There are a lot of strong characters in the Street Fighter series. On the other hand, these people don’t match up.
One of the best stories in video games is Gulfintms Street Fighter. With one powerful punch, Ryu can knock down trees. The strongest shots that Balrog has can kill an elephant. Akuma can stay alive for thousands of feet underwater and lift sinking ships by himself. But in the game, Ryu is about average, Balrog is below average, and Akuma can be killed by a few strikes if the other player can put him on defense.
But this could all be different if the game changes. Over the 35 years of the series’ existence, different gameplay styles have been used, and different characters have moved up and down the tier list. It’s easy to count on some people no matter what their skills are, but not so much for others. By level, these are the worst characters in Street Fighter.
Zangief
If you were in real life, it would be bad to get into a fight with a monster like Zanzif. It’s easy to kill them in Street Fighter. It’s not really made for high tier, the Red Cyclone. The more experienced players should use him to test their skills. They want to see if they can still win games even though he is slower and doesn’t have any fireballs or harder move orders.
A lot of people have been able to do it, and some have even won competitions with his worst games. In the Street Fighter 4 games, where players could close in and block projectiles with his Banishing Flat punch, he probably did his best. He was not very high or very low even back then. In Street Fighter 5 and 6, he fell to the bottom of the pile when he lost this green hand move.
FANG
In SF5, Shadaloo’s replacement for Sagat was not liked by many people because of how they looked and how they played. The show has never really looked real, but FANG made me think of a Hanna-Barbera monster living in an anime world. If he planned more and screamed less, he could have been the evil, slimy schemer he was meant to be. Because of this, most fans aren’t too upset that AKI replaced him in Street Fighter 6.
But that’s how FANG made it. How do his moves look? Because of his poison ability, he was one of the few characters who could hurt chips, and skilled players could use him as a good catcher. In the long run, though, his drug didn’t do that much harm. Plus, he was too slow and floaty to avoid hits up close, and he had less strength than most of the group. In the end, he hurt his players more than he hurt his opponents.
R.Mika
Rainbow Mika, on the other hand, was one of the best characters in SF5 when it first came out. She was still happy in the middle of the tier list by the end. It’s too complicated to win easily, but he’s fast and strong enough to beat Zangief and FANG. Even so, that was only because SF5’s move list had changed a lot since her first appearance in Street Fighter Alpha 3.
She did still have her fan service outfit and flying hip moves, for sure. She was also very skilled and had a lot of different moves that she could use in different scenarios. But most of her strikes left her open to being hit, which made it hard for her to manage the stage space. It was hard for her to build up her super meter, which was good because her Sardine Beach Special super wasn’t very good.
Birdie
For SF fans in the early 1990s, it must have been a tough time. They had to wait years for a real follow up to Street Fighter 2 instead of another re-release. They made a spinoff called Street Fighter Alpha after they were done with the main game. It wasn’t the first Street Fighter, even back then; it was a prequel to SF2. That means SF2 was really SF3 the whole time!
Still, SFA1 added newer, stronger drawings based on anime, more super combos, and fresh new looks for old designs.Birdie came back from SF1 and could be played for the first time. It’s not like the players were missing much. They moved too slowly, it was easy to dodge his throws, and they could mash out of his big Level 3 super to hurt him. It wasn’t until SF5 that he got better enough to reach the amazing mid-tier level.
Hugo
People with big bodies usually lose in fighting games because it’s easier to catch them in strikes when they’re that big. Still, players can get used to it and use the pattern to their benefit. One example is Hugo Andore in Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, who isn’t very good, but not terrible either. He can be a strong competitor with his hard hits, Hand Slaps, and throw sets. Even more so once players learn how to parry to leave their opponents open.
When Hugo first appeared in Street Fighter 3: Second Impact, this wasn’t the case. His attacks and throw range were bad, and his defense was even worse. With their supers, almost anyone could hit him off the ground (OTG) after knocking him down. People told Hugo that the best thing he could do to get back to the bottom tier of SVC: SNK vs. Capcom Chaos was to go back to the character select screen and choose someone else.
Sean
A lot of people love SF3: 3S and think it’s the best fighting game ever made. But the balance wasn’t given a score. Ken, Chun-Li, and Yun pretty much own the game, with Ryu, Yang, and Hugo showing up every once in a while. Most people think that Twelve is the Worst SF3 CharacterTM, but the big glop of white goo is better at high levels than Sean Matsuda.
Sean was always meant to be a joke figure, which is strange. At first, he was meant to be a way for experienced players to get an advantage when facing new players. It’s clear that New Gen and SI didn’t get that message because he was pretty good in those games. His cool Dragon Punch version was turned into a weak short-ranged, double-armed uppercut in Doodle Baseball, though, so he was doomed.
T. Hawk
When it comes to well-liked fighting games, most people agree that Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo is the best of the re-releases of SF2. Once more, it’s not because it’s fair or reasonable. As it turns out, there are a lot of mistakes that people can take advantage of. For instance, T. Hawk’s strong kneeling punch hits an unseen hurtbox above and in front of him that players can hit with moves from one foot away.
It was planned for T.Hawk to be a faster grappler in the original Super Street Fighter 2. He was broken, though. His moves are easy to punish, even without phantom hurtboxes. And he doesn’t even need super meter to do much damage. He has no defense choices, so he has to go on the attack. Some of his throws were dangerous, which was the only thing that helped him. But even this was weakened when SFA3 cut down on its range. It’s not fair for that guy.
Dan
A character’s low rank doesn’t mean they’re not liked or won’t get better. A lot of people like Sean’s look and would rather see him in SF6 than his more scientifically sound older sister Laura. From what we know, he’s been in a few scenes and wants to get better. So it would be cool to see him become a good option to Ken. Also, SF already has a shoto who is meant to be bad: Dan Hibiki.
He was made as a joke about SNK’s Art of Fighting team Ryo and Robert. His moves, from his almost useless Gadōken to his dangerous Kōryūken, had terrible range and recovery. He’s reached the bottom of lists for SF5, Ultra Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter Alpha 2, and Capcom vs. SNK 2. Since Dan is meant to be bad and probably will stay bad, putting him at the bottom of the list feels like a letdown. But if that’s what it takes to get a good Sean, it might be worth it.
