Super Street Fighter IV - Guy, Cody and Adon

History and Backstory on Capcom's Latest Batch of New Characters

Nov 27, 2009 Chris Hoadley

SSF4's new characters are from the old school. Adon appeared in the first Street Fighter while Guy and Cody headlined Street Fighter's sister franchise, Final Fight.

Super Street Fighter IV continues in Street Fighter IV’s path by adding new features, re-balancing characters and using fan-favorites to add to the roster. Capcom revealed Street Fighter II new challengers Dee Jay and T. Hawk when the game was announced, but Adon, Guy and Cody date to before that famous sequel.

Adon premiered in the original Street Fighter alongside Ryu, Ken, Sagat and Gen. Guy and Cody were two of the protagonists in Final Fight, a side-scrolling arcade game that helped to popularize the beat-em-up genre. Final Fight was intended to be the sequel to Street Fighter, so when the Street Fighter Alpha games delved into the franchise's backstory Capcom cherry-picked from both games for new characters.

Adon: Anti-projectile Muay Thai

Technically Adon was in Street Fighter IV as the opponent who got manhandled in Sagat’s opening sequence. However, as the sub-boss of the first Street Fighter Adon is too proud to go down like that, and he can’t forgive his master for losing to a scrub like Ryu.

Adon only shares Sagat’s muay thai fighting style in name and jungle-cat-themed attacks. If Sagat is designed to place a wall of projectiles and limbs between him and his opponent, then Adon breaks that wall with agile attacks. His Jaguar Kicks, anti-air Rising Jaguar, and wall-bouncing Jaguar Tooth give him plenty of options to evade projectiles and counter attacks.

Guy: Ninja Mobility

A master of Bushin ninjitsu who happens to be in Metro City to rescue Cody’s girlfriend in Final Fight, Guy has appeared in every game from that franchise except for Final Fight 2. In the Alpha games Guy is one of many fighters who want to end M. Bison's reign of evil.

Guy is the fastest playable character in Final Fight, and his mobility is the hallmark of his Alpha incarnations. Guy’s Hayagate is a command run similar to El Fuerte’s Habanero Dash that allows him to quickly cover ground and create guessing games with his finishing techniques. He also uses a command flip like Cammy’s Hooligan Combination that lets him advance while giving opponents fits as well. A spinning kick and elbow that dodges projectiles round out his moves.

Guy is difficult to learn due to his high-risk mix-ups and lack of defensive options. However, he is one of the most mobile and flashy Street Fighters in the franchise, and his offense can literally carry opponents across the stage.

Cody: A Brutal Homage

By the time Cody showed up in Street Fighter Alpha 3, Final Fight veterans Guy, Sodom, Rolento were already in the Alpha games, while recurring enemy Androne was reimagined as the giant wrestler Hugo in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact. A mook looking for his girlfriend isn’t as compelling as it use to be, so the hero became a parody of his own title: After the game Cody kept fighting and fighting until he was thrown into prison.

Cody is the closest any Street Fighter character is to an actual street fighter. He fights dirty, throwing rocks as projectiles and kicks up sand as a wake-up tactics. Cody prefers close-range fighting, and his specials lack the acrobatics of other characters.

Many of Cody's moves are also in-jokes to his original game. When Cody fights there is a knife in the middle of the stage that he can wield as he did in Final Fight, and his Criminal Uppercut is based off the finishing hit of his basic combo. In Alpha 3 Cody had the option of dodging attacks instead of blocking, and his Final Destruction super replicates one of the game’s glitches.

Not The Final Fight

As in Street Fighter Alpha, Final Fight is also represented in SSF4's locales. One of the new stages is a Metro City construction site with Hugo in the background, and the location of the smash-the-car bonus stage is a replica of the beat-em-up's version. With an online release of Final Fight on the way, younger players can immerse in arcade-era lore in time for SSF4's Spring 2010 release.

The copyright of the article Super Street Fighter IV - Guy, Cody and Adon in Video & Online Games is owned by Chris Hoadley. Permission to republish Super Street Fighter IV - Guy, Cody and Adon in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Adon specializes in anti-fireball tactics	Final Fight in-jokes are the norm for Cody	Guy ranks among the most mobile Street Fighters
Final Fight's Metro City is a popular destination.