Our Five Favorite Street Fighter Villains!
We're psyched for Street Fighter here at Pinfinity! Not only is there hype for SF6, with Street Fighter gracing the cover of Game Informer magazine, but we're also celebrating the iconic Street Fighter 2 with an epic Pinfinity+ Gaming drop!
Back in August of 2020, as a part of one of our original Pinfinity+ drops, we did an article featuring our five favorite Street Fighter characters (brush up on that OG Pinfinity Post Blog HERE). But we've been vibing with villains recently - not only have we been talkin' scariest MTG cards, but we've been asking what everyone's favorite villains are on our Twitter (Are you following us yet?!)
So obviously we had to dust off the Top 5 list for our favorite fighting game of all-time, and make it bad - because sometimes a game is only as good as it's bad guy! Let's check it out:
Vega
Starting things off with Claw himself, Vega! Also known as Balrog in Japan, Vega was introduced as a mini-boss of sorts in Street Fighter II. One of the four kings of the Shadaloo, he's a claw-wielding ninja assassin who is so unbelievably narcassistic that he dons a mask to keep droplets of blood from getting on his pretty face - wild, huh? He made my original Top 5 list for being badass, and especially as a kid I really gravitated to the cool claw wielding dudes (loved Wolverine too... Whoda thunk it?)
Akuma/Oni
Akuma, one of the strongest characters (If not THE strongest) in Street Fighter Lore, was of course going to make this list. But we're cheating a bit and going for a two-for, because his alter ego Oni (the form he takes on when combining with the Satsui no Hado, or the "Surge of Murderous Intent") is pure evil - and a powerful evil at that! Akuma is ruthless, stopping at nothing to hone his skills, even to the point where he embraces true darkness. So if Akuma wasn't tough to deal with before, him basically becoming an evil Diety makes him a pretty tough hombre, and easily one of the best SF villians around.
Seth
Seth is a very neat character, and definitely one of the more evil and impressive villains in Street Fighter canon. Seth is an AI created as a bioweapon of sorts by the weapons division of the Shadaloo. Originally created to be a new body for M. Bison (for one of the many times he died and needed to be brought back to life), but instead this highly intelligent and tremendously evil AI-being gets a "mind" of its own and becomes a formidable villain for the franchise. One of two "genderless" characters in SF lore, Seth is later imprinted on a female body, Doll Unit Zero, and continues to rampage through SF titles no matter what body they're in!
Gen
A master assassin, and one of the OG characters going all the way back to Street Fighter 1, Gen is an old yet powerful foe in the franchise - later becoming a playable character in Street Fighter Alpha 2. Over the course of his long life he has destroyed countless people, but he never takes on "innocents" or people he feels to be exceptionally weak. He always wants the challenge. One of the most canonically powerful beings in all of Street Fighter, this old man is no slouch!
M. Bison
I mean... Come on, how did you think this was going to end up? As iconic as the franchise itself, Master Bison, aka M. Bison, is the top dog when it comes to Street Fighter villains. Over the course of the game series, after his debut in Street Fighter II, he has inflicted tremendous pain and suffering on his enemies in the most diabolical and megalomaniacal ways. Combine his control over Pyscho Powers with his willingness to do whatever it takes, even kidnapping and brainwashing foes to build mind-controlled armies to do his bidding, his desire for world domination will not be sated!
