The Boys (and Girls) from Brazil

Football is played by some 250 million players around the globe, but no nation has stronger ties to the sport than Brazil. (They’ve won the World Cup a record five times!) I’m not about to reserve a spot for Pelé on this list, but I think it’s appropriate to acknowledge Brazil’s love for the world’s most popular sport. Many soccer games feature real-life players and attempt to simulate the sport, but Sega Soccer Slam has a cast of fictional characters and plays more like an action game. Madeira represents the game’s Latin American team and is defined by her energetic personality. A feisty martial artist with a natural talent for dancing, her hidden strength often catches opponents off guard. Even though her teammates are much larger than she is, her speed and agility make her an exceptional defender despite her tiny frame.

The fun-loving Milla Vodello looks like a typical fashion model, but she’s actually a counselor at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. The purpose of the camp is to train young children to hone their psychic abilities, and Milla teaches them the art of levitation by inviting them to upbeat dance parties in her mind. The so-called Mental Minx has a kind soul and is very protective of the children she works with, but she’s a party girl at heart and her mindscape resembles a giant lava lamp. She’s a groovy gal with her psychedelic fashion sense and laid-back personality, and it’s easy to see why multiple campers fantasize about her. Milla’s design is influenced by mod subculture and 1960s spy fiction more so than Latin American stereotypes, but she has a kind of upbeat energy that Brazilians are known for.

Rage of the Dragons is late-era Neo Geo game that was conceived as an homage to Double Dragon. SNK’s console was running on fumes in 2002 and the market for 2D fighting games was waning, so the game was overlooked by most. Rage of the Dragons wasn’t especially groundbreaking, but the characters were well-designed. Pupa Salgueiro is a cheerful tomboy who enters a fighting tournament to gather information about her missing brother. Like many of the people on this list, she fights with a stylized version of capoeira. She’s not the best martial artist, but I appreciate her willingness to throw a wrench into the works – literally! As a scrappy mechanic who spends her free time working on engines, she always has tools nearby. To that end, she occasionally incorporates a giant wrench into her attacks.

A number of fighting games in the 1990s featured primitive Brazilian warriors who lived outside the confines of modern society. Blanka from Street Fighter II is the most notable example and Golrio from Fight Fever is probably the most abhorrent, but Rila Estanzia stands out from the others because she’s a lady! Untamed and ferocious, Rila resides in the Amazon rainforest and protects her jungle home by any means necessary. She has immense strength and incredible speed, and she’s not above clawing and biting her enemies to gain an advantage. These tactics may be lacking in civility, but you’ve gotta admire her tenacity. Rila is often described as a female version of Blanka, but she actually looks more like a gender-bent version of Lion-O of ThunderCats fame. Either way, the girl is thicker than a bowl of moqueca.

Rikuo once lived beneath the waters of the Amazon with 30,000 other merfolk. After a volcanic eruption decimated the population, the lone Emperor set forth to find other survivors. When he learned that a nefarious alien was responsible for the calamity, Rikuo vowed to vanquish the evil. Luckily, he has a number of supernatural abilities at his disposal. He can swim extraordinarily fast, transform into aquatic animals, or call other sea creatures for help. If the Creature of the Black Lagoon had a kid with Aquaman, I’d imagine he’d be a lot like Rikuo. I would have ranked him higher, but he is completely removed from the Brazilian way of life. That being said, the Amazon rainforest is home to the largest assortment of animal species on the planet, and Rikuo is the perfect guy to represent the region’s biodiversity.

The Fatal Fury series has introduced us to a number of Brazilian fighters. Richard Meyer was the first fighting game character to promote the art of capoeira, and Bob Wilson followed suit with his dance-battling antics. While Richard and Bob eventually moved to America to open a nightclub, Khushnood Butt ran a dojo in Brazil and taught a special brand of karate to a new generation of students. Khushnood takes his training very seriously, and he’s one of the most durable characters on this list. At the same time, his pompadour is absurd, his victory poses are over-the-top, and his name is downright-goofy. (He was originally known as Marco Rodriguez, but his name was changed to avoid confusion with real-world martial artist, Ricco Rodriguez.) You might say that the localization team turned him into the butt of all jokes.

Samuel Rodrigues was a master swordsman who found employ as a mercenary after his father was murdered. After taking out several drug cartels, he was recruited by a private military company and fitted with a cybernetic arm, a kickass exoskeleton, and a high-frequency blade that could slice through almost anything. Although he was once driven by a sense of justice, he later realized that his ideals had no place on the battlefield. Demoralized by the corruption that surrounded him, he abandoned his values and accepted that only victors could decide what was right. This line of thinking made him cocky and manipulative, but it also fueled his desire to hone his skills. Samuel Rodrigues was sometimes known as Jetstream Sam or Minuano (a cool Brazilian wind), and these nicknames proved to be a perfect fit for his carefree personality.

Lúcio grew up in a poor favela in Rio de Janeiro. His community faced hardships when robots began to rebel against humans, so he sought a way to lift everyone’s spirits. As Brazil began to recover from the crisis, Lúcio used music to bring people together. He performed on street corners at first, but he was soon filling arenas around the world. He had become a symbol of positive social change, and he used his newfound celebrity to protect people from being exploited by sleazy corporations. After stealing sonic technology from one such corporation, Lúcio developed a cutting-edge amplifier that allowed him to literally heal people with his music. Whether he’s helping his teammates or skating along walls with his light blades, Lúcio always looks like he’s having a blast. No wonder he’s one of the most popular Overwatch characters.

Blanka is undoubtedly the most iconic Brazilian in the Street Fighter series, but he’s a feral man who was removed from society at a young age. Laura Matsuda is a lot easier on the eyes, and she’s also a better representative of Brazilian culture. Her fighting style is inspired by Brazilian jiu-jitsu, her daring outfits match the color scheme of the Brazilian flag, and her attitude is indicative of a society that values friendliness. Her personality is almost as colorful as her clothing, and Laura is free-spirited, hyper-active, and fun. She’s one of the most charismatic fighters in the entire series, and she’s so energetic that she can literally manipulate electricity! Laura could likely coast by on her looks, but she’d rather be known for her fighting style than her cleavage. On that note, she’s always on the lookout for strong opponents.

Christie Monteiro is a total babe and the most captivating fighter in the Tekken series. Although she has curves in all the right places, it would be a miscarriage of justice to overlook Eddy Gordo. Eddy was the first capoeira fighter in the series, and he helped popularize the style withing the gaming community at large. Heck, he’s the one who taught Christie capoeira in the first place! Eddy mastered the art of capoeira while serving time for a crime he didn’t commit, and he put his skills on display at fighting tournaments upon his release. On a related note, Eddy is the perfect choice for novice players. His movements will seem intuitive and meaningful even if you mash the buttons randomly. Critics have called him unfair and overpowered, but no one on this list is more graceful – or influential – than Eddy.