When Capcom said that they wanted to make Luke the face of the Street Fighter franchise going forward, they were being serious. At this point, that box art of Luke flexing has been etched into all of our minds, for better or worse.
Fans were quick to point out that the pose that Luke takes on in this box art, as well as the ridiculous proportions of his muscles, make him look like Popeye the Sailor. As it turns out, this resemblance isn’t just a meme. It was intentional for Luke to remind of that character all along.
About a week ago, NHK WORLD-JAPAN uploaded a 49 minute video as a documentary to YouTube. This documentary spent a great deal of time talking with the developers of Street Fighter 6.
At one point, some concept art for Luke appeared on screen that showcased what Luke looked like in earlier designs. One of Luke’s designs showed that he was very clearly inspired by Popeye the Sailor.
In this concept, there’s even more emphasis on the arm muscles. He ultimately looks like a completely different character, but you can still tell that this was Luke.
Funnily enough, Luke is even seen smoking a corncob pipe, just like Popeye the Sailor. It certainly would’ve been interesting to see that pipe get knocked out of Luke’s mouth as a form of battle damage during actual matches.
However, the real selling point that Luke was somewhat based on Popeye is the fact that there’s actual artwork of Popeye on the top right corner of this concept that might’ve been used as a reference.
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From the box art reveal, the official Popeye X/Twitter account actually posted about Luke’s appearance on it and apparently went so far as to later make their own version of the sailor in SF6’s character creator.
During the documentary, it’s highlighted that the Street Fighter’s art style up to this point has been influenced by anime since this was favored in Japan. This time around, however, the developers wanted Street Fighter 6 to appeal to people all over the world.
One way the developers went about making Street Fighter 6 feel more realistic was how they emphasized muscles. They did this by hiring body builders and martial artists from around the world, just to study their muscles.
The documentary can’t be embedded here or on other sites, so be sure to check it out here.