In a genre that's nearly 3 decades old, it's inevitable that some fighting game characters will resemble one another from time to time. Sometimes it's unavoidable, or perhaps even a coincidence... but in other cases, there are indeed some "wannabes" and "rip-offs"!

 

Sarah Bryant, Nina Williams, Jill Valentine, Zero Suit Samus Aran & Cassie Cage

This is ridiculous.... just ridiculous. First off, Sarah Bryant, you were indeed the first hot blonde in skin-tight blue spandex in the fighting game universe, so no one is blaming you. Nina Williams, you were the second, but you had some badass moves that Sarah could never dream of doing. Nina & Sarah had their fair share of similarities in the 90's, but were different enough when it came down to brass tax. Then... about 15 years later, in RE5 (and later in MVC3) Capcom decides to reinvent the iconic brunette from Resident Evil, Jill Valentine, by slapping some blonde hair on her and giving her a skin-tight outfit that's nearly identical to Nina's. Seriously Capcom? And then... there's Zero Suit Samus by Nintendo. *sigh* Alright, it's official... LISTEN UP FIGHTING GAME DESIGNERS - You are no longer allowed to create any more blonde-haired girls wearing blue spandex suits.... NO MORE. [UPDATE] I said NO MORE... but of course, in late 2014... NetherRealm Studios had to do it. They just had to. The blonde-haired chick in a bluish spandex suit is just too tempting... I know. No other hair color or suit color could've possibly worked. Congrats Johnny Cage & Sonya Blade..... you assholes.

 

Phoenix Wright & Captain Commando

Captain Commando debuted in 1991... Phoenix Wright exactly 10 years later in 2001. Hmmm. Same hairstyle? Uh huh. They both wear blue. Hmph. And wait a second, is Captain Commando doing the iconic "Objection" pose in his Namco X Capcom artwork? This could only mean one thing... Captain Commando IS Phoenix Wright from the future (2026 to be exact).

 

Miguel & Joe The Condor

While these two don't have much in common at first glance, if you've played Tekken 6 and Tatsunoko VS Capcom: UAS... you'd immediately get it. Condor Joe's "lazy" fighting stance in TVC is nearly a replica's of Miguel's. That begs the question: Was Capcom inspired by Miguel's stance when they were animating Condor Joe's? This is why this likeness is possibly intentional. Also comparable are their messy hairstyles.

 

Quan Chi & Kratos

A past MK9 video interview revealed that the creators of Kratos did acknowledge their character's likeness to Quan Chi back when they created him, and were even "slightly worried about a lawsuit". Quan Chi and Kratos definitely have obvious likenesses, even though they're very different when it comes to fighting style and storyline. It's also pretty damn ironic that they eventually appeared in the same game (MK9)!

 

Kitana & Psylocke

Considering the rising popularity of Marvel comics in the early 90's, it'd be hard to make a case that the Mortal Kombat 2 designers weren't inspired by Psylocke when they created Kitana (along with Mileena & Jade)... whether or not they were conscious of it. Any way you shake it, the similarities here are too obvious.

 

Haohmaru & Mitsurugi

The similarities between these two badass samurai are easy to see. An untrained eye probably can't even tell them apart. Most notable is Mitsurugi's awesome 2-player outfit in Soul Calibur 2, which is pretty much an artistic "homage" to Haohmaru's default attire. For old school Samurai Shodown fans, Mitsu's 2P costume was a surely an added bonus in the game. In any case, both Haohmaru and Mitsurugi are badass character designs in their own way, and two of my favorite fighting game characters of all time. For the record, Mitsurugi and Haohmaru are both based on the famous samurai and author of the Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi.

 

Robert Garcia & Dan Hibiki

Back in the awesome 90's, Capcom created Dan Hibiki to blatantly mock SNK's Robert and the Kyokugen style (used also by Yuri & Ryo Sakazaki). This was their "payback" for SNK's original rip-offs of some of Capcom's Characters (some of which you'll find below).

 

Guile & John Crawley

This is one of SNK's original character "rip-offs" from the early 90's. After the huge success of Street Fighter 2, SNK had the audacity to create their own "blond-haired army-guy," and even gave him a similar outdoors air base stage. The original Art of Fighting came out just one year after Street Fighter 2 was released... there's no denying it. SNK should have just gone ahead and given John American flag tattoos as well. It was shameless, even for the time, but that's SNK's "early days" for ya.

 

Ryo Sakazaki & Ken Masters

A non fighting game fan probably couldn't even tell these two apart by looks alone. Ken and Ryo have very different personalities and fighting styles, although they do have some similar moves as well. It's also ironic (and awesome) that they eventually appeared in the same game... more than once at that! Whether or not the original dev-team of Art of Fighting ever admitted it, they were definitely inspired from the likes of Ryu & Ken when they created Ryo Sakazaki.

 

Roy Bromwell & Terry Bogard

Capcom wasn't finished getting SNK back for all of their "copycat" designs in the early 90's... ohh no. In 1997, Capcom unveiled Roy Bromwell in Rival Schools, whom is clearly inspired by the likes of SNK icon, Terry Bogard. Not only do their looks match, but Roy shares many of Terry's attacks in his fighting style. While some may "scoff" as this in a negative way, I always enjoyed using Roy in Rival Schools because I formerly played Terry quite a lot in KOF games. In case you didn't notice, their names also share similarities... both first names end in "Y" and last names start with "B"... Haha, niiice one Capcom.

 

Mai Shiranui & Maki

Really Capcom? Still not done? Hahaha... actually, I think this one may not have been on purpose. The "konoichi" outfit they both wear really isn't uncommon... it's the color scheme that makes them seem so similar. You could describe Maki as simply a "female Guy" from Final Fight 2, so her outfit also makes sense in that regard. There are some subtle differences here and there, and their fighting styles are completely different, but the resemblance is clear.

 

Hong Gillson, Han Dae Han & Hwoarang

What do these 3 brown-haired pretty boys have in common? All of their names start with "H", they all use Tae Kwon Do as their fighting style, they all wear some sort of headwear, and they're all from games published by Namco. The Tekken icon, Hwoarang gets full credit for starting this "look"... Hong (from Fighting Layer) & Han (from Ehrgeiz) are the wannabes here.

 

Charlie Nash & Marco Rossi

Charlie and Marco practically have the same exact outfit from head to toe, and a strikingly similar hairstyle. Street Fighter Alpha was released in 1995 while Metal Slug was released in 1996. Their outfits are somewhat simplistic in general, and since they don't have any other similarities, I'd say this one is 99.7% coincidental.

 

The Hulk & Blanka

Obvious similarities here... they both suffer from the overly-green disease, both wear shorts, both prefer being barefoot, and neither of them can speak English very well. They even have a similar fighting stance in their respective games! lol. It was apparent that Capcom also realized the likeness, as Blanka made a cameo in Hulk's MSH VS SF ending (below). Good thing Blanka has that wild orange hair, or else he might be mistaken as Hulk's retarded brother... or is Hulk the retarded brother? Hmm, that's actually a tough one.

 

Kazuya Mishima & Demitri Maximov

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Dragonball Z's Vegeta might've started the hairstyle, but Kazuya and Demitri didn't have much of a resemblance (besides the pointy hair) when they debuted in their respective games. Years later, Kazuya became more and more like a "vampire" and started wearing snazzy purple suits... and thus, started to resemble Demitri. The only difference between them these days (besides their fighting styles) is that Demitri doesn't have eyebrows... but ironically enough, one of Kazuya's customizations in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection allows him to have "no eyebrows". And if that's not enough, they can both turn into alternate demon creatures with wings! These two are most definitely separated at birth, and I believe it's a pure coincidence.

 

Maxi, Vulcano Rosso & Amano Hyo

The "Elvis style"... slicked back hairstyles, sideburns, and snazzy outfits... nothing much more to say here. Looks like the three big character design companies (Namco, Capcom, and SNK) crossed paths yet again, but I don't think they intentionally copied each others designs here. Especially since all three of these fighters have vastly different fighting styles.

 

Hayato & Sol Badguy

Let's see... they both have spiky brown hair, a plate-like headband, a futuristic sword and similar attire.... Coincidence? It's a tough call. Star Gladiator came out in 1996 while the first Guilty Gear came out in 1998... were the Guilty Gear designers closet Star Gladiator fans? Both designs are definitely cool and original in their own right, but it wouldn't be surprising for Arc System Works to look to Capcom for some inspiration.

 

Gato, Feng Wei & Lee Shuwen

These three fighters share similar clothing & hairstyles, but their overall fighting styles are considerably different, even though they may come from similar martial arts backgrounds. Proves that even when designs look alike, they can still be very different.

 

Iori Yagami & Remy

Iori Yagami's Japanese goth style defined the King of Fighter series in the mid 90's. When Capcom was looking for some inspiration for the last installment of the Street Fighter III series in 1999, no doubt they knew who Iori was. Hence, Remy definitely shares a likeness to Iori. They even have similar "moody" personalities. The white symbol on his black jacket is also similar to Iori's white crescent moon on his black jacket. Even though they've got some things in common, they're definitely a lot different also... and two awesome character designs if you ask me.

 

E. Honda, Ganryu, Taka-Arashi & Akatsukimaru

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Sumo is a traditional martial art, more than worthy to be represented in many different fighting game series. Thus, Sumo wrestlers tend to proudly wear their traditional sumo attire, and end up looking alike. Of course they all share similar hand strikes & throws, but each of these designs are also known for their own original trademarks & techniques. It's also pretty cool seeing how the art of Sumo has translated in different styles of fighting games.

 

Dee Jay, Bob Wilson & Eddy Gordo

Dee Jay from SSF2 started the "Jamaican islander" trend in the fighting game universe in 1993, inspiring the likes of Bob Wilson in Fatal Fury 3 (1995). Bob even has strikingly similar mannerisms and win poses, but their fighting style is different.... even though they both use Capoiera. Eddy Gordo on the other hand uses a more authentic style of Capoiera... and besides sharing a similar look, he's really in a category all his own.

 

Yuri Sakazaki & Yuki

The similarities are pretty obvious on this one. I wouldn't put it past SNK to have "loosely" based Yuki's outfit off of Yuri, since she was a popular KOF character at the time. However, both of their outfits are somewhat plain, so it also might just be a coincidence.

 

Strider Hiryu & Bakuryu

The later version of Bakuryu from Bloody Roar is clearly a Strider Hiryu rip-off in every sense of the word... Bakuryu wishes he could be as cool as Strider, but no... just No. Let's review: Strider = Win. Bakuryu = Fail.

 

Cham Cham & Felicia

This one is interesting... Both Samurai Shodown 2 and Darkstalkers came out in 1994. Darkstalkers introduced cat-girl Felicia in July and SS2 debuted cat-girl Cham Cham only a few months later in October. Technically Felicia came first, but was this a coincidence or did SNK come up with Cham Cham in less than 3 months (because they saw Felicia and wanted a cat-girl in their game too)??? Judging by Cham Cham's fleshed out fighting style and other "original" qualities... I highly doubt it. However, the fact that Cham Cham's second player color in SS2 is "blue & white" (just like Felicia's default color) is ironic. Even if they did create Cham Cham before even knowing about Felicia, SNK might have whipped up that color on purpose... just to mess with Capcom. Just a theory of mine. Once again, they do fight very differently and are unique designs in their own right. Also due to the fact that "cat-girls" are popular anime archetypes, I'm calling coincidence on this one.

Go To Part 2!