The 28 characters 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.

Oct 9, 2009

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