Mike Haggar
Final Fight and Muscle Bomber character
Mike Haggar from Onimusha Soul
First gameFinal Fight (1989)
Designed byAkira "Akiman" Yasuda[1]
Trent Kaniuga (Streetwise)[2]
Voiced by
In-universe information
Fighting styleProfessional Wrestling
OriginManhattan, New York, United States[5]
NationalityAmerican

Mike Haggar (マイク・ハガー, Maiku Hagā), also known mononymously as Haggar, is a character in the Street Fighter shared universe, mainly playable in the Final Fight and Saturday Night Slam Masters series of video games. Haggar first appeared in the 1989 Capcom arcade game Final Fight and re-appeared in various other video game appearances.

Design and characteristics

Created by Akira "Akiman" Yasuda, Haggar's design was based around the need of a "big dude" for players to be able to select in Final Fight. Though Akiman stated he wasn't based on any one person in particular in an interview, in another the project lead for the game Akira Nishitani recalled Akiman was a big fan of Les Misérables during development, with Akiman responding that Haggar was indeed influenced by the protagonist Jean Valjean due to his character becoming a mayor in the latter half of the story and his role as a devoted father.[6] The manga series Mad Bull 34 was also an influence on his design,[1] while the 1984 musical Streets of Fire was an influence on his character and the game's main story. Akiman noted he openly plagiarized ideas from many sources for ideas, taking the then-Capcom Chairman's words of "Get your inspiration from movies" as a go ahead to while working on the game.[7] He also noted that Haggar's role as a former professional wrestler turned Mayor made the character interesting, but that the character felt boring when brought into wrestling game Saturday Night Slam Masters by comparison.[8]

Haggar is depicted in the original Final Fight wearing olive-colored trousers with brown shoes and a broad Sam Browne belt strapped over his right shoulder, which is the usual depiction of the character. Some games deviate slightly from this design. For example, in the Slam Masters series, he wears green tights with a red trim and brown wrestling boots. By the events of Final Fight 3, he is given a ponytail hairstyle and wears green bicycle shorts as part of his outfit.

When developing Final Fight: Streetwise, character designer Trent Kaniuga wanted to create a more realistic look for Haggar that would fit the game's aesthetic that was inspired by titles such as Grand Theft Auto, as well as the time gap between the game and Final Fight 3. Though the team was torn on keeping true to the previous game's designs, Kaniuga felt the game's time period represented one that had shifted away from heavy wrestling influence such as Wrestlemania, and considered the redesign a difficult challenge.[9]

Appearances

In video games

Introduced as one of the three playable characters in Final Fight, Haggar is a former professional wrestler turned mayor of Metro City, which is plagued by the Mad Gear gang, the most dominant street gang in the city. After he refuses their bribe, they kidnap his daughter Jessica in hopes of forcing Haggar into a reluctant cooperation with them. Haggar recruits the help of Jessica's boyfriend Cody and their mutual friend Guy to rescue her and defeat the gang. Haggar later appeared in the sequel games of Final Fight, in which he battles against a revived Mad Gear in Final Fight 2 in order to rescue Guy's girlfriend and sensei, and fighting against the Skull Cross gang in Final Fight 3. He also appears in related titles such as Final Fight Revenge, in which he fights against members of Mad Gear while searching for his missing daughter, and Mighty Final Fight, which happens to be a parody of the original Final Fight. Haggar also appears in Final Fight: Streetwise as a retired mayor in charge of a boat repair shop and training gym, offering assistance to Cody's brother Kyle. While not playable in the game's story mode, he can be recruited as a temporary computer-controlled ally and is playable in the game's arcade mode. As such, Haggar is the only character to be playable in every Final Fight game.

Beyond the Final Fight series, Haggar appears as a playable character in a prequel series, Saturday Night Slam Masters and its two sequels, Muscle Bomber Duo and Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters 2.[10] He was also intended to appear in the canceled 3D fighting game Capcom Fighting All-Stars as a selectable character, reprising his role as mayor to save Metro City from a bomb attack.[11] He also appears as one of several playable characters in the crossover game Namco × Capcom, and as a character card in each of the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash titles. Haggar appears as the only playable Final Fight character in the crossover fighting games Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

Haggar has also made several cameo appearances such as in Alex's ending sequence for Capcom Fighting Evolution;[12] in the backgrounds of Guy's Final Fight-inspired stages in Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Super Street Fighter IV; Chun-Li's background in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo; as a costume for Frank West in Dead Rising 3 via downloadable content; and with Zangief wearing his clothing as an alternate outfit in Street Fighter IV. Haggar made a brief appearance in one of the 2011 trailers for Street Fighter X Tekken where he gets beaten by King, and also appears within the game's "Mad Gear Hideout" stage, where he arrives during the final round of a match and attacks several Mad Gear members decked out in kabuki attire before chasing fellow Final Fight character Sodom; this same stage reappears in Ultra Street Fighter IV, with Haggar once again making an appearance. In Street Fighter V, Haggar has passed down the mayor's position to Cody. Before the game came out, the official Street Fighter Twitter page showed the letter Haggar wrote to Cody, who was about to take over from him.[13] Cody also has his clothing as an alternate outfit. In Lucia's story, the now-civilian Haggar goes to Lucia to inform her of rumors about a Mad Gear plot to eliminate Cody, asking her to investigate. Haggar is one of the few prominent characters in the Final Fight series who has never been a playable character in the Street Fighter series.

In other media

Haggar appears in the American Street Fighter cartoon episode "Final Fight". While the plot followed that of the same arcade game, Haggar was unable to act against the Mad Gear gang due to them holding Jessica hostage, and instead recruited the help of Ryu and Ken to rescue her, along with Cody and Guy. He reappears at the conclusion of the episode to be reunited with his daughter, shortly before Mad Gear's defeat. Haggar makes occasional appearances in the Street Fighter comic series. Haggar's backstory has been changed a little bit here. Before he became a politician, he is shown as both a professional wrestler and an action movie star. Haggar also appears as a mayor in the online flash cartoons Weebl and Bob's Team Laser Explosion, and as the protagonist in the stop-motion animation "A Sentinel in Metro City." Haggar also appears in the Final Fight fan film "The Broken Gear", portrayed by former professional wrestler and MMA fighter Don Frye.[14]

Critical reception

Noted as the star of the Final Fight series,[15] Haggar has been described as both iconic and a recognizable character in gaming history.[16][17][18] Haggar was named the best video game character of 1990 by Gamest magazine, placing first in their top fifty characters list and appearing on the issue's cover,[19] and later named the forty-fifth best character of 1993.[20]

Haggar has been called one of the best and most enjoyable characters to use in the Final Fight series by reviewers of the titles.[21][22] GamesRadar's staff praised his character as one of the greatest protagonists in gaming, stating that to them "measures of a true hero are selflessness, strength, and the ability to inspire others. Mike Haggar has all three nailed."[23] They further called him "one of the most proactive city officials the world has ever seen", noting his character in contrast to other characters with more simpler backgrounds and adding "that insanity is exactly why we love him."[24] Destructoid's Zoey Handley stated the character's presence is what set Final Fight apart from other beat-em-ups such as Streets of Rage for her, praising Haggar's appearance but also his semi-blank state role as a mayor. She further wished the character had been featured in better games, "because Mike Haggar is the greatest."[25]

In the second edition of the book Greatest Gaming Icons by Retro Gamer they noted much of the fan love from the character came from Capcom's "obvious empathy for him", citing his role as the only returning character in the first three Final Fight games and his appearance in Saturday Night Slam Masters. They also stated "what really sets Haggar is the wonderfully layered and deep back story Capcom gave the character", stating that his role as a father, ex-wrestler and honest and hard working mayor gave him "a sense of humanity and make him instantly memorable" in contrast to Guy and Cody, who while popular felt more typical of the beat 'em up genre. In critiquing his design, they stated his mustache gave the character a sense of authority and added to his iconic look, while they were critical of his design change in Final Fight 3, proposing the hairstyle may have been an attempt to give him a younger look that ultimately wasn't a popular decision. In closing, they added that without Haggar Final Fight would have become "just another girlfriend rescue mission. Remove Haggar from Final Fight and it would be sorely missing something integral to its charm."[26]

In 2021, author Carlos Cesar Domingos do Amaral gave a dissertation on the character as part of a seminar for the Universidade Metodista de São Paulo in Brazil. In the presentation, titled Mike Haggar – Um Ícone da Luta Livre nos Games, he discussed Haggar as a character but also felt the character represented a snapshot of wrestling and its themes in the 1990's, namely through his muscular physique and moves but also the emphasis of simplistic good vs. evil in his storyline. do Amaral further felt Haggar paid homage to the Brazilian martial art Luta Livre, and suggested wrestling could still be represented in fictional mediums through characters like Haggar, simply strong men utilizing wrestling techniques to defeat villains, with a lasting impact.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 "Final Fight Developer's Interview". Capcom. 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  2. ↑ Kaniuga, Trent (2006-08-21). "Trent Kaniuga art dump from Maximo 3 and Final Fight Streetwise". ConceptArt.Org. Archived from the original on 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  3. 1 2 3 "Mike Haggar Voices (Street Fighter)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 17 January 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of the title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  4. ↑ @CrankyJ (August 2, 2019). "@GameCobra You heard correct ! Was a blast to enter the Street Fighter universe" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ↑ Liner notes for Muscle Bomber: The Body Explosion, page 3, Catalog PCCB-00136
  6. ↑ Hendershot, Steve; Lapetino, Tim (2017-11-15). Undisputed Street Fighter: The Art And Innovation Behind The Game-Changing Series. Dynamite Entertainment. p. 257. ISBN 9781524104696.
  7. ↑ "ROUND 1: Akira Yasuda Part 1". Capcom. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  8. ↑ @akiman7 (December 11, 2017). "マッスルボマーでハガーが出たときなんだかつまらなかった。それは町中では元プロレスラーが面白くても、プロレスラーの中での元プロレスラーは他のキャラとの位置エネルギーに欠けるからだ。コーディーの囚人服にはそれを避ける意味があった" (Tweet) (in Japanese) – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ Kaniuga, Trent (2015-12-12). Life as a CAPCOM concept artist- Art Tour Final Fight Streetwise. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  10. ↑ Saturday Night Slam Masters box art. MobyGames. Retrieved on 2008-12-21
  11. ↑ IGN Staff (2002-09-19). JAMMA 2002: Capcom Fighting All-Stars. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-12-21
  12. ↑ Udon staff (2008-03-29). Fighting Evolution- ALEX. UDON/DeviantArt. Retrieved on 2008-12-21
  13. ↑ Guerrero, John (2018-05-26). "More 'Dear Mayor Cody' - Capcom gives us another Street Fighter 5 tease in this letter from Mike Haggar to 'Mayor' Cody Travers". Eventhubs.com.
  14. ↑ Moyse, Chris (2018-07-04). "Final Fight fan-movie features some brutal, awesome fights and the perfect Mike Haggar". Destructoid. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  15. ↑ Kalata, Kurt. "Final Fight". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  16. ↑ Wilde, Thomas (2001-11-01). "Final Fight One Review". Gaming Target. UGO Networks. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  17. ↑ Wolpay, Eric (2008-10-11). "Final Fight One for Game Boy Advance Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  18. ↑ Ciolek, Todd (2007-10-08). "'Might Have Been' - Battle Circuit". GameSetWatch. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
  19. ↑ Ishii, Zenji (February 1991). ゲーメスト大賞 [Best Character Award]. GAMEST (in Japanese) (54): 10–16. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  20. ↑ Staff (February 1994). ゲーメスト大賞 [Best Character Award]. GAMEST (in Japanese) (54): 32. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  21. ↑ Staff (August 1993). "Final Fight". Super Play (10): 28.
  22. ↑ Staff. "Final Fight One". N64 Magazine (32): 40.
  23. ↑ "100 Best Heroes in Video Games". GamesRadar. 2012-11-09. Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  24. ↑ "The 30 best Capcom characters of the last 30 years". GamesRadar. 2013-06-25. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  25. ↑ Handley, Zoey (2022-12-09). "Final Fight 2 on SNES is barely more final than the original". Destructoid. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  26. ↑ Jones, Darran (2020). Greatest Gaming Icons: Everything you need to know about your Favourite Gaming Heroes and Villains (2nd ed.). Future Publishing LLC. pp. 110–111. ISBN 9781838503277.
  27. ↑ do Amaral, Carlos Cesar Domingos (September 2021). "Mike Haggar – Um Ícone da Luta Livre nos Games". Comunicação e Artes. Retrieved 2023-05-29.

Bibliography

  • ALL ABOUT カプコン対戦格闘ゲーム 1987-2000 (All About Capcom Head-To-Head Fighting Game 1987-2000), ISBN 4-88554-676-1
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