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5 characters who almost assuredly aren't returning for Street Fighter 6


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Street Fighter's roster of world warriors are among the most expansive and arguably the most iconic in all of fighting games, but they can't all be winners.


Over the past 6 years, we've gotten to see Street Fighter 5's cast grow to a sizable list of 45 playable characters, and there's at least a handful who are almost assuredly going to be left on the sidelines once Street Fighter 6 finally rolls around.



By breaking down SF5's story threads, character popularity and general likability among the playerbase, we came up with 5 in particular who we believe have the lowest chance of being a part of the next Street Fighter's base roster — or even after years of future DLC.

One of our initial thoughts was to look towards longtime series villain M. Bison since he seems to have been very thoroughly exploded at the end of SF5's story, but with potential time travel shenanigans showing up there's still more than a good shot he'll show up at some point — we've also seen him die and come back enough times to know not to every fully count him out.


The same could almost be said for two of his generals in Vega and Balrog because we've yet to see them really exist without their boss present though the boxer's continued popularity and both of them being Street Fighter 2 OGs make them just as likely as not.


There is at least one boss we can safely assume may never see the light of day again.



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Necalli


Capcom set up Necalli as the new poster villain for Street Fighter 5 with a big glowing V on his face just to make sure we all knew that fact.


When it finally came time to see why it is we should fear him, however, we were presented with one of the biggest jobbers in series history with the eater of warriors running away with his tail between his legs.


And then we see Ryu punch him really hard and dissolve into a pile of goo never to really be spoken about again.


Unless the developers want to give Necalli some sort of redemption arc in the future, it's very hard to imagine him coming back again anytime soon.


Even though he was decently popular and successful in the first 2 years or so of SF5's life, nerfs and changes eventually left him in the dust where he now sits as one of the game's least-played characters overall.


Pour one out for Mr. Devour Hour.



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F.A.N.G


If there's one of Bison's generals who's all but assured to return to the shadows, it's of course gotta be F.A.N.G.


The dude doesn't really have a lot going on for himself away from his boss, and many fans have been at least a bit annoyed by his existence since the beginning.


It also doesn't help his case that the poison user's consistently been SF5's least popular fighter in terms of actual usage for years now, so he can't even be helped by a ton of players who enjoy slapping people around with him.


The final nail in F.A.N.G's coffin is the fact that Capcom's already introduced his disciple in Phantom, who would probably be more interesting and liked by default.



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Charlie Nash


Nash has died and come back a few times now across Street Fighter's ongoing plot though I think he's sung his swan song for the time being.


His plot for revenge and ultimate sacrifice to help put down Bison once and for all seems to be a good point of closure to the tale of Charlie Nash.


There's really nothing more for him to do at this point unless Rose saves Guile's mentor when going back in time to the Street Fighter Alpha days or something.


A Nash main from the very beginning of SF5, we think it's time we let him rest.

Luke can take over as Captain Commando now.



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Birdie


Birdie's initial reveal for Street Fighter 5 was pretty exciting at first since original Street Fighter enemy had remained sidelined since Alpha 3 though that feeling wouldn't last forever.


Even though the hungry boy's been strong throughout SF5's competitive life, he's been hovering around the bottom of actual usage for a long time now, and you'll probably be hard-pressed to find anyone who actually likes fighting against him in this game.


Birdie doesn't really add anything to the current story either, as he was largely relegated to comic relief or someone for other characters to dunk on consistently.


Maybe they can try again in Street Fighter 7.



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Dan


The last choice here was a harder one than the previous four, as we also contemplated the likes of Blanka, Lucia and maybe Kage though we ended up deciding Dan was the weakest link of the bunch — quite literally in most regards.


Capcom tried to give him a fresh start and strong opportunity to start off SF5's final season of DLC with the hope that Mr. Hibiki would shed some of his history as a joke character, but we can't really say they've been all that successful in that regard.


After his release window, Dan's character usage took a real nosedive with the Saikyo master ending up with the fifth-worst online representation last month despite still being one of SF5's newest members.


Street Fighter's already got plenty of Shotos and Shoto-likes floating around who have more to offer in terms of legacy and gameplay, and I think at this point it's been proven he won't really be missed in the next game.


That doesn't mean we want him completely gone though because Dan is still a fun and entertaining character to have around in the background being his usual incompetent self. We just don't need him on the character select screen.


All of that said, we can't really write him out ultimately either given his legacy with the series. It just might be good for everyone if he continues to focus on his dojos for a little while.


It's going to be hard going in to a new Street Fighter that'll be missing at least a decent chunk of who's playable now, but there are certainly some easy cuts to be made that people won't really complain about.


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