Several mysteries in Street Fighter 6 have come to light, from the purpose of SiRN to R.O.B.B.I.E’s origins to whatever JP is planning next for Shadaloo. Ed will be coming to Street Fighter 6 on February 27, and some of the things in this article may be proven right or wrong depending on what happens. However, it’s important to at least establish a foundation of ideas as guidance for the next stage of the game.
One of the big questions is the true identity of Asterisk.
Some think Asterisk may be Ed, and depending on what we find out when he’s released, it could very well be he’s the one who has been helping us this whole time.
Except… if he does take credit for being Asterisk, it could be a straight-up lie.
After looking into the clues the game gives us, it’s my belief that Asterisk is NOT Ed, but another familiar character who I’ve been writing about quite frequently. Since it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I would pick her to those who follow me, I’m just going to say it: I think Asterisk is Karin.
I have two hitches when it comes to choosing her. First, the way Asterisk types is NOTHING like the way you would expect Karin to write. Asterisk uses slang, something that Karin would NEVER use in her day-to-day life, and would overall be seen as something that would be beneath both her and her lineage. The second is that Asterisk identifies as an “information dealer” by trade and has several clients who they’re carrying out tasks for. The thing is that Karin would have no need to be making money from this, being the wealthiest person in the entire series.
However, there’s an answer to both of these dilemmas. Asterisk is a persona. As a character, they exist somewhere in the Street Fighter universe, but they need to keep their identity a secret. The work Asterisk deals in would require secrecy no matter who they were, since sensitive information is their forte. However, the need for being incognito would be even greater for someone like Karin because of her status. If she is Asterisk, like the name subtly implies, she’s taking a great risk to provide you, the avatar, with information. She’s risking her name, family, and fortune to be an influential figure on the dark web.
As it turns out, “risk” isn’t the only meaning to Asterisk’s name. After a recent discussion with my counterpart MysterSack on X/Twitter, something popped up unexpectedly in my research as we talked about the new SiRN spacesuit costume for the avatar. By changing one letter in Asterisk’s name, we get a term involving space: asterism, a pattern of stars in the sky. In fact, the base word, “aster”, is Latin for “star”. We know that Karin has a strong connection to space as well, considering she has been wanting to establish a space colony.
Karin also has a strong network of people who can get her any piece of information that she desires. Her faithful steward, Shibasaki, is known for his talent on information gathering, and I do consider him a potential candidate regarding the true identity of Asterisk. However, there are more things to consider that point to Karin being the person behind the logo.
Asterisk is someone who not only deals with information, but technology as well. In Rashid’s final mission in World Tour, Asterisk, working in conjunction with former members of Shadaloo, tracks Rashid with no less than four drones. When confronting the Shadaloo members, they imply the drones are theirs, but it’s pretty clear from the start of the mission that Asterisk was the one who provided them. Since the only established organization that provides drones is SiRN at this point in Street Fighter 6, it stands to reason that, unless the drones have been refurbished, only another organization on par with SiRN’s technology could build a similar drone.
The only other existing organization we know of that deals with high-end technology in the Street Fighter series? The Kanzuki Zaibatsu.
Another strange thing to point out is Asterisk’s logo. Besides being professionally designed, it has an interesting outline that may be seem familiar. It looks just like the top of Karin’s head.
The “A” on the logo represents Asterisk’s name. It also symbolizes Karin’s bangs. The four points on each side of the logo represent Karin’s famous curls, and the tracker on top represents her bow.
Coincidental? Perhaps. There remains one very important piece of evidence, one that can only be found by those who look. MysterSack did an excellent job of finding a piece of evidence that was overlooked: a hidden playing card behind one of JP’s earned titles that held The Fool imagery, symbolically connecting him to G.
However, it turns out that JP isn’t the only character who holds representation on a playing card.
This very blurry picture I took shows Karin’s image on a playing card, one you can find in Nayshall where two men are playing a card game. Because this image is so blurry, though, it’s the perfect time to link to an article by NoeV, also known as BigMex_1Up on X/Twitter, which not only has a much clearer picture of the Karin card, but also goes into the stunning micro details of Nayshall’s design. https://streetwriterpodcast.blogspot.com/2023/09/street-fighter-6-master-class-in-game_02090455832.html
After you see the card in clearer detail, a few things come to light. First, Karin is very firmly the Ace of Hearts, and there are several meanings to this that I won’t get into right now. However, the most prominent thing we see on this card? The letter A. Not only is Karin holding the letter A on the heart in her hand, but her bangs even make the shape of the letter A, just like Asterisk’s logo.
Does any of this prove conclusively that Karin is Asterisk? No. However, these little touches and hints from the game’s designers show us they really put a lot of care into World Tour mode. They’re paying attention to the story of the series, and we as fans have a lot to look forward to as the game goes on.
For now, though, let’s see what Ed has in store.
Street Fighter Game Lore Theories 