When it comes to fighting games, some characters continue their fighting ways across game titles, even when it means dueling against time and their age. While other characters fall by the wayside and are replaced by their younger apprentices as they grow old, these grizzled fighters scoff at that notion with balled fists and steely resolve, priming themselves for the next battle.
Whether it’s to test their skills against the highest form of competition, craving ultimate power by any means necessary, or conquering different realms, these characters are prime examples of the saying, “age is only a number”. These are the oldest characters in fighting games.
8 Gen Fu: Dead Or Alive — 67 Years Old
At first glance, Gen Fu might come across as an elderly but fit man. But make no mistake: Gen Fu can and will handily take out any foolish fighter who underestimates him because of his advanced age. A master of Xinyi lihue quan fighting style, and has entered the first two Dead or Alive tournaments to find a cure for his granddaughter, Mei Lin. Since then, he has continued to compete in subsequent tournaments as a difficult test against the competition.
Gen Fu uses decisive strikes to deal massive damage on his opponent: his movements are deliberate which he often uses to set up his powerful attacks that can also induce Critical Stuns.
7 Tung Fu Rue: Fatal Fury / King Of Fighters — 71 years old
One of the calmer and relaxed masters in the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters games, Tung Fu Rue is the one responsible for training Geese Howard and Jeff Bogard, Terry and Andy’s foster father.
Tung Fu Rue utilizes Hakkyokuseiken in conjunction with Kung Fu and Bajiquan techniques. His mastery of this style allows him to channel his chi to greatly enhance his muscles and physical strength: he can quickly bulk up any part of his body and use it to deal hard-hitting blows and overwhelm his enemies with explosive power.
In later games, Tung Fu Rue can create illusions from chi energy that allow him to strike hard while maintaining his agile frame.
6 Heihachi Mishima: Tekken — 75 Years Old
Heihachi Mishima was one of the main characters in the Tekken games. He is responsible for most of the world-shaping events from Tekken 2 to Tekken 7, namely his blood feud against his son, Kazuya.
Often seeking to possess ultimate power at the expense of everyone else, Heihachi has devised various plans to extract the Devil Gene from Kazuya and inject it to himself to bolster his already impressive fighting prowess. His Mishima fighting style incorporates stone-splitting and lighting-quick uppercuts, open palm strikes, and explosive punches to crush opponents with ease.
5 Shun Di: Virtua Fighter — 82+ Years Old
The Virtua Fighter games are widely regarded as the grandfather of 3D fighting games, and having an elderly fighter seems appropriate, as they usually cover a wide range of realistic fighting styles. Shun Di uses Drunken Kung Fu, effectively mixing violent fisticuffs with happy hour to confuse and bash his opponents in with unorthodox strikes, evades, and postures. His technique has led him to teach a number of apprentices eager to learn his wily ways.
In the recent Virtua Fighter game, Shun Di entered the tournament after hearing the success one of his students got from a previous one: Shun Di is driven to test his fighting abilities once again.
4 Cervantes: Soul Calibur — 102 Years Old
The Dread Pirate of the Soul Calibur games, Cervantes de Leon has been terrorizing his enemies since the first iteration of the series as the possessed vessel of the evil blade Soul Edge. Cervantes is driven by his own ego and often seeks to bolster his power he once had when he was fully-powered by the cursed blade.
He is a master at dual-wielding a longsword and a pistol-sword, thriving on getting in close and slicing up his targets. His iconic Dread Charge attack lets him spring towards his enemy in a spinning drill motion: if it hits flush, Cervantes deals a good chunk of damage.
3 Oro: Street Fighter — Over 140 Years Old
One of the strongest fighters in the Street Fighter games, Oro is a hermit who seemingly has achieved the secret to immortality thanks to his mastery of the Senjutsu fighting style. While he can come off as somewhat aloof and whimsical at times, if he is enticed to fight, his opponent will be in for a bout of their lives.
His Senjutsu allows him to use telekinesis to let various debris orbit around him: he can use it defensively as a shield, or offensively as projectiles against opponents. Oro also intentionally uses one arm during fights since this handicap keeps the fight interesting for him, and gives his opponent a fighting chance.
2 Sol Badguy: Guilty Gear — Between 190 And 200 Years Old
He may not look like it, but Sol Badguy is a lot older than he looks. Before he became the brash yet heroic protagonist of the Guilty Gear games, Sol Badguy was once a scientist named Fredrick who specialized in Magic Physics. After being fused with the Flame of Corruption, Sol became a Gear and became a bounty hunter who tracked down Gears and is in pursuit of That Man who’s responsible for his transformation.
Sol spent more than a hundred years taking out Gears and looking for That Man to stop his nefarious plan involving Gears and humanity. As a fighter, he is a frenetic brawler who eschews technique with unbridled force and reckless attacks. Because he’s a Gear, he has immense musculature and stamina that allow him to take hits and dish them out tenfold.
1 Shao Kahn: Mortal Kombat — Over 10,000 Years Old (Considered To Be Immortal)
The tyrannical warlord of Outworld, Shao Kahn is one of the oldest fighting game characters ever. He has spent multiple millennia as the ruler of Outworld and is always craving ultimate power. Shao Kahn’s quest of conquering earthrealm almost succeeded, but thanks to Liu Kang and his allies, their combined efforts stopped the realm mongerer from achieving his goal.
Shao Kahn is a formidable fighter who has crushed countless warriors underfoot. He uses soul magic, superhuman strength, and a warhammer to bludgeon opponents: Shao Kahn is ruthless and would often taunt his enemies as he beats them limb from limb. Once he kills his opponent, he absorbs their soul and gains their memories and fighting spirit, further empowering his might.