Street Fighter will include over a dozen game characters, but it seems to have cut a few classic members of the roster. Street Fighter will be the third live-action adaptation of the Capcom fighting game series. The film has already confirmed that the cast will include 17 characters from the games, ranging from fixtures of the series to serious deep-cuts.

However, given the sheer scope of the Street Fighter franchise, it makes sense that some characters simply wouldn’t make the cut. While the reasons aren’t clear yet, there are three characters in particular who have been fixtures of the games but don’t seem to have a role in the new movie. Here are the three biggest surprising cuts from Street Fighter.

Victor Sagat

Sagat is one of the defining characters of the entire Street Fighter franchise, making his absence in the upcoming film adaptation all the more surprising. Sagat was the final boss in the original Street Fighter, a burly Muay Thai fighter who was only defeated by Ryu tapping into his dark side.

Sagat became a playable character in Street Fighter II and was established as Ryu’s rival as well as a member of M. Bison’s Shadaloo organization. The game character eventually received a great deal of character development, growing as a person in direct contrast to Ryu’s own arc.

The 1994 Street Fighter film pulled from the more villainous notes of the character, recasting him as a former championship fighter who had become an international crime lord. He aligned himself with M. Bison, but his plot line remained largely focused on Ryu and Ken while Bison’s story shifted to Guile and Chun-Li.

The new film seems to have dropped Sagat in lieu of having Akuma be a more important character. Both Sagat and Akuma are imposing fighters with personal conflicts with Ryu, so it makes sense that the new movie would cut Sagat to not distract from Akuma’s likely role in the story opposite Ryu.

Dee Jay

Debuting in Super Street Fighter II, Dee Jay is a Jamaican kickboxer and breakdancer. Dee Jay initially joined the fighting tournament to discover new styles of music for his DJ career. While the reception to the character in the gaming community was mixed because of his problematic elements, he’s remained a friendly fixture of the games.

In various adaptations, Dee Jay has been briefly mindwashed into serving as a foot soldier of Shadaloo. However, he’s an outright villain and a full-time member of Bison’s criminal empire in the 1994 Street Fighter movie. Recast as Bison’s tech expert and hacker, Dee Jay is primarily there to serve as comic relief.

As one of the only comparatively “normal” people in the Shadaloo organization, Dee Jay was given several moments in the film where he would give the raving Bison a side-eye or make a snarky comment about their situation. This extends to the end of the film, where Dee Jay survives the final battle by abandoning Bison to his fate.

Dee Jay doesn’t seem to be among the new movie’s fighters. This might be because of the fraught history of the character, or because of his relative lack of importance in the overall franchise. While many Street Fighter characters have been called stereotypes over the years, Dee Jay’s problematic elements might have also made him an easy cut.

Sergeant Thunder Hawk

T. Hawk was introduced in Super Street Fighter II as an Indigenous fighter from Mexico who is dedicated to protecting the people of his tribe. T. Hawk is typically depicted in the series as a heroic character, with a grudge against M. Bison for the way Shadaloo stole his tribe’s land and killed his father.

T. Hawk also has a connection to one of Bison’s agents Juli, who is set to appear in the film played by Rayna Vallandingham. T. Hawk appears in the 1994 film, where he’s recast as a member of the Allied Nations military squad sent to confront Bison. He serves under Guile and alongside Cammy.

The most likely reason T. Hawk isn’t in the Street Fighter movie is the already mᴀssive cast of characters confirmed for the film. The movie has already been teased to focus on Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li, meaning T. Hawk’s arc wouldn’t get much room for development and might have simply been cut for necessity.

The other reality is that, like Dee Jay, the mixed reception to the character might explain his removal. Many critics have argued that T. Hawk, especially how he’s depicted in his first few appearances, is an offensive stereotype. Even compared to other Street Fighter characters, T. Hawk has been called out for indulging in many tropes about Native Americans.

It’s possible that T. Hawk, Dee Jay, and Sagat are in the film in some capacity, or could even get teased for appearances for a potential sequel. However, at least with the confirmed characters and cast, it makes sense why someone like T. Hawk might not appear in the upcoming Street Fighter movie.