For a genre that involves a lot of violence, fighting games have a surprising lack of representation when it comes to people who are disabled. Fans might imagine that every historic fighting game franchise would have a collection of characters with a host of physical disabilities, but they do not. With over forty years of fighting games completed, there does appear to be several characters with visual impairments. Yet, it is remarkably hard to find much representation for people with any other physical disabilities.
While the genre naturally offers chances for narrative-driven reasons for characters to have disabilities, it has rarely taken advantage of this to provide more representation or creative angles. Alongside characters who may have in-game, fighting-related reasons for disabilities, the genre could benefit from more individuals born with different levels of ability, both physical and cognitive. Here is a list of some interesting characters who happen to have had a range of physical impairments. And, while it is important to acknowledge that an individual’s disability does not define them, it is also important to note that re-ablement (in the form of cybernetics), does not necessarily negate the experiences of disability.
5 Stephen Hawking - Science Kombat
Perhaps not the first entry fans would be expecting, but given the scarcity of disabled characters in the fighting game genre, this world-famous physician is a necessity. Stephen Hawking, who was a wheelchair user, features as a character in this curious title. Having suffered from a form of motor neurons' disease, Hawking became physically disabled but overcame all odds to go on and be recognized as one of the world’s greatest minds.
Science Kombat is a 2016 release that is both fun and free to download. A 2D fighting game that pits some of history’s most notable scientists in combat. Alongside Stephen Hawking, who uses laser beam powers against his opponents, the game includes Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Nikola Tesla, Isaac Newton, Pythagoras, Marie Curie, and Alan Turing.
4 Oro - Street Fighter 3
While the series has several characters who are visually impaired, there is only one other martial artist included who has a physical disability. And that one exception is, Oro. The 100-plus-year-old hermit who first appeared in Street Fighter 3, is an overpowered master who is a match for any opponent, despite his disability. A pale-skinned old-timer who roams the world in a simple robe, Oro is a positive representation of an amputee who has adapted and grown stronger.
Wielding mystical martial arts powers, Oro, who has lost a limb in an undisclosed manner, takes on his opponents with just one arm to aid him. Portrayed as a stoic old man whose backstory is one of mental health struggles and acceptance of his condition, Oro displays a fighting style that is very much adapted around his disability. Players who master the wandering hermit, know his formidable power.
3 Professor X - X-Men: Mutant Academy 2
While Professor Xavier has since appeared in several of the now-classic Marvel vs Capcom games, it was in 2001 that he made his fight game debut on X-Men: Mutant Academy 2. The founder of the X-Men, psychic-power-wielding, wheelchair user, Professor X, is hardly a person who needs an introduction.
As a character, Professor X is an ever-present flag bearer for those who are atypical. And, with the addition that he is a wheelchair user, is a representative reminder that disability does not mean less. Xavier fighting skill, in most gaming entries, involves the use of his chair and the overuse of his psychic abilities. Still, given his power level, he’s always a handy selection.
2 Jax - Mortal Kombat
An ever-present mainstay in the Mortal Kombat universe since Mortal Kombat 2, Jax is a fan favorite whose cybernetic arms somewhat negate his disability. However, as a character whose been around for decades, it’s not hard to believe that he has a well fleshed out backstory that involves his disability. A former officer and martial artist who loses both arms and has to come to terms with his condition while battling mental health issues before fighting back.
It is not immediately clear how Jax initially lost his arms, with some sources indicating fellow combatant Baraka had relished him of them. Though, later accounts seem to confirm that he lost them in an encounter with Ermac and Sub-Zero.
1 Yoshimitsu - Tekken
Another mainstay in the world of fighting games, though one who is familiar across three different franchises; Tekken, Soul Edge/Blade and Soul Caliber. While it may be debated whether these are in fact the same people, what is not debated is that in one iteration the character has lost an arm.
In the Tekken series, it is said that the enigmatic Yoshimitsu lost his arm in a robbery gone wrong. Under the watchful eye of a skilled DR, Yoshi was lucky enough to gain a cybernetic arm that would double as a sword to assist his samurai style of fighting.
While the industry may be in front of others in regard to diversity and inclusivity, at the forefront of video game development is creativity. For fighting games especially, which are limited to a particular spectrum of input. For the characters specifically, this input includes the fighting styles, aesthetic and backstory. Diversity aside, for the purposes of inspiration in a limited genre, tapping into and making informative representations of different disabilities may have its benefits in terms of creativity.