Streets Ahead: The Community/Street Fighter Mash-Up We’ve All Been Waiting For
Community may still be off the schedule but it’s hardly off our radar. If anything, being *temporarily* left off NBC’s schedule is fanning the flames of Community fandom’s creative types providing a ton of internet goodies (not to mention all of Annie’s GIFs) for the dedicated Greendale Human Beings.
You may know Ben Deguzman as the illustrator behind the Community as Batman Heroes and Villains Series and the hashtag #AbedisBatmanNow. He’s put a new spin on the study group, bringing gaming into the mix mashing with the Community/Street Fighter mash-up “Streets Ahead”
Without further ado, click through for the full illustration and character descriptions/explanations.
Character Breakdowns From Deguzman’s DeviantArt Blog:
I was going to hit the pause button on NBC Community mash-up drawings… but this idea just crept up on me one day. The more it milled around in my head, the more I realized I kind of had to do it. I’m a huge Capcom/Street Fighter fan. And, being in the game industry myself, I found it was fitting. Without further ado, the character breakdowns (with some pre-established Q&A)
Clockwise, starting from the center:
Abed/Ryu – I mean really was there any question? Particularly when the show goes into genre-mode, Abed is undoubtedly the architect or the focal point. So why isn’t Abed Dhalsim? Yeah, I realize Danny Pudi is actually of Indian heritage. But really, there was zero intention of breaking up the Abed/Troy bromance.. particularly if it perfectly mirrors the Ryu/Ken friendship. Additionally, ALL the characters in this piece, with the exception of Jeff, are playing the part of a character that is not their race or ethnicity.
Troy/Ken – Was the first one I drew. I figured if I couldn’t represent him properly, then I should not bother with the entire drawing. Luckily I was really happy with it. Why isn’t Troy Balrog or Dee-Jay? Same answer as above. Troy plays the perfect easier-going, happy Ken that plays off of the more stoic Abed/Ryu…
Pierce/Zangief – I found he was just the funniest thing on the page. I wish I found a clever way for him to do his gay gesture again. But alas, it never came to me. Why isn’t Pierce Blanka? Him turning into a green, raging monster was dealt with in the very awesome Community/Avengers mash-up.
Britta/Cammy – Admittedly, her personality doesn’t exactly line up with Cammy’s. But aesthetically, Britta is just a shoe-in for her (moreso than any of the other cast to their respective characters)
Changka – I’m going to jump right into the inevitable questions. Why isn’t Chang Fei-Long? I thought about this… but how boring would it be if I just made him shirtless and threw on some black pants. I felt it really wouldn’t graze anyone’s funny bones. Why isn’t Chang E-Honda? Because as a Filipino-American, I get slightly annoyed at how Asians are just interchangably used for other Asian ethnicities. And the idea of making a Korean man playing a Chinese man play a Japanese man really just irritated me. And in the spirit of the show, it would mean I was as insane as the Dean. Hello? Why didn’t you make him CHANGIEF!? Yeah, this might be my only regret because it sounds so dope. But really, when I drew Pierce as Zangief, I didn’t want to reverse my initial decision. Besides, Changka sounds almost as cool.
Annie/Chun-Li – Really, I felt Annie embodies Sakura more. Especially since Abed is Ryu. But I quickly realized depriving the internet world of dressing Alison Brie as Chun-Li would be a complete disservice. So… you’re welcome.
Dean-Li – Before the gag gets really old, I had to have him steal Annie’s thunder this time. (Previously had him steal Shirley’s Catwoman thunder. Then Britta’s Poison Ivy thunder.) Why isn’t Dean [Some other Street Fighter character that’s a woman]? I didn’t want to go past Street Fighter 2 Turbo Edition. So really, there were only two options.
Jeff/Guile – I felt this was kind of a no-brainer. Jeff, like Guile, is seemingly obsessed with his hair whenever there is downtime. Jeff’s pretty vain… why isn’t he Vega? With the exception of Shirley, this is more of a hero piece than a villain piece. Maybe if I was a glutton for punishment, I’ll do a Dark Timeline version of this. But don’t hold your breath for that.
Shirley/Akuma – This is actually my favorite in the whole drawing. I really really wanted to play off the ‘Big Cheddar’ persona that was introduced in the foosball episode. And what better character displays such an inherent evil than Akuma? Also, I had to pat myself on the back for the large beads leading into a big purse. I neglected that aspect of Shirley previously.
What do you think of the Community as Street Fighter characters mash-up? Are these the Street Fighters characters you would choose for our Study Group? Shall we let them loose on NBC schedulers?
#SixSeasonsandAMovie
