The next character hitting the Street Fighter 5 roster for the game's season two DLC is Ed, a lesser-known character in the fisticuff-playing franchise, but one most fans likely instantly recognize. Well, in his standard state, that is. This weekend, images of Ed as the next DLC fighter in the series' freshest installment surfaced online, but he looks vastly different.
First introduced in Street Fighter 4 at the head quarters of S.I.N., Ed was discovered by former boxer and current Shadaloo villain Balrog, who whisked Ed away to use his Psycho Power to his advantage. In the series' fourth title, Ed is actually a nameless clone created as a spare body for the heartless Shadaloo leader M. Bison. But in Street Fighter 5, Ed appears in the game's story mode as Balrog's protégé.
Both instances portray Ed as a young, slender fighter who's always seen with a hood over his head and the top of his face. However, the DLC reveal shows Ed as a much older, much larger figure, markedly dissimilar to the slightly scrawny teenager fans had seen in previous iterations. The Street Fighter 5 Season 2 DLC also ditches Ed's signature white, hooded sweater and opts for a Shadaloo military outfit instead.
Below is Ed's character model, followed by how he will appear in the game's character select screen.
Ed was originally slated to be unveiled today, Monday, May 8, but a product overview (which has since been removed from the Sony website) spoiled his debut -- and left some fans with a sour taste in their mouth. Twitter user Mr. Cochino responded to the leak by saying, "This is pretty much in line with all the street fighter characters: unimpressive and disappointing." Street Fighter enthusiast Rafael Martines was equally dismayed at Ed's redesign, calling it "lame" and arguing that "his version of story mode with the hood is far better."
A great deal of fans also called into question Ed's suddenly hyper-fit physique, sarcastically mentioning that Ed "got jacked in... no time" and that they thought his character was supposed to be just a "skinny kid," not a buff military man. However, his newfound mega muscles may be explained by the fact that he's a clone -- a fast-growing one at that.
Ed's new (but perhaps not necessarily improved) model suggests that he's older now than his appearance in Street Fighter 5's story, and his drastically different attire has stirred up speculation as to what his alternate costumes may look like. Reddit user JDF03 created a "half-and-half" version of Ed, blending together his new green military suit with his old hood, shown below. Maybe Capcom has their own ideas for additional character costumes, and perhaps there will even be an option to play as the A Shadow Falls version of Ed.
Capcom is far from over introducing new characters and updates. Ed's reveal follows behind Akuma, the Ansatsuken master, and Kolin, a Russian agent of the Illuminati and the personal assistant to Gill. Additionally, the company is gearing up to launch another Capcom Fighters Network beta test for Street Fighter 5 from Thursday, May 11 until Sunday, May 14. Both PlayStation 4 and PC users will be able to participate for free this time around.
Street Fighter 5 is available now for PC and PS4.