Since things are pretty quiet here, I figured I’d post something Dash no Chris wrote/posted in an SF-related message group. This was before SFA3 and Third Strike came out. I found it kinda’ interesting. I dunno. Enjoy…
"Prior to the release of Street Fighter ZERO (i.e., during the Street Fighter II Series’ run), all Japanese sources indicated one of two things: “Gouken was killed by Vega” (sources: the theatrical anime movie, Street Fighter II; the manga series, Street Fighter II RYU by Kanzaki Masaomi; etc.); or “Gouki killed Goutetsu, but we won’t mention who killed Gouken” (sources: various versions/updates of the official Street Fighter II Series character relationship charts).
With the release of Street Fighter ZERO, however, the story of Gouken’s death was changed. According to the ZERO Series (and related materials), Gouki killed both Goutetsu and Gouken, though apparently on separate occasions (sources: official ZERO Series character relationship charts; the manga series, Street Fighter ZERO by Nakahira Masahiko; etc.).
It has been argued that the ZERO Series represents an alternate past for the Street Fighter Series, with plot discrepancies between the SFII Series and the ZERO Series being cited as proof of this. It has also been suggested that the Street Fighter III Series is not based on the alternate past of the ZERO Series, but rather the original history described by the SFII Series. However, prior to the publication of Nakahira Masahiko’s manga series, Street Fighter III RYU-FINAL ~Tatakai no saki ni~, only ZERO Series materials depicted Gouki as the murderer of Gouken. RYU-FINAL depicts Gouki’s murder of Gouken in the context of an SFIII story. Now, while Nakahira’s work is not as “official” as materials that come directly from Capcom, his working relationship with Capcom has been closer than that of any other mangaka in recent years.
ASCII’s anthology manga, Street Fighter ZERO Comic, provides the only
Japanese timeline for the Street Fighter Series that I have found so far. Having been published in 1995, however, it only includes events depicted in the games released up to and including Street Fighter ZERO. This timeline indicates that by the end of the events shown in SFZERO, Nash and Rose are dead. Not “mostly dead.” Not “left for dead.” Not “fate uncertain because we don’t yet know whether there’ll be a sequel to ZERO.” They are dead. Period. Then Capcom released ZERO 2, with Nash and Rose having “nearly died” or having been “presumed dead” at the end of the ZERO events, but ultimately surviving.
With the ZERO Series changing not only the details of events depicted in the SFII Series, but events depicted within the ZERO Series itself – and now, apparently, imposing some of its history (the murder of Gouken by Gouki, rather than by Vega) on the SFIII Series – I find myself moving away from the theory that the ZERO Series represents an alternate Street Fighter timeline and toward the idea that the most recent game is the one with the most accurate recounting of the Street Fighter story.
Much like an essay, you only want your professor to read your latest draft(since, theoretically, it will be the best version). You would dismiss portions of earlier versions that conflicted with the current draft, saying “I didn’t like those parts, so I changed them.” I’m thinking Capcom may be indicating “the current version is the official one – nevermind if it conflicts and/or contradicts the earlier version; we changed some stuff and the latest game’s story is the way it happened. Forget the old version of the story. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”
Or – for those of you who support the alternate timeline idea – perhaps the Street Fighter ~ Street Fighter II Series history is the alternate timeline, and the Street Fighter ~ Street Fighter ZERO Series ~ Street Fighter III Series history is the “correct” sequence of events."
