Street Fighter V, the latest entry in Capcom's beloved fighting game franchise, is finally entering into its final season of DLC. Though the game experienced a fairly rocky launch, it has become a much more warmly received title, earning a lot of goodwill for adding several fan-favorite fighters. One such fighter is the fortune-telling Rose.
Debuting over 25 years ago in a Street Fighter spinoff prequel, Rose's unique blend of might and mysticism makes her one of the most intriguing characters in the series. Here's a look at the Genoan witch's backstory, as well as her connection to other characters in the franchise.
Rose first appeared as a playable character in 1995's Street Fighter Alpha, known as Street Fighter Zero in Japan. This trilogy of spinoffs were set in between the first Street Fighter and the more popular Street Fighter II, showcasing M. Bison's rise to power and the beginnings of his grudge against many of the World Warriors. Rose's design is that of a tall, busty Italian woman with long, flowing violet hair, dressed in an equally sleek yellow scarf and pink gown. Her appearance is based heavily off of Lisa Lisa from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, a resemblance made clearer by her being from Venice and using her scarf to fight.
Rose's strange fighting style looks much more like wizardry or sorcery than martial arts due to her channeling her attacks with the mysterious Soul Power. This is analogous to Bison's Psycho Power, with their connection becoming clearer later down the line. Having premonitions of an impending evil's rise, Rose investigates it to discover that this threat is indeed M. Bison. She also finds out that her soul contains a portion of Bison's own, which the villain later exploits when he temporarily transfers his soul into her body. Bison discarded Rose's body for a weaker replica of his own during the events of Street Fighter II, leaving Rose temporarily amnesiac and explaining her absence in that game.
Rose returned in the Street Fighter IV series, which reunited most of Street Fighter II and Alpha's casts. Her moves in the 2.5D fighter combined her command lists from Street Fighter Alpha 3, making her a good character to use against Shotoclones such as Ryu and Ken due to many of her attacks deflecting or absorbing projectiles. Her story had her realizing that Bison was alive once again after he had been killed by Akuma in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Determined to see his evil end, she actually fought against Ryu, telling the fighter to save his strength until a destined final battle between Bison that would take place in Street Fighter V.
That game now adds Rose to the cast of playable fighters, though she had a cameo in the game beforehand. This was in the storyline for Menat, a young Egyptian girl who had been taken under Rose's wing as a fortune teller. Her attacks have been upgraded, with her Soul Spark projectile now being able to be released in mid-air. Her scarf also factors into her attacks more, being used as a whip in her Critical Art attack.
Like the other new DLC characters, Rose can be purchased through in-game fight money, with previous DLC characters costing 100,000 units of the currency. Earning all of this cash can be rather time consuming, with many opting to simply buy the characters using actual cash. The Character Pass is $24.99, while the Premium Pass, which features more costumes, is $39.99. Likewise, past DLC characters have been released at $5.99 each, so players with even just a little bit of cash can see the future when Rose finally comes to Street Fighter V.
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