Mixing Business with Pleasure

If you’ve been following my Twitter, you’ll know I’ve recently become a product ambassador for two brands. The first is the drink company Sly, and I have the QR code and link pinned at the top of my X/Twitter that you can use to buy products on their website. In doing so, you’ll be able to help the blog through every purchase you make through my direct channel. https://twitter.com/StevenManeVox/status/1717766847418737033

The second brand is a company I’ve loved since I was a kid, Udon Entertainment, the publishers of the official Street Fighter comics. When I applied, I knew I wanted to write theories incorporating their merchandise in some way.

Consider this a first attempt.

Udon sent me some amazing items, including an Alex T-shirt, a Q pin, a Shadaloo poster, and more. However, there was nothing in the bundle I could really write anything on. The Shadaloo poster allows us to know more on the daily goings-on in Shadaloo, but there’s nothing really there that affects the storyline outside of wondering why Shadaloo’s kitchen is so far away from its dining area. The Street Fighter Omega comic I received has some awesome cover pieces that hint at the canon stories that have gone untold, but the stories still have to be written for us to fully understand the events that are featured on said covers. The Street Fighter 6 Evolution comic that also came in the bundle showed some interesting storylines, but nothing really stood out here outside of Luke and Jamie having a more personal chat.

In other words, there wasnt anything here I could actually write on, unless we wanted to speculate where Udon wanted to go in their next series of comics. There is one item they sent me in the bundle, however, which really cuts deep into the lore of Street Fighter and give us a ton of things to research and speculate about.

The only problem? I already had a copy.

The Street Fighter World Warrior Encyclopedia – Arcade Edition has been a guiding source for a number of my theories, and although I am an official product ambassador, I mean it when I say it is one of the most important books Udon has ever printed. Director of Publishing Matt Moylan has already announced his intention to update the book with new information regarding Street Fighter 6. However, since it will take a while for this to happen, I encourage everyone reading this who doesn’t own a copy of the book to buy it. It’s $44.99, and you can find it here: https://store.udonentertainment.com/collections/books/products/street-fighter-world-warrior-encyclopedia-arcade-edition-hardcover

Inside, you will find some amazing art by awesome Udon artists, as well as a ton of lore information. You’ll find out things about characters like Abel, Blanka, and Juli you haven’t seen before, and the encyclopedia is a fascinating read for any Street Fighter fan.

Now, while this article is here to encourage you to buy things, it wouldn’t be right to leave this as just an advertisement. You came here for a lore theory and it’s been a long time since you’ve seen a new one, so let’s see what’s in the encyclopedia and find out what’s there. There’s a lot to sift through, and every time you open it, you’ll either discover things you didn’t notice before or allow you to reconnect on things you did, but glanced over.

For example, as someone who was able to connect the dots beween Necalli and G, I had nonetheless forgotten something very simple that I had indeed glanced over: Necalli can cause earthquakes, and right there on page 108, it’s confirmed. G and Q also seem to have some kind of ability to cause natural disasters, and seeing Necalli as yet another agent for G would fit right into the group. Also, the encyclopedia states that Necalli has a strong dislike for robots, which Q emulates in every possible way. We can speculate that maybe Necalli has met Q at some point, and could not just dislike him, but even be afraid of him.

In Street Fighter 6, there’s a robot the avatar meets named R.O.B.B.I.E, who is child-like and mischievous.

Created by Old Man Lloyd (whose name is an obvious reference to Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future), R.O.B.B.I.E was a means to establish true sentience from artificial intelligence. That being said, I’ve speculated on X/Twitter that R.O.B.B.I.E is an aspect of Robert, Luke’s dad, who I have reason to believe is the original Q from Street Fighter III: Third Strike. https://x.com/StevenManeVox/status/1707605434108968989?s=20

The thing about Q is that the complete removal of Robert’s kid side makes Q a more menacing figure as all of his empathy and whimsy that he once showed Luke are gone, leaving only the quiet, battle-hardened aspect of Robert’s original personality intact, his warrior shell completely controlled by the President of the World. Of course, this is a theory for another day, but the point here is that if Necalli dislikes Q, the idea that Q feels nothing when he kills (outside of end-of-battle moments when a tear is shed with the remnants of Robert realizing what he’s become) makes Q even more terrifying. He takes no pleasure in killing. He kills because he has to and must suppress the only emotion he holds, sadness, because of G’s influence. Necalli, being someone who likes to consume people with dark desires, would be completely unable to consume someone like Q, who has no desire whatsoever, and this could be the main reason why Necalli would have a strong dislike of him. Quite simply, Q confuses him, and Necalli seems to fear things he can’t understand. This was seen prominently in Street Fighter V during his battles with Ryu and Akuma.

All of that being said, I feel Necalli’s entry isn’t the most important one in the book. There is one entry I personally keep coming back to, and if you’ve been reading this blog all this time, you’ll understand why.

It’s Ibuki’s.

In Ibuki’s entry lays what may just be the most important paragraph ever written regarding the ongoing canon lore of Street Fighter. On page 74, it reads:

“For her first major ninja mission, Ibuki was set upon the world with orders to find and retrieve the mysterious ‘G File’. Many rumors surrounded the content of the G File, but according to its creator, Gill, “No layman will be able to make any sense of the file just by reading it.” In the end, Ibuki was successful in acquiring the G File, but it left an unsettling feeling in her heart.”

Within this one paragraph lays an incredible amount of information regarding the future of the series. No less than three characters are involved here in Ibuki, Gill, and G, and if we add their direct associates, consisting of Q, Kolin, Urien, and the other three members of the Kanzuki clique, Karin, Sakura, and Akira, there is the potential of building an entire story involving nine different characters. Again, this is just with one paragraph, and isn’t even including Necalli or the Glade of Ninjas!

At the time of this article being published, none of these characters have been represented in Street Fighter 6 outside of the occasional passing glimpses. Gill was represented in both Rashid’s World Tour story and among the billboards in Beat Square, but neither G nor Ibuki have been seen outside of Gallery mode. Interestingly enough, you would think G would be referenced in Rashid’s missions or Ibuki referenced in Kimberly’s, but it just hasn’t happened at this point.

There’s a good reason, though: Capcom is focusing on bringing back M. Bison. The encyclopedia touches on this as well in a bit of foreshadowing. As it states on page 98:

“Whether M. Bison was permanently destroyed or not [after the events of Street Fighter V] is unknown. Assuming he always has a new body to jump into, he could very well be immortal.”

It’s pretty much guaranteed that we’ll see everyone’s favorite Psycho-Powered dictator again at some point, especially since it’s stated in World Tour that JP plans on using Ed to facilitate his resurrection. However, from the research I’ve conducted, this is minor compared to what’s going on with the Ibuki/Gill/G story. Even if Bison comes back, will he be prepared to take on the other organizations that have replaced him?

“Of course!”, you say. The thing is that Shadaloo is down to remnants now. We see Bison as someone who can get things done, but Shadaloo just doesn’t exist the way it used to. when Bison does come back, he’ll essentially be running an organization that’s run the same way as Kalima’s Nayshallian resistance – primitive and weakened. Yes, JP has a lot of money, and yes, Shadaloo will likely poach from other groups to regain dominance. However, Bison doesn’t have the military he once had. He has remote-controlled drones and a few loyal thugs for an army. That’s not gonna be enough to take down the Illuminati or G’s faction.

He’d have to be pretty Sly to gain control again.