Why do they fight? Some data from the upcoming paper 'Enfreakment: Skewed Representations of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Fighting Videogames'

^† Number of Characters: All (218), Street Fighter (92), Tekken (56), Dead or Alive (42), and Mortal Kombat (28)

Data & Codings

Antisocial: The character is described as a trouble-maker and a trigger-happy bully who fights for fun or to cause pain to others.

Dominance: The character is fighting for power, to prove that they are the best, or that their fighting technique or school is the best. (Additionally, the characters fighting for fame & money were included in this category.)

For a Female: The character is fighting to find, rescue, avenge, or prove self to a mother, a sister, a wife, a girlfriend, or a female mentor.

For a Male: The character is fighting to find, rescue, avenge, or prove self to a father, a brother, a husband, a boyfriend, or a male mentor.

For Duty: The character is a soldier, a gang member, an agent, a bodyguard, or a bouncer fighting for a paycheck or an ideal.

Save the World: The character's backstory involves saving the universe, the world, a city, or otherwise a non-person that needs saving. (Additionally, the characters fighting for the common good were included in this category.)

Unclear: The character's backstory provides no definite reason or very vague reasons about their motivations for fighting.

Although the character's motives may change over time, the coding was performed according to their first appearance in the franchise.
If you have disputes to the coding or character list, please get in touch through sercansengun [at] gmail [dot] com

Character Name	Gender	Country	Franchise	Reason Code	Reason Details
Abel	Male	FR	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is an amnesic mixed martial artist and failed replacement body for M. Bison.
Abigail	Male	CA	Street Fighter	Antisocial	He supposedly renounced his life of crime and started a mechanic's garage.
Ace	Male	JP	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	He is a secret government agent capable of analyzing and copying skills of other fighters.
Adon	Male	TH	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is a former pupil of Sagat, seeking to surpass his disgraced master and become the Emperor of Muay Thai.
Akira Yuki	Male	JP	Dead or Alive	Dominance	He is on a quest to test his abilities.
Akuma	Male	JP	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is an emotionless and powerful warrior fixated on mastering the Satsui no Hado.
Akuma	Male	JP	Tekken	For a Male	He seeks to repay a debt to Kazumi Mishima for saving his life from an unknown critical situation.
Alex	Male	US	Street Fighter	For a Male	He enters the third World Warrior tournament after its sponsor, Gill, seriously injures his best friend and father figure Tom.
Alisa Bosconovitch	Female	RU	Tekken	For Duty	She was created to protect Jin Kazama and serves him through her travels.
Allen Snider	Male	US	Street Fighter Spinoffs	Dominance	He is an American freestyle karate fighter dedicated to his high intensive training.
Anna Williams	Female	IE	Tekken	For Duty	She is the narcissistic and arrogant personal bodyguard of Kazuya Mishima and second-in-command at G Corporation.
Area	Female	GB	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For a Male	She is the daughter of a scientific inventor, whose inventions she is promoting.
Arkane	Male	PO	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	He is an elite soldier of Shadaloo who specializes in the use of electricity.
Asuka Kazama	Female	JP	Tekken	Save the World	She believes very strongly in justice and devotes much of her free time to being a "pacifist" vigilante who is breaking up fights.
Ayame	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	For a Female	She feels jealousy towards Kasumi.
Ayane	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	For Duty	She was ordered to track down and kill Kasumi in order to secure their clan’s secrecy.
Baek Doo San	Male	KO	Tekken	For a Male	He accidentally kills his father during a sparring session, causing him to destroy several dojos in a fit of rage.
Balrog	Male	US	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a greedy American boxer and personal bodyguard to M. Bison.
Bankotsubo	Male	JP	Dead or Alive	Antisocial	He wanted chaos to reign over the world.
Bass Armstrong	Male	US	Dead or Alive	For a Female	Throughout the series, he has consistently tried to stop Tina from dropping her title as a pro wrestler to become a Hollywood sensation.
Bayman	Male	RU	Dead or Alive	For a Male	Once a hired killer for Donovan, he is now after Donovan's blood after he left him without payment.
Bi-Han	Male	CN	Mortal Kombat	Antisocial	He is a cold-blooded and violent assassin absolutely dedicated to his clan, the Lin Kuei.
Birdie	Male	GB	Street Fighter	Antisocial	He is a hulking black British punk rocker who fights using chains.
Blade	Male	US	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	He is an elite soldier of Shadaloo who specializes in the use of knives.
Blair Dame	Female	MC	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	She has taken up martial arts as a way to defend herself and those she cares about.
Blanka	Male	BR	Street Fighter	Indefinite	He has apparently developed a taste for street fighting and competes in the second World Warrior tournament.
Bob Richards	Male	US	Tekken	Dominance	He entered the sixth tournament to silence his doubters.
Brad Wong	Male	CN	Dead or Alive	For a Male	His martial arts teacher Chen sent him on a journey to find a type of wine called "Genra."
Bruce Irvin	Male	US	Tekken	Save the World	He longed to make a difference, and became a police officer.
Bryan Fury	Male	US	Tekken	For Duty	A power-hungry kickboxer, he was once an Interpol officer until he was killed in a shootout and revived by Dr. Abel.
Cammy White	Female	GB	Street Fighter	For Duty	She is an MI6 operative for the British government.
Cassie Cage	Female	US	Mortal Kombat	For Duty	She is a sergeant serving in the Special Forces, and the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade.
Charlie Nash	Male	US	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a former Captain of the United States Air Force and friend of Guile.
Christie	Female	GB	Dead or Alive	Antisocial	A cold-blooded woman with a sadistic streak, she was hired by Victor Donovan to kill Helena Douglas.
Christie Monteiro	Female	BR	Tekken	For a Male	She mainly involves herself in The King of Iron Fist Tournaments in search for a cure for her grandfather.
Chun-Li	Female	CN	Street Fighter	For a Male	She relentlessly seeks revenge for the death of her father at the hands of M. Bison.
Claudio Serafino	Male	IT	Tekken	For Duty	He is a leader of a secret Anti-Devil organization in combating the Devil Gene's threat.
Cody Travers	Male	US	Street Fighter	Antisocial	He is extremely aloof, apathetic, doubtful, and pugnacious, occasionally breaking out of prison just to fight and relieve his boredom.
Cracker Jack	Male	US	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	He is a bouncer turned bodyguard, currently employed by the family of Blair Dame.
Craig Marduk	Male	AU	Tekken	Dominance	He is an Australian undefeated Vale Tudo fighter.
Crimson Viper	Female	US	Street Fighter	For Duty	She is an undercover CIA agent who fights using an assortment of gadgets hidden within her battle suit.
Cyrax	Male	BW	Mortal Kombat	Antisocial	He is one of the three cybernetic ninjas created by the Lin Kuei, as unfeeling, cold-hearted, cybernetic assassins.
Dan Hibiki	Male	CN	Street Fighter	For a Male	He set on a quest to find Sagat and take vengeance for his father's death.
Darun Mister	Male	IN	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	He is an Indian wrestling champion and personal bodyguard for Pullum Purna.
Decapre	Female	JP	Street Fighter	For Duty	She is a member of M. Bison's elite guard, an imperfect product of the Shadaloo cloning experiments.
Dee Jay	Male	JM	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is a Jamaican kickboxer who is not just a fighter, but also a world famous musician and artist.
Dhalsim	Male	IN	Street Fighter	Save the World	He enters the tournament to raise money for his village, and continues to roam the world helping those in need.
Dr. Bosconovitch	Male	RU	Tekken	For Duty	He is a former Soviet scientist involved in cloning and is the one responsible for the creation the Jack androids.
Dudley	Male	GB	Street Fighter	Dominance	He boxes, seeking perfection both in and out of the ring.
Eagle	Male	GB	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is an English bouncer and a master of the stick fighting martial art, Bōjutsu.
Ed	Male	N/A	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is the protégé of Balrog, a potential substitute body for M. Bison.
Eddy Gordo	Male	BR	Tekken	For a Male	His storyline revolves around his quest for revenge for the murder of his parents.
Edmond Honda	Male	JP	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is intent on showing everyone that sumo wrestlers rank among the greatest fighters in the world.
El Fuerte	Male	MX	Street Fighter	Dominance	He travels the world in an effort to perfect his lucha libre skills and hone his cooking abilities.
Elena	Female	KE	Street Fighter	Indefinite	Elena desires to travel around the world, meeting new friends along the way.
Eliot	Male	GB	Dead or Alive	For a Male	He is the apprentice of Gen Fu.
Eliza	Female	MC	Tekken	Dominance	She plans an exact revenge on the present day Sirius organization.
F.A.N.G	Male	CN	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is the second-in-command of Shadaloo, ranking only below M. Bison in the hierarchy.
F7	Male	US	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	He is an elite soldier of Shadaloo who specializes in many forms of combat.
Fei Long	Male	CN	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is an action film star from Hong Kong who enters tournaments to test his skill as a martial artist.
Feng Wei	Male	CN	Tekken	Dominance	He seeks the secrets of the God Fist scrolls that were stolen by the Mishima family.
Forest Law	Male	US	Tekken	For a Male	He hopes to duplicate his father's greatness as a fighter.
Frost	Female	CN	Mortal Kombat	Dominance	Her dedication to fighting and learning is overshadowed by her arrogance and hostility.
Ganryu	Male	JP	Tekken	For Duty	Heihachi Mishima hires him as a henchman for the first King of Iron Fist tournament.
Garuda	Male	N/A	Street Fighter Spinoffs	Dominance	He is a demonic samurai capable of absorbing negative energies to strengthen his own power.
Geese Howard	Male	US	Tekken	For Duty	He is the local crime boss of the fictional city of South Town.
Gen	Male	CN	Street Fighter	Dominance	He entered the first World Warrior tournament to find worthy opponents.
Gen Fu	Male	CN	Dead or Alive	For a Female	He joined the Dead or Alive Tournaments to help his sick granddaughter, Mei Lin.
Genra	Male	JP	Dead or Alive	Antisocial	He let himself be experimented on, turning him into a heartless weapon of destruction.
Gill	Male	N/A	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is the leader of a secret society that seeks to fulfill an apocalyptic agenda.
Gouken	Male	JP	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is a master martial artist and mentor to Ryu and Ken as well as the older brother of Akuma.
Guile	Male	US	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a major in the United States Air Force whose goal is to finish the criminal organization Shadaloo.
Guy	Male	JP	Street Fighter	Indefinite	He is a red-clad ninpō master of Japanese descent who has been taught the special Bushin form of Ninjutsu.
Hakan	Male	TR	Street Fighter	Dominance	He enters the tournament to showcase his skills, and to find inspiration for a new oil recipe.
Hayate	Male	JP	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For a Male	He is a noble samurai attempting to follow the footsteps of his legendary missing father.
Hayate	Male	JP	Dead or Alive	Unclear	He joins the second Dead or Alive Tournament, to find answers to his lost past.
Heihachi Mishima	Male	JP	Tekken	Dominance	He is the leader of an empire known as the Mishima Zaibatsu.
Helena Douglas	Female	FR	Dead or Alive	For a Female	She enters the Dead or Alive Tournament to find the assassin who killed her mother.
Hitomi	Female	DE	Dead or Alive	For a Male	She enters the Dead or Alive Tournaments either to prove her skills or to see Hayate.
Hokuto	Female	JP	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For a Male	She sets off to a journey to reunite with her brother.
Honoka	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	Unclear	She is a sweet, easygoing kind of girl, but when she sees a fight, she cannot contain her excitement.
Hsu Hao	Male	MN	Mortal Kombat	Antisocial	He is an evil, deceptive Mongolian grappler member of the Red Dragon clan.
Hugo	Male	DE	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a former member of the Mad Gear Gang.
Hwoarang	Male	KO	Tekken	For a Male	He is the Taekwondo student of Baek Doo San, and entered the third Tournament to get revenge for his master.
Ibuki	Female	JP	Street Fighter	For Duty	She is a young ninja-in-training from an ancient clan that would rather live a normal life of a modern Japanese teenager.
Ingrid	Female	N/A	Street Fighter	Indefinite	She is an enigmatic and powerful being of unknown origin with an important yet mysterious destiny.
Irene Lew	Female	US	Dead or Alive	For Duty	She is a CIA agent and an ally of Ryu Hayabusa.
Isaak	Male	N/A	Tekken Spinoffs	Unclear	His nationality is unknown, even his fighting style is not known.
Jack	Male	RU	Tekken	For Duty	The various Jack models were originally created by the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation for different purposes.
Jacky Bryant	Male	US	Dead or Alive	Unclear	He values his racing career and would do anything to protect it.
Jacqui Briggs	Female	US	Mortal Kombat	For a Male	She wants to avenge her father from the suffering he endured from Quan Chi and Ermac.
Jann Lee	Male	CN	Dead or Alive	Dominance	His only goal is to become the greatest fighter of all time.
Jarek	Male	N/A	Mortal Kombat	Antisocial	He is the brutish and short-tempered second-in-command of the Black Dragon clan.
Jax Briggs	Male	US	Mortal Kombat	For Duty	In the Special Forces' chain of command, he is Sonya Blade's direct superior.
Jin Kazama	Male	JP	Tekken	For a Female	He wishes to avenge the apparent death of his mother Jun Kazama.
Jinpachi Mishima	Male	JP	Tekken	Dominance	A legendary martial artist, Jinpachi founded the mega corporation Mishima Zaibatsu.
Johnny Cage	Male	US	Mortal Kombat	Dominance	He entered the Mortal Kombat tournament to display his fighting skills and prove himself to skeptical movie critics.
Josie Rizal	Female	PH	Tekken	For a Male	She reluctantly agrees to her parents expectations and train Kickboxing.
Juli	Female	DE	Street Fighter	For Duty	Along with her partner Juni, she is a brainwashed female assassin belonging to M. Bison's elite guard.
Julia Chang	Female	US	Tekken	Save the World	Her storyline typically involves saving her tribe's forest.
Jun Kazama	Female	JP	Tekken	Save the World	She is an officer of the wildlife protection organization WWWC.
Juni	Female	DE	Street Fighter	For Duty	She is a brainwashed female assassin belonging to M. Bison's elite guard, the Dolls.
Juri Han	Female	KR	Street Fighter	Antisocial	She is a brutal South Korean Taekwondo martial artist who derives pleasure from inflicting pain on others.
Kai	Male	NP	Mortal Kombat	Unclear	He is a nimble and agile Nepali fighter of the Gurkha warrior class.
Kairi	Male	JP	Street Fighter Spinoffs	Dominance	He fights to challenge his limits and recover his memories.
Kano	Male	AU	Mortal Kombat	Dominance	He is the leader of the international crime cartel known as the Black Dragon.
Karin Kanzuki	Female	JP	Street Fighter	For a Male	Her father is a rather strict man as he constantly pushes his daughter into becoming a better heir to the Kanzuki family fortune, as he wanted a son.
Kasumi	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	For a Male	She wants to find Raidou and take revenge on him for Hayate.
Katarina Alves	Female	BR	Tekken	For a Male	She is currently searching for her missing adoptive father.
Kazumi Mishima	Female	JP	Tekken	Save the World	She married to Heihachi because her clan foresaw his attempted world domination in the future and sent her to kill him.
Kazuya Mishima	Male	JP	Tekken	For a Male	He seeks to take revenge against his father for having thrown him down a cliff years prior.
Ken Masters	Male	US	Street Fighter	Dominance	His goal is to test his power against many different fighters and strives to become stronger.
Kenshi Takahashi	Male	JP	Mortal Kombat	Save the World	He is contacted by Raiden and agrees to fight for Earthrealm in the Mortal Kombat Tournament.
Khyber	Male	US	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	He is an elite soldier of Shadaloo who specializes in the use of pyrotechnics.
King	Male	MX	Tekken	Save the World	He is a Catholic priest who became a masked wrestler in order to support an orphanage.
Kira	Female	N/A	Mortal Kombat	Unclear	She possesses a rationality and level-headedness that contrasts her fellow recruit, the hot-blooded Kobra.
Kobra	Male	US	Mortal Kombat	Antisocial	Infamous for his brutality and savage killings, Kobra shows no mercy to his opponents.
Kokoro	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	Unclear	She has a love for the martial arts and started to train herself in the art of baji quan as a result.
Kolin	Female	N/A	Street Fighter	For Duty	She is a conniving and devoted agent of the Illuminati.
Kuai Liang	Male	CN	Mortal Kombat	For a Male	He swore revenge on Scorpion for killing his brother Bi-Han.
Kung Jin	Other	CN	Mortal Kombat	Save the World	He fights to protect Earthrealm in honor of his family.
Kung Lao	Male	CN	Mortal Kombat	For a Male	He is eager to prove himself equal to Liu Kang.
Kunimitsu	Female	JP	Tekken	For a Male	She enters the second tournament to claim a sword for her grandfather.
Kurtis Stryker	Male	US	Mortal Kombat	For Duty	He is a leader of the Special Riot Control division in the New York City Police Department.
Lars Alexandersson	Male	SE	Tekken	For Duty	He is a member of the Tekken Force paramilitary unit, confronting the corrupt Mishima Zaibatsu corporation.
Laura Matsuda	Female	BR	Street Fighter	Dominance	She has a desire to promote her family's fighting style.
Lee Chaolan	Male	CN	Tekken	For a Male	He is embroiled in a one-sided rivalry with his adoptive brother, Kazuya Mishima.
Lei Wulong	Male	CN	Tekken	For Duty	He is a police officer who investigates the Mishima Zaibatsu.
Leifang	Female	CN	Dead or Alive	For a Male	Throughout the series, she seeks to fight Jann Lee, to prove herself to him.
Leo Kliesen	Other	DE	Tekken	For a Female	Leo seeks the truth about the murder of their mother.
Leon	Male	IT	Dead or Alive	Dominance	He entered the Dead or Alive Tournaments to prove that he was the strongest man in the world.
Lili De Rochefort	Female	MC	Tekken	For a Male	She clashes with her father over his dealings with devious Mishima Zaibatsu corporation.
Ling Xiaoyu	Female	CN	Tekken	Unclear	She is a sixteen-year-old Chinese martial artist.
Lisa Hamilton	Female	US	Dead or Alive	Unclear	As a former scientist for DOATEC, she has a mysterious, shadowed past.
Liu Kang	Male	CN	Mortal Kombat	Save the World	He is one of Earthrealm's greatest warriors, having defeated many to prove his valor.
Luna	Female	N/A	Dead or Alive	Unclear	She had come to investigate Zack Island to discover its secrets.
M. Bison	Male	N/A	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is a self-imposed dictator and megalomaniac seeking world domination.
Mai Shiranui	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	For a Male	She found Prince Charming in Andy and self-proclaimed herself his fiancé.
Maki Genryusai	Female	JP	Street Fighter	Indefinite	She is a speedy ninja along the same lines as Guy, and sister to his fiance, Rena.
Makoto	Female	JP	Street Fighter	For a Male	She is a tomboyish Japanese teenager looking to bring back the glory to her late father's dojo.
Marie Rose	Female	SE	Dead or Alive	For a Female	She is the servant of Helena Douglas.
Marshall Law	Male	US	Tekken	Dominance	He enters the first King of Iron Fist Tournament in hopes of opening his own dojo with the winnings.
Master Raven	Female	N/A	Tekken	For Duty	She is an agent for the UN's intelligence bureau.
Mavado	Male	N/A	Mortal Kombat	Antisocial	He is depicted as a vicious, pitiless, and cruel crimelord.
Menat	Female	EG	Street Fighter	For a Female	She is the Soul Power wielding apprentice of Rose.
Michelle Chang	Female	US	Tekken	For a Male	She enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament in order to take revenge for his father against Heihachi.
Miguel Caballero Rojo	Male	ES	Tekken	For a Female	He fights to avenge his sister who is killed on her wedding day by Mishima Zaibatsu fighter jets.
Miharu Hirano	Female	JP	Tekken	For a Male	She fights to be reunited with Jin and to unveil the truth behind Heihachi and the Mishima Zaibatsu.
Mila	Female	ES	Dead or Alive	For a Male	She has been a huge fan of Bass Armstrong since she was a child.
Misaki	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	For Duty	She is the assistant to the unnamed temporary owner of New Zack Island.
Miyako	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	Unclear	She was revealed to have become the head of DOATEC Japan.
Mokap	Male	US	Mortal Kombat	Unclear	His circumstances are very mysterious and also vague.
Momiji	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	For a Male	She supports and follows her master whenever he comes around.
Nanase	Female	JP	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For a Male	Since her sister left to find their brother and never return, she was forced to learn and become a master of the art of her family.
Naotora Ii	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	Dominance	She sets out to emerge victorious from this strange new challenge.
Necalli	Male	N/A	Street Fighter	Indefinite	He is an ancient, mysterious entity searching for souls of powerful fighters to devour.
Necro	Male	RU	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a Russian, genetically experimented on by the Illuminati.
Nightwolf	Male	US	Mortal Kombat	Save the World	He is a proud and fierce Apache warrior dedicated to the cause of good.
Nina Williams	Female	IE	Tekken	For Duty	She was contracted to assassinate the current head of Mishima Zaibatsu.
Nyotengu	Female	JP	Dead or Alive	Antisocial	She appears to enjoy fighting, especially inflicting pain on her opponents, hinting at a sadistic motivation.
Oro	Male	JP	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is an ancient, mysterious hermit who seeks a fighter that is worthy to inherit his fighting style.
Pai Chan	Female	CN	Dead or Alive	For a Male	She blamed her father for her mothers death and vowed to defeat him in combat.
Paul Phoenix	Male	US	Tekken	Dominance	He fights in hopes of winning the prize money and to prove he is the world's best fighter.
Poison	Other	US	Street Fighter	For Duty	She is an ex-member of the Mad Gear Gang.
Pullum Purna	Female	N/A	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For a Male	She is an exotic Middle Eastern heiress traveling the world to find her missing father.
Q	Male	N/A	Street Fighter	Indefinite	He is a mysterious individual of unknown origin whose face is concealed by an expressionless metallic mask.
Rachel	Female	N/A	Dead or Alive	Save the World	Her goal in life is to hunt down and destroy all demons in existence.
Raidou	Male	JP	Dead or Alive	Dominance	He is a power-hungry warrior.
Rainbow Mika	Female	JP	Street Fighter	Dominance	She is a Japanese professional wrestler from the Iwashigahama Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling organization.
Rashid	Male	AE	Street Fighter	For a Male	Rashid is travelling the world in search of a missing friend who has been kidnapped by Shadaloo.
Raven	Male	N/A	Tekken	For Duty	He is an agent for the UN's intelligence bureau.
Remy	Male	FR	Street Fighter	For a Male	He is a young savateur from Paris, seeking revenge against his father for abandoning him and his sister.
Rig	Male	CA	Dead or Alive	For Duty	It is revealed in the very last chapters that he is working with MIST.
Rio	Female	US	Dead or Alive	Unclear	She is the main character and the official mascot character of Tecmo's Super Black Jack.
Rolento F. Schugerg	Male	US	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a former member of the Mad Gear Gang, obsessed with turning Metro City into a military utopia.
Rose	Female	IT	Street Fighter	Save the World	A fortune teller from Genoa, Rose sensed that Doomsday was approaching, and that a person of great evil was causing it.
Ruby	Female	N/A	Tekken Spinoffs	Unclear	Her story is unknown, same with her full name and origin.
Rufus	Male	US	Street Fighter	For a Male	He is an obese American kung-fu fighter and self-professed rival to Ken Masters.
Ryu	Male	JP	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is an experienced martial artist, highly focused on his training, aiming to become the strongest he can.
Ryu Hayabusa	Male	JP	Dead or Alive	For a Female	He joined the tournament as a participant in order to keep an eye on Kasumi.
Sagat	Male	TH	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a personal bodyguard for M. Bison.
Sakura Kasugano	Female	JP	Street Fighter	For a Male	She has an intense fixation on Ryu and chase him around the world to prove herself to him.
Sarah Bryant	Femae	US	Dead or Alive	For a Male	She had become suspicious of the circumstances surrounding her older brother's horrible accident.
Sawada	Male	JP	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	He is a soldier of the Allied Nations, serving with Guile to thwart Shadaloo's attempt at world domination.
Scorpion	Male	JP	Mortal Kombat	For a Male	He seeks vengeance against those responsible for the destruction of his clan and the death of his own family.
Sean Matsuda	Male	BR	Street Fighter	For a Male	He is a confident amateur martial artist from Brazil who idolizes Ken, eventually becoming his disciple.
Sebastian	Male	MC	Tekken	For Duty	He serves as Lili's butler.
Sergei Dragunov	Male	RU	Tekken	For Duty	He is a Russian Spetsnaz soldier.
Seth	Male	N/A	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is the CEO of Shadaloo's weapon division, and one of many genetically engineered replacement bodies for M. Bison.
Shadowgeist	Male	N/A	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For a Female	He seeks revenge for his murdered wife and missing daughter.
Shaheen	Male	SA	Tekken	For Duty	He is a bodyguard for a Private Military Company, who is tasked in protecting key figures in the world.
Shang Tsung	Male	CN	Mortal Kombat	Antisocial	In the Mortal Kombat series, he is the epitome of cunning and decadence.
Sharon	Female	FR	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For Duty	She is an agent for a secret intelligence group, currently living a double life as a nun for the orphanage she was raised in.
Shiden	Male	JP	Dead or Alive	Unclear	He is a shinobi and the former master of the Mugen Tenshin clan.
Shin	Male	KR	Street Fighter Spinoffs	Indefinite	He is a confident South Korean man who gives up music and painting to become a Taekwondo martial artist.
Shujinko	Male	JP	Mortal Kombat	For a Male	He is an adventurer who, as a boy, dreamed of fighting Shang Tsung.
Skullomania	Male	JP	Street Fighter Spinoffs	Save the World	He is a third-rate businessman who takes up a superhero identity by donning a full-body skeleton suit.
Smoke	Male	CZ	Mortal Kombat	Unclear	He is a tortured human soul trapped in the body of a cyborg.
Sodom	Male	US	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is an American Japanophile, and former member of the Mad Gear Gang.
Sonya Blade	Female	US	Mortal Kombat	For Duty	She commands all the operations of the Special Forces and Units.
Steve Fox	Male	GB	Tekken	For a Female	He fights to escape the mafia and find his mother.
Takeda Takahashi	Male	TH	Mortal Kombat	Save the World	He joined a new team formed by the Special Forces dedicated to protecting Earthrealm.
Thunder Hawk	Male	MX	Street Fighter	For a Male	He is a Native American from Mexico who wants to avenge his father and reclaim the land that was taken from his people.
Tiger Miyagi	Male	N/A	Tekken Spinoffs	Unclear	He is an Asian karate fighter.
Tina Armstrong	Female	US	Dead or Alive	Dominance	She enters the tournaments to get discovered, with a goal of becoming famous in Hollywood.
Twelve	Male	N/A	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a shapeshifting humanoid weapon developed by the Illuminati.
Urien	Male	N/A	Street Fighter	Dominance	He is a ruthless former disciple of the Illuminati.
Vega	Male	ES	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a claw-wielding, narcissistic, Spanish ninja, obsessed with beauty and personal bodyguard to M. Bison.
Vulcano Russo	Male	IT	Street Fighter Spinoffs	For a Female	He is a mysterious Italian fighter seeking revenge for the murder of his lover.
Wang Jinrei	Male	CN	Tekken	For a Male	He fights to fulfill the deceased Jinpachi's wishes of eliminating Heihachi and Jinpachi's grandson Kazuya.
Yang	Male	CN	Street Fighter	Indefinite	He is an introverted inline skater from Hong Kong, skilled in the art of Chinese Kung Fu.
Yoshimitsu	Male	JP	Tekken	Save the World	His clan is dedicated to a mission to help the weak and fight oppression.
Yue	Female	N/A	Tekken Spinoffs	Unclear	She is an Asian fighter.
Yun	Male	CN	Street Fighter	Indefinite	He is skilled in the art of Chinese Kung Fu, and the older twin brother to Yang.
Zack	Male	US	Dead or Alive	Dominance	He only enters the Dead or Alive Tournaments for money and fame.
Zafina	Female	EG	Tekken	Save the World	She was born into an ancient bloodline of dispellers of evil and possesses spiritual powers.
Zangief	Male	RU	Street Fighter	For Duty	He is a national Russian hero who is always seen fighting for the glory of his country.
Zeku	Male	JP	Street Fighter	Indefinite	He was formerly a grandmaster but after being succeeded by his pupil, he set out on a journey of self-discovery.