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"Tekagen nashi ssuyo! (てかげん なしっすよ!? Don't hold back!)"
—Sean's intro quote

Sean Matsuda (ショーン・マツダ/松田 Shōn Matsuda?) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter III: New Generation. He is a confident amateur martial artist from Brazil who idolizes Ken, eventually becoming his disciple, and the younger brother of Laura.

Biography[]

Concept[]

Fans believed Sean was originally intended to be the only fighter who used a "shoto" fighting style in Street Fighter III: New Generation until Capcom decided that Ryu and Ken were too popular to exclude.[7]

However in an interview with Street Fighter III's producer & director, Tomoshi Sadamoto, he states that Sean wasn't initially present in New Generation's development. When they were unable to finish Hugo on time, they made Sean so there would be enough characters on release, making Sean the last character added to the initial roster.[8] This was after Ryu was added to the game and was going to be the only returning character, but since they didn’t have enough characters they later added Ken.[9] Sean was made to be a weak character that players would use to give themselves a handicap. In order to explain this weakness they made him Ken's student.[8]

Appearance[]

In the Street Fighter III games, Sean wears a yellow gi similar to those worn by Ryu and Ken with the sleeves removed at the shoulders and red fighting gloves. He wears a black belt and fights barefoot. He is a dark-skinned Brazilian and has black dreadlocks with the sides shaved off and usually brings a basketball with him everywhere.

In Street Fighter V, he wears a modern outfit consisting of a yellow hoodie jacket with the sign of "S" at the center, black outlines in each sides of his sleeves, yellow jogging pants, his signature red sparring gloves and red sneakers with two white linings. He also has a bandage on his nose. In A Shadow Falls, Sean's dreadlocks are grown into shoulder length. He wears a yellow sleeveless hoodie with a black short sleeve fitted shirt, blue baggy jean shorts with a brown belt to his waist and white sneakers.

Personality[]

Sean is eager to prove himself as a strong fighter and hates being referred to as weak. He often makes a point of bringing up Dan as a shining example of weakness and thus someone he hates being compared to.

He is also a huge fan of Ken Masters and wishes to learn from him in hopes of becoming a better person. Additionally, Sean reads a magazine named "Masters Online Karate" at the time of Street Fighter V. Sean is also somewhat afraid of his older sister Laura.

Character Relationships[]

Laura[]

Sean's older sister. While they do care about each other, he gets annoyed by her teasing.

Ken[]

Ken is Sean's idol. He was self taught (possibly using Masters Online Karate) and wanted to get full training lessons from Ken himself. Ken saved Sean in A Shadow Falls from F.A.N.G and a mid-rank Shadaloo soldier. Sean would enter the next available World Warrior Tournament to prove he is a worthy student but fails.

Yang[]

When Yang first sees Sean, he turns him down and thinks he's too weak for a challenge. Sean, offended by Yang's words, challenges Yang to a match. Sean comes out as the victor.

Ryu[]

After losing to Ken, he is told to find Ryu and should not return until he has done that. When he first challenges Ryu, he loses and spends a year training.

Story[]

Background[]

Sean Matsuda, his sister Laura and brother Fabio were born in Brazil, though their father (Yuichiro Matsuda) and paternal grandfather (Kinjiro Matsuda) were Japanese (hence the surname). The siblings' mother Brenda is Brazilian and Sean has two maternal cousins (Enzo and Manuela Da Silva) who practice capoeira. Sean excels at all sports, and is a member of his college's basketball team.[6]

A keen basketball player, his main pastime is martial arts. At some point, Sean saw veteran World Warrior Ken Masters in action at the U.S. Martial Arts Tournament and swore to become his pupil. While Laura was trained by Kinjiro in the art of the family's Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu, its currently unknown if Sean was ever trained by their grandfather before he left (after the events of A Shadow Falls) to find Ken.

Street Fighter V[]

Vs190217-010

Sean as he appears A Shadow Falls.

At the beginning of Laura's character story, she teases Sean a little before leaving their house in order to find strong fighters and promote the art of Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu. At the end, Sean, who is still in Brazil, is wondering where Laura is.

In A Shadow Falls, Sean was playing Mega Man with his portable video game, the CPSP, until the signal was jammed because of the moon at the sky. Sean notices Laura has one of the chess pieces like the other fighters.

Sean was later confronted by F.A.N.G who demanded for knowledge of the chess piece's whereabouts, Sean was however saved by Ken who was there along with Chun-Li and Cammy. Chun-Li, who seem to recognize Sean as one of the Matsuda family, asks Sean if he knows that his sister carries the chess piece until Laura arrives and happily grabs him in a headlock, thinking he has a girlfriend. After Laura fights Ken, who she mistakes as a enemy, Sean corrects his sister, saying that Ken and the others are not their enemy. Sean is last seen watching his sister join with Ken and the others to stop Shadaloo and their plans.

In Blanka's character story, Sean is called by Laura to help Blanka sells his Blanka-chan dolls. Sean suggested that Blanka should sell Blanka-chan doll productions in Japan's Arcade Center.

Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition[]

Sean is seen in Laura's Street Fighter III route arcade ending, winning a martial arts tournament with his achievement placed in a magazine that Laura reads. Arguably stealing the attention of the viewer of Sean's accomplishment.

Sean is also seen in Laura's Street Fighter V route arcade ending, where Laura has successfully opened a dojo for Matsuda Ju-Jitsu, Sean and a few others are training with her.

Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact[]

SF3 Hogen

Sean knocks out Pulk Hogen.

After repeated unsuccessful attempts to get Ken to train him, Ken eventually gave in and took in Sean has his disciple. Maintaining a home and raising a child has strained Ken's relationship with Ryu, so he gets in touch and invites him to Japanese hot spring inn.[10] Ken also brings Sean along, but decides to do last minute shopping for Eliza before flying to Japan. In reality Ken purposefully left Sean alone to see how he'll do in a street fight.[11] Sometime before 2nd Impact, Sean and Ken spectate a wrestling match between Zangief and Pulk Hogen at WWCA. Zangief ended up throwing Hogen into the public with a Double Lariat, which caused him to rampage while returning to the ring and Sean knocked him out to avoid injury to the audience.[12]

Sean enters the World Warrior tournament to prove that he is a worthy student, but is again unsuccessful. Ken (finding Sean to be a nuisance) instructs him to search for Ryu and not return until he has found and defeated him. Sean finds Ryu and challenges him to a fight, but is defeated time and time again no matter how hard he tries. After the fight, he spends an entire year training alone.

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike[]

SFIII 3S-Sean Ending-5

Sean after losing in the qualifying rounds.

Sean then sets off for the U.S Martial Arts tournament to prove that he has become a much greater student since his last meeting with Ken. Before the tournament, Ken tells Sean that his current ability is embarrassing, prompting Sean to devloping his own style that'll impress Ken.[13]. In his ending, Sean wins the U.S. Martial Arts tournament but it turns out to be a dream, in reality, Sean lost to a random fighter during the qualifying rounds. Ken tells him that he did not train himself properly and gives him advice to train harder next time. Ken decides to take revenge against his opponents in the tournament by winning the next one. Sean becomes dismayed but states that he will win someday. After Ken wins the tournament, Sean declines Ken's offer of the championship trophy in acknowledgment of how well he had done, insisting that he will win it himself some day.

Street Fighter 6[]

World Tour[]

Ken briefly talks about Sean in World Tour before enrolling the Avatar as his disciple.[14]

Sean can also be seen in one of Guile's memories, where he is beside Laura at one of Dee Jay's concerts.

Other games[]

Sean starred in his own Japanese only mobile game, Sean's Basket, released in 2001.[15]

Crossover appearances[]

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes[]

Sean appeared along with Ken in Ryu's pre-fight introduction, as well as his ending.

Capcom Fighting Evolution[]

Sean made a cameo appearance in Pyron's CFE ending and in the New York stage as well.

Comics[]

UDON comics[]

Sean is the protagonist in UDON's Super Street Fighter: New Generations Vol. 2's story arc Hong Kong Hustle. Here he fights a group of thugs while attempting to save who he thought was a helpless woman, but turned out to be Chun-Li. Chun-Li finishes the thugs off for Sean while Ken Masters appears to inform Sean just who she is. She leaves saying that she's sure Sean would 'make his master proud' while Ken and Sean share a moment over the exciting streets of Hong Kong.

Later, Sean assists in the third world warrior tournament.

Sean also makes another prominent appearance in the Street Fighter V Free Comic Book Day comic. In this short story, Sean fights his sister Laura in the Brazilian Regional Jujitsu Finals. He accuses her of not using Matsuda Jujitsu when she uses her Volty Line move in which Laura tells him that he needs to break away from fighting just like their grandpa taught him and try to incorporate new techniques into the foundation he has. Laura wins the match and Sean leaves dejected. However in one of the back rooms he catches sight of Ken Masters winning a tournament and vows that he'll beat Laura using 'Ken Masters' style.

Gameplay[]

Fighting style[]

Sean practices the same fighting style as Ryu and Ken; however, due to his inexperience, there are notable differences between his moves and theirs. He even shares different moves than his family's "Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu".

The most notable difference is his projectile, which is only available to Sean as a Super Art. His Shoryuken works much the same way; while he does have a two-handed version of the move, he only performs the "true" Shoryuken in yet another of his Super Arts, which more closely resembles the Shoryureppa. This seems to imply that Sean can only use Ken's techniques properly with extreme focus. His third Super Art is the Hyper Tornado.

Sean performs his version of the Tatsumaki with both legs, similar to Dan and his Dankukyaku. He also possess moves somewhat unique to him: an overhead wheel kick and a rushing tackle. He is also able to shoot a basketball and use it as a special move like a Hadoken, however, it doesn't do much damage.

Moveset[]

In 2nd Impact, Sean was a lot easier to use and the best choice because of his high damage. Sean can link/combo his Super Arts after some of his special moves, though it will do less damage. His Ryuubi Kyaku has a big pause, making it easy to parry, but it is good for countering fireballs. His Tornado is easy to combo, and his Dragon Smash is a high-damage and high-priority two hit anti-air uppercut.

In 3rd Strike, some of his moves, most notably his Dragon Smash, were toned down in effectiveness and damage, although his Ryuubi Kyaku no longer pauses before execution. Sean was also given many new standard attacks, and two of his special moves were changed to feature new animation frames.

Subpages[]

Quotes[]

Sean/Quotes

Gallery[]

Sean/Gallery

Sprites[]

Sean/Sprites

Colors[]

Sean/Colors

Trivia[]

  • Sean shares similar character traits with Sakura; both have self-taught fighting styles stemming from their idols: Ken and Ryu respectively. Sean was self-taught under Ken while at the same time trying to convince him to further his training through tutelage, Sakura was self-taught through imitation of Ryu while also pursuing his tutelage. Both also play a sport (Sean plays basketball and Sakura plays baseball) and are in high school (though Sakura has graduated high school since Street Fighter V). Both also have a large or super Hadoken as a Super or Ultra.
    • Sean also shares similar character and personality traits with Shingo Yabuki from SNK's The King of Fighters series; they both try very hard to emulate the fighting style and moves from their respective idol, Ken and Kyo Kusanagi respectively, who both gives little respect to their self-proclaimed students. This however improves as the series progresses; Ken learns to appreciate Sean's persistence and motivation, and Shingo becomes more involved in Kyo's family affairs as the Three Sacred Treasures, which Kyo appreciates, deep inside.
    • Sean's role is also similar to that of Khushnood Butt/Marco Rodrigues from Garou: Mark of the Wolves; both are Brazillian practitioners of a Japanese martial art taught by a previous character from the series. Unlike Sean, Khushnood/Marco serves as the sole representative of the Kyokugen style.
  • Sean has mentioned Dan Hibiki in his win quotes. While it is not exactly known how Sean knows Dan (or if they have even met each other in person, as of yet), the former has openly stated that he considers Dan the epitome of weakness and hates being compared to him.
  • As explained above, Sean is seen in Laura's Street Fighter III route ending in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, winning a martial arts tournament. In November 2021, Street Fighter V director Takayuki Nakayama confirmed in a Twitter thread that (among other notable events) this ending is canon, and takes place after the events of 3rd Strike.[16][17]
  • According to the Street Fighter: World Warrior Encyclopedia, Sean is a member of his high-school basketball team.
    • Based on his sister Laura's first swimsuit costume in Street Fighter V, Sean's basketball team are called 'The Leons'.
    • However, in the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, Sean's profile states that he plays for his college's basketball team, which could imply that he has also done so as well.
  • Sean was originally American, as seen in a Street Fighter III New Generation article.[18]
  • Based on his appearance and design, Sean shares some similarities with Jim Kelly and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, two athletes who have trained in martial arts, with the former working alongside martial arts legend and movie star Bruce Lee in the 1973 film Enter the Dragon, where Kelly would play the role of the side character Williams whom also donned and sported a yellow dōgi while the latter, also being a professional basketball player and having been trained in Jeet Kune Do by Lee had worked alongside him during the earlier production of the 1978 film Game of Death.

Stage Themes[]

Sean's theme in New Generation is a remix of Alex's theme Jazzy NYC. In Second Impact, his theme is an original Sao Paulo, Brazilian theme and in 3rd Strike, he shares the theme Longshoreman with Oro.

Videos[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Street Fighter V: Matsuda Family
  2. How old are you? "Born in 1980" (彼は何歳なのですか?「1980年生まれです」) from "Capcom Official Answer! Let's Know the Secrets of Strong Guys STREET FIGHTER III Q & A" Gamest Mook Vol. 81 – Street Fighter III New Generation ‘Fan Book’ page 89..
  3. “Street Fighter III was an event from 1997 to 200X, so let's say Ryu, born in 1964, is 33 years old.”(「ストIII が1997年から200X年にかての出来事なので、1964年生まれのリユウは33歳くらぃでしよう」 ) from an interview in "Capcom Official Answer! Let's Know the Secrets of Strong Guys STREET FIGHTER III Q & A" Gamest Mook Vol. 81 – Street Fighter III New Generation ‘Fan Book’ page 85.
  4. “1 year since the battle to determine the best in the world, Alex is again searching for an unseen enemy. While on his journey, he simultaneously finds martial artists from around the world with aims of waging a fight against Gill… Fulfilling ambitions of the strongest is never ending.” (世界 の 頂点 を 決める闘い から 1 年. ま だ 見 ぬ 強敵 を 求め, ふたたび アレック ス は 旅立っ た. 時 を 同じく し て , 世界中 の 格闘家 たち も, ギル を 目指し て 闘い を くり広げる を 見つける ため に, 野望 を 果たす ため に … … 最強 を 求める旅 に , 決して終わり は ない の だ .) from ALL ABOUT Capcom Fighting Game 1987-2000
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Street Fighter: World Warrior Encyclopedia Hardcover
  6. 6.0 6.1 Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia
  7. https://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/722788-ultra-street-fighter-iv/faqs/69921
  8. 8.0 8.1 - Round 4: Tomoshi Sadamoto Part 3 Archived from The original
  9. Round 4: Tomoshi Sadamoto Part 2 Archived from The original
  10. Lives on the West Coast of the United States. Having a Family-Becoming a father of a baby, his relationship with Ryu became a little worse. (アメリカ 西海岸在住。家庭 を 持っ て - 児 の 父 と なり、リュウ と の つき合い は やや 悪く なっ た。) from ALL ABOUT Capcom Fighting Game 1987-2000
  11. A boy in a torn karate gi stands restlessly on a New York street corner, waiting and braving the sleet and blizzards.
    Sean: "How far did Master Ken go... It's too late to go shopping for gifts for his wife. If i keep standing here, I'm just asking for a fight!"
    Ken: "I wonder if the fight will start soon.."
    There was a man muttering in an alley one building away. It was Ken who had a hot dog in his hand. (ニューヨークの街角に道着を着た一人の少年が落ち着きなく立っている。どうやら人を待っているらしい。
    「ケン師匠はどこまで行ったんだろう……、奥さんへのプレゼントだからって、買い物にしては遅いなぁ。こっちは道着を着てこんなところで立ちん坊じゃ、ケンカ売ってくれって言ってるようなもんだぜ」
    「早くファイトがはじまんねぇかな……」
    建物一つ離れた路地でそうつぶやく男がいた。ホットドッグを片手に、こっそりと様子をうかがうケンだった。)
    from Sean's backstory in All About Street Fighter III: The Fighting Bible, page 246
  12. Street Fighter III: New Generation Secret File
  13. Sean's backstory from Street Fighter III 3rd Strike character introductions (in Japanese). Archived from the original
  14. Ken: "I'm having flashbacks of a past student of mine."
    Ken: "He was a fiery as all get out, throwing himself at everything he could with reckless abandon."
    Ken: "Not unlike you."
    Ken's dialogue in World Tour Mode.
  15. Sean's Basket official site (Wayback Machine)
  16. Nakayama's Twitter post (Japanese)
  17. YouTube, November 2021 - Street Fighter's Story marches on! SF3 no longer the "End Point" of the franchise confirms director!
  18. https://78.media.tumblr.com/b3b6422336c2f5acc6899193a0765df1/tumblr_o727zafOFq1rkrwaco2_1280.jpg
Street Fighter series Playable Characters
Main Series
SF Logo Ken · Ryu
Street-fighter-ii-logo The World Warrior Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Zangief
Champion Edition Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
Super Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
Super Turbo Akuma · Ten Akuma
Ultra Violent Ken
SFAlogo Alpha Adon · Birdie · Charlie Nash · Dan · Guy · Rose · Sodom
Alpha 2 Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Shin Akuma
Alpha 3 Cody · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika
Alpha 3 Upper Eagle · Maki
Alpha 3 MAX Ingrid
Street fighter iii logo New Generation Alex · Dudley · Elena · Ibuki
Necro · Oro · Sean · Yang · Yun
2nd Impact Gill · Hugo · Urien
3rd Strike Makoto · Q · Remy · Twelve
Street fighter iv logo IV Abel · C. Viper · El Fuerte · Gouken · Rufus · Seth
Super Hakan · Juri
Arcade Edition Oni
Ultra Decapre · Poison
SFV-Logo-R-3 V F.A.N.G · Laura · Necalli · Rashid
Season 2 Abigail · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku
Season 3 Falke · G
Season 4 Kage · Lucia
Season 5 Akira · Eleven · Luke
Street fighter 6 logo 6 Jamie · JP · Kimberly · Lily · Manon · Marisa
Year 1 A.K.I.
Spin-offs
Street Fighter The Movie Logo Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber · Sawada
Street-fighter-ii--the-animated-movie Cyborg
Sfexlogo EX Allen · Blair · C. Jack · Darun · D. Dark
Hokuto · Kairi · Pullum · Skullomania
EX Plus Bloody Hokuto · Cycloid-β · Cycloid-γ · Garuda
EX2 Hayate · Nanase · Shadowgeist · Sharon
EX2 Plus Area · V. Rosso
EX3 Ace · Bison II
Marvel vs. Capcom Logo MSHvSF Cyber-Akuma · Dark Sakura · Mech-Zangief · Shadow
MvC Shadow Lady
SFO Shin
Street Fighter III Characters
New Generation Alex · Dudley · Elena · Ibuki · Ken · Necro · Oro · Ryu · Sean · Yang · Yun
2nd Impact Akuma · Gill · Hugo · Shin Akuma · Urien
3rd Strike Chun-Li · Makoto · Q · Remy · Twelve
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