Crap, I would have dug these designs (also nice to know that they were attempting to make a Canadian rep), but there’s always hope for the future especially if people really make their voices heard.
So Byron is a Texan Sambo (Abel’s style) user. Interesting. He’s probably going to stay an NPC, but he sure sounds cool.
The rejected designs seem split between characters that were combined with other concepts to make new characters (Yeti -> Necalli, Assassin/Kung-Fu concepts -> FANG) and characters that would still be unique in Street Fighter (Asuka, Elizabeth).
If Abel is based on Fedor, then he must have at least some basis in Sambo. About a quarter of the cast rips aspects of Judo somewhere (ex. Ryu’s Judo Throw)
Sambo is a mixed martial art in itself and is derived from Judo, so it would make sense to call Abel’s style “Sambo” as his style mostly resembles it. But for purely for story purposes he just has “a mixed martial art style based off of Judo”.
Fedor also uses pure Judo as well, so Abel still has a basis on him.
Aside the GnP Fedor’s MMA style is basically the same of his Sambo style: lot of boxing (wide hookks to set up throws in particular) and judo throws
Fedor was the greatest Sambo HW, who used it to become the greatest MMA HW too
Also Fedor was elite at pure Judo too
Fedor was a Sambo master, a MMA fighter and a Judoka
All 3 are right definitions (same for Abel i guess) and it’s ok Capcom write “MMA”, but the closest should be still Sambo
Specially for Abel, since his appearence it’s clearly based on Sambo uniform
Sambo Fedor
MMA Fedor
Another simple proof is that most of Abel’s throws are judogi-throws, basically throws where he grab your jacket… and in modern MMA “jackets” are no more allowed, only gloves and shorts
Basically even his moveset is designed to be Sambo more than MMA
Kind of a dumb question but it’s been on my head for a while, is Dhalsim supposed to be 60 years old or more? You know because he’s got… full white beard (and hair in his premium costume)? Or is it just a design thing.
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[] Byron: 8/10 cool design, just sad they chose Sambo. As Sambo i prefer Abel as Fedor tribute. I feel he may end up as Extra Mode NPC with Abel style. Maybe submission wrestler was a better option
[] Female Lingerie Football: 7/10 LOL i may be the one that suggested them the idea in the same post they picked new Ken design (but there was just suggested as Mika’s alt), i think if well done was a fun and streetfighterish idea, a nice original turn from the usual FG female. But tbh did’nt liked at all the final design (that Kiki’s designed NPC), so better without
[] Female Hockey: 3/10 Lol no pls. I don’t care how much canadians love theyr hockey, but look awkward as fuck, specially made like in these sketches. You want make a SF hockey char at least give her a damn hockey stick… and still no
[] Crab guy: 4/10 he does’nt feel martial art or nation rep of anything, he just feel random fantasy that seem more fitting in a Guilty Gear/Skullgirls cast
[] Aikido girl: 9/10 that was actually very very nice. A lil bit super classic, but that was part of the strenght of the concept. She feel Japan as fuck, great SF vibe. I understand and appreciate they feel better not over-do with japan waifus in favor of national variety… too bad i will take Aikido girl charadesign over Sakura or Mika or Karin anytime
[] Yeti: 6/10 I don’t know. He’s not a good beast-man as Blanka, he’s not a good charadesign as what later becomed Necalli. Still he’s not super bad, and considering SF crazyness was’nt even SO out of place if they made Yeti existence in SF universe canon. Maybe as new Hugo-size giant char with snow Nepal/Himalaya stage… sound like Gief’s dream fight lol
[] Brazilian Killer: 5/10. Glad they did’nt chose it, that shit seem just try hard cool random design. He’s a whatever brazilian in ninja generic martial arts costume with tryhard pose. Random and weak. Will fit more in a KOF game, but no SF material imho
[] Female French Knight: 5/10 The idea of France-Knight concept feel good (was already good in Samurai Shodown), but tbh feel just bad realized. SS Charlotte did it waaay better, that sketch seem just bland, random and not even good as Savate rep (too heavy/stocky for that) or knight or noble blood. As much i dislike Remy, his stupid green hairs and KOF wannabe vibe, he was a way better Savateur rep, specially as line and dynamism
[/list]
Many times i find cut concepts (both characters or alt costumes) better than the ones that end up in the game, specially since marketing often chose most marketable over quality best… but in this case as now i feel that SFV did good at chose.
The four newcomers are all superior to the ones they cut, good.
I’m not debating whether or not Abel uses Sambo or not because his style is not purely Judo and the term “MMA” is ambiguous at most. Abel could know Sambo or any other art under the term “MMA”, it’s just that his basis is listed as Judo/ MMA and that’s what leaves more leeway in determining his style.
Honestly, the only part he takes from Judo are his throws which are all “gi-throws” like you said. Since Judo is a grappling sport it doesn’t have striking techniques so Abel’s strikes have to be based on something else.
It would’ve honestly been easier to list Abel’s style as Combat Sambo (which is a MMA which incorporates Judo among other arts) because that’s what i most resembles, but they didn’t for whatever reason.
The characters in/from SF3 obviously have to live, so they’re unquestionably safe. While it would be “possible” for someone on the second level to die, this includes characters too iconic to risk losing, Alpha characters that were reinvented to be relevant again, and new characters with too much potential to cut off after one game. I think Dhalsim has some risk of being killed by Necalli because I can totally imagine Capcom hyping the character’s power up by having him utterly destroy Dhalsim. I wouldn’t like it, but that’s the way it is. I consider Vega and Balrog more likely to die than FANG because they’re deeply tied to Shadowloo. Vega’s death would be karma for his dickery to the Chun/Cammy/Guile in their prologues and throughout the series. Balrog is just unpopular and not needed after Shadowloo.
As I think people have mentioned before, Bison, Nash, and Necalli all have things foreshadowing a death within SFV. If this is supposed to be the strongest Bison yet, where do they have left to go with him? If he resurfaces even remotely similar to who he is now, no one will care because Bison is a body-hopping karma houdini. He needs to die, and die in a way befitting of a villain on his level. Nash, as Ed points out, only has so much time to deal with Bison before his body gives in. He doesn’t care if he lives or dies, so long as Bison goes down with him. Necalli is just a rampaging animal and Street Fighter’s “Monster of the Week”. Even the event tied to his awakening, “The Hour of Necalli”, implies with the name that he’s just going to wander around and devour-our a person or two before heading back to wherever he came from.