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Street Fighter fans. Could Sakura work as the protagonist for future titles

Could Sakura work as the Street Fighter protagonist in the future?

  • Yes

    Votes: 95 49.5%

  • No

    Votes: 97 50.5%
  • Total voters
    192
PhoenixAKG

PhoenixAKG

Member
Aug 14, 2019
8,092
So the Street Fighter Alpha series introduced us to Sakura:

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A schoolgirl who greatly admires Ryu and seeks to follow his teachings. Since her introduction she has not only been a staple of the series but a very popular character in her own right even being voted the most popular character worldwide.

In light of this and titles such as Street Fighter VI implying a focus to protagonist besides Ryu do you think Sakura could work if they chose to focus on her in this regard?
 
TheKupoxBooper

TheKupoxBooper

Member
Apr 5, 2022
1,605
First someone said Asuka in Tekken (wouldn't work especially after they turned her into a joke character with Lil and Jin falling on her boobs in Tekken 5 which I found gross lol) and with this one, I dont know if Sakura will EVER be a big protagonist espeically if she only was DLC in SFV, I dont know. Her whole story with following Ryu is kinda creepy xD; I dont know if I can take a character like her seriously. I play her in the games sure but as a main big protagonist on the level of Chun Li, Guile, Ken or even Luke? Not a chance in my opinion.
 
Doukou

Doukou

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,565
I'd prefer Luke over her.
Then again what does SF protagonist really get? Being on the box art?
 

Karsha

Member
May 1, 2020
2,651
Alex, Abel, Rashid and Luke were so everyone can, what I believe though is that SF it the fighting game were people care the least about the plot so it doesn't matter as long as Ryu, Ken and Chun Li are around
 
stn

stn

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,751
It is Luke, for better or worse. If it was going to be Sakura, they would have done it a long time ago. I don't mind Luke as the choice overall.
 
PlanetSmasher

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
Member
Oct 25, 2017
119,720
No. Sakura is super boring, and the fact that she's still acting like a schoolgirl despite the fact she's gotta be almost 30 by now is just goofy.
 
Ryce

Ryce

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,420
I doubt we'll see old characters slotted into the lead role. New protagonists will be new characters specifically created for new games like Alex, Abel, Rashid, and Luke.
 
SanTheSly

SanTheSly

The San Symphony Project
Member
Sep 2, 2019
6,919
United Kingdom
PhoenixAKG said:

Character Popularity Poll | CAPCOM:Shadaloo C.R.I.

VOTING RESULTS! We'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the fans around the world who voted in the "1st Character popularity Poll"!
game.capcom.com game.capcom.com
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Fair enough!

I guess she's maybe popular within SF as a community? I feel like the average joe wouldn't know or care about who she is compared to the bigger mainstays. I guess depending on if the series wanted to angle itself towards pleasing long-time players then this could make sense if she's the most popular character.

If they want to appeal more to new players, then they'll just continue with Luke or try someone new again, I think.
 
milkastrawberry

milkastrawberry

Member
Nov 7, 2017
268
she could, but i think her time has already passed unfortunately

also, i think they are already thinking of sidelining her with that talk of "settling down and having children is strength too" at the end of her arcade story in SFV
 
ClearMetal

ClearMetal

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,805
the Netherlands
No, that ship has sailed.

Wild to see people prefer Luke, though.

PlanetSmasher said:
No. Sakura is super boring, and the fact that she's still acting like a schoolgirl despite the fact she's gotta be almost 30 by now is just goofy.
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She was like 21 in SFV and had a job. The schoolgirl costume was there for nostalgia reasons but I'm not sure how she acted like one. Unless you're saying being generally upbeat is childlike.
 
Gorillaz

Gorillaz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,716
Nah Luke has meme'd himself into being liked

There was a time during the last year of SF5 when everyone hated Luke you could probably try it but not now
 
Moara

Moara

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,139
There was a time she could have, sure. She was at one point the next generation. That time has passed and there's already a new generation lol
 
Kurtikeya

Kurtikeya

One Winged Slayer
Member
Dec 2, 2017
4,566
Street Fighter should just be called Sakura Fighter from now on and should have at least four Sakuras in every game: st. lk Sakura, tatsu loop Sakura, A-Groove Sakura, Dark Sakura.

She works best with her current role tbh. Street Fighter is ultimately a series about the fight being everything and Sakura as of right now has wavered from that. Let her and Karin do their own things as well as their thing together while the protagonists continue to embark on the path to "the definition of a fighter".
 
PlanetSmasher

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
Member
Oct 25, 2017
119,720
SanTheSly said:
Fair enough!

I guess she's maybe popular within SF as a community? I feel like the average joe wouldn't know or care about who she is compared to the bigger mainstays. I guess depending on if the series wanted to angle itself towards pleasing long-time players then this could make sense if she's the most popular character.

If they want to appeal more to new players, then they'll just continue with Luke or try someone new again, I think.
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Considering Q, a character who has appeared twice ever, got fourth place in that poll, makes me think the results aren't exactly that serious. Kinda feels like a poll that got massively brigaded.
 
Moara

Moara

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,139
PlanetSmasher said:
Considering Q, a character who has appeared twice ever, got fourth place in that poll, makes me think the results aren't exactly that serious. Kinda feels like a poll that got massively brigaded.
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Those polls are basically just DLC requests lol. At the time of voting, Sakura hadn't been announced yet for SFV (she got announced pretty shortly after)

She is definitely still one of the most popular outside of the absolute mainstays. But the most popular characters like Ryu, Chun, Ken, Juri, etc are a given and are always gonna be in the launch roster lol
 
Gorillaz

Gorillaz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,716
808s & Villainy said:
Nah, still think he's dumb. You mean Capcom forced him into being "liked" because they're obsessed with blond white dudes taking over after Ryu
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Actually the voice actor on social media helped make him likeable to people online more so than capcom, but i'm over the blond shit too, there's a reason people called it Blonde Fighter 5 for years
 
JumbiePrime

JumbiePrime

Member
Feb 16, 2019
2,075
Bklyn
Doukou said:
I'd prefer Luke over her.
Then again what does SF protagonist really get? Being on the box art?
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They get to be mid to mid-low tier...so I'm perfectly okay with that!lol

I've never used Sakura but would be fine with her taking over as protag..Maybe make her a little more serious but not grumpy Ryu serious, ya know?
 
RealTravisty

RealTravisty

Member
Mar 29, 2018
1,178
I can't really see her as main character material. But I think Capcom needs to come up with another white male with blonde hair to lead their next entry. It's an unexplored character type that I wish Capcom would give more of a chance…
 
PlanetSmasher

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
Member
Oct 25, 2017
119,720
Moara said:
Those polls are basically just DLC requests lol. At the time of voting, Sakura hadn't been announced yet for SFV (she got announced pretty shortly after)

She is definitely still one of the most popular outside of the absolute mainstays. But the most popular characters like Ryu, Chun, Ken, Juri, etc are a given and are always gonna be in the launch roster lol
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I dunno, if they were DLC request polls why would they include the already playable characters in them? It's a popularity poll, not a "tell us who you want as DLC" poll.
 
Moara

Moara

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,139
PlanetSmasher said:
I dunno, if they were DLC request polls why would they include the already playable characters in them? It's a popularity poll, not a "tell us who you want as DLC" poll.
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It's not officially a DLC request poll, but fans use it like that and obviously Capcom pays attention to what characters to add in the future.

Almost every character in the top 10 in that poll that wasn't in the game at the time got added or had some sort of rep. Sakura, Cody, Sagat, Blanka, and Q with G all got in on the same season

Don't be surprised if we see Makoto in SF6 during the game's life
 
Neoxon

Neoxon

Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst
Member
Oct 25, 2017
86,558
Houston, TX
Could they, yes. Will they, no. For better or worse, Capcom already put their eggs in the Luke basket for SF's future. And it's clear that people like the guy, specifically his SF6 incarnation.

Ryce said:
I doubt we'll see old characters slotted into the lead role. New protagonists will be new characters specifically created for new games like Alex, Abel, Rashid, and Luke.
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Also this
 
Roliq

Roliq

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Sep 23, 2018
6,354
Moara said:
Those polls are basically just DLC requests lol. At the time of voting, Sakura hadn't been announced yet for SFV (she got announced pretty shortly after)

She is definitely still one of the most popular outside of the absolute mainstays. But the most popular characters like Ryu, Chun, Ken, Juri, etc are a given and are always gonna be in the launch roster lol
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Reminds me of how in one japanese Pokemon poll Arceus ended up in second, the reason for the high position was because the winner of the poll was to be gifted to everyone and people really wanted a free Arceus as it was otherwise impossible to get until recently, but still lost lol
 
Rbrogue

Rbrogue

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
276
SF Story is kind of nonsensical enough that anyone could convincingly be slotted in as the main character but "Ryu Fangirl" isn't enough to carry even SF's paper-thin narrative. If the next game introduced some kind of new big bad that kills Ryu or something, then sure lets follow her quest for vengeance or whatever.
 
TheEchosOfTheCyborg

TheEchosOfTheCyborg

Member
Feb 24, 2018
5,612
Is Luke really the protag of Tekken 6? He's the one marketed but in the actual game he's more the Obi-Wan than the Luke Skywalker (which was your player character). Plus it feels like like after launch they eased up a bit with pushing Luke, especially after Marisa and Kimberly got naturally popular.

But yeah I also agree her time has past at this point unless they pivot a lot. She was the protagonist of her own manga (the one Karin first appeared in before appearing in Alpha 3).
 
TheEchosOfTheCyborg

TheEchosOfTheCyborg

Member
Feb 24, 2018
5,612
SanTheSly said:
Fair enough!

I guess she's maybe popular within SF as a community? I feel like the average joe wouldn't know or care about who she is compared to the bigger mainstays. I guess depending on if the series wanted to angle itself towards pleasing long-time players then this could make sense if she's the most popular character.

If they want to appeal more to new players, then they'll just continue with Luke or try someone new again, I think.
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She's more popular than that I feel given she was picked for Fortnite, had her own manga back in the 90s etc. I wouldn't say she's on the tier of the big SF2 cast but she's one of the most well-known characters outside of that circle besides Juri I feel.
 
erraticstatic

erraticstatic

Member
Jan 22, 2022
451
I think they could feasibly do it if they absolutely wanted to, however I think the only way you'd get Sakura in a lead role is if they made another Alpha title or something in the same vein.

I will say, I'd be all for it, especially if they ever intend to retire the legacy characters for an entry/timeline-wise. Would be fine if Sakura, Luke, Sean, etc. replaced Ryu and Ken.
 
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