Fresh off the news of Mortal Kombat featuring Freddy Krueger as a playable character via downloadable content, complete with original moveset and authentically gruesome fatalities; it got us thinking of other fighting game characters whose inclusion have took us by surprise over the years.

Link, Spawn & Heihachi Mishima – Soul Calibur II

Soul Calibur II featured three exclusive characters, each for their respective consoles. Link appeared for GameCube, Spawn for Xbox and Heihachi for PlayStation 2. Link borrowed his attacks from previous Zelda games, predominantly using his sword to pull off familiar moves such as the Spin Attack. He could also call upon his trusty bow, boomerang and satchel bombs to provide him with a wider range of options. Spawn was included on the Xbox version due to the limited selection of Microsoft mascots to choose from. He used his morphable body to mimic different weapons, which were essentially an extension of himself and could be used to devastating effect. Heihachi’s moveset closely resembled that of the one seen in the Tekken series, and instead of making use of weapons he was equipped with armguards for greater power.

Sonic & Solid Snake – Super Smash Bros. Brawl

While Smash Bros. has always been famed for its use of characters from various gaming series, they have always been primarily Nintendo-based franchises. So when it was announced that Sonic, who is a long-standing product of SEGA, and Solid Snake, who seemingly didn’t fit the Nintendo mould, were both included in the line-up it came as quite a big shock to the gaming world. Naturally Sonic has the fastest running speed on the game, zipping around at break-neck speeds and enabling his Super Smash allows him to transform into Super Sonic to go even faster. Solid Snake is a little more lethargic and strategic in his approach, making use of firepower, in the form of C4 explosives, to gain the advantage.

Kratos – Mortal Kombat (2011)

In addition to Freddy appearing in the latest Mortal Kombat, right out of the box PS3 users are treated to an exclusive character in Kratos, who is the main protagonist from the God of War series. He is officially the first guest character to appear in the series, apart from those DC characters that appear in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe as a collective. He isn’t included in the games story mode, but he does come complete with an individual moveset and fatalities. His main weapons are his dual-wielding Blades of Chaos, which he uses to hack, slash - and in some cases gut – his opponents. Ed Boon, series co-creator described him as the perfect fit for their roster.

Gon - Tekken 3

Gon was an unlockable character in Tekken 3 either by defeating him in Tekken Ball mode or by getting a high score in Survival mode and inputting your name as GON. The fictional dinosaur was taken from the award-winning manga series of the same name and is arguably one of the most annoying fighting characters of all time, due to his diminutive size, quick shunting techniques and abrasive moves, such as toxic fart (pictured). Some believe his inclusion in the game was a counter to True Ogre, whose fire blast inflicted massive damage on opponents and stunned them, whereas in Gon’s case it affected him far less, causing him to merely flinch.

Yoda & Darth Vader – Soul Calibur IV

Namco once again pulled out all the stops with Soul Calibur IV, securing the rights to two iconic Star Wars characters, both of which initially started out as console exclusives - Yoda for Xbox and Vader for PS3, with their colour schemes matching up nicely. However, after strong public outcry both were made available through downloadable content. Yoda relied on quick, acrobatic attacks to best his foes; but his poor attack range made him one of the weaker selections. Vader on the other hand was one of the stronger, using more forceful attacks that generally inflicted more damage, although many of his special moves were limited to a depleting force meter.

Cole MacGrath – Street Fighter X Tekken

Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken X Street Fighter are the latest crossover fighting games to be put into production, in what is becoming a trend for the genre. The first game will be handled by Capcom and will feature characters from both series, as well as Cole MacGrath from inFamous as a bonus character. The announcement came from Sony’s Pre-E3 press conference and was met with a positive reception. He will remain a Sony exclusive and will appear on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions when released early next year.

Know of any more shocking character inclusions that we’ve missed?
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Craig Bryan, NoobFeed
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