TheZonegamer

The Wii U's Hyrule Warriors was a huge success, mixing the lore of The Legend of Zelda series with the battle system from Dynasty Warriors. It's been to a great extent praised by a large number of fans and critics, which makes it no surprise as to why Nintendo decided to port it to their handheld, wrapped in an even more polished and redefined package despite losing it's graphics. Since the 3DS port has every single DLC pack including brand new garbs, missions and weapons, it's the ultimate choice for anyone who hasn't yet played it.

Despite the recent batch of DLC which included Linkle, Toon Link, Tetra and the King of Hyrule, what would make Hyrule Warriors even more appealing than it already is more DLC characters, here's ten unique and memorable characters from the history of The Legend of Zelda Series who should be be made playable in Hyrule Warriors Legends.

1. NABOORU

This female Gerudo is perhaps one of Ocarina of Time's most underrated characters, Nabooru could make a victorious return in Hyrule Warriors and look good doing it. She's a quality character and although she only appears briefly in the OOT's story her actions are unselfish and she's unconcealed to be the Sage of Spirit. In Hyrule Warriors Legends, Nabooru could be given more scope to evolve her technique. The Gerudo are extremely handy with a number of deadly weapons which means Nabooru has the knowledge to show off her skills with swords, daggers, bow and arrows.

2. Saria

Another Ocarina of Time character we would love to see enter the fray is none other than the petite and green haired Kokiri Saria, being the Sage of Forest, her abilities to influence the trees and nature could possibly be fun to control on several of the battlefields. Not only that but Saria is a very memorable and iconic character who comes from an even more iconic game. She's one of the second characters that Link encounters in OOT and also has a major role in the plot. Also as Hyrule Warriors isn't canon to the series, Saria could well be given any type of fighting technique.

3. Vaati

Apart from Ganondorf, the most prevailing and continual antagonist of the series is most likely Vaati. After finally been given some back story in The Minish Cap, this ostensibly almost harmless looking magician is quite heinous. gaining a ton of power to transform into the hair-raising monster you see in other entries in the franchise. With the ability to form into a sort of winged eyeball, so much lanes are open here, with the best idea of Vaati use his supernatural abilities to throw foes about.

4. Telma

Agitha only gathered insects, so why not add a bartender onto the roster? She's a quite tall woman who's large in stature, so it wouldn't be startling to see her as a heavy character. Impa, who atypically fights in close quarters has been gifted a large weapon, so it wouldn't hurt to add one more melee character to the action, Telma's got the sass and attitude, something those other characters are lacking. No one dears mess with Telma.

5. Happy Mask salesman

Okay of course we haven't ever seen the Happy Mask Salesman in a fight but one again, Hyrule Warriors isn't canon. Nintendo and Tecmo Koei could find a way to make him a threat, presumably with his masks. If we want to get extra and bring in a beefed-up taste for Majora's Mask here, the Happy Mask Salesman could be given Link's former ability to transform with a number of masks, putting on different ones in the heat of conflict for varying battle forms and moves.

6. The Hero's Shade

The Hero's shade appears several times in Twilight Princess to gift Link with some rather fancy and flashy sword techniques, who he's meant to be and where he comes from is left as a mystery but there are some very convincing fan theories which point to the Hero's Shade actually being the dead soul of the Hero of Time - the version of Link that starred in Ocarina of Time. The Hero's Shade has a bunch of ancient techniques that have only been sharpened with years.

7. Groose

The red haired bully turned ally of Skyward Sword's hero was an intriguing character because he apprehended his calling and was prepared to change in order to do the right thing. In Hyrule Warriors Legends he could be given a chance to show off his techniques he learned as a bully and put them to good use. Groose would most likely be used as a brawler, his power is great and he could easily knock down several enemies with some unenviable attacks.

8. Byrne

Bryne is an antagonist who first appears in the Nintendo DS The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks, his clawed arm and magical techniques could make for a strong and mighty character. Seeing him transformed into the Wii U/3DS Hyrule Warriors art could also make for an interesting look.

9. Din/Nayru/Farore

The three celebrated immortals have rarely obtained physical forms, but we wouldn't put it past Nintendo to give them brand new bodies for the sake of it. Three of these ladies created the land of Hyrule and it's dwellers in addition to commonly being connected with the elements of fire, wind and ice. As such we could imagine a humber of skills resulting around either freezing foes with barrels of ice, raising enemies with gusts of wind, and burning them with a hefty dosage of third-degree burns. Orcacle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons and Minish Cap have been some of the only times where they have received a physical body, so the character designers can definitely take ideas from those games as well.

10. Malon

If the ten year old bug catcher Agitha can be in combat, why not Malon the farm girl from Ocarina of Time? The farmer can have a pitchfork as a weapon and be able to control a herd of cows or bunch of angry chickens who run into their unlucky target, or better yet she could have access to Epona as another ability.

Which DLC character would you like to see in Hyrule Warriors Lengends next? Let us know below.

Although at this present moment it's uncertain until the full game's release in February 16th, it appears as if Capcom has done the absolute unthinkable and apparently decided to whitewash Street Fighter's 3's Brazilian fighter Sean Matsuda, who also happens be the younger sibling to Street Fighter V's Laura and we can't say we didn't see this coming, especially when you take into account how light his sister's skin tone is.

In Laura's comic book story art, the young brawler who was formerly dark skinned and had afro textured hair has appeared to have been given an extreme makeover, alas a race lift. The once melanated hopeful martial artist student now seems to have been redesigned to unquestionably appear more caucasian, complete with straight, light brown/reddish hair and fair skin, he also happens to have a piece of tape plastered on his face which hides his nose.

"Originally Sean was meant to be a black kid from New York who played basketball and took up an interest in Martial arts."

It's worth noting that all the the in-game art (including these story panels) were drawn by long-time Capcom illustrator Bengus, who's style rapidly changes with each iteration, nonetheless we highly doubt the veteran is colour blind nor senile and overall it's ultimately a bad look for both Bengus and Capcom if this is to be canonically Sean's new look. Sean was originally depicted as a young black man with kinky hair. so suddenly we're to believe all this time he only had a tan and is actually a pale redhead? No.. Sean looked black in all three Street Fighter III games and this drastic change is totally uncalled for.

For Bengus to abruptly remove Sean's African genes and the part which made the character so charming and unique in the first place is unsatisfactory and shows the lack of investment from him into these characters, a lot of overall ignorance on his part no matter how "renowned" he is.

Sean's original character design in the Street Fighter III series

Originally Sean was meant to be a black kid from New York who played basketball and took up an interest in Martial arts, when Capcom decided to add Ken and Ryu to Street Fighter III, they changed Sean's nationality to Brazilian, which is why the radical transformation Sean has received is awful. Everything about Sean's appearance screams "black shoto." Again let us remind you, he plays basketball, has a hi fade haircut with dreadlocks and his stage in Street Fighter New Generation was New York, Elena was in fact suppose to be the Brazilian character.

Whoever's job it was to write back stories for characters saw that and inexplicably decided for him to be "quarter Japanese Brazilian." Nobody could argue whether Sean was black before that SFV art, his race was obvious and was only in question due to his poorly planned backtory, never his design. Now though Bengus appears to have whitewashed him to oblivion.

While it's not known if Sean Matsuda's skin tone in Laura's comic book story art will be his finalized appearance yet or if he'll be be a future DLC character for SFV, nonetheless it's totally unacceptable in 2016 for characters to be getting whitewashed and changed so rapidly. This isn't Capcom's first time race-swapping their characters either as it's happened several times in the series. The first racial change in the series happened to Birdie who used to be white but would later become black british. (The reason? He was supposedly 'ill' in the original Street Fighter which gave him pale skin).

Other race-swapping has occurred during the character's development, Street Fighter's III Urien was originally depicted as black man with an large afro but his final design would have you think otherwise. More recently in Street Fighter IV, the Rufus we know today wasn't always fat nor caucasian, in fact he was a bald and slender gi wearing African American martial artist with great potential called "King Cobra". Down the line though, his look was drastically changed and the result became Rufus.

The Solution

It's pretty obvious as to what needs to be done to restore balance and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out, it's clear as day. The best thing for Capcom to do is restore Sean's complexion to his original skin tone in the Street Fighter III series and give him back his hi fade dreadlocks, There was no reason to change it in the first place, whether it be in art or cut-scenes.

If Capcom insist on keeping Sean pale then it should be in their best interest to debut a new black martial artist character, presumably from American or Africa, who isn't "quarter Japanese." Better yet debut Rufus's concept character King Cobra as a brand new character for Street Fighter V. You have to admit there's been an absence of black martial artists in Street Fighter and fighting games as whole despite their long standing legacy and impact. Don't believe us then check out these 12 Legendary black martial arts masters.

Besides the Street Fighter series this isn't the first time that a character in fighting game has been whitewashed. Tanya in Mortal Kombat X was almost whitewashed, including several other black female characters. We shall keep this article updated as of to whether Sean has officially been whitewashed by Capcom in Street Fighter 5, in the mean time what are your thoughts?

Michael Jackson was the most prestigious and influential artist of the 20th century and it's not difficult to see why when you take a look at the legacy he left behind.

The king of pop's talent as a performer has been unmatched even after his passing in 2009, but MJ's sovereignty as the century's signature artist is not only because of his extraordinary natural endowment, but also because he was able to package that in a completely new style. In both form and content, Jackson simply did what no one had done before.

Michael Jackson has not only influenced musicians, fashion designers and dancers, but his influence has even extended over to video games. By now many people should be aware of the games Michael was involved in, Sega developed at least four of them.

Michael Jackson's Moonwalk, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Space Channel 5 and Space Channel 4 part 2, but of course on several other occasions game developers have taken influence from Michael, whether it was his revolutionary dance moves, unparalleled outfits or soulful music.

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

In addition to music and videography, MJ was was a huge fan of video games. His Neverland Ranch included many free play arcade machines, but the King of Pop didn't just want to play games, he also desired to star in them.

So in 1990, Michael formed a partnership with one of his favourite video game companies, Sega, to make Michael Jackson's Moonwalker for the arcade, Genesis/Megadrive and Master system, as well as current PCs during that period.

In Moonwalker, the player helped "Smooth Criminal"-period Jackson save children from the villainous crew of Mr. Big. Michael's pet chimp also tagged along for the ride.

Michael could perform simple moves like kicking and hitting gangsters with his hat, but he was also able to deploy dance attacks that made every enemy on-screen sway and pop along with him. Ultimately, the dance moves left them exhausted while Jackson calmly strolled to the next area.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Moonwalked managed to sell well and Jackson continued his relationship with Sega, including visiting the California-based laboratory where the game company was working on some of it's latest games. According to a theory that first appeared on the interest around 2003 by a person called Ben Mallison, Michael Jackson had made a business deal with Sega to create the soundtrack for Sonic 3.

Mallison pointed out that Michael Jackson's song "Jam" sounded similar to Sonic 3's "Carnival Night Zone" and other songs sounded distinctly like Jackson's sound, but the credits at the end of the game didn't list M.J.

For several years Sonic fans only had Youtube remixes to fall back on, but recently The Huffington Post managed to find Cirocco Jones, Doug Grigsby III and Brad Buxby (once more) to verify: Michael Jackson produced tracks for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and his work is still in the game.

For about four weeks in 1993, Jackson and his unit worked out of Record One Studio in California, making "Some thing like 41" tracks - or cues, as they called in the video game world, Buxer stated. Jones recalls Jackson contacting him, sometimes at night, to share ideas and sing melodies that would eventually make it into the game.

According to three of the composers, Michael wanted his name removed from the credits of the game when he heard the sound reproduction that came from the actual Sega Genesis machine considering he created all the songs with full audio sounds, not squelch synth noises.

Sega are still silent, but it's known that different composers were called in to finish the music in Sonic 3 after a lot of songs had already been added to the game, those songs were Micheal Jackson's contribution.

Sonic The Hedgehog (Sega's Mascot)

Michael Jackson and Sega had a agelong history with Jackson making appearances in and working on several Sega games, but his link to Sega goes much deeper, right down to Sonic's pair of sneakers.When Sonic's character designer Naoto Ohshima was asked by Gamastura the unmistakable question as to why Sonic's trainers are red and white, it got a less than apparent answer:

"His shoes were inspired by the cover of Micheal Jackson's Bad, which contrasted heavily between white and red."

Space Channel 5

Moonwalker gained solidified success, but M.J wouldn't appear in another game until the following decade with Space Channel 5's release, also a Sega game. Jackson made an appearance in Space Channel 5 as a small cameo. In the game he was called Space Michael and danced alongside the main character Ulala.

It was a smart business decision by both parties which assisted in further boosting the buzz around Space Channel 5. The cameo came as a result of Jackson showing interest in the upcoming game. Jackson had a representative reach out to Sea and ask to be involved. It didn't take much convincing at all. Sega was more than happy to have the King of Pop in the game.

In Space Channel 5's sequel, M.J was upgraded from a cameo role to the boss of Space Channel 5. He's abducted by aliens in the game and must be saved by reporter Ulala, Once rescued, Jackson flanks Ulala as she proceeds her dance-off with the aliens endangering the galaxy.

Ready 2 Rumble: Round 2

Just after Space Channel 5, Michael Jackson appeared in another video game, Midway's Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2. The sequel was a cameo ridden boxing game with appearances by not only M.J, but also NBA basketball legend Shaq.

This was the last game which Jackson made an actual appearance in while he was still alive, but his music and costumes continued to appear in videogames in his stead.

Miror B. (Pokemon)

The Nintendo Gamecube games Pokemon Coloesseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness both include Miror B, an adversary who has electrifying dancing moves and is even seen moonwalking on occasion.

He wears a glove on his left hand and rocks an afro the shape of a Poke Ball. Miror B's favourite Pokemon also happens to be Ludicolo, who is apparently a reference itself to Michael. In Gale of Darkness his theme song has also changed to a more disco-styled melody to reflect his new attire.

Ten Count (Battle Arena Toshiden 3)

The doppelgänger Ten Count made his debut and only appearance in the 1996 fighting game Battle Arena Toshinden 3, as an unlockable character to Kayin Amoh, another character who's inspiration comes from Michael's 1982 Beat It from the Thriller album.

Ten Count's physical appearance and attire is based and taken from Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal music video, and he also displays some of Jackson's trademark moves, including moonwalking, performing the "zombie walk" from Thriller as a secret easter egg, making high-pitched whoops while performing several moves and holding onto his crotch area to mock opponents.

Cracker Jack (Street Fighter EX)

Call it a coincidence but Battle Arena Toshiden isn't the only mid nineties fighting game to include a Michael Jackson inspired character as Capcom also jumped on the bandwagon and decided to add one to the Street Fighter EX series around the same year (1996 to be exact).

No one can deny that there were was a number of strange characters on EX's initial roster but none had the dress sense like C.Jack and this was because his outfit was based on Michael Jackson,

Waluigi (Mario series)

Among the Mario characters, Waluigi is considered to be one the best dancers in the Mushroom Kingdom, this has been seen in several Mario games but mainly the Mario Golf series.When getting a victory he normally expresses himself to the highest degree by happily dancing and it's no surprise that his spinning moves are akin to Michael Jackson's signature spins.

In the 2003 Gamecube Mario Golf Toadstool Tour, Waluigi even poses like Michael after spinning and tilts the rim of his hat lower to cover his eyes after successfully putting a Eagle or Birdie.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

In the Wii game Super Mario Galaxy 2, it sounds as though Nintendo composer Koji Kondo has taken some inspiration from one of the songs on Michael Jackson's 1983 thriller album as The Spin-Dig and Boulder Bowel worlds begin with a melody that's awfully similar to Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Something'".

Dancing Zombie (Planet Vs Zombies)

In Planet Vs Zombies there was a deceased character that danced across the player's field and called four support dancers after a little while. The initial Dancing Zombie resembled Michael Jackson in his attire from the Thriller video, even making his entrance by lawn moonwalking.

It was altered in the later editions to a 70's disco dancer. The estate of Michael Jackson didn't like it's inclusion in the game and claimed it was too close to Michael Jackson's physical appearance, PopCap Games eventually agreed to remove the Dancing Zombie.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Nintendo isn't the only Japanese video game developer to use Michael Jackson's likeness in their games as evident in one of Konami's much earlier Castlevania titles. The first stage which is called "Beginning" in the 1989 NES game Castlevania's 3 sounds extremely similar to Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Bust-A-Groove

In PlayStation 1's Bust-A-Groove (which is entitled Bust-A-Move in Japan), a game that is heavily inspired by hip-hop and rap culture, one of the character's theme songs entitled "Power" includes a recurring sample of "Michael Jackson's 1995 "2 Bad" from the album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1.

Double Dragon Neon

The first part of "Pick Yourself Up and Dance" is plainly taken from Michal Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", the composer Jake Kaufman says it was inspired by both Michael and his sister Janet Jackson, but he wasn't able to find a similar sounding singer, so he decided to be leave it as an instrumental.

Deadpool's Moonwalk (Marvel vs Capcom 3)

Marvel's comical and humorous but deadly mercenary Deadpool may not share Michael Jackson's sense of style, charisma or heart and soul but he certainly knows how to moonwalk in Marvel vs Capcom 3. While most characters just walk backwards in normal fashion, Deadpool has to be extra and instead moonwalks (which we love), this could possibly be a reference to the late great King of Pop.

Michael Jackson: The Experience

The latest game to feature M.J in all his glory is Michael Jackson: The Experience, which is a musical video game based on Michael's music and songs. It was created and published by Ubisoft and Triumph International and was released in 2010. The title features several of Michael Jackson best songs, such as "Bad", "Thriller", "Beat It", "Billie Jean", "Smooth Criminal", "Black or White" and "The Way You Make Me Feel".

The PlayStation 3, Wii and Kinect iterations have Just Dance style gameplay. There's three modes to choose from in both the PS3 and Wii iterations. The first is "Classic" where the player follows an on-screen Michael Jackson avatar. The second is "Duo" which is specifically for duets such as "The Girl Is Mine") or music videos with two main people (such as "The Way You Make Me Feel").

(So that about sums up this post, if there are any games or video games you felt were influenced by Michael Jackson in any way, then feel free to let us know in the comment section or by email and we'll eventually get around to updating it.)

Capcom's first Street Fighter game, which was created by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto made it's way into arcades from around late August of 1987. It would be the first game in which Capcom's golden boy Ryu would make his debut in, but he wouldn't be the only Street fighter.

"The series's first black character was an African American heavyweight boxer."

The story was centred around a martial arts tournament featuring fighters from all over the world (five countries to be exact) and had 10 contenders in total, all of whom were non-playable. Each character had unique and authentic fighting styles but in typical fashion, the game's first black character was an African American heavyweight boxer.

Five years later Capcom would release their sequel to the original SF game, Street Fighter II, which one again featured characters from around the globe. The original Japanese version saw the debut of a black American boxer boss character.

Balrog in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

The character shared some similarities to actual boxer Mike Tyson, so in order to dodge an impending lawsuit from Tyson, Capcom changed the character's name. Formerly Mike Bison, he was renamed and now referred to as Balrog.

Balrog wouldn't be the last black character to make an appearance in the series, since his inclusion there's been several others, but Capcom hasn't been one to stray away from racial stereotypes,This has resulted in controversial characters whose designs and personalities are often hit and miss.

These particular Street Fighter characters bought that extra ounce of oomf and charisma that the series would've been missing had they never existed, let's take a closer look.

Mike (Street Fighter 1)

Mike's first and only appearance was in Street Fighter 1 as a former heavyweight boxer who left the profession after unintentionally killing one of his opponents. Standing at 6'5 he's the series first black character.

Mike enters the first World Warrior due to being low on funds. Unfortunately he was eliminated from the competition after Ryu defeated him and hasn't been seen since. It's believed that Mike was possibly the black fighter who was knocked down in that offensive Street Fighter II intro.

At one point it also believed that Mike and Balrog was the same person. However Capcom addressed this rumour and stated that this isn't true, mostly likely because of lawsuit woes. The Street Fighter World Warrior Encyclopedia (hardcover version) also says they're separate characters.

Balrog (Street Fighter 2)

First appearing in Street Fighter 2 as a boss, Balrog is a tall, well-stacked and heavily chiselled American American boxer. He is often portrayed as a self-centred, hotheaded, proud yet sadistic individual.

He's a antipathetical pugilist who is possessed by riches and a vicious, domineering mean streak. Balrog has deliberately cheated in his fights in and outside of the ring, whenever he wanted to. Escaping from a life of poverty, Balrog was once a prominent boxing champion and prime fighter.

Balrog's Appearance in Street Fighter IV

He was eventually prohibited to compete in the ring after permanently ending the career of one opponent, incidentally killing another and also for using illegal tactics (specially his head butt). So the former champion joined the criminals of Shadaloo and gradually climbed the ranks, and eventually got promoted to M. Bison's primary enforcer.

"Balrog was once a prominent boxing champion and prime fighter."

Balrog's reason for joining the Shadoloo criminal organization have always been due to wanting his fair share of wealth, celebrity status and glory so he can ride off into the sunset without a care in the world. As such, Although Balrog would swindle, rob or even commit murder, he is not heinous so much as he is greedy, and has little interest in Shadaloo dealings.

Balrog vs Ryu in Street Fighter II

Balrog also loves women, with the only exception being Chun Li. Besides her he greatly dislikes Vega (his infrequent partner who also works for the Shadaloo) due to Vega's "metrosexual" portrayal and tends to make fun of him at times. Balrog is one of the most stereotypical characters in the game,

Dee Jay (Street Fighter 2)

The series only Jamaican fighter Deejay first appeared in Super Street Fighter II as one of the four new playable characters. He was one of the only characters to be designed by Capcom USA. His creator James Goddard modelled him after martial arts movie star and Tae Bo creator, Billy Blanks.

Despite his character design being inspired by real life kickboxer Billy Banks, he hails from Jamaica, but without any character background, you probably would have thought otherwise due to the voice actors which Capcom over the years have hired to portray him. His name is also a play on the word DJ (disc jockey).

Dee Jay is usually a kind hearted, lively and carefree individual who enjoys fighting, dancing and producing beats. His attitude is very clear in most of his in-game poses, art and photos where he is almost never seen without a huge grin and thumbs-up hand gesture.

Dee Jay is seldom seen without his signature grin; such uncommon moments are displayed in his Street Fighter II loser portraits and losing by time over in Street Fighter Alpha 3. He always tends to see the positive side of everything in life, constantly smiling and rarely letting things get to him.

Known as "The Southern Comet", Dee Jay is a happy-go-lucky kickboxer who scraps to rhymatic beats. rapidly climbing to the top of his division, he flies around the globe seeking new challengers. He is also one of the most rhymatic characters in video games.

Elena (Street Fighter 3)

First appearing in Street Fighter III: New generation, Elena is the first ever black female to appear in the Street Fighter series. She's a African princess who comes from Kenya and her tribe has a historical tradition of fighting. Her father, leader of their village, is a conventional healer who has qualifications oversees for a doctor's degree in medicine.

Elena wants to explore the world, whilst meeting new people on her journey. She studied as an exchange pupil in Asia, where she become good friends with a girl called Narumi. She later left Japan and continued her education in Europe.

Elena's got a thick physique

Elena's a young female with a strong, clear spirit and a beaming "tomboyish" persona. She's usually seen with smiling or giggling. While very lively and pure hearted, she's also highly intelligent, companionable and culture-accommodative, always willing to learn more about the world, which is one of the reasons she travels.

Elena is unusually lanky for a woman, has dark skin, straight cropped silvery-white hairstyle and blueish eyes, She fights her opponents barefoot and has long, powerful legs. Besides her complexion, Elena lacks African features and kinky hair compared to real women in Kenya, Her name also has no culture ties to Africa and she has an unusual accent.

Some fans believe she was modelled after Storm Ororo, a Marvel comic book superhero who she shares several similarities with. Both are dark skin, have silverish-white hair and are African princesses from Kenya. Elena has one of the most revealing outfits for a playable female character in the entire Street Fighter series.

Birdie (Street Fighter Alpha)

Birdie first appearance was in the original Street Fighter game as one of the ten non-playable characters who challenged Ryu, he would later reappear in the Street Fighter Alpha series as a playable character.

Birdie's character design has been altered with each of the Street Fighter games that he has made an appearance in. Although he's usually portrayed as a very tall, late 1970s Cockney, British punk rocker. In Street Fighter 1 he is depicted as a gangling, athletic white/light-skinned man with a blonde mohawk.

However in the Alpha series his look is drastically changed. He is now a large, dark-skinned black British man with bleached blonde hair, a broad pointy brown moustache that extends to the sides of his head to become sideburns and black features. Birdie's reason for his change of appearance is that he was ill, which made his skin turn pale.

In Street Fighter V, Birdie's stomach has become fat. He's overweight and in addition looks dirty and rumpled. This drastic change in his physique from Alpha is disappointing and makes Birdie lose much of his appeal.

Birdie is fierce, ill-natured and mostly unsympathetic to others around him. He also has a weird way of licking his chain connected to his arm. In Street Fighter 5, Birdie is bestowed as more of a laughable glutton who's obsessed with consumption, even during battle.

Sean Matsuda (Street Fighter III)

Sean first appeared in Street Fighter III, He is a dark-skinned Afro-Brazilian kid with kinky hair who wears a gi similar to Ryu and Ken's. He has a older sibling called Laura who appears in Street Fighter V. In Street Fighter 5 it appears that Sean has been whitewashed as seen in his sister's story.

Sean is overeager to prove himself, and dislikes being called weak. He frequently mentions Dan Hibiki, a character who isn't present in the Street Fighter 3 games, as a prime example of powerlessness, and hence he detests being compared to.

Sean Matsuda and his older sibling Laura were brought up in Brazil, although their paternal granddad was Asian. A keen basketball player, his main interest is martial arts. Some time later, Sean witnessed seasoned World Warrior Ken Masters fighting in the U.S Martial Arts Tournament and swore to become his student.

It's believed that at one point Sean Matsuda was originally meant to be African-American rather than Brazilian but his nationality was changed when they added Ken to the SFIII series. His stage in New generations is in NYC (but not Alex's stage). He is a basketball player, a sport that is usually affiliated with Americans and he is dark-skinned with kinky hair.

It's implied that Elena was suppose to be the Brazilian character, Okamoto visited Brazil to study capoeria as he wanted to add a Brazilian capoeirista to the roster and Elena is a pretty common name in Brazil, whilst Sean's name is not.

Dudley (Street Fighter 3)

Dudley is a British boxer who first appeared in Street Fighter 3. He was born into an affluent family and his dad was a extremely well paid ex athlete who turned prosperous business man, adding to Dudley's already immense riches. Dudley is a well-built and dark-skinned British man.

He fights with a set of blue boxing gloves, which he never seen without. Wearing them when reading a paper, tending to his flowers, during teatime, driving and even grooming his moustache.

Dudley's persona is rather different during the Street Fighter III games, where he was snobby and prideful, this attitude was toned by Third Strike. In Street Fighter IV however, he lacks this patronizing behaviour and is well mannered. Due to the series timeline (with SFIV happening before SFIII), it's to be understood over the years Dudley became more snobbish and confrontational.

Dudley is said to based after real life boxer Chris Eubanks, a black British boxing champion of Jamaican descent who was famous in the 80s and early 90s. Eubanks trademark attire included a monocle and bowler har.

Pullum (Street Fighter EX)

Appearing only in the Street Fighter EX series, in the first game Pullum was pretty fair skinned so it was presumed while a poc she wasn't black. However in later games she has been depicted as a dark skinned female with somewhat plump lips,

She's the child of a rich Saudi Arabian man who seeks vengeance against the criminal organization Shadaloo due to their severe mistreatment of her grandfather. After attaining clues from a book entitled "Shadaloo" she vows to get revenge and employees a bodyguard called Darun Mister.

Pullum shares several similarities with both Dee Jay and Elena. All are dark skinned fighters who battle using dance moves. Both Deejay and Pullum also handle musical instruments (Deejay is seen with maraccas whilst Pullum has a tambourine.)

Laura (Street Fighter 5)

First appearing in Street Fighter 5, Laura is the third of the new characters to be unveiled by Capcom, as the older sibling of Sean Matsuda and third Brazilian character to be playable in the series after Blanka and Sean.

Despite being Sean's sister, Laura is extremely pale in comparison to Sean's depicted look in the Street Fighter III. She has brown eyes and long silky black hair,with the right side being worn loose whilst the other side is in cornrow braids.

Laura is a free spirited and lively young woman who relishes in experiencing thrills. Similar to Makoto, she wants to support her family's fighting art by promoting it worldwide. Laura also enjoys advising other characters and her character-specific vs quotes shows it's almost effortless to befriend her.

Laura has been trained by their granddad in the art of the family's Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu, when her younger brother Sean leaves home to became a student of Ken, Laura becomes heir of the art. Now inheritor of her Grandfather's fighting art, Laura seeks opponents to battle so she can promote her fighting style.

King Cobra (Street Fighter IV)

The character we see today in Street Fighter IV known as Rufus didn't always look that way, his original concept art was that of a slender and bald African American man called King Cobra. A character that to this people many people hope is revived and implemented into the series.

Created by Daigo Ikeno, King Cobra was originally meant to be the athletic counterpart to Ryu and Ken. His fighting style was supposed to be "breakung-fu", which integrated elements of Chinese martial arts with break dancing, which they perceived as a popular craze in USA at the time.

The character's design simply oozed with charisma and looked like a perfect yet fresh addition to the Street Fighter games. The series really didn't have a character like King Cobra and had Capcom kept the original design they would have broken down a stereotypical barrier and created a unique character whose look really stood out, only Capcom did a 360 and the result was Rufus.

King Cobra or a character similar in appearance to him would be a perfect addition to the Street Fighter series but unfortunately there hasn't ever been one. Capcom came close to creating an almost perfect character but failed in the delivering the goods. Nonetheless it's never too late and King Cobra would make a great edition to the series.

Racial diversity has always been a natural occurrence in fighting games, which in turn have given players unique and interesting characters to choose from. Characters from different nations have been represented in fighting games for a long time and bought colour to an often generic and dull roster.

When you think of some of the most popular fighting games in existent, what do all these games have in common with one another? A racially diverse cast. The Dead or Alive series is like any other fighting game on the market but it's main problem which has yet to be addressed, is it's lack of racial representation. A problem that has plagued the series since it's origins.

Dead or Alive 5 has over playable 30 character to choose from but only two of those characters have a dark complexion, the rest are either white or East Asian. When you compare this game's roster to other popular fighting games in recent years, it's not hard to see that Koei Temco and Team Ninja treats racial diversity as a low priority in their games.

DOA is supposed to be a global fighting competition where fighters from all over the world go against one another for the title as champion and a large sum of money, but it's pretty hard to believe this when you look at the roster. Despite being an international fighting tournament only several countries are actually represented.

"Where's the girl from Africa, India or The Middle East to represent their nation?"

When we take a closer look, this problem exists mainly due to it's choice of female characters whose facial features and skin complexion are very similar. There's little variety to choose from in respect to characters of other cultural backgrounds and skin tone. So the question we ask is where's the girl from Africa, India or The Middle East to represent their nation?

Zack and Lisa helped increase the diversity of a series that's well known for having mostly East Asian and white characters, but in Dead or Alive 5 Lisa's skin tone was lightened. This change in Lisa appearance, regardless if it's a accidental or intentional change, takes away from that intent. A change which even former employee Tomonobu Itagaki noticed.

"Being a Japanese company hasn't stopped other developers from racially diversifying their games."

Itagaki says that the alterations to Lisa's skin wasn't because of the new lighting engine which Dead or Alive 5 received, so this was an intended decision to whitewash the character. He references his experience as a videogame developer to reinforce his statement. Which makes us wonder would the roster be more racially diverse had Itagaki still been running the show?

Yes we're aware that Temco is a Japanese company and racial diversity isn't as big of a interest to Japan as it is in western society, nonetheless being one of the foremost international video game developers Temco has to consider a larger audience. Being a Japanese company hasn't stopped other developers from racially diversifying their games in the past.

"It wouldn't hurt to see more racially diverse female characters included."

The last four new characters added to the series have all been either white or East Asian. While this game does have a certain audience in mind, it wouldn't hurt to see more racially diverse female characters included. Would it really hurt to add a black, Middle Eastern, Hawaiian or even Indian female character?

The Dead or Alive series lack racial diversity

It would be great if Koei Temco could ease out of their comfort zone and create a different looking female character, a character who for once isn't modelled after the euro centric definition of beauty. That shouldn't be so hard to accomplish but unfortunately it's still an underlying and prominent issue that affects the series.

With Street Fighter ascending head first into the next generation, Capcom has revamped their most prized video game franchise, focusing on not only the core combat but also other aspects with varied success. This doesn't mean that the game is without fault though as there's several pros and cons which are very evident.

"Capcom has revamped their most prized video game franchise"

Capcom's latest street brawler definitely has the crowd talking, with it's new "V-Trigger" mode and other welcoming changes. Among those changes include fluid gameplay, new stages that beam with life and a renewed roster that consists of classic characters, returners and exotic newcomers, but these aren't the only things on people's minds at the moment. Important features missing from the game's initial launch and server issues has gained the most momentum when discussing SFV.

After seven years of Street Fighter IV this game feels like a breath of fresh air in comparison but despite being a fun and challenging game, there's still cons and pros which shouldn't go unnoticed. After having played the game for several hours we got a taste of SFV and it hasn't disappointed despite minor server hiccups. So without being bias, here's the positives and negatives of Street Fighter V.

The Pros

+ Fluid gameplay

Street Fighter 5 wants you to jump straight in and enjoy yourself. It's fully aware of how frenzy, satisfying, smart and enriching it's gameplay truly is. It's main instinct is to serve that to you immediately as possible, no matter what level you play at. However whichever end of the fighting game skill spectrum you currently stand on, don't confuse yourself into thinking that Street Fighter 5 has been dumbed down.

Expert and high-level players will still discover a large magnitude of depth, subtlety and semipermanent malleability in its audacious, immediate systems. Meanwhile the low level players have a very long and stimulating road of growth, improvement, learning and discovery ahead of them.

+ Sleek Visuals

The graphics and overall visual presentation hasn't disappointed us and it's a beautiful sight to behold on both the PS4 and PC. Even though the game hasn't strayed far from the SFIV cartoonish art style, the character models and stages are bright, vibrant and visually stunning, only adding to the charm that makes SFV likeable and easy on the eyes.

While many other fighting games like Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Dead or Alive opt for the more realistic look, SFV has managed to stand out from it's peers by simplifying it's art style in the most attractive way. The move to Unreal Engine 4 and a less toon-like effect has added a meatiness to the combat, which feels way more grounded.

+ Cross Platform Play

Cross Platform play is one of the best features in the game and makes the online community feel meatier. You won't have to wait long to find a match in either ranked or casual modes due to the cross play feature between the PS4 and PC platform. Had cross play being excluded then finding players to fight might have not been so quick.

+ Critical Arts

The Street Fighter series wouldn't be where it is today without the flashy and insane finishing moves that have accompanied it in each iteration, and with the addition of Critical Arts comes just that. Each character's personalized finishing move feels rewarding when used correctly against their opponent. Like Ultra Combos in Street Fighter IV these special moves can turn the tide of battle and help you win a match stacked against your favour.

+ New Characters

SFV's choice of new characters are pretty original and has given us quite some variety in terms of fresh character designs, playability and racial diversity. Which is unlike many other fighting games in this generation whose rosters haven't grown or embraced change, which in turn have made them feel stale and stagnant by sticking to the same ole tired shtick.

The four new characters really bring something new to the table and show us that when game developers actually put effort in and take time to design their characters, it can often be met with positive results.

+ Story Mode

The series has never been big on story telling despite boasting an interesting lore and timeline. This changes with Street Fighter V and the result is much better than we expected. With story mode finally being treated as a main priority, it gives us a clear insight into each character's lifestyle, personality and events during the game.

What's even cooler about the game's story is the cameo appearances of several Street Fighter characters from previous games, which could mean they will be future playable characters in the form of dlc.

+ Costumes

The costumes in SFV ooze with charisma and Capcom really didn't hold back in getting creative this time round. Be it revealing outfits that show off the character's under boobies and abs, creepy disguises or outfits that embrace the lighter side of things with fashion culture inspired ensembles. The game's detail for default and alternate costumes only add to the overall presentation and lavish style.

+ Casual Mode

Ranked mode can feel like a very hectic experience and this isn't surprising particularly when the mode's primary goal encourages you to steal someone else's points while stacking up your own. Casual mode on the other hand has a much more relaxed feel to it and gives players a chance to face other players without the added pressure of losing anything, besides you still can earn fight money if you win.

+ Fight Money

Besides levelling up your character, earning fight money in SFV is one of the most rewarding systems that the game currently has to offer. It's similar to how fight money is earned in the real world and the game doesn't have you throwing punches for nothing. What makes this even better is that with the fight money you earn, it can be used to buy new characters and costumes from the shop.

The Cons

- Survival Mode

Survival mode is just that, it's a mode where you have to defeat a certain amount of enemies without losing. Whilst it really does tests the player's wit, the problem which makes this part of the game unbearable is the lack of checkpoints and continues, which is a huge buzzkill. Reaching level 30 only to be obliterated by an unforgiving high level npc and having to start all over really sucks the fun out of everything.

- Lack of content at Launch

The game itself is an impressive feat but that doesn't excuse the fact that there's a lot of gamemodes and features missing from the initial launch. Simple modes such as arcade mode, theatre mode endless lobbies and time attack are an necessity for any serious fighting game in 2016 and shouldn't be absent from the launch.

- Basic Tutorial

Practice is essential because of the really simple tutorial that misses out on a lot of must know techniques. A casual player who hasn't played Street Fighter before and wants to really get stuck in and hold their own against seasoned veterans won't necessary find much use in this tutorial. While more helpful information can be found on Youtube and in game guides, that shouldn't be the case. It be available in the game's tutorial too.

- Not Enough Stages

While the stages are gorgeous and streaming with life there just aren't enough of them to choose from. This problem could have easily been solved by giving each character their own individual stages to fight on but this appeared to be a daunting task for Capcom. The issue is that after a while the stages begin to get stale.

- Mediocre Soundtrack

While the music in SFV isn't bad per say but it really could have been better, especially when you compare the current soundtrack to previous games in the series. Older instalments have timeless pieces but the music in SFV is average at best and is forgettable. This is not to say that the ost is terrible but it could have been more catchy.

- Birdie's Redesign

Who's bright idea what it to redesign Birdie again? Birdie's look in Street Fighter V isn't pleasing on the eyes. Not only is his beer stomach distracting to look at but the character has been turned into a complete joke, especially when you compare this to his story and design in the Alpha series, a game which gave Birdie a little more justice.

An alternate skin that resembles Birdie's original look in Street Fighter Alpha and brings back his muscles should fix this mess but he shouldn't have been turned fat in the first place. If they were going to bring back Birdie they should have done so without having to make him a comical glutton.

- Ken's Face

Birdie's not the only character with a horrible redesign, to a lesser extent it's Capcom's golden boy Ken Masters, whose eyebrows literally gives us nightmares just looking at them. The problem with Ken is that he's always been thought of as a clone to Ryu but Capcom wanted to change that and this is the result. While it's possible to use better looking alternate costumes, the default look has been ruined.

Conclusion

So there you have it, these are some of the pros and cons of Street Fighter V so far. It's a good game but obviously not without flaws. Since Capcom confirmed that there won't be any other versions of SFV then this gives them the chance to set things right and improve on the overall game until Street Fighter VI. This list could well be updated but in the meantime, your thoughts?

Final Fantasy isn't usually praised for racial diversity amongst it's main cast of characters, see Final Fantasy XV, but when controversial dark skinned characters like Sazh and Barret are created and thrust upon the nitpicking fanbase, heads are surely bound to turn. There has been many black characters throughout Final Fantasy's history but you could only count them on one hand at one point.

"Since Final Fantasy VII diversity has gradually crept through the cracks and introduced darker palettes"

In 1997 Squaresoft introduced it's first official black character 'Barett Wallace' a no-nonsense, stereotypical and walking parody of actor Mr T and whilst definitely not the best representation, fans who look beyond physical appearances will know as the story progressed Barett came across as a strong, caring and lovable character who would risk his own life to overthrow a corrupt government and save the planet.

Aside from Barett Wallace and more recently Sazh Katzroy, there's other black characters who have been given roles in their respective series be it minor, supportive or next to non-existent. Since Final Fantasy VII diversity has gradually crept through the cracks and introduced darker palettes (thankfully). So let's take a look back at the black characters throughout Square's history.

Updated: 25/02/2016

Luca (Final Fantasy IV: The After Years)

Luca first appeared as a npc in Final Fantasy IV. She's the aristocrat of the dwarves in an underworld kingdom and the child to King Giott. She appears several years later as playable character in Final Fantasy IV: The After years with a drastic change in appearance.

In The After Years Luca's shadow face is gone and she now has a drastically different design. At present Luca has dark brown skin, plump lips and a wide nose. In the game Luca claims she was "never a fan of dwarven fashion", which makes us wonder if the rest of the dwarvens are black under their shadow guises.

Leo Cristophe (Final Fantasy VI)

It's been often said that Barett wasn't the first black character to appear in the Final Fantasy series. In Final Fantasy 6, Leo's skin complexion is a subject of discussion as he is depicted as dark skinned in Yoshitaka Amano's art and in his menu picture, As well as having the features of a black person but his in-game sprite is very pale in comparison.

His sprite being light-colored could be due to the colour palette restrictions within the game's code. In the mobile version Leo's sprite has a darker skin complexion.

Baret Wallace (Final Fantasy VII)

Barret Wallace is the leader of a radical eco group who call themselves AVALANCHE. He's defined early in the game as a straight up, no-nonsense taking, hot-headed individual who tends to swears. Despite his sometimes ferocious temper, Barret is a good man with a big heart and is torn between warfare and looking after his adoptive daughter Marlene.

Barret was a character character designer Testsuya Noruma has wished to implement into the Final Fantasy series for quite some time but it wasn't until FFVII that this actually came to fruition. In the original concept Barett was suppose to have a wife and Marlene would be Barret's biological daughter but these ideas were scrapped in the final game.

Kiros Seagill (Final Fantasy VIII)

Kiros is a tall, slender, dark skinned man who stands at 6'4 and is a temporary playable in Final Fantasy VIII. He's a caring and intelligent individual who fought alongside his long time associates Laguna and Ward for the Galbadian army, Kiros is also considered to be Laguna's voice of reason. He later quits the Galbadian military service with Laguna and Ward. Some people believe that Kiros looks similar to Michael Jackson.

Lani (Final Fantasy IX)

Originally referred to as The Boisterous Woman before her identity is revealed, Lani is a npc in Final Fantasy IX. She's a hunts woman with dark skin and brown shoulder-length hair. Lani believes she's the finest-looking bounty hunter in the world and will not hesitate to betray her most trustworthy associates. She's also known to be ill-mannered, scornful and prideful. It's unknown but Lani appears to be of black/mulatto descent.

Dona (Final Fantasy X)

Dona is a summoner from Kilika in Final Fantasy X, she is dark skinned, has brown eyes and black hair which is tied up in a bun and ponytail. At times Dona likes to give Yuna and her guardians a difficult time when encountering them. In Final Fantasy X-2 she makes her home in Kilika Port. She's believed to be 24 years old during the events of FFX as stated in the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega.

Abus (Final Fantasy X)

Abus plays blizball on the Luca Goers team, he's first seen mocking Tidus and the Besaid Aurochs with his team mates Bickson and Graav. Once you can recruit blizball players, Abus hangs around the Number 3 platform in Luca and can be hired for 120 gil per match.

Buddy (Final Fantasy X-2)

Buddy is a close acquittance to Brother, co-founder of the Gullwings and navigator of the Gullwing's aircraft in Final Fantasy X-2. Buddy acts as a more adjusted and calmer counterpart to to the fickle Brother. He was gutted to find out that Yuna didn't know who he was and didn't recall seeing him in Final Fantasy X.

Rava Vieras (Final Fantasy XII)

First appearing in the Final Fantasy XII series, Rava Vieras are dark skinned Vieras. It's said that Rava Vieras are mixed with hume blood while the lighter Vieras known as Veenas are full blooded.

This is pretty strange as one would expect the lighter skinned vieras to be mixed but this isn't the case here. Rava Vieras have adjusted their lifestyle to live amongst the Humes in Ivalice. It's not revealed whether Fran is a Veena or Rava.

Sazh (Final Fantasy XIII)

Sazh Katzroy first appears in Final Fantasy XIII as one of the main characters. He's the eldest playable character, has an afro and works as an airship pilot. His wife's departure happened three years before the events of Final Fantasy XIII and since then Sazh has been caring for their only child, Dajh. Taking care of his offspring is Sazh's main motivation. Despite being the oldest playable FFXIII character, Sazh has a young, untroubled, and bubbly personality.

Dajh (Final Fantasy XIII)

Dajh Kazroy is a non-playable character from Final Fantasy XIII. He's the offspring of Sazh Kazroy and the drive to his actions. Dajh's mum died when he was only three years old and since then, Sazh has looked after him alone. At Six years of age, Dajh can be naive and is very innocent, with absolute love for his dad. Dajh's favourite creatures are Chocobos.

Gadot (Final Fantasy XIII)

Gadot is a temporary playable character from Final Fantasy XIII, who also makes an appearance in Final Fantasy XIII-2. He's the founding member of the resistance group Nora under his close friend Snow Villiers, along with Lebreau, Yuj, and more.

Gadot is of dark complexion, has huge muscles, fiery hair and bluish green clothing. He rocks a chain with the word "posse" etched on it. His look is said to be inspired by NBA and hip-hop culture.

Forge Rare (Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII)

Forge (Rare) is a traveller who is sells items and randomly moves from location to location in Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. He is darkskin and wears a red checkered hat along with a rucksack.

Raubahn Aldynn (Final Fantasy XIV)

The Hyur male Highlander Flame General Raubahn Aldynn is a very tall, bulky black man with cornrow braids and a beard, he's also a non-playable character in Final Fantasy XIV. He leads the Ul'Dah Grand Company, the Immortal Flames. In FFXIV ARR you can also create black avatars.

Roland (Final Fantasy XIV)

Referred to as Master Roland by the Manderville Gold Saucer attendants, Roland is the ceo of Manderville Gold Saucer and is in charge of overseeing the daily affairs of the amusement attraction. Roland is shown to be man of honor and has an eye for keen adventurers. He has blonde hair, dark skin, a gold hoop earring and you meet him at the end of your Gold Saucer tour.

It's well known that SquaresSoft was one of the first Japanese role-playing game developers to feature a prominent black character in their game but Final Fantasy hasn't been the only series to include black or ambiguous brown characters. There's been several other games including the Suikoden and Fire Emblem series which has managed to include black characters. Whether they were influenced by Final Fantasy or other forms of popular media is unknown. The portrayal of black characters in jrpgs isn't anywhere near perfect but they do exist.

"These particular characters usually have much darker skin than their white-skinned counterparts"

When you think of character jrpgs in general you're most likely going to remember the fair skinned protagonists with bright coloured eyes and spiky anime styled hair. Despite this there's actually been a number of distinctive looking characters whose skin tone, facial features and hair wasn't designed to look Eurocentric and adopt features and skin tones most commonly associated with black people.

These particular characters usually have much darker skin than their white-skinned counterparts and it can be assumed that they're either black or a person of colour. Black characters from the Final Fantasy series won't be included here as they've already been covered, but instead let's focus our attention on black characters who have appeared in other JRPGs.

Hauser (Suikoden II)

Hauser is the general of an military unit called the Muse Army, he is the archetypical soldier and follows commands without giving them a second thought. He's a omnipotent warrior who is very much devoted to his job and always wears a serious expression. Hauser is a tall, dark skinned man with a hi-top hairstyle. Hauser has a very distinctive look that hasn't been replicated since.

Basilio (Fire Emblem: Awakening)

Basilio is a dark skinned man with an eye patch and bald head. He respects people with strength and courage but often behaves and talks in a goofy manner. Despite this erratic behaviour Basilio has the strength befitting for his position as the West-Khan of Ferox. His companion Flavia nicknamed him 'oaf' because of his attitude but despite this he's rather quick-witted.

Lucia (Suikoden III)

Lucia is a dark skinned woman with ash blonde hair and violet eyes. Her father was murdered causing Lucia to become chief of the Karaya clan. She teams up with a man called Jowy Atreides by the promise that her people will be granted land. Lucia is a fierce warrior and wishes to avenge her father by assassinating his killers.

Otharon (Xenoblade Chronicles)

Otharon is a bald headed black man who wears glasses and has a white beard. At first he's a rather frigid and stern individual who expresses the discipline of a solider in his spoken word. Otharon also has quite a temper and acts rash, nonetheless, he is a highly skilled commander and planner thus allowing him to enter fights with supreme efficiency.

Lucia (Shadow Hearts Covenant)

Luca is a female of providential beauty who resides in Europe with her mistress Carla. Since a child Lucia was taught the style of hard dance and fortune telling by Carla, who at one time was a professional dancer. Now an proficient fortune-teller, Lucia is renowned not only for her exotic look but also special abilities.

Devdan (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance)

Devdan is quite an entertaining individual with a bizarre nature and a strange persona which is further emphasized by his third person talk. He likes to help younger members of the army reach their potentiality. He also likes pranking people and expects a positive response from them, However, his tricks often have the opposite effect. Devdan is dark skin and has a squarish shaped afro.

Eluca (Chaos Rings)

Eluca is a playable character in Chaos Rings. She is introduced as a powerful yet young warrior who is exceedingly egotistic, rash and uncompassionate towards others. Despite these mean spirited traits she is in fact a very complicated and conflicted character. Eluca and her partner Zhamo are most likely based off of Africans.

Zhamo (Chaos Rings)

Zhamo is a playable character in Chaos Rings, he is coupled and partnered up with Eluca. Zhamo is a teenage wide-eyed warrior who is very pure, to the point where his perception of life is naive. He is soon discovered to be part of a royal family and aspires to become the next providential King of his realm, eager to bring prosperity and order to his people.

Flavia (Fire Emblem: Awakening)

Flavia is a courageous, bold and strong minded female who is like a dependable older sister. She's admired by women who bow down to no man, but handles her opposition equally no matter who they are. She is also very open-eyed and has an attention to detail. Flavia enjoys exercising and does the most push ups in her army.

Funky Student (Persona 4)

Funky Student is an non-playable character in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, found hanging around the Yasogami High school hallway. He, as his nickname implies, is a pupil at the school and more than likely a senior. His funky talk and large afro makes him stand out among his peers at Yasogami high, He issues a challenge to players by quizzing them and gives away prizes for the right answer.

Aila (Suikoden III)

Aila is a highly skilled warrior from the Karaya Clan and has the gift to talk with spirits, although she's still a rookie. She left her home to find a woman called Sarah, but by the time she had returned home her village was burned to ashes.

Gavenger (MS Saga)

Gavenger is a playable character in MS Saga, a series based on Gundam. He looks quite old but is in fact only 24 years of age and highly educated about machines and the world before The Great Fall. He now fights to protect his city from a group who refer to themselves as the Dark Alliance.

Dothoty Burton (Faselei!)

Dorothy Burton is a character in the NeoGeo Pocket jrpg Faselei! She's a pilot who is shown to be very flirtatious towards the main character. She can be selected during certain missions as support. Unlike many other black women in jrpgs her character design is rare as she isn't ambiguously black.

Mark (Revelations: Persona)

Originally white/Asian in the Japanese version, Mark's race was changed in the western version due to the lack of racial diversity in the game. Mark is a mischief-maker and class clown but also a friendly person in general. In his group of friends he is also depicted as the mood setter of the group. For some reason in the western re-release of the PSP version, Mark's skin tone was reverted back to his original look.

Grace (Unlimited Saga)

Grace is a playable character in Unlimited Saga, she's a slender middle aged dark skinned woman and is considered to be one of the strongest female characters in the game. Grace is one of the only four dark skinned characters in the entire series.

Silver Girl (Unlimited Saga)

Silver Girl is playable in Unlimited Saga, she's dark skin and has silver hair hence her name. The elusive Silver girl (actual name; Faedailjen) is an Arcanion, the group who were said to have made The Seven Wonders. It's debatable whether "Silver Girl" is the proper term. It could easily be "Silver Haired Girl", but that couldn't fit into the menu thus it's abbreviated spelling.

Shizel (Tales of Eternia)

Shizel is the final antagonist of Tales of Eternia. She's the stand-in ruler of Celestia and parent to a young girl called Meredy. She's a women who is vengeful and sees the planet as a root of cruelty. Having been turned insane by a sinister man, she's determined to see the completion of an idealist world beyond material dependency.

Khulan (Ni Ni Kuni)

Ni Ni Kuni definitely surprised us pathway through the game when we were introduced to Knulan, a dark skinned woman with kinky hair and light green eyes. This is the only black character in the game unless you count Rashid. Queen Khulan is a non playable character and governs a small and sacred land known as Perdida.

Elma (Xenoblade Chronicles X)

Elma is one of the eight main playable characters in Xenoblade Chronicles X, she's the primal protagonist in the central story. Elma has shoulder-length whitish hair and a dark skin tone. She takes her job as a BLADE colonel very seriously and her team-mates revere and honour for her this. Elma's a very sensible woman who never makes foolhardy decisions.

Let us know if we missed any characters who are black from an jrpg and we'll add them to the list.

Capoeria is an Afro-Brazilian martial art which integrates combat with dance. It's a very identifiable style with it's focal point on acrobatics, groundwork and upside-down movements frequently all in the same moment. It's origins are fuzzy but it emerged as a discrete fighting style among the enslaved Africans of Brazil. At present capoeira is a cultural symbol of Brazil but is participated worldwide.

As children and young teenagers growing up, many of us wasn't aware that capoeira existed and simply thought video game characters like Eddy Gordo and Echidna were performing fancy break dancing footwork, but as we got older we soon realised that they were using capoeira as a fighting style.

Sometimes called a martial art or dance style, this incomparable phenomenon has caught the world's attention. Due to it's popularity, over a period of time capoeria has appeared in many movies, television shows and video game series, but let's specifically look at the cultural impact of capoeria in video game culture.

Tekken

christie monteiro and Eddy Gordo

Eddy first appeared in Tekken 3 and became relatively known for his rhythmic Capoeira dance moves. Without a doubt Eddy has the most realistic looking Capoeira moves to ever feature in a video game. Richard Meyers from Fatal Fury 1 was video game's first capoeira practitioner to appear in a fighting game; and while Eddy shares similarities to him, Eddy Gordo is the character who put helped spread the Brazilian martial art to a wider western audience.

The Tekken 3 development team desired to add a capoeira martial artist to Tekken 3's roster and turned to development arts to design the character. Originally they wanted the character to be a woman but the artist whose job it was to design the character deemed the task too challenging and went with Eddy instead.

"Christie has replaced Eddy as the prominently-featured capoeirista in the series."

In Tekken 4 the team was finally able to create a female capoeira character, so Eddy was replaced in favour of Christie Monteiro, an attractive young woman who added sex appeal to the series, but Eddy would later return in future Tekken games. Despite this Christie has replaced Eddy as the prominently-featured capoeirista in the series.

Capos has been frown upon by the general fighting game community for the simpleness associated with their play style; nonetheless, Eddy and Christie have often been credited for further popularizing capoeira and spreading it to a new crowd within the larger gaming and martial arts community.

Fatal Fury & King of Fighters

Both SNK games feature several fighters who use capoeira as their fighting style: Bob Wilson, Richard Meyer, Soiree Meira and Momoko. Yashiro from the KOF 2002 has some athletic kicks that resemble capoeira, while Duck King's style "Breakdance Martial Arts" uses several capoeira moves.

Born in Brazil, Richard Meyers is a capoeira martial artist who used his skills to entertain people outside nightclubs, while he enjoyed entertaining the crowd and gaining recognition, Richard eventually outgrew this phrase and decided to head to the United States of America to open a restaurant.

Bob Wilson practised capoeira because he believed it was the world's strongest martial art. Visioning to fulfil his hopes and dreams, capoeira became his whole life and assisted him in escaping poverty. He was spotted by Richard in Brazil after noticing Bob's passion for capoeira.

Street Fighter

Elena is one of the first characters in the Street Fighter series to utilize capoeira and is an expert in the fighting art. This style gives her the ability to use her long legs to perform dance-like moves and acrobatic legwork. Elena was originally meant to be of Brazilian origin hence the reason why she uses capoeira but her nationality was changed in the final game. Street Fighter II's Blanka originally had capoeira registered as his fighting style but it was only in name.

Pokemon

The pokemon Hitmontop, known as Kapoerer in the Japanese version was inspired by capoeira. Of note it's also the only Pokemon to learn a unique, flashy yet unreliable move known as the Triple Kick. This move could well be a nod to some of the less applicable movements in capoeira.

Dead or Alive

Lisa Hamilton from the Dead or Alive video game series fighting style is a mix of Lucha libre and capoeira, this makes her play style very hard to predict and defend against. Although she hails from USA in Dead or Alive 5, her original creator Tomonobu Itagaki stated that "the real Lisa is Latin" which is most likely why she incorporates capoeira in her fighting style.

Eternal Champions

Beside SNK's fighting game series, one the of the earliest video games to feature capoeria was the Sega Genesis 2D-fighting game Eternal Champions which allowed you to control an atlantean warrior called Trident who used the Brazilian martial art in combination with several genre-typical mystical energy.

Capoeira Fighter

Capoeira Fighter is a flashed based fighting game which has two sequels and allows you to choose from over 20 playable capoeristas. Apart from Eddy Gordo and Christie in the Tekken series, this is possibly the only game which has truly managed to capture the feel of capoeira due to it's colourful and vibrant character designs.

Bust A Groove

Two aliens who are collectively called Capoeira and continual characters in the Bust A Groove games use various capoeira moves in their dance routine. Despite being a hard game to pick up and play, the one thing we love about the Bust A Groove series is how accurate and life-like the dance moves are.

The Bouncer

SquareSoft's beat-em-up The Bouncer had several fighting styles and one of those were capoeira. While none of the playable characters were actually able to use capoeira, one of the bosses could. A female character called Echidna who gave players a difficult time with her long legs used the Brazilian fighting art mercilessly.

Marial Arts: Capoeria

Capoeira Fighter isn't the only fighting game centred around capoeira as the indie video game Martial Arts: Capoeria is another series based on capoeira martial arts. Only this title mixes elements of role-playing with traditional fighting game mechanisms. Now that's something you don't see everyday, an capoeira RPG.

In the 70s, the divine afro emerged into mainstream culture as an declaration of Black African heritage and a rejection of Eurocentric standards of beauty. The popularity of this natural hairstyle sooner or later spread throughout popular culture including video games. The "look" actually had many variations. We tend to think of the general orb afro but the styles of the 1970s fros came in a dazzling variety.

"Here is a list of the most afro-liscious video game characters of today and the yesteryear."

The afro is a legendary hairstyle, the pinnacle of natural black hair has inspired a number of video game designers who want some soulful representation within their games. The afro keeps it's indisputable appeal to this day, and that's why we've compiled a list of the best afro hairstyles in video game history. Texture, Girth, and colour may vary in the world of afros, but our love for the video game characters that rock them is unfaltering.

Afro Samurai

While not initially a video game character, Afro Samurai has been the playable protagonist in two games so far, besides what list featuring fictional afro wearing characters would be complete without the granddaddy of them all? The talented swordsman isn't only complimented for his deadly samurai skills on the battlefield but also for his wavy textured afro hair.

Afro Thunder (Ready 2 Rumble)

Afro Thunder's afro is legendary within the gaming world, even to this day. When the Dreamcast originally came with a demo copy of Midway's Ready 2 Rumble in 1999, all the characters in the game had their own gimmicks but none stood out like Afro Thunder, the immensely agile and talented boxer who was mostly remembered for his huge afro and Chris Rock sounding voice.

Stretch (NBA Street)

In the NBA Street series, EA Sports BIG included an array of colourful and charismatic characters to choose from but none of them really stood out like Stretch, the iconic and fictional East Harlem street basketball legend, notably because of his afro hairstyle, old school hooks and towering height. Stretch is known as one of the coolest cats to have never played in the NBA.

Kate Allen (F-Zero)

Nintendo is known for giving some it's characters soulful and disco inspired afro hair but none of those hairstyles compare to the diva singer and F-Zero racer Kate Alen, who's first playable appearance was in F-Zero GX for the Nintendo Gamecube. Kate is clearly the embodiment of soul culture and this is further expressed by the mega star's lubricious orb afro.

Tekken

In 1997 Namco Tekken series introduced Tiger Jackson, the disco-themed capoeira fighter who was given a roster spot in Tekken 3 as a palette swap of Afro-Brazilian martial artist Eddy Gordo, which carried over to Tekken Tag Tournament. He is most recognizable due to his large fro and 70s dress sense. In Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion art book, it was revealed that Tiger Jackson was originally an unused concept for Eddy Gordo.

Tekken 6 allowed you to somewhat customize character's outfits and hairstyles by unlocking special items with in-game currency. Among those novelty items, our personal favourite was the selective afro wig for Christie Monteiro. The character's default hair texture is straight but this afro wig dramatically changed her look from an ambiguously tanned girl to a light skinned black woman.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 allowed you give Eddy an eccentric looking afro wig, which was ultimately part of a tribute outfit for the late African American legendary martial artist Jim Kelley, who passed away in 2013. Interestingly enough with the afro item equipped, Eddy Gordo could also taunt with a special disco dance.

Kid Quick (Punch-out!!)

Appearing in Nintendo's 1984's Punch-out!! Arcade game as a low-rate boxer with impeccable speed, Kid Quick was one of the first video games to rock an afro in the 8-bit era. His appearance stood out most notoriously because of his big kinky afro but apart from his hairstyle and quickness in the four squared ring, there wasn't much else. Which is understandable since Kid Quick was only a pallete swap.

The Legend of Zelda (Twilight Princess)

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess would introduce several characters whose character designs appeared to be inspired by people of African descent. Two of these characters IZA and her brother Coro rocked massive afros. These ambiguously light skinned characters and their naturally kinky afro textured hair stood out for all the good reasons. This was the first time The Legend of Zelda series included characters with afro hair and it was a beautiful sight to behold.

Cassandra (Mafia III)

With Mafia 3's choice of setting strutted straight out of a 70s blaxploitation movie, it's no surprise to see such a dainty and strong looking afro on one of the female main characters, who wears it with pride. Cassandra is the leader of a Haitian gang based in New Orleans around the late 60s and early 70s. Her afro is thick and kinky, just the way we we like it!

Sazh & Dajh (Final Fantasy XIII)

While all the other characters in Final Fantasy XIII has over the top spiky anime hairstyles which the Final Fantasy series is well known for, Sazh and his son Dajh kept things naturally kinky throughout the entire FFXIII trilogy with throwback afros. It's pretty refreshing to see afro textured hairstyles in a series dominated by anime art inspired designs.

Lenora (Pokemon and White)

Pokemon games are usually dominated by spiky eccentric hairstyles but when a character is drawn with bright looking afro-textured hair it's bound to make them stand out, especially a character with dark caramel skin. The former gym leader's kinky green hair stands tall and looks adorable in pixel graphics.

Cinnamon (Crazy Taxi 2)

Cinnamon might not have a large afro on her head but let's not write her off just yet. The female taxi driver who was introduced in Crazy Taxi 2 has the cutest mini afro puffs, they look endearing and really add to the overall character design. The kinky, bleached and somewhat fizzy looking mini afros on each side of her head are just beautiful. Even though it's unlikely we'd love to see her return in a future Crazy Taxi game.

Franklin (GTA 5)

Although this hairstyle wasn't originally available at the beginning of the game, several years down the line Rockstar has finally tossed it's players some more singleplayer content and given them an afro for Franklin Clinton, one of the three protagonists in the game. We must say it looks great on him too, don't you think?

Carl Johnson (GTA: San Andreas)

We couldn't mention GTA 5 without mentioning the original don dada. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was the goat game for legendary hairstyles. You just had to pop into the game's local barber and Carl Johnson could look fresh to death. One of those hairstyles was the traditional afro which looked very impressive on CJ.

Erine Evou (Aurion Legacy of the Kori-Odan)

Africa's first action RPG has finally arrived and what's more fitting then for the main characters to be wearing their own natural hair proudly? The art style for the game is beautiful and the female main character Erine Evou looks absolutely stunning with her big afro hair. We must admit it's one of the best fros we've seen on a female character, which is not surprising considering who it's developers are.

Vella (Broken Age)

We have to admit compared to the other afros, Vella's hairdo in Broken Age is such an alluring and unique looking natural hairstyle. While simple looking, it still has a certain charm which makes Vella look quite elegant. The thing about Vella is without the afro she probably wouldn't look as comely, but overall the afro completes her look.

Bobobo

Like Afro Samurai Bobobo is essentially an anime character but that hasn't stopped him from appearing and starring in several video game series including most recently J-Star Victory VS. Bobobo's afro is in essence one of the best fros in the game today.

Funky Student (Persona)

Funky Student's afro in Persona 4 was so near perfection, the riddle master stood out in Persona 4 not only because of his slang but also because of the afro hair on top of his head. Funky Student made sure to keep his afro neat and tidy while quizzing students who found the time to answer his questions.

Kalypso (Donkey Kong)

Kalypso's sizeable and gleaming purple afro really does let out radiance, who'd ever thought that a reptile character could wear an afro so gracefully? Making her debut in 2007's Donkey Kong's Barrel Blast for the Nintendo Gamecube and Wii, Kalypso has been described as a cool and attractive character, oh she's also the rival of Tiny Kong.

Bouffalant (Pokemon)

Bouffalant is a bovine Pokemon with a large, dark afro on it's head. Despite being a pokemon it's got one of the most impressive afros we've seen on a wild creature. Which leads us to believe that Bouffalant could have possibly been human in it's previous life, unless it's actually wearing a novelty wig.

Updated: 07/02/2016
Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of the White Witch is truly an amazing RPG experience for this generation and after having only completed it's story you are hopefully left with a feeling of meaningful satisfaction after overseeing Oliver and his friends safely through an enchanted tale which doesn't disappoint.

The artsy graphics, diverse world, appealing soundtrack and overall unique magical adaptation of the parallel universe is greatly put together, making you feel as if you're in another universe altogether. While Ni No Kuni gives the rpg genre a much needed kick up the rear end, the Level-5 and Studio Ghibli masterpiece isn't as pure hearted as one would assume.

"Akihiro Hino: 'Ni No Kuni II a huge improvement to the first'"

The Wrath Of the White Witch does indeed have it's flaws and since the announcement of PlayStation 4 exclusive Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom, we decided to update the list, here's ten appropriate changes that would greatly improve and enhance the playing experience.

Akihiro Hino, the CEO of Level-5 and director of the Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom spoke about the new sequel during a developer video unveiled by PlayStation and claims that Ni No Kuni 2 is a huge improvement over the original game.

1. More in-depth Characters

While Oliver and his companions were honourable characters who stood for honesty, good morals and compassion, they weren't exactly what you'd call exciting, (excluding Mr Drippy) the main cast of Ni No Kuni were dull as a rock.

Oliver was the self righteous heroic prodigy which often led to boring and predictable encounters with whomever he spoke to. A dabble of more in-depth backstories and personalities would solve this issue.

2. Clever A.I

The A.I in the original game were borderline useless unless they were pampered and babysat, especially in later stages of the game. They wasted a ton of magic and were often worse then the enemies you faced. Simple tweaks to the A.I while introducing more helpful 'All out systems' could turn this annoying phase around. Introducing new 'All out' systems would greatly tackle the problem.

All out Healing = Use any healing or recovery procedures, then defend.
All out Support = The uses of buff. An option to turn off character spells, songs and trick shots which you don't want A.I to abuse.

3. Taming Familiars should be easier

When you first get your hands on Esther's Serenade ability you probably wouldn't believe your quest to catch em all would be this tedious but once you're fighting your tenth Green Buncher, the harsh reality eventually sets in.

Taming familiars shouldn't be a tiresome grindfest but instead players should be allowed to repeat and exploit Serenade until your desired familiar is tamed or knocked out. Tame rates should also be increased above 10%.

4. Faster movement

Oliver couldn't drag his feet any faster across town even if you showered him with an endless supply of guilder. In the beginning taking in the view of towns and the lust looking environments was breathtaking, but after your fifth trip to Ding Dong Bell it eventually begins to feels tedious.

"After your fifth trip to Ding Dong Bell it eventually begins to feels tedious."

Instead of the useless novelty jump feature (which we still want), a sprint button would've been the superior choice. Adding a sprint button or even the flying broom a.k.a Cloud broomer would definitely be a much needed improvement to the Ni No Kuni series.

5. Less Tedious tasks

ni no kuni grindfest

As you progressed halfway through the game, you probably noticed a number of tasks repeating themselves and that was the main gameplay mechanics of Ni No Kuni. While not too bothersome in the beginning, it soon got pretty dull searching for diaries, restoring broken hearts and taming familiars in every single town.

Also having to select emoticons from the menu, which at first looked visually impressive but eventually felt like a slow feature. What Ni No Kuni needs is new innovative side quests that separate themselves from one another.

6. More playable characters

Not only was the cast of Ni No Kuni lacking personality but there wasn't enough party members to choose from. The game initially gives you three characters and throws in a fourth person near the end of the game but there's no real advantage of using him. We'd like the option to have at least six party member at minimum.

7. More Towns

The world of Ni No Kuni was magnificent, discovering new towns and conversing with the locals was quite amusing, but we'd love for there to be more cities to explore. While Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of the White Witch does have several towns, overall it would be great if there were a lot more communities and safe spots in the game.

8. Difficulty Settings

At times Ni No Kuni felt like a merciless and unforgiving game, closer in difficulty to Shin Megami Tensei than the Final Fantasy series. Any Rpg novice would have fumbled at the first difficulty spike and most likely have put the game down for good. A choice to choose an easier difficulty setting would be a welcome edition to the series and welcome players who aren't as rpg navvy.

9. Easier to read Wizard's Companion

The Wizard's Companion book has some interesting information regarding the world which Oliver escapes to, but it's really hard to see any of it's contents on a television screen. Flipping through it's pages to find the answer to some puzzle or ingredients to throw in the cauldron, is similar to trying to reading a PDF across the living room, no fun at all.

"If Ni No Kuni 2 is going to include a Wizard's Companion then it needs to ditch the complex system"

If Ni No Kuni 2 is going to include a Wizard's Companion then it needs to ditch the complex system and simplify things, making the information easier to read or just shorter to digest. Think of the Final Fantasy VIII study panels for inspiration and we're getting somewhere.

10. More Familiars

In the same aspect as Pokemon, Digimon and Persona, Ni No kuni allows you to collect beasties to fight with, lots of them. Familiars are your main means of defeating your enemies and come with their own move sets and can evolve into stronger creatures. There's hundreds to find and train, but ultimately we'd to see more unique looking Familiars.

Today we look at ten of our favourite fictional characters from Motherland Africa who have made their appearance in video games, whether it be mainstream or indie titles. These characters were born in Africa, hence the reason why black characters born outside of the African continent such as African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-Brazilians and so forth won't be featured despite being of African descent.

"we look at ten of our favourite fictional characters from Motherland Africa who have made their appearance in video games"

If you were to take a look back at video game's history you would never realize that Africa is the world's second largest continent. There's a massive hole in the video game industry when looking for games which are themed around African mythology, characters and art. Which have us shaking our heads as Africa has so much depth with it's rich history, citizens, spoken language, traditions, myths, architecture and so forth.

When you look back at gaming history there hasn't been a lot of characters from Africa either, normally black characters are depicted as either American or Brazilian, which isn't necessary a bad thing, but despite this fact we have managed to scope down and find at least ten characters who were born in Africa and have managed to leave a lasting impression on us.

10. Zazie Muhaba
(Fighter's History Dynamite 1994)

The Neo-Geo fighting game Fighter's History Dynamite, also called Karnov's Revenge, which was released in 1994 was one of the first and only fighting games to include an African martial arts practitioner. This character didn't box, dance or play sports which is indeed a rare instance for a fighting game.

Zazie's love of nature is unparalleled and this is further empathized in his back story and ending. Zazie created the African Nature Protection Society to defend animals from poachers in Kenya, his birthplace. He entered the fighting tournament to raise funding for his organization. Zazie's ending unveiled that he identifies greatly with pacifism.

9. Zasalamel
(Soul Calibur Series 2005-2009)

Zasalmel made his debut in the Soul series of fighting games since Soul Calibur 3, returning for two other sequels before ultimately being cut from the most recent instalment with no explanation as to why. In the game it's actually never revealed where he was born but as written in his profile, he comes from an old civilisation that was originally chosen as protectors of Soul Calibur, the sacred weapon.

Many people believe this ancient nation was in Africa due to Zasalamel's physical appearance and facial features, hence the reason he made this list. He has no allegiances to anyone but himself and it's believed that his actions may be seen as immoral. It's worth mentioning that Zasalamel has been the only black character in the series to date, outside of guest character Spawn.

8. Crying Wolf
(Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 2008)

metal gear solid crying wolf

There's been quite a few African characters in the Metal Gear Solid series to date but one of our favourite female characters in the series, who also happens to be African is none other than Crying wolf. Crying Wolf was the sniper and sentry of the Beauty and the Beast Unit, a group of female soldiers who were affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The intense psychic trauma she endured in her early life sent the poor girl over the edge. Crying Wolf's psychopathy manifested itself in her perpetually crying, weeping loudly even in the heat of battle.

7. Cyrax
(Mortal Kombat Series 1995-Present)

Despite his cyborg appearance, Cyrax was originally an African man from Botswana who was turned into a cyborg. Making his Debut in Mortal Kombat 3 it wasn't until Mortal Kombat Gold that players got to see the face behind the cybernetic armour, an alternate costume which revealed Cyrax's human identity.

In Mortal Kombat Alliance his alternate outfit shows him to be just about human with several cybernetic parts, while his alt costume in Mortal Kombat 9 goes the extra mile and gives Cyrax a complete human body.

6. The Mbele Squad
(Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 2015)

Metal Gear Solid TPP's African child soldiers where just some of the things that never left our minds when we think of Kojima's final MGS game. The Mbele Squad were a crew of kid soldiers that Venom Snake met in 1984. Shabani was originally the leader of the Child Solider unit until his untimely dead in the same year. The other children note that Shabani was the one who looked out for them and took care of their needs.

5. Elena
(Street Fighter Series 1997-Present)

Elena first appeared in Street Fighter III as the first black female character. She is a princess of an African state in Kenya who have a cultural custom of fighting. Typically Elena doesn't look like your average Kenyan person due to her straight white hair and bright blue eyes, but we always welcome her addition to the Street Fighter roster with each new iteration in the series.

4. Sheva Alomar
(Resident Evil 5 2009)

Since her conception in 2009 Sheva Alomar and the game which she came from has been a controversial issue and for all the right reasons too, but overall despite the controversy surrounding Capcom's RE5 we can't deny that Sheva has become one of our favourite female characters in video game history. Her character design and voice really left a lasting on us and we'd love to see more of her.

Sheva was a new and refreshing character for the series, a BSSAA operative of South Africa who acted as a guide for the tired Chris Redfield, who was possessed over the occurrence of his partner Jill Valentine.Without characters like herself and even Josh Stone, you really can't say that the developers are even trying anything new with their characters or series.

3. Agaté
(Assassin's Creed III: Liberation 2012)

Enslaved from a early age, Agaté met a man who taught him the ways of the Assassins. After his mentor's death in 1758, Agaté journeyed to Loisiana, a wanted man, and hid in the bayou. Agate later on founded the local Assassin guild, enlisting Aveline de Grandpré (the main character) and another man whom he trained to be his agents in New Orleans.

When you are first introduced to Agaté at the beginning of the game you can probably already see that he's a no nonsense character whose character development is without a doubt very strong, Ubisoft certainly did their homework. Agaté moves like a true African warrior and was the very person to teach Aveline her deadly and swift assassin moves.

2. Black Panther
(Marvel Video game Series 2006-Present)

While originally a comic book character, the African superhero has gradually made his transition to video games, appearing in several Marvel video games including Marvel: Ultimate Alliance where he is a playable character. Whilst he has appeared in Marvel games, the character has never had a video game to call his own. Since Black Panther has a movie coming out in 2018, we wouldn't mind seeing a Black Panther video game as long as it's made by a reputable game developer.

1. Enzo Kori-Odan
(Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan 2016)

Seldom do you see playable African warriors in video games let alone games based around African Mythology but that's all changed with the release of Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan. An action RPG developed by African developers developer kiro'o Games. Enzo Kori-Odan, the prince of Zama is a refreshing change to the accustomed protagonists which game developers usually come up with.

Enzo is unlike the other generic looking heroes which have become the norm in mainstream gaming, which is what we especially love about the character. Enzo is betrayed by his relative-in-law on the day of his marriage with Erine Evou. The royal couple are then banished from their kingdom and decide to travel the world in search of assistance.

Unlike all the other characters featured on this list Enzo was created by an African game developer and you can really see the difference in comparison to character design and overall presentation. Finally we can say there's a video game hero for Africa.

(So there you have it, here's ten of our favorite African video game characters, did your favourite chracter make the cut or did we miss them? Let us know.)

NBA Street released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2 and received three sequels. People who played the original games on PS2 will know why it's so beloved. NBA Street's arcade gameplay, easy accessibility, urban vibe, stellar commentary, hip hop music and flashy basketball moves are just some of the reasons why fans still ask EA for a new game.

In story mode the player had to defeat the court's "Street Legend."

As you're aware the game allowed players to play in urban basketball courts with basketball players from the NBA league such as Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal to name a few, but those weren't the only players you could pick, there were also Street Legends.

In story mode the player had to defeat the court's "Street Legend." Streetballers who acted as bosses and could only be added to your team once you beat them. These characters weren't generic basketball players neither, each baller had their own look, personality, unique skills and dress style which made them stand out.

Some of these characters became mainstay characters in the franchise while others weren't seen again. Each NBA Street game introduced new characters who dominated the basketball courts of their respective city in style and grace. Here's the greatest streetball players of all time in video games.

Stretch

Stretch has been representing the old school since his debut appearance in the original NBA Street. He's known as one of the greatest basketball players never to make it to the NBA. Over the years Stretch has become a virtual icon at Rucker Park, where you'll find him educating youths on the artistry and science of streetball.

Don't let Stretch's old age nor grey hair streak deceive you, because the granddaddy is still able to hang with the youngsters and best of the best. He's got the handles, hops, heart and has been holding it down for over a decade along with his afro.

Bonafide

Carlito Vargas better known as Bonafide is one of the most reputable street ballers around. Seen by many as a shorter but harder Allen Iverson. you could find this dude playing ball at Broad Street in Philadelphia. However in NBA Street V3, Bonafide now holds down the Dyuckman Park court in New York City, one of the most competitive streetball courts in existence.

Bonafide is best-known for his highlight reel dunks and insane handles which often throw off mesmerizing defenders who dare step up to this fiery Afro-Latino. Bonafide is the epitome of streetball, he's flashy, gifted and always on the prowl for another win.

Omosis

First appearing in NBA Street V2 as one one of the new Street Legends, Osmosis' height isn't the only thing you have to worry about when going up against him, opponents also have to watch out for his handles, which are quite impressive for someone of Omosis' gangling statute. Not only does he have impressive handles but Omosis is very good at mid-range shots.

Drake

Drake's only appearance in the series was the original NBA Street game where he was found playing basketball at The Yard, a court in Detroit Michigan, he was well known for giving players trouble with his three-pointers and all-around skills. About all Drake couldn't do was dunk.

He would later relocate to New York and went from a street baller to an aspiring street fighter in Def Jam Vendetta. The name of his Blazin' finishing move in Def Jam Vendetta is a reference to NBA Street.

Takashi

Takashi made his first appearance on the rooftops of Los Angeles in the original NBA Street game. Skipping NBA Street Vol 2, the shot-blocking menace returned in NBA Street V3 replacing Osmosis. At 7'ft, 8 inches tall, Takashi-san is an imposing defensive threat who enjoys keeping the defensive lane free of traffic, unsurprisingly he doesn't have the best handles.

To sum it up, you could say Takashi is a Japanese Yao Ming, which is ironic because Yao Ming wasn't in the NBA when NBA Street was first released back in June of 2001.

Dime

The first female of NBA Street. Dime first appeared in NBA Street Vol.2 playing at the Lincoln College in Los Angeles. In the next game she can be found balling at The Dome in Baltimore. The young girl earned her rep by displaying an all-around game shown by her insane dribbling and fast hands on defence. The only thing holding Dime back is her small frame and lack of power.

Biggie Little

The prodigy with the grown man handles made his first appearance in NBA Street Vol. 2 where you could find him playing ball in on the Windy City court. In NBA Street V3, Biggie Little has made one of New York City's most renowned streetball landmarks, The Cage on West 4th Street, his new whipping block.

The little man is well known for breaking ankles as he is for swiping the ball out of his opponent's hands before they drop their first dribble. Still only a child in a grown up game, Biggie Little won't be dunking any time soon. Those who are able to, take advantage of Biggie Little's meek size and strength.

What About a New NBA Street Game?

NBA Street is one of the video game series we hope is revived by EA. In a 2011 interview, An EA Sports boss said there were currently no plans to bring back NBA Street or Def Jam, following reboots of FIFA Street and SSX.

In 2013 EA Sports revived the NBA Live basketball franchise but many fans believe it's failed to live up to the hype. After three consecutive unsuccessful entries, it's time for EA Sports move on. However, EA doesn't have to stop making basketball games, instead this would be the perfect opportunity to revive another one of it's aged franchises; NBA Street.

At this point it's clear that NBA Live can't compete with NBA 2K and it doesn't have to. Many players would welcome a basketball game that's easier to pick up and this niche hasn't been touched in several years. Now is the time to bring back NBA Street from the dead. Your thoughts?

Video games need not be all competitive and adrenaline rushing. Games can also soothe and relax your mind, providing the perfect therapeutic remedy after a hectic and stressful day. Who says games have to be an heated exchange that constantly has your heart racing and blood boiling?

Extreme cases of violence have been an anchor in the gaming industry for decades. This proving highly prosperous for video game developers and popular with gamers. Yet some games appear to be intentionally relaxing, only increasing the difficulty as you progress, naturally.

By nature the most popular video games will always involve some form of violence but there's nothing wrong with taking a break and mellowing down to something a little more tranquil. We list our favourite video games to play when wanting to chill out, new and old.

Animal Crossing

animal-crossing

Leave it to Nintendo to take life's everyday chores and make them into something enjoyable. Animal Crossing is like a mix between The Sims, Harvest Moon, and a retro games collection. The game lets you become part of a small village, with all it's relationships, tasks, item collecting and infrequent excitements.

Majority of the stuff you do in Animal Crossing wouldn't be considered fun at all in reality, but the that's the beauty of the game. Not interested in doing mundane tasks? Then don't do them. Don't feel like fishing? Sell your fishing rod and never use it again. The freedom which is permitted to you is the reason why the series is so successful.

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature

There was something soothing about Harvest Moon; Back to Nature that not many games have been able to recapture. After a long day's work of tending to crops and the barn animals, it was rather calming taking a break from farming activities and heading down to the local inn to have a drink. While the game is essentially about taking care of your deceased grandfather's farm, it doesn't necessary box you in.

You can partake in normal activities and special events which are quite laid-back. Want to fish until the early hours of the morning, explore the town and pick up some shopping supplies or mine for ore? Then knock yourself out. Instances like these is the reason why Harvest Moon is such a chilled experience.

SimCity

Leading a city through the first few hours of it's life as it's all-seeing dictating deity city manager starts out very creative and empowering. You're the mayor and your job is to successfully build a city from the ground up and then maintain it, ultimately turning what starts out as a small town into a bustling metropolis.

The series isn't exactly known for being a walk in the park but majority will find SimCity a abysmal and gratifying strategy game that's supple enough to be played at any stride and enjoyable for all audiences.

The Sims

the sims 4

If you enjoy the feeling of complete control when creating a city in SimCity, then you will no doubt enjoy the experience of constructing a life in The Sims. The Sims is about creating, managing and controlling the lives of virtual people. The game's catchy soundtrack, detailed scenery and smartly animated characters make this a treat to play.

Civilization V

Civilization V is a turn-based strategy game based on turning a society of your choice into a global force, and yes, Civilization V can appear boring to the casual onlooker, but for a player in control of the action each turn can lead to an important decision, giving the player a definite notion of power that few if any games match.

Fez

Fez appeals to the daring soul's lust for revelation and presents it in a lively and fresh way. The puzzle-based indie platformer doesn't apologize for it's complexities. Instead of following instructions players discover new paths by playing the game at their own pace. There's no danger, no necessity and no consequence for dying.

Everything exists as is and it's just waiting for you to discover it. Truly though, experiencing Fez's aesthetic is it's real payoff. The fantastic detail of its pixel-varnished world, old-school-inspired soundtrack, spirited art and dynamic scenery give the glorious world life.

Journey

journey ps4

Through extraordinary beauty and dire peril, this brief downloadable experience marks one of video game's most comely, most moving achievements. Journey delivers an adventure that plays on human emotion. The admiration comes from cresting the first hill and seeing the mountain in view or exploring old ruins below your destination.

Journey disregards many customary gaming traditions like high scores, lives and statistics. As an unidentified masked traveller there is only one goal: travel towards the gleaming mountain in the distance. Along the way you'll unveil the secrets of the desolate world at your feet and possibly meet other souls.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3

Like its predecessors, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 gives you the chance to create the theme park of your wildest imagination and then witness as your visitors walk about and have a blast. Your duty in the career mode is to take control of a series of unsatisfactory or emergent theme parks and make them great again.

You take charge of virtually every facet of your amusement park, from the entry fee, research and modification on new rides, ticket costs, all the way down to the colour of your attractions and staff uniforms.

Forza Horizon 2

Forza Horizon 2 is a brawny, fun-first racing game that is most suitable for players who enjoy driving around and doing whatever. The game is mostly spread out right from the beginning, allowing you to take it in however you prefer. Just cruise around, take in the scenery and you'll find Horizon 2 to be very mellow.

In essence the game is a exquisite wish-fulfilment illusion fashioned for driving cars in a large, open and on the face of it lawless world. As stated if you don't feel like completing in competitions, you can breeze through the gorgeous open world alternatively. Forza Horizon is a nice escape for car fans and nonchalant drivers alike.

GTA Online

GTA Online is all about freedom. Feel free to travel around the city and compete in any of the games activities you have unlocked in your own time; Trade stolen cars, get murdered by random players, rob a convenience shop, kickoff a gang war, do missions or purchase new stuff. While this is the organized portion of GTA Online it still feels exceedingly free flowing and relaxed, you are never forced down a certain path or mission.

Grand Theft Auto Online is to a lesser extent an added on online multiplayer and more so an important portion of the Grand Theft Auto 5 content, a game that allows players to set their own pace and control the fun. Its wacky fun of the highest degree, so silly that it can be considered the work of a genius.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

The world of Skyrim rewards the adventuresome player who wants nothing more than to explore and contributes to the sense of freedom associated with life in Skyrim. Pursue a quest, slay a dragon, snatch touchbugs from the air, snack on butterfly wings or merely wander while listening to one of the best video game ost in recent memory.

The sense of exploration and discovery is strong enough in Skyrim given how many awesome collectables and quests there are to uncover, but the addition of beautiful scenery makes the inclination to compulsively tour Skyrim's landscapes overwhelming. Lest we forget the homelike towns which feel like a safe haven.

Minecraft (creative mode)

If you’re the kind who loves building stuff, Minecraft‘s creative mode could well be a great alternative. The possibilities are fundamentally infinite—some players create whole new worlds from Minecraft blocks, or attempt to copy existing ones. There’s genuinely no tension involved. Players can’t win or fail in this sandbox video game; just imagine children playing with limitless Lego pieces and you'll get the gist.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

Square Enix's revised MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn flourishes with gorgeous graphics and amended gameplay. Things fall into place promptly when you're following the main quest, levelling up, taking on marvellous bosses and picking up new gear.

There's more to do in FFXIV besides exploring dungeons though and that's good, since grinding to reach a higher level for boss X or quest Y can become tedious. Take a breather from the main quest to craft items, gather materials and admire the beautiful world of Ezora. ARR is a mixture of some of the greatest fantasy MMOs, but it is more than that.

Endless Ocean

As veteran gamers we're perpetually trained to detect the primary goal of any game. What's the objective? What's the point? In Endless Ocean, the answer might prove difficult to acquire. Your primary goal is merely to dive and investigate what's in the ocean, everything beyond that is an afterthought.

You crusade your vessel around a massive ocean and regularly dive under to interact with fish and discover various underwater terrain. During these instances, Endless Ocean doesn't really feel like a game, but more so an easygoing oceanic saunter, allowing you to search coral formations and touch different fish using the Wii remote with no actual intent except to bookmark them.

Pure Pool

Pure Pool isn't just a title, it’s a description of what could possibly be the most dead-on and refined pool simulation games in existence. optically the game is a beauty, from the photorealistic table game balls, to the unsmooth look of the felt coating on the tables and the lively atmospheric background where you actually feel like you're in an upmarket pool room — everything just looks spot on.

Obviously the main attraction of any decent pool simulation is how the game performs, and let us tell you, this game has all the things that you would expect in a pool game. No matter if you are just taking shots around the table in preparation or attempting to pocket all the billiard balls in the fastest time, it all just feels proper.

Tetris

Puzzle games are the epitome of relaxation in the gaming world and while there's been over a hundred such games over the years, the most recognizable one in our eyes is Tetris (sorry Columns). Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the graphics as it's not an easy game by any feat, but the early levels can be really relaxing to indulge in.

Mario Golf

The Mario Golf series is a fine game overall, with different ways to play that challenges and reward players for their skill, but the reason it's worth a mention is because of how smoothly its stages advance you from an novice to unbeatable golfer. Striking a ball in Mario Golf is as effortless or as difficult as you wish for it to be, although it does reward players who walk the more adept route.

Lemmings

Lemmings was an instant hit among players who loved puzzle games and went on to monumental mainstream success with several sequels. Lemmings puts the player in charge of a group of up to one hundred lemmings that have no disregard for their lives and it's your duty to safely get these critters from start to finish.

Lemmings classic game design is as compelling now in it's newest iteration on the PlayStation 3 and PSP as it was decades ago.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Ocarina of Time unquestionably takes inspiration from the previous titles, and the outcome is an almost flawless masterpiece. You start the game as a kid of the woods, but by the time you complete your quest, you'll be a fisherman, a messenger boy, the hero of time and even a mask salesperson.

Each time you unveil a new area of the Kingdom of Hyrule, you'll be stunned at the detail, the affluence of scenery, the many stuff to do and the magnitude of thought that went into creating it all. For instance, hours can pass by as players explore a village, speak with the inhabitants, solve riddles and look for secret items.

Spyro The Dragon

spyro

There's a lot to like about the first Spyro game that sets it apart from later sequels. The music is wondrously atmospheric as well as the level design which provides large worlds for you to freely roam around in and get engulfed into. The game's also quite an effortless romp so it isn't overly difficult.

Spyro The Dragon offers bright and beautiful graphics with addictive gameplay and collecting items is a great challenge. It's clear that Spyro is a now considered a fossil game, but anyone interested in a classic gaming experience shouldn't really be bothered by this.

Super Mario Sunshine

We can't help but praise Super Mario's Gamecube outing, as the game really does feel like a vacation, especially from it's usual customary series theme. Super Mario Sunshine's very much like the eye-catching holiday package you know you shouldn't pass on. The game is colourful, vibrant and totally conveys the sunny nature of Isle Defino.

Equally noteworthy is that although the first stage eases you into a comfort zone, the difficulty promptly increases with later levels. Once you grow accustomed to the acrobatics moves, Mario Sunshine thrusts you into a world that glitters at every turn. It shouldn't be a surprise that a game based on a tropical resort has sparkling water and a smooth and cheery soundtrack.

Captain Toad

Picking the Captain Toad bonus stages from Super Mario 3D World, this is a humble and none too challenging puzzle-platform game that serves up a couple hours of friendly and endearingly bestowed problem-solving. As you'd expect from Nintendo, the game also has a cheerful and adorable presentation.

Possibly aiming to cater to younger players, Treasure Tracker chooses to squeeze in a jazzy boss-battle or pleasant respite than to exceed the difficulty of it's puzzle designs. Solving majority of these stages is just following your nose rather than stressing your mind.

Driveclub

The dynamic weather released in 2015's update includes a fantastic new proportion to the driving in Driveclub, with the game's lifelike effects reinforcing its place as one of the most gorgeous looking console games ever conceived. Raindrops dribbling over the windscreen, glimpses of lightning penetrating through clouds and pools of water laying on the track make for lurid eye-candy, and are reason enough to give DriveClub the praise it deserves.

Everybody's Golf

The Everybody's Golf series has captivated loads of players since it's conception. Its goal: make golf as accessible as possible while conserving the sport's unparalleled challenge. The game has colourful, cheerful characters, a relaxing soundtrack and overall pollyannaish attitude.

Although for a game with such a lighthearted stance the penalty for making simple mistakes counters the game's approachable demeanour. Luckily easier game modes exist outside the main attraction for anyone who wants a more laid back experience.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

We never imagined a truck-driving simulator could be entertaining, but Euro Truck Simulator 2 has proven many of us wrong. There's something calming in seeing the world pass you by from the high and mighty compartment of a ample sized truck. In this emphatically niche game, players find themselves in the driver's chair of a full-trailer vehicle, trucking across EU.

Truck interiors are fastidiously detailed and rural areas are breathtaking.The weather and time of day alter, so one moment you could be driving about in springtime, and trying to journey under abundant rain at night time the next.

Flower

flower

In Flower you travel with the wind. In the first level you bare witness to a single hovering floral leaf and press a button to journey onwards and carry the pedal with you, tilting the controller to lead, as if you're the aviator of a gentle wind. Like a snow-clad hilltop ridgeline or placid stream valley, Flower enkindles contemplation and inner peace.

You could easily complete the game in an hour and that hour advances at a lax pace, quietening you into security instead of pumping endocrine into your nerves.

What Games Do You Play When You Need to Relax?

So readers tell us, what video games do you enjoy playing when you want to kick back and relax? Like the the games you play and just breeze through once in a while because it's effortless, entertaining and in no way thwarting? A study in 2011 stated that relaxing video games can make people feel happy and good-hearted.

Blizzard's first person shooter Overwatch is set in a futuristic interpretation of Earth. The game has been constantly praised for it's diverse set of heroes who come in various shapes and sizes, ethnicities, ages, genders and non-genders. Take a look at the game's twenty one playable characters and you'll see a colourful bunch.

Blizzard stated that they wanted to create a game that could be enjoyed by "everyone", from all walks of life.

At BlizzCon's 2014 press conference the developers stated that they wanted players to feel well-represented by their cast of characters. Previously, in response to critique over Overwatch's girl characters, Blizzard stated that they wanted to create a game that could be enjoyed by "everyone", from all walks of life.

Blizzard are very aware of the diversity discussion happening among fans and critics about the need for diversity in gaming. As reported by Kotaku, the company claim they want to see more racial and gender diversity, they want to see diversity along the lines of what country people come from.

overwatch zarya

New character Zarya avoids many of the atypical tropes that female video game characters normally fall prey to such as impractical armour, created purely to reveal the character's bare flesh. This is great for fans who wanted to play as a non-sexualized macho female soldier, now how about a black female character?

Currently there are 21 overwatch characters as of (11/05/16) and eight of them are female characters. Each different in their own way, by appearance and skill, but despite boasting a variety of diverse and colourful looking characters there still hasn't been any talks of introducing a black woman.

In fact, initially since the game's arrival in 2014 there weren't any black characters until August of 2015 in which Blizzard revealed Lúcio, an Afro-Brazilian international celebrity and DJ from Rio de Janeiro. He's currently the game's only black character and has often been referred to as the token black guy of the cast.

overwatch black characters

To avoid criticism of tokenism or to further racially diversity the roster, it wouldn't hurt to include a black female character to even out the number. The visibility of playable black women in video games may be significantly small but it's memorable. Nevertheless Houston Press could count only 14 playable black female characters in all of gaming history.

The representation of black and non-white women in video games is so distressingly little you begin to develop a tremendous knack for remembering each one you see or play with, no matter how it brief it may be.The potentiality to create the impossible in video games is what makes it the perfect medium for those whose voices are forcibly suppressed and unheeded in the wider cultural spectrum.

With the shortage of playable black women in video games this would be the perfect opportunity for Blizzard Entertainment to introduce one to Overwatch, especially since the developers have stated they are all for gender and racial diversity.

Games such as F-Zero and Jet Set Radio which are set in the future have successfully managed to create their own afrofuturistic female characters, while we have gradually seen new black female characters popping up in recent games, like Uncharted 4's Nadine, Jacqui Briggs in Mortal Kombat X and Street Fighter V's Laura Matsuda to name a few.

What's stopping them from adding a young, beautiful and kinky haired, chocolate skinned woman?

Blizzard hasn't been shy to controversy and many people have noticed the lack of racial diversity in some their previous games. Take for example World of Warcraft's 2014 Warlords of Draenor expansion pack which shockingly ditched dark skin-toned humans, or the fact that their 2015 Heroes of the Storm doesn't include any People of Colour.

Overwatch is a fresh start for the company and since they want their game to include character diversity, what's stopping them from adding a young, beautiful and kinky haired, chocolate skinned woman? Characters like Symmetra, Lúcio and Pharah have given many players hope for a radically variant of different races but there's always room for more.

What's are your thoughts on this, do you feel like that Overwatch should include a black female character, or do you feel as if one black character in a cast of 21 characters is more than enough? Let us know how you feel about this in the comment section below.

pokemon-sun-and-moon-character-customization

This past week, Nintendo released the latest trailer for it's set of new Pokemon games: Sun and Moon. In addition to showing off five new Pokemon and a new region, in their trailer Nintendo also made it quite clear that for the first time in the franchise's twenty year lifespan, players will be able to choose Pokemon trainers with distinctly darker skin tones.

players will be able to choose Pokemon trainers with distinctly darker skin tones.

In Nintendo's past there's been a few black characters but it wasn't until 2011's Pokemon Black & White, that the Pokemon series saw it's first black characters Lenora, Marshal and seemingly Iris, although all three were only bosses you could battle and were not playable characters. It was also the first game in the series to introduce minor pokemon trainers of a darker hue.

2013's Pokemon X and Y featured another black gym leader and other dark skin pokemon trainers that could be fought in battles around the Kalos region. Like the previous game, Pokemon X & Y broke down barriers by allowing players to choose a somewhat tanned skin complexion for their customised trainers.

While this was a great alternative for many who wanted to play as a trainer who wasn't the white default skin tone, there were some players who felt as though Nintendo had snubbed them by not allowing players to choose a skin tone that was undeniably black. This changes in Nintendo and Game Freak's latest affair.

Nintendo has not given a reason why it expanded it's skin colour choices, but it could well have something to do with Sun and Moon's setting. Keeping in custom with the previous two games (which took place in fictionalized interpretations of New York City and Paris), Sun and Moon starts in the Alola Region, which seems to be loosely based on Oahu in Hawaii, the country's third-largest island.

It goes without saying that at least some of the people born in a location with a hot climate would tend to have dark skin. Even if that wasn't the unrhetorical logic that inspired Nintendo’s decision, it’s a change that’s likely to please a lot of players who have yet to see themselves in one of Nintendo's most lucrative video game series.

It’s a change that’s likely to please a lot of players who have yet to see themselves in one of Nintendo's most lucrative video game series.

So far the character customisation in Pokemon Sun and Moon appears to be limited, which is disappointing but non too surprising. While we were hoping to see a variety of diverse hairstyles and the choice to choose from a wider selection of skin colour palettes, it's refreshing to see dark skin tones in a Pokemon game and better than what Game Freak did with Pokemon Oras, which had no character customization whatsoever.

Pokemon Sun and Moon will be released in Japan and North American on November 18 and on November 23 in Europe.

Crime syndicates bring together like-minded criminals who take part in prohibited activities to make money. The most notorious of these gangs are normally ran by highly influential men and women, who maintain control and dominance over the members involved through methods such as hostility, extortion, etc.
These mafia bosses think large and won't settle for anything less than complete power and control!

These mafia bosses think large and won't settle for anything less than complete power and control! Their persona ranges from charming, to private, out of control, vicious and even honourable. We know these crime bosses have done the unthinkable and are pretty much immoral, but we can't help but love seeing these mobsters in action!

So read on as we list the most notorious mob bosses in video games, to make this list more varied we have hand-picked characters from not only titles like Grand Theft Auto or Mafia but also other games. These infamous gangsters were chosen based on a mix of their influence, criminal activities and dominance.

10. Mr Big (The King of Fighters)

Mr. Big has been caught up and involved in organized crime as far back as he can remember. Once the leader of Southtown, it was sooner or later taken over by Geese Howard's organization. Nevertheless Geese enlisted the former kingpin, and he rapidly shot through the ranks and became Geese's right-hand man.

Self-assured and driven, Mr. Big will use any means he deems essential to get what he wants. The crime leader enjoys feeling in complete control and loves the glorification that comes with it. Mr Big dislikes being bossed around by others and seems to enjoy being surrounded by beautiful women.

9. Don Corneo (Final Fantasy VII)

Don Corneo is a notorious crime leader in the slums of Midgar, using henchmen to do his evil bidding for him, having ill fame for being both frightful and honourable, he's known for always getting his own way. The don is also a perverted man who loves the company of pretty females to use as he will,

8. Aria T'Loak (Mass Effect 2)

In Mass Effect 2 Aria is very authoritative of her dominion on Omega, leading the space station with total control. Her organization is quite powerful and her followers are exceedingly allegiant. Almost anything that occurs on Omega never escapes her gaze, causing mercantile groups to think twice before upsetting her.

Just by studying someone, Aria can easily read a lot about them and usually knows when they are spinning a lie. She is bent on always getting the last word in a conversation, reining in her position and dominance as Omega's ruler.

7. Belger (Final Fight)

Before his death Belger was the original leader of the Mad Gear gang in the first Final Fight game. He is a remorseless crime boss who has raked up millions - if not billions - from his crime syndicate and control of Metro City.

Although he is able to walk on his feet, the explanation as to why he sits in a wheelchair is unknown, but it could more than likely be a tactic to trick his enemies and adversaries into believing that he is a decrepit and helpless old man.

6. Mr X (Streets of Rage)

Mr. X is the main adversary and last boss of the Streets of Rage series. He's the chief rival of Blaze Fielding. In all games, he is portrayed as an uncomprehensible crime lord. His criminal organization plans to bring order of crime to the city.

5. Giovanni (Pokemon)

pokemon giovanni

In the original Pokemon games Giovanni featured in, he played two roles: one that was familiar to the citizens of Kanto, and another that was more undercover. He was first seen as the mob boss of the nefarious Team Rocket, the original criminal organization to grace
Pokémon games.

After he and his group of henchmen were foiled at Silph Co. by an 11 year old child, Giovanni vanished, leaving Team Rocket disordered and confused. As a Pokemon trainer, he specialized in Ground-type Pokémon, but his ultimate plan included gathering rare Pokémon of all types.

4. Carl Johnson (GTA San Andreas)

CJ is second in charge of Los Santos street gang the Grove Street Families, which is run by his older sibling Sweet Johnson. Sweet didn't have much personal capability without his younger brother around. When Carl Johnson returned to Los Santos they were able to work endlessly to triumphantly bring the Grove Street Families back to power after their reputation had fallen off.

3. Tommy Vercetti (GTA Vice City)

At the start of Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Tommy Vercetii is a 35 year old newly released mass murderer and Forelli Family mobster. By the end of the game, he has cut ties with his old gang and founded his own empire in Vice City. Tommy Vercetti's story is very similar to the movie character Tony Montana, a crime boss from the movie Scarface.

2. D-Mob (Def Jam Vendetta)

d-mob def jam

In Def Jam: Vendetta. D-Mob is a Mafia boss and was running all the fight clubs in NYC. He controlled people with fear and was certain that no one would ever defeat him in a street fight. D-Mob also has his nose in almost everything else that involves money. Illegitimate endeavours is his comfort zone, and he does it better than anyone.

1. Salvatore Leone (GTA series)

Salvatore Leone is the Mafia boss of the Leone family in the Grand Theft Auto series. Don Leone was born in Sicily, and took control of the organisation after a convulsive power-conflict in the mid eighties. Many characteristics of Salvatore's character and back story are based on The real life Italian-American mobster John "The Teflon Don" Gotti.

The likes of “whitewashing” isn't a new thing, it’s been prevalent in Hollywood since the arrival of movies and it's still a major problem today as evident in recent film productions such as Gods of Egypt and Ghost in the shell, which cast white actors in place of people of colour, but the movie industry isn't the only medium with a race problem.

Let's look at video games which are guilty of erasing characters of colour from their narratives.

The video game industry doesn't stray far from it's Hollywood cousin and even though the paradigm is shifting, there's still racial diversity issues which have yet to be addressed or improved upon. The lack of black women in fighting games or Microsoft rejecting Fable Dev's idea to put black women on the Fable 3 cover are two prime examples.

Video games still have a race problem. This isn't a secret and unfortunately the likes of whitewashing isn't off limits to game devs and even modders who want to change a character's design and erase their colour and racial identity. Let's look at video games which are guilty of erasing characters of colour from their narratives.

Vanessa Lewis - Virtual Fighter 5 (2006)

We start of with the most blatant and well known evidence of whitewashing in video games, bar none. Vanessa Lewis debuted in the original Virtual Fighter 4 as one of the new playable characters in the series. She wasn't given a origin but you didn't have to look twice at her to know she was black.

Somewhere along the way Sega AM2 though it would be a good idea to lighten Vanessa's skin tone in Virtual Fighter 5 for reasons unknown, a slap in the face to fans who shared Vanessa's original skin tone. She no longer had the undeniably black complexion which made her unique but was instead given a totally ambiguous look.

Although you could revert Vanessa's skin tone back to it's original state by using the game's customization mode it was too late, the damage was done. Vanessa's new voice actor didn't fit well with the VF4 inspired Vanessa. For a game company that was among one of the first to create an authentic black female fighter, this was nothing short of disappointing.

Prince - The Prince of Persia (2008)

The progression of the protagonist throughout the Prince of Persia video game series indicates a ceaseless white-washing of the Persian inspired storyline. In the 2008 game, the main character has been given a literal reverse tan.

Although our hero is surrounded by exotic elements and was clearly portrayed as Persian in previous games, his 2008 interpretation was a clear step away from the previously ethnic cultured noble and came complete with a emo jaggy haircut. To top it off, even the voice actor behind the prince gave him an all-american red, white and blue accent.

Isabela - Dragon Age 2 (2010)

If you never played Dragon Age 2 and only saw promotional art for the game, you'd be easily mistaken into thinking that Isabela was a white woman and not a person of colour.
Isabela is said to come from a land known as Rivaini. Those born with Rivaini heritage are said to have dark and tanned skin tones.

Unfortunately EA's promos for the game would have you think otherwise, as a paler Isabela was promoted to the masses in anticipation of the Action-roleplaying game in 2010, although her in-game skin colour is still of a darker shade. Not only was Isabela a victim of whitewashing by the developers but also the game modding community.

Not too soon after the game's release, a mod was created called "More Attractive Isabela," which altered Isabela's complexion making her pale as day along with giving the female pirate blonde hair. While this exact mode is no longer around, many similar mods have appeared in it's place.

World of World Craft (2014)

Blizzard released their Warlords of Draenor expansion pack for World of Warcraft in 2014, which updated majority of characters with an all new high-resolution graphical enhancement for in-game models, only that wasn't the only thing it did. The update was more or so an Ethnic cleansing if you will.

This update got rid of dark skinned humans, whitewashing the lot of them. The darkest skin tone available for humans is now tanned brown at best. Blizzard claimed it was a bug but have yet to fix this issue despite many fans complaints on the official WoW forums in recent years. Black characters and other poc were erased from the game just like that.

Jade - Mortal Kombat (2011)

The representation of women of colour, especially black females have been poor and pretty much lacklustre in fighting games. So when a dark skinned women like Jade is introduced it's pretty refreshing to witness, only until the moment the creators decide to whitewash her.

Jade primitively had dark skin in the earlier iterations of Mortal Kombat but the 2011 MK title changed this, and her skin tone was dramatically lightened in the promotional art of the game. Another women of colour in the series Tanya almost suffered the same fate in Mortal Kombat X, fortunately the developers backtracked on their decision.

Rude - Final Fantasy: Crisis Core (2007)

Final Fantasy VII's Rude is another character who's skin tone was unnecessarily changed. In the original game he could probably pass for a light skinned black man and at one point some fans felt he was no doubt a black Final Fantasy character. This all changed with Advent Children where he was given a somewhat less tanned appearance.

Several years later in the 2007 PSP Square Enix game Crisis Core, Rude was looking rather pale and had lost his tan altogether. One of the main things which made Rude stand out as a character was lost in transition and apart of the character's identity tarnished.

Delsin Rowe - Infamous: Second Son (2014)

If you haven't played Infamous: Second Son then you probably wouldn't know that the main character of the game is of Native American heritage, just by looking at him. Turns out he didn't always resemble a cookie cutter beanie wearing hipster dudebro. In his original concept artwork, Delson in fact looked more akin to an Native American.

He had long flowing hair and a bandana instead of the beanie, another notable detail was his brown skin which was pretty much absent on the current Delson. Although the urban style was still present, shown by the layered outfit and earphones. This was all done away with in the final game.

B.Orchid - Killer Instinct (2013)

Killer Instinct's Black Orchid is yet another woman of colour in fighting games that has been whitewashed and she probably won't be the last. In the original Killer Instinct games on Nintendo, Orchid was tanned and sort of resembled Janet Jackson, but like many ambiguous female characters, she too was victim to the whitewashing epidemic.

In 2013's Killer Instinct, Black Orchid was one of the characters bought back to life in the reboot, she was given a major redesign overhaul in comparison to the many other characters, which did away with her previously tanned skin and Ethnic facial features from the second game, B.Orchid was now a pale Tibetan woman.

Lisa Hamilton - Dead or Alive 5 (2012)

The racial diversity issues in Temco's Dead or Alive series isn't new, it's a game that features mainly female fighters from all over the globe, yet since it's debut in 1996 the game has only included one darkskin woman of colour, Lisa Hamilton. A character who was already racially ambiguous to begin with gets the whitewashed treatment.

In Dead or Alive 5 a new 'lighting system' was used to enhanced the character's looks from previous games, but the developers went overboard with Lisa, lightening her skin tone beyond comparison. It was so bad that even Itagaki, Lisa's original designer was calling out Temco for whitewashing the character, calling it discrimination by colour.
occur

Rufus - Street Fighter IV (2009)

Rufus wasn't always a White American biker, in his concept art the character was originally going to be an slender Black American martial artist called King Cobra. For some odd reason midway through development, Capcom decided to whitewash the character, erasing every aspect of what made him originally great.

Street Fighter is known for it's stereotypical characters but if Capcom had introduced and make King Cobra an official Street Fighter character then at least we could give them credit for trying in regards to making less offensive characters and more refreshing character designs. It appears as if Sean had been whitewashed in Street Fighter V too.

Boogie - Jet Set Radio Future (2002)

Boogie got a redesign in the 2002 sequel to Jet Set Radio, a redesign that slightly diminished her blackness, a redesign that wasn't necessary needed in the first place. Jet Set Radio Future got rid of her dark brown hair and replaced it with bleached blonde locks, there was never a explanation as to why Sega went ahead with this decision either.

Lucretia Suikoden V (2006)

The Suikoden series is held in high regard for it's non-stereotypical black Jrpg characters. In Suikoden 3 the Karaya tribe look to be inspired by African culture, and Alia who is from the same tribe is evidently a black woman. However in Suikoden V there's Lucretia, who's purportedly from the same Karaya clan but is significantly lighter-skinned.

Beyond two Souls (2015)

In 2015 Quantic Dream came under fire for whitewashing some of it's background characters in the remastered PlayStation 4 version. If you compare the PS3 and PS4 versions you'll find that some of the middle-eastern characters in Beyond's third chapter of the game have notably lighter looking skin.

Does black romance and love exist in video games? As a matter of fact, the more important question is do black couples even exist in games at all? The answer to those two questions are yes, but being able to find them is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Voguish as it may be to treat romance in video games like some extraordinary unexplored terrain, the truth of the matter is, romance, love and lovey dobby couples have been a fundamental backbone to video game stories for decades. Some pairings are soppy, some are woeful, while others take a while to blossom.

When most people think of video games, romance doesn't often spring to mind. Nevertheless, games can produce relationships just as omnipotent as any other art form can. Romances like Nathan Drake and Elena, Tifa and Cloud or Link and Zelda are prime examples that games and romance intertwine perfectly together.

Now you're probably wondering to yourself, where's the black versions to these smitten virtual couples we see in video games? Yeah they exist but not on the same level as say Tidus and Yuna's kinship. The problem is that in order for there to be proper black couples, there has to be more prominent black characters.

Let's face it, black video game characters are usually regulated to sidekicks or given minimal roles with hardly any back story, the reason? It's commonly acceptable that a part of the reason why this occurs is because there isn't enough black people making video games. That's a story for another time though, but the point stills stand.

What do most popular black protagonists like Sheva, Sazh and Lee Everett have in common with each other beside their race and skin color? They're all single and were never given a potential partner to fall in love with on-screen. Characters of color are rarely seen with a love interest and when they are in a romantic pairing, it's usually going to be interracial .

Funnily despite this fact, there's still been appearances of black couples in games. Although quite rare, it has happened on several occasions. The most memorable instance of black romance in gaming was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in 2004, the main character Carl Johnson had the chance to date several women, two of them were black.

The first girl was Denise Robinson, an alleged prostitute. She first encounters CJ during the mission Burning Desire, where Carl, on the command of Officer Tenpenny sets light to a set of buildings belonging to Vagos gang members. Denise, who is trapped inside one of the houses cries for help and is saved by CJ. They then begin to see each other.

Carl Johnson and Denise dating in Gta San Andreas

Denise isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and is the definition of a 'ride or die chick', this wasn't the first on-screen black pairing in gaming but the chemistry between the two felt so right, it had to be mentioned first. Even though Carl could date other women after Denise, she felt like his one true love in the game.

From dancing with Denise in nightclubs, taking her out to dinner or cruising around the neighbourhood and popping ballas, the two really felt like a match made in heaven. Rockstar did a phenomenal job with Denise and CJ in the beginning but it's really a shame she didn't play a more prominent role in his life, towards the end of the game.

It wouldn't be until nine years later that Grand Theft Auto series would see another black romance, only it wasn't the same. In Grand Theft Auto V there was Franklin Clinton, one of the three main protagonists in GTA 5. In the game he had an ex called Tanisha Johnson, a woman who he still harboured feelings for.

Tanisha and Franklin's love story was a tragic one that could have been so much more then it was, had Rockstar invested more time into Franklin's story. Because of Franklin's mobster lifestyle and the loss of her brother, who was also gang banging, Franklin and Tanisha parted ways before the events of Grand Theft Auto V.

During the game Franklin keeps in contact with Tanisha by cell phone and email, attempting to get back with her, but she snubs him each time. Earlier on in the game she drops by his home to explain her need for a more stabilized relationship. Near the end of the story she visits Franklin's new apartment to tell him she's getting married to a doctor.

Franklin and Tanisha's dysfunctional relationship isn't the best example of a black couple as it's shrouded in negativity, but Rockstar could have really capitalized on Franklin's story by making them get back together by the end of the game, a missed opportunity that would have given Franklin more to chew on other than being a lonely single bachelor.

Prior to Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, in the early 2000s Def Jam was also another game which had black courtship. The game's eye candy was a girl named angel who was the protagonist's ex girlfriend. Def Jam Vendetta gave you the choice of four protagonists to choose from, one of those was a black biker called Proof.

Def Jam Vendetta Angel aka Christina Milian

Proof's role is identical to the other three playable characters in story mode. D-Mob, the game's antagonist and Mafia boss kicked him out of town some time ago, consequently which meant he lost the respect of his peers and more importantly his lover Angel. With the protagonist out the picture, D-Mob and Angel hooked up.

Over the course of Vendetta, the protagonist and Angel patch things up and after he defeats D-Mob she gets back with him. Although Angel and D-Mob's relationship was founded on materialism and lust, they looked and moved like a Hollywood power couple. This was the first time a game had featured two black characters together as an item.

In 1997 Tekken featured it's first Capoeira fighter in the series, Eddy Gordo, but it would not be too long until a female counterpart was introduced to take his spot, which happened in Tekken 4. Now we know what you're thinking, Eddy Gordo and Christie Monteiro aren't a couple, they don't get down like that right?

Well you could've fooled us. Christie's grandfather was a legendary capoeira practitioner who taught Eddy the Brazilian martial art while they were in prison together. After his release, his master requests that he find and teach his granddaughter capoeira, which Eddy does in a span of two years.

Christie and Eddy are rarely seen apart and when they are together, Christie is usually very affectionate towards him. With them spending so much time together this would eventually cause a bond so close that fans have even begun to speculate that the two are secretly dating, an opinion that doesn't sound so crazy when you watch Christie's endings.

Clementine's parents Ed and Diana in the Telltale Games' The Walking Dead is another representation of black love. Not much is known about them except that they were isolated from their daughter when the zombie outbreak took place. Diana worked as a doctor and sooner or later ended up getting married to her husband Ed.

Jax personal affairs has always been shrouded in mystery, that was until Mortal Kombat X. Many fans always believed there was something going on between Sonya Blade and Jax in the earlier Mortal Kombat games, but this was thrown out the window when Jax's daughter was introduced to the series in 2015.

The cybernectically-enhanced soldier is in fact happily married to Vera Briggs who he also impregnated. Vera is a good friend of Jax's old Special Forces partner Sonya and knows about her spouse's involvement in the protection of Earthrealm. Though not seen in the game, Vera is referenced during Jax and Sonya's conversation.

It's never expanded on how they first met but Jax and Vera appear to have been together for a very long time when you take into account how old their daughter Jacqui is in Mortal Kombat X. Vera and Jax are one of the the more better examples of black matrimony in video games, although Vera's presence is more so in the Mortal Kombat X comic book.

Assassin Creed IV's Freedom Cry was the first game in the series to feature a playable black male Assassin. It followed Adéwalé, a former Trinidadian slave who became a pirate and would later join the Assassin order. During the story he would encounter Bastienne, a madam of the La Dame en Rose brothel and supporter of the Maroon rebellion.

Bastienne was able to convince the assassin to assist in the growing resistance and uprising against the the oppressive French governor of Port-au-Prince. Bastiennne and Adéwalé didn't always see eye to eye and this caused friction between them, but over the following years they eventually grew close to one another.

At one point after the French Governor's passing in 1737, Adéwalé and Bastiennne made passionate love, leading to the birth of their first and only child, Babatudede. Darkskin couples are normally quite a rarity in popular media but Freedom Cry managed to pull it off, giving us something magical to remember.

Black Panther and Storm's romance is one of the most popular black romances in recent memory. Their marriage only lasted for for six years, before their untimely divorce but in that time, they were the ultimate black superhero power couple in comics. This embrace also managed to make it's transition to video games on two occasions.

Although unfortunately absent from Marvel vs Capcom 3's playable cast, Black Panther appeared in Storm's ending. Storm's love and dedication to her warrior king was expressed with great emphasis and showed a rare instance in video games of strong black matrimony. In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, the two also share a special conversation.

Storm and Black Panther in Marvel vs Capcom 3

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is the most recent game to feature a powerful black couple. The game follows Enzo Kori-Odan, a prince of a fictional kingdom in Africa.
At the beginning of the game he was scheduled to marry his lifelong partner Ernie Evou and be crowned the new king, but his brother in law planned to kill and overthrow him.

This results in a charming journey, that showcases the story of a black couple who are fully committed to each other and will not give up even when faced with adversity and misfortune. As they travel around the six different continents in the game, they have to unleash Enzo’s war-ridden legacy in order to win back his rightful throne.

When done right, this is the result. There's never been an RPG about African mythology but when it happens and is created by black game developers this is the outcome, Ernie and Enzo's pairing is the quintessential,untouchable Black couple done right and the most successful representation of black love in games.

So there we have it, these are all the black couples we could find in video games, there were about at least nine right? The representation of black couples has decreased in other mediums like television, movies and comics, but it still exists and hopefully will increase. Who are your favorite black couples in video games, did we miss anyone?

Previously we looked at the best afro hairstyles in video games but now let's celebrate the finest looking fade hairstyles of the decade. These clean looking haircuts look the part and deserve to be admired for their freshness chic appeal. We have compiled a list of the best looking fades to come out of games.

Barett Wallace (Final Fantasy 7 Remake)

When game developers get it right a fade can make all the difference on a character. Let's start of with Barett Wallace's hi-top fade in Final Fantasy VII, no wait actually let's not. When the game was first released in 1997 it looked pretty impressive for it's time, but let's not kid ourselves, Final Fantasy VII has aged horribly.

Thankfully Square Enix announced the Final Fantasy Remake in 2015, recently unveiling Sector 7's avalanche members and the leader himself, and boy does Barett's fade look good in Unreal Engine 4. SE did a brilliant job of reinventing Barett Wallace in their remake.

Franklin Clinton (Grand Theft Auto)

Rockstar games have always created the best looking hairstyles in video games, especially for it's African American protagonists. Need we remind you of the barber shop feature in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas or Grand Theft Auto 5?

GTA's San Andreas original fade haircut wasn't anything to write home about and isn't even worth mentioning, but Rockstar did their homework and managed to step up their fade game in Grand Theft Auto's HD universe. Franklin Clinton and Luis Lopez have the best high fades in recent memory.

Lebron James (NBA 2K)

Lebron James Haircut

What video game developer besides Rockstar games has the black hair game down to a tee besides EA Sports? You probably already guessed it, 2K Games. Their NBA 2K series imitates the style and finesse of National Basketball association, all the way down to the players haircut.

Over the past couple years, Lebron James' receding hairline has been the talk of the town for basketball fans and pretty much everyone else, but 2K Sports really did his hairline justice in NBA 2K16 with the supreme skin fade.

2K16 has been Lebron's best look in the series so far. 2K Games are known for pushing the standard for detail in their games and this is proven with each new NBA 2K title released, Lebron never looked so damn good in glorious HD.

Mike Tyson (EA Sports UFC 2)

Unlike Final Fight Round 4, EA Sports managed to capture the fresh fade haircut of famous boxer Mike Tyson in their second UFC game. In EA Sports UFC 2 there's actually two versions of Mike Tyson, Iron Mike Tyson and Legacy Mike Tyson.

Iron Mike Tyson comes with the classic fade haircut which Tyson was well known for at the height of his boxing career, and they got it on the money. Unquestionably Mike's fade in UFC 2 is one of the most gorgeous looking undercuts in all of gaming, there's nothing to debate.

Big Boi (Def Jam Icon)

As much as people love to hate on Def Jam Icon for it's sluggish gameplay and not living up to Def Jam FFNY, can we take our attention away from all that and talk about Big Boi's fade haircut? If there's one thing that EA Sports got right, it was the attention to detail on the rappers and Big Boi's fade was popping.

Dante (DmC: Devil May Cry)

Devil May Cry Dante

Capcom got a ton of hate for reinventing Dante in the DmC reboot but you know what? The new design was on point. Despite what the naysayers want to throw at new Dante, Ninja Theory did a terrific job, now can we talk about the fade?

Compared to the traditional look of Devil May Cry's original demon hunter, the radical makeover breathed life into the series and Dante's new faded undercut probably drew in more babes than the anime inspired silver haired swordsman ever could hope to.

Sean Matsuda (Street Fighter)

Street Fighter 5 Sean Matsuda

Does Sean Matsuda ring a bell? Like the fade, hi top dreads was a very popular style in the black community during the 90s and Capcom did their research when deciding what hairstyle to give Sean in 1997's Street Fighter III: New Generation.

What Sets Sean apart from the series mainstays Ryu and Ken isn't just his skin complexion or novice moveset but also Sean's authentic 90s look. His kinky high fade is one of the main reasons he stands out and looks so freaking cool in action.

Citra (Far Cry 3)

How beautiful does the undercut fade hairstyle look on our girl Citra in Far Cry 3? The Pacific Islander in all probability wouldn't look as cute without the sides of her head shaved off and it's well fitting for a crazy and unstable 'warrior goddess' such as Citra.

John Cena (WWE 2K)

Not only is WWE's John Cena unbeatable, but also his crew fade cut in the WWE 2K series. Like the NBA 2K franchise, 2K play close attention to detail and in the long run it pays off tremendously. Since 2004 the games has been showcasing the wrestler's fade hairstyle, but none of the previous WWE games compare to his 2K16 fade.

Jax Briggs (Mortal Kombat 2011)

NetherRealm Studios love to switch up the look of it's fighters in each new Mortal Kombat game that comes out, this has been happening since the 90s. How is this relevant to the topic at hand? Well you see one of their characters had a skin fade at one point.

Who? Jax Briggs of course. In the ninth instalment of Mortal Kombat (2011) Jax was once again revamped along with the other combatants, only unlike previous games he wasn't a wearing a hat and nor was his hairline receding. The fade haircut was unquestionably one of Jax's more redeeming haircuts in the series.

Nelson (The King of Fighters XIV)

The King of Fighters 14 Nelson

The King of Fighters XIV's newest boxer Nelson looks set to make history for having one of the most outlandish fade hairstyles in gaming history. Boasting a roster of 50 playable fighters. KOF XIV's generic cookie cutter characters aren't much to get excited about, but then there's Nelson.

Not many people could pull off such a hairstyle in real life but damn does it look good on Nelson. This style emphasizes on his fiery spiky hair but is presented with a clean frame and almost perfect edges.

What's your favourite Fade Haircut in video games?

What's has the best looking fade hairstyle and haircut in video games? Reader let us know who's your favourite out the bunch. Did we miss anybody in particular? Again comment below and tell us what's on your mind.

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