Why Street Fighter's Worst Protagonist Didn't Work

[@thebibliophilering8881]

They didn't give him a shot because they're abelist.

[@Null_Horse-xh5xf]

As someone with autism, I agree with this message.

[@frozenray0079]

I see what you did

[@cococolonel]

I laughed and I'm not sorry.

[@YeldellGW]

“…pretty much goes nowhere.” SF in game storytelling in a nutshell.

[@protodevilin]

Bingo. Narrative has never been Street Fighter's strong suit. It's fun to try to piece together tidbits into something that makes sense, but it takes HEAPS of speculation to fill in all the giant gaps in the story.

[@EventHubs]

Yeah but they often invest in super interesting beginnings of stories... it's a shame they seem to not pull the trigger and actually bring things to entertaining fruition IMO

[@tracyndiyob162]

more like mortal kombat(it'll just lazily reboot itself repeating armageddon even worse again you know it as it's just gore outside a few.)/asuka in tekken's story in a nutshell as not everything needs to be 100 hours convoluted as a square rpg to be a story as capcom has great stories street fighter 4 was just a filler game past reviving fg boom..

[@bulb9970]

@@protodevilin I do think Street Fighter had good story telling back in the Alpha and SF3 days. Characters like Bison, Rose, Sagat, Akuma, Cammy, Sakura, Dan... had well written backstories, motivations and things were shaping up to move forward with the Secret Society in SF3. But then SF4 decided to go back to Shadaloo, the doll stuff and what they did plant in that game with Seth and Abel went nowhere. SF5 had an abysmal story mode, but what they set up there with G, Rose and Gill was genuinely great. This would be the perfect opportunity for SF6 to tell what happens after that, but once again this went nowhere. What happened to them or any of the Third Strike characters? All the SF2 characters are back, but honestly they just feel the same as always except for visual design. SF6 really dropped the ball when it comes to moving the story forward.

[@craigwright8216]

They may come back to Abel once again I Hope.

[@Rhino-n-Chips]

We saw a glimpse of how Abel's personality could be fixed in SFxT. Guile picked him for his serious nature, only to find the guy is awkward in a "little confused, but he's got the spirit" way. When he sees Kuma, he puts the mission on the line just to pet the bear. This would've been a great angle, giving this towering dude a childlike sense of wonder without making him dumb. Even though he was supposed to be a killing machine, he's moved past enjoying the little things life in ways we take for granted. I don't know if it's the best angle, but it's better than NOTHING.

[@ShinRyojin]

That would've been a great approach to his character. Like Android 16 in DBZ.

[@erichthegraham]

I honestly don't understand the hate towards Abel, I always thought he was pretty cool, and I'd love to see him return and what his take on Neo Shadaloo would be

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

Yeah like BJ Blascowicz

[@Gamesackfan-bn6eg]

He was way more entertaining in Street Fighter x Tekken.

[@toledochristianmatthew9919]

​@@erichthegrahamthe problem is hthat he is barely utilized heck he barely makes an impact in sf5. Abel does deserve better.

[@CulturedDegenerate]

I only just noticed, but what's up with all the next generation protagonists being blonde MMA guys with scars? (Abel, Alex, Luke) Someone at Capcom has a type

[@technounionrepresentative4274]

Rashid doesn't, But then again Rashid does not feel like "the protagonist" of SF5 at all

[@ricovee9715]

I would have guessed Nash more than Rashid.

[@Cam10_84]

​@@technounionrepresentative4274Rashid and F.A.N.G I would say are the 2 main pillars of the SFV story.

[@georgehernandez2156]

Japan loves their blonde blue eyed protagonist. Street fighter 1 Ken Street fighter 2 Guile, vega Street fighter 3 Alex Street fighter alpha cody and charlie Street fighter 4 Abel Street fighter 6 Luke

[@MagcargoMan]

​@@georgehernandez2156 >Vega >protagonist

[@calcutlass]

As far as Abel and Seth looking the same, they literally do it's just that Abel actually has skin lol.

[@CornBreadtm1]

Well, now that Seth has a female body... when they bring back Abel, will he?

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

​@@CornBreadtm1 They did, her name is Manon.

[@CornBreadtm1]

@@gimmeyourrights8292 Manon plays nothing like Abel. Only thing similar is archetype and France.

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

@@CornBreadtm1 I was making a joke, when she was announced, people were saying Able took the surgery.

[@DontKnowDontCare6.9]

Except Seth clearly shows signs of having nothing in his crotch area. Maybe Abel does too? We may never know...

[@Chop23]

If you can describe Abel in 3 words: Heartless (Super) Soulless (Ultra 1) Breathless (Ultra 2)

[@johnguerrero4546]

Brainless (Ultra 2)*

[@lnemf]

@@johnguerrero4546 My friends and I STILL quote the Brainless U2. Glad know the jokes not dead

[@eyezonly8593]

Abel is almost a grappler

[@realpumpkinsmasho]

ahh and the forth option by youtube: Show less

[@DontKnowDontCare6.9]

The exec who decided Abel was the new protag: Hopeless.

[@wdcain1]

Abel was interesting in SFxT. There he was just a kooky cloudcuckoolander who gushes over furry animals and space aliens. This even makes him more Seth's opposite since he's so serious and laser-focused on his goals. Capcom should have stuck with this characterization.

[@user-tzzglsstle585e38]

Still not a good character tho

[@DanPankrat]

The problem is that SFxT is such underrated game…

[@RosaryFGC]

Ryu is Street Fighter. When I hear the name Street Fighter, I immediately think of Ryu.

[@axx012]

Ryu is the face of street fighter like Spiderman is for marvel

[@DanPankrat]

Despite being a mascot of the series, Ryu doesn’t fit in the “Street Fighter” title. When I think about fighting on the streets in video games, I imagine the various slums, city centres and highways. Ryu is the martial arts master to begin with. He fights on various tournaments and other places. “Street Fighter” series is far from “fighting on the streets”: evil organisations, cults, human experiments and other stuff, but not about fighting on the streets. Terry Bogard can be described as Street Fighter. Cody (Final Fight) and Axel (Streets of Rage) also can be described as Street Fighter. Maybe, Paul Phoenix. But not Ryu. He had created a category of characters like Akira Yuki and Ryo Sakazaki. Ryu is Martial Arts Fighter, World Warrior, but not Street Fighter.

[@blackout1524]

@@RebornOdin How is he put in a "Master role" when he doesn't have disciples? Ryu is just...there. Not doing anything of importance and never will.

[@Malegazeactivist]

@@DanPankrat Street Fighter title is a reference to a classic martial arts movie of the same name. Anyone can be one no matter how they fight.

[@dayshonsmith1485]

@@axx012ehhhh …. Spider man is My favorite superhero….. but iron man, hulk, Captain America, wolverine all scream marvel poster boy too…

[@barrysmith4610]

I honestly never thought Abel was SF4 main character loolll I just thought it was still Ryu with Abel just being one of the new characters along for the ride.

[@youtooberman9001]

same here, abel being the main anything is news to me

[@Rainhands22]

Yeah all of the promotion seemed to feature Ryu. Although he didn't have much a story I thought he was the main. With SF5 for example it was obvious in the promotion and story that Rashid was the protagonist.

[@watamutha]

Yeah who cares about MMA when Ryu has got supernatural karate.

[@DontKnowDontCare6.9]

Same. I actually thought Abel was one of the new SF character designed to "bring in" KOF characters (Ralph and Clark) to SF. The others being Crimson Viper (Terry Bogard) and Juri (Kim Kaphwan).

[@jackjack121]

Yeah, I don't know if that statement was true. I don't even know that Rashid was the main protagonist of SF5. The final battle is literally Ryu vs Bison.

[@vitaminrstudios]

6:08 Capcom is notorious for giving Ryu hero moments that should have went to other characters. In 3rd strike in-game dialogue between Chun-li and Urien insinuates that Chun-li played a major role in Bison/Shadaloo's collapse, then in Street Fighter 5 in the story, we see it was mainly Nash and Ryu with Ryu getting the major hero moment that put away Bison for good.

[@falconeshield]

Should've been Chun Li yes

[@Feuerhamster]

To be fair, screwing Chun Li over is very on-brand for Capcom.

[@theredandblueyakuza]

Abels problem is his design, his clothes are boring as hell, if he had a more interesting design people won't care how boring he is

[@probablyjinxed]

yeah at least the feminine-looking judo boy concept would’ve been more visually interesting…

[@thaneros]

It really is. Like who the fuck thought the top half of a sleeveless Gi with soccer shorts and shin guards was cool looking.

[@jaleelkahn7032]

​@@thanerosit's literally sambo 🙄 that's like complaining about classic Honda or something

[@thaneros]

@@jaleelkahn7032 I apologize for my western ignorance but Sambo has a different meaning in the United States.

[@jaleelkahn7032]

@@thaneros I live in the US and yeah, but whose fault is that lol

[@cooppp]

I thought Abel recognized the sonic boom because Seth could do it so either he was being taught to learn it like him in the past or just saw a Seth clone do it before he escaped

[@EventHubs]

You know, Seth does the damn move with one hand too...

[@Negajoe]

Hmm...that seems a little unlikely because than he'd go around telling this to everyone who Seth copied moves from. Like Dhalsim about his teleporting or Zangief about his SPD's.

[@AcroxShadow]

​@@Negajoe I think the Sonic Boom is a more distinct technique from most others he copies. It makes sense that Abel would point that one out specifically, IMO.

[@frozenray0079]

Let's be honest, though. Capcom did a terrible job of marketing Abel as the new main character in SF4. TERRIBLE job. Outside of the him being the default cursor selection in the character select screen, we had no idea he was supposed to be the main character. Without extensive research, we had no idea Rashid was the main character of SF5. They did well with Luke in SF6, and did okay with Alex in SF3 Third Strike but it otherwise still felt they were marketing Ryu as the hero in almost every other entry except 6.

[@natediaz1863]

Luke looks like a child's create a character. Modern Capcom is trash tier character design. There isn't one new character that looks cool and they goofed on several old designs (wth happened to Blanka??).

[@dee_dee4640]

Since Ed returned in sf6 and looked cooler than his last appearance, I wouldn’t mind Abel returning. After all, sf6 Ed is proof you can make unpopular characters cooler.

[@D3wd20p]

My vote is to put Abel on estrogen and bring back the original design. Bridget proved us queers can do numbers for the popularity, and it would certainly be more unique.

[@alfalldoot6715]

​@D3wd20p Nah don't take away the man's bulk that'd just be cruel

[@thehevandragon]

@D3wd20p Honestly no. That would be a dumb way to bring back the old design.

[@dashieldmasta177]

@@D3wd20pwhat the mcshit are you talking about

[@Kalebent]

They should have made Illuminati Nash the one to rescue Abel. And Abel should have been the one to direct Guile to Nash. That's the perfect resolution to two different storylines. Nash would have had a proper reunion with Guile this way. Remember all the build-up when Nash was first announced for SF5? THAT WAS HYPE! Capcom manages to fuck up everything promising, though.

[@DanPankrat]

Ah, yes, that story where they killed Nash quite after his resurrection… Capcom really fucked up with this.

[@ShaneusSnake]

Such a good idea

[@waterdog737]

Classic case of the OG World Warriors dependance and Capcom always chasing the newer generation market with their protagonist poser boys whose name is not ryu. the ghost of street fighter 3 criticism all over again

[@DanPankrat]

I think SF2 is overrated. Despite the influence it had on its launch, many years have passed, many new good fighting games were released, and I’ll never deal with 6-button input controllers.

[@technounionrepresentative4274]

​@@DanPankratsf2 really has aged, It's still playable but outside of it's significance in fighting games I do not see any reason to play it over other games

[@seph13x]

SF2 is still awesome and plays great. It's tons of fun to get back into every few years. No serious long time fighting game player has ever not put it in the top 5 or 10 of all time. No game has had the legs this game has, it's still actively played on fightcade.

[@DanPankrat]

@@technounionrepresentative4274yeah, good point. I feel the same, actually.

[@meganinten0078]

The OG World Warriors are overrated and boring at this point.

[@InvictusSolDeus]

Also, Abel background is to similar to Cammy. A blonde amnesiac european with conections with the main villain. He loves dogs while Cammy loves cats.

[@Manesson]

Not to mention the scar and military tactical combat.

[@squirrelsyrup1921]

Abel just needed to cast spoirel arrew

[@mikep4957]

Since Abel wasn't in Ties that Bind I wasn't even aware he was the main character lmao

[@jac_238]

I wasn’t aware Abel was the protag until I played Vanilla SF IV for the first time ever a few days ago, and noticed the character select screen defaults to him

[@dougfisher2060]

He was in Ties That Bind, but only at the end.

[@junkmail6274]

The fact that Abel was to supposed to RVD and Fedor wasn't known to me until just now....honestly Capcom should have leaned into this more at the time...and younger me would have totally dug this...

[@belakthrillby]

Very interesting video but i think it could easily be summed up as "Abel had a boring visual design, boring in game personality, and none of his moves had any flair." He doesnt fulfill any power fantasy that most players might have and his gameplay wasnt good enough to compensate for that.

[@kirbyjoe7484]

I think what you are describing is the cause behind the videos effect. I think Capcom realized they built a dud character when it came to design and how he played and then panicked to retcon the story so it didn't revolve around him so much since he was the Street Fighter equivalent of a boiled hotdog with no fixings.

[@MusicInMe754]

Even with his role in the story mode, I had no idea that Rashid was considered the main character of SF5. I've been a longtime fan of Street Fighter's lore but holy fuck, Capcom itself cannot tell a SF story for shit!

[@tek87]

Capcom needs to accept that Ryu will always be the main character of SF as long as they include him in the roster.

[@emperormegaman3856]

@Tek87 Capcom knows that. The goal isn't to "replace" Ryu as the main character of the franchise, it's to have one Sub-protagonist coexist with him for each specific game, while Ryu remains the face of the serie as a whole. Now, they generally don't succeed that well at that due to brand management errors (III) inability to tell a story (I and V), trying too hard to push the new guy (Luke on VI) though in this last case, things seems to be turning around to some extent. The one that unequivocally worked would be Chun-li and Guile if you consider them SFII protagonists.

[@boisvert45]

Exactly, i found out Rashid was the "main guy" here too, i always thought it was Ryu or if not him then probably Nash

[@SPEP363]

If you’re interested, I’d love a companion piece that explores how and why C. Viper-who was essentially posited as the deuteragonist to Abel’s protagonist-similarly fell short. The most obvious answer is the introduction of Juri, but even before she came along, Viper’s depiction in The Ties That Bind makes her feel, in my opinion, even more poorly executed as a character than Abel, given that he at least comes across as inoffensive by comparison.

[@michaelmcdermott1624]

On the subject of Alex (3:35), I think Valle observed that the character wasnt that popular during Street Fighter III's heyday and that the pro-Alex sentiment is recent.

[@randomcharacter6501]

He definitely wasn't popular then

[@antonhanna2423]

@@randomcharacter6501 What didn't help his popularity was the fact that people quickly recognized that the only reason Alex existed was so that he could have a "rivalry" with Hugo (which didn't go anywhere), and the whole "Hogan vs Andre" homage didn't exactly age well due to a combination of Andre the Giant's passing and the fact that everybody (justifiably) hates Hulk Hogan nowadays.

[@jaleelkahn7032]

​@@antonhanna2423 I don't get it. Andre died quite a long time ago so I don't know how that affects Hugo, and Hogan was extremely popular throughout the 90s when the series came out. SFIII, meanwhile, didn't seem to have much of an audience until Third Strike hit home. Double Impact was a flop commercially and in the few states I lived in, never saw a machine for the early iterations. Alex in particular still isn't a hugely popular character to play

[@henriknobinder7395]

My man honestly wants to claim that Abel is the forgettable main character and then casually drops that Rashid was supposed to be the main character of SF5. No, sorry, Rashid is the worse main character in that case. He is, in fact, the only main character that I had no idea was supposed to be main character.

[@gabrielrizzo6969]

Rashid has a banger theme song tough, but yes, SFV seemed to have Nash as a protagonist at first when playing it, that game's story modes are a mess. Same thing for its villain, initially propping Necalli, then dropping him for Bison again.

[@HotelOwner-ul5nc]

Same, this is my first time hearing that Rashid was supposed to be the protagonist of SFV lol. At least you *know* who the protagonist of SF4 is

[@keithragin89]

Rashid was dlc how is he the mc

[@keithragin89]

And that’s just you who didn’t know

[@Hilipinapixili]

I don't know... I still think Rashid is more memorable as a character in general even if nobody got the impression that he was the MC. And in a way that actually makes Abel even worse when you think about it.

[@essamimz]

Actually, Capcom Street Fighter's story telling is weak most of the time, unlike SNK who always try to keeps the dots connected

[@isaiahhellems7901]

Exactly

[@obiyofi9792]

also most of the protagonists from each saga are unique and interesting. both gameplay and lore. even the character that fans disliked at first like Ash.

[@isaiahhellems7901]

@@obiyofi9792 100%

[@hafirenggayuda]

​@@obiyofi9792Ash become quite liked after his true nature revealed, his story is polished. Capcom on other hand seems just gave up fixing the new mc, and go back to old characters

[@devinfarmer6308]

Abel was such a cool character. I liked his rush down playstyle. I hope he comes back in SF6

[@leoalcaraz6153]

That’s why I used him it was cool using a rekka grappler

[@aledantih6524]

I think Manon is his replacement

[@ADreamingTraveler]

Too bad we didn't get the original version of Abel even if it's a bit strange. Way less bland and boring than what we got lol

[@GuileSSF2]

Abel was a pretty cool MC, just not fleshed out enough... Abel has a really cute personality, even though he had an absolutely ROUGH time in his past, yet he still remained optimistic. guy loves cute lil pups AND even bears! (as seen SF X Tekken, and idc if its non-canon its ABSOLUTELY in character for him) overall, hes got a good base. the first male bison doll (excluding seth), a frenchman who is also a grappler, and a really unique one at that, who has little to none of his past memories, but its shown he still has a ton of humanity in him, despite everything. If Capcom gave him more time to shine, he'd be waaay more popular than he is now. heres to hope him and Alex return in sf6

[@Daniel-lg7bo]

Just a head up, in the official Street Fighter timeline, as well as relationships between characters graphs, it states that Nash rescued Abel 5 years prior to SF4. So that detail is still canonical, and apparently happened during Alpha 3 events.

[@nemesis9479]

Now i WISH they kept Abel’s original design. It would’ve helped to make Abel more recognizable and memorable due to him looking different from the other protagonists.

[@ReverenceQ2]

Pretty sure Seth was named after Seth Killian, a quick google search shows the below: The character is named after Seth Killian, Capcom's former senior manager. Killian explained in an interview dated April 2009 that it was not his idea to have the character named after himself, though he felt honored as a Street Fighter fan for being part of the series' history.

[@SouthpawHare]

It's both. It's in honor of Seth Killian, but it also fits the biblical references they were already going for.

[@MartezAnims]

Its a double entandre

[@technounionrepresentative4274]

The theory proposed here would fix both remy and abel, Have abel be a skilled but unknown fighter that came under shadaloo's radar and was captured and used as a base for the characters like seth, have them wipe his memory and have shadaloo tell remy and his sister that he abandoned them and was killed, Have abel break out of shadaloo's control and help take down the orginization alongside characters like c viper and chun li (Spy's and agents, it makes sense that they would team up and it would give viper something more to do) But abel still does not remember his past, so he goes on a journey to discover who he is, During this time remy has become angry at his father and the world for his father dying, And after his sister dies he discovers that his father is actually alive and has been alive this entire time, Have remy attack abel (Who at this time has regained most of his memory) And have the 2 reconcile after their fight, It sucks that capcom seemingly picks their lore by blindly picking it from a grab bag and that street fighter 6 is seemingly an attempt to move on from the various plot threads of the past

[@meganinten0078]

Abel reminds me of Taven (Mortal Kombat), because of how bland he looks. His personality doesn't help him 😅 Abel IS the definition of plain. I even prefer Rufus over Abel. At least Rufus makes me feel something.

[@jozsva8064]

I always thought Nash was the main protagonist in SFV.

[@Malegazeactivist]

Why are Bison's clones always blonde?

[@EventHubs]

Blonde and (usually) bland

[@DanPankrat]

Maybe because Bison was originally blonde? I guess…

[@gamerguyandsomenumbers]

Dictators tend to have a thing for blonde hair and blue eyes.

[@darrellwilliams1714]

Hitlers idea of the perfect person. It makes sense lol

[@ouranos0101]

It's an allusion to Hitler's obsession with the Aryan race.

[@CamSTL]

Abel: Im the poster boy of Street Fighter IV 🎉 Ryu: Thats cute

[@crimsonscars8305]

The minute they abandoned the original design that had a clear message behind it in exchange for a boring incohesive mishmash of plucking pieces from irl sources, he was doomed. You’d remember the one time SF had a tiny protagonist. You don’t remember the guy who doesn’t even manage stand out in the smaller lineup from the original version of IV.

[@StofenThe1st]

Could of had a Little Mac style protagonist.

[@Shyuthrosnaevin]

yeah femboy abel would've been way cooler

[@D3wd20p]

​@@Shyuthrosnaevin terror twink

[@Dafirus]

If Daigo the beast hadn't openly badmouthed the character, perhaps Capcom would have given Abel a chance to succeed.

[@Prophet_Of_Pants]

Not for nothin but I’ve always loved Abel growing up. His theme, his voice, the soulless super, his potential connection with Nash. I wanted to know more. You posed some interesting thoughts of what could have been or what was supposed to be. There’s a structure of story events you’d laid out that I’d like to ask permission to use to potentially later down the road make a comic dub SF4 story focused on Abel.

[@Batistadx4]

It's so wild that, between the Transfem Judo Fighter and King Cobra, SF4 had great charqcter designs arguable usurped by characters that are completely irrelevant now (Abel/Rufus).

[@rlohn2352]

This was great! Love the deep dive videos into these characters, keep up the good work EventHubs!👍

[@EventHubs]

Glad you like them!

[@kevingriffith6011]

0:06 Hell, I'd argue that Ryu wasn't even the protagonist of Street FIghter 2. Bison is *not* Ryu's villain, he doesn't know who Bison is, he doesn't care. Bison belongs to Chun Li, Guile and Cammy (And eventually Nash and Juri).

[@RyomenAyeni225]

Why do people keep saying this??? Guile and Chun Li have NEVER defeated Bison, neither were they marketed in a way that implied as such It’s either Ryu vs Bison or Charlie vs Bison, Ryu knows exactly who Bison is and he DOES care, the dude literally kidnapped and brainwashed his brother figure “Ken” and has been obsessed with the Dark Hado residing within Ryu It’s American propaganda that pushed Guile vs Bison, Bison is leagues above Chun Li and Guile, they aren’t on his level or on his radar, they are pests to him

[@YouGuessIGuess]

People look at SF4 with rose tinted glasses now, but I remember the disappointment when the four newcomers were announced. Viper looked like a KoF character, Abel looked too generic, and Fuerte and Rufus were, well, Rufus and Fuerte. I mostly mained Abel in SF4 because I missed Alex. Even considering that, I don't really care if he ever comes back. His plot, which was always too close to Cammy, has been duplicated by Ed anyway.

[@metaltornado3457]

6:51 I like the idea of Abel being Remy's father. Great way to make them both more relevant characters and explain Remy's Sonic Boom. I somehow doubt Capcom would put the effort into salvaging Abel after they botched him so bad in Street Fighter 4. Still, there's potential...

[@joecoolmccall]

Problem with the Remy connection- Remy's moves seem to be "light" and "darkness" connected, and not sound/wind (sonic) connected. For instance, his projectile is the "Light of Virtue". Thst said..with how everyone is related to everyone in SF, so I wouldn't be surprised lol

[@Drianadameluz]

Alex, a Hulk Hogan tribute with grappling specials. "He's not a grappler".

[@AdversaryOne]

You asked the question, so I say we move on. If they didn't bother to tie up his loose ends in V, why bother now. The idea of Remmy being his son is pretty neat though.

[@gamerx112]

They literally could've gone with the prototype and they'd been an instant classic. gib shota fighter :(

[@EnnVP]

Another uninspired blonde character design with no personality. His moveset was pretty good though. I'd have rather seen him return than Ed

[@c.conga11]

His step kick BNB was a 1-frame link. 😬

[@tirion2840]

your theory would be awesome, never heard before (as a french players who's mains Remy in 3.3). Except that, i always loved Abel for his music, gameplay and i don't know my empathy to him. Maybe an incomplete character but not bad at all !

[@kaoko111]

Street Fighter has a serious problem with characters. And before anyone start to throw a fit, bear with me, i'm NOT saying the games are bad (in fact i'm still having a blast with SF VI) but character wise they are always lacking in some regards. I get that fighting games are not precisely Shakespeare with their stories, however there's other series, specially lately that are doing a great job polishing story modes, individual arcs and even character design to do better characters. And is not like SF can't do better, there's plenty of SF characters that have a great lore, personality and design that sometimes even goes toe to toe with gameplay. But still there's a lot of instances were they became lazy with it and is a shame because Capcom is still doing a ton of money with the series and the fans deserve better.

[@microblast3700]

Abel was the most bland as f character EVER

[@ChoseDeath]

Not to play, but good GOD was his story boring.

[@leoalcaraz6153]

Yes because he a doll like the millions of dolls that are not named cammy

[@dee_dee4640]

Necalli: am I a joke to you?

[@rimzaaah5892]

@ChoseDeath he was fun? How?

[@ChoseDeath]

@@rimzaaah5892 Trying to hit his one frame links and mixing up your opponents was great fun!

[@doodoo2065]

The description you give of the grappler archetype at the start fits perfectly with the idea that the weak can overcome the strong and win, they had it served yet they decided to make a boring character instead lol

[@UberHero17]

Fixing Abel Make him the opposite of Seth, a move stealer, by making him the MMA fighter picking up moves from friends and others into his moveset. Take characters people do not like enough to bring back as his background pals and use their moves. Take El furte and Hakan grabs and Spin/strikes from Rufus all to his strike/grab style then other low-tier fellas for specials. This would also make him a world explorer with quotes that reference these characters and would help the build-fighter move expansion.

[@JOmega2007]

Boring character. Good bye and good riddance. SF4 just had a handful of boring new characters. The only one that stuck was Juri.

[@laffy7204]

I wonder what would have happened if they kept the original design. Would have Capcom gone a different direction with character story or how they play? Would he become more popular somehow? So many questions that will never get answered

[@doodoo2065]

The design was honestly cute. Capcom making a pretty male character? All the way back in sf4? That would have been hella rare, more of an Snk move than a Capcom move tbh at least at the time

[@chidorisnake22]

Let's be real: neither Abel nor Rashid are convincing protagonists. They are MCs in name only. Rashid wasn't even among the first batch of characters announced, and even though he had some section of SFV's story focused on him, it was still ultimately Ryu that defeated Bison. The only *real* MC change we got after Alex was Luke because of his heavy presence in both the marketing and the story because unlike with Abel or Rashid, Capcom actually committed to the changing of the guard.

[@ADreamingTraveler]

Yeah Luke is the only time Capcom has legitimately committed to having a real new main character for the series because in all the other past cases they were too afraid of not having Ryu involved to some degree. In SF6 it's refreshing that they changed things and Ryu's story arc is basically over and he's just relaxing now lol

[@sigmalaflare]

Rashid stopping the black moon was the reason that Ryu defeated Bison. It was powering all the psycho powered soldiers, including dolls in their battle against the heroes. So yes, he was the protagonist and FANG was the antagonist who got stuff done, up until Rashid stopped him. If not for those two, SFV would've been another regurgitated SF story of Bison and Ryu rhetoric *yawn*

[@chidorisnake22]

@@sigmalaflare Are we also forgetting that Nash also greatly weakened Bison before Rashid shut down the Black Moons? He wasn't even the only one to weaken Bison. In fact, you could even make a case that Nash was another "main protagonist" of SFV, so either way, no, Rashid wasn't really *the* protagonist imo when he had to share the spotlight with two other characters. And yes, the Black Moons were FANG's plan, but they were to supplement and siphon power to *the* main antagonist, who was still Bison. My point is there is a difference between being a protagonist and *the* main protagonist, and that certainly was not Rashid.

[@mr.protagonist5639]

​@@sigmalaflareno he wasn't. What your describing is a support role. If your reversed ryu and Rashids positions then you'd be onto something.

[@icehulk2]

I was thought Necali was the main protagonist of SF5.

[@LeeComedyCave]

A clone with amnesia!! Who writes this stuff??

[@raphaelmarquez9650]

Abel being Remy's long lost father sounds like typical MatPat theory.

[@fakeusers2]

Un-Able to have any kind of lasting impressions 😥

[@Resident-of-Pluto]

If only we were living in the timeline where judo femboy Abel was real

[@thehale_]

That theory about Abel and Remy sounds so good

[@batteytehoukamau9962]

I really like that tie in idea you had with Remy. It’s would be cool to watch a movie about Able with that theory

[@smicksite]

...too bad they didn't tie Abel into Manon's back story ...I like the idea of Remy being his child ...maybe Manon could have been Remy's younger sister who was raised as an only child (...Manon's story is mostly mother-centric ...there's still nothing regarding her father yet ...?) ...ah well, just spit-balling here 😅

[@DanPankrat]

Could Manon be the lost twin of Remy’s sis? That would be such a twist!

[@smicksite]

@@DanPankrat ...Remy's older sister would be the one frozen in ice 😉

[@DanPankrat]

@@smicksitehuh? I don’t get it.

[@smicksite]

@@DanPankrat ...oh, sorry, if I remember Remy's story correctly, after you finish the final boss, Remy visits his older sister's tomb (...she's frozen in ice) ...so that sister would be too old (...and too dead) to be Manon 😅

[@Manesson]

Manon is designed to be in her mid to late 30s during SF6, therefore she would be in her mid to late 20s during SF3. According to several hints, Rémy in SF3 is designed to be somewhere between early 20s to mid 20s, Manon is most likely older than him.

[@qcfx2a]

I actually didn't know that Rashid was SFV's hero

[@ArkticDark]

They could bring back older man Abel who remembers how to do quarter circle booms, with a command grab...

[@rgg1009]

What if the mercenary that helped Abel was actually Remy's father?

[@EventHubs]

That'd be interesting too, though you'd still have a lot more explaining to make things make sense.

[@inazumabeats215]

Wait... Rashid is the main character of 5? Huh?

[@XiaoFury]

Street Fighter has a full vault of throw away characters.

[@Kain5th]

You guys should do more character specific episodes. I enjoy these

[@Brassmonkey3242]

Hold up, did you just say "spoilers" for a 2000 year old story lol? But excellent content here

[@raulseda1230]

They tried to do another Cammy-esk idea backstory but flopped.

[@ArynBacklogDragon]

honestly, femboy Able looked like a really cool idea.

[@deadringer-cultofdeathratt8813]

6:02 “spoilers” 💀

[@legendrai1]

there might be a way to save not only the name & moveset of this street fighter character but also his story if capcom were to write him as a shadaloo clone of the father who supposedly "abandon" remy & his sister having said clone genetically design to have less if not no memory at all, that way most if not all abel's general character bio can receive at very least some redemption for poor protagonist execution by having remy's father not only be playable in street fighter 6 while having a bit of an older abel appearance & taking his name however have it be short for something story wise but also have him be a brawler while slightly altering abel's moveset at very least & implement sonic boom so to canonically have relevance with guile, charlie nash & remy

[@jacobyallison]

This was great. More character vids like this plz 🙏

[@leoalcaraz6153]

Capcom just can’t write a coherent story but design? Able looks awesome plays awesome ( he’s a rekka grappler!!!) which sux because manon just sucks; also Alex was not popular it’s why he ,just like able, never felt like the protagonist

[@MajinAsuraPath]

Abel didn't have to explain to Guile where he saw the Sonic Boom because you literally fight the guy that uses it after the Rival fight. Seth.

[@streamingnowstreamingnow2568]

Able was a Boring snoozefest with ZERO personality. Alex on the other hand, Neat! I didn't even know Rashid was the main story character, I thought it was Charlie/Nash, then RYU came and stopped Bison... yeah. I thought You were the main character of SF6.

[@koopatroopa]

Lol saying "brainless" while showing a clip of Breathless. That's a throwback

[@jackmcslay]

Crimsom Viper was also as important to SF4's story as chun li was in previous games, and she's completely gone. Capcom should take a note from SNK who can actually establish new protagonists and have them be staples of the series like K' and Ash Crimson

[@Jaedon1981]

Street fighter alpha 3.......that's where he came from. At the end of alpha 3, they were destroying Bison's base. Guile was part of that memory of him seeing the sonic boom because he may have seen Guile and Bison fighting. And Able was saved by Guile. But, Guile doesn't remember him either because it's been years since he's seen him.

[@sng3939]

Capcom need to realise ryu is the face of street fighter. The fact he’s not on the cover of SF6 is just weird. It should ryu at least along with Ken would’ve been a 10/10 cover.

[@Zetton199198]

Has he forgotten that Seth can do the Sonic Boom as well? I always assumed thats were Abel had seen it before since he recognized Seth's appearance from before in his past. Least as one of the options for his story.

[@ElasticLove12]

I love his design and play style but absolutely hated his lack of character and personality I hope he returns with a glow up in SF6

[@c7po457]

Man, I love fighting game lore. No matter how convoluted it gets sometimes.

[@hughboyzilla]

I really enjoy this style of video. Keep up the good work you dinosaur!

[@abraxys]

I enjoyed playing Abel, although he was my second to Fei Long. In certain matches Fei was massively disadvantaged so Abel provided a more balanced Vs match. I agree. I felt he was under-utilised by Capcom. I always wondered if Remi was Abel's long lost son...lol

[@johndcoffee632]

I'm curious, who you think fei loses to?

[@abraxys]

​@@johndcoffee632 I've always found Gouken is Fei's nightmare match. He has a counter for everything Fei can throw at him. Or is it just me not reading the game correctly haha

[@johndcoffee632]

@@abraxys Hah i dunno, i'd say Fei has an even matchup against Gouken rather than loses to him. I can see why it's tough though, Gouken's focus and Fei's issues with dealing with focus, the fireball game, the up fireballs removing chicken wing, fireball recovery allowing him to parry jumps or ex tatsu, crazy normals that are super safe on block

[@williammurphy8281]

I was a hard Abel main back when SF IV was the thing. He was my first grapple character, and he really showed out, moveset wise.

[@EdgeofNotion]

Abel knows about the Sonic Boom because if he was part of the Seth line, he would have either seen Seth doing them or had implanted memories of Nash/Guile. C. Viper was probably suppose to be the main character of 4 since she was the first revealed character and has more merch and the Marvel appearance, but Capcom probably got cold feet and went with the character who most resembled an SF2 character.

[@anthonyberno1332]

I just don't get this approach to worldbuilding, like... why? What's the point to all this? It's such a shame because there are so many cool characters like Akuma, Cammy... but they are surrounded by an absolute brainrot of a story.

[@happyabbyarts]

For some reason back in the day I thought C. Viper was more so pushed, especially with her appearing in MvC3. That said, I much prefer Abels concept design. Abel always looked like the most generic "just a guy" character in the franchise.

[@730Flare]

I feel like they chose Viper more cause she fit the setting. She's basically a secret agent.

[@vincentshadetree]

Wow, this was really interesting! I didn't know this was the intention of Abel! Damn, that's disappointing it looks like their willing to abandon it. The 3rd Strike squad was fresh, but it was nice to see that some of them had ties to previous fighters. It'd make sense that some of them would find love and maybe had children. I've been a fan since I played in Street Fighter 1 at the arcade. I've been with them since the beginning. So I want the story to be good, it makes me excited following these characters.

[@DSprich]

SF IV was my first game in the series. Although I knew pretty much nothing about the cast, their appearances and quotes told me most of what I needed to know about how they played and their personalities and relationships with each other. With Abel, I didn't know what Capcom was trying to tell me, so I felt like he was cutting room floor material reintroduced to pad out the roster. This video is the first time that I've heard he was supposed to be a protagonist.

[@johnnormandale3290]

Wish we got original design for able he stands out more

[@Mochi_Madness87]

The only reason i remember Abel is his theme. He honestly felt like a complete after thought.

[@thathomiefox]

I kinda liked Abel…if they gave him his original design or approached him more likable I would’ve mained him for sure

[@GaidenDS10]

If there’s anything I’d like to add up, characters whose main move sets are Judo Fighting Style tends to be a boring curse cause when you apply that on fiction it’s either not impactful only ends up being too funny or unrealistic. Unlike some move sets who are really striking too say.

[@Kite403]

It really sucks that they didn't do anything with Abel. I tried him in SF4 and had a lot of fun learning him. The thought that he could've been Remy's father would have been a really cool way to tie 3rd Strike back into everything before the events of SF5. But alas, another good idea lost to the winds of indifference.