When it comes to the fighting game genre, few series are as iconic as Street Fighter. Dating back to the late '80s with the release of Street Fighter II, the franchise was a pioneer for the fighting game genre, introducing everything from the now iconic quarter-circle inputs to even the ability to select a unique character with distinct move set from a character selection screen.
However, while it is often the goal of every fighting game to cultivate a balanced roster of characters that are each strong in their own ways, some Street Fighter characters really broke the boundary of strength, making players using other characters feel like they were bringing checkers to a chess match. So today, we're going to examine the strongest, most overpowered, and broken characters from across Street Fighter history.
Updated November 8th, 2022, by Antony Morris: Ever since Street Fighter II first hit home consoles in 1991, fans have been arguing over who the best and most powerful characters are. Over the years, the series has produced an array of fighters for fans to pick and do battle with. During that time, the franchise has thrown out a few standout figures who, once mastered, are near impossible to defeat. Whether speed, skill set, or one simple killer move, some overpowered fighters really do render the competition broken.
13 Oro - Street Fighter III
When Street Fighter 3: A New Generation was first released in 1997, it might be fair to say that the (mostly) all-new cast was somewhat shunned. Though, with new versions of the game, Double Impact and Third Strike, dropping shortly after, the characters really came into their own.
One such character, an ancient master martial artist, the 140-year-old plus one-armed immortal Oro, is a force to be reckoned with. Players who master this hermetic enigma will find themselves at an advantage over many of their opponents due to his powerful special move set.
12 Gouken - Street Fighter IV
The mentor of series favorites Ryu and Ken and brother to anti-hero Gouki, this martial arts master has long had legendary status in the Street Fighter franchise. First mentioned during Ryu’s 1992 Street Fighter 2 ending credits; it had long been a desire of fans to use Gouken in action.
While fans of Manga’s 2005 Street Fighter Alpha movie may have appreciated seeing Gouken fighting for the first time, it wasn’t until 2008 that players were able to use him. Street Fighter IV introduced this near-mythological character whose power will give many players the edge.
11 Seth - Street Fighter IV
Another Street Fighter IV character of great strength and furious anger is Seth. A genetically engineered street-fighting marvel, this character serves as CEO of the nefarious terrorist organization, Shadaloo. Alongside their lofty business title, Seth was created as a potential body replacement for the company’s overlord, M.Bison.
Seth has a fighting style that is purported to be beyond the knowledge of Man and, as such, is overpowered and ultimately insurmountable for the simple human mind. Jokes aside, once mastered, Seth is a formidable player who opponents do not enjoy facing.
10 Evil Ryu - Ultra Street Fighter IV
Despite having one of the largest rosters in the franchise's history, Ultra Street Fighter IV was able to be one of the most balanced entries in the series' history. With a diverse range of great characters, players who enjoyed any archetype of play had excellent character options to choose from.
However, while far from the most overpowered character around, they heavily disincentivized playing other similar "shoto" characters like the original Ryu. With all of the same available options, Evil Ryu toted an expanded move list, better combo potential, and more options across the board, all whilst still having more HP than Akuma.
9 M. Bison - Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
M. Bison is a character who has been playable in numerous entries in the Street Fighter series, including numerous iterations of Street Fighter II. He was most notably quite powerful in Champion Edition, in which he toted one of the strongest single moves in the series' history: the Champion Edition version of Psycho Crusher.
In this version, it dealt incredible damage, even when it was blocked, and it was immensely difficult to punish, making it nearly impossible to deal with.
8 Sean - Street Fighter III: Second Impact
While Sean is most known for being a bottom-tier character in Street Fighter III: Third Strike, he was actually one of the most overpowered characters within the game's previous iteration, Second Impact. With strong command moves, combo potential, and a great neutral game, Sean's super could be easily confirmed into, dealing unparalleled damage from even the most minute hit confirm.
7 Yun - Street Fighter III: Third Strike
Comparing Yun in Street Fighter III: Third Strike to almost any other character in that game's roster is like looking at characters from completely different games. While Street Fighter is a series that is traditionally based upon fundamentals and footsies rather than combos, Yun kind of throws that sentiment out the window.
Capable of dealing huge chunks of damage through lengthy combos, this rushdown character's combo potential only improves when his super, Genei Jin is used.
6 Chun Li - Street Fighter III: Third Strike
The only other Third Strike character that is truly as oppressively powerful as Yun, it's hard to find an area where Chun Li falls short. With stellar frame data on numerous key moves, Chun Li can cover a great deal of space with quick moves that deal great damage. Tied together with an incredible walk speed and one of the best supers in the series' history, reliably usable at long distances to deal serious damage, and you have one of the best characters in Street Fighter history.
5 Sagat - Street Fighter II: Turbo
When it comes to zoning in Street Fighter, no character can match the raw projectile potential of Sagat in Street Fighter II: Turbo. Able to easily keep more than half of the cast at bay, while many zoners in modern fighting games have lackluster damage when up close, Sagat is just as deadly in close quarters in Street Fighter II: Turbo.
4 Sagat - Street Fighter IV
Similarly to his incarnation in Street Fighter II: Turbo, Sagat, in the original vanilla version of Street Fighter IV, excelled in nearly every area, making him incredibly strong. From great projectiles to solid damage in close quarters, Sagat even had one of the best Ultras in the game, able to be confirmed into from a plethora of setups and combos.
3 Everyone In Omega Mode - Ultra Street Fighter IV
Ultra Street Fighter IV introduced a special mode called "Omega Mode" that altered every character's moves and abilities. This mode intentionally made every member of the roster broken in their own right, allowing nearly any character to access lengthy combos and astronomical damage potential! We're talking about a mode that allows Ken to Hadouken through his kicks. Need we say more?
2 Akuma - Street Fighter II Turbo
While Akuma is now designed as a balanced playable character in modern Street Fighter games, this wasn't the case when he was introduced in Street Fighter II Turbo. In his debut, Akuma was a secret boss character that functioned as a strictly better version of Ryu, gaining aerial projectiles and improved damage! It's not hard to see why this boss character is banned in competitive and tournament play of this game.
1 Gill - Street Fighter III
Another boss character from the series, Gill in Street Fighter III: Third Strike has a reputation as one of the most unfair bosses in any fighting game, and it's not difficult to see why. With impressive range, damage, and speed, no character can deal damage as quickly and easily as Gill.
One of the most deadly elements of Gill is his super meter. If either of Gill's supers are blocked, they still deal massive amounts of chip damage, while if they hit an opponent, they can instantly erase more than half a heath bar. The worst of it all is that if Gill is KO'd while he has a full super meter, he instantly resurrects himself, regaining his lost HP.