Shep srk
05-18-2007, 09:30 AM
Poison's first appearance is in Final Fight as a minor enemy and part of the game's main villain group Mad Gear. She tended to be one of Capcom's most controversial characters. The game had a penchant for palette swaps, and the character Roxy was hers. In initial game design both characters were female. However, Capcom of Japan received a phone call from a Nintendo rep opposing violence against women, so the developers changed them into pre-op transsexuals (more specificly stated as newhalves) [1]. This is stated in the game's Japanese instruction manual for the character's backstory.[2], and reflected in the very male "knockout moans" characters make as they are defeated. However despite this, US playtesters failed to realize they were actually male until a representitive of Capcom Japan informed them of such.[3] Despite this, Nintendo felt that the female enemies should be censored, and they were replaced with generic characters Billy and Sid (it's important to note that while Poison and Roxy both have at least some backstory, these two have none and exist solely as filler characters).
Capcom of USA's current policies of changing character stories, backgrounds and otherwise censoring helped result in further confusion as to whether the characters were male or female. Capcom Japan contributed to this themselves in All About Capcom[1] by proposing the idea that Poison had a sex change and was now female, only to come back later and state she in fact was still a newhalf. This was reiterated again with Capcom Classics Collection, though now Roxy was stated as female in her bio. Capcom has yet to state otherwise for either character since.
The arcade version, on the left, originally exposed half of Poison's breasts. The Sega CD version, on the right, lengthened Poison's tank top and shorts.
The character's design is most likely based off the band Poison, coinciding with many other villains in Final Fight who were based off musical bands such as Sodom or Abigail. The band was notable for their members dressing up as females and many of them having bits of similar attire. Despite the striking coincidences however, Capcom has not stated what the influences behind the character were. The character is popular enough with the capcom staff to appear in many other artworks as cameos, and is one of the few characters from the series to move onto lesser but present story involvements in the main Street Fighter series.
Poison has some notoriety as one of the few LGBT characters in the Street Fighter canon, the other confirmed character being Eagle, though in Eagle's case he is a tribute to Freddie Mercury, who was himself bisexual. Poison in game regards herself as totally female, flirting with opposing characters, wearing a highly revealing outfit, and engaging in near-erotic behavior as seen in Final Fight Revenge when fighting. Her voice is currently completely feminine also, which is not uncommon for some transsexuals, but only adds to the confusion of whether she is male or female to some players.
Capcom of USA's current policies of changing character stories, backgrounds and otherwise censoring helped result in further confusion as to whether the characters were male or female. Capcom Japan contributed to this themselves in All About Capcom[1] by proposing the idea that Poison had a sex change and was now female, only to come back later and state she in fact was still a newhalf. This was reiterated again with Capcom Classics Collection, though now Roxy was stated as female in her bio. Capcom has yet to state otherwise for either character since.
The arcade version, on the left, originally exposed half of Poison's breasts. The Sega CD version, on the right, lengthened Poison's tank top and shorts.
The character's design is most likely based off the band Poison, coinciding with many other villains in Final Fight who were based off musical bands such as Sodom or Abigail. The band was notable for their members dressing up as females and many of them having bits of similar attire. Despite the striking coincidences however, Capcom has not stated what the influences behind the character were. The character is popular enough with the capcom staff to appear in many other artworks as cameos, and is one of the few characters from the series to move onto lesser but present story involvements in the main Street Fighter series.
Poison has some notoriety as one of the few LGBT characters in the Street Fighter canon, the other confirmed character being Eagle, though in Eagle's case he is a tribute to Freddie Mercury, who was himself bisexual. Poison in game regards herself as totally female, flirting with opposing characters, wearing a highly revealing outfit, and engaging in near-erotic behavior as seen in Final Fight Revenge when fighting. Her voice is currently completely feminine also, which is not uncommon for some transsexuals, but only adds to the confusion of whether she is male or female to some players.