Summary
As the genre continues to grow and expand,fighting gamesbecome more defined by the size of their rosters. In an effort to simultaneously add characters and player hype around the game,guest charactersare often introduced into the mix. A guest character is an established outsider to the game.
If the game revolves around a single series, these characters are distinguished by not being from it. If a game revolves around multiple series united by a platform or corporate ownership, then these characters are not present within that platform or corporation. It is also worth noting that most guest characters will only make a singular appearance in a series, and rarely become recurring fighters themselves. However, this is by no means a requirement. This list will look atfighting games with the most guest characters.
Street Fighter X Tekkenis a fighting game crossover that pits characters from both series against one another in teams of two. The game was available on multiple platforms, but the version with the most content at launch was on the PlayStation Vita. In addition to the downloadable characters from either series, the Playstation Vita also featuredfive guest characters; one representative of each company tied to the game, and three more closely associated with the PlayStation.
For Capcom, there was Megaman, specifically a joke version of the character, influenced by infamous box art which portrayed him as an awkward-looking grown man with a gun. Namco had Pac-Man riding a mech based on Mokujin, the training dummy commonly found inTekken. On the PlayStation side of things, Toro Inoue and Kuro fromDoko Demo Issyowere guest characters. Toro is a white cat who is notably Sony’s Japanese mascot. Kuro is a black cat who serves as Toro’s friend and occasional foil. As the pair are not fighters by default, their moves instead are largely derived from those of Ryu and Kazuya respectively. For a more Western ambassador from Sony, Cole MacGrath ofInfamousfame is the final guest character. His electrokinetic abilities make up a good portion of the moves he uses. Notably, Heihachi Mishima ofTekkenwould appear alongside Toro and Cole soon after this game inPlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. As DLC, all five characters could be downloaded on the PS3.
Since the original reboot of the series,Mortal Kombathas continually integrated guest characters into its roster. These tend to be a mixture of characters from other forms of pop culture; most commonly movies and comics.Mortal Kombat11featured The Joker, Spawn, The Terminator, Robocop, and John Rambo. In addition to securing the characters, notable previous performers reprised their roles to varying degrees for each one.
The Joker was voiced by Richard Epcar, who previously played the role in the infamousMortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Spawn was voiced by Keith David, who previously portrayed him inTodd McFarlane’sSpawnon HBO. David has noted the character as one of his favorites to voice. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the model for Terminator, with voice actor Chris Cox performing his vocals instead. Finally, Sylvester Stallone (Rambo) and Peter Weller (Robocop) were both the voices and models for the characters they originated.
Prior to the widespread adoption of downloadable content, most fighting games re-released earlier installments, with additional content tacked on to justify getting the new game.Dead or Alive 5included three guest characters in its initial release, namely Akira Yuki, Pai Chan, and Sarah Bryant ofVirtua Fighterfame. Sarah’s brother, Jacky, was added toUltimate, an earlier reissue of the game.
Last Roundkept the fourVirtua Fightercharacters and added two other guests from separate series. One was Mai Shiranui, a kunoichi fromFatal Fury, who is also a mainstay inKing of Fighters. The final character originated not from a fighting game, but from a separate Tecmo Koei property; Naotora Li fromSamurai Warriors.
The second reboot ofMortal Kombathas made an effort to include more guest characters than the number present in the final installment of the first reboot series. The roster largely focused on comic characters adapted for television; namely Homelander, Omni-Man, and Peacemaker. Also present were Conan the Barbarian, Ghostface fromScream,and the T-1000 fromTerminator 2: Judgement Day. Once again, there was a concentrated effort to get notable performers to reprise their roles.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris Cox did the model and voice work for Conan, respectively. Jake Green voiced Homelander, with Anthony Starr’s likeness being used as a model for his face. Most of the other notable guest performers, namely John Cena (Peacemaker), J.K. Simmons (Omni-Man), and Robert Patrick (T-1000) were both the voice and model for their characters. Ghostface was voiced by Roger L. Jackson (who has done his voice since the originalScream), with Skeet Ulrich serving as the character’s facial model once unmasked, confirming this incarnation of the character is meant to be Billy Loomis from the original film.
TheSuper Smash Bros.seriesfirst made an effort to introduce guest characters inBrawl. Solid Snake fromMetal Gear, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario’s longtime rival in the console wars, debuted to great acclaim. Various cuts were made from the roster afterBrawl, due to limitations being imposed. Sadly, this meant Snake did not return. That said, the following installment—Super Smash Bros. for Wii U—kept Sonic and also added other guest characters alongside him. Pac-Man was present, which is less surprising when considering that Bandai Namco helped develop the game.
Other notable inclusions were Ryu fromStreet Fighterand Megaman (both owned by Capcom), Cloud Strife ofFinal Fantasy 7(owned by Square Enix), and Bayonetta (also owned by Sega). This signaled a transition from theSuper Smash Bros.series being only about Nintendo games, to encapsulating gaming as a whole.
The actual number of guest characters increases to 24 if palette swaps are counted as separate guest characters.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimatelived up to both its title and the tagline, “Everyone is Here!” Along with many other Nintendo characters, every previous guest character from the series was added to this game. Additionally, virtually every third-party character had one or more companions from their company alongside them in this new installment.
Simon and Richter Belmont from Konami’sCastlevaniaseries were among the first characters announced. Ken fromStreet Fighterwas also an early addition. DLC added even more guest characters to the series. Joker fromPersona 5was the first guest character to be DLC. Four different maleDragon Questprotagonists (namely Luminary, Erdrick, Solo, and Eight) were grouped into a composite character known as Hero, with each individual’s appearance being the basis for a different palette. Banjo and Kazooie, who previously achieved prominence on the Nintendo 64, returned forSmash Bros. Ultimate,acting in tandem as usual. Terry Bogard fromFatal Furyalso made an appearance.The King of Fighters, another series that features him prominently, was attributed as an influence toSmash, due to it revolving around several originally separate SNK protagonists coming together to fight.
Steve fromMinecraftwas also added to rapturous acclaim, alongside Alex, his female counterpart, as a palette swap. The Zombie and Enderman, two hostile mobs in the game, are also palette swaps. Sephiroth, a major antagonist fromFinal Fantasy 7,also appeared, becoming early access if the player could defeat him in a battle. Namco’s second character, Kazuya Mishima, the hero and later villain of theTekkenseries, was the second-to-last guest character added. The final guest character was Sora fromKingdom Hearts, a collaborative effort between Square Enix and Disney.
Brawlhallais a platform fighterthat arguably has the most guest characters out of any single fighting game. FromStreet FightertoStar Wars,Brawlhallahas it all when it comes to guest characters. However, the existence of these legends is built upon a single fact; almost no guest character is an individual entity. Except for two guests from Ubisoft, the current owner of Blue Mammoth Games, the vast majority of characters are palette swaps.
Only Ezio Auditore da Firenze fromAssassin’s Creed 2through toRevelations, and Rayman of the eponymous series, were developed as fully fleshed-out playable characters. The others are merely “crossover skins” serving as promotional tools for their respective series, all the while sharing their moves with one of the 64 characters made for the game. That said, how little the characters affect gameplay is likely the primary reason why so many are available in this manner. Similar toFortnite, the purely cosmetic change makes it easier to add many different characters into the game, rather than developing special abilities for each one of them. However, even as mere palette swaps, there is an active effort to present these costumes as the characters themselves, rather than mere alternate outfits for existing characters with a passing likeness.
