5 Fighting Game characters with a very weak backstory

Fighting games have been a staple of the gaming industry for decades. From classics like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat to more recent titles like Tekken and Super Smash Bros, these games have captured the hearts of players around the world with their intense combat, colorful characters, and engaging storylines.

While many fighting game characters have rich backstories and compelling personalities, others are not quite as well developed. Some characters lack the depth and complexity of their more fleshed-out counterparts. From comical side characters to forgettable bosses, these characters may not have much in the way of backstory, but they still play an important role in their respective games.

Let's take a closer look at five fighting game characters with very weak backstories.

Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

Dan Habiki and four other Fighting Game characters with weak backstories

1) Street Fighter: Dan Hibiki

Dan Hibiki is a character who was first introduced in Street Fighter Alpha, also known as Street Fighter Zero in Japan. Capcom released a series of fighting games in the mid-1990s as a prequel series to the original Street Fighter games.

On the Super Street Fighter IV blog, Dan's birthday is listed as November 25. Go, Dan's father, was Sagat's adversary and a mixed martial artist. Go gouged out Sagat's right eye, and in revenge, Sagat beat him to death. Dan decided to train as a fighter with the help of Gouken in order to take revenge on Sagat for his father. However, when Gouken discovered his reasons, he had to kick him out of the dojo.

Despite the full inferiority of his methods, Dan created his own variation of Gouken's martial art by combining Muay Thai elements. He called it "Saikyo-Ryu", or "Strongest Style." He embarked on a mission to track down Sagat and get revenge for his father's passing.

Dan is known for his weak attacks and overconfidence, often shouting "Saikyo-Ryu!". His move set, which features over-the-top animations and inept assaults, is sometimes perceived as a satire of other fighting game characters.

2) Mortal Kombat: Mokap

Mokap is a character that appears in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was released in 2002 and was the first game in the series to use 3D graphics instead of 2D sprites and Mortal Kombat: Deception was released in 2004 and continued the storyline from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.

Mokap is a motion capture actor who has worked on fighting games, and his character is seen as a joke. He has no backstory beyond being a motion capture actor, a former martial arts instructor, and an acquaintance of Johnny Cage who somehow got involved in the Mortal Kombat tournament.

3) Street Fighter: Hakan

Hakan is a Turkish wrestler who was introduced in Street Fighter IV. He is a prominent figure in Turkey's national sport, Yağlı güreş, and the head of one of the top producers of edible oils in the world.

Hakan traveled the world in a quest for ideas for a new oil recipe while competing in the S.I.N. tournament to show off his abilities. While competing, he ran into Honda E, who turned out to be a longtime friend.

When both sides asserted that their fighting style was the best in the world, their encounter turned competitive, and a match ensued. Honda lost, and Hakan reflected that Japan had a variety of oils before informing his family that they are traveling to Japan to grow their company.

Hakan's fighting style is based on Turkish oil wrestling and is known for his slippery attacks. His backstory is relatively weak and doesn't add much to the game's overall narrative. Hakan is often seen as a comical character, with his exaggerated Turkish accent and over-the-top personality.

4) Virtua Fighter: Dural

Dural is a female human turned cyborg who serves as the final boss in the Virtua Fighter series. She went by the name Tsukikage, and she was a Kunoichi as well as Kage-Maru's mother.

Dural was caught by the enigmatic corporation Judgement 6 and was utilized as a model for their horrifying Dural project after they spotted her exceptional combat skills and robust body.

She turned into a cyborg who was incapable of feeling anything by brainwashing herself and giving her body various cybernetic upgrades. Beyond that, there is not much to her character.

Dural is often seen as a difficult opponent due to her powerful attacks and speed, but she lacks the depth and personality of other characters in the Virtua Fighter series.

5) Darkstalkers: Rikuo

Rikuo is a unique character in Darkstalkers, a series of fighting games created by Capcom that first debuted in 1994 with the release of the game "Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors" for arcade and console platforms.

In this game, 30,000 merpeople live in a realm buried deep within the Amazon. The tranquil aquatic dominion was one day destroyed by a massive earthquake and volcanic eruption. The only survivor was Rikuo, the Emperor and hero. After finding out that Pyron was to blame for such evil and seeing his home devastated, he was furious and determined to stop Pyron.

Rikuo married Aqueria after meeting her and another survivor, and they had children and rebuilt his empire. Together, they left the Amazon to raise their three kids and 12 unhatched eggs in the vast ocean.

Unfortunately, beyond this basic premise, there isn't much development in Rikuo's character. We don't know much about his personality, motivations, or relationships with other characters in the game. He is a fairly straightforward fighter who uses his aquatic abilities to his advantage in battle, but he doesn't have much depth beyond that.

These fighting game characters may not have rich backstories to draw upon, but they can still be fun to play and provide a unique challenge for players. At the end of the day, it is up to each individual player to decide whether or not a character's lack of backstory is a dealbreaker, but it is worth keeping in mind that sometimes, a character's fighting skills are all that really matter in the world of fighting games.