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.
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.
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.
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
This
throwback is a special love letter to SNK players who owned a Neo Geo
Pocket. 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). These character designs vividly share some of the same attributes: Yuki and
Shin's color scheme are practically the same and the hair color
matches. Ai and Comet are wearing the same handheld videogame around
their necks (NeoGeo Pocket) and even have the same backwards baseball cap.
These characters in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum definitely originated from
their adorable NeoGeo Pocket counterparts. Awesome fan service.
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.
E.
Honda, Ganryu, Taka-Arashi & Akatsukimaru
.
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.
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.
The Tekken icon, Hwoarang gets full credit for starting
this "look"... Hong (from Fighting Layer) & Han (from Ehrgeiz)
are the wannabes here.
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.
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