Abel was the "main character" but I felt like Viper was supposed to be the star. Then both got overshadowed by Juri. I think there's a pattern where they try and copy Ryu's dryness in making a new main but don't get what makes Ryu special regardless of that.
Viper was designed to appeal to US/American audiences but at the time MMA on was the rise, so Abel ended up being far more popular. Not to mention it did not help that when SFIV came out Viper was so technical, that people didn't really do well with her until later on.
@@Jonkin715 I know. Back when SFIV was out in arcades, during matches, you can hear her KO death scream in the background. Rather frequently. You never hear anyone else getting KO'd so often.
I really liked Able's gameplay as well. And his music was really hype. I never new nor cared that Able was a main character. All I care about is if the character is fun to play.
Capcom always tries to push a blonde new star in every game that isn't me. · Guile for Street Fighter II · Alex for Street Fighter III · Abel for Street Fighter IV · Nash for Street Fighter V · Luke for Street Fighter VI · Terry Bogard for Street Fighter I (before they decided on Ryu)
I bet 90% of the fans didn't know that Abel was suppose to be the main character of SF4 The dude is so bland and boring. I even prefer Rufus over Abel.
Pretty much. I liked Abel too but yeah he didn’t seem to contribute too heavily to the main plot of SF4. Even when he returned in SFV’s story, the writing just treated him as a background character.
@@carlbloke8797 which stinks cause his origins are very interesting. We get a plot twist in his ending, but after that he just kinda goes home. After all he had been through I figured he would try to stick with guile and chunli more. I kinda hope he returns one day as a playable character though, I did like his fighting style, and honestly while he looked dull I found his character charming.
@@carlbloke8797 Ostensibly, Abel was intended to be a scarred up amnesiac Charlie/Nash but Capcom abandoned that plot point due to the lukewarm reception from fans. There are many hints to this in his design: He shares some normals with Charlie, he has the distinct "forelock" in his hairline, his somersault kicks produce the "flashkick" effect, he shares a couple win quotes with Charlie, and the fact that he's French as both Charlie and his estranged son Remy have in common.... Furthermore you have his ending and the fact his clone Seth can throw one-handed sonic booms... Obviously, the fact that Nash returned in SFV retconned this, but it's still an interesting cul-de-sac of lore. I think the character designers were putting down bread crumbs but nobody wanted this revelation - So instead he served a bit of a red herring until Frankenstein "Nash" appeared in SFV - still scarred up but much more recognizable.
He may not have been "Main Protag" material, but I didn't think his design was bad. Very traditional looking martial artist, much like the original line up when compares to some of these newer characters. I like the way he played as well, which I would think was more important, but that's just me.. Abel immediately came to mind when they announced SF6 and showed off Manon, I'm surprised they didn't make any connections...
I think Abel could easily be work back into the roster if Capcom changed three small thing about him to help him stand out: 1. Give him a new and better outfit. 2. Give him a better motif, maybe something to do with bears. 3. As for his personality, maybe have something that shows his love of animals
Totally agreed. He should be walking into the fight riding on bears and with a hawk on his shoulder. Also he should be given more MMA grappling moves and floor maneuvers.
I felt Abel was a better introductory character for grapplers. Past games it felt difficult to master a grapple class fighter in a 2D fighter, and I felt Abel was a more well rounded fighter to introduce grapple commands.
I even recall videos and quotes from high level players of Abel, saying even THEY didn't really like him as a character, but liked his moves. I found him just beige in every way. He was the human embodiment of low-volume elevator music.
WHAT!? I loved Abel, he was my favorite. He had a great rushdown grappler play style that was really fun, and I loved his simple himbo personality! And the way he got all shy and awestruck over meeting Zangeif was adorable.
@@deanbrooks7297 I liked his personality too, he was a big dumb himbo who seemed like he was seeing the world for the first time, it was kind of adorable.
For me, I don't consider both Abel and Rashid as Main Protagonists. The following are the only Street Fighter Main Protagonists that I am considering: Ryu for the Shadaloo Saga Alex for the Illuminati Saga Luke Sullivan for the Nayshall Saga
rashid was also supposed to be a main character!? I really didn't see that at all, Luke and Alex yes, Capcom really shove them down our throats, but I never saw such push for rashid and abel
@Dexter Josef Amata Post a picture that showed that picture Luke along with characters that are considered main protagonist being Ryu, Alex, Abel and Rashid.
Abel wasn't a main, he was never on box art or promotional materials. He is a good fighter though, and if they lean into the animal thing more he could become an interesting Beastmaster sort of character.
I think a good pro wrestling comparison is Dean Malenko. Highly technical mechanics and talent, but not really enough flair or force of character to carry a card/franchise alone. Really loved watching his matches though.
See shit like this is why I'm not exactly chomping at the bit at Street Fighter 6 like everyone else. Capcom has no respect for their characters post Street Fighter 2. Hell it was only after Third Strike that people even gave a shit for anyone in SF3. Imagine the sheer amount of disrespect that Kotal Kahn got in MKX and 11, multiply that by the number of new characters between SF4 and SF5 who didn't make the cut for SF6, who are most assuredly never coming back for SF6. Hard to care about any of these new characters when Capcom doesn't, isn't that right Necali?
Alex was the main character of Street Fighter 3, Abel was the main character of Street Fighter 4, and Rashid was the main character of Street Fighter 5. Capcom is AWFUL at advertising these things and that's on Capcom. We literally didn't even know these things.
I feel the SF main characters suffer from SF's awful storytelling, SF storylines are extremely generic & main characters are generally 1 dimensional tropes that have no development, not to mention their stories are told via quickly narrated slide shows which are vague & leaves out many details & typically arrives at no conclusion, confusing the player even further. The only game franchise with consistent, conclusive narratives deapite the reboots is Mortal Kombat, MK has very deep story modes in comparison to all other fighting game franchises, whenever I finished a MK story mode from MK, MKX or MK11 I felt invested in many of the characters in the roster. Tekken had a great thing going in Tekken 4's narrative. Tekken 4 though it utilized slides to tell character stories the slides contained very detailed illustrations & alot of details about the characters life, obstacles & motivations, this made the Tekken cast feel tangible, relatable like real people with real struggles. Tekken 4 also added cutscenes when u encountered a rival in each characters storymode to add further detail to a characters narrative. Tekken would eventually abandon the deep storytelling in favor of empty tropes & mindless action.
I loved Abel. His fighting style was awesome and his mysterious backstory kept me interested. I was genuinely annoyed he was barely in sf5 but then again sf5 story was a joke. Also, all Street Fighter games basically star Ryu and Ken as far as anyone is concerned.
@@Empty_Roar Abel said he was going to find out more about himself and Bison said he’d see him again. His story ain’t over yet. And as for Ryu, he’s on an endless journey to fight new opponents and challenge himself. Also, Sakura should have been his disciple, they ruined her story.
@@ynghuch ryu still loves to fight but hes not going to be hopping on a different plane every week anymore. Ken meanwhile wants to spend more time with family. Sakura knows that fighting isn't every thing and wants a balance before she's playing catchup at ryu's age
@@Empty_Roar Ryu doesn’t fly the guy walks like a nomad around Asia. And that’s what I mean about Sakura, she would have been perfect to become the new Ryu, Sean could have replaced Ken then boom. Two new protagonist 👊
Abel is a cool character. I liked playing as him in base SF IV. But Capcom needs to take a hint and listen to the fans. Keep Ryu as the lead, and stop trying to replace him with all these blonde dudes!! (Alex, Abel, Luke) Edit: So, I forgot to mention that even America tried to replace Ryu as the main lead in both the live action film (where Guile is the lead because AMERICA!!), and the cartoon where he's practically Ken's sidekick (also Ken is stronger than him and is Akuma's actual target.... because AMERICA!!!) Lastly, if you want to replace him as the lead, try it with someone who is the polar opposite of Ryu (Sakura or Batsu).
You don't think its cause Ryu is just basic karate man and the other characters have some sort of personality and easier to write an interesting story for?
@Popeye Doyle Besides Guile all the other attempts of Capcom kept trying to replace ryu with boring white (Alex is cool just bad timing) dudes is pretty annoying.
@@guynamedrick4419 alex is boring too for a main character. He looks like a generic 80s wrestler. I like luke he just has no fashion sense. A retired soldier trying to adjust to civilian life is interesting
Boring!? Abel was an such a cool character and is so much fun to play as! He has an interesting backstory and he definitely deserves to return in a future Street Fighter game or even as a future DLC character in SF6. Also, am I the only one who is furious at the fact that Abel never became a playable character in SF5!? Heck, we hardly ever even got to see him interact with Charlie Nash aka the man whom he was searching for in SF4!!!
When I think of Abel, I kinda feel like he never really lead anywhere- he was supposed to be Seth's rival, but he became more involved with hating Juri. He was supposed to have this connection to Guile and Charlie, but nothing happened there. Him being a clone, his rivalries, they all just kinda... fizzled out. An idea I had, is to combine Ed and Abel's characters and concepts into one. We know that Ed kinda super-grows, or ages really fast. I had an idea where "Abel" is him using Psycho Power to grow an adult body to fight with, but he still has a very child-like mentality. He fights Seth but when S.I.N collapses, he's found by Balrog who takes in the child-sized (because the battle exhausted him) Abel / Ed, and in his company and influence Abel gets a bit more edge that turns him into a kind of fusion of Abel and Ed. Balrog teaches him to look out for number one and Abel absorbs like the little baby sponge he is, but he never quite lets go of the naive, kind boy he is (as a call-back to Abel's little boy-design). I say this mostly because Ed becoming the leader of a group of ex-Shadaloo and fighting to subvert their plans, feels like it is a story that could belong to Abel as well. Hell, maybe Neo Shadaloo (a name I still dislike) could take in the new Seth, and provide an actually supportive pseudo-family for them. Granted, the problem here is the gameplay. Abel's Judo/MMA-centric gameplay is pretty different from Ed's Paycho Power / Boxing style. I'd like a way to reconcile these diffefences, but that is definitely the part I'm the least confident can be merged in a satisfying way.
Funny that Luke and Manon both got things from Abel. Luke: blond hair, blue eyes, MMA. Manon: French nationality, a grappler-based fighting style, wears a gi top, tights, and foot pads as their default outfit.
I don't think he was made to be like alex or luke, as the initial trailers focused on ryu and satsui no hado, it even had a movie that barely had Abel. this sounds like just an opinion. it even soon became more juri centered with future DLCs. Abel was a great character tho. He wasn't even in the main covers man.
SF can never have a replacement for Ryu while Ryu is in the game. Capcom has to be bold enough to leave Ryu out of a game so another character can shine.
I'm terrible at street fighter (and basically all fighters like it), but I love Tekken and for whatever reason I clicked with Abel immediately. He's the only character I like playing as. Can't say much about his character, honestly I don't ever really pay attention to that in fighting games. I am quite literally that person who just views the characters as a set of mechanics and am completely indifferent to everything else.
The biggest stretch of the century! Just because they have Judo influence huh? Oh right and cause they are French! No, they no where near the same outside of those two characteristics!
@@DANCERcow I was joking, but seriously if you looked at the concept design for Abel he was originally a petite girl in an oversized judo top with yoga / bicycle pants (basically similar to Manon / Abel attires.) In the end for SF IV, they ultimately changed her into a muscular male blond, which is Abel. Now they changed it back again into a girl, but taller, and called her Manon. But I believe Abel and Manon came from the same original concept design.
A shoto girl would be the easiest thing in the world and they won’t do it, Sakura isn’t even in 1st year DLC sf6, but I mean a whole new character. Maybe even trained by Akuma then Ryu and Ken have to get her out of the “dark side”
The problems with Abel as a protagonist are many, and most of them arent things specifically tied to him. 1: Street Fighter's method of story telling. In "story mode" you get like, maybe 3 actual story cutscenes, half a dozen character vinettes. This is an abysmal way to introduce to *NEW* characters, little own new *MAIN* characters. His thing with being an android intended for use by Bison has a lot of promise, but, I can not tell you a single person who got that -- doubly so when the translation of Street Fighter games leaves much to be desire. The "you look like me" moments between Seth and Abel don't work as well in english because the two's in game graphical representation look *nothing* alike besides them being large and muscular. It doesnt help that the scene *WITH* Seth in the game is the *SAME* scene no matter your character, he has no personalized intro depending on the character so you don't get anything like "Ah! Abel! So good to see you... BROTHER!" that might have helped actually *TELL* Abel's story. All that shit is relegated to the anime movie, which, nobody fucking watched. 2: His lack of presentation in the marketing for SF4 really hurt him. It's mentioned in this video, but Alex and Luke get plastered all over their games covers and marketing. SF4 barely features Abel, and most of the promotional material leading up to SF4's release focused on *ALL* of the new entries -- El Fuerte, Hakan, and *MOST* notably, Juri. Which brings me to... 3: Juri. Juri stole the show in SF4 with her explosive personality, strong motivations, moral degeneracy, aggressive and versatile fighting style, and of course, her design. The SF girls have a tendency to shine, Juri is no different, and unfortunately for Abel capcom didn't make the two of them a pair despite both of their journeys being so similar -- Juri was *ALSO* a shadaloo experiement who managed to liberate herself, she is *ALSO* a vessel for Bison. She and Abel have a *lot* in common. In a world where Juri finds Abel and manipulates him into being the "muscle" for her, we could see both of these characters develop more. You wouldn't even need to change Juri's story at all, but Capcom *knew* what they were doing when they made Juri, it's *NO* surprise she's returned in every game since her introduction. Most people would view *her* as the "protagonist" of SF4 and they'd have good reason to do so. It wouldn't have hurt either of them to make them a villainous pair, with Juri doing the lion's share of the villainy, while Abel tags along on his own quest for answers. 4: The first of Abel's own faults is that Abel isn't a shojo, his imputs in game are weirder than most protags. He has a good kit with a solid skill ceiling, but he has a barrier for entry that's unlikely to be broken by a totally new player on their immediate introduction. I would also blame SF for hiding the tutorials away in a seperate menu from Story mode, and poorly presenting the tutorials in forms of "challenges". The purpose of a tutorial is to teach you mechanics. If each character had a more deeply customized tutorial that taught a player the fundamentals of the character (Abel can 'roll' through projectiles for example), you'd have a lot more ability to engage with characters who can do the things you want to do. 5: The *BIGGEST* problem with Abel is his design is weird, but not weird enough to be *WEIRD.* He's *HUGE* for a SF character, he's a gentle giant type of guy and that's great, but he just wears a gi, some shorts, and gloves and boots. All in flat colors. That was fine for Ryu and Ken, they lived and breathed martial arts, they were martial artists at their core so their costumes reflect those identities. But Abel isn't a martial artists. I'd even go so far as to say he's a guy who doesn't *WANT* to fight. It's very strange for him to be wearing a martial artist's uniform around casually when he's *NOT* that kind of guy. You could easily have put him in a sleeveless hoodie, shorts, ditch the gloves and go for some hand wraps -- ironically, making him look a bit like *Luka,* back then, would have helped him stand out. Alternatively, we *see* Abel with Bison-like armor in some of the comic art, that would have been a good addition. As it is, his costume is *very* plain, and while his fighting style is functional it lacks flair. If he looked more like a guy who had something going on, he might have been more memorable.
3 had the best new characters and 4 had the worst. Even the returning characters from 3 blew 4's out of the water and they completely forgot about all of them. Viper is the only one that worked outside of the main series. When they made Abel they basically watered down Alex and gave him amnesia. Then they looked at how serious he was and threw some Looney Tunes characters in like Fat Kung Pow, Chicken Wrestler, Red Oil Man, Cyberpunk Laura Croft, and Purple Akuma.
I think Ryu is more plain and boring than Able. Able has a more interesting backstory. Ryu is a karate man in a karate gi who wants to wants to train to become stronger. If it weren't for Akima and his inner conflict with evil Vs good power he would be the most boring fighting game character.
1:55 That is genuinely the worst command throw I have ever seen. A character with such a martial arts-based design should not have a throw that would not look the slightest bit out of place if used by the Incredible Hulk.
I don’t really mind Abel. I played him a lot in SF4 because i love Grapplers and his playstyle clicked with me. Admittedly, yes, Abel can be pretty boring, but let’s be honest here, so is Ryu whenever he isn’t fighting Akuma or his Dark side. I feel like, on himself, Abel really couldn’t carry any story, but he is a great supportive character to others. As mentioned by the previous super best friends: „Abel is to Guile what Guile was to Nash“ and they do have a pretty good chemistry going on between the two. Not to mention that Abel is actually pretty hilarious once you read his victory lines against other fighters in SFxT. Now, in my own thoughts, i actually believed Abel would somehow get closer to Cammy because, as you mentioned, he was a Vessel created for Bison to take over, just like Cammy. So i thought they would create a group together as survivors of Shadaloo
I think the biggest issue with Abel (he's a favorite of mine btw) is that he had no rival to play off of and develop himself further a great example of this is the current Protagonist Luke and his rivalry with Jamie, they build off of each other and have so many similarities and just enough differences to create a slight clash between the two of them, if they gave Abel a true rival to grow around and flesh him out more he'd be way more popular and they had so many great characters to pick from in SF4, even Alex has his rivalry with Hugo it wasn't too deep but it helped flesh him out more as a wrestler aiming for the top just like Hugo. I know he'll be back one day and I can't wait to see what they do for my boy Abel, but I know they dropped to ball on his time as protagonist
@@KaitouKaiju I mean, she does uses judo and is from France, but I was talking about the whole character concept; I think the "flavourless" martial artist still works when it's a female for some reason, see Makoto. Also, Ryu himself doesn't look really outstanding, and the blue gi still missing after so many shotos.
And they didn't learn their lesson, they double downed on abel's concept and created manon which is pretty much a copy of him, there's so much similarities between them ... And i hate it.
@@jamesvazquez4961 She's clearly a better version of the original concept for abel that's for sure, but as a french I can't say that I like her introduction. There's 3 french characters, and 2 of them are basically clones of each other and the 3rd bad copy of guile with an awful story, france deserve better than that imo.
@@MrOrzeker now that I think about it, it's kind of bad that 2 of the 3 French characters are clones. At least Manon is the most appealing character out of the 3, i mean, many people are maining her right now.
@@jamesvazquez4961 She's still a twist on Abel but yeah they nailed her better than they did the other 2, it's just me being salty because I would've wanted something different. The fact that 2/3 are grapplers as well is kind of annoying to me, but nothing I can do about it, just hope they realize something is wrong with the french characters and finally decide to be a little more original with the next one.
@@MrOrzeker I'm pretty sure they will. y'know, in fighting games, they always do that. They replace a character with a similar one, so people can play as that new character without feeling like they've replaced the previous character completely, This also makes for a much larger roster and it also refreshes it. At least that's the explanation they give.
Bruh…Abel was my favorite character in that game. Won more ranked matches with him than any other fighter from the entire roster. His fighting style was perfect for me and I can only hope we’ll see him return someday.
Well if you’ve ever played against a good Able, you’ve never forgotten what it’s like to be in the vortex. I don’t think they will ever being able back, because they reworked his moves and overall character design into Manon, the French model, and as far as I can tell she is very popular.
Great video! I used to love abel's design and character in general, i played sfIV when i was really young and by "played" i mean clicking random buttons on my xbox 360 controller and asking my dad to do hadoukens and ultras in general. There was something about him that i cannot truly remember, but i always feared him, whenever it was his battle on the story mode, i would be actually scared of losing (and lose a lot of times, in fact), or maybe simply i couldn't understand his command grabs. Also, he seems so serious, idk, he just seems like such a cool fighter
Really? I liked Abel a lot. But never thought of him as the protagonist of SF IV. I felt quite frustrated for never being able to play well with him But entering an underground world fighting tournament just to get inspiration to name a puppy is quite silly.
When I saw Luke was gonna be another attempt at a self insert new character I immediately thought of Abel and how that didn't work well. I believe Sean would be a much better rival to Luke than Jaime. All Sean needed was some reworking and a slight maturity boost and Capcom would have a great rival to Luke and even Jaime. Sean is still relatively new enough to be a part of the new generation of street fighters but has grown enough in skill and abilities to show the current new generation they have a ways to go like himself. Sakura became a great character loosely mimicking Ryu, Sean can be set up to do the same mimicking Ken.
Also, I didn't know about any of the SF X Tekken Kuma/space bears stuff until now. Abel is now my favorite video game character, or would be if Cammy didn't like cats.
something I absolutely hate in video games/comics and anime is when they use the "amnesia" or "clone of (insert character here)" plots for characters. they should stop doing that and put a little bit of effort into a backstory and personality for their characters.
Preach! There’s plenty of fighting game protagonists that pull the fight and train to get stronger archetype and they far more interesting as characters than Ryu.
If the copyright for Popeye had expired just a little bit sooner they wouldn't have named the main character Luke. Look at the cover for 6, he just needs a pipe and a can of spinach.
Abel was supposed to be the protag? Capcom needs to understand that Ryu is the archetypal character. You can't replace him, he's attached to the hip of the franchise.
My sense from the beginning was the Abel was designed to a "middle of the road" character that would be helpful for balancing both rushdown, keepaway, and grappler characters. He also relied heavily on Focus, FADC, and Ultra more than most. I think that's why he was made the star. Ostensibly, Abel was intended to be a scarred up amnesiac Charlie/Nash but Capcom abandoned that plot point due to the lukewarm reception from fans. There are many hints to this in his design, he shares some normals with Charlie, he has a distinct "forelock" his somersault kicks produce a little "flash" effect, he shares a couple win quotes with Charlie, and the fact that he's French as both Charlie and his abandoned son Remy have in common. Obviously, the fact that Nash returned in SFV retconned this, but it's still an interesting cul-de-sac of lore.
I think main character does not necessarily needs to mean "main driver of the plot", or even the central arch of a story. I think Ryu, Alex, Able and Rashid all are one thing: Outsiders entering a new tournament. Ryu enters the world warrior tournament and get to know all the other fighters. Alex enters the tournament of third strike, facing off against literal gods, old champions, demons and the like. Able is thrown into the Sin web, meeting new and old heroes on the way Rashid...idk, I didn't play Street fighter 5, but I guess he also fits the bill. I think main character means more "pov character" for someone new to the series. And I think that they all do pretty well.
I kinda wished they went with the young kid design because it would've been extremely interesting to a more speedy smaller grappler but much weaker defensively and being fleshed out a bit more could've made him a fan favorite potentially
I think Abel would’ve been more memorable if he had a better design, just..with each street fighter character they has one asset that *strikes* Ryu, his headband (other stuff like his hair too but his headband is one that comes to mind) Guile’s weird flattop hairstyle. Chun Li’s thighs Abel doesn’t have anything that strikes His concept art where he was that little boy was a way better design and cooler looking in my opinion, I wish they went with that one because holy shit it’s a massive upgrade
I wanted to like Abel, but he was one-dimension. He was easily overshadowed by other SFIV characters, like Juri and Viper. Although I kinda have a softspot for him, I understand why people thought he was boring.
Can you imagine if they stuck with the original design? Abel's big Achille's heel is that he's so bland in look and concept it's hard to get invested, but if we were instead introduced to a pintsized tyke rolling and chucking everyone about...
Abel was truly Wasted Potiental of a Character, from the General Consensus that not many People know about it, but I already knew on the Mark that he was the Protagonist in SF4, the Clues are pretty simple, the obvious Example is the Vanilla Version of SF4 on the Character Selection Roster the Cursor is always pointed at Abel's Slot, he has also been in more Rival Cutscenes and even got more Screen Time in most of the Character Prolouges and Endings in Vanilla SF4, The Fact that Abel is a Forgotten SF Protagonist is completely Understandable, by the Time when Super/Ultra SF4 came out with more new Characters, Retconned Rival Cutscenes, Prolouges and Endings, kinda shows that Capcom has pretty much given up and abandoned Abel as a Protagonist in SF4.
I actually really liked Abel when I was younger lol thought his design was cool! And his story interesting! Really liked his play style too it was fun and easy to get your head around!
As someone who only babbled in 4 a little after playing a lot of 2 and 3, I was under the impression Crimson Viper was the main character of 4 as she seemed to be the one getting the most hype, including an appearance in MvC3. I feel a lot of the mains suffer from a bit of genericness in terms of general vibe. This worked for Ryu when folks were just getting used to the franchise and its colourful characters, but became more of a problem once players got more involved with the games.
0:54 I don't want to be that guy But Abel is my favourite street fighter character Even though he is boring he is a great guy that loves animals Check in street fighter duel (a mobile game that you've kinda ignored ) Abel's special item is a box of vet supplies That is my reasoning for Abel being my favourite it ain't much but it is a reason after all Edit:nevermind his backstory is just Abel's story mode again
Support my show on Patreon : www.patreon.com/user?u=4432923
Lol 😂 yeah I forgot about that guy
Puck you Top Hat, Abel was AMAZING! Lol.
Abel was the "main character" but I felt like Viper was supposed to be the star. Then both got overshadowed by Juri. I think there's a pattern where they try and copy Ryu's dryness in making a new main but don't get what makes Ryu special regardless of that.
I mean it worked with guile and charlie as the main character of sf2 and the alpha series
Viper was designed to appeal to US/American audiences but at the time MMA on was the rise, so Abel ended up being far more popular. Not to mention it did not help that when SFIV came out Viper was so technical, that people didn't really do well with her until later on.
Alex is way more interesting imo, he’s so underused
@@HadesHatredEdge Yeah, she had a cool look, but she was so difficult to use effectively that it wasn't worth putting the tume in.
@@Jonkin715 I know. Back when SFIV was out in arcades, during matches, you can hear her KO death scream in the background. Rather frequently. You never hear anyone else getting KO'd so often.
Abel was really cool to play.
His MMA style was really unique.
Yeah, Abel was really fun to play and guys like Keoma and 801Strider were always hype to watch in tournaments. Who cares at all about story mode?
Same.
I really liked Able's gameplay as well. And his music was really hype. I never new nor cared that Able was a main character. All I care about is if the character is fun to play.
Was gonna disagree until I realized I'm just trash with him sooooo it's my fault lol
Why would u claim Abel is worst character when Dan exists?
Didn't know Abel was a main character
Capcom always tries to push a blonde new star in every game that isn't me.
· Guile for Street Fighter II
· Alex for Street Fighter III
· Abel for Street Fighter IV
· Nash for Street Fighter V
· Luke for Street Fighter VI
· Terry Bogard for Street Fighter I (before they decided on Ryu)
I bet 90% of the fans didn't know that Abel was suppose to be the main character of SF4
The dude is so bland and boring.
I even prefer Rufus over Abel.
@@KenMasters.To be fair, Guile feels more like the main protagonist than Ryu in SF2
@@meganinten0078
That's because Guile had more plot in SFII than Ryu (until Akuma came along), and more appearances in both the film and cartoon.
Didn't know he was bad he was one of my faves
I honestly liked Abel as a character. But i felt in terms of story telling, he didnt seem to do much other then the fact he was a rogue Seth unit.
Pretty much. I liked Abel too but yeah he didn’t seem to contribute too heavily to the main plot of SF4. Even when he returned in SFV’s story, the writing just treated him as a background character.
@@carlbloke8797 which stinks cause his origins are very interesting. We get a plot twist in his ending, but after that he just kinda goes home.
After all he had been through I figured he would try to stick with guile and chunli more.
I kinda hope he returns one day as a playable character though, I did like his fighting style, and honestly while he looked dull I found his character charming.
@@carlbloke8797 Ostensibly, Abel was intended to be a scarred up amnesiac Charlie/Nash but Capcom abandoned that plot point due to the lukewarm reception from fans. There are many hints to this in his design: He shares some normals with Charlie, he has the distinct "forelock" in his hairline, his somersault kicks produce the "flashkick" effect, he shares a couple win quotes with Charlie, and the fact that he's French as both Charlie and his estranged son Remy have in common.... Furthermore you have his ending and the fact his clone Seth can throw one-handed sonic booms... Obviously, the fact that Nash returned in SFV retconned this, but it's still an interesting cul-de-sac of lore. I think the character designers were putting down bread crumbs but nobody wanted this revelation - So instead he served a bit of a red herring until Frankenstein "Nash" appeared in SFV - still scarred up but much more recognizable.
He may not have been "Main Protag" material, but I didn't think his design was bad. Very traditional looking martial artist, much like the original line up when compares to some of these newer characters. I like the way he played as well, which I would think was more important, but that's just me.. Abel immediately came to mind when they announced SF6 and showed off Manon, I'm surprised they didn't make any connections...
I agree, I wanted Manon to be like him so bad, she's; not but a great new twist on the French grappler.
I think Abel could easily be work back into the roster if Capcom changed three small thing about him to help him stand out:
1. Give him a new and better outfit.
2. Give him a better motif, maybe something to do with bears.
3. As for his personality, maybe have something that shows his love of animals
Totally agreed. He should be walking into the fight riding on bears and with a hawk on his shoulder. Also he should be given more MMA grappling moves and floor maneuvers.
I'd say dogs instead of bears. Gief has the best motif.
I think he'd pair well with Cammy for various reasons
Also a more visually appealing moveset
@@DexDexter0Yeah I think Abel and Cammy could confine in one another since they were both Shadaloo dolls at one point and are finally free.
@@carlbloke8797na his gameplay was fire the way it is, he was everything Laura should of been gameplay wise
Abe was so fun to play in SF4. I used to main him and he felt so fluid.
I felt Abel was a better introductory character for grapplers. Past games it felt difficult to master a grapple class fighter in a 2D fighter, and I felt Abel was a more well rounded fighter to introduce grapple commands.
Abel was my first main in SF4 I think they just needed to expand him narratively. His moveset was awesome but design left something lacking
I’m so glad I’m not the only one that finds Abel fun to play as.
I frequently forget Abel even exists. He’s the human incarnation of white bread.
😂😂😂 why you do him like that
Do not dare touch white bread
I even recall videos and quotes from high level players of Abel, saying even THEY didn't really like him as a character, but liked his moves. I found him just beige in every way. He was the human embodiment of low-volume elevator music.
WHAT!? I loved Abel, he was my favorite. He had a great rushdown grappler play style that was really fun, and I loved his simple himbo personality!
And the way he got all shy and awestruck over meeting Zangeif was adorable.
His gameplay was fire but his personality was nonexistent
@@deanbrooks7297 I liked his personality too, he was a big dumb himbo who seemed like he was seeing the world for the first time, it was kind of adorable.
So a more boring copy of R.Mika then...
For me, I don't consider both Abel and Rashid as Main Protagonists. The following are the only Street Fighter Main Protagonists that I am considering:
Ryu for the Shadaloo Saga
Alex for the Illuminati Saga
Luke Sullivan for the Nayshall Saga
rashid was also supposed to be a main character!? I really didn't see that at all, Luke and Alex yes, Capcom really shove them down our throats, but I never saw such push for rashid and abel
@Omar Reyes
Capcom actually confirmed that Rashid is V protagonist.
When Super came out, Juri felt more like a main character than Abel ever did.
@Dexter Josef Amata
Post a picture that showed that picture Luke along with characters that are considered main protagonist being Ryu, Alex, Abel and Rashid.
@@davidkerr7350 Just scroll to 11:24. There you can see Takayuki Nakayama's tweet in the same video.
Abel is my favorite of the new characters in SF4. His fighting style hooked me right away.
I swear ryu only has popularity solely because he was the first. Seriously most of the criticisms about able and Alex apply to him as well…
Abel wasn't a main, he was never on box art or promotional materials. He is a good fighter though, and if they lean into the animal thing more he could become an interesting Beastmaster sort of character.
Agreed. Also would be cool if they combined his personality from 4 and SFxT.
Story wise he was the start considering his connections with Seth
I think a good pro wrestling comparison is Dean Malenko. Highly technical mechanics and talent, but not really enough flair or force of character to carry a card/franchise alone.
Really loved watching his matches though.
That’s accurate
Perfect
Dean Was at best a skilled side character that was kind of dull but had the skills alone to make him formidable.
See shit like this is why I'm not exactly chomping at the bit at Street Fighter 6 like everyone else. Capcom has no respect for their characters post Street Fighter 2. Hell it was only after Third Strike that people even gave a shit for anyone in SF3. Imagine the sheer amount of disrespect that Kotal Kahn got in MKX and 11, multiply that by the number of new characters between SF4 and SF5 who didn't make the cut for SF6, who are most assuredly never coming back for SF6. Hard to care about any of these new characters when Capcom doesn't, isn't that right Necali?
I don't think Abel is that bad, he's just too tricky to fight against.
Because of the combos supers and the tutorial
Alex was the main character of Street Fighter 3, Abel was the main character of Street Fighter 4, and Rashid was the main character of Street Fighter 5. Capcom is AWFUL at advertising these things and that's on Capcom. We literally didn't even know these things.
I feel the SF main characters suffer from SF's awful storytelling, SF storylines are extremely generic & main characters are generally 1 dimensional tropes that have no development, not to mention their stories are told via quickly narrated slide shows which are vague & leaves out many details & typically arrives at no conclusion, confusing the player even further.
The only game franchise with consistent, conclusive narratives deapite the reboots is Mortal Kombat, MK has very deep story modes in comparison to all other fighting game franchises, whenever I finished a MK story mode from MK, MKX or MK11 I felt invested in many of the characters in the roster.
Tekken had a great thing going in Tekken 4's narrative. Tekken 4 though it utilized slides to tell character stories the slides contained very detailed illustrations & alot of details about the characters life, obstacles & motivations, this made the Tekken cast feel tangible, relatable like real people with real struggles. Tekken 4 also added cutscenes when u encountered a rival in each characters storymode to add further detail to a characters narrative. Tekken would eventually abandon the deep storytelling in favor of empty tropes & mindless action.
abel is a main character? really? I've always tought he's just some random new character
I loved Abel. His fighting style was awesome and his mysterious backstory kept me interested.
I was genuinely annoyed he was barely in sf5 but then again sf5 story was a joke. Also, all Street Fighter games basically star Ryu and Ken as far as anyone is concerned.
But their stories are over. Neither of them want to fight like they used to. The fight has to come to them and thats not main character material
@@Empty_Roar Abel said he was going to find out more about himself and Bison said he’d see him again. His story ain’t over yet. And as for Ryu, he’s on an endless journey to fight new opponents and challenge himself. Also, Sakura should have been his disciple, they ruined her story.
@@ynghuch ryu still loves to fight but hes not going to be hopping on a different plane every week anymore. Ken meanwhile wants to spend more time with family. Sakura knows that fighting isn't every thing and wants a balance before she's playing catchup at ryu's age
@@Empty_Roar Ryu doesn’t fly the guy walks like a nomad around Asia. And that’s what I mean about Sakura, she would have been perfect to become the new Ryu, Sean could have replaced Ken then boom. Two new protagonist 👊
@@ynghuch he does fly. Its part of his world tour story. He walks too though
Abel was great. Super fun to play. I hope he returns in SF6
Abel is a cool character. I liked playing as him in base SF IV.
But Capcom needs to take a hint and listen to the fans.
Keep Ryu as the lead, and stop trying to replace him with all these blonde dudes!! (Alex, Abel, Luke)
Edit: So, I forgot to mention that even America tried to replace Ryu as the main lead in both the live action film (where Guile is the lead because AMERICA!!), and the cartoon where he's practically Ken's sidekick (also Ken is stronger than him and is Akuma's actual target.... because AMERICA!!!)
Lastly, if you want to replace him as the lead, try it with someone who is the polar opposite of Ryu (Sakura or Batsu).
Ryu wants to retire from the constant traveling. His story is over
You don't think its cause Ryu is just basic karate man and the other characters have some sort of personality and easier to write an interesting story for?
@Popeye Doyle Besides Guile all the other attempts of Capcom kept trying to replace ryu with boring white (Alex is cool just bad timing) dudes is pretty annoying.
@@guynamedrick4419 alex is boring too for a main character. He looks like a generic 80s wrestler. I like luke he just has no fashion sense. A retired soldier trying to adjust to civilian life is interesting
@kjfriend1 true I agreee
I liked playing abel, but i always thought that i was missing something with his story. I didn't know that sf4 was his first appearance
Boring!? Abel was an such a cool character and is so much fun to play as! He has an interesting backstory and he definitely deserves to return in a future Street Fighter game or even as a future DLC character in SF6. Also, am I the only one who is furious at the fact that Abel never became a playable character in SF5!? Heck, we hardly ever even got to see him interact with Charlie Nash aka the man whom he was searching for in SF4!!!
When I think of Abel, I kinda feel like he never really lead anywhere- he was supposed to be Seth's rival, but he became more involved with hating Juri. He was supposed to have this connection to Guile and Charlie, but nothing happened there. Him being a clone, his rivalries, they all just kinda... fizzled out.
An idea I had, is to combine Ed and Abel's characters and concepts into one. We know that Ed kinda super-grows, or ages really fast. I had an idea where "Abel" is him using Psycho Power to grow an adult body to fight with, but he still has a very child-like mentality. He fights Seth but when S.I.N collapses, he's found by Balrog who takes in the child-sized (because the battle exhausted him) Abel / Ed, and in his company and influence Abel gets a bit more edge that turns him into a kind of fusion of Abel and Ed. Balrog teaches him to look out for number one and Abel absorbs like the little baby sponge he is, but he never quite lets go of the naive, kind boy he is (as a call-back to Abel's little boy-design).
I say this mostly because Ed becoming the leader of a group of ex-Shadaloo and fighting to subvert their plans, feels like it is a story that could belong to Abel as well. Hell, maybe Neo Shadaloo (a name I still dislike) could take in the new Seth, and provide an actually supportive pseudo-family for them.
Granted, the problem here is the gameplay. Abel's Judo/MMA-centric gameplay is pretty different from Ed's Paycho Power / Boxing style. I'd like a way to reconcile these diffefences, but that is definitely the part I'm the least confident can be merged in a satisfying way.
I really enjoyed playing as Abel, his normal medium kick won me so many matches in a pinch
Funny that Luke and Manon both got things from Abel.
Luke: blond hair, blue eyes, MMA.
Manon: French nationality, a grappler-based fighting style, wears a gi top, tights, and foot pads as their default outfit.
Both somewhat suck
They always had Ryu and Ken there, to take the heat off of newer protags.
I don't think he was made to be like alex or luke, as the initial trailers focused on ryu and satsui no hado, it even had a movie that barely had Abel. this sounds like just an opinion. it even soon became more juri centered with future DLCs. Abel was a great character tho. He wasn't even in the main covers man.
SF can never have a replacement for Ryu while Ryu is in the game. Capcom has to be bold enough to leave Ryu out of a game so another character can shine.
Or if they make Ryu old as Gouken and change his moves so he doesn't really feel like Ryu anymore.
Look... so you want sub zero or scorpion not in MK?
Why are all the replacement Ryus blondes with those weird x scars all over them?
I'm terrible at street fighter (and basically all fighters like it), but I love Tekken and for whatever reason I clicked with Abel immediately. He's the only character I like playing as. Can't say much about his character, honestly I don't ever really pay attention to that in fighting games. I am quite literally that person who just views the characters as a set of mechanics and am completely indifferent to everything else.
The closes character we get on SF6 is Manon. A fuse of Judo and Ballet dancing technique.
Abel have a brief cameo on SFV and still it's a lackluster
Abel was the first character I gravitated towards in 4! He has so much potential hope they bring him back for 6!
They did.... as Manon.
@@davidsentanu7836 so true
The biggest stretch of the century! Just because they have Judo influence huh? Oh right and cause they are French! No, they no where near the same outside of those two characteristics!
I doubt it since Ed will be back.
@@DANCERcow I was joking, but seriously if you looked at the concept design for Abel he was originally a petite girl in an oversized judo top with yoga / bicycle pants (basically similar to Manon / Abel attires.)
In the end for SF IV, they ultimately changed her into a muscular male blond, which is Abel. Now they changed it back again into a girl, but taller, and called her Manon. But I believe Abel and Manon came from the same original concept design.
A shoto girl would be the easiest thing in the world and they won’t do it, Sakura isn’t even in 1st year DLC sf6, but I mean a whole new character. Maybe even trained by Akuma then Ryu and Ken have to get her out of the “dark side”
Always liked Makoto
sakura is already a thing, and she also has a "dark sakura" mode.
I don’t know if Abel was meant to be the protagonist of SF4.
And then juri happened
@@Lupo32They said "protagonist"... Not "antagonist"...
The problems with Abel as a protagonist are many, and most of them arent things specifically tied to him.
1: Street Fighter's method of story telling. In "story mode" you get like, maybe 3 actual story cutscenes, half a dozen character vinettes. This is an abysmal way to introduce to *NEW* characters, little own new *MAIN* characters. His thing with being an android intended for use by Bison has a lot of promise, but, I can not tell you a single person who got that -- doubly so when the translation of Street Fighter games leaves much to be desire. The "you look like me" moments between Seth and Abel don't work as well in english because the two's in game graphical representation look *nothing* alike besides them being large and muscular. It doesnt help that the scene *WITH* Seth in the game is the *SAME* scene no matter your character, he has no personalized intro depending on the character so you don't get anything like "Ah! Abel! So good to see you... BROTHER!" that might have helped actually *TELL* Abel's story. All that shit is relegated to the anime movie, which, nobody fucking watched.
2: His lack of presentation in the marketing for SF4 really hurt him. It's mentioned in this video, but Alex and Luke get plastered all over their games covers and marketing. SF4 barely features Abel, and most of the promotional material leading up to SF4's release focused on *ALL* of the new entries -- El Fuerte, Hakan, and *MOST* notably, Juri. Which brings me to...
3: Juri. Juri stole the show in SF4 with her explosive personality, strong motivations, moral degeneracy, aggressive and versatile fighting style, and of course, her design. The SF girls have a tendency to shine, Juri is no different, and unfortunately for Abel capcom didn't make the two of them a pair despite both of their journeys being so similar -- Juri was *ALSO* a shadaloo experiement who managed to liberate herself, she is *ALSO* a vessel for Bison. She and Abel have a *lot* in common. In a world where Juri finds Abel and manipulates him into being the "muscle" for her, we could see both of these characters develop more. You wouldn't even need to change Juri's story at all, but Capcom *knew* what they were doing when they made Juri, it's *NO* surprise she's returned in every game since her introduction. Most people would view *her* as the "protagonist" of SF4 and they'd have good reason to do so. It wouldn't have hurt either of them to make them a villainous pair, with Juri doing the lion's share of the villainy, while Abel tags along on his own quest for answers.
4: The first of Abel's own faults is that Abel isn't a shojo, his imputs in game are weirder than most protags. He has a good kit with a solid skill ceiling, but he has a barrier for entry that's unlikely to be broken by a totally new player on their immediate introduction. I would also blame SF for hiding the tutorials away in a seperate menu from Story mode, and poorly presenting the tutorials in forms of "challenges". The purpose of a tutorial is to teach you mechanics. If each character had a more deeply customized tutorial that taught a player the fundamentals of the character (Abel can 'roll' through projectiles for example), you'd have a lot more ability to engage with characters who can do the things you want to do.
5: The *BIGGEST* problem with Abel is his design is weird, but not weird enough to be *WEIRD.* He's *HUGE* for a SF character, he's a gentle giant type of guy and that's great, but he just wears a gi, some shorts, and gloves and boots. All in flat colors. That was fine for Ryu and Ken, they lived and breathed martial arts, they were martial artists at their core so their costumes reflect those identities. But Abel isn't a martial artists. I'd even go so far as to say he's a guy who doesn't *WANT* to fight. It's very strange for him to be wearing a martial artist's uniform around casually when he's *NOT* that kind of guy. You could easily have put him in a sleeveless hoodie, shorts, ditch the gloves and go for some hand wraps -- ironically, making him look a bit like *Luka,* back then, would have helped him stand out. Alternatively, we *see* Abel with Bison-like armor in some of the comic art, that would have been a good addition. As it is, his costume is *very* plain, and while his fighting style is functional it lacks flair. If he looked more like a guy who had something going on, he might have been more memorable.
Compared to that steroid gorilla woman Manon,Abel is a masterpiece.
3 had the best new characters and 4 had the worst. Even the returning characters from 3 blew 4's out of the water and they completely forgot about all of them. Viper is the only one that worked outside of the main series. When they made Abel they basically watered down Alex and gave him amnesia. Then they looked at how serious he was and threw some Looney Tunes characters in like Fat Kung Pow, Chicken Wrestler, Red Oil Man, Cyberpunk Laura Croft, and Purple Akuma.
I think Ryu is more plain and boring than Able. Able has a more interesting backstory.
Ryu is a karate man in a karate gi who wants to wants to train to become stronger. If it weren't for Akima and his inner conflict with evil Vs good power he would be the most boring fighting game character.
He was really fun to play as. Him and Rufus were my favorite SF4 characters.
Things went so bad for Able they transitioned him into Manon.
Abel may have had a bland personality, he was ao much fun to use. But SSFIV just had to give us Juri and none of the other new characters had a chance
Sure hes not the most compelling character in sf but hes cool, he deserves another appearance. Interesting gameplay and sick supers
I always saw Abel as the Macho Man that became the Disco Inferno. Hard working till the end. I love Abel.
1:55 That is genuinely the worst command throw I have ever seen. A character with such a martial arts-based design should not have a throw that would not look the slightest bit out of place if used by the Incredible Hulk.
I don’t really mind Abel. I played him a lot in SF4 because i love Grapplers and his playstyle clicked with me. Admittedly, yes, Abel can be pretty boring, but let’s be honest here, so is Ryu whenever he isn’t fighting Akuma or his Dark side. I feel like, on himself, Abel really couldn’t carry any story, but he is a great supportive character to others. As mentioned by the previous super best friends: „Abel is to Guile what Guile was to Nash“ and they do have a pretty good chemistry going on between the two. Not to mention that Abel is actually pretty hilarious once you read his victory lines against other fighters in SFxT.
Now, in my own thoughts, i actually believed Abel would somehow get closer to Cammy because, as you mentioned, he was a Vessel created for Bison to take over, just like Cammy. So i thought they would create a group together as survivors of Shadaloo
How dare you. Abel is awesome. Also, you should watch some 801 Strider matches that really show what he's about.
I think the biggest issue with Abel (he's a favorite of mine btw) is that he had no rival to play off of and develop himself further a great example of this is the current Protagonist Luke and his rivalry with Jamie, they build off of each other and have so many similarities and just enough differences to create a slight clash between the two of them, if they gave Abel a true rival to grow around and flesh him out more he'd be way more popular and they had so many great characters to pick from in SF4, even Alex has his rivalry with Hugo it wasn't too deep but it helped flesh him out more as a wrestler aiming for the top just like Hugo. I know he'll be back one day and I can't wait to see what they do for my boy Abel, but I know they dropped to ball on his time as protagonist
Wait hold on Abel was a main protagonist? I thought he was just like…there.
Same. I always thought he is a meh character. More like an Alex wannabe.
Saddest part is the female judo Abel concept would have been an awesome main character.
Basically became Manon
@@skurinski ya rly
@@KaitouKaiju I mean, she does uses judo and is from France, but I was talking about the whole character concept; I think the "flavourless" martial artist still works when it's a female for some reason, see Makoto. Also, Ryu himself doesn't look really outstanding, and the blue gi still missing after so many shotos.
I actually really enjoyed Abel in IV. Loved his theme and his fighting style a ton. I hope they bring him back.
And they didn't learn their lesson, they double downed on abel's concept and created manon which is pretty much a copy of him, there's so much similarities between them ... And i hate it.
Yeah, she is abel's female version. She is French too 😕
Still, i like her more.
@@jamesvazquez4961 She's clearly a better version of the original concept for abel that's for sure, but as a french I can't say that I like her introduction.
There's 3 french characters, and 2 of them are basically clones of each other and the 3rd bad copy of guile with an awful story, france deserve better than that imo.
@@MrOrzeker now that I think about it, it's kind of bad that 2 of the 3 French characters are clones. At least Manon is the most appealing character out of the 3, i mean, many people are maining her right now.
@@jamesvazquez4961 She's still a twist on Abel but yeah they nailed her better than they did the other 2, it's just me being salty because I would've wanted something different.
The fact that 2/3 are grapplers as well is kind of annoying to me, but nothing I can do about it, just hope they realize something is wrong with the french characters and finally decide to be a little more original with the next one.
@@MrOrzeker I'm pretty sure they will.
y'know, in fighting games, they always do that. They replace a character with a similar one, so people can play as that new character without feeling like they've replaced the previous character completely, This also makes for a much larger roster and it also refreshes it. At least that's the explanation they give.
Bruh…Abel was my favorite character in that game. Won more ranked matches with him than any other fighter from the entire roster. His fighting style was perfect for me and I can only hope we’ll see him return someday.
Well if you’ve ever played against a good Able, you’ve never forgotten what it’s like to be in the vortex. I don’t think they will ever being able back, because they reworked his moves and overall character design into Manon, the French model, and as far as I can tell she is very popular.
Love how even to this day Capcom still refuses to accept Ryu as the main character
So their idea of a main character's replacement for Ryu will always be a variation of blonde white guys?
I think putting "worst" and Abel together is a crime of a video.
Great video! I used to love abel's design and character in general, i played sfIV when i was really young and by "played" i mean clicking random buttons on my xbox 360 controller and asking my dad to do hadoukens and ultras in general. There was something about him that i cannot truly remember, but i always feared him, whenever it was his battle on the story mode, i would be actually scared of losing (and lose a lot of times, in fact), or maybe simply i couldn't understand his command grabs. Also, he seems so serious, idk, he just seems like such a cool fighter
Really? I liked Abel a lot. But never thought of him as the protagonist of SF IV. I felt quite frustrated for never being able to play well with him
But entering an underground world fighting tournament just to get inspiration to name a puppy is quite silly.
wtf is this dude going on about, people freaking love Luke!
When I saw Luke was gonna be another attempt at a self insert new character I immediately thought of Abel and how that didn't work well.
I believe Sean would be a much better rival to Luke than Jaime. All Sean needed was some reworking and a slight maturity boost and Capcom would have a great rival to Luke and even Jaime.
Sean is still relatively new enough to be a part of the new generation of street fighters but has grown enough in skill and abilities to show the current new generation they have a ways to go like himself.
Sakura became a great character loosely mimicking Ryu, Sean can be set up to do the same mimicking Ken.
He's no me, that's for sure.
Also, I didn't know about any of the SF X Tekken Kuma/space bears stuff until now. Abel is now my favorite video game character, or would be if Cammy didn't like cats.
Able was my guy, when SF4 came out I had to beat the game for all of my friends. I was the only one who could and Able was my main.
He was never Abel to hold my interest
Good one 😅
I liked Abel with his Sambo style plus he knew Charlie his finishing combo was cool😅
something I absolutely hate in video games/comics and anime is when they use the "amnesia" or "clone of (insert character here)" plots for characters. they should stop doing that and put a little bit of effort into a backstory and personality for their characters.
Watching 801strider playing his Abel in ultra showed how awesome the bar acted can be.
Can’t call Abel boring while praising Ryu. That’s an Oxymoron. Bro hates anyone who isn’t Ryu
Preach! There’s plenty of fighting game protagonists that pull the fight and train to get stronger archetype and they far more interesting as characters than Ryu.
Simple Abel is somehow worse
If the copyright for Popeye had expired just a little bit sooner they wouldn't have named the main character Luke. Look at the cover for 6, he just needs a pipe and a can of spinach.
Abel was the main character of Udon’s Street Fighter 4 comic.
Abels character design was lacking, but i loved his move set the most out of all the characters in SF4.
I forgot about him when my dad asked me for help to paint the living room and I noticed that the paint was drying.
Abel was supposed to be the protag? Capcom needs to understand that Ryu is the archetypal character. You can't replace him, he's attached to the hip of the franchise.
What about Rashid? It is a copy of Aladdin
what are the songs used in your video called?
My sense from the beginning was the Abel was designed to a "middle of the road" character that would be helpful for balancing both rushdown, keepaway, and grappler characters. He also relied heavily on Focus, FADC, and Ultra more than most. I think that's why he was made the star. Ostensibly, Abel was intended to be a scarred up amnesiac Charlie/Nash but Capcom abandoned that plot point due to the lukewarm reception from fans. There are many hints to this in his design, he shares some normals with Charlie, he has a distinct "forelock" his somersault kicks produce a little "flash" effect, he shares a couple win quotes with Charlie, and the fact that he's French as both Charlie and his abandoned son Remy have in common. Obviously, the fact that Nash returned in SFV retconned this, but it's still an interesting cul-de-sac of lore.
I liked able. His play style and subtle but layered personality is refreshing in a world where every character is cartoonishly exaggerated.
I think main character does not necessarily needs to mean "main driver of the plot", or even the central arch of a story. I think Ryu, Alex, Able and Rashid all are one thing: Outsiders entering a new tournament.
Ryu enters the world warrior tournament and get to know all the other fighters.
Alex enters the tournament of third strike, facing off against literal gods, old champions, demons and the like.
Able is thrown into the Sin web, meeting new and old heroes on the way
Rashid...idk, I didn't play Street fighter 5, but I guess he also fits the bill.
I think main character means more "pov character" for someone new to the series. And I think that they all do pretty well.
Able was one of my favorites in SF4. His slams were strong and damaging
I'm not sure "main protagonist" means much in a fighting game where you can play as pretty much any character you want to anyway.
I kinda wished they went with the young kid design because it would've been extremely interesting to a more speedy smaller grappler but much weaker defensively and being fleshed out a bit more could've made him a fan favorite potentially
I think Abel would’ve been more memorable if he had a better design, just..with each street fighter character they has one asset that *strikes*
Ryu, his headband (other stuff like his hair too but his headband is one that comes to mind)
Guile’s weird flattop hairstyle. Chun Li’s thighs
Abel doesn’t have anything that strikes
His concept art where he was that little boy was a way better design and cooler looking in my opinion, I wish they went with that one because holy shit it’s a massive upgrade
I wanted to like Abel, but he was one-dimension. He was easily overshadowed by other SFIV characters, like Juri and Viper.
Although I kinda have a softspot for him, I understand why people thought he was boring.
Can you imagine if they stuck with the original design? Abel's big Achille's heel is that he's so bland in look and concept it's hard to get invested, but if we were instead introduced to a pintsized tyke rolling and chucking everyone about...
Abel was truly Wasted Potiental of a Character, from the General Consensus that not many People know about it, but I already knew on the Mark that he was the Protagonist in SF4, the Clues are pretty simple, the obvious Example is the Vanilla Version of SF4 on the Character Selection Roster the Cursor is always pointed at Abel's Slot, he has also been in more Rival Cutscenes and even got more Screen Time in most of the Character Prolouges and Endings in Vanilla SF4,
The Fact that Abel is a Forgotten SF Protagonist is completely Understandable, by the Time when Super/Ultra SF4 came out with more new Characters, Retconned Rival Cutscenes, Prolouges and Endings, kinda shows that Capcom has pretty much given up and abandoned Abel as a Protagonist in SF4.
Abel looked too normal for a fighting game character. Juri was the real main character
She arrived in Super.
I actually really liked Abel when I was younger lol thought his design was cool! And his story interesting! Really liked his play style too it was fun and easy to get your head around!
I completely forgot about Abel until this video.
As someone who only babbled in 4 a little after playing a lot of 2 and 3, I was under the impression Crimson Viper was the main character of 4 as she seemed to be the one getting the most hype, including an appearance in MvC3.
I feel a lot of the mains suffer from a bit of genericness in terms of general vibe. This worked for Ryu when folks were just getting used to the franchise and its colourful characters, but became more of a problem once players got more involved with the games.
Where can I watch the anime that has all this story? Ive never seen the anime .
Capcom should try harder with main protagonist design, big, blonde muscular guy with lots of scars. Alex, Avel, Luke...so underwhelming designs.
hes not a bad character. at all(hes actually pretty damn cool). its just his story is bland
Bring Abel back. He was my favorite character from 4. Super fun.
Wasn't Seth originally gonna be named Cain but it would've been too obvious to the reference?
0:54 I don't want to be that guy
But Abel is my favourite street fighter character
Even though he is boring he is a great guy that loves animals
Check in street fighter duel (a mobile game that you've kinda ignored )
Abel's special item is a box of vet supplies
That is my reasoning for Abel being my favourite it ain't much but it is a reason after all
Edit:nevermind his backstory is just Abel's story mode again
Seth not being named "Cain" deeply hurt Abel's character in my opinion.