May 11, 2022

One of Street Fighter’s longest-running characters might never return to the game in the future – and that probably includes Street Fighter 6 – according to a new Q&A with Street Fighter 5 composer Daniel Lindholm.

Fei Long was first introduced to the series in Super Street Fighter II back in 1993, but in a recent YouTube Q&A the composer suggested that the character might not feature at all in future Street Fighter games.

For those who can put 2+2 together, you’ll notice that Fei Long bares quite a lot of similarities to legendary martial artist and action film star Bruce Lee. Fei Long was similarly a martial artist and action film star from Hong Kong, and Capcom’s tribute to Lee.

According to Lindholm, the Lee family are keen to move away from depictions of the deceased actor which are comedic, instead preferring that any depictions are ‘honourable’.

“A character that I know we won’t see at all — there’s been a lot of discussion about it — I mentioned earlier a character I would like to rewrite the music for would be Fei Long. I do have other sources — not only Capcom, but friends of mine in the U.S., who are very close friends with the Lee family — and they have basically said that any kind of resemblance to Mr. Bruce Lee is now omitted for comedic effect, comic stuff. It needs to be honourable. That’s why we won’t see Fei Long again. Ever.”

Following the news going far and wide, the online Q&A was pulled from YouTube by the composer, with Lindholm providing a further quote to NintendoLife which repeated this was merely Lindholm’s opinion. Here’s the full follow-up quote:

“The opinion was mine and only playful hypothetical thinking. It was just my opinion, not Capcom’s. And my source is an independent third party.”