Wax On, Wax Off

Segata Sanshiro is an homage to Sugata Sanshiro – a judo master from a 1943 Akira Kurosawa film. Although Segata has appeared in many games over the years, he was first used in an advertising campaign for the Sega Saturn. He was depicted as a hermit who walked around with a giant Saturn on his back and trained by punching buttons on an oversized Saturn controller. Segata firmly believed that video games were life’s greatest treasure, and he punished anyone who thought differently. He screamed a lot, beat the shit out of teenagers, and threw men so hard that they exploded! In his final television commercial, Segata heroically jumped onto a missile that had been launched at Sega’s headquarters. By riding the missile into the atmosphere, Segata ensured the release of the Dreamcast. He’ll forever live on in our hearts.

The Virtua Fighter series was noteworthy for focusing on a number of real-world fighting disciplines rather than fireballs or weapons. In the case of Akira Yuki, his moves are based on a Chinese martial art called Bajiquan which centers on explosive, short-range attacks and emphasizes elbow and shoulder strikes. Akira isn’t necessarily the most creative character on this list, but he’s still the de facto mascot of Virtua Fighter. He’s hot-blooded and impulsive by nature, but he also strives for perfection and never passes up an opportunity to test his abilities. His relentless drive pays off for him when he’s named the winner of the second World Fighting Tournament that serves as the focal point of Virtua Fighter 2. Akira’s goal is to master his techniques and understand what “true fighting” is about.

After a failed attempt at a summoning spell destroyed an entire village, Lee Sin imposed exile on himself and enlisted in a monastery. Years later, he attempted to atone for his sins through an act of martyrdom. To protest the occupation of his homeland, Lee doused himself in oil and set himself ablaze. Through will power alone, Lee was able to remain in this state for several weeks! Although he pushed through the agonizing pain, the demonstration ultimately resulted in the loss of his eye sight. Being blinded wasn’t as detrimental to his fighting style as you might think, and his other senses seemed to compensate for his disability. As he so aptly puts it, “Blindness is no impairment against a smelly enemy.” Lee is so in tune with his surroundings that he doesn’t even need to see where his enemies are in order to attack them.

Final Fantasy VII is one of the most important RPGs of all time, but some critics insist that its characters were superficial and shallow. I’ve seen Tifa described as “a pair of tits with fists” on more than one occasion, but this downplays her abilities as a fighter. Cloud arms himself with an oversized buster sword, Vincent uses handguns, and Barrett literally has a cannon built into his arm. The fact that Tifa specializes in hand-to-hand combat in that environment is pretty remarkable. She finds herself in contention with colossal beasts, genetically-enhanced monsters, and armies of gun-toting soldiers, so it’s kind of amazing that she chooses to punish her opponent with punches, kicks, suplexes, and somersaults. Tifa didn’t became the darling of the hentai fan art community because of her personality, but her fighting techniques should not be underplayed.

Kunio-kun is a hot-blooded high school student who is constantly butting heads with gang members and street thugs. His name and appearance are sometimes changed during the localization process of his games, but Kunio has starred in dozens of games and deserves a place on this list based on his legacy alone. Renegade was one of the first side-scrolling beat ’em ups ever and River City Ransom is possibly the best game in the entire genre. Many of the martial artists on this list spend years (or even decades) perfecting their techniques, but Kunio is a prodigy who can learn new moves just by reading about them! His training regimen consists of taking money from punks, hitting up local book stores, and emerging with the ability to deliver rapid punches and lightning-fast kicks. Bimmy and Jimmy from Double Dragon aren’t even in his league.

Liu Kang was the primary protagonist of the early Mortal Kombat games and one of the Earthrealm’s greatest warriors. As a Shaolin Monk and a natural pacifist, he stood out in a series based around violence and fatalities. You can’t argue with results, though. Liu Kang emerged victorious in all four Mortal Kombat tournaments he participated in. This effectively means that he saved the Earth on four occasions! Liu Kang defends himself with an assortment of flying kicks, but he also uses a number of unconventional attacks. He can shoot fireballs or morph into a serpentine dragon to consume his opponents in a single bite. Despite being surrounded with thunder gods and shape-shifting sorcerers, Liu Kang was a nigh-unstoppable force in kombat. He couldn’t be defeated in a fair fight, so his enemies opted to turn him into a zombie instead.

Regal Bryant carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Without his knowledge, his girlfriend Alicia was used as a test subject in an experiment that transformed her into a murderous monster. Alicia pleaded with Regal to take her life in an act of mercy, and he reluctantly complied. Regal carried immense guilt from that point on and took full responsibility for what had transpired. Even after he was released from prison, Regal refused to remove his handcuffs and viewed them as a symbol of his promise to never use his hands to kill again. He made no such promise about his feet, however, and was more than willing to kick the living shit out of anyone who got on his bad side. His previous fighting style relied mostly on his hands, so the fact that he was able to adapt to a new style that relied exclusively on kicks speaks to his versatility.

Heihachi is a world-famous martial artist who was undefeated for several decades. Although he helms a corporation with immense military power, he prefers to do business with his fists. He fights with the Mishima fighting style of karate (which he also developed) and is known for his repertoire of devastating maneuvers and aggressive strategies. Heihachi created the King of the Iron Fist tournament at the tender age of 52 as a way of testing himself. Despite his old age, he has little trouble keeping pace with younger generations and has escaped death on more than one occasion. There’s no doubt that he’s lived an interesting life. He threw his son into a ravine to purge him of his weakness, he trained a bear to use karate, and he played tennis with Anna Kournikova. His sanity is questionable, but his skills as a martial arts master cannot be denied.

Sabin was born into royalty and slated to inherit the throne of Figaro with his twin brother, Edgar. In an effort to escape the corrupt world of politics, Sabin left his home to become a student of the martial arts. After training under a reclusive master named Duncan for the better part of a decade, Sabin perfected a number of spectacular “Blitz” techniques. He’s able to pummel his opponents with multiple blows, overwhelm them with aura blasts, or drive them into the ground with spectacular throws. Sabin’s ability to suplex a train is well documented, and he can even suplex himself when he’s confused! Sabin’s Blitz techniques are unique in that they require players to input specific button commands rather than just selecting options from a menu. In that sense, Sabin almost feels like he belongs in a fighting game rather than an RPG.

Ryu has appeared in every Street Fighter game and every game in Capcom’s Vs. lineup, and he was even invited to participate in Super Smash Bros. His outward appearance is somewhat generic, but Ryu has become an archetype in his own right and his trademark maneuvers are synonymous with fighting games. He’s the quintessential martial artist who views life as a journey of self improvement. When he’s not participating in tournaments, he’s likely practicing his techniques or wandering around in search of a sparring partner. If it wasn’t for Street Fighter, most of the characters on this list wouldn’t even exist. The series popularized the tournament fighting genre and created an environment where martial arts characters could thrive. It would have been a miscarriage of justice if Ryu wasn’t honored with the number one position.