5 Best Guest Characters in Fighting Game History

Fighting games are always home to memorable characters. It’s one of the reasons players come through the proverbial door. Whether it’s a wild mechanic or an enticing design, fighting game characters are one of the most important aspects that developers have to get right. Many games take that one step further and bring in guest characters who add some extra spice to the mix. Below, I’ve ranked the five best guest characters in fighting game history, but it’s worth noting that you won’t see multiple characters from a single fighting game franchise. The goal is to give multiple series love and not make this a list of five Mortal Kombat guest characters.

Here are the five best guest characters in fighting game history.

5) The Baz – Divekick

Divekick is a parody of fighting games that only has two moves: dive and kick. There’s a surprising amount of depth with the limited moveset, but it’s definitely played for jokes first. That extends to the roster, which is a parody of the fighting games scene. For the most part, those references are easy to see. Kung Pao is a play on Kung Lao from Mortal Kombat. Dr. Victoria Shoals mixes Dr. Doom from Marvel vs. Capcom 3 with Dr. Scholl’s, a footcare company. However, The Baz takes a bit more explaining.

See, back in Street Fighter 2, one of the rejected concept characters was called Zubaz. Fans eventually found concept art of the bearded man covered in ropes and spikes and instantly latched onto him. Zubaz became the de facto mascot for the Two Best Friends Play YouTube channel. Then, when Divekick hit Kickstarter, the YouTubers donated money to get Zubaz in the game. The developers at Iron Galaxy changed his name to The Baz for legal reasons, and the rest is history.

4) Mega Man – Street Fighter X Tekken

Hearing that Mega Man was coming to 2012’s Street Fighter X Tekken seemed like a dream. Mega Man is, after all, a fan favorite character, so seeing him pop up in a new fighting game was an exciting prospect. Then, the developers revealed Mega Man‘s design.

Instead of the Mega Man you expected, the developers took the ugly character from the box art of the original Mega Man from 1987. Seeing that flabby version of Mega Man drop into a fight was as hilarious as it was horrifying. Bad Box Art Mega Man might not be the best guest fighter in terms of winning, but nobody else will give you as many laughs.

3) Akuma – X-Men: Children of the Atom

Akuma was introduced as a hidden boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and was nearly impossible for most players to beat. That said, once you unlocked him, you had access to one of the strongest fighters in the game. Then, Capcom made X-Men: Children of the Atom, and, for whatever reason, decided Akuma absolutely needed to join the Marvel fighter.

It was a weird choice that didn’t make a ton of sense (and frankly, Capcom didn’t bother trying), but it was an important decision. That’s because it eventually paved the way for X-Men vs. Street Fighter, which, in turn, led to Marvel vs. Capcom. Without Akuma’s nonsensical inclusion in Children of the Atom, fighting fans would’ve missed out on one of the best series in the genre.

2) Link – Soul Calibur 2

Like Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibur is well-known for its guest characters. Fans have been treated to Yoda, Darth Vader, Heichachi Mishima, Geralt of Rivia, and many more over the years, but none of them have fit in as seamlessly as Link in Soul Calibur 2.

Remember, Soul Calibur is all about fighting with weapons. Link and the Master Sword slid right into the series, making it feel like he’d belonged there for years. For a series so well-known for its guest characters, Link stands out as the best the team has ever had.

1) Predator – Mortal Kombat X

As mentioned, it feels weird picking one guest character for the Mortal Kombat series. Especially in recent years, developer NetherRealm Studios has been pumping them out. With that in mind, I wouldn’t be too mad if you wanted to replace Predator with Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Omni-Man, or one of the many other guest characters in the last few MK games.

That said, I think you have to give it to Predator because of what dropped alongside the classic movie monster. Sure, he’s a great character with a fun moveset, a great aesthetic, and a few laugh-out-loud interactions with characters. But the real star of the show is the skin you unlock for Jax.

The Predator pack lets you dress Jax up as Carl Weathers’ character, Al Dillon, from the first Predator film. NetherRealm even got Weathers into the booth to re-record audio. It gets even better if you use the pack to dress Johnny Cage up as a commando and have the two fight. Instead of the usual pre-match banter, they recreate the iconic scene of Weathers and Arnold Schwarzenegger clasping hands for the manliest handshake of all time. It’s an all-time classic addition to MK.

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