Today I'll be talking a little bit about age and gender in fighting games. There are parallels between Capcom and SNK that might be a cause for concern. There are changes made to content, design and continuity to both Street Fighter and the King of Fighters that might end up painting fighting games into a corner. These changes are subtle and might be passed off as a shift in aesthetics. But what if they were being made to appease critics and lock the respective series' into a needless cycle of fan service?

It all started when the characters were announced for the King of the Fighters XII. Many of the popular characters would be returning as expected. The graphics and designs had been updated. The revision to Athena seemed the most striking. Her physical characteristics seemed dramatically changed, breaking the overall theme of redesigns. Her face had become round, here eyes large and pronounced like a chibi character, her thighs even became a little thicker and softer. As if she had somehow gotten younger while the rest of the cast stayed consistent. This in and of itself might not be cause for concern but what if you consider that a fellow young lady in the game, Leona, was also supposed to be 18-years-old. As Gamers Inn pointed out both characters are supposed to be 18 but why do their appearances vastly differ?

Why would the designers at SNK go with such a young representation of Athena? None of the other females, so far, introduced in the game have the same animé features. This shift in design for one character seems a bit much. It breaks the consistency of the more mature features placed on other characters.

A fan of the series would point out two things in defense of the revised character. The first being that the characters in KOF get a makeover in every title. Their wardrobe, features and even stance vary from game to game. Athena was no exception to this rule.

The second thing a fan would point out is that the school girl outfit and large eyes are a nod to the game that Athena was pulled from, SNK's 1986 title Psycho Soldier. Many of the characters in KOF were pulled from various, non-fighting, SNK games like Ikari Warriors, King of the Monsters, Metal Slug and Psycho Soldier. Her redesign and anime proportions were meant for long-time fans of SNK and we should recognize the efforts and be happy that the studio was returning to its roots.

But what if there was something inherently flawed with the logic of returning a character to her roots? What if there was such a thing as catering too much to fans and by doing so have painted the series into a corner? Certainly this blog might be making too much out of some big eyes and lots of leg action. But consider the trend of young female fighters in recent years and ask if designers are pandering to the (mostly) male audience.

Athena's cosmetic change was a bit extreme. Regressing her appearance in the game might have been an aesthetic decision or one to cater to the fans. Not unlike the addition of Sakura in SF IV.

Sakura made her debut in the SF Alpha / Zero series, she wasn't pulled from an outside game but had been invented for the canon. She was a girl that complimented the young Ryu. When the fans were polled as to whom they would like to see in SF IV Sakura was at the top of the list. But why was it that everyone in SF IV had shown some signs of aging while Sakura herself was kept as a schoolgirl?

Let's take the observation a step further and question why the live-actor Sakura used in a commercial was even younger than canon Sakura? What purpose did a 12-year-old pretending to be a 15-year-old serve? Had fans become so enamored with the character that they wanted to preserve her exactly as they remembered her; nubile, pretty and full of fighting spirit? It all seemed a little creepy.

Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono had mentioned that fans had a certain memory of SF II that made it seem bigger and better than it actually was. He wanted to preserve those feelings by not changing the characters too much. By having the team go back and try to recreate the elements that made SF II so successful. This also meant that he would be incorporating characters from Alpha even though that time line had happened years prior and according to canon some of the characters had passed on by the time of SF II. The mix of two different continuities and their respective characters seemed strained. He then went a step further and revived a character that had been assumed dead for some 17 years and added new characters that lacked the creative spark and connection to the martial arts that made the originals so memorable. But I digress...

Had SF fans come to expect a certain level of service and concession? How many titles have been allowed to explore different themes with their characters? Is this a failing of the fighting game genre? One that demands returning characters so as not to create a learning curve on new characters? Would this by why Ono and the team did not bother to advance the canon and characters, for fear of disappointing fans? Strong female leads have always been embraced by gamers, be they Chinese ICPO or British Special Services. These girls and women were allowed to grow up, even if it was a little, in the game series. Should we have expected any less of Sakura and the SF IV cast?

When word got out that there was a possibility of a SF IV update, including a new and old character added to the lineup. One of the suggestions was "Little Miss" aka Hitomi, the daughter of Gouken. In case you are not familiar with her then please read the Street Fighter Magazine to see a close representation of the character. However if the Q&A with Capcom were to be taken verbatim then Hitomi would be introduced very young and very powerful. Some 12-years-old and as powerful as the much older Ken and Ryu. She would be even younger than Sakura even though she was written as much closer in age to Ken and Ryu according to the rare manga.

Am I the only one that finds a problem with female characters added to the titles appearing much younger than before, especially when the other characters are allowed to age?

The artistic medium allows authors and directors to keep a character perpetually young forever. The KOF and SF cast might end up locked at a certain age just for guaranteed sales. Like our popular comic book heroes, where Superman remains perpetually young even though his adventures span 75 years. Capcom and SNK only have to keep going through the motions and they will keep selling games. By including fan-favorites and locking them at a certain age then the sequels can keep coming. However at what point is this too much of the same. At what point does this repetition and saturation of sameness end up hurting the franchise?

The most profound stories, the ones that are truly remembered, have allowed fan-favorite characters to age, mature or even pass on. Fighting game fans, and the majority game players, are getting old. Most high school graduates today never played SF II, they barely have any recollection of Alpha and are lucky to have played SF III considering the arcade scene just about died in the USA by 1999. The kids and teens of the early 90's (those born in the 70's and early 80's) were the ones that grew up on Street Fighter. They held the series in high regards and followed everything with the name SF on it. Including magazines, movies, cartoon shows to anime and manga titles. These gamers are now the 30-somethings with kids of their own. If any concession should be made to the generation raised on SF it should be the acknowledgment that the cast was getting older as well. I am not saying that I expected to see what Ken and Ryu looked like as ancient masters in SF IV, however I was interested in seeing changes made to these characters for the sake of progress.

Yoshinori Ono pulled influences from SF II and SF Alpha for his game. Did he consider that the canon he pulled from were snapshots of different moments in the lives of the SF icons? Within the span of 5 to 10 years, going forwards or backwards through time, a lot had happened to these fighters. The team at Capcom can explore what happened, or could have happened at any point in the lives of the cast. They do not have to keep making them older, but should consider doing so in numbered games. Anything other than that really should be labeled an Alpha title. The only way to ensure that things remain consistent is by making sure that the entire cast matures or moves on at the same pace.

What good are girls in the game if they are not allowed to become women? What is the purpose of Ken and Ryu growing older and stronger if not for revenge and redemption?

Street Fighter was special for many reasons, especially when compared to other fighting games. Unlike rival titles, where character evolution and age is treated cursory (or sometimes regressed!), it actually means something in SF. Or rather, it used to mean something in SF. Mr. Ono showed us and Capcom that fans would be happy with any incarnation of the title. Strict adherence to the canon or logic weren't as important to rolling out a new game. However I am a firm believer that there is a potential for greatness with Street Fighter. Every subsequent title should be improved upon, not solely from a technical and gameplay perspective but from a canonical one as well. There was such a thing as being mindful of the fans while also respecting the tradition that had been established. One way to achieve that was by allowing the characters to grow up. Let's hope that Capcom remembers to do that in future versions of Street Fighter.