Seth (Street Fighter)
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JA: Akio Ōtsuka
| Seth | |
|---|---|
| Street Fighter character | |
 Artwork by Tamio illustrating the original Seth from Street Fighter IV and the female Seth from Street Fighter V. | |
| First game | Street Fighter IV (2008) |
| Created by | Yoshinori Ono |
| Voiced by | EN: Michael McConnohie JA: Akio Ōtsuka |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Android |
Seth (Japanese: セス, Hepburn: Sesu) is a character in Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series. First introduced in Street Fighter IV, he is the main antagonist and final boss of the game and its subsequent updates. He is the chief executive officer of the Shadaloo Intimidation Network (S.I.N.), the weapons division of the Shadaloo terrorist organization in the game's narrative. His body has been heavily modified using advanced technology, with a device installed in his abdomen called the "Tanden Engine". Other appearances by Seth include Project X Zone and Street Fighter V. Seth is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka in Japanese, and Michael McConnohie in English.
As a boss character in Street Fighter IV, Seth is not particularly popular with video game journalists, and had been criticized for the lack of originality behind his character design as well as unfair difficulty. On the other hand, Seth's return in Street Fighter V along with the character's visual overhaul has been received more positively.
The character is named after Seth Killian, Capcom's former[1] senior manager.[2] Killian explained in an interview dated April 2009 that it was not his idea to have the character named after himself, though he felt honored as a Street Fighter fan for being part of the series' history.[2] In an interview with Eurogamer to promote the release of Street Fighter IV, series producer Yoshinori Ono explained that Seth is a new character who has connections to other major characters in the game's narrative, in particular recurring series antagonist M. Bison and his Shadaloo organization who were presumed to have met their demise at the end of Street Fighter II. Ono drew attention to his vacant facial expression, strange skin coloration, and the Tanden Engine device embedded in his stomach as visual markers indicating his "unique-looking" visual design and that he is clearly not an ordinary human being.[3]
At the conclusion of the 2019 edition of Capcom Cup, Ono and professional wrestler Kenny Omega appeared on stage to announce the unveiling of Seth as the 40th and newest addition to the Street Fighter V: Champion Edition roster, the full version of which will be released on February 14, 2020.[4][5] For the character's redesign, the development team began with an “antique/old-fashioned” concept, as the goal was to make the “First” Seth. The team was also exploring the idea of an apprentice character for Gen at the time, and eventually decided to combine that idea with Seth's look in Street Fighter IV.[6] The design direction then began to shift toward the character's finalized appearance in Street Fighter V, with a hair knot replacing the character's bald head, and inspiration for the character's silhouette drew from fierce Buddhist statues like Kongo Rikishi and Nio statues.[7] Seth's physiology is based on the idea of a human-like being found by some organization who would “continue evolving” by absorbing the DNA of other individuals.[6] The developers also explored the idea of Seth’s arms and legs transforming in the manner seen in Steampunk-themed movies and books, and fans would be added to the character's back to suggest a cooling down mechanism is in place to prevent overheating issues during battle.[6] Small Tanden Engines are also implemented to work as spherical joints; when the character's epidermis expands, the power flow from the Tanden Engine becomes visible.[6]
