Blanka

Context

Blanka (ブランカ) is one of the core/classic characters in the landmark Street Fighter series of brawling video game.

He has been around since 1991, and is probably the most famous Brazilian character in video games.

Like Tarzan, he has a sort of “man beast searching for his humanity” vibe going on with him. Plus some odd powers.

Background

Powers and Abilities

Blanka was raised in the Amazon rain forest by animals. He’s thus a hardcore wilderness survival expert.

He’s also picked up some of their skills and powers along the way. His abilities include:

Artes marciais da selva

Blanka is a top fighter. He can hold his own against the very best fighters from around the world.

Gameplay wise he’s a charge character. Those tend to be best played more defensively. Yet Blanka does have an excellent arsenal for punishing mistakes. Many of his moves come out quickly enough to exploit an opening.

His style also relies on unpredictability. Blanka’s got good mobility and great moves to fight at short, mid, or long range.

Blanka is more of a balanced, slightly defensive character for players who favor keeping their opponent guessing and employing a bit of strategy.

History

Young Jimmy was sent on a trip by his mother. However the plane was struck by lightning and crashed.

Jimmy was the sole survivor. He learned how survive by befriending some of the jungle animals and eventually going on to learn some their abilities.

Hello to the village

Blanka broke into a poacher’s truck to steal fruit. He ate as much as he could and promptly fell asleep. He awoke at a nearby village.

This was his first time in civilization since the plane crash. Thus, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

The villagers feared this strange beast and attacked him. Blanka defended himself by knocking them all out before returning to the jungle.

Street Fighters Alpha 3

But he could not get this strange place out of his head. So he stayed nearby to observe. Eventually the locals came to trust him. He became their mascot of sorts.

News spread. Tourists flocked to see the strange beast. Their numbers included fighters wishing to challenge it.

Dan Hibiki was one of these challengers, and he was promptly thrashed. However the good natured Dan decided to befriend the beast.

He took Blanka with him as a traveling companion. Blanka was not quite sure what to expect, yet the pair set out. They picked up another traveling companion on the way, the school girl Sakura Kasugano.

While they were in Thailand they stumbled upon the main Shadaloo base and the heroes that had come to destroy it. Blanka fought Zangief.

It is unrevealed who won the fight. But their clash prevented Zangief from entering the base and destroying the Psycho Drive.

Street Fighters II

Blanka fought in the SFII tournament, which was highly televised. His mother recognized his anklets and was thus able to reunite with him.

(Official sources state that he was born in Brazil. But his mother’s garb is traditional Thai. So it’s possibly that they were originally from Thailand.)

Street Fighters IV

Blanka’s reunion with his mother was cut short. His strange appearance attracted too much attention.

He then traveled to Hong Kong with Dan, where his friend incessantly grilled him about the last SF tournament. Dan, Sakura, and Blanka all enter the new World Warrior tournament presented by S.I.N.. Blanka did so as he sought respect.

The tournament culminated in the S.I.N. HQ. Therein, Blanka was separated from his friends. He lost in the final stages to an unrevealed challenger.

However, Blanka managed to locate Dan as the HQ was being destroyed after the final climax. Flames where racing towards them. But Ryu and Sakura managed to put them out with some mighty Hadoukens!

During all the chaos his mother had grown worried. She had thus come looking for him again, and found him in the aftermath of the destruction.

This time his return home was much more positive. Media coverage attracted many curious people, who wanted to become his friend.

Street Fighters V

Blanka became something of a local legend in his “hometown” in Brazil. He now made a living selling cute dolls in his likeness, to cash in on his popularity.

But fellow Brazilian Laura Masuda accidentally stepped on one of his dolls, and the two fought. After Blanka defeated her, she apologized and asked her brother Sean to help him sell the dolls.

Sean, being half Japanese, realised that the cute dolls would sell far better in Japan. So the two headed there.

While they were selling their goods in an arcade, two schoolgirls showed them that the dolls could also be found in vending machines. Blanka angrily thrashed the machine with the counterfeits, triggering a panic.

The nearby Sakura intervened, calming Blanka down. After explanations, the arcade manager agreed to drop the matter.

Ashamed by his outburst, Blanka returned to Brazil and gave up on his doll business. But the counterfeiters continued their business, becoming hugely successful.

Where is he now?

He likely returned to Brazil to live the simple life with his mother.

Although he probably does get the odd visit from a tourist or a fan and certain from his friends Dan and Sakura.

Description

Simply put he’s a large muscular beast like man with a crazy orange mane of hair flowing down his back.

He also has large patches of body hair on his chest, forearms, and shins. This along with his trademark green skin, claws and fanged teeth make him look pretty intimidating.

He usually only wears a pair of simple ripped shorts. Plus his lucky anklets that he received from his mother.

It’s worth noting that he’s gone through several different looks depending on who the artist was. He originally looked more as an inhuman humanoid, like he was a terrifying different species like bigfoot. But later incarnations of his character made him look not quite human, but still cute and cuddly.

His appearance has yo-yoed back and forth a couple of times again. But the most recent official artwork is somewhat in between as to how savage he looks.

Personality

Despite his harsh and feral upbringing, Blanka is a gentle and peaceful soul. It’s perhaps due to the fact that he had to learn to communicate with the animals in order to survive that he’s a bit more social.

He does however have a temper. It’s said that he will fight like a wild animal when enraged, but that’s pretty rare.

Also, while he may be uneducated he’s certainly not stupid. He’s managed to learn English, Portuguese and quite possibly a few other languages. He also understands the basics of commerce and marketing.

He unfortunately does seem to have low self esteem due to his looks and likely a lot of ridicule. However when he does make friends he is fiercely loyal.

Quotes

“Seeing you in action is a joke !”

Editor’s note: He’s only recently begun speaking in fluent full sentences. Previous quotes include a lot of “WooooWoOwWow WoooWowWowWow !” and the like.

DC Universe Adaptation

(This section proposes ways of using this character in DC Universe stories).

Blanka can probably be dropped in as is. Perhaps a connection to Fire could be added (hey they’re both green and from Brazil).

DC Heroes RPG

Tell me more about the game stats

Blanka

Dex: 07	Str: 04	Bod: 05
Int: 03	Wil: 03	Min: 04
Inf: 03	Aur: 03	Spi: 05
Init: 017		HP: 040

Powers:

Adrenaline Surge: 04, Claws: 02, Electric Being: 04, Jumping: 04, Sharpness: 01

Bonuses and Limitations:

• Adrenaline Surge only works on Jumping.
• Claws can only be used after a successful Grappling attempt and are always a Devastating attack. After successfully grappling an opponent he bites them in a vital area (on the throat).
• Electric Being requires him to remain still and take no other action.
• Sharpness only applies to Claws and Electric Being.

Skills:

Acrobatics*: 07, Animal Handling (includes Animal friendship): 06, Martial Artist*: 07, Survival (Jungle): 06, Weaponry (Missile): 03

Advantages:

Iron Nerves, Languages (Portuguese and Thai), Lightning Reflexes.

Connections:

Dan Hibiki (High), Sakura Kasugano (Low).

Drawbacks:

Minor Rage, Strange Appearance.

Motivation:

Thrill of Adventure.

Occupation:

Beast man.

Wealth:

000

Equipment:

Blanka occasionally flings tropical fruit at his opponents. Tropical Fruit [BODY 00, EV 00, Grenade Drawback.].

Although it’s highly unlikely to cause any damage to opponents it does tend to humiliate them. At the GM’s discretion a trick shot could produce a few APs of Friction Control (reduction of friction only). Or perhaps Sensory Block (sight only by hitting an opponent in the face and temporarily blinding them).

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Previous Statistics

In SF IV Blanka learned how communicate fluently in full sentences. Previously this had been a series of howls that his friends somehow understood.

He also previously had Socially Inept (Minor, Persuasion Only) and the general fish out of water syndrome where he didn’t understand the modern world. This mostly appears to be gone by the time SF IV rolls around.

Prior to this his Creepy Appearance was actually a Strange Appearance, but he seems to have gained some acceptance and also his Local Hero (his fans).

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Previous Statistics — Street Fighter EX

Electric Being can also have a range of 0APs and area effect if it is bolstered with Adrenaline Surge. Adrenaline Surge also works with as well.

Reduce Jumping to 03, but up Electric Being to 05 and add Gliding: 02 and APs of Gliding may be added to a jump attack.

Blanka was also slightly more powerful in his noncanon EX appearance, so his Martial Artist Skill rises to 08 and his Hero Points total to 70.

By Tom Eilers.

Source of Character: Street Fighter.

Helper(s): Sean MacDonald (for 1.1 version), Darci, Eric Langendorff, Chris Cottingham.