Charlie Nash (Street Fighter)

Charlie
Street Fighter series character
File:CharlieNash-A2.jpg Charlie in Street Fighter Alpha 3.
First game	Street Fighter Alpha

Charlie, known as Nash (ナッシュ, Nasshu) in Japan, is a video game character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. He is first introduced as a playable character in the original Street Fighter Alpha, but was already part of the series' backstory since Street Fighter II. Since the Street Fighter Alpha series Charlie has been depicted as a military operative who wears green cargo pants and a yellow jacket, as well as pair of glasses which he takes off before a fight, and has a hairstyle consisting of a large forelock of blond hair. Charlie has been depicted with drastically different character designs in his appearances in licensed Street Fighter media prior to his official Alpha debut.

History

Street Fighter series

Charlie is first mentioned by name in Street Fighter II and its subsequent revisions, where he is the deceased war buddy of Guile, one of the selectable characters. Guile's motive for entering the World Warrior tournament was to avenge Charlie's death, who was killed by the tournament's sponsor M. Bison sometime before the events of the game. In Super Street Fighter II, Guile lifts Charlie's dog tags in the air in one of his victory poses.

Charlie would later be made into a playable character in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, a prequel set before the Street Fighter II games. Street Fighter Alpha itself was followed by two sequels, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 . His fighting style in the game is similar to Guile, using many of the same techniques such as Sonic Boom projectile attack (which he throws with one arm) and the Somersault Shell, as well as Super Combo techniques such as the "Sonic Break", "Somersault Justice" and "Crossfire Blitz".

In the storyline of the Alpha series, Charlie is a first lieutenant in the United States Air Force and is given the duty to track down Bison and uncover corruption within the American military. One of Charlie's notable traits in each Alpha game is that he is killed off in nearly each of his endings in every game, as each game was developed with no intentions for a sequel. In the first Alpha, Charlie defeats Bison, only to be struck from behind by Bison; Bison is then shown walking away triumphantly, with Charlie's dog tags left on the ground. In Alpha 2, Charlie attempts to interrogate a defeated Bison, only to be shot from the back by his intended backup helicopter and thrown down a nearby waterfall, losing his dog tags during the fall. Alpha 3 actually features an ending in which Charlie survives his battle with Bison and then proceeds to blow up the Bison's Psycho Drive with his fighter jet. The console version of Alpha 3 introduced Guile as a playable character in the Alpha series and in his version of the ending, he and Charlie infiltrate Bison's base to blow up the Psycho Drive; Charlie stays behind to hold off Bison while Guile escapes and is presumed dead after the explosion.

Charlie is mentioned in an animated teaser of the upcoming home versions Street Fighter IV (which is set after the events of the Street Fighter II games, but before Street Fighter III): Guile seeks authorization to conduct a search mission to find him, believing that he is still alive, only to be dissuaded by his superiors.

Other games

Charlie also appears along with other Street Fighter Alpha characters in X-Men vs. Street Fighter, where he uses more powerful versions of his special moves. In his ending in this game, Charlie is captured by Bison and used as a test subject for an experiment, with Charlie's fate left unresolved until the game's sequel, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. In this game, an alternate version of Charlie named Shadow appears as a hidden character. Shadow's sprite is the same as Charlie's, but with nearly his entire body blacked out, and a white eye shining behind his glasses. He has all of Charlie's moves, but his attacks sets his opponent alight with blue Psycho-Power flames. His Hyper Combo moves also has a brief pause where his eye would gleam before the move was pulled off. Shadow also appears in Marvel vs. Capcom as one of several "helper characters" who can assist the player in combat. He appears in Chun-Li's ending in the game as well, rescuing her from Bison. In Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Charlie appears as his regular self once again.

Outside of fighting games, Charlie is a playable character in Cannon Spike.

In other media

Due to Charlie's integral role as a character in Guile's backstory, many Street Fighter adaptations produced prior to the release of Street Fighter Alpha featured their unique depictions of Charlie's character.

Film and television

• In the 1994 live-action film version of Street Fighter, Charlie and Blanka were combined into one character named Carlos "Charlie" Blanka. In the film Carlos is taken captive by Bison and is subjected to gene altering experiments by Bison, transforming him into the mutated beast Blanka.

• The 1995 Japanese animated TV series Street Fighter II V, Nash first appears in episode 19, when he and Guile are hired by Ken's father to rescue him from Bison. Nash is later killed off in episode 26. This version of Nash is depicted with slicked black hair and a beard. In the English dub of the series, he retains his original Japanese name, although at one point Guile calls him "Charlie." He was voiced Ryoichi Tanaka in Japanese and Dean Elliot in English.

• The American animated Street Fighter TV series, which aired from 1995 to 1997, adapts Blanka's origins from the live-action film into the series, thus merging Blanka and Charlie's characters into one as well. The episode "Eye of the Beholder" features Blanka reverting back to his human form and he is given clothing similar to the ones Charlie wears in the game, but with Blanka's color scheme (a green vest and brown cargo pants).

• Charlie will be portrayed by actor Chris Klein in the upcoming film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

Comics

• In Masaomi Kanzaki's manga adaptation of Street Fighter II, Guile is directly responsible for Charlie's death. Years before the events of the manga, Bison uses Charlie and other members of Guile's unit as guinea pigs for a mind-controlling substance. Charlie went insane during a mission and began attacking at unarmed villagers, causing Guile to kill him. Charlie is shown in the manga as a silhouette with an insane smile.

• In the American Street Fighter comic book by UDON, Charlie's Japanese name is made into his surname, giving him the full name of Charlie Nash. Udon would also include Shadow as part of the comic's storyline: Bison captures Charlie, turns him into Shadow, using him as an agent. He tries to have Shadow kill Guile and Chun Li in Japan, but Charlie regains his memory in the fight and runs off. He later attempts to rejoin his friends, but is gunned down by Bison's helicopter. With the last of his strength, Charlie sacrifices himself by using his Somersault Justice to destroy the cliff on which they were fighting, sending both he and Bison plunging into the sea.

• The Rockman Remix and Rockman Megamix manga by Ariga Hitoshi features Charlie as a newscaster in several chapters. The character is referred by his overseas name instead of "Nash".

External links

• Charlie's Street Fighter Alpha and Marvel vs. Capcom entries at StrategyWiki.org