When it comes to the fighting game genre, few series are as iconic as Street Fighter. Dating back to the late '80s with the release of Street Fighter II, the franchise was a pioneer for the fighting game genre, introducing everything from the now iconic quarter-circle inputs, to even the ability to select a unique character with distinct move set from a character selection screen.

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However, while it is often the goal of every fighting game to cultivate a balanced roster of characters that are each strong in their own ways, some Street Fighter characters really broke the boundary of strength, making players using other characters feel like they were bringing checkers to a chess match. So today, we're going to examine the strongest, most over-powered, and broken characters from across Street Fighter history.

10 Evil Ryu: Ultra Street Fighter IV

Despite having one of the largest rosters in the franchise's history, Ultra Street Fighter IV was able to be one of the most balanced entries in the series history. With a diverse range of great characters, players who enjoyed any archetype of play had excellent character options to choose from. However, while far from the most over-powered character around, heavily disincentivized playing other similar "shoto" characters like original Ryu. With all of the same available options, Evil Ryu toted an expanded move list, better combo potential, and more options across the board, all whilst still having more HP than Akuma.

9 M. Bison: Street Fighter II: Champion Edition

M. Bison is a character who has been playable in numerous entries in the Street Fighter series, including numerous of the iterations of Street Fighter II. He was most notably quite powerful in Champion Edition in which he toted one of the strongest single moves in the series history: the Champion Edition version of Psycho Crusher.

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In this version, it dealt incredible damage, even when it was blocked, and it was immensely difficult to punish, making it nearly impossible to deal with.

8 Sean: Street Fighter III: Second Impact

While Sean is most known for being a bottom tier character in Street Fighter III: Third Strike, he was actually one of the most overpowered characters within the game's previous iteration, Second Impact. With strong command moves, combo potential, and a great neutral game, Sean's super could be easily confirmed into, dealing unparalleled damage from even the most minute hit confirm.

7 Yun - Street Fighter III: Third Strike

Comparing Yun in Street Fighter III: Third Strike to almost any other character in that game's roster is like looking at characters from completely different games. While Street Fighter is a series that is traditionally based upon fundamentals and footsies rather than combos, Yun kind of throws that sentiment out the window.

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Capable of dealing huge chunks of damage through lengthy combos, this rushdown character's combo potential only improves when his super, Genei Jin is used.

6 Chun Li - Street Fighter III: Third Strike

The only other Third Strike character that is truly as oppressively powerful as Yun, it's hard to find an area where Chun Li falls short. With stellar frame data on numerous key moves, Chun Li can cover a great deal of space with quick moves that deal great damage. Tied together with an incredible walk speed and one of the best supers in the series history, reliably usable at long distances to deal serious damage, and you have one of the best characters in Street Fighter history.

5 Sagat - Sreet Fighter II: Turbo

When it comes to zoning in Street Fighter, no character can match the raw projectile potential of Sagat in Street Fighter II: Turbo. Able to easily keep more than half of the cast at bay, while many zoners in modern fighting games have lackluster damage when up close, Sagat is just as deadly in close quarters in Street Fighter II: Turbo.

4 Sagat - Street Fighter IV

Similarly to his incarnation in Street Fighter II: Turbo, Sagat in the original vanilla version of Street Fighter IV excelled in nearly every area making him incredibly strong. From great projectiles to solid damage in close quarters, Sagat even had one of the best Ultras in the game, able to be confirmed into from a plethora of setups and combos.

3 Everyone In Omega Mode - Ultra Street Fighter IV

Ultra Street Fighter IV introduced a special mode called "Omega Mode" that altered every character's moves and abilities. This mode intentionally made every member of the roster broken in their own right, allowing nearly any character to access lengthy combos and astronomical damage potential! We're talking about a mode that allows Ken to Hadouken through his kicks. Need we say more?

2 Akuma - Street Fighter II Turbo

While Akuma is now designed as a balanced playable character in modern Street Fighter games, this wasn't the case when he was introduced in Street Fighter II Turbo. In his debut, Akuma was a secret boss character that functioned as a strictly better version of Ryu, gaining aerial projectiles and improved damage! It's not hard to see why this boss character is banned in competitive and tournament play of this game.

1 Gill - Street Fighter III

Another boss character from the series, Gill in Street Fighter III: Third Strike has a reputation as one one of the most unfair bosses in any fighting game, and it's not difficult to see why. With impressive range, damage, and speed, no character can deal damage as quickly and easily as Gill. One of the most deadly elements of Gill is his super meter. If either of Gill's supers are blocked, they still deal massive amounts of chip damage, while if they hit an opponent, they can instantly erase more than half a heath bar. The worst of it all, is that if Gill is KO'd while he has a full super meter, he instantly resurrects himself, regaining his lost HP.

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