Fighting game character designers have always been inspired by real life personalities, especially martial artists (in turn, making fighting games even more awesome). In other cases involving celebrities... it's simply a coincidence (or is it?).

 

Don Frye & Mike Haggar (Submitted by Chris S.)

Mike Haggar of Final Fight fame closely resembles mixed martial arts fighter Don Frye. Don Frye won the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling events during an Olympic qualifier in 1987 and made his professional boxing debut in 1989... the same year Final Fight was released. Did someone over at Capcom see Frye in the ring and become inspired to create Haggar? It's possible. All I know is that if a live action Final Fight movie starring Don Frye existed, life would be significantly better.

 

Fedor Emelianenko & Abel

There's a considerable possibility that Abel from Street Fighter IV is loosely based on the badass MMA fighter, Fedor Emelianenko. After seeing the image with Fedor in his blue Gi about to pound his victim into submission (above), it's impossible to deny Abel's likeness to Fedor.

  

Kazushi Sakuraba & Gai Tendo

Japanese MMA icon Kazushi Sakuraba and Buriki-One's hero, Gai Tendo share an obviously resemblance. It's true that Gai Tendo is based on the protagonist of the manga/anime Baki The Grappler, but it's also possible Gai's design also took some inspiration from Sakuraba, who was a rising star during the time Buriki-One was released (and was known for his bright orange hair).

 

Royce Gracie & Jacques Ducalis

The French Judo master from SNK's Buriki-One definitely resembles Brazilian Jiujitsu icon, Royce Gracie. While Jacques isn't "entirely" based on Gracie, Judo and Jiujitsu definitely have their similarities.

     

Joe Weider & Clemence

You may or may not have heard of the famous Canadian bodybuilder and entrepreneur Joe Weider. The same goes for Clemence, a pro-wrestler from the obscure fighting game, Fighting Layer. All I know is that the first time I saw Clemence, I immediately thought of the Weider logo (pictured above) as it appears on my home gym. What makes this interesting is that Weider is clearly famous for the "arms folded" pose, the same pose Clemence is seen in (in the only artwork for Clemence that exists). Also, somehow I always see an eyepatch over Weider's right eye in the logo now. lol.

 

Darun Mister & The Great Gama

Hailing from India, The Great Gama is a renowned wrestler, warrior and a practitioner of Pehlwani wrestling from the early 1900's. Darun Mister's design appears to be heavily based off of the Great Gama. That's an intimidating mustache if I've ever seen one!

 

Jackie Chan & Lei Wulong

I couldn't have found a better shot of Mr. Chan! Simply identical huh? Namco obviously made Lei Wulong to be just like Jackie Chan in almost every aspect... he's a world renowned hero of China, after all. In its debut, Tekken featured a Bruce Lee inspired character, and who in the right mind wouldn't want to see the dream match-up of Jackie Chan VS Bruce Lee? Only Namco could pull it off so well.

 

Bruce Lee, Fei Long, Kim Dragon, Liu Kang, Marshall Law & Long

Don't you dare call any of the above fighting game characters "rip-offs". The designers simply wanted Bruce Lee's legend to live on with their designs. These "homages" to Bruce Lee (especially the likes of Fei Long & Marshall Law) proudly portray Bruce Lee at his prime. Namco's Marshall Law (as seen in Tekken 6 & TTT2) is undeniably the most authentic representation of this legend due to his wide array of accurate moves & poses. Marshall Law's son, Forest Law also represents Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee. In Xuan Dou Zhi Wang, "Long" is also a pretty accurate homage to Bruce Lee... and one of the only characters above who actually uses Nunchakus in-game.

 

Jet Li (as Wong Fei Hung) & Lee Recca

Lee Recca from The Last Blade series is nearly a replica of Jet Li (as Wong Fei Hung) from some of his classic martial arts movies, such as: Fong Sai-yuk and Once Upon a Time in China.

 

Sam the Seed & Chin Gentsai (Submitted by Izacc Paul Rivera)

"Sam the Seed" is a character from the movie Drunken Master (1978)... Chin Gentsai is obviously closely based off of him. Chin's student is Kensou, while Sam's student is Jackie Chan in the Drunken Master Movie. Jackie Chan's character in Drunken Master (Wong Fei-hung) and Kensou also share some similarities.

 

Steven Seagal, Baek & Robert Garcia (Submitted by criatura_catodica & others)

Steven Seagal in his earlier days definitely shared some of the same physical attributes of Baek from Tekken & Robert Garcia from KOF. You could say Baek is more of an Asian Steven Seagal while Robert is more of a... well... skinny Steven Seagal. Since Seagal is a martial arts icon, I can't denounce this as a coincidence. For the record, Seagal is an awesome martial artist... this guy will f*ck you up in real life, regardless of his belly fat.

 

Hulk Hogan (Hollywood) & Bass

Bassamania brother!

  

Andre the Giant & Hugo/Andore

Firstly, Hugo's original name in Final Fight was "Andore"... which is very similar to the name Andre. In the past, Capcom has brought many "legends of fighting" into their games... and they do it well. Hugo is a cool and funny tribute to the pro-wrestling legend... R.I.P Andre.

 

Raiden & Big Van Vader (Submitted by Webmaster@BigVanVader.com)

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Raiden (also known as Big Bear) was based off of the iconic pro-wrestler, Big Van Vader. They clearly have the same crazy hairstyle, body type, and similar wrestling attire. Big Van Vader was a badass pro wrestler in his day, which in turn makes Raiden a bit cooler. It's Vader Time!!!

 

Bill Goldberg & Craig Marduk

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The iconic WCW/WWE wrestler Goldberg was an obvious inspiration to Tekken's designers when they came up with Marduk, a Vale Tudo fighter. They have strikingly similar appearances, moves and taunts. In Tekken 4, Marduk actually performed some of Goldberg's trademark "arm raises" in his win pose. Those animations were removed in the later games. However, Marduk still has some of Goldberg's iconic moves, such as his spear and jackhammer.

 

Rey Mysterio & El Blaze

El Blaze's resemblance to Rey Mysterio is as clear as day, and probably one of the few intentional tributes by Sega. I suppose they thought a light and speedy lucha libre wrestler would fit in well with the VF cast, and they were spot on.

 

Rock & Triple H

It's likely Namco would've used pro wrestlers as reference when they were illustrating & rendering the "big guys" of the Soul Calibur series. How else would they achieve such realistic-looking character models? Namco seems to have taken it a step further particularly in Soul Calibur 3 (2005), as Rock's facial structure eerily resembles Triple H's... both in the official artwork and in the actual game. The ironic part is that Triple H is known for using a sledgehammer (especially since 2005?), and Rock has always used a battle axe / hammer. After seeing Triple H doing his trademark pose next to Rock's SC3 artwork, it's hard to label this one as just a coincidence. To add to the irony, Triple H's WrestleMania 22 entrance featured him sitting in a throne in full barbarian attire, with a huge battle hammer next to him. There's no doubt about it... Rock and Hunter are indeed separated at birth.

   

Mike Tyson & Balrog

This is one of the first, and one of the most well-known likenesses in fighting game history. For those of you that don't know: Balrog's name in the Japanese version of Street Fighter 2 is none other than "Mike Bison"... which obviously has the same ring as Mike Tyson. Capcom purposely changed his name to "Balrog" in America to avoid any potential lawsuits... funny stuff. And in case you didn't notice, Balrog's SF2 character select artwork is practically based on that photo of Mike Tyson with the white background (above).

 

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa & Feng Wei

Tagawa played Shang Tsung in the first live-action Mortal Kombat movie and Heihachi in the live-action Tekken movie. Too bad Feng wasn't created when Tagawa was younger, because if they made a Tekken movie back then, this guy would've made a great Feng. Angry face FTW! It's not officially confirmed, but I personally believe the Tekken designers based Feng Wei's facial structure off of Tagawa's.

 

Bill Cutting & Dampierre

Due to his top hat, mustache, and height, Dampierre's appearance is reminiscent of Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (played by Daniel-Day Lewis) as seen in Gangs of New York (2002). Their personalities are very different though.

 

Alex Delarge & White

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White from Real Bout Fatal Fury Special shares an obvious resemblance to Alex Delarge (played by Malcolm Mcdowell) from A Clockwork Orange (1971). White's visual design was clearly based off of A Clockwork Orange's psychotic protagonist. Thankfully, White left his jock-strap at home. lol.

 

Halle Berry & K' (Submitted by Carlos Hidalgo)

Halle Berry as Storm from X-men: The Last Stand and K' from the King of Fighters series. K' debuted in 1999 while this short haired version of Storm debuted in 2006, making this one a pure coincidence... unless someone involved with X-men: The Last Stand is a fan of King of Fighters.

 

Christoph Daum & Rugal (Submitted by Omar Unal)

Christoph Daum is a German football coach who freakishly resembles Rugal from KOF (whom also hails from Germany). Mr. Daum has some prominent facial features which Rugal seems to share, not to mention the hair color/style. I definitely don't rule out SNK randomly being inspired by Daum's epic face angles, but I think I'll call coincidence on this one.

 

Saul Goodman & Sol Baduy

If you need an explanation on this one.... well, it went over your head. On the second thought, maybe Sol Badguy's "FREE" belt buckle commemorates the time that Saul Goodman got him out of a jam. A reckless dude like Sol probably would need a lawyer like Saul (played by the actor, Bob Odenkirk).

 

Go To Part 2!