Ok, ok...so the characters were probably going to be renamed if they had actually made the game. Still, you'd think someone could have given them more creative names than "Fighting President". Imagine having a serious discussion about the game with your coworker and having to refer to characters as Clumsy Cutie and Soccer Fighter?
Director Takayuki Nakayama, has published another blog posts on
the official Street Fighter V website and reveals sketches for a few characters that came close but ultimately missed the cut for being included in the game. Perhaps they could appear later as DLC? That's exactly what Nakayama hints at as he writes, "Today we're going to show off some characters that we designed, but unfortunately were not selected for the final game. Considering the number of characters we had to work with, we decided to go with 16 characters that were easier to deal with. While these characters unfortunately didn't make the cut, maybe they'll make an appearance somewhere!?"
Check out the designs below, which also feature commentary from Takayuki.
FIGHTING PRESIDENT
"This character idea also came up during Street Fighter IV. Seems like Akiman also came up with an idea for a fighting politician."
FIGHTING LITERARY MASTER
"You need wits, not only power, in a fight! He's an old man that constantly grumbles to himself. The pen is not mightier than the sword in this game, however. Next!"
CLUMSY CUTIE
"When this cutie starts fighting, her clothes start becoming more tattered due to her clumsiness. Uses tools when fighting. This idea came about when we were coming up for designs for Laura. Next!"
PROTOTYPE SHADALOO SOLDIER
"A design that takes inspiration from the Aliens vs. Predator franchise. If you look at it like that, this Shadaloo soldier is pretty idyllic. But yeah, he didn't make the cut."
SOCCER FIGHTER
"The Brazilian male representative. Way too similar to Roberto from Rival Schools, so he got the cut. BTW, Roberto was one of my favorite characters!"
THE TEACHER
"An idea that we had when brainstorming ideas for F.A.N.G. At the time we wanted a character that used dark weapons and poison hands. He was a popular choice but wasn't evil enough, so he got nixed. Next! "
MISS BOBO
"This also came around when we were coming up for designs for Laura. She understood the hardships that Laura had when she was born. Even though we already had a name for her, she got cut. Next!"
GEN'S DISCIPLE