Street Fighter 6’s cast is full of virtuous and valiant characters, including those returning from previous installments and new faces. Those who fight for justice, however, must be balanced out with those who don’t. For good characters to work, there simply must be bad ones in the mix. Otherwise, how will they show off how good they are? That’s not possible.
It’s a good idea for us to rank the villains of Street Fighter 6. Granted, there are nowhere near as many villains as there are heroes in the cast just yet, with this game inheriting an issue from Street Fighter V’s starting roster. But the ones here make quite an impact, enough for a list to be made.
3. Juri (Arch enemy: Chun-Li)
Juri doesn't look as villainous here compared to other shots, ironically enough.
Juri’s start of darkness began prior to her introduction in Street Fighter IV, when her parents were killed by Shadaloo, specifically M. Bison. She then joined villainous organization S.I.N. to obtain new powers so she could achieve her agenda in helping to bring down Shadaloo. She fulfilled this task by the end of Street Fighter V, but went about her plans in crooked ways. Juri is essentially a more warped version of Chun-Li, one who let revenge consume her.
Juri is more of an anti-villain by Street Fighter 6’s time, occasionally helping the heroes. he’s not as bad as the game’s worst villains, but still engages in villainous behavior. Juri is nonetheless a character who loves to sadistically torture her opponents and kill people for the fun of it. She also takes jobs like kidnapping for thrills, as she does in SF6’s World Tour mode.
She’s also nearly top-tier in SF6 itself. In addition to having a move set with answers to nearly everything an opponent can throw at her, Juri herself possesses the Feng Shui Engine that gives her special powers on activation. Of course, she also makes sure to show her sadistic side in battle, one of the biggest reasons why she has plenty of fans. Remember that an anti-villain is still capable of engaging in vicious tactics.
See Juri in Action:
Juri's a hell of a force when she's not looking at her phone.
2. A.K.I. (Arch enemies: Chun-Li and Rashid)
A.K.I., however, really knows how to look evil.
A.K.I. is the newest character to grace Street Fighter 6, and the overall Street Fighter universe. The poison user is the protégé to the franchise’s previous venom master, F.A.N.G. There’s still plenty of info that has yet to be revealed about A.K.I., but she and F.A.N.G. have made it their goal to find the remnants of Shadaloo, the evil organization from many previous games. Their plans after reuniting the group remain to be seen, but they probably have nothing good in store.
A.K.I. shows off her evil and venomous self through her actions in battle, through all her methods to sting and poison the opponent. Her main rival within SF6 itself is Chun-Li, mainly thanks to both of them being Chinese female fighters. But she establishes herself in the tie-in comic by trying to kill fellow downloadable content character Rashid, the character who took out F.A.N.G. in the previous game. She’s steadily climbing up the ranks of villainy.
A.K.I. is also similar to Chun-Li through how technical both characters are in terms of gameplay. Both have move sets and combos that require plenty of practice in the Training Room and in battle for players to fully learn, if not master. This also requires knowing the best times for A.K.I. to use poison, and for players to know when to keep away so the poison continues to work. If she takes a hit, the effects vanish.
See A.K.I. in action:
It takes true evil to be this (potentially) good.
1. JP (Arch enemy: Ken)
Talk about a guy who screams "evil" and "sinister."
JP had a sinister look about him when Capcom first revealed the character, but it wasn’t immediately clear just how evil he would be. The man wastes no time establishing himself as not only as the most detestable character in Street Fighter 6, but one of the worst in Street Fighter history. JP was formerly longtime Street Fighter villain M. Bison’s financial advisor, which tracks when accountants can be some of the most awful people around. He’s made it his goal to restore Shadaloo to its former glory, and has inherited Bison’s Psycho Power for the job.
If all of that wasn’t bad enough, JP is also the head of a terrorist organization known as Amnesia. He framed Ken Masters as a terrorist, and kidnapped Mel to force him to activate bombs that will kill hundreds. And that’s not even getting into the terrible actions he does during the game’s World Tour mode. He truly is a fitting successor to Bison.
This also applies to JP’s skill in battle, where he’s a force to be reckoned with in terms of his zoning capabilities. The best JP players can rack up plenty of hits while remaining far away from the opponent thanks to his ridiculous projectile game. Not to mention how some of his Super Arts force the opponent into tough block strings that will leave HIM at an advantage after the opponent’s HP is shaved off. It took no time for him to become a notorious top-tier character.
See JP in action:
Just throw your hands up and surrender if you fight a JP this good.
There were, additionally, faces in the World Tour mode who seem like they might count as villains, but don’t. Bosch turns out to be more of a rival than a villain. Final Fight villain Thrasher Damnd is more of a has-been who occasionally reflects on his former glory by this point. Rudra, it turns out, is more of a chaotic good character. Street Fighter 6 is clearly lacking in the villain territory thus far, but there’s plenty of potential for more in the future.
As it stands, the three villains currently playable in the game make quite an impact. Having more of them could make perfect foil for the many heroes present for the newest tournament. Look forward to more of them coming through downloadable content, both brand-new and returning faces.
