Street Fighter 6 has a huge roster of martial artists, each with different fighting styles and training methods. Each comes from a different discipline, which means they all have different body types, from Zangief’s hulking bodybuilder frame to E. Honda’s heavier sumo build. As such, developer Capcom decided to reference different real-life models to ensure it got each fighter’s build right. Now, it’s become my personal fitness goal to be the reference model for a fighting game character—because what’s more validating than that?
Capcom and Street Fighter 6’s development process was recently the subject of a documentary by NHK, a Japanese public broadcaster. The documentary, called Game Planet, features a segment on how Capcom captured the physique of its fighters. Character artist Kawade Tsutomu explains that the company assembled a team dedicated to researching how muscles flex, extend, and rest on different martial artists’ and bodybuilder’s frames.
Once they found a group of suitable models, the team took reference photos of their bodies from “every conceivable angle.” As Tsutomu describes, Capcom wanted a variety of well-trained body types that could demonstrate different muscle and fat distribution among its characters. These nuances are how Ryu and Zangief can both be muscular but have distinct body types, a clear example of how different training methods have different results. The documentary also shows more slender, feminine models that were likely used as inspiration for more agile characters like Dollars-1851420631",{"metric25":1}]]” href=”https://kotaku.com/street-fighter-6-cammy-resin-statue-700-Dollars-1851420631″>Cammy and Kimberly.
The full documentary is available on YouTube, but if you want to skip to the muscle mommy (and daddy) section, it starts at about the 10:30 mark.
Knowing that Capcom went to this level of detail during development makes sense, given how much Street Fighter 6 goes out of its way to define its rosters’ distinct disciplines within its world. A major part of its story mode is traveling around the world and meeting different fighters to teach you their ways. So ensuring the in-game models fit real-world athletes is a nice extra layer of authenticity.
Street Fighter 6 is nearly a year old now, but Capcom is still supporting it with new characters and balance updates. The company is releasing Street Fighter 6’s next DLC fighter, Akuma, on May 22.