īlanka fights in a self-taught, animalistic style.
In Street Fighter II Blanka's skin is yellowish-green, but later versions of the character are bright green. However, when Street Fighter was brought to the U.S., Blanka's coloring was attributed to his being struck by lightning during the electrical storm in which his plane crashed. Characteristics īlanka's most prominent physical characteristic is his green color, initially attributed to his consumption of chlorophyll from plants to blend into his jungle environment. At first, Blanka had a pink color skin, which Yasuda described as "disgusting" and then he decided to change it to green. They decided it on rock paper scissors the "beast" was the last option and was assigned to "Pigmon-san".
After Yasuda did "rough drafts" of "a pro westler, sumo wrestler, and a beast", he asked his team to decide which designer would finish each concept. The staff then adopted Blanka's feral appearance, because they felt the game would be "dull" with only human characters. His design later changed to a large man with thick hair and sideburns, named "Hammer Blanka".
After the release of Final Fight, Capcom again approached Street Fighter II and considered several designs for the Blanka character (including a masked wrestler modeled after Tiger Mask and a ninja-style warrior). Blanka was generally well received by critics and fans, becoming one of the most popular characters in the franchise.Ĭonception and design Creation ĭesigned by "Pigmon-san" and Akira "Akiman" Yasuda, the concept behind Blanka emerged in an early design as an African man named Anabebe who was raised by a lion. Blanka's backstory is that he was once human, but after a plane crash in Brazil he mutated (resulting in his green coloring and his ability to generate electricity). The character has appeared in other media adaptations of the franchise, including an animated film, a live-action movie, an animated television series, a comic book and manga series.īlanka was originally designed as a human character by Akira "Akiman" Yasuda, and underwent several re-conceptualizations during the production of Street Fighter II before reaching his final depiction as a feral savage with green skin and long orange hair. Blanka is also present in a number of Capcom's crossover games, including the SNK vs. He first appeared in the 1991 video game Street Fighter II as one of eight playable characters, and was subsequently featured in sequel and spin-off games. Blanka in Super Street Fighter II, drawn by BengusĪkira "Akiman" Yasuda and "Pigmon-san" ( Street Fighter II)īlanka ( Japanese: ブランカ, Hepburn: Buranka) is a fictional character in Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series.