Many fighting game characters are known for resembling fictional characters from comics & anime from time to time. Sometimes this is intentional, or the very inspirations of their designs. In other cases... it's pure coincidence.

  

King & Tiger Mask

Tiger Mask started out as a Japanese manga series in 1968. Many years later, the character has lived on, portrayed by various Japanese pro-wrestlers. While King wears a Jaguar mask, there are many elements of King's design heavily influenced by Tiger Mask. Just like in TEKKEN's storyline (with King II succeeding King I), the original Tiger Mask dies while saving a child and is succeeded by Tiger Mask 2. Tiger Mask also has a rival named Black Tiger (Armor King anyone?). Not only do they share storyline traits and visual appearances, but a handful of King's in-game moves are inspired by moves performed by Japanese pro-wrestlers who portrayed Tiger Mask in the ring.

 

Guile & Rudol Von Stroheim

You can probably think of several of fighting game characters who take inspiration from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure... but Guile was actually the very first one. And clearly, it's all about the hair (as usual). Ironically enough, Stroheim is high-ranking Nazi officer, while Guile is a Commander in the U.S. Air Force.

 

Star Fox & Rocket Raccoon

At first, most gamers would probably call Rocket Raccoon a rip-off of the Nintendo icon, Star Fox. In actuality, Rocket Raccoon is the elder of the two, first appearing in Marvel Preview #7 (1976)... with the first Star Fox game coming out in 1993. Were Nintendo's designers secretly inspired by Marvel's obscure space Raccoon? There's no way to tell, and they'd probably never admit to it... but I think it's possible.

 

Darun Mister & Wario

It's all about the mustache in this case..... Well, maybe a little bit more than that actually. Wario actually seems to have a Middle Eastern accent in some instances, and if Wario did fight, I imagine he'd use some kind of wrestling. lol.

 

Baki the Grappler & Gai Tendo

It's a known fact that Gai Tendo is loosely based on Baki from the manga/anime, Baki The Grappler. The similarities between them are obvious, notably the bright-ass orange hair. lol. I'm also pretty certain that the SNK artist that drew the Cardfighters Clash artwork above (on the right) was looking at the Baki The Grappler picture above (on the left) while he was drawing it. I'd imagine if you're not familiar with the characters/artwork above, you probably can't even tell them apart.

 

Heihachi Mishima & Statler

If you've ever seen an episode or movie of The Muppets, you'll recognize Statler as one of the two disagreeable old men who always heckled the rest of the cast. Heihachi Mishima and Statler are probably close to the same age and have a comparable hairstyle right off the bat. However, the way Capcom rendered Heihachi's face in Street Fighter X Tekken laughably resembles that of a muppet. Note SFXT Heihachi's big flappy jaw and beady eyes. After looking at "SFXT" Heihachi and Statler side by side, I've come to the conclusion that they share the exact same double chin AND nose shape... WTF Capcom!?

 

Rita Repulsa & Juri Han

Rita Repulsa from Power Rangers and Juri Han from Street Fighter IV both want to rule the universe. They both have kinda annoying voices too. lol.

 

Super Mario & Franco Bash

Franco Bash from Fatal Fury 3 and Super Mario. Bright-ass overalls... check. Mustache... check. Yup, that's pretty much all you need. I don't see how anyone could take Franco Bash seriously after seeing this... lol.

 

Clayton & Rolento

If Rolento took off his hat and grew out his mustache, he might be a carbon copy of Clayton from Disney's Tarzan. For the record, Clayton's design came out in 1999 when Tarzan was released, while Rolento debuted in 1996 in SFA2. I doubt the Disney animators were playing SFA2 enough to be inspired by Rolento's design, but I guess ya never know.

 

Kenshin & Baiken

Baiken shares many attributes to Kenshin from the manga/anime, Rurouni Kenshin. I heard that Baiken even has the same voice actor as Kenshin in the original Guilty Gear... making this one obviously intentional. And in case you didn't notice, their names even have a similar ring.

 

Fred Jones & Cody

Scooby Doo's own Fred Jones' original outfit shares the same color scheme as Cody's original outfit from Final Fight... but it doesn't stop there! In the later Scooby Doo animated series, Fred wears a blue & white striped shirt similar to Cody's SFA3 outfit! And then I found a random screen grab of Fred wearing cuffs.....

 

Dr. Manhattan & Seth

Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen & Seth from Street Fighter IV are eerily similar. They both share blue-ish skin color, they prefer being nearly naked most of the time, and both are ridiculously powerful beings. It's also not uncommon to see both of these guys dressed up in suits! Was Capcom inspired by Watchmen? Seth's design spawned from Gill, who's an arguably different-looking character, but it's still possible...

 

M. Bison & Kato

Kato from the movie Doomed Megalopolis and M. Bison from Street Fighter 2 are two villains with obvious similarities. The way Bison was drawn in the above artwork was most definitely inspired by the cover of Doomed Megalopolis.

 

M. Bison & Washizaki

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Another Bison one! Washizaki from the manga Riki-Oh AKA The Story of Ricky may have been the original inspiration behind M. Bison's character design. Too many similarities to be a coincidence.

 

M. Bison & Colonel Red

Noticing a trend here aren't you? This time, it seems M. Bison inspired the creators of Gunstar Heroes when they were designing the main boss, Colonel Red.

 

M. Bison & "The Leader"

Alright, just one more Bison look-alike and then we're done! "The Leader" from Capcom's Bionic Commando: Rearmed and M. Bison!

 

Lt. Guile & Lt. Surge

And another Guile one! Lt. Surge's outfit from Pokemon Soul Silver is nearly a replica's of Lt. Guile's. He even has shades.

 

Kabuki & Edmond Honda

Kabuki, a sumo wrestler from a Nintendo arcade game called Armwrestling (1985) shares the same Kabuki face paint as E. Honda. This might've been a popular gimmick in Japan at the time so it could be a coincidence, or was Kabuki actually inspiration for E. Honda's design?

 

Cervantes & Barbossa (Submitted by Jassem Mohammad)

Both Captain Barbossa from Pirates of the Caribbean and Cervantes from Soul Calibur are convincing undead pirates.

 

Freddy Krueger & Choi

SNK loosely based Choi off of the horror icon, Freddy Krueger. Oddly enough, I've always hated both characters equally! What's scarier than Freddy Krueger? Midget Freddy Krueger!

 

Rosette & Bridget (Submitted by James G.)

Bridget may very well be based off of Rosette Christopher from Chrono Crusade. They share very similar clothing styles and their names even have a similar ring. For the record, Guilty Gear XX was released in 2002 while the Chrono Crusade manga was released in 1999, heavily suggesting Bridget's get-up was inspired by Rosette's.

 

Inspector Gadget & Q

Not only their clothing attire, but the fact that they both seem to be made of metal brings this one to the table. If only Q had extending arms and and hat-copter.

 

Trowa Barton & Yang (Submitted by Leona)

Trowa Barton, the young pilot from Gundam Wing and the kung-fu kid from Street Fighter III obviously share the same hairstyle and even personality to some extent.

 

Duo Maxwell & Yun

Duo Maxwell, also from Gundam Wing, shares the same hairstyle and body type as Yang's brother, Yun; confirming Capcom based Yun & Yang's hairstyles off of Duo's & Trowa's.

 

Dextera & Iori Yagami (Submitted by Jadewing)

Dextera from Kiddy Grade (2002) looks quite similar to Iori Yagami from King of Fighters. While they are both very different characters in terms of design, I can't rule out that Dextera wasn't somehow inspired by Iori.

 

Algol & Vigo (Submitted by Kaboom Kid)

Wilhelm von Homburg as Vigo in Ghostbusters II looks nothing short of an older and less powerful Algol.

 

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