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"! (Part 2)

Shuma-Gorath & Mars People

The only over-sized, bright green, and squid-like creatures that I know of are Shuma-Gorath & Mars People... and they're both from fighting games. Although they are strikingly similar at a glance, they have very different storylines, personalities, and fighting styles.

 

AMINGO & DEKU

Amingo: Cactus with a hat... Deku: Green bean with a hat.... which begs the question. How in the hell did these guys end up fighting game characters anyway? There isn't much backstory for either character, so there isn't much to speculate on here.

 

Sauron & Rimgal

What we have here, are two dinosaurs... from two different games (Primal Rage & Star Gladiator)... and both of them happen to have a very similar yellow and violet color schemes. Well, Rimgal's markings are more blue-violet, but for f*ck sake, it's close enough. While I think this is probably a coincidence, considering Capcom's history.... I can't rule out the possibility of a Star Gladiator designer being a bit inspired by Primal Rage, released 2 years earlier.

 

Leo Kliesen & Rock Howard

As soon as Leo debuted in Tekken 6, it was pretty clear to hardcore fighting game fans who Leo's visual design could've been based off of. Garou: Mark of the Wolves is indeed a cult classic game (and one of my all time favorite 2D fighters), but never achieved the popularity of Namco's Tekken series. In that sense, I think Namco may have actually paid a homage to Rock Howard. However, Leo is no rip-off of Rock. Their movesets are completely different, but what they do have in common are stylish, hard-hitting moves and awesome animations... each with their own flavor. Ohh yeah, and Leo is a girl, while Rock is a guy. There's that.

 

Dudley & Franco Gerelt

Judging by that facial structure and epic stache, I'm pretty certain Dudley is Franco Gerelt's late ancestor. Indeed, these are two Capcom characters, each serving as a somewhat similar archetype. On that note, I'm pretty sure Dudley's weapon of choice (besides his rose), would be the rapier.

 

Ragna The Bloodedge & Ragnar Bloodaxe

When I first heard Ragna's name, I knew it  had a ring that I've heard before. Obviously, Ragna and Ragnar are absolutely nothing alike, but their names are too damn similar for this to be coincidence. I think there's a small possibility that when the Blazblue designers came up with Ragna's name, they subconsciously thought of Ragnar from Mace: The Dark Age... or perhaps, did it on purpose? Unless I'm missing some other reference, this is either one crazy coincidence or Mr. Ragnar Bloodaxe should consider suing Arc System Works. (jk)

 

Ai & Yuki / Shin & Comet

Only a Card Fighters player like myself would notice this one early on... Shin & Comet debuted in Card Fighters Clash (1999) as 2 of the 4 selectable characters, while Ai & Yuki debuted in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum (2005). They vividly share some of the same attributes: Yuki and Shin's color scheme are practically the same and the hair color also matches. Ai and Comet are wearing the same handheld videogame around their necks (NeoGeo Pocket) and even have the same backwards baseball cap. The likenesses are too vivid to be a coincidence and were likely done on purpose for old school SNK fans to appreciate!

 

Eddy Gordo & Soiree Meira

KOF: Maximum Impact's Capoiera user Soiree Meira clearly ripped off Eddy Gordo's well-known attire with his 2nd player outfit... but yours truly also picked up on a funny coincidence. As you can see above, the "negative colors" of Eddy's original outfit are red and blue, which means the negative colors of Soiree's outfit are respectively green & yellow. And check it out, Eddy even has white hair like Soiree when his colors are negative, just as Soiree's hair turns brown when negative... ironic indeed. I think Falcoon might've done this on purpose to be clever.

 

Jotaro Kujo & Bahn

Many gamers might have missed this one in the early days if they weren't familiar with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but Bahn's attire was clearly heavily inspired by manga icon, Jotaro Kujo.

 

Polnareff & Benimaru

SNK declared themselves that they loosely based Benimaru Nikaido off of Jean Pierre Polnareff from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. The similarities are too obvious, especially if we're talking about "early" Benimaru. When Benimaru debuted, he even wore the same "single strap" tight shirt that Polnaref wears. A few years later, Benimaru started wearing some different outfits, which slightly distanced the likeness to Polnareff. besides the fact that they fight completely differently. Finally, their likeness is strictly visual... because they fight nothing alike.

 

K' & Setsuna

Lets do the math.... Silver hair... tan skin... evil/cool personality... snazzy outfit. They must be related somewhere on the SNK family tree. Even so, I'm calling this one a coincidence because they are also very different.

 

Lion Rafale & Sie Kensou

Lion and Kensou share nearly the same exact fighting stance, hairstyle, and their outfits are strikingly similar as well. Virtua Fighter 2 was a huge game in 1994 arcades, and it would seem that SNK was inspired by Lion's design when they debuted the "new" Kensou in The King of Fighters '95. In fairness, their actual fighting styles are very different, and both of their outfits are "basic"... so there's also a chance it was all a coincidence.

 

M. Bison & Brocken

Everybody knows Bison came first in the fighting game world. The original "Brocken" did appear as a character in Ultimate Muscle before Bison came around, but the Brocken in World Heroes was still commonly known as a "rip-off" of Bison among arcade goers in the 90's.

 

Tiger Jackson, Mr. Jones & Tony Umeda

Not only the fro and the bright-ass clothing, but they're all wearing sunglasses dammit! These guys apparently didn't get the memo about disco being dead. I don't think the companies copied each other's designs in this case, but more-so, used the 70's guy stereotype.

 

Adon, Joe, Shura & Bruce

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Muay Thai is a very popular martial art, so naturally there are quite a few "traditional" Muay Thai fighters in fighting games. Just to set the record straight, Adon was "the first" to appear in a fighting game. That doesn't make any of the other characters rip-offs though. And the only reason Sagat isn't here is because he's bald... Baldy. lol.

 

Aoi, Hokuto & Kasumi

Enter Aikido, yet another traditional martial art... and for some reason, cute girls with long, dark hair prefer this style. Worth pointing out, Hokuto's color scheme and outfit is nearly a replica of Kasumi's... and then in SFEX2, Hokuto's resembles Aoi's! Coincidence? Who knows. It's a tough call, but since Hakama is standard attire in several Japanese martial arts, I'm calling coincidence on this one.

 

Zangief & Chang

It's all in the beard. Zangief made the manly beard popular in SF2. To anyone who previously played SF2, Chang might appear like a poor man's Zangief. In fairness, they are very different... but I'm pretty sure SNK was looking at a few pictures of Zangief when they were designing Chang.

 

Kyosuke Kagami & Iori Yagami

You might not see it right away, but let's take a closer look:  1. Both have a long sleeve jacket with gold buttons.  2. Both comb their hair forward. 3. Kyosuke has a black undershirt while Iori has a white undershirt. 4. Their fighting stances are somewhat similar. 5. Their last names rhyme... Kagami / Yagami. 6. Both have "dynamic" hand positions during their stance and attacks, and commonly strike with open hands. Nonetheless, they're both unique designs, but I think Capcom might've had Iori in mind when they designed Kyosuke. However, it could be a pure coincidence... and a big one since they eventually appeared in the same game.

 

Dudley, Boman & Seth

All three of them are big, African American, have a small amount of hair on top of their heads, and have snazzy suits. Ohh... and I'm pretty sure Boman is wearing suspenders underneath his jacket too. Nonetheless, all 3 of these guys are cool designs and fight differently for the most part. Hey... at least only 2 out of 3 of them are boxers. lol.

 

Reptile, Riptor, Gon & Lizard Man

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Those crazy giant lizards... always popping up in fighting games. Oddly enough, they all manage to fight very differently. Take notes humans!

 

Pullum & Rouge

Capcom not only "copied" designs from other companies, but with Rouge, has officially copied their own design... they've officially gone crazy.

 

Bao & Pete

Bao & Pete are two vertically-challenged wimps that probably don't belong in fighting games. Their hats are nearly the same, and they both wear shorts and goofy shoes. Ironically enough, both of these designs came out in 1999 and they fight very differently... suggesting a coincidence.

 

Mukoro & Jack

Not only do both of them have a massive head wound, but they both carry two insanely long knives and they're both completely psycho... yet another case of possible relation, but I doubt it was done on purpose.

 

Vega & Shiki (Submitted by Leona)

Here's another one that you have to look a little closer to see. Just for fun, I'm going to "black out" what makes these two characters so similar. If you still can't figure it out, use your mouse and highlight here -----> It's those purple snake tattoos. ...It's also kind of ironic that Vega & Shiki finally met in SNK VS Capcom: Chaos, especially after this likeness was pointed out on TFG way before that game was made!

 

Bazett, Vanessa & C. Viper

Ladies don't always need to show cleavage to be sexy... and can look pretty damn good in a business suit. Bazett from Fate / Unlimited Codes, Vanessa from KOF and C. Viper from SFIV all fancy the business-lady attire, red hair and a red tie. Red & black go together ever so nicely, I might add.

 

Gen-Fu, Wang Jinrei, Gen & Tung Fu Rue

Ahh, the "old kung-fu master" to close things out. This archetype has been done so many times before... and naturally he's a staple in any fighting game. However, after so many... you'd think the designers would try to differentiate them more. If I had to pick a rip-off out of this bunch, I'd say it's Gen-fu. His story and appearance (and name, lol) are just too close to Gen's. In fairness, these elderly gentleman are different enough when it comes to their overall fighting styles, and all make sense as designs in their respective series.

 

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