Meet the cast of Tatsunoko vs Capcom

Tekkaman

First appeared: Space Knight Tekkaman

In the near-ish future, Earth is invaded by nasty aliens called the Waldaster, and only the space knight Tekkaman can defend the planet. Tekkaman’s other identity, Joji Mionami, is able to transform into earth’s savior using Tekset system technologies, and he has an ax – or a space lance, actually – to grind with the Waldaster, who killed his dad (along many other earthmen). On top of that, Joji and his spacefaring pals on the Tekkaman team are searching for a new home for the people of the quickly dying planet Earth. He’s got a lot on his plate.

Tekkaman Blade

First appeared: Tekkaman Blade

Like many popular series, Tekkaman got a ‘90s reboot in the form of Tekkaman Blade. This time around, Earth is threatened by the Radam alien race, which are led by the evil Tekkamen. Tasked with stopping them are the Space Knights, but they really don’t make a dent until a mysterious young man, D-boy, joins the group. He can transform into Tekkaman Blade and fights to protect earth from the evil Tekkamen. With his deadly twin lance and Voltekka armor, Blade is a very quick and skilled fighter, and maybe he and the Space Knights can one day free the Earth.

Viewtiful Joe

First appeared: Viewtiful Joe

It’s hard to think of someone from Capcom’s stable of characters that fits in better with Tatsunoko’s heroes than Viewtiful Joe, since he exists as a parody of the Henshin, or transforming, champions such as those Tatsunoko created. When Joe says, “Henshin a-go-go baby,” he transforms into the colorful hero Viewtiful Joe, star of serialized adventures. In his first game, he searched for his girlfriend Silvia after she’s kidnapped into the movie screen during a classic Captain Blue feature. Along with fighting and boomerang-throwing prowess, Joe’s powers focus on making his fights more cinematic by slowing down or speeding up the film, or zooming in to make things explode. That, merged with an array of vehicles and a giant robot, makes the loving homage more than ideal for TvC.

Yami

First appeared: Okami

Spoilers! As both the final villain in Okami and TvC, Yami is one evil sphere. Known as the source of all darkness, he’s responsible for most of the celestial problems that dog-god Amaterasu is trying to clean up. It takes all of Amaterasu’s skills to beat his five forms, break through the mechanical exterior and beat up his soft organic core. Fortunately, he only has three forms to beat in TvC, which are pictured above. Aside from being ancient, primal evil, there isn’t much more to say about Yami, so seriously: why no Amaterasu in this game?

Above: Yami’s spoilerific introduction in Okami

Yatterman

First appeared: Yatterman

Gan Takedo, or Gan-Chan to his friends, rides around inside a mobile tank/robo-dog (Yatter-Wan) with his girlfriend Ai and a robot/transformable six-sided die Omotchama. The 13-year old boy and his friends travel in Yatter-Wan to prevent Doronjo and her minions from getting hold of pieces of the powerful Skull Stone. In his Yatterman persona - technically he’s Yatterman no. 1 to Ai’s no. 2 – Gan fights using a kendama as both a grappling hook and as something to hit people upside the head with.

Yatterman 2

First appeared: Yatterman

Fighting alongside her boyfriend, Yatterman 1, Ai Kaminari works with her man Gan to stop Doronjo from getting her hands on the Skull Stone. The daughter of an electronics store owner, she’s usually tinkering with something, and operates as the mechanic for the team. Along with Gan’s help, she builds most of the contraptions the Yatterman team uses. A nimble fighter, her weapon of choice is an extending baton that zaps enemies with an electrical charge.

Above: The opening to the 2008 remake

Zero

First appeared: Mega Man X

A Maverick Hunter just like his friend X, Zero is Mega Man X’s equivalent to Proto Man, having red coloring and a friendly rivalry with the star, but with an added ponytail. More aggressive than X, Zero prefers to get in close with his lightsaber-ish weapon, and when he became a fully-playable option in Mega Man X4, he gave experienced players an even greater challenge during their second playthrough. Suffering from standard videogame amnesia - not to mention being destroyed and rebuilt more than once - he eventually learns that he was built by Dr. Wily a century earlier, but he rejects the evil purpose for which he was created, and fights for peace by destroying evil robots, despite the cold, anti-hero exterior he projects.

Jan 26, 2010

The 56 characters of Marvel vs Capcom 2
A who's-who of the soon to return classic

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars review
An unknown cast and spotty online battles can't keep this batshit-insane fighter down

Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars combos
VIDEO: See 23 extreme hyper combos in one of the biggest crossovers of all time