Capcom recently announced Street Fighter 5's final DLC fighter, and to many fans' surprise, it is not an already established favorite or a special guest star from another franchise. Instead, it's an entirely original character never before seen in the series: Luke.
While fans have been treated to a first look at the character's gameplay and design, there are still many mysteries surrounding him, namely who he actually is and what sort of role he will have in Street Fighter's future. One thing many seem to be in agreement on is that, whoever he is, Luke will make an appearance in Street Fighter 6.
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At this point, there is very little information about Street Fighter 6. While it has yet to be formally announced by Capcom, it's safe to assume that it will happen and is likely already in development. But things like gameplay, features, and playable roster are completely unknown.
It has been rumored that Street Fighter 6 suffered from an internal delay, which resulted in its announcement being pushed back and another season of DLC being made for Street Fighter 5 instead. It's also speculated that this is what led to the departure of Yoshinori Ono, the executive producer of the Street Fighter series and apparently the director on Street Fighter 6, since the rumors claim Capcom wasn't happy with the direction Ono was taking with Street Fighter 6.
People believe Luke has something to do with Street Fighter 6 because of comments made by Capcom itself. In the Twitter announcement for the character, Luke is described as "a key player in the future of Street Fighter."
Given Capcom's statement, it stands to reason that Luke is set up to take over as not just the main character of Street Fighter 6, but perhaps the series as a whole. He even sports a yellow-and-blue color scheme that matches Capcom's own logo, as if he's representing the company itself.
While the idea of replacing poster boy Ryu as the face of Street Fighter might seem insane to some, there're two reasons why this could easily happen. First, Capcom did try this once before with Street Fighter 3. That game replaced the entire cast with all new characters, with Ryu and Ken being the only exceptions (Akuma and Chun-Li would be added in subsequent instalments). It even sported the subtitle A New Generation, heralding a brand new era for the series, with Alex poised to take over as the main character (Ryu would take the position back with the release of Street Fighter 4, which canonically takes place before the events of Street Fighter 3).
Secondly, while Ryu is an iconic and recognizable character, his personal storyline in the series appears to have come to a close with Street Fighter 5. In both that game and Street Fighter 4, he had been struggling with the corrupting power of the Satsui no Hado that dwelled within him, which could also transform him into Evil Ryu.
In Street Fighter 5's story mode, he finally overcame and purged it from his body by awaking to the Power of Nothingness. From this point on, all Ryu seeks is to become a stronger fighter, which he does in the Street Fighter 3 games. With Ryu's story arc over, it makes sense to switch him out for a new main character. It's very unlikely that this means Ryu will be retired from the series, as given his iconic status and popularity, he's basically guaranteed to make a return in Street Fighter 6.
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Luke's announcement trailer didn't reveal much about his backstory, but his first line of dialogue may indicate just what exactly his story arc will be about: "Someday, I want to become a man like him!" Taken on its own, it sounds like Luke isn't that much different from Ryu.
Between that line, his role as an MMA fighter, and other comments about how he won't lose to anyone, this suggested Luke wishes to improve himself and his fighting abilities to be more like an idol of his. It's not that dissimilar to Ryu's arc, although Ryu sought to surpass his own limitations for his own sake and lacked any sort of idol figure (aside from his master Gouken). If anything, Luke's role sounds similar to characters like Sakura and Sean, who were both inspired to pursue martial arts by Ryu and Ken respectively.
Now the next question that needs answering is the identity of Luke's idol. While it could potentially be Ryu, the series already has a character who wishes to emulate Ryu in Sakura. Plus, Luke and Ryu's fighting styles are completely different. The most likely answer is that, rather than an already existing Street Fighter character, it's another entirely new character who won't be properly introduced until Street Fighter 6 – though perhaps they'll make a cameo in Luke's character story in Street Fighter 5.
One theory worth mentioning that some fans have latched onto is that Luke may be a character from an entirely different Capcom game: Captain Commando, a 2D beat 'em up similar to the Final Fight games.Aside from a couple of visual similarities and a shared color scheme, Luke appears to be heavily associated with stars. A star is seen at the very beginning of his trailer, and he even has many of them adorning his wrists. Stars are also associated with the titular Captain Commando, who has one emblazoned on his chest.
A number of Capcom's franchises take place within the same universe (Captain Commando is set in the same city as Final Fight), and Street Fighter 5 already has at least two characters that represent other Capcom IPs. Zeku is heavily implied, if not outright confirmed, to be the founder of the Strider organization from Strider, and the upcoming DLC character Akira is a guest star from Rival Schools.
One counterpoint to this theory is that Captain Commando takes place in the distant future so the timeline wouldn't match up. But maybe Luke's role is similar to Zeku's and Captain Commando is a title that Luke passes down to a successor. Perhaps he's not even the first captain, and the man he's striving to be is a version of Captain Commando who then passes the title to Luke. It's not as if Capcom has forgotten all about the captain either. A costume based on the character is in Street Fighter 5, and he was also part of the main cast in the crossover RPG Project X Zone 2. It's admittedly a wild possibility, but a possibility nonetheless.
Curious fans won't have much longer to wait and find out more about this mysterious newcomer. Street Fighter 6 may not be releasing any time soon, but Luke will be added to Street Fighter 5 this November. While it probably won't answer every question, it will at least offer a few more hints to what role he'll play in the future.
Street Fighter 5 is available for PC and PlayStation 4.
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