Our Street Fighter 30th Tribute: Guile in Street Fighter II
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“Go home and be a family man!”
Guile (full name William F. Guile) is one of the original playable characters that debuted in Street Fighter II. Alongside Ken Masters, he is one of the two fighters that represented the United States of America in the initial roster. He also represents the U.S. military being a colonel in the Air Force. (Sometimes depicted as a captain or a major in other mediums.) Around the time Street Fighter II came out, the U.S. just ended its involvement in the first Gulf War and the image of the all-American hero through Guile proved quite popular with American players.
Guile’s military lifestyle has proven both successful and tragic. Through his superior officer Charlie Nash, he learned fighting techniques such as the projectile attack “Sonic Boom” and the acrobatic “Sommersault Flash Kick.” But unfortunately, Charlie was killed in action while trying to take down the evil lord M. Bison and his organization Shadaloo. Whether or not Guile truly realized it or believed it, the U.S. Military had some involvement with this as Shadaloo’s tendrils reached nationwide. Feeling the need to avenge his fallen officer and friend, Guile swore revenge on Bison and entered the World Warrior’s tournament to take him down. Along the way he met officer-in-arms Chun Li, who like Guile wanted revenge against Bison for taking someone close to her away. (In this case, her father.)
Together the two eventually met Bison in the final showdown; and a triumphant Guile was ready to take him out. Bison in a last bit of revelry asked Guile to “get it over with”. But in that last second, Guile’s wife and daughter intervened. Tearfully, they pleaded for Guile to return home and in a bit of irony reflecting his win quote “be a family man.” Realizing killing Bison wouldn’t bring Charlie back, Guile’s love for his family allowed him to return home and live a peaceful life with his wife and daughter. Like many of Street Fighter II’s endings, this was most likely not canon as Guile would be back in future installments to try and take down Bison again and again. Guile’s sense of justice and love for America reflects the atypical U.S. military man. His twin flag tattoos and greatly exaggerated flat top also exemplify this. To many fans, he represents the most positive aspects of the American fighter being both heroic and calculating. He has a few negative traits though; namely being headstrong and too eager for revenge. While not the easiest character to control, his flashy moves and powerful punches have made him a fan favorite to use in the games. His background music is also one of the most recognized and beloved themes in Street Fighter II. So much so that a MEME called “Guile’s Theme goes with Everything” was created.
In many mediums that spawned from Street Fighter II; Guile is shown to be the leader of “the good guys”. Particularly in the live-action movie and American animated TV series. This is probably due to his military background, and that American audiences would probably appreciate the series more with the U.S. leading the charge against the evil M. Bison. Though don’t let Jean-Claude Van Damme fool you…Guile is about as Belgian as M. Bison is Puerto Rican. (…Of course!) |
About the Artists:
Sebastián Franchini often just known as ZEBES from Chile joined a good couple of Game-Art-HQ art collaborations before and is like myself a big fan of the Metroid games by Nintendo. His take on Guile from Street Fighter II was surprising since he did not draw any fighting game related works in the recent past! Have a good look at his wide selection of artworks in his dA gallery
ShonenBlackManga5 is male artist from Belgium who decided to take up the task of drawing Guile for our Street Fighter II tribute. And how appropriate since Guile’s live-action movie adaptation was played by Belgian actor Jean Claude Van Damme. He stills keeps Guile’s original look here though, and it just makes him look every bit as stoic and awesome the way we like Guile!
Be sure to visit his DA Page and check out more of his work.
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 CrescentDebris is an American male artist who participated four times in our Street Fighter II tribute. He had already drawn E. Honda and Zangief, and now he has presented us with his depiction of a pretty emotional Guile. It appears to be a more somber version of our American hero holding Charlie’s dog tags and lamenting his loss. It’s also appropriate that we have had an American artist and a Belgian artist draw Guile representing his interpretations as we know them from the game and the movie. For more of Crescent’s artworks, please visit his DA page.
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Back to the Street Fighter Tribute Main Gallery Street Fighter II Main Gallery Guile in the Video Game Character Database
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