The characters of Capcom's Street Fighter series form a complex web of martial artists and psychic individuals. Over its five seasons, the forty-or-so members of Street Fighter 5's roster have let it represent a good chunk of that web. Striking a balance between new characters and those from the franchise's past, the final cast of characters in SFV matches up nicely with its forbearers. Capcom recently surprised fans with the announcement of a new bonus fighter for the final SFV season pass: an all-white character named Eleven, who was previously seen in Urien's SFV character story. While it's not immediately obvious, Eleven is not a completely original idea, unlike some of SFV's other additions.
To start, Eleven isn't really even a full fighter. Instead, it morphs into one of the other characters on the roster once players reach the versus screen. While Street Fighter 5 already has a random character option, Eleven takes things one step further by locking players into a character after selection is already done. The character also selects a random V-Skill and V-Trigger, meaning players choosing to rock Eleven will have a different experience every fight, guaranteed.
In Street Fighter lore, Eleven is one of the experiments of the Secret Society (also known as the Illuminati), an organization run by Street Fighter 3 antagonist Gill. With the red and blue warrior appearing in Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition, SFV now provides a ramp to the next entry in the series timeline, which is the trio of '90s arcade games starting with Street Fighter 3: New Generation. Street Fighter 5 also provides early origins for important characters in the sequel, like Alex and Ibuki, as well as one character with direct connections to Eleven.
How Does SFV's Eleven Tie In With Street Fighter 3?
As seen in Urien's SFV story, Eleven was originally an Easter egg reference to Twelve, a successful humanoid weapon born from the prototype Eleven. While Eleven is merely a shapeshifter, Twelve has his own fighting style, although he can also copy his opponent via one of his ultimate moves. This warrior was first introduced in 1999's Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and that's his only playable appearance so far. Outside of fighting games, Twelve has made cameos in Capcom Fighting Evolution and SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash.
Despite a rocky launch, Street Fighter 5 has expanded its roster to fill in the gaps between sequels and allowed players to pit favorite characters from multiple eras against one another. With the current season confirmed as SFV's last, it will be interesting to see if Capcom next explores the future of the Street Fighter timeline or dives into one of its other fighting franchises. Fans know something is coming to cater to Capcom's esports portfolio, and an announcement is likely not far away.