SNK
declared themselves that they loosely based Benimaru Nikaido off of Jean
Pierre Polnareff from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. The similarities
are too obvious, especially if we're talking about "early"
Benimaru. When Benimaru debuted, he even wore the same "single
strap" tight shirt that Polnaref wears. A few years later, Benimaru
started wearing some different outfits, which slightly distanced the
likeness to Polnareff. besides the fact that they fight completely
differently. Finally, their likeness is strictly visual... because they
fight nothing alike.
K'
& Setsuna
Lets
do the math.... Silver hair... tan skin... evil/cool personality... snazzy
outfit.
They must be related somewhere on the SNK family tree. Even so,
I'm calling this one a coincidence because they are also very
different.
Lion
Rafale & Sie Kensou
Lion
and Kensou share nearly the same exact fighting stance, hairstyle, and
their outfits are strikingly similar as well. Virtua Fighter 2 was
a huge game in 1994 arcades, and it would seem that SNK was inspired by
Lion's design when they debuted the "new" Kensou in The King of Fighters '95.
In fairness, their actual fighting styles are very different, and both
of their outfits are "basic"... so there's also a chance it
was all a coincidence.
M.
Bison
& Brocken
Everybody
knows Bison came first in the fighting game world. The original
"Brocken" did appear as a
character in Ultimate Muscle before Bison came around, but the Brocken in
World Heroes was still commonly known as a "rip-off" of
Bison among arcade goers in the 90's.
Tiger
Jackson, Mr. Jones & Tony Umeda
Not
only the fro and the bright-ass clothing, but they're all wearing
sunglasses dammit! These guys apparently didn't get the memo about disco
being dead. I don't think the companies copied each other's designs in
this case, but more-so, used the 70's guy stereotype.
Adon,
Joe, Shura & Bruce
.
Muay
Thai is a very popular martial art, so naturally there are quite a few
"traditional" Muay Thai fighters in fighting games. Just to set the record straight, Adon
was "the first" to appear in a fighting game. That doesn't make
any of the other characters rip-offs though. And the only reason Sagat isn't here is because
he's bald... Baldy. lol.
Aoi,
Hokuto & Kasumi
Enter
Aikido,
yet another traditional martial art... and for some reason, cute girls
with long, dark hair prefer this style.
Worth pointing out, Hokuto's color scheme and outfit is nearly a replica
of Kasumi's... and then in SFEX2, Hokuto's resembles Aoi's! Coincidence?
Who knows. It's a
tough call, but since Hakama is standard attire in several Japanese
martial arts, I'm calling coincidence on this one.
Zangief
& Chang
It's all
in the beard. Zangief made the manly beard popular in SF2. To anyone who
previously played SF2, Chang might appear like a poor man's
Zangief.
In fairness, they are very different... but I'm pretty sure SNK was
looking at a few pictures of Zangief
when they were designing Chang.
Kyosuke
Kagami & Iori Yagami
You
might not see it right away, but let's take a closer look:
1. Both have a long sleeve
jacket
with gold buttons.
2. Both comb their hair forward.
3. Kyosuke has a black undershirt while Iori has a white undershirt.
4. Their fighting stances are somewhat similar.
5. Their last names rhyme... Kagami / Yagami.
6. Both have "dynamic" hand positions during their stance and
attacks, and commonly strike with open hands.
Nonetheless,
they're both unique designs, but I think Capcom might've had Iori
in mind when
they designed Kyosuke. However, it could be a pure coincidence... and a
big one since they eventually appeared in the same game.
Dudley,
Boman & Seth
All
three of them are big, African American, have a small amount of hair on top of their
heads, and have snazzy suits. Ohh... and I'm pretty sure Boman is wearing suspenders
underneath his jacket too.
Nonetheless, all 3 of these guys are cool designs and fight differently
for the most part. Hey... at least only 2 out of 3 of them are boxers.
lol.
.
Worth pointing out, Hokuto's color scheme and outfit is nearly a replica
of Kasumi's... and then in SFEX2, Hokuto's resembles Aoi's! Coincidence?
Who knows. It's a
tough call, but since Hakama is standard attire in several Japanese
martial arts, I'm calling coincidence on this one.
In fairness, they are very different... but I'm pretty sure SNK was
looking at a few pictures of Zangief
when they were designing Chang.
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