The Rise of Character Begging in the Social Media Age

Your favorite game franchise has finally announced a new game. It’s been so many years, and you’re excited thanks to the many years you’ve spent with a certain character. As the promo rollout of this game goes on, you’re noticing that there’s a character missing: your character. But that’s to be expected. Not every character is announced at the start. So you wait. And wait. And… wait. Release day comes and goes, your character isn’t here. A new wave of DLC is announced, raising a new hope that your character will be in it. And… nothing. Your character isn’t here, and won’t be here for the foreseeable future. Such is the life of an Anna Williams main.

Harada responding to fans asking for Anna

hi harada san, why do you hate anna so much? you always make her lose to nina and she’s treated as inferior to her and even though she’s clearly loved and popular it’s like pulling teeth to get her. there’s no way she’s less popular than zafina and the bears yet they made it in??

— Layla Martin (@matrixminogue) July 3, 2024

The Common Experience of Character Disappointment

In all seriousness, this situation is common in fighting games. A new game comes out, a character that was in the prior game doesn’t make it in the next, and you’re left feeling a little disconnected. As silly as it can sound, we see it all the time. How many people do you see still looking for Dudley, Crimson Viper, and Makoto in the next Street Fighter? Let us not forget the Mileena mob crying out for her in MK11. Of course, Tekken is not exempt from this either. I would say that they’re the most vocal since Harada often responds to his fans’ demands. Not always positively, but he responds. As with many odd or problematic behaviors in a fandom, character begging has only really been a thing since the rise of social media and the access to not only more fans around the world but to more developers and community managers. After all, a single voice is easy to ignore. But thousands or possibly millions? Now that’s hard to ignore.

The Harmless Practice of Character Begging

On the whole, it’s a harmless practice of just asking for your favorite character to be in the new game. With modern practices in gaming, DLC can ensure that any and everyone can get into their respective games. Why that doesn’t always happen is anyone’s guess. Sometimes a character just doesn’t make the cut. Under normal circumstances, you’d either drop the game or play someone else. However, this is the age where Twitter is the #1 place to scream your opinion until it’s addressed. Thanks to such easy access to large figures in the industry, character begging can range from annoying to kind of weird depending on the fandom.

The Extreme Cases in Fandoms

A lot of people would point to the MK/NRS fandom on the weird end of the spectrum, and it isn’t difficult to see why. From people harassing big content creators over a small character mix-up (the Ashura MK1 trailer where people thought Ashura was someone else), to the aforementioned Mileena fandom and their alleged death threats to NRS staff. Even now, a handful of them are vocal about getting Jade into the game. Eventually, WB and Boon caved and gave them Mileena (or it was a clever way to string fans along until she was ultimately released which was the plan from the start) and she was kind of ass. Another vocal group is easily the Tekken group, who are loud about who they want in as well as who shouldn’t be here at all. The Lucky Chloe mess is still in my mind, with many people calling her a wasted slot. In response, Harada threatened to replace her with a big muscle-bound bald guy. Probably where he got the inspiration for Fahkumram.

The Logic Behind Character Selection

The more extreme cases of character begging make me wonder if character popularity really is the determining factor of who gets in or out. If it was, a few launch rosters would look very different, I think. And you’d want the popular characters in your game because you want more money. So what gives? The most reasonable approach to appeasing fans while making money these days seems likely to be “just make them DLC.” You can see that in many of the modern fighting games of today, like Guilty Gear. Bridget, Baiken, Slayer, Testament, and A.B.A were all beloved characters that were DLC but were also seen as series mainstays in some cases. Tekken 8 recently did something similar with Eddy Gordo’s addition. Street Fighter 6 did it with M. Bison, King of Fighters XV did it with Kim Kaphwan and Geese, and so on. With the lifespans of games these days, you need only wait a while and there’s a good chance you’ll get your character. If not? There’s always the next game.

Conclusion: Be Respectful and Realistic

So long as fighting games persist and DLC is a thing, character begging will always be a thing. You can’t satisfy everyone. Sure, you can put Anna Williams into Tekken 8, but what about Lei Wulong? What about Miguel? What about Gon? Showing developers your passion for a character is fine. I encourage it even. But I think that it’s important to be respectful and realistic as well. Developers work hard on what we do get, so let’s relax if we don’t get our character. There are too many fighting games out there for us to get hung up on one character from one game.

Though I admit, I wish I knew the thought process on who’s on the roster. Like, who asked for Rashid to come back in SF6? Who? We may never know. Or we may get some half answer from an IGN article. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to “politely” ask for Raven in Guilty Gear Strive Season 4.

What characters have you been waiting to see in a new game release? How do you feel about the current roster of your favorite fighting game? Have you ever participated in character begging? What was the result? If you enjoyed this article, share it with fellow gamers who can relate to the agony of missing their favorite characters.

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