One Street Fighter Character’s Return Absolves Almost 29 Years Of Bad Blood

The history of Street Fighter includes far too many characters to count, with not all of them capturing the hearts of fans like the original World Warriors. However, the interpretation of many fighters in Street Fighter 6 has been stellar, crafting arguably the best versions of certain figures than ever before. As characters gain new and old moves alike, new lore through World Tour, or redesigned upgrades visually, one fighter stands out in the latest DLC group as perhaps the one who benefits the most from their modern inclusion.

Street Fighter 6 characters from the series’ past have nearly every special move in their history, making anyone who gets added to the roster almost an homage to their unique place in Capcom’s extensive fighting game catalog. While some Street Fighter characters shouldn’t return, the ones that do have usually been fan-favorites, such as Akuma, M. Bison, Elena, and Juri. The latest DLC Character Pass has four such returning characters — Sagat, C. Viper, Alex, and Ingrid.

Street Fighter 6 Brings Back Alex As Its Next DLC Character

Alex is the newest upcoming DLC character for Street Fighter 6, set to release on March 17, 2026. This marks the third character to come from the third Fighter Pass for the game, coming out after C. Viper and Sagat earlier. Unlike those two, though, Alex has a rough history with Street Fighter that stems from the third generation of arcade games. While Sagat is a beloved boss from the very first game and C. Viper is an incredibly unique gadget-based fighter from Street Fighter 4, Alex was always someone fans once had a grudge against.

Thankfully, things seem to be much different with Alex’s SF6 release, as he looks better than ever before. The grappling wrestler has turned into a “heel,” or an antagonist fighter meant to draw boos and jeers from the crowd, playing into his “hated” role. With moves motion captured by professional wrestler Kenny Omega, Alex’s gameplay trailer showed off an authentic style of close-range fighting that already has fans buzzing in excitement.

Read Next

Street Fighter 6 Sees Huge Jump in Players and the Reason Will Surprise You

Alex also has received more love than even some other DLC characters, with custom theme music done by JAM Project. This band has previously made a variety of incredible tracks, including some for popular anime series like One Punch Man. The energy surrounding Alex seems to be far greater than other fighters, almost acting as a shot of redemption Capcom is injecting into the character based on their tumultuous past.

Past Iterations Of Alex Were Despised By Fans For Many Reasons Since His Debut

Alex was introduced to Street Fighter in Street Fighter 3: New Generations, an arcade game meant to move the series in a new direction. Unfortunately, this “new direction” meant Capcom getting rid of many fan-favorite characters, including Ryu, Ken, Dhalsim, and pretty much every big name from Street Fighter 2. Alex was meant to be the new protagonist of the franchise, replacing both Ryu and Ken simultaneously.

This didn’t go over well with fans, who bashed Street Fighter 3 long before Third Strike would once again re-capture the series’ magic. Multiple versions of SF3 would later re-introduce some classic characters, taking away Alex’s purpose incredibly quickly. Even though concerns were answered, Alex still never regained as much appeal as other characters like Necro and Hugo would get in the following years.

Part of this was due to Alex’s relative weakness compared to other fighters, with many inconsistencies defining a messy playstyle. Many moves for Alex simply didn’t work as intended, and were never really fixed as each version of SF3 came out. Combined with very little character lore besides a hatred for SF3 final boss Gill, Alex just didn’t have a clear direction that defined him beyond some player assumptions.

Capcom Seems To Finally Understand What Direction To Take Alex After Almost Three Decades

With another lackluster appearance in Street Fighter 5, Alex was mainly known for weird character animations and strange gameplay prior to Street Fighter 6. However, it seems like Alex’s newest debut is one with far more concise direction, with Capcom establishing the character with far more personality in both his demeanor and how he fights. Alex battles dirty like a wrestling heel should, going for intense grapples meant to make foes tap out in submission and disgrace.

Read Next

Street Fighter 6 Celebrates Anniversary With Free Rewards

The harsh accent and antagonist mood of Alex seems to embrace his hated roots, with him almost feeding off the negative energy that once defined him. This fresh take on Alex is transformative, elevating the fighter to be just as interesting as his Street Fighter peers for once. With some returning special moves and a new wrestling stance in his arsenal, Alex could easily become one of the most popular fighters in the game, on the same level as Ken or Ryu who he once almost replaced.

Alex has many similarities to other series mainstays from Tekken like King and Armor King, who also use wrestling styles to create explosive moments of thrilling gameplay. If Capcom keeps this new design for Alex in the future, the character’s solidified direction may resonate with fans more than ever before, allowing the fighter to come back in future titles.

Are you excited to try Alex in Street Fighter 6 when he comes out in March 2026? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!