Who Should Be The Final Character for 'Street Fighter V': Season 5?

Judging by the latest Japan Fighting Game Publisher Roundtable, it looks like there’s a lot of synergy going down between the top teams in the industry. Arc System Works is working with SNK to add a guest character from Guilty Gear to Samurai Shodown, which is pretty amazing when you consider the possibilities. And in the past few years, SFV has included special costumes from Fighting EX Layer, Dead or Alive 5 & 6 have featured guest characters from The King of Fighters & Virtua Fighter, Akuma and Geese have jumped over to Tekken 7, etc.

SNK is currently working hard to make sure The King of Fighters XV shatters everyone’s expectations. Besides being another excellent entry within the franchise (hopefully…), fans are looking forward to seeing the full lineup of the game’s three-person teams. Fans have been clamoring for another Capcom vs. SNK game for years now, but that doesn’t seem like a reality at this time. The next best thing to do would be for SNK to blow everyone’s minds by allowing Capcom to include a guest character from The King of Fighters. Terry Bogard would certainly make the most sense since he’s the most recognizable member of the KOF roster (he’s throwing hands with the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, after all!). But we’d be way more open to seeing Kyo Kusanagi step into the SFV arena and showcase his fiery arsenal instead.

And hey, Capcom should return the favor and let SNK build a whole team around Street Fighter’s best in KOF XV. Team World Warriors has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Like we mentioned before, Akuma’s a central member of the Tekken 7 roster and integral to the story itself. We first got a taste of Capcom and Bandai Namco’s fighting game crossover antics with 2012’s Street Fighter X Tekken. But it looks like the 3D rendition of that concept (Tekken X Street Fighter) may never release in full. So for now, all we can do is enjoy Akuma’s smooth transition over to 3D based on his Tekken 7 inclusion. We really enjoyed playing as the Tekken side of the roster in 2D and that’s something that needs to be revisited in SFV.

When you look at Tekken 7’s modern-day roster, you quickly realize that there’s a ton of viable options for guest character consideration. The most obvious picks from the male side to consider are Kazuya, Heihachi, Jin, King, and Lee. As for the ladies, Nina, Asuka, Xiaoyu, Julia, and Lili stand out as fine picks. As for the guest character choice we’d be most pleased with, it has to be Jin Kazama. The version of him that’s present in Street Fighter X Tekken would be perfect for SFV. All the developers would have to do to make him even better is simply including the newest moves from his Tekken 7 variation and blessing him with a cool V-Skill special and two nifty V-Trigger abilities. Having him go full Devil Jin mode for his Critical Art would certainly make for a fitting finisher as well.

Jaws dropped, fanboy tears were shed, and excited screams could be heard around the FGC landscape once Akira Kazama was revealed as SFV’s fourth Season 5 character. It makes all the sense in the world for her inclusion to come to fruition - Sakura’s actually playable in Rival Schools, which means the Street Fighter and Rival Schools universes are attached to each other. Out of all the DLC characters that are set to make their way into SFV, Akira gets us the most excited. But why stop there, Capcom! It’d be pretty dope to see yet another Rival Schools character join Akira in all the SFV Season 5 festivities.

While we definitely appreciate familiar faces such as Roy, Kyosuke, Zaki, and Daigo, there’s only one pick that should get the guest character nod here - Batsu Ichimonji! Batsu’s practically the face of the Rival Schools franchise and would make for a great SFV character if given the opportunity. He has the bells and whistles shoto fighters are known for having, plus he has a few signature skills of his own that would make him incredibly fun to play as. Using one of his V-Triggers to activate his Burning Batsu upgrades sounds like an amazing proposition as well. Two Rival Schools characters in SFV is a dream scenario we wouldn’t mind seeing come true.

Ever since the Street Fighter Alpha sub-series was introduced, the world of Final Fight has officially been added to the plotline’s canon. Guy, Sodom, Rolento, Cody, Hugo, and Poison have all taken their street fighting talents to Capcom’s most revered IP. SFV shocked us all when it added Final Fight 3’s Lucia Morgan - we instantly fell in love with her debuting fighting game interpretation. Why stop there, though? Final Fight has a few other worthwhile brawlers that would make for a fun character addition if they ended up in SFV.

We’d flip our lids if Sodom got the final Season 5 character nod, but we think Capcom’s saving his oft-requested return for the eventual sequel to SFV. So who’s left to consider then? Carlos, Maki, and Dean could easily graduate from a beat ‘em up savior to a full-fledged fighting game roster member. Seeing as how we’re most familiar with Maki, we think she’d be the perfect candidate for the final Season 5 character spot. Her Bushin-ryu Ninjutsu mastery was fun to wield in Capcom vs. SNK 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper & MAX, so we'd be pretty excited to get the call-up to SFV. Having Maki join in on all the ninja-based fun alongside Ibuki and Zeku would definitely make for an amazing setup.

So it’s pretty evident that Capcom is cooking up the sixth mainline entry within the Street Fighter franchise. Season 5 of SFV is looking more and more like the final batch of updates for Capcom’s refined fighter, so it should definitely end on a high note when it comes to the fifth and final character. If Capcom really wants to shock us all, then they should do something that’s completely unexpected by debuting an all-new character altogether. And that character should be presented as someone that will play a central role in the storyline for ‘Street Fighter 6.’ That decision would certainly come out of left field and leave most folks scratching their heads. But if that debuting character ends up looking cool and has a likable moveset in tow to match that high cool factor, then we’re sure everyone would grow to love him/her.