After seeing her concepts which doesn’t involve the crystal ball.
Soul Calibur’s Viola and SS’s Amakusa inspiration probably just later inclusion to her specials not her initial intended design.
I remember her directly refer more into the game Martial Champion character.
Chaos which is really Egyptian and with a more likeness Menat’s visuals than the rest.
I wonder if Menat takes baths with Rose.
I want to.
Glad they didn’t go Wendy’s and Magician on Her. Magician concept on her trying to be a DC’s Harlequin or a red head Zatanna is a waste potential.
I’m okay with a Card Magician Fighter but not Her, but to a Him that is something similar to KOF’s Oswald then with Gambit things. That also use strings and like Hisoka in HxH.
I’ll be honest, when Rose comes back, I kinda want her to be using tarot cards instead of a scarf. It makes for a better reference to her character, and makes her less of a direct Lisa Lisa ripoff.
I like Kamen Rider Blade, Ryuki and Decade that use cards.
Rose using cards to bind her opponent’s movement or like putting spells on them are kinda cool. Like some cards make your next damage double, some life drain, gauge drain, some makes the opponent stun, scramble the direction controls and the cards that act like XMen Cota’s Spiral Knifes (which is now with Menat)
His Bison intro in A3 fits that idea smootly. I wonder why would Rose choose a card as a weapon against Bison in her intro.
Off topic…
Nice mod the best is Fang’s CA.
Initial development ideas for Menat
Good morning everyone.
Menat uses Soul Power with her crystal ball (“Left Eye of the Lion”)¹
We had various ideas about this disciple
of a famous fortune teller.
Assassin pizzeria girl version
http://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/deshi010.jpg?h=d7c80e2f024d5339c5d4ceb3ced11575
"certainly, sir! 
"
Uses pizza cutter as weapon
Also, there’s buono “tasty” written on her uniform.
She talked gently and cheerfully, but was actually an assassin.
She would’ve waited for her opponent’s distraction and then slay him/her, like B.B. Hood.
Actually a breadwinner for a family of 33 people.
Her master would have kicked her out².
Italian delinquent version
http://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/deshi011.jpg?h=3d8d38aa67f636bd33165ba7903fce75
On her right leg, 保喪道路 pomodōro, “preserved mourning road”, an obvious play over Italian pomodoro, “tomato”. There’s lots of totally random and gratuitous Italian language just for the sake of a bit of Japanese play with equally random and gratuitous kanji that have “cool & edgy” meanings and a pronunciation that could suit the Italian one.
On her left leg, 辺蘭杏鳴 meranzuna, “nearby Dutch apricot cry”, Italian melanzana, “aubergine, eggplant”. I could just imagine them randomly browsing an Italian restaurant menu… “Oh, that sounds cool! SUGOI!!!1!! Let’s write that with kanjis!!11!1”
http://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/deshi012.jpg?h=38a740fd7b7f01a32df730f6907aeb0b
Centre, 武怨女流膿 Buonjorunō, “weapon grudge woman current pus”, obviously the Italian greeting buongiorno “good morning”. Repeated at the centre and as an explanation on the left.
Back of left arm, 丸下梨多 marugerita, “round down pear many”, Italian margherita, “daisy”.
Left, 負越土地涅 fuettsuchine, “negative over earth sediment”, Italian fettuccine.
Left down, 不十里 fujiri, “not ten villages” (ROTFL), Italian fusilli.
Right, 羅美檻 rabiori, “silk gauze beautiful jail”, Italian ravioli.
Right down, 凛愚伊音 ringuine, “cold stupid italian sound”, Italian linguine. Well, at least they’re actually genoese… 
Also, there’s Italian cinquantanove (fifty-nine) written at the bottom for some reason.
I quite liked this design.
She was addicted to delinquent stories that she read in comics during her childhood.
She loved Japanese manga and anime, and her first love was **Dragonball’s Goku.**³
Loved cosplaying, but kept it a secret from her friends (if found out, she would suicide by seppuku).
Her motto was “If I want, I can do anything!”,
and she would have awakened Soul Power abilities in herself.
Her name would have been Rita.
Magician ver. 1
An apprentice of a fortune teller who also doubled as a stage magician.
She used her top hat to materialise things
and fly Soul Power-charged little birds at her enemy.
She would’ve fought by charging objects with Soul Power.⁴
Magician ver. 2
Still a magician, but a slight novelty.
She manipulated and flew cards,
who formed swords, shields and so on, and fought using them.
She would’ve betrayed her master and killed her.⁵
Egyptian bōjutsu version
http://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/deshi013.jpg?h=9d3bdd541b0c1f9f8660f2b4685d8b06
http://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/deshi014_1.jpg?h=4a2458396683c6bacc1c3b1343e0a7ed
She fought using an Egyptian stick fighting style, named taḥṭīb.
Around this time we switched her concept to Egypt.⁶
She was adult and responsible.
Her hairstyle and decorations resembled the actual Menat very closely.
Perfume user version
She worked (?) at her master’s shop, burning incense.
She fought making up for her lack of strength
by hardening with Soul Power the smoke of the incense and entwining it to her body.
Putting Soul Power to practical use, she would also have transformed into smoke herself.
Perfume user + bōjutsu version
She was well-informed about hygiene and health.
One of the many ways with which she kept herself healthy was… being a taḥṭīb master.
She also used incense and hookah, that empowered her while fighting.
She would have fought against her destiny
because her master told her she should have had a very short life expectancy.
Golden sand user version
Made with Bastet⁷ as motive.
She fought with charmingly sinuous dancing movements,
and blending golden sand into her body.
She hardened the sand, and her body as well; also, she attacked by shaping the sand as characters or animals.
There was an idea for a move that hardened her opponent and made him/her explode.
Rhythmic sports gymnastics version
This is when the idea of a native Egyptian who used a crystal ball became fixed.
A simple design.
Because she had less muscle mass than other street fighters,
she could fight by toying with her crystal ball and Psycho Power.
Traveller version
A traveller who moved from place to place while doing fortune telling.
She traveled the world searching for her disappeared mentor.
In her “fortune-teller bag” she kept golden sand and incense.
Generally decided version
http://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/deshi015.jpg?h=96057a6263ac0553ae136301a176d9f1
http://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/deshi016.jpg?h=7dc284c549dbfd717487a3a247f09bd1
A former rhythmic gymnast.
Because she was used to move her body,
with the combination gymnastics+Soul Power she was strong in combat
but rather weak in her crucial fortune-telling.
To come of age and become a real fortune-teller before the eyes of her master,
she did her best every day.
Her first published silhouette had cat ears,
a remain of this design.
And that’s all, folks.
Because she’s a completely new character,
we still have various other design ideas of her.
We’ll have fun next time!
¹ So “Left Eye of the Lion” is her crystal ball’s name… Further analysis soon.
² I can’t envision ROSE keeping an assassin with her, too.
³ My God… No thanks, there’s already a weeb in SF, and that’s Sodom. I’d rather have him back.
⁴ This just screams “Italian Zatanna + Gambit”… Sort of cool anyway.
⁵ Just NO, Capcom. Not only would have she been a bad Harley Quinn/Gambit ripoff, but also… You actually, seriously considered to KILL ROSE? Capcom, you’re NOT funny.
⁶ It’s also interesting that ALL “Rita” Italian concepts saw her with red hair, while nearly all her “Menat” Egyptian ones with purple. Well, I knew an Italian girl who was the closest to a real-life Merida you can imagine, but red hair definitely aren’t so common in Italy. And Rita would’ve been the third Italian redhead in a row, after Aprile and Maggio…
⁷ The cat goddess. So the cat motive was born here.
The Italian Delinquent doesn’t look Italian at all. Her clothes are straight up Japanese delinquent. She looks like a Jojo or Kunio-kun character.
I’d play him. would make a decent fat character: it’s a part of his schtick although not upped to eleven, has the actual Street Fighter vibe going for him while keeping his unique feel and with his more serious look he can feel intimidating and imposing. Replace the “high power” generator with a old car battery and the tuning forks with some enlarged alligator pliers and it’s a deal.
Well, she’s a weeb, so it’s kinda justified. But good luck trying to keep THAT hidden from your friends, if you don’t want them to know you like cosplay and you’re a bloody walking cosplay every day.
Then again, Street Fighter character ∌ logic.
So they are really trying an egyptian fighter, perfume and baton user since a lot of there prototype is either combination of those. The sand and perfume user are also interesting fighters posibility, something like Kof sand user would be interesting addition along perfume in the future sf titles.
The card is not the weapon, it is a vessel for her soul power which is her weapon against Bison.
Wow i risked tht crap to be Italy rep, lol i’m not satisfied with Rose either (even liking the char) but this was like 10 levels of worse
The pizzeria girl and the irish-looking yakuza wannabe one was really some of the most retarded shit i ever seen (specially for an italian char concept)
Dodged a bullet here
Male rep pls, and nothing like that LOL
Will be ok with Maggio as kid wannabe street-delinquent on that vibe though, just looking NOTHING like Kiki’s one and without any japanese stupid clothing.
More like a caricature of old style movies stereotype of the quick/smart street kid that pickpocket (maybe using Soul Power LOL) here and there, running from police with his gang of kids lol
Char concept wise i’m thinking something on Isidro from berserk vibe, for who know the char, just a bit older
The parfume user one is even better with that explanation, look very nice
As costume itself likely my fav of the dropped ones, will have loved it over the current “Story” one, wich design wise is confusionary and overloaded
The magician one is a nice alternative, but at this point i will prefer them to keep it for a Rose alt, making her look like
Judging by some online comments it seems Menat retained her ability to harden people up just fine, even with her current design. 
Every time Rose is in a game she gets through some nasty stuff, being impaled by Bison comes to mind.
It’s pretty obvious that Rose is not loli kawaii desu enough according to the design team, and Capcom is scared to death of big women.
Hookah Menat = best waifu
The full name of the “Rita” concept amongst Menat’s discarded ideas was "Margherita"¹. She was extremely cute, but she would’ve been a bit too much similar to Maki, so we tearfully rejected her.²
¹ Deducible, judging by the writing on her left arm.
² Thank you, Maki. Well, does that mean they’re thinking about reprising her, perhaps?
Version 1 - basically an Italian Wendy’s mascot. Even for a Street fighter game this is way too stereotypical, with all the pizzas and shit, not to mention the colors on her clothes are an Italian flag. Trash
Version 2 - This one is sick! This bad bitch could very well be a rival to an existing character, like Makoto or Maki or I dunno, Birdie. I wouldn’t be against seeing this girl as a whole new character in the future for sure
Version 3 - Hi Zatanna! DC vs Capcom when?
Version 4 - Hi Harley Quinn! DC vs Capcom when?
Version 5 - A polearm user. Huh… we actually don’t have those in Street fighter do we? The only time we’ve come close was Rolento but that was a much shorter stick, like the one used during military parades for the orchestra
Version 6 - A perfume user!? Basically a smoke manipulator. She could use that as a whip from afar, for example, that could be interesting. We don’t exactly have far reaching characters outside of Dhalsim either, she could be like KOF’s Whip but on a whole another level since the perfume could take many different forms. I’m a bit salty they didn’t go with this one
Version 7 - T H I C C
Version 8 - Sand user! Gaara in Street fighter? Gimme that!
Version 9 - looks super boring and generic. Trash
Version 10 - looks kinda the same as 9, except a bit more clothing. Trash
Version 11 - this is probably the version Capcom was using as a silhouette all this year before Menat’s release, so I suppose at some point in development they removed the cat ears even though they’re still accessible within game files as X-kira has shown (the head accessory had pointy parts too)
MAKI FOR SEASON 3, PLEASE CAPCOM!
This all about being killed her master and her master short lifespan. It’s like they are planning to dispose Rose that what I have feared of after Gen. Gen was just another Akuma make awesome character in the A2 his association with Chun and Lee brothers were weak storywise losing him isn’t like Rose which is more than a tool to enhance Bison.
Agree Rose should stay alive and she needs to, She would offer more story potential than Menat and Ed in the future titles. I like the 3 confront Bison together with combined efforts and be beaten by his newer body.
Seeing Bison against Ed, Menat or the rest of the “Neo” is very underwhelming. I don’t want Ryu, Akuma or even the Secret Society to be involve again so early in defeating a new recovered Bison or be involve with anything in a risen Shadaloo because that is too soon.
Let Bison be the focus and business to Delta Red, Neo Shadaloo, Rose, Juri, Chun li and Guile.
Perfume and smoke reminds me of Jojo’s Enya of some kind.
But the most closes to her fighting style is Morel from Hunter X hunter anime.
https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/11113/111134319/5107751-0249019606-latest
She probably fight more KOF’s Shion, because the large other side of the weapon.
I think one of those designs is actually saying that Menat was supposed to have a short lifespan (at least the Menat we see in that early design, it obviously doesn’t apply to current Menat) and because of that she’s fighting against fate. I don’t think Rose is at risk of being killed off, for now.
Killing off characters is lame anyway, Street Fighter characters are too good to stay dead.
When’s Nash third coming?
You forgot to specify CAMMY >:(
(well, you said Delta Red, BUT THERE’S NO REASON TO NOT MAKE THINGS CLEARER! >:( )
Delta Blue.
Anyway, Bison needs to go underground and show us a new side of him that doesn’t involve him being the focus of all SFers (for at least a game or two). Let other fools take center stage for bit, so people realize just how fucking awesome he is by comparison to these pretenders and peasants!
