May i ask what book that is from?
And that’s the sad thing. Truthfully there isn’t anything TERRIBLE about the design. Extremely boring, and stereotypical maybe, but so what? His whole existence was to be a “Middle Eastern” character (I don’t believe we have a country yet, but we all know he’s peninsulan arab). There was no inspiration for this character other than commercial tokenism which is what makes it kind of racist. There is SOOOOO much more they could have done, but Ono said for himself that this was his first time in the middle east, so he doesn’t know anything about the culture. Arabs are happy just being represented, but honestly it’s token design that has no value other then just being there for representation. We’ll forget about him soon enough, because it looks like they ripped him off Deviant Art. I wouldn’t be surprised if Capcom didn’t actually design him but only created his fighting style, and left the character design to the middle east distributor. Now what makes this design sad is that Hakan, although crazy, was a interesting design. His name had levels of typical SF puns. The appearance of Hakan’s hair is a pun, as he is Turkish (the Japanese word for Turkey is “Toruko”), his hair resembles stone (the Japanese word for stone is “Ishi”), and his hair color is turquoise (the Japanese word for turquoise is “Toruko Ishi” and, worldwide, the color turquoise is associated with Turkish people, a lot of famous Turkish mosques are made of turquoise) Oil wrestling is the regional sport of Turkish Thrace (Eastern Thrace). Greek occupation of Eastern Thrace (started with Tekirdağ) ended on November 13, 1922. Hakan’s birthday is November 13. Those kind of details showed they cared about his design. Yeah it’s a weird design, but honestly turkish oil wrestling is weird. They way to win is by essentially groping your opponent. His personality is funny, but the weird thing is it’s kinda accurate to how middle eastern fathers actually act. Super prideful, always proving their occupation matters (even when it doesn’t), and super loving of their children (and having a lot of children is common in the middle east, less than four kids is very uncommon there). Regardless of whether or not Hakan was meant to be a joke of the Turkish culture or not we can appreciate the design because you can see that there was effort put into it. In contrast we still don’t know if his name is Rāshid or Rashīd, something that actually matters depending on the arab country he is from. Then his V-Trigger, is mistranslated (اعصار e’saar which means ‘Typhoon’) but we have (Ysaar يسار means ‘Left’). These are things that show they didn’t care that much about his design.
BUT no matter what, complaints mean nothing because…
At least its not Dhalsim. Has anyone ever seen the concept art for SF2, when he was just dressed like Vishnu? Or when Zangeif’s name was Vodka!? Goddamn, capcom… I mean I don’t want to be ok with Rashid, but I’m scarred about what happens if I’m not.
Also the first one is Will Smith introducing his wife to the paparazzi
I’m curious: For those who do not like his design, or think it’s too basic; How would you have it instead?
Imo, he’s mixing cultural clothing with modern technology…let that sink in for a moment.
Although some may say the only correct cultural part of his costume is his ghutra (The cloth on his head), it’s a bit tough to say if the rest really resembles a kandoora or not with all these wires. But nonetheless, it looks like something Emaratis or Saudis would wear in older times.Most likely Saudi since he’s not wearing a wezaar.
But again to the main point, how would you resigned his appearance? There are still alternative costumes to come so…
I think there is a projectile in king of fighters that does this. I forgot what the use was for though.
Can you people stop quoting images and videos. My god…
Anyways, Rashid looks awesome.
Yeah, I’m fairly confused as to what those who aren’t happy wanted. Not saying that you have to like it, but they got the ghutra done pretty well and he enjoys tech (as indicated by his accessories and a few win quotes) which helps create the image of a young, rich Arab that loves modern tech.
You guys can join us Jamaicans as people with a SF rep that’s super cheerful.
Spoiler
As a Canadian, though, I have…nothing. I’m sure we’ll get a Hakan clone someday that uses maple syrup instead of oil.
No I don’t. To me he looks like a middle eastern character with gadgetry integrated into traditional middle eastern clothing. I’m trying to see the issue with his attire but I don’t.
In any case, why is this so important? You don’t like his design, OK, there are people that do (myself included), there are people that are meh about it, and there are people that also don’t like it. It has already been revealed that Capcom collaborated with Pluto Games to work on Rashid. Pluto Games being the biggest gaming distributor in the Middle East (meaning actual Middle Eastern residents were involved with working on Rashid’s design), and they are satisfied. His reveal was met with positive reception in Dubai (the same Dubai that’s in the Middle Fucking East) and those people were satisfied. When I don’t like a design I just say the design is shit and move on… Is this really subject we need to come back to repeatedly? It’s been half a week.
ROFL a canadian character would be awesome. Sorryuken
I laughed at this more than I should have. Good shit haha.
I’d be okay with a Canadian lumberjack (male or female) that loves maple syrup, hockey and apologies.
Thats some good insight into it ZealKnight. I can’t really add much to that, it’s also I think…sadly QUITE agree with the deviantart portion.
Soul7: I’m not 100% sure but I believe it should be the SFIV concept art book, a quick google search will probably give you what you need.
It’s been four fucking days man, a week and a half? Come on. And yes, I think his design is worth discussing, because it’s important…no? It’s not like we have a giant repertoire of gameplay videos showcasing what he can do, and the little footage there is of him is of low level play, mid-low at best. So again, yes, it’s a subject worth discussing.
It seems to me like Rashid’s design was well received by brown/Arab/Emarati folks, whether we’re talking the people at Games 15, online, or even here. Basically, anyone Rashid is meant to represent with his race and culture.
So I ask this as a black/Latino dude living in the US, but if you don’t fall under that demographic, then what is your complaint about the character? Because while I understand any complaints from said brown people about Rashid’s name or appearance or what have you, I’m a little more skeptical about what anyone who falls outside that group thinks an Arab or Middle Eastern character should look or sound like.
And I’m using You in the General sense, I’m not singling any one person out here. I’ve just seen quite a few complaints from (usually) white people about Rashid’s looks or his voice so… I’m curious.
Yes, actually we do. Because it’s only by addressing issues that we can fix them. Regardless of the scope or size of the issue. It’s also very common of people who don’t live in a melting pot society to love the idea of commercial tokenism. They live with different issues. Mind you, no one is upset with his fighting style. He looks fun to play, just difficult to look at. I could go on a rant, but I don’t want my personal feelings to be confused with what is actually important. Besides, I already said why his design is a problem and why pluto games involvement was an issue as well. Being arab (i feel like I have to make this disclaimer when talking about his design), I’d rather have an interesting terrorist than boring token. Something that said they actually cared about the character rather than making him and saying, “He’s arab too. Pick him.” It’s just like how back in the 90’s when being female was all the character design you needed. The same detail that went into Nash being illuminati, or chun-li’s boob physics should be in all characters.
Regarding Rashid’s voice - after watching the ENG and JAP trailer, we can certainly say that what we heard duringmthe match was not his ENG voice. It was all the original acting
And regarding the no accent thing - he might not be of actually Arabian origin. Or he could be sent to America as a child to study there. Or he was into western media and culture more, therefore he learned to speak fluently
Besides, 80% of the cast have no accent at all. So I’m not sure why would you expect Rashid to have one
It looks like an ‘abracadabra’ pose.
Or maybe…
Or maybe not. Great song though. 
He really is kinda bland from what we see so far tbh.
Maybe we’ll get to know him more as development progresses/he gets to be played more though, so we’ll see.
WSO is doing a session tonight with Mika and Rashid 8pm UK time. They provide a lot of insightful commentary as well.
AAWWWWWWWW YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
get to work Xuses I am trusting you nigger
Can’t wait to see what the competent players do with Rashid. Looking forward to tonight!
Okay, that’s cool and all, but there’s still the question of “what would you rather he look like?” With so many people pleased with the design, I’d like to hear from people that aren’t.
How did you want him to look? Follow up question: What the hell is an “interesting terrorist” in terms of design?
But that isn’t an issue for the majority…
I hope you’re being sarcastic…
But he isn’t ‘just Arab’, as you would put it. He has the traditional look mixed with his love for technology.That’s original. Especially when it’s someone from the Middle East (It’s crushing several stereotypes).
Even when looking at it from your point of view. Let’s be honest; i’m Arab as well, they have to be extremely careful when approaching a middle eastern character. Playing it safe from the first game he debuts in is what needed to happen. He WILL slowly develop from a title to another. slowly & safely. For now, since you do not like his costume, i’d say wait till we see his alternative costumes. I’m sure you’ll find at least one you’re okay with.