Could F.A.N.G's successor become a playable character in the next Street Fighter project?

When Capcom unveiled Luke as Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition's last character, fans were told that Luke would be playing some pivotal role in the next Street Fighter project — most likely Street Fighter 6. It's been heavily implied that Luke will be the protagonist of the upcoming Street Fighter project.

Just like with every new entry in the Street Fighter series, the next game is going to need its fair share of newcomers to liven up the roster. This could be the perfect opportunity for F.A.N.G's successor, Phantom, to become a playable character.

Back in 2018, Capcom released a three-part series that detailed F.A.N.G's activities after the defeat of M. Bison at the end of "A Shadow Falls," Street Fighter 5's story mode.

In this story, F.A.N.G is depicted to be a much more serious and dark character compared to how he is portrayed in Street Fighter 5's story and gameplay. F.A.N.G ends up finding himself in a bizarre situation where a young boy and girl attempt to blackmail him.

Though the blackmail attempt didn't actually pose much of a threat to F.A.N.G, he offered the boy and the girl the option to "pick one." He then dropped a stack of cash and stuck a dagger into the ground.

Both options were actually a trap. The money was laced with a painfully slow poison that would kill anyone who touched it. If the dagger was chosen, F.A.N.G would act with swiftness and remove their hands.

A third option also existed. Should the two chose to run away, F.A.N.G simply wouldn't care enough to give chase. In F.A.N.G's mind, this was the best option.

However, the girl didn't seem interested in the money or the dagger. Instead, she closely examined the Chinese characters engraved on the dagger. She asked F.A.N.G to teach her the meaning behind these characters.

These Chinese characters actually told the secrets of the most powerful poison techniques of the Nguuhao, the organization in which F.A.N.G was part of before it was wiped out by M. Bison. It's been implied before that F.A.N.G is the last surviving member of the Nguuhao.

Impressed that the girl was able to recognize the importance of these Chinese characters, F.A.N.G decided to take her in as his apprentice. To agree to this, the girl would be choosing to discard her name and everything she knew in her life.

From this point on, this girl would be known as "Phantom." Thus far, we haven't heard anything more about Phantom since this story was released.

Should Phantom become a playable character in what is likely Street Fighter 6, she'll be a practitioner of poison techniques. What's interesting is that Phantom doesn't necessarily need to be a bizarre zoning or footsies fighter like F.A.N.G.

Phantom could end up being of the rushdown archetype while still utilizing F.A.N.G's unique poison mechanic. Needless to say, Phantom could be a unique addition if Capcom decides to revisit this character concept in the upcoming Street Fighter project.

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