Continuing my research into Marvel vs Capcom, I've created a table to track the most frequent playable appearances by Capcom characters in crossover games.
The chart is organized (roughly) chronologically and by franchise.
I didn't count cameo appearances (Ryu, Ken, and Mega Man in SSBU), but I did count being playable/appearing as a costume DLC in SFV because it's the most recent data point we have to show what characters Capcom cares about. Also, I know Capcom Fighting All-Stars was cancelled.
but the point is, I wanted to count more than just appearances in MvC games. When Capcom crosses over with other companies (regardless which ones), who do they pick to represent them? What about when they compile their own all-star rosters?
That's the data I was trying to see.
I was shocked to discover that Devilotte de Death Satan IX has more appearances in crossover games than Jin Saotome, who at least was playable in two MvC games.
And I didn't realize how consistent a showing Strider makes, I thought he was more of a C-lister.
Everyone thinks of Batsu as THE Rival Schools rep, and while he does have the most showings, Kyousuke, Akira, Hideo, and Kyoko also were picked when he wasn't.
Dante wasn't used at all for his first 10 years, but in the last decade he's rarely missed a party.
I credited "Mega Man" with 10 appearances, but only 3 of those belong to the classic Mega Man design. 5 of them were actually X, and the other 2 were Volnutt.
When it comes to Darkstalkers, Morrigan is of course the queen, with Felicia in 2nd. But who's the 3rd?
Hsien-Ko made it into MvC3 and the Puzzle Fighter games. but Demitri was in SvC Chaos and both Project X Zone games. He also got a costume in SFV, while Hsien-Ko didn't.
Despite originating in 1985 and 1989 respectively, it wasn't until 2005's Namco x Capcom that Arthur and Haggar started to get used in crossovers. Since then, they've been semi-regulars in such games.
Who's the Red Earth rep? Tessa was the clear favorite at first, showing up in Gem Fighter and SvC Chaos. But then Leo and Kenji were the playable heroes in Capcom Fighting Evolution, and those two got costumes in SFV. Meanwhile the 4th protagonist, Mai-Ling, has seen nothing!
Throughout all of this, I was shocked by the lack of Sengoku Basara or Power Stone. Basara is a decently-sized franchise, and Power Stone is at least as big as Rival Schools. It's just weird to see basically nothing of them in this record. They both even had an anime!
I think looking at the big picture like this can help subvert recency bias. Spencer and Amaterasu were both in MvC3, and Spencer made it to MvCI, while Amaterasu got into Teppen. But that's it. They're hardly mainstays of Capcom crossovers.
On the other hand, Sakura and Dan have a pretty high number of appearances. But that's inflated from all the 90's and early 2000s games where Street Fighter dominated every roster. Their recent appearances in crossovers are few and far between.
addendum: I SHOULD have added Cannon Spike.
Cammy, Charlie, Vega, Mega Man, B.B. Hood, Arthur, and "original" characters Shiba (based on Siva from Three Wonders) and Simone (based on Linn Kurosawa from Alien vs Predator).
A weird lineup, but it's worth counting.
also, Cross Edge was a crossover RPG using characters from Capcom, Nippon Ichi Software, Gust Corporation, and Bandai-Namco.
But the only Capcom franchise it used was Darkstalkers - and its reps were Morrigan, Felicia, Demitri, Jedah, and Lilith.
Still, I should count it.
SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters is another SvC crossover, but it doesn't really feature "playable" characters? doesn't seem right to count every single card here.
On the other hand, look at those duplicate cards with CAPCOM at the top - are those the deck masters?
SNK has a set of similar cards, and when you put 'em like this it sure looks like a decent "most important characters" roster. Cammy, Ryu, Chun, Morrigan, Cody, Jill, Mega Man, Roll.
But I honestly have no idea if this should count.
Minna to Capcom All-Stars is a mobile game that was succeeded by Street Fighter x All Capcom. It's hard to find English info about these games, or a concrete character list, so idk how to count them either. They do make some deep cuts, though.
Capcom Super League Online is cancelled Korean mobile RPG, but I counted Capcom Fighting All-Stars even though that was also cancelled.
Their choice of characters hit all the classics, but also some really weird picks. Demitri and Donovan are the only Darkstalkers reps.
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