The Wildest Guest Characters Ever to Join Fighting Games!

Summary

Guest characters are now a staple in fighting games, with characters like Darth Vader and Yoda appearing in Soulcalibur IV.
Strange guest characters can disrupt gameplay, like Yoda’s height creating issues in Soulcalibur IV and Gon being too short in Tekken 3.
Some guest characters, such as Norimaro in Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter, can be out of place but add a unique twist to the game.

Historically, fighting games tended not to feature characters from their own franchises as guests, nor those from other companies. This is what made games like SNK’s “King of Fighters” and Nintendo’s “Super Smash Bros.” so exhilarating for fans, as they presented the opportunity to watch and even participate in epic battles between the most powerful characters from different universes. For instance, it was not common to see Mario engaging in combat with Kirby, or witnessing a fight between the Psycho Soldiers and Ikari Warriors.

These days, guest characters are almost essential to the roster just as life bars and super meters are. It seems that almost every fighting game launch, whether big or small, features a guest star. However, certain guest characters have been quite noticeable, standing out in an unwelcome way because these unusual fighters were too challenging for some players.

10. Darth Vader, Yoda, & The Apprentice (Soulcaliber 4)

Sci-Fi Icons Transcend History

In SoulCalibur 2, Link was highly appreciated as a guest character due to his sword-wielding medieval persona fitting well with the game’s historical backdrop. Contrastingly, in SoulCalibur 4, Bandai-Namco opted for a different approach by incorporating characters from Star Wars: Darth Vader, Yoda, and the Apprentice from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Their futuristic looks and weapons stood out starkly against the traditional axes and katanas of the other characters in the roster.

In their match, Vader and the Apprentice played by the rules, employing a variety of moves familiar from both the games and films. However, Yoda was an annoyance for many players due to his small stature that made it difficult for most characters to strike him accurately. Yet, he had no qualms about attacking opponents’ knees with his lightsaber. Interestingly, this game was considered part of the Star Wars universe at the time, but later adjustments by Disney have since changed that status.

9. Earthworm Jim (Battle Arena Toshinden)

The Grooviest Earthworm in Gaming Makes His Fighting Debut

Prior to the release of “SoulCalibur” and its precursor, “Soul Blade”, there was “Battle Arena Toshinden”. This game did quite well as one of the early 3D fighting games, offering full 3D movement through sidesteps before “Virtua Fighter” and “Tekken”. However, it never managed to catch up in terms of quality compared to these two. Yet, for those who played it on a PC, they would have had an additional playable character: Earthworm Jim.

The firm that held the worm-like creature during its time assisted in converting the game “Toshinden” for MS-DOS. However, it’s worth noting that this version had the same moveset as Rungo Iron, a regular character. This made Jim seem quite ordinary compared to his depiction in “Clayfighter 63 ⅓”, where every fighter was an exaggerated caricature.

8. Rash (Killer Instinct)

Getting Warty with the Competition

The remake by Double Helix and Iron Galaxy, mimicking Rare’s Mortal Kombat-style game, eventually hit its stride, perfectly recreating the fast-paced combo-based gameplay of the originals with a stronger foundation. It introduced some fitting characters into its roster of outcasts and creatures from different universes, such as General Raam from Gears of War and the Arbiter from Halo.

In a surprising twist, they brought in Rash from the Battletoads crew, whose powerful ram-horned charges, whirling wrecking ball swings, and 90s vibe had me wondering if I’d stumbled into the auditions for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up by mistake. For some, it was exactly that blend of raw energy and retro coolness that made Rash a standout among the Battletoads. Personally, I couldn’t help but imagine Joanna Dark going toe-to-toe with Orchid instead!

7. Cristiano Ronaldo & Salvatore Ganacci (Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves)

SNK Scores a Hat Trick or Drops the Bass

At present, the game titled “Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves” hasn’t been released yet, leaving fans uncertain about how Cristiano Ronaldo and Salvatore Ganacci will be portrayed in it. However, this move has stirred discontent among long-time SNK and “Fatal Fury” enthusiasts, as they perceive the company’s decision to incorporate real-life celebrities into the game as a submission to the demands of their superiors. Fortunately, Ronaldo’s teaser trailer provided players with advance notice that the soccer star would play some role in the upcoming game.

Despite SNK’s fighting games often catering to a more specific audience, there could be a strategy behind incorporating one of the world’s most well-known soccer players and a well-liked EDM artist into their game. Whether this tactic will pay off for the company remains to be determined.

6. Toro, Kuro, & Bad Box Art Mega Man (Street Fighter X Tekken)

Console-Exclusive Characters Turn Players into the Punchline

As a gamer, I must admit that Street Fighter X Tekken left me a bit disappointed when it came to their guest characters. Now, I get why Sony-exclusive characters like Cole McGrath from InFamous and mascots Toro and Kuro were exclusive, but the inclusion of non-Sony characters like Pac-Man and Bad Box Art Mega Man was puzzling.

Cole and Pac-Man weren’t entirely unfamiliar, but I found the others more perplexing. It seemed like an odd choice to include them in a cross-platform game like this.

Toro and Kuro mimicked Ryu and Kazuya’s moves, but due to their diminutive size, they were unable to connect with their opponents or be hit by them. The ill-timed release of Poorly Designed Mega Man came after the cancellations of Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe, as well as Mega Man producer Keiji Inafune’s departure from the company. This unfortunate timing turned the character into a bitter pill for Mega Man fans instead of a humorous jest.

5. Norimaro (Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter)

How One Nerd Can Defeat the Avengers

It seems that the characters Ronaldo and Ganacci from “Final Fantasy: Crystal of the Warriors” were not as outlandish or over-the-top as one might expect, considering they share a world with scantily-clad ninjas and fireball-throwers. To put it another way, they seemed more ordinary compared to characters like Norimaro in “Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter.

The character portrayed by Noritake Kinashi, who was a humorous take on a nerd, was not favorably received by Marvel when he started defeating their top superheroes in a comedy sketch. Marvel requested his removal from the project. However, after persistent persuasion from Capcom, he was eventually included in the Japanese versions of Marvel vs. Street Fighter. If players are skilled enough to hack the game, they can find a semi-translated version of the character. Yet, playing the Japanese ROM is more straightforward.

4. Gon (Tekken 3)

The Orange Dinosaur Might Be Why Tekken 3 is Locked to the PS1

Tekken has a history of incorporating eccentric guest characters, but the series reached its zenith when Masashi Tanaka’s character, Gon, was introduced in Tekken 3. Although his seinen manga may not receive widespread recognition, he is arguably best known globally for his fire, flatulence, and fighting skills in this game.

He was the earliest character with a height issue that made him impossible to strike, appearing decades before Yoda, Toro, and Kuro faced similar problems with their stature. Additionally, his popularity may be why the T3 game hasn’t been re-released since its initial launch, as Bandai-Namco no longer holds the rights to this character. This serves as a reminder for companies to consider ownership rights when dealing with popular releases that may later become timeless classics.

3. Pepsiman (Fighting Vipers)

Superliminal Advertising in Action

In the East, Virtua Fighter was more popular than in the West. To attract Western audiences, Sega developed Fighting Vipers, which featured explosive action, destructible walls, flamboyant moves, and settings that were more American in style. Interestingly, this game included a Japan-exclusive guest character – Pepsiman, a superhero from the Japanese TV commercials for Pepsi. The twist? He was a villain because he didn’t drink Pepsi!

In his remarkable agility, precise moves, and peculiar gestures, he could vanquish his adversaries as quickly as he might satisfy a thirst. It’s not uncommon for a brand’s emblematic figure to transcend geographical boundaries. However, without Pepsi, this silver superhero would merely be an ordinary individual, thus he was absent from the US and PAL versions of the game.

2. Hornet, Mr. Meat, & the AM2 Palm Tree (Fighters Megamix)

From Sega All-Stars to Sega’s All-Sorts

Back in the initial internet era, when folks learned that Pepsiman was part of a fighting game, they assumed it was “Fighters Megamix.” In reality, this game was already brimming with characters from Fighting Vipers, and it boasted an array of bizarre guest characters as well.

Among all of them, it’s challenging to pick out the most peculiar one. There’s the “Hornet” – a car from Daytona USA that fights by standing on its rear wheels, and “Mr. Meat”, an anthropomorphic slice of ham inspired by a truck in Golden Axe. Lastly, there’s the “Palm Tree” from the Sega AM-2 logo. Despite their oddity, they each have a certain charm to them, as it’s rare to find such whimsical characters in fighting games today.

1. Barack Obama (Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation)

The Audacity of Mixups

Developer: Capcom
Platform: PC
Release: 2008

Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation was a fighting game for PCs that used a mouse control system. It featured five Street Fighter characters battling against the characters from Cyborg 009, Batsu and Akira from Rival Schools, heroes from Jing Yong’s wuxia novels, and an unusual addition: Barack Obama.

In the game’s Valentine’s Day DLC, the newly elected President of the USA was essentially a character swap with Ryu. He possessed all the moves of a shoto character, including his signature Hadouken, but instead of the usual battle dialogue, he had a speech bubble that read “Yes We Can” next to him. The game wasn’t particularly enjoyable to play and has since disappeared as it wasn’t archived. However, it has become notorious due to this unusual character addition.

2025-04-07 01:45