Street Fighter 6 finally concluded its first season of DLC with the recent release of Akuma. Now, at the recent 2024 Summer Games Fest, Capcom released a trailer showcasing the roster for the second season of DLC. Street Fighter 6 receiving more DLC was an exciting enough announcement on its own, but the roster of characters announced for it is truly unprecedented.

Street Fighter 6's Season 2 DLC features two returning characters, M. Bison and Elena. As one of the resident main villains and the game's first character representing Street Fighter 3 respectively, these two could have generated plenty of buzz by themselves in any other season. Instead, they were upstaged by a completely unprecedented move: the inclusion of guest characters in Street Fighter.

Fatal Fury's Flagship Characters Become Street Fighter's First-Ever Guest Characters

Guest Characters in Street Fighter Are Completely Unheard Of

Street Fighter is sometimes seen as the grandfather of all fighting games. It's a series with a lot of history, so it's no surprise how many times Street Fighter has lent its characters to other games. From in-house productions like Marvel vs. Capcom or Monster Hunter, to true crossover fanfare like Super Smash Bros., the World Warriors have made plenty of trips outside their home turf. However, they have never played host to another series, until now.

The closest thing to guest characters Street Fighter has ever had is the inclusion of characters from series like Final Fight and Rival Schools. However, these inclusions are not on the same scale at all. After all, they are still Capcom properties that both exist as a definitive shared universe with Street Fighter. Likewise, characters such as Cody and Sakura have become so synonymous with their appearances in Street Fighter that they're hardly considered to be crossing over anymore.

The Shared History of Street Fighter and Fatal Fury

Terry and Mai's introduction to Street Fighter 6 may have come as a shock, but it has been a long time coming in many ways. There are few publishers that share as much history with Capcom as SNK does. The two began as rivals thanks to their shared role as arcade fighting game developers, with rumors of bickering between executives fueling the feud.

Of course, this rivalry didn't have bitter undertones forever. Capcom and SNK began a feedback loop between each other with homages of everything from characters to game mechanics. Rivalry turned to reverence, and ultimately culminated in the crossover fighter Capcom vs. SNK, aka SNK vs. Capcom.

Capcom vs. SNK was a dream come true for fans of both franchises, which allowed playground arguments to play out in real time. Likewise, it was a huge step in the relationship between publishers, which left the question of guest characters hanging in the air. With that question finally answered, it is clear to see how this major crossover series paved the way for Street Fighter to finally receive its first guest character.

Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui Blaze Their Way into Street Fighter 6

The Summer Game Fest trailer opened with the flagship fighters of Street Fighter 6, Luke and Jamie, going a round in a fighting game of their own. After a brief tease to the audience, the young fighters are interrupted by Terry Bogard himself. Terry Bogard is to Fatal Fury and King of Fighters as Ryu is to Street Fighter. With so much of Street Fighter 6 involving the passing of the torch, it's no surprise that Terry's first action as a playable character in the series is to meet with Ryu's successor as the game's flagship fighter.

While Ryu may have been the face of Street Fighter for a long time, few characters have as much recognition in the genre as Chun-Li; SNK has its own flagship female fighter in Mai Shiranui. The two have even been posed as rivals in previous joint appearances, such as in Capcom vs. SNK. Hopefully, these established relationships carry over into Street Fighter 6's World Tour mode.

Terry and Mai are without a doubt the most popular characters from Fatal Fury. This makes it no large surprise that they are the first to represent their home franchise, perhaps leaving the door open for others to follow.

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Fatal Fury is Just the Beginning for Street Fighter Guest Characters

Though the inclusion of a crossover character of any sort is completely unprecedented, it's no surprise that Fatal Fury would claim the first two spots representing another series. Now that this door has been thrown wide open, it's only a matter of time before more guest characters find their way into Street Fighter.

There are many potential candidates for another guest character in Street Fighter. As the grandfather of fighting games, the series has a long enough history to mine all sorts of material from. However, in terms of recent crossovers, there may be no better candidate than Tekken. Akuma's appearance in Tekken 7 made waves, so maybe it's time for Bandai's biggest fighting game to return the favor.

Other popular fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Guilty Gear have a shot, but it's likely that Capcom will continue to play in the territory it is most familiar with. This means it's not unlikely that Street Fighter may simply reach for more SNK characters, such as Geese Howard, Rock Howard, or Kula Diamond. Whatever the route Capcom chooses to take, future guest characters will have to compete with fighters native to the series if they want a spot in Street Fighter's future DLC.

Street Fighter DLC Now Has Limitless Possibility & Plenty of Excitement

Calling the appearance of Terry and Mai in Street Fighter a huge leap forward for the series would be a severe understatement. While it may have been a pipe dream mere weeks ago, the road to this crossover is now clear. Fatal Fury and Street Fighter crossing over in such a definitive way is simply the culmination of a decades-long relationship. Year 2 of Street Fighter 6's DLC could pave the way for this relationship to grow even further, or perhaps allow Capcom to form these deep relationships with even more developers.