During The Game Awards, we got our first look at what the upcoming live-action Street Fighter movie is going to look like. We only got a teaser so we still don’t know much about what the story is going to be about and whatnot. What we did get, however, was a very cheesy and tongue-in-cheek interpretation of Capcom‘s Street Fighter universe. Personally, I’m here for it. If they can make this a silly movie that plays it seriously, this could be good.

What still amazes me about this Street Fighter movie is how they’re cramming a ton of characters into it. Some of them aren’t even that well-known. I mean, most fans aren’t going to be familiar with the likes of Joe, Don Savauge and Juli. Only the die-hard fans who is familiar with the series’ lore will understand that reference.

While I do appreciate the deep cuts that only longtime fans will recognize, I have to question how they cut out some characters. And these are not just fan favorites! These are characters who are important to the lore and they have some connections to the ones that are going to be in the movie. In hindsight, these characters were cut out because it would interfere with the more cheesy tone of the film. Still, it’s still odd that Capcom would not tell the producers to include them.

So, let’s go check out just five important Street Fighter characters they forgot to include in the upcoming live-action flick! While I usually don’t put any order to these lists usually, I’m making an exception for this one as one of them is inexcusable. I’ll be starting with the most egregious character who was left out and tapering off after that. Let’s get on with the list!

#1 Sagat

How dare the movie makers leave out The King?

It’s hard to fathom an eloquent reason as to why the filmmakers would not include Sagat in their new live-action movie. Sagat is one of the biggest (both literally and figuratively) figure in Street Fighter lore. He was the first boss in the first Street Fighter game. He is always going to be linked to Ryu, the virtual poster boy of the series, as it was Ryu who canonically beat him in the first World Warrior tournament. Not only that, Sagat bears a grudge against Ryu as he was the one who gave him the scar on his chest.

Sagat also has major connections with two other characters who are in the movie: M. Bison and Dan Hibiki. Sagat agreed to join M. Bison’s Shadaloo organization after Ryu beat him for the opportunity to fight him again. He also was one of Shadaloo’s Four Grand Masters, which includes M. Bison, Vega and Balrog. So, it’s doubly weird that Sagat isn’t in the film while the rest of the Four Grand Masters are!

Then we have Sagat’s connection to Dan. The biggest reason why Dan became a fighter is because he wants to get revenge on Sagat. That’s because, after Dan’s father poked Sagat’s eye out, the Emperor of Muai Thai got enraged enough to kill Dan’s father. I understand Dan is a joke character. But by not including Sagat, then Dan, who is in the upcoming movie, has no real reason to be a fighter.

There are a couple of reasons I can think of as to why they didn’t cast Sagat. One, Sagat is supposed to be a big dude. He’s supposed to be taller than Zangief! They simply couldn’t find someone big enough and they didn’t want to pay for the special effects to make a small guy look as tall as Sagat. The second is, as demonstrated, Sagat is a very serious character and the upcoming live-action Street Fighter looks a little silly. So, writing in a serious character would be a downer. Then again, maybe he’ll be in an after credits scene?

Speaking of big guys…

#2 T. Hawk

Condor Spire!

Now, T. Hawk, or Thunder Hawk if you’re nasty, is pretty much as secondary character in Street Fighter lore. He’s just one of the myriad of fighters who has a grudge against M. Bison and Shadaloo. Basically, he’s not all that important in the grand scheme of things.

So, why does he rank second on this list? That’s because Juli is going to be in the film and Juli is closely associated with T. Hawk. Juli was living in the Thunderfoot tribe with T. Hawk when Shadaloo invaded the land. She was captured and brainwashed to become one of M. Bison’s Dolls, the personal bodyguard squad of the Shadaloo dictator. T. Hawk vowed to rescue Juli after this. So, it’s kind of wild how Juli is in the movie but T. Hawk, the guy who wants to save her, isn’t.

Once again, I can only hypothesize why T. Hawk isn’t in the film even though Juli is. One of them might be the same reason why they didn’t casts Sagat: the character’s size. T. Hawk is a very big guy so getting an actor of that stature was too difficult. Another might be because the writers really wanted to get a real martial artist in the Street Fighter film, which is why they got Rayna Vallandingham… but they actually didn’t think of who she was going to play! They just probably picked Juli because Rayna Vallandingham does look like Juli. So, they wrote in Juli but didn’t really consider the character’s connection with the lore.

#3 Gen

He may be old but he’s not dead… yet!

Gen is not only a well-renowned martial artist but also the underworld’s greatest assassin. However, despite him having defeated and killed many people, Gen now faces his greatest foe: time. His body is failing and he has been diagnosed with leukemia. Still, he refuses to go out on his back so he decides to keep fighting in the hopes of going down in battle.

Oh, and he also has ties with Chun-Li and Akuma, two characters who are going to appear in the live-action film. Despite his close ties with the criminal underworld, he was a close friend to Chun-Li’s father, a police detective. In fact, Gen trained Chun-Li’s father some martial arts attacks who eventually passed it down to his daughter. So, the two have a connection.

Gen also has a connection with Akuma but this is much less friendly than the one he has with Chun-Li. The two have a rivalry between each other, trying to see who is the better fighter. In a way, they’re kind of like Ryu and Ken but much more violent. While they always “fight to the death,” they are never able to deliver the killing blow in the end.

While Gen’s lore ties directly to two characters who are appearing in the film, this is one instance when their stories aren’t intertwined that strongly. No one really thinks of Chun-Li being Gen’s friend. She’s more tied with being an Interpol officer trying to take down M. Bison. Akuma is more closely associated with Ryu, as he’s trying to get him to unlock his true potential. So, Gen appearing in the movie would be more of a burden than a blessing.

#4 Gouken

Nope, this isn’t Sheng Long, okay?

Like with all of the characters I’ve talked about so far, Gouken has close ties with characters who are going to be in the movie. Heck, Gouken actually is closely connected to four of them! That would be Ryu, Ken, Dan and Akuma. He was the one who trained Ryu and Ken. He also served as Ryu’s “foster father” for a good while until Ryu became his own man.

Gouken is also close to Ken’s father. Ken’s father sent his son to train with Gouken in the hopes martial arts would teach him discipline. He also trained Dan along with Ryu and Ken but, according to the lore, kicked him out of the dojo when he learned that Dan wanted to learn Gouken’s fighting style to get revenge on Sagat.

We then have his connection with Akuma and, boy! This is a doozy! Akuma is actually Gouken’s younger brother and the two trained under Gotetsu. Now, Gotetsu was a master of a fighting style known as Ansatsuken, a martial arts style designed to kill opponents and unlocks the Satsui no Hado, the wave of killing intent.

Gouken didn’t like the more murderous aspects of Ansatsuken and left Gotetsu and Akuma to open up his own variation of the martial art. Akuma, however, fully embraced the concept and, after unlocking the Satsui no Hado for himself, murdered Gotetsu. Gouken has had a grudge with Akuma for killing his former master. He also developed The Power of Nothingness, a direct contrast to the Satsui no Hado, in order to combat Akuma’s more violent fighting style.

While Gouken is extremely important to Ryu and Ken, the main heroes of any Street Fighter story, even I have to admit all of this is too much. Besides, they already have a pretty good movie showing their relationships in Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist. Besides, they could just show a brief flashback of Ryu and Ken training and have him watching over them in the shadows. That’ll be fine for now.

#5 Charlie Nash

He wouldn’t be a zombie yet here.

Charlie Nash is not only Guile‘s commanding officer but his close friend as well. In fact, he’s the one who taught Guile his fighting style and his two special attacks: the Sonic Boom and Flash Kick. He was put in charge of a mission to take down Shadaloo and M. Bison. Although he did manage to beat M. Bison, he was betrayed by double agents and shot in the back. This led to Guile swearing revenge and abandoning his family during the events of Street Fighter 2.

Now, while there is a close connection between Charlie Nash and Guile, I don’t think it’s enough to warrant him getting written into the film. For one, Guile isn’t the main character. This means that setting up their relationship isn’t going to be top priority for the writers. Second, and the bigger reason why is, well, Charlie Nash is already dead by this point! He hasn’t been turned into a zombie yet as seen in Street Fighter V. So, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to show a dead guy in the movie just yet!

BONUS: Captain Sawada

Okay, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to put Captain Sawada in this live-action version of Street Fighter. But I just want Sawada to have one scene where he does his Kamikaze Banzai Super Combo from Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game.

Just give me this one thing, Capcom! I’ll never ask you for anything again!

Who are some of the other characters you think should have been written in the upcoming live-action Street Fighter film? Let me know in the comments section below!