Q, Revealed?

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Speculation about G continues to rage on. Capcom has created perhaps the greatest, most enigmatic character in its history, the history of fighting games, and, if one chooses to believe so, the history of video games. Never have I seen a character that has inspired such a fervor. There have been many characters in video games that fans have pondered the mysteries of, from G-Man in Half-Life to Pyro in Team Fortress. However, it’s the character G is most strongly associated with that predates both of them and will be the main subject of this theory: Q.

Q is one of the ancestors of modern video game mysteries, if not the godfather. Since Street Fighter III: Third Strike, very little information has been released on the character, and the mystery continued through 2018 when G was released, the first character in nearly 20 years to acknowledge Q’s existence in Street Fighter’s lore. Now, new evidence has emerged that has forced me to re-examine a question I’ve asked in the past:

Who is Q?

I previously stated, based on the evidence that was released up to that point, that Q was Nash. The evidence included Nash being a blond man, having mood swings, having the ability to infiltrate the CIA due to his military experience, and most solid of all, no longer having a skeleton due to being completely evaporated in Street Fighter V’s story mode. https://manestreet.home.blog/2019/02/20/who-is-q/

My only real issue with that theory, though, was that there wasn’t enough evidence to fully prove it. It was based mostly on relatively weak correlation. However, it didn’t really matter. My first theory involving G and Q stated that G is trying to make an army of Qs. Because my “Who is Q?” theory kept the first theory in mind, I was able to write it mainly as an observation and nothing more. Nevertheless, I did say this at the end: “And I’ll stick by this theory until Capcom throws the inevitable monkey wrench into its gears.”

The monkey wrench has been thrown.

Two pieces of evidence have been shown to me that made me realize that while I’m not completely wrong in assuming Nash is Q, there is a far better candidate who may lay beneath the mask, one who did not fit the profile until very recently. It took two years for Capcom to show their hands, but now we may finally know who the person in the hat and trenchcoat is once and for all.

It still isn’t G, but we may now know who he is too.

Let’s look at the first piece of evidence that was presented – an interview with the director of Street Fighter V, Takayuki Nakayama, from the upcoming English edition of “How To Make Capcom Fighting Characters”, courtesy of the director of Udon Comics, Matt Moylan:

In this interview, it’s now confirmed that G is the final boss of Street Fighter V, but this isn’t the only thing that has significance. Nakayama states that, “G’s key phrase, “President of the World”, was so strong, I think we got a little carried away with it…. [I]f the American office had nixed the president concept, our alibi was to say he was just a “circus ringmaster”.

This is very telling. While G is President of the World, and not “just a circus ringmaster”, it’s pretty clear that both concepts were incorporated into G’s design. He is very flamboyant, very exaggerated, and very loud. However, the circus ringmaster idea is more than just a throwaway design concept – it’s the very core of who G is. A ringmaster’s job is to attract and retain the attention of an audience, and G does this through social media. Here’s the thing though: a ringmaster can’t do much unless there is a circus to entertain. So the real question isn’t “who’s the ringmaster?”, but “what’s the circus?”

If you ask some of the characters in Street Fighter V, G IS the circus. Both Gill and Urien think he’s a clown:

Gill to G: “An undocumented power… Is this person just a clown, or perhaps…”
Urien to G: “You lead the world? Tell me another one, clown!”

On the flip side, Ken seems to admire G’s presence, and Laura loves his passion:
Ken to G: “Haha! Crazy show you put on out there!”
Laura to G: “Ha! So much passion! I like your style!”

G could certainly be seen as a one man show, but G himself seems to nix this idea, using the pronoun “we” every chance he gets:

G to Alex: “We all search for something…but do we need to find it?”
G to Birdie: “Our bellies are neither empty nor full. Why? Because we are all one!”
G to Juri: “O, citizen of Earth, even when sorrow and pity till our hearts—no, precisely in such times, we are one!”
G to Nash: “That wound… When you hurt, the citizens of the world hurt. We know this to be true.”

So, is G leading an actual, fully staffed circus? If G is the leader of an army of Qs, then yes. The Qs would be his performers. He wouldn’t be the clown – the Qs would be his clowns.

Based on everything I’ve researched, this still appears to be the case. However, there is something else that has thrown me off. My assumption was that G, since Gill has no idea who he is and is therefore confirmed to not be a member of the Secret Society/Illuminati, had no relation to the Illuminati’s “G-Project”. I was apparently wrong, as Nakayama alludes to it in the interview:

“There’s a lot of back lore to G. Those who played Street Fighter III probably have suspicions about his connections to Gill’s “G-Project files” and the character Q, and I hope people will keep wondering about the significance of those initials.”

This confirms that G is indeed related to both the G-Project and Q. Since G is not associated with the Illuminati, what is the significance of the G-Project? Gill himself alludes to this in his above win quote to G, as he calls G “an undocumented power”. The G-Project would be the attempt to document him, using the Illuminati’s resources to figure out everything they can about the President of the World.

However, there appears to be more than just simple documentation going on. Look at Ibuki’s ending in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPbNGQ7KRA

After he is defeated by Ibuki, Gill gives her the G File, stating:

Based on what we see in Ibuki’s ending, it appears that Gill’s plan is to somehow use the knowledge he acquires on G to control the world. This has led people to speculate that Gill captures G and transforms him into Q after draining his power. I don’t think this is the case, though – G isn’t getting drained, he’s the one DOING the draining. The interview confirms it! The last sentence states that G “gets stronger as he goes, absorbing the power of the earth and its people on a “presidential” level.” As I stated in my last theory, The Truth About Sakura Kasugano?, G is an energy vampire, stealing power from the earth to use as his own. He also steals the power of those he shakes hands with, transforming them into Qs. https://manestreet.home.blog/2020/02/08/the-truth-about-sakura-kasugano/

So, this leads to the ultimate question: who is the Q from Street Fighter III: Third Strike? It could be Nash, as he fits everything that is required to be Q having been completely vaporized. However, there is only one other character in the game who has been revealed who fits every criteria to be Q to a tee. Everything fits like a glove, from the robotic mannerisms to the yellow eyes to the female voice when Q uses Total Destruction.

It’s time to meet Q.

Q is Seth.

Everything is starting to make sense that Seth becomes the Q from Street Fighter III. Seth is a creation of Bison, and was put into a new, shiny, female robotic body. People have pointed out that Q has somewhat darker skin in Q’s sprite, especially in the legs, leading some people to believe that Q is David Spender, one of the CIA agents seen in Q’s ending in Street Fighter III.

The dark skin could also be explained by Seth’s body being darker in color, and though Q’s skin isn’t as shiny, the way light reflects off of Q’s body could make it appear more dull.

“But isn’t Q white?,” you say. That can also be explained. Seth has darker skin in certain parts, and lighter skin in certain parts. While the legs are darker, the way light can reflect off Seth’s design can make them look whiter in the neck. You can even see light emanating from Seth’s neck, which, being under a white shirt, can give the impression that Q is white.

“That’s a reach,” you say. Ok, if that’s not enough for you, take a look at some of Seth’s costumes on their C.R.I. profile. There are more than a few that give Seth human looking skin. https://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/character/seth/costume?lang=en
“Ok, what about the hair? Seth has black hair.” Same thing with the skin. If light is emanating from Seth’s neck, it’s going to look lighter than usual. Also, even Seth’s Swimsuit costume gives Seth lighter hair. It’s merely a design choice.

Now that we have those explained, everything else fits. Seth is a malfunctioning machine with yellow eyes and hosts a second female voice that warns of danger, the same as Q. In fact, Seth’s new design even answers the question of why you can’t see Q’s skeleton after Q is electrocuted: Seth’s female form has the ability to increase muscle mass, especially seen when Seth uses Abigail Punch. In other words, Seth has enough muscle mass to prevent complete transparency.

“But you can see Seth’s skeleton when they’re shocked!” That’s because Seth reverts to normal when shocked. If there was a way to make the muscle increase permanent, like through external control, then the muscle would be able to conceal Seth’s much smaller skeleton.

This leads me to my second piece of evidence. Twitter user @4everbuffy made a witty observation on Seth’s costumes:

There is far more to this, though! This shows me that Seth’s desire to be king of the world extends to wanting to replace all of the boss characters in the game to be the “true” boss of the series. Since Seth has the ability to absorb data from others, Seth can indeed become that person, right down to the personality and moves, extending to aesthetic preferences like clothing and hairstyle.
In other words, Seth can potentially become anyone. Since this is the case, look back on the costumes. It appears that Seth has compiled the data and personalities of every boss character in the series, from Sagat to Gill. Everyone except one: G.

Seth does not have a G-like costume, and it’s very clear that Seth has not compiled G’s data canonically yet. It could be that Seth will eventually encounter G, and absorb some of his data. So, how does Seth become Q then?

Two scenarios could happen that would transform Seth into Q. The first is that when G and Seth meet, they end up trying to absorb each other. Both succeed. Seth ends up with some of G’s power and personality while G takes Seth’s free will, putting the Marz-created Q mask on Seth after realizing that Seth has now become him.

The second scenario offers a far more elaborate story. Seth’s abilities could be noticed by the Illuminati. In this scenario, the Illuminati kidnaps Seth, who has been driven to madness by Juri’s meddling. Offering Seth peace of mind, they use the data collected by the G Project to try and transform Seth into G. They succeed to an extent, granting Seth some, but not all of, G’s powers, Seth’s body and mind becoming further destroyed by the Illuminati’s experimentations. The Illuminati, perhaps having kidnapped Marz as well, places the Marz-created Q mask on Seth to control them further (yes, I’m sticking with the idea that Marz created the Q mask).

If this second scenario occurs, then it’s going to bring up a very interesting possibility: there are two types of Qs – one controlled by G, the other controlled by the Illuminati. This brings up the final showdown that people have been talking about for the past few months: the clash between G’s “Freemasons” and Gill’s Illuminati.

Now I just need to figure out what’s going in Seth’s Street Fighter V arcade ending.