Top 5 Most Surprising Guest Characters in Fighting Games

At the turn of the 21st century, video games made a sudden shift from a nerdy hobby to a multimillion dollar industry. Developers were forced to step their game up (no pun intended) in order to attract new customers to their product. One way developers realized they could generate some interest in their product was to include characters from other properties into their games to bring fans of that character over. In recent months, we’ve seen some incredible guest character announcements for games like Injustice 2 and Tekken 7, but how do these recent new challengers stand up to guest characters of the past? We take a look at 5 of the most surprising fighting game guest characters of all time.

Earthworm Jim (Clay Fighter 63 1/3)

Jim’s appearance in Clay Fighter 63 ⅓ for the Nintendo 64 marked his first appearance in a game since Earthworm Jim 2 and his sole appearance on the N64. Jim also brought a certain unique appeal to a niche game, made even more niche due to the lack of fighters found on the Nintendo 64. Jim was an interesting addition to the roster and, along with Boogerman, seemed to fit right into the twisted cast of clay fighters.

Cloud (Ehrgeiz & Super Smash Bros.)

Ehrgeiz: God Bless The Ring was Squaresoft’s attempt at a arena style 3D-fighting game - a genre that Capcom would perfect years later with Power Stone. Released in arcades and the original Playstation in 1998, the game cashed in on Final Fantasy VII’s success by including Cloud Strife and fellow Final Fantasy VII party members as playable fighters. Over a decade later, Cloud would re-emerge on the fighting scene as a downloadable character in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. Cloud’s appearance was a reminder that Nintendo was willing to go to extreme lengths to keep their customers happy, after Cloud came out near the top of a fan vote for most desired characters. It also served as a shot at the rest of the fighting game industry, as other creators realized the need to step up their game to compete with Nintendo.

Jason Vorhees (Mortal Kombat X)

Nintendo’s willingness to go above and beyond must have motivated Mortal Kombat series creator Ed Boone to go even further than he did during Mortal Kombat 9 when he secured the rights to use horror movie staple Freddy Kruger as a playable character. To follow up on the theme of horror icons, NetherRealm went to the obvious next step in Mortal Kombat X and chose Jason Vorhees from the Friday the 13th movie series. Jason’s brutal moveset and frightening aesthetic made him a perfect inclusion to the cast. His inclusion in the game also opened up the door for characters like the Xenomorph from the Alien movie series, Predator, Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and more to be included in the game as well.

Spawn (Soul Calibur II)

Spawn’s appearance in Namco’s Soul Calibur II was perhaps one of the biggest “OMG” fighting game guest character reveals ever. Fighting game fans knew they were getting Tekken’s Heihachi Mishima in the Playstation 2 version of the game and Link would be appearing in the GameCube version of the game. Microsoft’s Xbox was so new at the time, players had no idea which first-party characters Namco could possibly include in Soul Calibur II. When Spawn was revealed to be the Xbox’s guest character, the announcement sent shockwaves through the gaming community as Spawn was among the hottest comic book properties around. Surprisingly, Spawn’s video game history was limited prior to his appearance in SCII and his fighting game history was non-existent. For whatever reason, Spawn hasn’t appeared in a video game since 2003. Though he was rumored to be included in Mortal Kombat X in some capacity, those rumors never came to fruition. It really is a shame considering his presence in other media has remained constant if not sporadic through the years.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl brought the heat when it revealed Metal Gear's Solid Snake as a playable character, but nothing could prepare us for what Nintendo had up their sleeves next. Sonic’s appearance in Brawl was the culmination of 20-plus years of the Nintendo-Sega rivalry that captivated the industry for decades. Regardless of what side they picked all those years ago, players could re-enact the console wars - this time with their fists instead of their wallets. We’ll probably never see another character reveal incite this much pandemonium again, securing it as one of, if not the most surprising fighting game character reveal of all time.