7 Greatest Street Fighter Characters Who Are Never Coming Back

When players think of Street Fighter, characters like Ryu, Ken, M. Bison, Guile, and the original world warriors are some of the first to come to mind. However, this iconic fighting game series has had a long history of new, interesting challengers who’ve gained enough fan attention to return in future titles. Not all the fresh faces get so lucky, though, with some likely to stay on the sidelines rather than return to the ring.

Some legacy characters have gotten their moves embraced by a new character, representing their history without them being in another title. For example, the fighter Guy from Capcom’s Final Fight series was in multiple Street Fighter games, but his Bushinryu style was represented by newcomer Kimberly in Street Fighter 6. Other examples include Ed using Balrog’s boxing, Lily being a surrogate for T. Hawk, and G fighting like the mysterious Q from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.

7. Eagle

Eagle is an often forgotten character from Street Fighter games, only appearing in the original arcade game from 1987 and later in Capcom vs SNK 2. While Capcom Fighting Collection 2 reintroduced this character in the re-release of CvS2, Eagle hasn’t been in a game for over 20 years. The only time we’ve seen Eagle return is as an NPC in Street Fighter 6‘s World Tour mode, where he acts as a fun Easter Egg rather than a fighter.

While Eagle’s twin Eskria pole weapons create a unique fighting style, the character is simply not as recognized as others. Much like Maki, another obscure Street Fighter figure, Eagle doesn’t have anything too special to his playstyle that makes him stand out. Other British characters like Cammy or Dudley fill up roster slots Eagle would occupy, making his return highly unlikely.

6. El Fuerte

Street Fighter 4 reinvigorated the series, and introduced a variety of fresh characters who’ve come back to multiple games, like Juri and C. Viper. However, El Fuerte is a fighter unlike many players have ever seen, with a frenetic luchador style of fighting that hasn’t been repeated. El Fuerte was a menace, using ultra-fast attacks, grabs, and other techniques to be elusive and annoying to fight, causing chaos with his self-described “super dynamic cooking time” moveset.

While El Fuerte’s brand of chaos would appeal to some fans, it would be tough to translate into a new game. Fast rushdown characters are always desired, but El Fuerte lacks an interesting identity compared to other fighters who take up the same role. Since any new appearance would have to restrain El Fuerte to create a greater sense of game balance, he would lose much of what made him fun to play in Street Fighter 4 if he was ever brought back.

5. Adon

As an original fighter from the first Street Fighter, Adon is often overlooked next to Sagat, as he is also a Muay Thai master. Unlike Sagat’s controlled fighting style with Tiger-named energy blasts, Adon is a wild and aggressive character who uses clutch grabs to ensnare enemies into bad positions. Adon has been in more games than players might expect, showing up in all three Street Fighter Alpha games, as well as Super Street Fighter 4 later on.

Despite Adon’s alternate take on a Muay Thai character, Sagat’s popularity will unfortunately keep him in the shadow of the former Heavenly King. Sagat’s status is legendary, acting as the first boss of Street Fighter and a main-stay for the series who is heavily requested in every new entry. While Adon has been referenced in newer games, the rival of Sagat has little chance of emerging again.

4. Gouken

Gouken, the master of both Ryu and Ken, is an important character in Street Fighter‘s lore, but has only ever been playable in Street Fighter 4. Gouken showcases completely mastery of the Ansatsuken style, using perfected Hadouken and Shoryuken techniques that made the series iconic to begin with. Unlike his students, though, Gouken’s strikes are far heavier, precise, and have a practiced nuance that makes the character stand out.

That being said, Gouken’s biggest role has always been how his death against Akuma motivated Ken and Ryu to become great fighters. As a result, Gouken has always felt like more of a secret character rather than one players can control. While special in Street Fighter 4, the abundant existence of fireball-throwing characters like Ken, Ryu, Sakura, Akuma, Dan, and others puts Gouken at the bottom of the list when considering who should return.

3. Lucia

Street Fighter 5 had several newcomers, such as Luke and Ed that would return in the game’s sequel. Not every new fighter in this game was created equal, however, as Lucia is an often forgotten face from Capcom’s divisive fighting game. Lucia is a police officer who is friends with Cody, another Final Fight character who has become a frequent combatant in the Street Fighter lineup.

Lucia was a fascinating character, summoning fire in short bursts to create bouncing orbs of flame to disrupt opponents. With flaming kicks similar to Ken and strikes with her baton, Lucia felt different to play. Even though some characters introduced later in Street Fighter 5‘s cycle were well-received, Lucia is a classic example of “too little, too late.”

Lucia’s comparisons to Ken made her far less played as a character, but other issues reduced her to one of the least picked fighters in the game. Lucia was almost always considered “low tier,” or incredibly weak compared to other fighters. This made Lucia a hard character to win with, unfortunately reducing her to someone fans wouldn’t be ecstatic to see back compared to other options.

2. Remy

Out of all the games in the series, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike is arguably the one fans love the most, but not necessarily for its roster. While some figures like Dudley and Makoto are fan-favorites, other figures in the game were clear choices to replace series staples. A big example of this is Remy, a character whose fighting style closely resembles Guile.

Although Remy’s Sonic disks and somersaulting kick have their differences, the character existing in the same game as Guile would be difficult. Considering how one of Street Fighter 3‘s biggest criticisms in arcades was the lack of world warriors like Guile, Capcom is unlikely to take the risk of not having the character absent from future games. As a result, Remy has little chance of returning while Guile is present, unless his fighting style got a major overhaul.

1. Necro

Another Third Strike character, Necro, is one that players actually remember quite well. This striking fighter was far out of left field compared to the traditional martial artists of Street Fighter fame, with an appearance that almost could place them in a classic monster movie. With stretchy limbs and electricity powers, Necro has plenty of fans for those who’ve followed the series since the arcade.

Despite his recognition, Necro’s unique visuals don’t help his case when you look at his abilities. Much like with Remy, Necro was an attempt to replace Street Fighter staples like Blanka and Dhalsim. Necro’s extending limbs was a blatant copy of Dhalsim’s signature skills, while his limited power of lightning was used in moves almost the same as Blanka’s.

There are good arguments for Necro’s inclusion in future games, including how his use of Dhalsim and Blanka’s powers is more akin to Capcom’s Darkstalkers series than Street Fighter. Yet, at the end of the day, Necro might remain as an interesting experiment from the past rather than a fresh fighter in any new fighting game from the genre’s most known series.

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