10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Street Fighter

8. Ryu, Sagat And Bison Origins

While many of Street Fighter's roster were derived from real-life martial artists, Sagat, Ryu and Bison found their origins from different sources of inspiration. The designs of Ryu and Sagat were influenced heavily by 1977's karate manga known as 'Karate Baka Ichidai', Ryu was heavily modeled after protagonist Yoshiji Soeno, while Sagat was based on the manga's antagonist Reiba. This was not only in aesthetics, but also in their styles and move-sets as both Reiba and Sagat are of a Muay Thai background. Bison was sourced not from a manga, but from a Japanese sci-fi epic called Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis. The film's villain known as Yasunori Kato, is a dead ringer for Bison, down to the glowing eyes, star on his cap, military garb, white gloves and mystical powers. However, Kyusaku Shimada's portrayal of the character is said to be so acclaimed and popular that it influenced similar characters across the entire canon of Japanese fiction, film and media.