The Japanese developer and publisher Capcom released pictures of Elena to the streets, and the fans have gone wild to bask in the energy she radiates. The official Street Fighter Twitter shared an official clip showing Elena’s dynamic pre-match animations, such as the dancing, posing, and playing. It was captioned, “She’s in the mood for a dance,” followed by an outburst of responses-hype, wise critiques, and chaotic mayhem.
Elena is the capoeira character from Street Fighter III, and the great return that she has with SF6 is practically overshadowed by her animations. These highlight her expressive “Game Faces,” which range from pure joy to raw focus pre-match. The fans went right into the nitty-gritty, pointing out the instrument she’s playing, one user stated it was the same instrument used by Eddy Gordo in Tekken while others just admired the personality living through every single frame-from laissez faire dancing to stiff-perfect preparedness.
That said, some have turned against Elena; her model has been called “terrible” by some of its slanderers, while others criticized realism creeping into female faces while begging Capcom to tone it down for the next game. Her hairstyle is also up for debate because apparently, there are some people who are not okay with white hair. This prompted the witty comment that perhaps Blanka is closer to Brazilian culture than Elena is, and… alright then.
On the more entertaining end of the spectrum, the hype train keeps rushing for those waiting for her comeback. One player praised the special character intros, asking if they were coming back. Another user called for an Elena vs. Manon fight, just because. And then of course we have thirst tweets for someone to crown her the “hottest” of the roster, followed by a counter-reminder from someone else, saying that beauty, thank you very much, is subjective.
Need I say: Every banner Street Fighter announcement comes with chaos? One user shouted with melodrama, “Who is censoring Elena?!” while another one warned in a solemn tone that the shoulder animations are “a lil bit scary.” And within this very thread, another dropped the name Chris Hansen. Honestly? No idea what that’s about.
Segueing into that is an interesting observation: Elena’s return is forging hype, drama, and memes. Whoever would love her new look surely would love the old; maybe there should be an elemental force behind her quirky charm. And thus, that story ends with a real question: When shall we see her going to bat?
With Street Fighter 6 boasting the most diverse roster yet, Elena’s energy surely fits right in. Now if only they could get Capcom to put a little effort into giving us those Season 2 skins already…
