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00:00Real Wins!
00:06Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at characters from across the long history of fighting games who were inspired
00:13by real people.
00:14However, to keep things interesting, we're only including one character per franchise.
00:18Otherwise, the entire list would only be Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter characters.
00:23Enough!
00:28Ah, that's no special fact.
00:30Indeed, Johnny Cage.
00:33Axel Lowe, Guilty Gear Series
00:40For the original Guilty Gear, creator Daisuke Ishiwatari threw several influences into a blender.
00:46The combat of Capcom's Street Fighter II, the dark fantasy setting of the manga Bastard, and his love for Western
00:53rock and roll.
00:53There are several characters in the Guilty Gear series whose names and appearances are inspired by famous musicians.
00:59The Kasarigama-wielding Axel Lowe, who has appeared in most games in the series, gets his name, long blonde hair,
01:06and bandana, all from Guns N' Roses frontman Axel Rose.
01:11Moreover, Axel's friendship with Soul Bad Guy, who's inspired by Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, comes from Rose's admiration for Mercury,
01:19having even performed at his tribute concert in 1992.
01:37The Samurai Shodown series features multiple characters inspired by real-life figures in Japanese history, just in a setting that
01:45allows for some crazy fantastical abilities.
01:47Essentially the franchise's mascot, Haomaru is a samurai clad in white, seeking out strong opponents to improve his skills.
01:54Although visually his look comes from Hayakimaru, a character from the manga Doruro, his origins were inspired by Miyamoto Musashi,
02:03a famed swordsman from the late 1500s and early 1600s.
02:06Now considered a sword saint, he was known for pioneering his own two-blade sword-fighting style, and never losing
02:13any of the 62 duels he partook in.
02:16Clearly, a very cool person to base a fighting game character on.
02:29Ten Count
02:30Battle Arena Toshinden 3
02:38Here's a deep cut for you, at least with the game, but not the very obvious inspiration for this character.
02:44Tam Soft released the Battle Arena Toshinden series throughout the late 90s, one of many to focus on an underground
02:50fighting tournament.
02:52Only seen in the third game, Ten Count was inspired by pop icon Michael Jackson, specifically the white suit and
02:58hat look in the music video for Smooth Criminal.
03:01It isn't just an aesthetic though.
03:03Ten Count can moonwalk, makes high-pitched noises, grabs his crotch to taunt, and can even do the thriller dance.
03:09His backstory is that he's an assassin who counts down from ten while fighting his opponent, going into a murderous
03:15rampage upon reaching zero.
03:18King Art of Fighting Series
03:26As one of the original characters in the Art of Fighting, King stood out from the rest of the roster
03:31as a woman disguised as a man in order to compete.
03:34She was originally inspired by Jamaican singer and actress Grace Jones, specifically from her appearance in the 1985 James Bond
03:42film A View to Kill.
03:43Her race and face were reworked several times before the team settled on making her white and blonde.
03:49But as for her style, both in how she dresses and how she fights, the team looked to the 1989
03:54Hong Kong martial arts film China White.
03:57The film features a henchwoman, played by Dutch actress and Muay Thai expert, Saskia van Rijsvik.
04:04In her climactic fight, she's dressed in a jacketless tuxedo, just as King always is.
04:10Zack, Dead or Alive Series
04:15The Dead or Alive roster is full of flamboyant characters, like DJ and kickboxer Zack, who has been present since
04:23the original game, all the way through to its latest.
04:25His style, particularly his hair color, tattoos, and over-the-top persona, were inspired by NBA player Dennis Rodman.
04:33On top of basketball and dabbling and being an action star, Rodman was known for his attention-grabbing presence and
04:40somewhat controversial antics at the time,
04:42a vibe the developers clearly wanted in a character.
04:46Things even came full circle in 2003 when Rodman voiced Zack in the spinoff, Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball.
04:54Well, later, baby. I'm out of here, honey.
04:57Oh, yeah!
05:01Marstorius, Fighter's History Series.
05:03Irvin!
05:08Developed by Data East, Fighter's History is often seen as a Street Fighter II ripoff,
05:13so much so that even Capcom tried to sue them after the game was first released.
05:17One of the many ways the games are similar can be seen in the character Marstorius,
05:21who is basically this game's version of Zangief, who himself is based on Russian wrestler Victor Zangief.
05:28Snuck an extra Street Fighter one in there.
05:30But Data East at least still took different inspiration for their character,
05:34basing Marstorius on American wrestler Bruiser Brody.
05:38It's as good a wrestler to base a fighting game character on as any,
05:41since Brody was known for his particularly volatile demeanor.
05:45Lucky Globber, the King of Fighters series.
05:56We know we're cheating a little with this one,
05:58since King of Fighters combines two S&K franchises,
06:01and we already covered Art of Fighting.
06:03But since Lucky debuted here, we're going to include him.
06:06Since the original game was a 3v3 fighter,
06:09Lucky was one-third of Team American sports,
06:12with his athletics of choice being basketball.
06:16His build, sport, and color palette for his clothes
06:19were all lifted from famed Los Angeles Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
06:23Not for nothing, but he's also an accomplished martial artist.
06:27Lucky has only appeared in a couple of games from the series,
06:30but it was still cool to see Abdul-Jabbar immortalized in a fighting game like this.
06:34Johnny Cage Mortal Kombat series
06:39Johnny Cage wins.
06:41One of the most famous characters from one of the most famous franchises on the list,
06:45the origins of Johnny Cage are well known by most fans now.
06:49Originally, Midway wanted to make a game with action film star Jean-Claude Van Damme,
06:54perhaps based on his character in 1988's Bloodsport.
06:57Van Damme had to pass due to another game deal,
07:00but when the project pivoted into something else,
07:03creators Ed Boon and John Tobias still used his character as inspiration for one of their own.
07:09Johnny Cage's iconic split punch is taken directly from the movie,
07:13and his look in the original game is nearly identical to Van Damme's in the film's climax.
07:18Like Dennis Rodman with Zack, this also came full circle
07:21when Van Damme's likeness for Bloodsport
07:23was used as an alternate skin for Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 1.
07:34Martial Law Tekken Series
07:41There have been many, many fighting game characters
07:45to be based on martial arts legend Bruce Lee,
07:48from Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat to Fei Long in Street Fighter.
07:51It almost felt required at the dawn of so many series,
07:55and in Tekken, we have Martial Law.
07:57He originally entered the King of Iron Fist tournament so he could open his own dojo,
08:01and since then, he's become a man characterized by the love for his family
08:05and his ability to quickly pummel an opponent.
08:08Law's moveset is based on Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's style,
08:12which prioritizes speed and directness,
08:14and he uses nunchakus in Tekken 8, which Lee was famously very good with.
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08:45Ryu, Street Fighter Series.
08:55Street Fighter has more characters based on real people than any other series on the list,
09:01but today, we want to focus on the poster boy, Ryu.
09:04One of the very few characters that have been in the series since the first game,
09:08he was inspired by real-life Korean-Japanese master of karate
09:12and founder of the Kiyokushin style, Masoyama.
09:16Capcom designer Takashi Nishiyama grew up watching the anime Karate Master,
09:20which was also loosely inspired by Oyama's life.
09:23And he admired Oyama's skill and ideology,
09:26which he pulled from when working on Street Fighter.
09:29Ryu is one of the most iconic characters in video games,
09:32and that's a fitting tribute to one of the world's most renowned martial artists.
09:36There are plenty of other fighting game characters that were inspired by real people,
09:41so let us know what some of your favorites are in the comments,
09:44and we will see you next time.