draw people in or be beginner friendly. After all she was a secret character in the original Guilty Gear, who you must unlock by finishing Arcade Mode with a certain character without continuing. Makes sense for her having a bit of a weird playstyle. At least compared to Juri who was all over Super IVs marketing.

[@GenocideHeart]

Baiken used to be very simple and effective in GG1. She got much harder to use when she wasn't a secret boss anymore

[@Mr_Spaghetti]

Also the Two Reasons people like her seemed to grow with each iteration of her character, from her initial concept art to today

[@PronounceHuynh]

A true waifu lover WILL main them regardless how good, bad, easy or hard they are. *Cries in reflectless Videl*

[@anonimushaker4851]

Dbz broly best waifu 😍

[@protogegamer9963]

i can confirm, i play baiken in rev 2 and +r, juri in USF4 and SFV, bullet in BBCF, and i own skullgirls, i play big band the best waifu

[@f1r3hunt3rz5]

@@protogegamer9963 Ah, I see you're a person of culture as well

[@frogmonger6916]

@@protogegamer9963 big band is beyond based

[@jayjaws2478]

@@anonimushaker4851 fact

[@lolboy4525]

They need to keep the sex appeal characters difficult. Everyone may love the thicness but very few can truly handle it.

[@Wolfedge75]

High class, high maintenance huh? Almost like a metaphor or something....

[@Ramsey276one]

Cool idea Leading to “Congratulations on winning the tournament! Why did you choose her as your main?” Boo-LOOPS! The loops... “But you don’t do those loops..” ...Mind game. XD

[@Gloomistic]

LOL

[@Gloomistic]

@@Wolfedge75 I'd say Millia has more class than Baiken though. Don't think Angel is particularly classy either.

[@Wolfedge75]

@@Gloomistic Oh no, lady Millia is the gold(-ilock) standard of class. There is none who match her in elegance.

[@nikitaivachtchenko6375]

"They have a lot of *fanart* dedicated to them." Yeah, sure. Let's call it that.

[@grog8507]

Too bad it's only available on certain websites...

[@LargeInCharge77]

@@grog8507 not if u draw it urself. Pm me

[@brotheralaric7177]

porn fan art is still fan art. Also Rule34 best internet Site, now if you excuse me, Coomer man awaits me

[@TonyTheTGR]

The premise is: You have to EARN your sexy. Put in your time. Sexy is your reward for mastering such a difficult style.

[@TonyTheTGR]

You also don't have to learn EVERYTHING about the character, just a few setups and executions that work for you. A good comparison is the 120+ moves that a Tekken character has when, 95% of the time, anyone worth their scruff in the match will only utilize the twenty-or-so that matter for scenarios. In fact, EVERY Tekken character is potentially this kind of character - but it's lateral depth rather than vertical depth. Baiken is not a hard character though - she's basically "sexy Geese Howard without fireballs."

[@MiketheNerdRanger]

Most people aren't gonna think like this, which is why this developer logic falls on its face.

[@electricant55]

That's already the case with cool characters. Hard: Kazuya, Bryan, Eliza, Hwoarang. Easy: Bob, Lars, Katarina (actual trash tier designs)

[@chutchut686]

Jokes on you i play pot

[@deco7217]

@@electricant55 Lars is actually cool though.

[@CaptainYokkiller]

Giovanna from strive is a good example of the opposite effect a lot of people play Giovanna cause I mean look at her. And she's the perfect character to learn the games systems, she plays aggressive, she's easy to combo with, and she gets extra perks as her super meter fills that helps close the skill gap.

[@fridge713]

True, i got into strive mainly cuz of happy chaos, but i quickly found out gun man hard, i started playing with giovanna, learned all that jazz with the games ans after about 30 hours i switched to chaos, its a great design

[@Hex.Decimal]

Allow me to bastardize a metal gear quote to illustrate “fighting game character popularity” in relation to the playability of the character. “It's a sexy girl, I'll give You that. But the Large breasts give You no tactical Advantage Whatsoever"

[@ShiningT1g3R]

There's this thing called "seduction"...

[@alano2475]

It warms my heart that 75 people got this reference. MGS is a god tier series

[@WardofSquid]

Haha, Ocelot got roasted. But very accurate

[@mychaeljones7526]

Ha!

[@okami7847]

Pretty good?....

[@woodearthdvd]

Tekken Devs: Thanks for the lesson. Here’s Leroy Smith.

[@mychaeljones7526]

He's cool (looking)

[@sufianramli8017]

@@mychaeljones7526 Broken as fuck though

[@dwvcollection]

@@sufianramli8017 true, what a shame

[@DooDee0608]

They nerf him from easy and broken into easy and strong

[@MigoqAki]

katarina is a much better example

[@Ajisnotherhere]

Well the problem is that it’s hard to play a character like Baikem with one hand.

[@noboty4168]

If she can get by with one hand, so can you! Don't give up!

[@Connector7th]

@@noboty4168 Neva give up!

[@kakugowaii5854]

Hence why I'm a Jack-O main

[@plzman2]

I learned to play with 1 hand and my mouth when I hit my hand

[@Arnell_Mediocrity_Long]

@@plzman2 Well let's hope your analogs are clean lol.

[@MageKirby]

Its not even just booba. Tekken's Lei, who is based on Jackie Chan a popular action movie star, doesn't have that many players because he wasn't strong for a while and has a lot of stance. But people really really wanted him back when he wasn't in T7's original roster.

[@fightclub571]

Lei has a lot of players though.

[@MageKirby]

@@fightclub571 Tekken has a lot of players. What's your point? Go look up ranked character popularity. Lei sits 43 out of 50 currently. And even in the previous seasons have never went above 40.

[@leestrz4153]

Literally the only Tekken character I wanted in 7. Still disappointed to this day. I could care less If they gave us every waifu the fans wanted. Lei was the most fun character to play for me every Tekken game...

[@leestrz4153]

@@MageKirby thanks to normies. Someone has to fall short. The reason he isn't included is he has more moves than most and doesn't have clones or share many moves with other characters. Another reason why Tekken 7 is the worst roster thus far

[@uglyl560]

@@leestrz4153 king and armor king has a lot moves as well but they are popular. Maybe people didnt give a shit about him but wanted him because he is legacy?

[@mohammedosman4902]

my own conspiracy theory: the fan service characters are intentionally made hard to use so that when the game is streamed by players or shown during tournaments or other high profile events they never get seen. That way the game can supply the horny without turning away the mainstream

[@TDFDT]

Ah so that's the reason why ArcSys hasn't put out a video guide for Jack-O yet.

[@kfcnyancat]

Of the three characters in the thumbnail, only Juri wasn't created before streaming and eSports were mainstream

[@mohammedosman4902]

@@kfcnyancat that's a good counterpoint

[@HollowProject]

Tournaments is where pro players play, why do you say they won't use a hard character? It's exactly the place where you would expect these hard characters

[@wolfmatic399]

@@HollowProject Angel is a common pick in 2002 from what I understand

[@HexGarry]

To be honest I don't think even the Angel players know how to play Angel.

[@whenisdinner2137]

Not optimally. You have to be on another plane of conciousness for that.

[@madge3370]

As much as internet anecdotes go I actually know how to play her. But that maybe be because I more of a function guy myself she's overpowered.

[@tomasparant8901]

Whenever I play vanilla KOF 02' and my opponent picks Angel, there's two scenarios: -I get mixed-up to hell and back, and when I get hit I eat a ToD. -They don't use her full arsenal and barely put out much pressure. Free round if my braincells are on. There's no middle ground.

[@madge3370]

@@tomasparant8901 That goes for most difficult to use characters that have wide appeal. You should see the average DIO in Jojoban.

[@grapechu5358]

The unchain system is so cool but it hurts my brain and hands

[@PR1ME98]

“Baiken is a very defensive character “ Jokes on you im into that shit!!!!! In all seriousness im glad they make those kind of characters hard to use. Its like a self balancing tool.

[@lolboy4525]

Pretty good balancing tool if ya ask me lol

[@coolcool5181]

Elphelt is what happens when you make the big tiddie waifu easy to use. Like yeah the fan service was nice, but the appeal kind of goes away after you run into the 10th one of the day. This isn't even including how much of a pain in the ass it is to fight her.

[@Wolfedge75]

@@coolcool5181 Same goes for Es & Mai. Which made me appreciate Litchi & Nine (plus to lesser extents, Makoto & butt floss) more.

[@captainmega6310]

@@coolcool5181 anger

[@brundleflylove4791]

Baiken's design was heavily inspired by Himura Kenshin of Rurouni Kenshin. Character designer Daisuke Ishiwatari stated that he got the idea when he saw a picture of Kenshin and mistook him for a woman. The name "Baiken" is likely named after Baiken Shishido, an Edo period samurai.

[@actualteddybear891]

I thought her design had to be inspired by someone. That's cool.

[@rooflemonger]

*almost a year later update* Angel is just as difficult as ever in KoF XV, however Baiken got ultra simplified and she got turned into a offensive pressure kinda character with her entire defensive portfolio simplified into one basic counter. I guess arcsys wants to turn "baiken mains" into actual baiken mains. No SF6 yet so we will have to see about juri :-0

[@quehay45]

As many others have stated, devs likely use sex appeal to bait male players with female characters that are hard to play and master. But in Ángel's case, the secret and particular reason she's hard to play, has likely something to do with the EVOGA Mexican employee that beat a bunch of SNK devs at their own KOF games, in two different occasions. Because of the bet they lost, the SNK staff possibly chose to make Ángel an interesting, but complicated fighter to use, since the real guy she's named after was a talented KOF player himself. No point in making a character very boring and easy to learn, when the actual person that is to thank for her creation could master KOF characters better than some of their developers. It would go against the core of her "origin story" to be a fighter accessible to beginners and average players. She's supposed to be for talented and dedicated fighting gamers that want some real challenge and play KOF at hardcore levels. As to why she's sexy, well, among all the designs real life Ángel was given to chose from to create the Ángel fighting character, the one that made it to the final version of the game was personally picked by him. He fell for her at first sight and didn't struggle making his choice.

[@shirothegamer7574]

I love that this video memes on all the people saying these easy to play characters are hard. I wals playing counter characters back when i first started playing fighting games, amd those unchained combos are easy enough to memorize. There is absolutely nothing more satisfying that countering potemkin in xrd and sending him ten feet into the air. And juri is incredibke feeling to play, and they made her even more fun in sfv. And no, i am seriously maining these characters, because hard fought battles are much more satisfying than, oh, i pressed qcf square and i won.

[@stako6440]

we need a sf6 reveal tbh

[@jayosonic]

Well Juri is back and her mains are happy

[@harrylane4]

@@stako6440 yay

[@rooflemonger]

I missed the garbage truck editing and putting this video out so now I can't put out my garbage til next week. Please like and subscribe.

[@raionbomber75]

That suck, i know that feel

[@amaizeing.dumbass5123]

Here, where I live, waiting for garbage trucks can be very schizophrenic, they can come from 4 am to 10pm, one of 4 days in a week, and if you forgot to get out the trash cans/bags, you had to wait from tomorrow, up to two weeks later

[@rats_3]

Today on the rooflemonger show, we will be analyzing the classic character archetype of the boobie woman.

[@mychaeljones7526]

Juri Mains: feet

[@p.p6229]

I'm a Super Sayan 10 Goku Main

[@NabaniSaa]

I remember seeing Angel back in the day and basically doing this exactly, almost dying cause of her moveset... and then I committed and she is now my go to point.

[@placeholdertag]

Top 10 reasons why Juri is popular 10 left pinkie toe 9 the left ring finger toe

[@ELDENLORD89]

Fighting games have a huge coomer fanbase it makes perfect sense that many people enjoy fighting games for the aesthetics. Allot of the cute female characters end up having the most causal filter play styles lmao

[@flowerthencrranger3854]

Chun-Li Season 1 PTSD

[@lucaswibisono1316]

Jack'O both in Xrd and Strive. The fact she is Sol's GF makes people even like her to the point of "Gorilla protect waifu" bs thing lol. I swear my friend just gushing so hard on Jack'O (when Xrd was released, he really REALLY likes her but also hates her for not able to unmask her because how such a fine beauty she is, Strive allows her to be unmasked and boy was he happy) and there's me with zero Gulilty Gear experience, having a vs match while im using Axl listening to his ramblings while im getting my ass kicked. Twice. One of them is using the new girl Elphelt because "I got her in this epic mobile game called Girls Frontline" Lets just say I lost both physically and mentally. Get my ass kicked in game, and got overwhelmed by his.... passionate ramblings.

[@genus5987]

Lmao how can you compare to western fighting game like mk?

[@lucaswibisono1316]

@@genus5987 Mileena.

[@Mcpwnt]

I think the lesson is to a make sexy tom boy character with a spirit dog and don't give her enough moves.

[@cctz_1]

Gio’s fine, she’s simple but she’s fun, lot of dash installs and safejumps

[@actualteddybear891]

@@cctz_1 I like how straightforward and honest her kit is. It's basic which gives her a low skill floor but in a couple ways how basic her kit is gives Gio players a lot of skill expression at higher levels.

[@scottnotpilgrim]

If I recall Baiken came to be because Daisuke thought Kenshin was female. But ya, ballistics are a reason

[@uandresbrito5685]

Lol, I also did originally. That voice tho

[@olivernazari2024]

Lei in Tekken for a non-sexy character that fits the bill. The character is super popular but he uses many wierd stances so few actually use him.

[@bwoeYT]

Well he's basically Jackie Chan which is why Lei is so beloved despite how complex he is

[@SnappySanad]

I guess Arcsys did learn their lesson, this is how we got Giovanna

[@DrMorganstien]

was gonna say that too

[@Wolfedge75]

(Looks at Elphelt, Es & Mai) Uh....

[@rezafahlevi9659]

@@Wolfedge75 Hmm?

[@deco7217]

@@rezafahlevi9659 Those are I'm guess the easier sex appeal characters

[@glacierwolf2155]

To be fair, Giovanna has another reason why people main her: PLUS FRAMES, BAYBEE!!!

[@Arassar]

I always liked the _idea_ of playing Angel way more than actually playing her. I love her goofy wrestling theme but I was never a fan of her voice actor, so I'll never put in the time to actually learn her stuff.

[@burningphoneix]

Right? When I first saw Angel I was going to uhhhh... *main her* but the voice just does not fit. She sounds like a little girl.

[@elroliz9442]

Thats the point

[@Nega12SP]

The fact I have to become a badass to actually main the cool hot female character (Baiken, Mina, Juri, Yuzuriha, Bullet, etc.) just makes it EVEN BETTER!!!!!!

[@legefy]

Bullet isn't really a hard character to play. It's just that she has terrible matchups into pretty much every popular character in her game. If more people played the niche characters she'd perform far better.

[@mrpinguimninja]

Loved the new Juri costume inspired in high school japanese gangs. Angel's coolest lore is that she was created because the guys at SNK lost a KoF money match to another developer

[@dragonsd3n245]

As an actual Juri player it bugs me when people talk about how they main her in street fighter but either don't play the game or have only played it for 5 minutes

[@HamsterPants522]

It's as long as they can last in the game before they pull up rule34.

[@electricant55]

Juri needs some buffs, plain and simple. High requirements low rewards

[@staticshock4239]

I mained her in Street Fighter 4 but playing her in 5 is so weird for me.

[@penguindude24]

Juri main here. Agreed.

[@victorhugocosta1127]

As a long time Juri main in SF4, I couldn't bear to play as her in SF5. None of her moves really pop and she's kinda dry gameplay wise imo This made me choose Cammy as the legs queen instead

[@mikeestill1672]

In DBFZ, everyone was screaming Janemba for DLC. Nobody plays him

[@megabumbusta2746]

more people play janemba than my poor boy cooler :(

[@NSFSponsor]

17 too

[@DoomsayerStudios]

Shame, honestly. He's kinda fun.

[@hombreglobo2344]

And now with Radits

[@JuicedLeaf]

same happened with Blazblue. Jubei was a hyped up character from super early on and nigh ten years later he gets in, and yet no one really plays him.

[@biizv]

It’s funny because I dont really like Angel as a character but she’s one of the most fun characters to play for me. Vanessa is one of my absolute favorites all around tho

[@Ramoriaa]

The best part about playing these characters is that they are always gonna come back no matter what but no one will actually play them which means that no one knows what to do against them.

[@Copperhell144]

@@Ramoriaa You say that, but Angel specifically did not appear in any KOF game after 2002 all the way until KOFXIV. That's around 14 years of not being in the roster of the newest installment of the series.

[@sir_will_iam]

So Baiken is basically a Sam Sho character in a guilty gear game.

[@13Kr4zYAzN13]

Nagoriyuki yuki fits that bill too, tbh

[@naeem7615]

Funny that you say that.

[@puffpuffpassmako]

You should do a video called: Fighting Game Characters That Online Players Underestimate. Bo Rai Cho from MKX is a perfect example. Everyone thinks he stinks and is a dumb character, so nobody plays him. But his mixup game and near unpredictability make him an absolute powerhouse in the right hands

[@jinjasdiorlocket]

Yesss

[@javonbatiste5984]

Yeah Bo-rai-Cho was a fucking monster in MKX...

[@Killakj101]

MK Deception Bo Rai Cho is proud

[@FortuneKOF]

I don't mean to be that guy but Boraicho was pretty bad in mkxl. You can tell the last of the kombat pack characters were rushed.

[@dicorockhimself]

Carl clover comes out of the closet

[@Iceblade269]

I play Baiken, she’s absolutely terrifying once you get her pressure going. She has to play defensively to condition the opponent and build tension, but when she goes on the offense, she can be absolutely monstrous

[@Nastara]

The badass hardened big asset female character is honestly a fighting game trope. Ivy is another one thats decently hard to use compared to the rest of the cast. And any Iajutstu samurai girl as well. Always have 2 big things about them and some weird mechanic to troll the thirsty bois Luckily I play the Sporty girl trope like Asuka or Yuri and they’re usually easy to pick up or a Shoto

[@ShadowknightEX]

I knew quite a few Ivy users. They tended to do pretty well in tournaments

[@DragoonCenten]

There's always been plenty of Ivy players.

[@lucaswibisono1316]

Does Sakura counts @nastara? I found difficult learning Asuka while I can breeze through Yuri lol. But then again, Yuri moves are pretty much Shoto with some Kyokugen stuff (the HCF + forward thing)

[@naquan59]

12:00 lesson of the story is... Don't make a character that looks like people would want to play with one hand hard to use.

[@david2618]

Lesson of the say: Be careful which brain you use when picking your main.

[@marcjehle2480]

Main the character who has the best Theme (in your opinion)

[@Kanti852]

@@marcjehle2480 Ha, I mained Honoka in DOA5, and she has the most ANNOYING theme imo. (I did change the music settings for her and a lot of other characters though)

[@carltasticdrew9633]

I main Setsuka, Nina, I-No and Mature. And imo they’re not that complex. I swear this is rational not ‘neuron activated’ reasoning.

[@squidtheinconsistent]

I actually have a friend who legitimately mains Juri. He wasnt sure who he wanted to play in 4 and one match reluctantly decided to try Juri, because he didnt want to be lumped in as "one of those people", and he ended up really liking the moveset. He scares me with how good he is.

[@bustergundo516]

Nice.

[@EmiDivinity]

​@@bustergundo516is your pfp final getsuga tensho ichigo

[@brushwagg7735]

Ivy in Soul Calibur 2 was exactly this. By the time I got her command throw down I was just starting to realize that I’d never be able to create openings for it and execute it when I wanted to. Maxi and his million stances ended up being my favorite mashing character.

[@fabianjervis3891]

What a nice break from gaming news and tutorials. Great video! Keep them coming.

[@rooflemonger]

Gotta do something til' strive launches, so we now enter an experimental phase haha

[@rooflemonger]

So I have been thinking about this phenomenon in fighting games. The super popular sexy character everyone loves(and everyone says they "main") but the second they try to go at the character, its way too hard! What is it with these characters that easily draw people in, but are actually way harder to use than normal?

[@laughingseal2282]

Good video. You need a part 2. Add Makoto, everyone bitching about her not being in V but NO FUCKING ONE PLAYED HER IN 4. Also, Mileena, Iroha, strider,

[@Eddysonsan]

people bouncing off her? I see what you did there ;)

[@slightlytwistedagain]

I have to disagree with you on Angel, who I think only becomes off putting due to KOF's three on three system. If she was playable in a one on one fighting game I think it would be very different outcome. I say this as someone who mains Yoshimitsu, who I imagine you know is a Swiss army knife of wacky moves. I find that you actually wrap your head around their options, these characters never get boring to play as you can just change how you play on the fly. baiken appears to be like Setsuka who is all about counters and whiff punishment. That can be a problem if you're in a mirror match with both of you are waiting for the other player to be aggressive, which isn't Setsuka's strong point. Juri definitely is the weird one, that gimmick of her looks unsatisfying to use, which reminds me of Hwang's lifeforce gimmick in SC6.

[@SirBernardicus]

I get Juri being seen as sex appeal, but R.Mika...

[@izder]

Like the great *COMBOFIEND* once said The FGC only care about *FUNCTION* Buff Baiken and she ll be REALLY POPULAR

[@rockinrom1524]

Damn I felt attacked when he brought up vanessa.

[@bwoeYT]

Who here after Angel was announced for KOF15? A whole new generation of players are gonna pick her and nope out the moment they see the movelist!

[@MiketheNerdRanger]

I'm pretty sure the *same* generation of players will "nope out."

[@floofsnoof]

Being honest here, the fact that Baiken is a bit of a harder character makes me really want to learn her that much more. And believe it or not booba is not really the main reason I like her, its the Akira Kurosawa esc openings/finishes and the whole samurai angle that I love, I like Nago for the same reason.

[@Liteyears11]

Nakaruru: A character that has been one of the front faces of SamSho since its inception, but plays like a weirdo and has been considered a competitively underpowered in most of her games, so learning her doesn't feel especially rewarding.

[@geoxev9423]

Nakaruru was easier to learn than Angel. Well for me at least.

[@karnaarjunarama8308]

I mained Nakoruru Slash in SamSho 4 back in 1996-1997 Fun times

[@farronhart5761]

The discrepancy between what characters are being played compared ones that are globally popular is just an example of how the fgc is just a fraction of people who love and grew up with these games and characters. U make a good point on making popular characters more accessible (i.e. like Lili from Tekken). I think the thing about Baiken and Angel is that they were designed at a time before it may have been known what kind of characters would be globally popular from a Japanese person's perspective in between the years 1999-2001. Angel is the most obvious of these examples because she is so far in the direction of obscure design, no new player was ever going to pick her up day one and feel competent at the game. She's far too technical. She seemed more like a character for fighting game nerds who like to lab and also appreciate a nice view (like myself). In other words, cheesecake (fanservice) doesn't necessarily mean the character was meant to be globally popular. I think Angel has been in a total of 3 fighting games (4 if u count KOF 02UM) and only one of them was canonical. So if shes popular, its in a small vacuum. Another example of this sort of "fighting-game-nerd-who-likes-cheesecake" style character design, is Hanzo from Yatagarasu (also designed by the same guy i think). Creative/awkward gameplay mechanics, but she's super nice to look at.

[@HoseB932]

_Plays Angel and Baiken_ Wow, I feel special. Not gonna knock it. I played Baiken because he counters are BS. and Angel... meh, largely for the eye candy but stayed for the mixups I could get in KOF14. (I still suck at KOF because 4 button fighter kek) Great video and keep up the content.

[@KittyFlash]

I play all of these characters since they released and I legitimately refuse to play anyone else. They are all my favorites and will be to the end of time. Girl power!

[@HoseB932]

Thicc girl power 😏

[@HoseB932]

I'm surprised he didn't also Add in C.Viper tbh she seems like the ultimate high management gril. meh, she isn't as popular as Juri but... oof.

[@dnightwalker]

Jack-O Valentine is the perfect example of the fanservice character that's easy to use.

[@christianlayne2824]

That's very funny cause she's not even good sure she may be easy but holy crap is she bad and when I say bad I mean flawed and also you have to micromanage energy and her goons so I wouldn't say she's easy to use.

[@returnedtomonkey8886]

@@christianlayne2824 and considering how her story ends in revelator, doubt she or bedman will ever come back.

[@Pinkiefiedz]

@@returnedtomonkey8886 Lol, joke's on you. She's very likely coming back in Strive.

[@trashtrash5409]

@@Pinkiefiedz what as dlc

[@Pinkiefiedz]

@@trashtrash5409 Yeah. Data mining revealed her and others. But it’s not confirmed so ArcSys could just be playing us all with decoys in the data.

[@philxd7990]

As a Baiken main, I've been going hard learning all her options in the training mode and grinding in online matches The booba lures in, the gameplay grips you forever

[@JohnzaloogIII]

Fancy talking about sexy fighting game characters and not bringing up Talbain :p

[@sonimatic]

I think ArcSys learned their lesson with Giovanna. Sexy cool character who is very simple, especially for guilty gear.

[@dizzygunner]

Ok so I've never seen angel or whatever her name is, but seeing that people's elbow does make me wanna player her, but even I can't be arsed learni g all that and I'm now new.

[@noboty4168]

You and me both. I knew she copied from the Rock, but seeing it in action? I wanted to pick her up right then and there.

[@wevegottrouble5891]

In a weird, twisted sense, the sexy characters are your goal. You come into the game as a newbie, get completely backhanded with said sexy character, Practice the character for months if not years and then accomplish your goal by doing so. A goal that nobody wants to actually achieve in a 5 minute horny state.

[@genus5987]

Also your pfp fits your comment

[@Nipotazzi]

One thing this video doesn't mention is how truly scary are the real mains of these characters: Good Baikens never willfully get priority unless is to bait, and this means you can't rush into her, try to get a projectile hit and even try to poke her because you know she can AND will counter everything you throw at her. Yuri with her special imput basically doesn't follow the rules of the game everyone else plays, like he said. In both SF IV and V she essentially screws over anyone who can't/doesn't know how to counter her, and so any character that isn't a Zoner is gonna have an hard time.

[@conrspowrt6691]

I play both Juri and Baiken. Not even because of their “assets” I just absolutely love their gameplay style

[@falsepositive9324]

I don't play them but I wouldn't buy Guilty Gear or Street Fighter if those characters aren't available.

[@zerobeat032]

I played Juri a while ago in SFV... but realized I wasn't using her to her best potential cause I'm ass at the game and went back to Guile.

[@JM-vl3cy]

Yeah right ? Baiken's counter is probably one of the most satisfying moves in the whole game.

[@marcjehle2480]

@@falsepositive9324 as long as you dont miss out on GGs music

[@ragfarok]

But if the hardest characters to play are also the non-fan favorites, no one would pick them, right? If you want to invest countless hours into learning a difficult character it might as well be a super sexy character. That's just the icing on the cake.

[@lolboy4525]

Exactly!! If im gonna play this game for hours on end and try to learn everything I might as well have something good to look at!

[@FoolsGil]

7:52 Deep Lore. So much of it too. Her story is breathtaking.

[@f1r3hunt3rz5]

My body couldn't take so much _LORE_

[@gamefreak3000dx]

Juri has been 1 of my favorite characters since her introduction and I never new she was considered a hard character until this video. I miss her spin kicks from sf4.

[@kentstarliner5728]

"To hard to use for the people they just brought in". That is a very interesting point.

[@onetruecragenag1547]

I'm kinda embarrassed to admit how much I like Baiken, now. Honestly, though, I actually did play her in XX (and what little I played of Xrd).

[@umkirraqueen1192]

shes like the only character i play in xrd but i honestly like her a lot more in xx, 2HS is fun and i like countering from just blocking

[@MikeDaddyMCS]

I actually didn't even care about Baiken until I learned how dope her defense is. I love it when a character can be played defensively and still be fun as hell

[@MusicoftheDamned]

The joke about Angel's lore is hilarious given that if you actually look into the lore, you find out she's just...the worst and one of the most vile still alive characters in universe due to her willingly working with NESTS & never showing remorse for it. Funny how that happens. That said, she was fun to mess with actually learning for week or two back in _KOF 2002_ even if the Unchain system is so complex that I would never personally main her. This is coming from someone who has played a decent chunk of both Baiken and Juri too due to finding their mechanics interesting as well. I guess I'm just a masochist given I know it's not the thirst for me personally.

[@Kanti852]

Me personally, the thing I like most about Angel hands down is her squeaky voice. I just can't get enough of it.

[@Saiyanryu]

“Ultra popular characters that nobody uses.” Me, a Frieza main in FighterZ: “Hmm. 🧐”

[@penismightier9278]

God I wanted to main him. Then I find out he's a zoner and wanted to use him even more. Then the game punishes you for using him by making everybody able to walk over him like Broly did in the movie.

[@vista1456786]

As a Zamasu player, I kind of understand where you're coming from. I have done a fully charged 236S after a jump only for a grounded super dash to clip the edges of the animation leading to a full punish for me. Has something like that ever happened to you with freiza?

[@anonimushaker4851]

Chances of seeing Freeza mains on Dbfz: 0000000000000000000000000000000.1

[@penismightier9278]

@@anonimushaker4851 That's a bit optimistic, isn't it?

[@anonimushaker4851]

@@penismightier9278 Just leting Freeza mains a bit happy.

[@zadenhomunculus8652]

"So what do YOU think about this subject?" I think which arm Baiken has amputated depends on which side of the screen she's on and that REALLY bothers me.

[@doom3926]

This is a good video. I remember one of the earliest examples of these being Ivy from Soul Caliber. Mind you, Ivy is easier to pick up than the characters talked about in this video but casuals who play her do run into a wall the moment they run into another human player that has even a basic understanding of how valuable side stepping is, because most of the moves casuals throw out with Ivy are really easy to side-step and so they still get blown up. Casuals can still fall back on a character like Taki if Ivy isn’t working out for them though since she’s easier to pick up which is why the Ivy example isn’t quite as loud as others.

[@christopherrosengren6017]

And then there is Setska who needs dedicated practice to even understand how she works

[@NeroLordofChaos]

Ivy was also considered toptier for a LONG time throughout the Soul series. She basically had no range that she weak in and at her absolute worst, devolved into counter playing your opponent's strengths. The biggest issue with Ivy was always execution and learning when to which sword states and stances. Once you had those down, she could regularly decimate the rest of the roster with about 2 or 3 exceptions.

[@NurseValentineSG]

I do actually disagree, because the players just getting the game for the popular character will a) not even get in the first place, they just wanna say that they like a character b) bounce off the character, but stick with the game, which is still fine anyway c) just stick through and main them anyway I feel that unpopular characters should be alot more easy to play, while popular ones are harder. If the popular ones are easy to play, new players will never feel like sitting down and actually learning the character or the game. I also think that the difficult attractive character is like a weird horny-check from the devs. Basically them saying "sure, you are allowed to play this character, but you have to work your ass of for it". And hell, sometimes the character isn't even hard to play, sometimes they're just weird. Android 21 comes to mind. Super basic all things considered, but her absorb stuff is weird. Just my two cents in that regard.

[@PR1ME98]

lol its like a self balancing tool and i love it. It teaches players that yeah she may look good, but very few can handle that thiccness. Ivy, pre-mk11 mileena, iroha, nina. All hard characters that are fun to use imo

[@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034]

Says the one with a Valentine pfp

[@NurseValentineSG]

@@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034 yes, and I have skullgirls where when I played it, my mains were Valentine and Parasoul. What's your point?

[@deco7217]

I disagree because the following will most likely apply: 1.) Be attracted to the game by the popular characters in the first place 2.) Learn the character and fundamentals no matter how easy they are 3.) Is 2 doesn't apply, they would probably play casually anyway, which is ok too. It is also important to consider the fact that not everyone is attracted to the same characters. Some people may be interested in playing the game because of Axl Low in GG, Meitenkun in KOF, or even FANG in SFV. Characters are probably the main attraction to FGs other than the gameplay itself, so it is important that people are able to easily understand a character that will appeal to them. Learning the game will be hard no matter who you play anyway, so there is no real harm in making a cool or sexy character easy to play, especially if they are popular.

[@spl_itscreen3857]

as a new player, watching this makes me want to play angel. her having so many follow up options makes her seem like "play what you know" type character. at lower levels her combos are weak and short but still doable and they just get longer and longer as you get better

[@joseinteriano6210]

Do it! it's fun to learn her combos.

[@Fourwalls2]

Remember when they overcorrected Angel's difficulty in 2002 by giving her monstrously long invincibility periods? lol

[@shadehikari8547]

This is so funny to me, because i main all the 3 characters on this video, and i heard a lot of people saying they main them as well and how they were always better than me because i am a young girl and i dont know anything about real FGC, i remeber a guy i told "i main Juri since Sf4" and he told me "I main her since SF3" Yes, you read that well, there was a guy who said he Mained Juri since a game she wasnt in Also i love your pronunciation of Angel

[@GuamoKun]

They also gave Angel one of the best themes in 2002um 😭

[@Jinrokh]

All I get from the Angel section is "They put Zell's limit break in a fighting game"

[@mr_0n10n5]

When I started playing Angel, I quickly decided to memorise 3-4 options and call it a day.

[@FGCErrorRick]

With the recent release of Juri skins, I almost wanted to download SF5 again just to try her again. Rooflemonger looking like the thought police rn...

[@Pensive_Scarlet]

I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised that one of those new costumes for Juri was an awesome Sukeban throwback outfit. Especially considering the other one is just Juri in a sports bra, half a dress, and a Bison/Vega hat.

[@wolfofwilds1291]

Friend: you play angel Me:yes Friend:whatd it cost Me: everything.

[@Howardpower679]

Here in brazil has a lot of Angel players...disgaree with you there

[@TheMrdemitri14]

Angel was hella popular in 2k2

[@gansmith]

This what happened with me and Bridget, a trap/zoner that is hard to hit which I love, but god I didn't feel like learning trigonometry in the process. If he comes back to Strive, watch that happen again to many others new his playstyle.

[@chkmte1304]

As an actual +R Baiken main this is 100% true

[@rolandkatsuragi]

Hate to say it, but I played more Dan as a joke than actual Juri in SFIV

[@thedisliked5365]

I don't know why no one plays juri. She's so fun in my opinion and storing moves is such a cool concept. I also love her dragon kick/spinnyspinny

[@SharpsPanda]

That's how I am with Juri as well. I was so excited when she was announced for the first season. But this is basically why Giovanna is why she is designed to be simple.

[@YouGuessIGuess]

These sexy-but-weird characters are the developer's way of giving new players a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down. It doesn't really work though because people willing to play weird characters are asexual ascended immortal monks who walk amongst the FGC as mere mortals to keep the Ken and Ky players from overwhelming everything.

[@camronjimenez12]

Angel is the only character i can some what play in kof14

[@PeterZeeke]

This was a great explanation of Angel. But I like that these popular characters are hard. For every Angel, theres a Mai

[@HomeOnASaturdayNight]

It's funny because Juri is the the only reason I would check out Street Fighter because I like Taekwondo. And when you described the negative edge system I was so stoked on that because I've never seen or played that in other fighting games. But now I'm just sad because they took it out in 5.

[@absoul112]

I enjoyed playing Juri in SF4 but I wasn’t a fan of her SF5 version.

[@rzqhipnox1667]

I did play angel but she is hard to play, very hard to play and believe me I dropped a lot of her combos.

[@iiayuwokii569]

Eliza from tekken 7 is a character everyone likes but no one knows how to play them and new people don’t even bother cause of her sex appeal 🖤🖤

[@axellyann5085]

When first played her all that execution was a shock and i loved, but with the patchs namco changed her to be less "execution heavier" wich i was a bit disapointed but still love play her. Do a cd in the middle of the combo just to use one bar was marvelous, but maybe i fell that because i was never into 2d fighting games, soo after an entire life playing tekken it's really hard get into 2d when i can't use an 3d stage to move around.

[@idnyftw]

it's an expression of love, to dedicate your time to a difficult character if you love Honda, Honda will love you back, after all

[@numa2k147]

Bruh, I actually want to play Angel now. I want to learn those rekkas. And I tought you would mention Remy lol.

[@LordBape]

Acting like Angel is complicated when all I learned to do was spam quarter circle back and punches to play the game.

[@dominiccasts]

Yeah, her system looks very similar to Noel's Drive in Blazblue, just more spelled out in the command list and a bit more selective about what actions are useful for continuing the chain.

[@Wolfedge75]

@@dominiccasts Yeah, you could say Noel’s the “simplified”, entry level chain-type character. I would’ve made another boob joke at her expense until I also remembered Momoko.

[@capercrusader7129]

Well there's a HUGE reason why they are popular at least... 😏 ... very interesting back stories of course 🙂

[@SkyReaperOne]

Baiken's amazing and I loved playing her way back when I played the game religiously. Not as my main, but pretty close. Something about her move set really clicked with me, despite her short-ish range. She had pretty good priority on most of her moves last I checked and tatami spam can be funny as well now and then. Wouldn't care in the slightest if they got rid of her sex appeal. Would still play.

[@binary1769]

As a Baiken player, I can confirm that I do not play her.

[@Waltersop]

Its just one of those characters that makes you feel better they are in the rosters, its like a reassuring presence lol