Eh, maybe; I think Ryu’s connection is a bit ambiguous since he doesn’t seem to really give a shit about Bison himself. It’s like saying Rufus is an incredibly important character to Ken.
Ambiguous to you maybe but they fought and Bison helped awaken the SNH in Ryu, setting the stage for the internal struggle we see him have and overcome in the SF4 era.
Bison is THE main antagonist of the franchise and Ryu is THE hero, it doesn’t get any bigger than that in terms of connections.
Ryu doesn’t give a shit about most everything outside of becoming a better fighter anyway, so that’s hardly an excuse.
Whatever the DLC release model is I hope they just straight up add characters to the character select screen rather than tease a character that is clearly already finished, for about 2 weeks to a month prior to their addition. Cuz protip: I can speculate how a character works while using them. I don’t need to see a trailer and weeks of waiting to get all my theorizing compiled into one neat corner of my brain. Especially when it comes to the classic characters. I don’t need to see something like “Urien reveal” when I already know how to play him and will just see how different he is from SF3 before figuring out that new stuff. I don’t need a trailer to show me his v-trigger, when I know how to v-trigger.
It almost kills the excitement and joy from playing when you’re thinking “well I saw this worked in the trailer, so I guess I’m just going to do that. Yep, it worked. Cool. Fuck you SF5 Beta”
At least the later editions of SF4 had the… I want to say decency of showing us who all was added in one compact trailer without showing us too much of what to expect.
Why…
R.Mika is pretty, “original” and all, but like… really? Just get Alex and that’s it he will fill that void without problem.
Wonderful thing about popularity. The more it’s exposed the more attention it gets. Zangief has been in SO much more media than Haggar. Of course he is going to be more popular. Haggar was in FF1, then FF2/3 were ONLY on SNES and not nearly as big sellers. Slam Masters was never a big franchise. Basically you have FF1 and MVC3 for Haggar. Meanwhile Zangief has been a large role in movies, anime, and the biggest FG in history: SF2. It’s not even a logical comparison.
Also, the idea that Zangief and Haggar are interchangeable shows a lack of experience with either character. Haggar has more different moves than the same moves. It’d be like saying Dudley and Balrog are interchangeable just because they are boxers.
Things Haggar has that Zangief has: NJ Headbutt, fjHK drop kick (all grapplers have this), Body Splash (common among ALL grapplers), a piledriver type move (Also common), and a spinning lariat. Things he has that are different; a move that is reminscent of rekkas though not actually a rekka, a body slam attack (like Q-Bomb), an anti air throw(Gief had this in MVC2), a combo throw like Gouken has, pipe swing, and most of his normals. His normals are pretty significantly different on the ground too, his punches are more like Guy’s sMP than any of Giefs. His HK is like Hugo’s but with a roll back animation. He has a butt / leg drop totally unique to him (kind of like a forward facing version of El Fuerte’s jHK). His sweep is like Dudley’s sweep in many ways. His sHP is kind of like Birdie’s in some ways. His supers are pretty different too other than SPD type super which most grapplers have.
In Marvel 3 he is quite different from Zangief was in Marvel 2, and Marvel 3 has a lot less moves than SF so he could easily be expanded on more. He also has his slam masters background set of moves to draw on for some of his normals since he only has 3 normal attack buttons in Marvel 3.
If we just went by “Who is popular / who is iconic” it’d just be SF2 version V guest starring Sakura and Karin. Plus Ono said he wants to surprise people with some of the characters.
Ryu first time experiencing the Satsui no Hadou comes when fighting Sagat after the first World Warrior Tournament before Sagat joins Shadowloo. The closest Bison gets to experiencing Ryu’s killing intent is getting gibbed by Akuma’s Shou Goku Satsu in Super Turbo. I agree that Ryu and M. Bison are the primary protagonist and antagonist but that doesn’t mean they are really interacting with each other story wise. Ryu’s story arc is that of the Akuma one where he wants to get stronger to avenge Gouken (until SF4 concludes because of Gouken’s nap) and Akuma is his primary antagonist while interacting with Sagat on some level. M. Bison serves as the antagonist for the majority of the cast in the Shadowloo arc, he hasn’t really dealt with Ryu since SF2. Cammy’s Alpha 3 story and SF4 also shows that with the BLECE project M. Bison has given up on stealing a body from someone and has invested most of his time into building one from scratch to improve himself.
I think Balrog would be fine if he remained a charge character.
Next character is El Fuerte, SF community goes nuclear.
Just got back to the internet after some business for Monday and Tuesday, and I see Claw revealed. His inclusion raises so many questions:
-Is Shadowloo going to be a major plot point in this game? Can’t wait to see Juri if that’s the case.
-Does the green part from Combo’s presentation mean “from SF2” or “returning from SF4”?
-No Dudley now? ( ;_
-I like the visual redesign. If we get more SF2/SF4 cast, THIS is what they need to feel fresh. As far as gameplay goes, what they did with him is really interesting. He’s still “Claw”, but they gave him S-groove as a V-Skill and a mini-Super/EX+ as his V-Trigger. I wonder if he’s going to play very much like his previous versions or be revolutionized like Birdie, Charlie, and Bison were.
-How are we doing the names? Is he Balrog or Vega? If they are being this flippant with Charlie/Nash and Vega/Balrog/M.Bison, I kind of expect Boxer either at launch or within the first wave of DLC.
Speaking of DLC, the Shadowloo theme I’m seeing could be setting the tone for our first wave of DLC characters. We could get:
-Sagat
-Boxer
-New Doll
-New/Reimagined Shadowloo ally?
In a last ditch effort to stop the ensuing apocalypse, Capcom announces that Arika characters aren’t off the table and immediately rush out a Skullo reveal trailer (it’s painfully obvious he’s a reskinned Fuerte though).
-Yes, the vast majority of revealed characters are directly connected to the Shadowloo story.
-Completely up in the air.
-Since his taunt is now Vega’s V-Trigger and that all anyone talked about as being his V-Skill, I’d guess at the most he’d be late DLC.
-I’d say his V-Skill is more Balrog’s Omega TAP but he looks overall more like Vega + Gen in play style with the claw swapping.
-English version is still Vega=Claw. Peter “Combofiend” Rosas confirmed that in his blog post.
Regarding Boxer/Balrog, I think he’s going to be main cast as he really isn’t that popular character wise so I don’t see him selling all that well as DLC. That said, since Vega’s V-Skill is basically turn punch and Birdie has Buffalo Headbutt as the AA version of Bull Horn if Balrog does make it into the game he’ll definitely see a major update to his move list and play style. God I’d love an older Boxer, salt and pepper air and a moustache like Donald Glover, maybe even shorter triple widow’s peaks to indicate a receding hairline, the potential is limitless.
I said helped awaken.
Ryu’s SNH experience with Sagat was momentary. With Bison it was a full blown awakening (along with an awareness of it happening), the first time it happened (see Ryu’s Alpha 3 ending for an idea of what it was like). After this fight it continued to happen well into the SF4 era, so much that it attracted the attention of Gouken and Akuma (and SIN obviously).
Bison wasn’t gibbed by Akuma, that was retconned. Conveniently for you this is the topic being discussed in the last page or two of the story read.
Ryu no longer seeks revenge for what happened to Gouken, and as seen in SF3 he just wants to become the best version of himself. Akuma is the one stalking him waiting for him to be ready so he can have the fight of his dreams.
Bison still expressed an explicit interest in possessing permanently Ryu’s body as seen in his SF4 prologue. Rose’s entire story in SF4 is based on this idea and seeks to protect Ryu long enough for him to be ready to fight Bison (since she realized she can’t stop Bison and Ryu may be our last hope). The Living Incubators bodies (Seth and Co) are temporary shells, and even with all the science are still not better than Ryu’s body (or Bison’s).
The BLECE project has nothing to do substitute bodies, it’s a machine that forces out and amplifies a fighter’s chi turning them living bombs (literally), the more powerful the chi the bigger the bomb. It is also a SIN project (has nothing to do with Bison).
I’m not hugely up to SF canon but what story has Ryu finding the Satsui no Hadou against Bision? Is it Alpha because I never really paid any serious attention to the Alpha games other than the general overplot with the psycho-drive. Anyway, I did mention that Ryu’s revenge plot ends in SF4 with Gouken’s return and goes back to just being the wandering martial artist stereotype so we agree on that. As for BLECE, I can’t remember exactly what it was for, I just assumed it was the project that created the Tanden Engine and Seth but Bison’s story in 4 is still more about him and his criminal enterprise rather than Ryu.
I don’t think Ryu will be forever removed from the Shadowloo story or is completely uninvolved at all but just stating my opinion that he’s not all that relevant to M. Bison’s story as of 4. They definitely could bring the whole thing full circle and have M. Bison and Ryu being a relevant relationship again. Though unless they return Alpha or Final Bison as a final boss I don’t think it would be all that grand of a conclusion unless there is a Ryu/Bison rival fight.
Vega’s Matador isn’t like TAP, it’s more like a variation on Cody’s Zonk
Vega’s V-Skill is - press buttons -> upper body invincible dodge. Hold buttons -> Dodge + counter attack. Sort of like Ken’s run is run - tap buttons, hold buttons -> Step kick.
His V-Skill is going to suffer from the same problems as Cody’s zonk and Cody’s dodge in Omega mode though most likely. It wont be very good vs any attack that has a decent amount of active frames, the timing to actually DODGE an attack will probably be nearly as strict as a parry but without as much frame advantage and unable to dodge slow fireballs unless you do the follow up (maybe). Also you wont gain V-trigger for a dodge like you would with a parry/absorb like Bison/Nash/Ryu have. Most importantly it’ll lose the most commonly used attack in footsies: crMK, as well as likely many of the currently strong looking normals like Chun’s slide and Birdie’s jab which looks to hit very low to the ground.
That said, we don’t know exactly what the frame data or mechanics are so I might just be being pessimistic.
I think you’re being pessimistic, Eternal. 
I bet Vega can build v trigger just by using v skill. Cuz you can choose whether to follow up with an attack or just let it be a dodge. Or maybe it does some special graphic for when you successfully dodge a move and to indicate that v-gauge is being built.
Thinking about his trailer again, I’m almost wondering if Vega has at least 2 V-trigger bars.
Playing on the idea of multiple supers in previous games. What if he had at least 2 V-triggers at maybe 2 bars per trigger? That would allow you to store up more V meter however unlikely to stock 2 triggers in a round.
But like how Nash is at least, you get the one bar, and you kind of have to figure out whether to use it for the mix-up or to extend a combo. But after you have it built, you can’t build anymore until it’s gone. It seems like Vega’s V trigger is going to have more utility by itself, but not a whole lot of combo potential. I only saw Vega combo off of a FBA juggle which doesn’t seem to be the most practical way of using it. I could just see Vega having 2 V-trigger bars to get more use out of what his V trigger is.
Also what this would most intentionally allow, is for Vega to have access to a V trigger and V reversal at the same time.
I highly doubt you can build V-trigger just by whiffing dodge. You don’t build v-trigger by using Ken’s run or whiffing a parry/absorb/counter/jump/spin knuckle. The only V-skills that build meter on whiff are Birdie’s. You MIGHT build it on a successful dodge though.
So for the rest of the year, Vega, Cammy, Ryu, Blanka, Nash, and Oni have been planned out. Vega was just announced, Ryu and Nash are in, and Cammy will look like she does in SFV. Blanka has been heavily teased (although I think Ono is trolling) and if Akuma makes it into the game I believe he will borrow a lot from Oni.
Also mentioned in the interview, 1 third strike character is planned for now (Urien please!) and the new SFV characters are really cool looking.
@Daemos that’s a great find!
Note they call Oro an “obscure character” - that does not bode well for him making the opening roster, especially when he says “from a business standpoint doing Oro is not the smartest move”
It’s really interesting to hear how much he says that can’t talk about, and then how many characters he namedrops. I am presuming that that video could have some clues that won’t make sense till a few more months down the line
Birdie is an obscure character as well yet it didn’t prevent him from appearing in SF5
Wtf is so cool about Oro that people like? Holy shit… his design is so shitty and ugly.