Alex is a video game character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. He first appeared in Street Fighter III: New Generation. He is considered the main character of the Street Fighter III series and hails from New York. His parents died at a young age, so he was raised by his father's friend, Tom, who trained him in fighting, and Patricia, Tom's daughter. The Illuminati and Gill are interested in his abilities after he won the third World Warrior tournament.
Alex made his first appearance in Street Fighter III: New Generation. Tom, his mentor and legal guardian, got in a fight with Gill, the president of the Illuminati and lost. Tom was sent into a hospital as a result of the fight. This angered Alex and prompted him to enter the third World Warrior tournament hosted by Gill in order kill him. Alex beats Gill and wins the tournament, but does not kill Gill. Gill is impressed about Alex's skills after their encounter thinks there's something special about Alex. Alex eventually returns to Tom as a changed person after fighting various people around the world. ' retcons New Generation, but Alex's story stays the same, but he now has a rivalry with Hugo, a German pro wrestler of extreme height. Alex returns in ' with a slightly different personality, He met Ryu and fought him, only to lose, in which Ryu told Alex to explore the world and find worthy fighters. He re-encountered Ryu and decided to fight again, although the outcome of the fight hasn't been revealed yet in the story. After not appearing in a mainline Street Fighter game, Alex came back in Street Fighter V as DLC, which is set before Street Fighter III. He is a top wrestler in a pro-wrestling league. One day, after working on his broken-down trailer, he gets kidnapped by Shadaloo and F.A.N.G. for assessment of his skills, where he's pitted against simulations of multiple fighters, such as Ryu and Chun-Li. When he realizes that he's been kidnapped, he throws down a simulated fighter to try and destroy the facility he's trapped in but gets knocked out before he can and is sent back to his trailer. He wakes up, thinking it's a dream, but when Patricia comes to his trailer with a porcelain chess piece, which is a key to a Black Moon, a satellite that can be rigged to launch an electromagnetic pulse that can blackout entire cities, and a certificate, and notices a scar on him, Alex realizes it's not a dream. Alex reappears as a playable character in Street Fighter V as the first of 6 characters to be released after the game's launch in 2016. He was released March 30, 2016. His prologue shows that he was kidnapped by Shadaloo, led by F.A.N.G. In the story mode of Street Fighter V, "A Shadow Falls", Alex is at a pro-wrestling tournament, where he wins and gets the wrestling trophy. He then fights in a tag-team exhibition match with Laura against Zangief and R. Mika, which is broadcast live on television. However the signal cuts out due to a Black Moon detonating over New York City, causing a blackout. Dhalsim comes to his trailer, wanting the chess piece, but Alex believes Dhalsim is a mugger and fights him. Dhalsim convinces Alex that he's not a mugger and asks for the piece, in which Alex gives it to him, saying he didn't need it. Dhalsim then tells Alex that big things will happen to him in the future, foreshadowing his story Street Fighter III, and teleports away.
Character design
Alex is loosely based on the professional wrestler, Hulk Hogan and Axl Rose, in terms of looks and some of his moves. The similarity to Hulk Hogan is referenced in the Street Fighter III series, where he is a rival of Hugo, who is based on another professional wrestler, Andre the Giant, who was also a rival of Hogan. Their pre-match intro references the poster for WrestleMania III. In the Street Fighter III series, Alex wears green overalls, green open-fingered gloves, brown combat boots, a red bandana, a scar on each of his shoulders, long blonde hair wrapped in a ponytail and make-up from the bottom of his eyes down to the rest of his face. Alex also sometimes wears a black tank top, which he rips off before he fights, and a bomber jacket when he isn't fighting. In Street Fighter V, Alex mostly retains his appearance. He wears red suspenders, has slightly shorter hair with no ponytail, and has a red and white long-sleeved buttoned flannel, which he either wears unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up, or wrapped around his waist. He wears green cargo pants, which are slightly torn up.
In other games
Alex makes an appearance in as a playable character, alongside other Street Fighter characters, Ryu and Chun-Li. He also appears in Capcom Fighting All-Stars and Capcom Fighting Evolution.
Reception
In the official poll by Bandai Namco, Alex was the second most requested Street Fighter side character to be added to the roster of Tekken X Street Fighter, as of August 2012 raking up 17.97% of votes. In December 1997, Alex ranked 44th on Gamest's "Top 50" video game characters, tying with Goro Daimon, and in January 1998 was named the 22nd-best character of the preceding year, tying with Ryuji Yamazaki. IGN voted Alex one of their top 25 fighters. He was ranked as the sixth-best Street Fighter character by UGO.com. Alex was named by Heavy.com as the character they wanted to see the most in Ultra Street Fighter IV. Alex was also named as 10th-best character in the series by Complex.
