Guile (Street Fighter)
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Guile | |
---|---|
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991) | |
Created by | Akira "Akiman" Yasuda[1] |
Portrayed by | Jean-Claude Van Damme (Street Fighter film, game) |
Voiced by |
|
In-universe information | |
Fighting style | Marine Corps Martial Arts Program[2] |
Origin | United States |
Nationality | American |
Major Guile (ガイル 少佐, Gairu Shōsa) is a
One of the most popular characters in the series, Guile has appeared in other Street Fighter games, including the home port versions of
Guile has also appeared in other Street Fighter media: one of the main characters in the 1994 live action Street Fighter film and its animated spin-off, as well as Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. The character has also been featured in various official comics and merchandise. His music theme, known simply as "Guile's Theme", has been used multiple times, usually to give a sense of victory.
Guile has been perceived as unique among Street Fighter II characters in both appearance and gameplay. He is noted as having only two signature moves in the game, both of which are performed by first holding a direction on the joystick and then pushing in the opposite direction with a punch or kick - the Sonic Boom and the Flash Kick, respectively. Guile has been well received, with the character often placing highly in various lists of the best Street Fighter characters of all time.
Conception and design
Early Street Fighter II sketches and notes suggest that Guile was developed specifically to appeal to American fans.[3] In an interview with Game On!, Capcom Research and Design head Noritaka Funamizu stated that of the more popular characters in the series with western audiences, Guile was most likely considered the game's main character.[4] Guile's design and hairstyle is based on Rudol von Stroheim and Jean-Pierre Polnareff, characters from the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.[5] Guile's name is a reference to The J. Geils Band, whose name was also referenced in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. [6]
Appearances
In video games
Guile was first introduced in
Guile's war buddy Charlie would appear in the later prequel series Street Fighter Alpha, although Guile himself did not appear in this sub-series until the console versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998). They originally made Guile a hidden character in the initial PlayStation version of the game, though subsequent versions made him part of the initial roster. In his storyline in the game, Guile is an Air Force JTAC/TACP ordered to track down Charlie, who has gone missing. Guile eventually fights Charlie, as well as Bison as his final opponent. In his ending, Guile infiltrates Bison's base with Charlie and sets explosives on the Psycho Drive, only for the two to be caught in the act by Bison. Charlie holds off Bison while Guile escapes and the base explodes with Charlie still in it, resulting in his death. This ending, however, is retconned by Street Fighter V, which portrays Charlie's death in Street Fighter Alpha 2 at the hands of his own men secretly working for M. Bison as official canon.
Guile also appears as a playable character in Street Fighter EX (1997) and its two sequels, Street Fighter EX2 (1998) and Street Fighter EX3 (2000). The storyline of the EX series takes place at the same time as Street Fighter II. In addition to tracking down Shadaloo to avenge Charlie, Guile is also hunted by a mercenary named Doctrine Dark (another playable character in this sub-series), who is actually a former subordinate named Holger. His relationship with Ken as brothers-in-law (with their respective wives being sisters) is mentioned for the first time in the games in Ken's ending in the Japanese version of the original EX2.
Guile returns as a playable character in Street Fighter IV (2008), where he seeks authorization to conduct a search for his friend and comrade Charlie, whom he believes to be missing, but his request is rejected by his superior as he gives Guile a dog tag that belonged to Charlie and telling Guile to investigate S.I.N. and their connection to Shadaloo. In his Street Fighter IV ending, Guile is searching for Chun-Li after he defeats Seth. However, Seth finds Guile and he was rescued by Abel (who mentioned that he had seen a man (Charlie) that uses Guile's Sonic Boom move), and they were able to rescue Chun-Li. After that, Guile is sent home and reunited with his family. In Super Street Fighter IV's ending, Guile visits Charlie's grave and tells him that Shadaloo's plans are not over yet. Guile has an alternative costume that resembles Charlie's outfit in Street Fighter IV omega mode.
Guile also appears as a supporting character in the crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken (2012), with Abel as his official tag partner.
Guile returns as the first of the delayed characters in Street Fighter V (2016–2022), as one of 6 DLC characters that were released after the game's launch in 2016. During Shadaloo's final scheme under a Black Moon-based Operation C.H.A.I.N.S., Guile suddenly encounters Charlie, who was resurrected by an unknown assailant (Illuminati), and joined the said third party side, despite their motives for Shadaloo's downfall are same. After Charlie cures Abel of M. Bison's Psycho Power, Guile reconciles with his undead friend. Guile joins the heroes who Karin recruited who join a final assault against the Shadaloo, with the help of a group of heroes who are recruited by an unknown assailant such as Charlie himself and Cammy, as well as a Middle East fighter Rashid, including Juri. While Rashid managed to shutdown Shadaloo's Operation C.H.A.I.N.S, Guile, Ryu, and Chun-Li watch Charlie a final time where the latter sacrifices his life to weaken M. Bison, with Ryu finishes his job to destroy M. Bison. Now finally at peace and becomes a national hero, Guile decides to retire from fighting to be with his family and become a mentor of the son of late-Robert Sullivan, Luke. Because the military which Luke joined in does not grant him the satisfaction to honor his late father, Guile convinces the military to release Luke from the army and advises the young man to pursue competitive fighting circuits across the globe and fight stronger opponents there, allowing Luke to become an independent man like his father before him.
As Guile was absent from Street Fighter III, which took place several years after Street Fighter V, Guile returns in Street Fighter 6 (2023), which itself takes place after Street Fighter III. Guile returns to his duty to investigate the ongoing conspiracy at Nayshall caused by the Amnesia terrorist organization led by JP, ever since they framed Ken for the crime he did not commit.
Guile appears in both the
The Alpha 3 incarnation of Guile appears as a selectable character in several fighting game crossovers which including
Guile appears in Charlie's ending in X-Men vs. Street Fighter (he is not identified by name, only as "Charlie's friend"), swearing revenge on Bison for apparently killing Charlie. A Guile-inspired costume for players to use in Sony's LittleBigPlanet was released as downloadable content.[8] Guile appears as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, using Flash Kick and Sonic Boom. Guile was also added to Fortnite Battle Royale, along with Cammy on August 3, 2021.[9] A playable Guile skin will also be added to Exoprimal.[10]
The English version of Saturday Night Slam Masters implies that the character Gunloc is related to Guile. The video game adaptations of Street Fighter: The Movie expand on this, stating that Gunloc is Guile's brother.
In other media
In the 1994 live-action
Van Damme was approached to reprise the role in the reboot, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, but ultimately did not appear.
Guile was planned to appear in the second season of Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, titled Street Fighter: World Warrior; series creator Joey Ansah was interested in casting Scott Adkins as Guile.[11][12][13] Assassin's Fist was eventually scrapped in favor of Street Fighter: Resurrection; Guile was mentioned by Ken in the Resurrection episode "Fight & Flight" but did not appear in the series.
Guile is one of the main characters in the 1994 anime film
Based loosely on the storyline of the 1994 film while combining elements from Street Fighter II, Guile serves as the main protagonist of the
Guile appears in the 1995 anime series
In
Guile also appears alongside other Street Fighter characters in the
comics.Reception
Since his introduction, Guile has been positively received, ranking 4th in Gamest magazine's list of Best Characters introduced in 1991.[15] IGN's D. F. Smith stated that while "there's nothing too fancy about him. He's just your basic, no-nonsense, all-American tough guy", his unique hairstyle and aesthetics helped give him enough personality to stand out.[16] In another article for the website, he argued that the image of an "American soldier" is often the first that comes to mind for the Japanese, and felt of the whole cast the most like a "regular guy" in many ways. He voiced some disdain for how different the character was in the live action film, noting that despite Van Damme being a good fit physically, the rest of the aspects deviated too far.[17] Den of Geek's Gavin Jasper praised Guile's backstory of revenge, and how the cost of his "soul" in the metaphorical sense helped make the conclusion of his story in Street Fighter II one of the best in video games overall. He further argued that compared to Chun-Li's own story of revenge, his was more compelling, stating "he has actual issues to work through".[18]
Nicholas Ware in a dissertation titled You Must Defeat Sheng Long to Stand a Chance suggested Guile acted as a connection for the series to American blockbuster films, comparing him to characters such as Rambo or those played by Charles Bronson who were often involved in quests for vengeance. He further argued that Guile's military background was not only intended to reflect the "one man army" hero archetype common in American films, but also reflect Japanese views of foreign military forces, establishing him to Japanese audiences as different from themselves compared to Ken for example, and thus not portrayed as crucial for inclusion in subsequent Street Fighter entries. Ware elaborated further to state he represents "both a trust in and a fear of white Western power, particularly military/martial power."[19] University of Delaware professor Rachel Hutchinson also discussed the use of imagery and military aspects to illustrate Guile as "not Japanese", stating that combat was "militarized and sexualized" through the presentation of his character and aesthetics in Street Fighter II. She also noted the increased use of American iconography in this regard, namely in comparison to the first Street Fighter game, and how significant it was to Guile as a character through aspects such as his tattoos.[20]
Guile has also appeared in the manga Hi Score Girl by Rensuke Oshikiri. The series' main character, Haruo Yaguchi, is a fan of Street Fighter II and always plays as Guile. This tends to be exaggerated to the point Haruo suffers from hallucinations where he talks to Guile while playing the game or interacting with other gamers.[21][22] In Japan, the character has been used by cosmetic company Yanagiya as a real-world spokesman for their "J-Gel" hair products.[14]
References
- ^ Yasuda, Akira [@akiman7] (May 12, 2012). "スト1組、リュウケンサガットのリニューアル、春ガイル本田ブランカザンギは俺で、ベガが中山、バイソンが松なんとか、ダルシムは王子、バルログが影山、ドッターはまたそれぞれ分担が違ってて、ドッターによってまたデザインが微妙に変質しています RT @tekkotz: スト2のキャラデ" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2018-10-02 – via Twitter.
- ^ Street Fighter IV: Master Guide (in Japanese), Enterbrain
- ^ "The Making Of Street Fighter II (or, Writing is Rewriting)" Archived 2011-06-15 at the Wayback Machine by Chris Kohler, Insert Credit. Retrieved on 2008-01-10
- ^ Staff (1996). "A Fighter Speaks". Game On!. 1 (1). Horibuchi, Seiji: 6.
- ^ Interview with Noritaka Funamizu - Weekly Famitsu Issue 1998/9/25
- ^ "A Short History of Street Fighter II Character Names".
- ^ "Capcom Announces New Street Fighter Mobile Title with Puzzle Element". MMOsite. October 12, 2014. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Acevedo, Jay (2008-12-12). Weekly Playstation Store Update – December 12 Archived 2012-07-23 at the Wayback Machine. Game Focus. Retrieved on 2008-12-18.
- ^ "Fortnite getting another round of Street Fighter characters with Cammy and Guile". Polygon. 3 August 2021.
- ^ Barker, Sammy (June 8, 2023). "Ryu, Guile Get Exoprimal Makeovers for Street Fighter 6's First Capcom Collaboration DLC". Push Square. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ^ "Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist [Interview]". Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
- ^ Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist Interview
- ^ "Comic-Con: Capcom Greenlights 'Street Fighter' Sequel Series 'World Warrior'". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
- ^ a b Beck, Kellen (2017-08-03). "Japanese hair gel finds the perfect spokesperson: A 'Street Fighter' character". Mashable. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
- ^ 第5回ゲーメスト大賞. GAMEST (in Japanese) (68): 4. Archived from the original on 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ Smith, D. F. (2012-06-15). "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters – The Final Five". IGN. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
- ^ Smith, D. F. (2012-06-16). "The Many Looks of the Street Fighter". IGN. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
- ^ Jasper, Gavin (2019-02-22). "Street Fighter Characters Ranked". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
- ^ Ware, Nicholas (2010-08-01). "'You Must Defeat Sheng Long To Stand a Chance': Street Fighter, Race, Play, and Player". OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center: 48, 62–64. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- ISBN 9780367728151.
- ^ "Netflix's "Hi Score Girl" is a Love Letter to Retrogamers". Retrogb. 29 December 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ^ "Arcade Culture Takes Center Stage In Netflix's Newest Anime Offering". Kotaku. 3 January 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.