I was originally gonna make this a percentage thread like I did for the female fighters thread, but it'd be a bit depressing with regards to how many we have in each game. That plus counting those of East Asian descent would get a bit dicey in terms of how people would feel about the final percentage, especially with regards to fighting games from Japan. So with that said, let's take a look at some of the recent fighting games with people of color (by default).
STREET FIGHTER V(: ARCADE EDITION)
MARVEL VS. CAPCOM: INFINITE
TEKKEN 7
ARMS
SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE
SOUL CALIBUR VI
MORTAL KOMBAT X(L)
INJUSTICE 2
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV
KILLER INSTINCT
GUILTY GEAR XRD (REV 2)
Outside of these games, the likes of Dragon Ball FighterZ don't have any PoC representation for the humans, though that can be attributed to the IP rather than the game (similar to Smash's situation). With that said, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. But please, keep it civil. And if I missed something, please let me know so I can update the OP accordingly.
STREET FIGHTER V(: ARCADE EDITION)
Out of the 34 characters in SFV so far, 8 of them aren't either White or East Asian (or completely Asian, as Laura is half-Japanese). And of what we have so far, I'd say they're all pretty diverse. Balrog's been around since SFII, & his redesign is honestly what he needed for a long time. Birdie didn't originally start out being black (him being white in SFI was later retconned into him being really sick), but I guess reverse white-washing isn't a bad problem to have. Rashid & Menat bring Middle-Eastern & Egyptian representation respectively, both of which were needed in Street Fighter for a long time (I go into more detail on my thoughts on these two in the newcomers thread). And Laura, I'm more indifferent towards, namely due to her design (plus I honestly prefer her little brother, Sean). Dhalsim is South Asian rather than East Asian (him being Indian & all), so I'd say he counts. And like Balrog, Dhalsim is a mainstay with a unique play style & a redesign that elevates him above what he had before. Necalli, my misgivings towards his character aside, at least brings some Aztec representation to SFV, which isn't a bad thing (I just wish he was handled better). As for Sagat, he's Southeast Asian (Thai), so he'd count. Like Dhalsim & Balrog, Sagat is a classic for a reason. Between his surprisingly-good character arc, his great updated design, & his unique play style, Sagat stands out as a great character in every regard who happens to bring more diversity to the game. So while Street Fighter does a better job than most, it's still a bit lacking (especially with the likes of Dudley & Elena still missing). But I'll give credit where it's due, both in having a somewhat-decent number of PoC characters & dialing the stereotypes back in later SF games in general. And as of now, Street Fighter is leading the charge in terms of representation, which is great to see.
MARVEL VS. CAPCOM: INFINITE
Black Panther is one of those characters who was long overdue for inclusion in the MvC series. Character-wise, I don't think he really needs explaining at this point, as there's a reason why he was so requested. As for how he plays, it's alright, but I wish he used some more weapons & called up on the Dora Milaje. Otherwise, despite him being low-tier, Black Panther is really fun to play. Now where my problems come in is that Black Panther is the only person on color in MvCI. While I can kinda understand for the Capcom side, I can't forgive this for the Marvel side. This is one of the scenarios where the impacts X-Men/Fantastic Four ban that affected MvCI (& many other Marvel games) can really be felt, as we'd at least have Storm if the ban wasn't a thing at the time. And even then, there are other viable options for more people of color in MvCI like Ms. Marvel & Rashid (both of whom were rumored to be in the scrapped Season 2) who wouldn't have been impacted by the ban (at least in the case of Kamala). But alas, it is what it is. At least we got Black Panther out of the whole situation......even though he's DLC.
TEKKEN 7
Out of 40 characters as of when this thread was made (43 counting palette swaps), we only have 6 characters who aren't White or East Asian. Concerning King, while this particular person first appeared in Tekken 3, the title of King has been a thing since the first game. Of Mexican descent, King pretty much wrote the book on wrestling in Tekken, & the legacy of the title has been a mainstay throughout the entire Tekken series thanks to both his moveset standing out from everyone else & both Kings' simplistic but striking designs. Eddy Gordo is a Tekken mainstay since Tekken 3 for a reason, as he's a character who resonated with a lot of people in both story (his mishandling of his story in Tekken 7 aside) & play-style. On Josie, it's always good to have more representation for the Philippines (my apologies for the lack of a png render for her). Her gameplay is really close to that of Bruce. And while I was never much of a Bruce player, it's good to see his play style carried on in Tekken 7. Katarina is another Brazilian who's actually a newcomer in Tekken 7 & is a bit more beginner-friendly in terms of her gameplay. While she isn't my cup of tea in terms of who I play in Tekken, her design is alright & her story arc does seem a bit interesting (with her adoptive father being mutated into Gigas, who I'd mention here if I knew his ethnicity). As for Master Raven, she's basically a more fully-realized version of Raven from previous Tekken games, with her being a master of Raven's fighting style. As much as I miss Raven himself, I'm not gonna say no to a black woman in Tekken. As for Shaheen, he honestly doesn't bring much to the table as a character, especially compared to Rashid. But his design is great & his gameplay is pretty fun, so it's not all bad. Plus, like Rashid, more Middle Eastern representation is always a good thing to have. Still, you gotta respect how Tekken 7 is up there in terms of representation.
ARMS
Of the 15 characters ARMS has, these two are the ones who aren't either White or East Asian. As far as percentages go, 2 out of 15 isn't bad. But damn did they do a great job with these characters (though to be fair, Nintendo EPD Kyoto did a great job with all of the designs). Twintelle is obviously the stand-out of not just these two, but of the entire ARMS cast (& as a side character to boot, which isn't easy to pull off). Twintelle doesn't really need an introduction at this point, as her near-universal praise & fun play style style both do the talking for her (hell, I actually gained her before Dr. Coyle & Lola Pop came along). Misango on the other hand is the unsung hero of the cast. Misango takes heavy inspiration from Mayan culture in his design, which also ties into his Shulk-like mask mechanic. He's one of the more unique characters amongst the ARMS cast. And, while not as big of a hit as Twintelle, Misango is still a solid character in his own right. This is another case of there not being a lot to pull from, but at least ARMS can say that the PoC representation they do have are A+ material. So again, credit where it's due, & hopefully Yabuki's team at Nintendo EPD Kyoto does more going forward with regards to PoC representation
SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE
Ganondorf hails from the Gerudo tribe, who are commonly seen to be based on the Middle East in terms of ethnicity. As such, if Rashid counts, so does Ganondorf. And honestly, he's a great pick. Ganondorf is an iconic villain with a striking design (especially in his OoT incarnation). And while I'm not a fan of the fact that he's still based on Captain Falcon (& that Ganoncides got nerfed), he was at least de-cloned further thanks to the use of his sword for smash attacks. He's an overall great character that I hope is somewhat-viable in competitive play. Where the problem comes in is the fact that, out of 77 characters (so far, as of when this thread was made), Ganondorf is the only character who isn't White or East Asian (or based on an ethnicity drawn from either of those two) by default. Though to be fair, not all of them are human (Ex: Pokémon, Kirby, Yoshi, etc.), but you get my point. Sure, we have different skin tones for Villager & the Inklings as alternate costumes, but neither of them are default designs. To be fair, Smash Ultimate's roster was decided back in December 2015, before Nintendo started to make improvements in terms of representation in their games. As such, it's not fair to blame Sakurai for not having much to work with in terms of proper representation in Smash. But given Smash's focus on main characters first (with most of the characters who brought about the change, like Twintelle & Marina, being side characters), we may not see things get much better in terms of PoC representation via DLC. All we can hope for now is that Nintendo continues to improve in terms of PoC representation in their games (preferably with main characters) so that we can see tangible results in the next Smash game. But until then, at least we have Ganondorf.
SOUL CALIBUR VI
Zasalamel is honestly a home-run on basically every regard. From his design to his gameplay, Zasalamel is cool as hell on all fronts & I'm glad that he made it into Soul Calibur VI. Talim brings some Filipino representation to Soul Calibur, with a quick-&-nimble dual-blade fighting style that would be right up my alley if I wasn't already a Kilik person. But other than these two, there isn't a lot of PoC representation in Soul Calibur VI. Zasalamel & Talim are the only people of color out of 23 characters in the roster so far. And while Zasalamel & Talim are awesome, it doesn't help fix the problem of SCVI's roster lacking in representation relative to how many characters are in the roster. Sure, it's not Smash levels of bad, but at least Smash has the excuse of not having a whole lot to pull from. But hey, it's not like SCVI has nothing at all in terms of PoC representation, what we do have in SCVI is on-point.
MORTAL KOMBAT X(L)
The only non-White or East Asian representation we have in MKXL's 33-character roster are Jax Briggs, Jacqui Briggs, & Tanya. Fortunately, they're all pretty cool characters in their own respects &, in the case of the Briggs, have solid designs that do the most with the family's army background. And although I don't main either of them, Jax (like Eddy) has been a mainstay of the series for a reason, & Jacqui does look pretty fun (I can't speak for their tier placement, as I didn't follow MKXL competitively). As for Tanya, she's a bit more unique in terms of how she plays, & her design is pretty good (especially since she started to become more & more unique from the other female ninjas as time went on). But again, there just isn't a lot to pull from for MKXL in terms of PoC representation, which honestly surprised me. Hopefully NRS improves on this front for MKXI.
INJUSTICE 2
Cyborg is now pushed as the main black guy of the DC Universe, especially within the Justice League. He's pretty fun, at least enough for me to main him for a bit in the first game. But while I'm cool with his character in the comics, I'm not fond of how he was handled in Injustice 2. Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) is honestly one of my favorite newer DC characters, even though I still have a soft spot for Ted Kord. And NRS did a great job with how he plays & acts in Injustice 2, to the point where I actually mained Jaime for a while. As for Firestorm, he's actually two people, but they count since the body part is made up by Jason Rusch. I do have some appreciation for them in the comics, & their play-style is kinda fun in IJ2. Black Adam was one who I wasn't sure I should count. but he is Egyptian. And if Menat counts, so should Black Adam. Him & Black Manta (who I'll get to soon) are actually some of the non-Batman DC villains who I enjoy a lot, so it's good to see Black Adam return in Injustice 2, even if I never really played him in either game. As for Black Manta, he's a huge fan request who finally got his time to shine in Injustice 2, & boy did he. Not sure about the tier placements of anyone here (like MKXL, I didn't follow IJ2 competitively), but there are some solid picks here. And while yes, there are Premier Skins for characters like John Stewart, Vixen, & Black Lightning, they aren't full characters, & thus aren't counted here (which is a damn shame, 'cause I like all 3 of them).
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV
Najd aside, most of KoFXIV's representation comes from Team South America & most of Team Mexico, the former of whom are comprised of all newcomers. And honestly, all 3 are solid designs. Nelson brings a new take on the boxing style to KoF with some emphasis on his bonnie arm. Banderas is a wannabe ninja who happens to have the skills to back it up. And Zarina brings Capoeira to the table. All three of them have great movesets with, as mentioned before, great designs backing them up. Najd on the other hand is a fan design turned DLC character. And yeah, she's unique on every front. Najd brings some Middle Eastern representation to KoF, which is always good to have. And her play style is unlike anything we've seen from KoF thus far. She's a home-run on every front. As for Team Mexico, most of these characters are wrestling-themed, with different takes on the motif. While I'm not too fond of Angel's design, she is fun to play. As for Tizo.....I mean King of Dinosaurs, he excels in both design & gameplay, even though I prefer Tizoc's face turn. And while there isn't a lot beyond these seven, at least what we do have are great characters that provide more representation.
KILLER INSTINCT
Killer Instinct's characters who offer more diversity beyond what I mentioned earlier actually offer quite a bit. Both Jago & Orchid are of Tibetan descent (or half-Tibetan in Orchid's case) T.J. Combo & Thunder are classic characters who have stood the test of time for numerous reasons. And in the case of Thunder, he eventually got a more culturally-accurate design that was an improvement across the board (I'd use it here if I could get a .png image of it). Sadira brings more Middle Eastern representation. Maya brings South American representation, which also extends to Mira by virtue of the two being sisters. Kan-Ra is actually an ancient Babylonian. And Eagle is an archer who happens to be Thunder's brother (& thus is Native American). They all look fun with a lot of thought put into their moves, but I can't speak for how fun they are to play since I dedicated most of my time to T.J. Combo & Jago. But all the same, I can respect the devs dedication to representation (with KI even being ahead of SFV on this front), especially with regards to updating Thunder's design (if you have a .png image for the new design, please send it to me so I can add it to the OP).
GUILTY GEAR XRD (REV 2)
All things considered, Arc System Works did a pretty good job in terms of representation in Xrd. Venom & Potemkin are both Guilty Gear mainstays that bring solid amounts of diversity to the table (& I'm fond of how Venom plays, even though I'm a filthy Johnny main). As for Ramlethal, I couldn't find anything regarding her ethnicity, but you guys seem to be in favor of her being counted, so who am I to judge. All three of them have pretty striking designs, even though Ramlethal veers a bit too far in the fan-service side (though I suppose that's not new for the series). And as implied by my Venom mention earlier, they all play interestingly. Either way, credit where it's due to ASW for doing solid with their ratio of PoC representation in GGXrd.
Outside of these games, the likes of Dragon Ball FighterZ don't have any PoC representation for the humans, though that can be attributed to the IP rather than the game (similar to Smash's situation). With that said, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. But please, keep it civil. And if I missed something, please let me know so I can update the OP accordingly.
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