Cody

"I've saved the city, saved the girl, but couldn't save myself."

- Cody (Street Fighter Alpha 3)

"Well now, let's see if we can't do somethin' about my boredom. (さーて 少しは退屈しのぎになる相手かな)"

- Cody (Street Fighter IV series)

"Desk work just isn't my thing, ya know.....looks like I can have a little fun now!"

- Cody (Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition)

Cody Travers (コーディー・トラバース) is a video game character who debuted in the beat-em-up series Final Fight before appearing as a playable fighter in the Street Fighter series starting with Street Fighter Alpha 3. He was initally a reckless vigilante who fought to survive the harsh slums of Metro City since he was a kid, having gone through a lot, even being imprisoned for his 'good deeds' and trumped-up charges from his enemies. He has since then become the city's new mayor.

Appearance
Before being arrested, Cody was clean-shaven, and his outfit consisted of blue jeans, white sneakers, a white t-shirt and blue bandages wrapped around his wrists as well as the lower half of his hands.

Cody's hair is dark blond in the original game, its sequel and in Mighty Final Fight, and light blond in all of his Street Fighter appearances, including the comics and the American television series. However, the official artwork for Final Fight suggests that Cody was always intended to be light blond. If that is the case, then his Final Fight sprites may have been subjected to a coloring error on the developers' part.

As a jailbird, he had facial stubble and handcuffs which were linked by a long chain. The hand bandages are white and cover the hands completely, leaving only the fingers exposed. The t-shirt and the jeans were replaced by an old-fashioned prison jumpsuit with white and blue stripes. He keep the white sneakers, though. Unlike most convicts, Cody does not mind being in his prison apparel but, as seen in his Street Fighter Alpha 3 taunt, he can easily remove the handcuffs. In Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, his jailbird outfit returns as his nostalgia costume, and his original outfit returns as his "Final Fight" costume.

In Final Fight: Streetwise, he wears his original outfit with an orange prison shirt over the t-shirt.

Some of the official artwork for Final Fight implied that Cody has always worn Adidas Superstars, but it was his Street Fighter Alpha 3 sprite that fully confirmed this idea. Guy wears Nikes, which may be a reference to the competition between the two sports brands in real life.

In his Shadaloo C.R.I. profile artwork, Cody wears an orange prison outfit with the sleeves tied on his waist as well as a white tank top. He wears his white sneakers from his outfit in Final Fight.

In Street Fighter V, Cody, as a mayor, has a drastically altered appearance; his hair is now shorter and slicked back and he wears a business attire, including a purple formal vest with brown upper outlines, a light blue and white pinstripped long sleeve button-up shirt with the sleeves folded into cuffs and a red neck tie with brown and white linings on the collar, as well as black formal pinstripe pants with a gray belt around his waist which he had holstered his combat knife and black shoes. He notably no longer wears handcuffs. His appearance is similar to Eagle, though without the mustache and the dinner-suit.

Alternate Costumes
Cody's first downloadable costume in Super Street Fighter IV is a more stylised take on his attire from Final Fight, with the t-shirt being replaced with a white tank top with black trims. He also has tattoos, jewelery, and hand accessories, none of which were featured in his Final Fight design.

His second downloadable costume is a modern prison uniform, which is orange and replaces the sneakers with black sandals. It resembles, to some degree, his outfit from Final Fight: Streetwise.

In Street Fighter X Tekken, Cody also has two DLC costumes: a police uniform similar to that of Edi. E's worn over his default, and a Swap Costume based on Paul Phoenix.

In Street Fighter V: Arcade Editon, Cody's story costume is based off Haggar's outfit in the Final Fight series. He wore green baggy pants with a brown belt rapped around the torso. Cody isn't able to fit the pants, so his costume reveals his blue boxers that have a cow graphic on them that only reveals the head of the cow (a reference to Holstein - a cow sprite that could be obtained as a bonus item in several classic Capcom arcade games). Cody's battle costume is a white tuxedo, with a black bow tie and a rose, black formal pants and dark brown loafers. Like other returning characters, Cody's nostalgia costume returns from Super Street Fighter IV which can also be toggled to reveal a tank top underneath it with the upper-half of his prison uniform tied by the sleeves at his waist in a similar fashion his to Shadaloo C.R.I profile picture. Cody's Final Fight attire also makes an appearance in Street Fighter V: Arcade Editon which can also be toggled to show some wear-and-tear.

Concept
Cody Travers was likely inspired by the similarly-named Tom Cody, the main protagonist of the 1984 film Streets of Fire. Both are formidable street brawlers that are good with knives, and wage war on the local gang in an attempt to rescue their love interests along the way; in the end, they both walk out on the girl.

Personality
In Final Fight, Cody is depicted as being a combative, reckless but ultimately positive and good-natured man, having a powerful sense of justice and love for his girlfriend, Jessica. However, in his Street Fighter appearances, after breaking up with Jessica, losing touch with his friends and spending several years in prison, Cody has become extremely aloof, apathetic and doubtful. He remains pugnacious as ever, occasionally breaking out of prison just to fight and relieve his boredom, and often maintains his generally dismissive air - a major exception being when he finds an opponent that can entertain him.

He interprets his imprisonment as punishment for his ultimately good deeds, and even admits that the idea of achieving any constructive goal (such as overcoming rivals or taking care of family) is lost on him. Cody harbors some internal resentment towards the outside world, musing that he fought solely for the sake of Metro City but ended up imprisoned for it. According to his ending in the Street Fighter IV games, he feels at home in prison. Despite this, and as certain dialogue indicates, while Cody appears to have given up on fighting crime, he still retains his old sense of justice and an enduring (albeit subdued and exhausted) desire to oppose evil. In particular, his win quote against M. Bison shows that his true feelings come through when he confronts great evil ("I don't consider myself a good guy anymore, but I had to take you down!"), although he immediately tries to hide it. Cody also gives his respect to people who need to do business. This is shown in his win quote against T. Hawk, in which he tells him to not let him stand in the way of what he has to do and then wishes him good luck ("Don't let me stand in your way if you got stuff to do. Good luck!").

During the events of Street Fighter V, his behavior has somewhat changed as the Mayor of Metro City, showing his confidence in fighting his opponents and having more spunk in his step. While his laid-back demeanor is still present and he still misses his simple street fighting days, he has a more positive outlook and secretly enjoys his new position. Similar to Makoto in her rival quote against Fei Long in Super Street Fighter IV, Cody happily laughs after defeating G to gain more popularity in their local government of Metro City for his victory indicating that he fought him on his open challenge between the mayor and the president.

Marlowe
Marlowe is the one who usually pulls Cody in line when his nostalgia for fighting gets the better of him, and she won't hesitate to scold him if needed. Despite all that, they have a healthy professional relationship, and she is the one who keeps Cody's schedules and tasks in order.

Mike Haggar
When Haggar met Cody, he didn't exactly approve of him. Seeing him more as a troublemaker than anything. Most likely, this initial doubt only grew when Cody started dating Jessica. However, during the events of the first Final Fight, Haggar warmed up to the idea of Cody being a good guy and came to respect him as a man, ultimately approving Cody dating his daughter, mostly because he would also risk his life to rescue her. Cody was often annoyed by his lecturing though. However, after his return to Metro City, Cody started getting into trouble more and more. This made his relationship with Haggar turn sour again.

Despite this, Haggar never lost hope of him one day becoming the great man he once found when they fought the Mad Gear Gang together. With this in mind, Haggar once again tried to help Cody out of his bad habits and miserable life. This eventually would end with Cody being elected to be his successor as Mayor of Metro City. While Haggar knew he wouldn't like the job at first, he completely believed Cody was the right man for the job, as he knew his sense of justice was much greater than his internal demons.

As for Cody himself, he still rolls his eyes on his naggings, especially from his proxy Marlowe, but ultimately and instinctively finds the right path himself.

Guy
Cody and Guy were originally very good friends and rivals who would battle often. Guy is also the only old friend Cody has associated with since he went to jail. In the Arcade Mode of Street Fighter Alpha 3, after defeating Guy, Cody concludes that "some things never change", most likely referencing one (or more) of his and Guy's past duels; based on their rival dialogue in both Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Super Street Fighter IV, Cody tends to have the upper hand. Despite their frequent battles, the two have no problem teaming up to achieve a common goal, and Cody even implies at least once that he enjoys doing so.

It is implied that he hasn't seen Guy for a while since being released and being elected to office.

Zeku
Cody may not be familiar with Zeku, but seems to be aware that he was Guy's master. By the time Cody is elected as the new Metro City mayor in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Cody encounters him, who then offers his service of a new unnamed ninja clan he built, but Cody declines after challenging the old master, knowing he can't have shady work in his position.

Jessica Haggar
Jessica and Cody were dating before and by the time of Final Fight, and they were clearly infatuated with each other then. However, Cody's imprisonment and Jessica's departure to study in Europe caused them to break up on a bitter note. It is often assumed their relationship is beyond repair ever since Cody's former incarceration. However, there does not seem to be any indication that Cody holds any grudge against her for this, and actually still values her as a friend, especially how he keeps a picture of them four from way back in his desk, with some graffiti of his own scribbled, which apparently Marlowe notices in Cody's SFV ending.

Edi. E
Edi is a corrupt cop who formerly tries to frame him for additional crimes and the man who usually takes him back to prison when he escapes. Being an enemy from way back, Cody likely has no problem putting him in his place by kicking him out. It's currently unknown where Edi is by the time his enemy is now his superior.

Rolento F. Schugerg
Rolento's "Street Fighter Alpha 3" profile states that he remembers Cody who was once his enemy and plans to recruit him in his militia after hearing and learning about Cody's escape from jail. However, Rolento became genuinely outraged to see Cody's fall from grace and that the disappointed Rolento had soon cancelled his mission with Cody, moving on to bigger missions alongside his best friend and comrade Sodom. Like Guy, it's likely Rolento's unaware, but presumably relieved if he did, of Cody's current position as of SFV.

Poison
A former member of Mad Gear, Poison is an old enemy of Cody's, alongside with Roxy, who has a crush on him, though Cody has stated numerous times that he's not into her.

Background
Cody has practiced boxing and martial arts since he was 9, he has a girlfriend who has been his "sweetheart since childhood", Jessica. Cody also took care of his younger brother Kyle, being something of a father figure to him.

Final Fight
In the original Final Fight, Cody teams up with his best friend/rival Guy and the Mayor of Metro City, Mike Haggar, to save Jessica (Haggar's daughter) from Belger, the leader of the Mad Gear gang. Cody takes on many of Mad Gear's worst thugs, including Damnd, the first Mad Gear Gang member to kidnap Jessica, and Edi. E, a corrupt police officer who uses a gun and police baton against Cody, making the fight very difficult to win. His penchant for fighting often leaves the others free to pursue the other bosses of Metro City.

In the end, Cody confronted Belger on the top floor of his penthouse, and after a tough battle, Cody was able to use an uppercut to knock Belger through a window, sending Belger plummeting from the top floor to his death on the street below. Cody is then celebrated as the hero of Metro City and Jessica herself wants to celebrate with Cody, but Cody tells Jessica that he can't sit still while evil continues to stalk the streets. After sharing a passionate kiss with Jessica, Cody leaves the city for parts unknown.

Final Fight Revenge
Cody would soon reappear in Final Fight Revenge, which is chronologically set between the events of Final Fight and Street Fighter Alpha 3. He returned to Metro City from a year of traveling, where he learned that the Mad Gear gang is beginning to reform, and that his girlfriend Jessica has gone missing after a series of riots that occurred in the city following the destruction of Mad Gear. Hoping to prove himself that he is Jessica's hero, Cody tried once more to come to her rescue, battling many thugs along the way. Sadly, Cody wouldn't get the chance to continue his search for Jessica, as he was arrested by Edi. E for crimes that were committed by Mad Gear member Poison and the many street fights that Cody had participated in from his time.

Jessica's whereabouts in the game are never resolved in any of the playable characters' endings. However, the design sketches for Cody from Street Fighter Zero 3, as well as the Street Fighter Zero 3 Secret File Book would establish that Haggar was able to rescue Jessica, and that she and Cody had ended their relationship on a bitter note, due to Cody being jailed for his reckless street fighting and that Jessica had decided to take a trip to study abroad in Europe.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
Cody broke out of prison after a riot ensued. During his travels, he met up with Edi. E (who is trying to recapture him), Rolento, and even Guy once more. Rolento wanted him to join his militant movement, which Cody refused after a heated argument (though it's unknown if they had actually fought). Guy, meanwhile, wanted to reform Cody and get him back on the good path, but Cody said that he was no hero and basically lived for fighting. The two then had their own battle but after the two calmed down, Guy accepted the fact that his friend had to live his own life. The two separated afterward when Guy asked if Cody would stay in Metro City, but Cody said he still had traveling to do. Guy bade him farewell, realizing that deep down inside, Cody is still a good person.

Street Fighter IV series
Apparently bored of prison life, Cody "casually" breaks out of prison. Telling the irritated guard that he'll be back soon enough, he ventures outside. While out, Cody sees a familiar face: his old friend and rival Guy, and the two spar. Cody's main motivation seems to be finding a way to alleviate his boredom by participating in S.I.N's tournament.

After defeating Seth, Guy confronts Cody again, assuming there's still a bit of good left in him, asking if he "vanquished a great evil" for the sake of what's right. While he doesn't directly deny it, Cody claims that he only did it because Seth was in his way, making Guy assume he has no intention of returning. When given the question, Cody states he'll be returning to his prison cell, where he belongs.

Street Fighter V
Cody makes his re-appearance in the third season of DLC fighters in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.

Mike Haggar exonerates Cody of his crimes, which leads to him being the new mayor of Metro City. Now no longer a prisoner, he finds the job tedious and boring, but he secretly finds an opportunity in his new position as mayor to finally clean Metro City of its criminal activities in person (both physically and while at his desk), just like how his immediate predecessor and himself did way back.

Character story
Prologue - 'Mayor's Schedule'

In a cab, Cody is sitting alongside his assistant Marlowe, who informs him on a delayed appointment. She becomes annoyed that he doesn't seem to listen to her and informs him to fix his behavior as the mayor, explaining how about the previous mayor, Mike Haggar, asked her to support Cody. Cody quickly stops the cab and sees a monster truck illegally parked, he discovers the owner is his former enemy Abigail. After getting into a fight with him, Cody informs Abigail that he illegally parked his truck and the latter immediately recognizes Cody much to his surprise. Cody tells Abigail that he wants to improve the qualities of Metro City and to make everyone smile by taking down "garbage" like Abigail.

Cody reflects about how he has gone from a vigilante, to a jailbird and now as the mayor of Metro City. He suddenly sensed someone's presence, revealed to be Zeku. Zeku informs him that he could help him manage the local government, Cody challenges him into a fight, wanting to see his skills. After defeating him, Cody turns down the offer, knowing he can't have shady work in his position. Marlowe turns up and scolds Cody for his actions in street fighting, especially since he had damaged one of the street lights during his fight with Zeku.

Final Fight: Streetwise
In the sequel to the original Final Fight, Cody has long retired from street fighting due to his knees suffering from arthritis, and instead coaches his younger brother Kyle in pit fights, but gets frustrated due to Kyle's lack of focus, which in turn stokes Cody's wish to fight once more.

Due to this, Cody started to use a new drug called "GLOW", fueling Cody's strength and relieving the pain in his knees, but getting him addicted and out of control in the process. Without telling Kyle, Cody started fighting in Vito Bracca's fight club. However, Vito finds out about his drug use, and Cody is taken by the mob enforcer known as Devin Aranoc, leaving Kyle to search all over Metro City to look for his brother with the help of Guy, Haggar and others. He finds Cody, heavily addicted under Guy's custody, but Cody breaks free once again.

Near the end, Cody fights Kyle as the Horseman of Death under the psychotic Father Bella, as revenge for Cody killing Bella's brother - Belger. When the fight is over, Bella holds Kyle at gunpoint, causing Cody to regain his senses and tackle Bella off the church, dropping along with him. After Bella dies and both Kyle and Cody are hospitalized, Cody has beaten his addiction and states (after jokingly asking Kyle for the date of their next match) that due to the massive dosage he received, his knees are feeling "better than ever".

Cameo appearances
Cody and Jessica make a small stage appearance in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and Street Fighter Alpha 2. In the latter, if one or both characters battling on the Metro City stage are female, Cody passes them a naughty glance which results in him being slapped by an envious Jessica.

He also has a cameo appearance in Capcom Fighting Jam.

Street Fighter X Tekken
Cody appears in Street Fighter X Tekken along with Guy as a DLC character. Approached by Guy in Metro City, Guy says he wants to stop Shadaloo and the Mishima Zaibatsu from getting their hands on the mysterious box of unknown power in Antarctica, Pandora, and that he needs Cody's help to do it. Cody sighs in response, but says he will do it, saying that the city was boring him anyway.

On the way to Antarctica, they are attacked by a psychopathic zombie-cyborg named Bryan Fury and his giant robot, Jack-X, which classifies both of them as AAA rank fighters. Bryan attacks them to weed out the competition for Pandora, despite Cody's warnings. Guy dodges Bryan's attacks, and Cody matches the enormous Jack-X robot in strength. They defeat Bryan and move on.

After their final victory against Ogre, they find Pandora in the middle of Antarctic. The wish-giving Pandora's Box senses the just wisdom and selflessness within their souls, and Pandora erases itself from existence before Cody and Guy can destroy it. Guy notes that it was all for the best, since its powers could bring untold chaos to the world, and Cody comments that it's all the same to him. As Cody leaves, Guy mentions how good it was to fight as a team again. Cody concedes and admits that it definitely was not boring. In a rare break from his usual stoicism, Guy smiles and says that's good to hear, and the two go home.

In his ending, Cody felt satisfied from all the fighting he did on his journey, and on the way home, he encountered a gang fight. Initially wanting to avoid it, Cody agreed to intervene once the people asked him to. After the fight, Cody comments that he feels more like his old self, remembering how it is to fight for another's sake.

Street Fighter cartoon
Cody makes an appearance in the Street Fighter 1995 cartoon where he is in a healthy relationship with Jessica and wears his Final Fight attire.

He had some cameos in the episode "The Medium is the Message". In the beginning of the episode he was in the mob of people chasing a boy who was accused of stealing a wallet. He was later see alongside Jessica and other Final Fight characters in the crowd watching a Street Fighter tournament. Coincidentally Guy and Sodom were among the fighters in the tournament but both of them would lose to Chun-Li, Guile and Blanka.

Cody plays a bigger role in the episode titled "Final Fight", which adapts the plot of its namesake. In this episode, Cody and Guy befriend Ryu and Ken, who aid them in fighting the Mad Gear Gang to save Jessica. Cody doesn't trust Ken due to the fact he once flirted with Jessica in front of him and Ken repeatedly teases him for it. Cody would refuse to let Ken and Ryu save Jessica on their own and decides to take matters into his own hands. Guy tries to stop him from blowing Ryu and Ken's cover but it was no use. The two would end up fighting against Rolento which ends with Guy throwing his grenades back at him and defeating him. Cody and Guy break into the Mad Gear gang's hangout which would blow Ryu and Ken's cover. Cody would kick Belger towards the window similar to what he did in the game. Belger fires a missile at Jessica and Haggar but was saved by Guy. Belger fell out of the window but while his chair hit a police van he was left dangling on a pole. Cody thanks Ken for helping him save Jessica which Ken responds "No problem as long as somebody get's the girl."

UDON comics
In the Street Fighter II Turbo comic book published by UDON, Cody is presented as one of the toughest fighters around. Haggar has become tired of calling in favors to keep him out of jail while Cody is simply bored of his constant lectures; this causes him to give up, deciding he can't keep Cody out of jail forever. At some point he even lost track of how many times Cody escaped and re-entered jail.

Prior to the World Warrior qualifier, he encounters former members of the Mad Gear Gang: Hugo, Rolento and Poison. Cody comments that Hugo should have brought his entire freakish family if the Mad Gears planned to stand a chance against him. Apparently intimidated, the trio does not respond.

During the qualifier itself, Cody defeats Poison, though she later leaves him cuffed to an elevator. After he manages to break free, Cody faces Ryu in order to claim the last remaining gold ticket for the competition. Ryu, wanting a fair fight, removes Cody's shackles, though Cody warns him that he is accustomed to fighting multiple foes and that, due to this fact, Ryu is already at a major disadvantage. As confirmation, Cody easily knocks Ryu unconscious. Before he manages to leave with the ticket, the Satsui no Hado takes control of Ryu, who then defeats Cody. Fortunately, Ryu comes to his senses in time to stop himself from going any further.

Cody makes a cameo as one of the inmates that Dan is giving "therapy" to, and he is among the fighters invited to Gill's Street Fighter tournament, often seen next to Guy.

Fighting style
Cody's fighting style, officially referred as "Underworld brawling", is street fighting in its "purest" form, and he proves to be a powerful opponent, even while restrained; his reason for keeping his handcuffs on is to make his fights more challenging and also because of his experience in the original Final Fight which made him capable of taking on multiple opponents at once, though he can take them off at any time. As such, Cody was formerly one of three characters (the others being Oro and Akuma) who voluntarily handicaps and restrain themselves due to their power or for a challenge. Cody is also one of the few playable characters in the Street Fighter series to utilize a weapon during fights.

Unlike informal punkers and thugs like Abigail or Birdie who both place emphasis on brute strength, heavy hits and overall high damage, Cody's street fighting style is a mix of boxing combined with his black belt level teachings in martial arts such as karate. He is one of a very select group of characters who are "pure" street fighters whose fighting styles are a result of a mass accumulation of experience on the streets and adapting moves from watching and getting into fights rather then training from actual styles. As representative of the "purest" form of street fighting, this includes carrying on his person concealed weapons, adapting formal martial arts to formidable practical application, and knowledge of how to deal with unfair and extreme odds, including one man gang busting and handling unavoidable potentially consequence dire situations, including mortal risks.

Though referred to as "Underworld brawling", the methods he picked up while in prison may refer directly to what is known in the US as "Jailhouse Rock", being a series of on penitentiary fighting styles developed within penal institutions by inmates. Within the time of his incarceration, his tactics got dirtier; focusing a little more on power, but still retaining some level of technique. As any other prisoner, Cody had to learn how to survive, to assert his dominance in a secured space with murderers and other hardened criminals in order to hold his own. This may explain his newer set of moves, including hurling any heavy object he could get his hands on to obstruct pursuers, using his kicks to trip over or aim heavy blows on the body, and how his knife skills were used akin more like a shank. In turn, he got stronger; strong enough to punch a man-sized hole in a brick wall to join the World Warrior Tournament twice, all the while wearing handcuffs.

As of Street Fighter V, he no longer wears cuffs and may have learnt to limit his strength like Akuma, as his style appears to be more innovative and refined with his crude nature still in play. Not only does he use the iconic pipe, Dirty Coach, from Final Fight in new ways such as batting a projectile with it, he is no longer able to pick up his knife, but his knife skills have improved to the point of being able to wield it as an actual combat knife similar to other weapon users, notably Vega with his claw. He trades his technique of throwing rocks impromptu for wind gales he can project to the enemy.

Moveset
In the Street Fighter games, Cody is an offense-oriented character with a diverse moveset, powerful normal attacks, and good combo capabilities. His movement speed is relatively slow, and lacks options when it comes to handling rushdowns, as many of his special moves are slow to come out.

Cody's move set is mainly based on his Final Fight appearances, similar to other characters from the game, with some 'street fighting' moves added in. Cody possess a sliding kick that can strike at various heights, an uppercut that creates a tornado, which is useful against projectiles, and can throw sand at the foe as a reversal. Cody can also pick up rocks and throw them at foes, with the ability to delay the throw in order to confuse the opponent.

In the Street Fighter Alpha series, his Super Combos are Dead End Irony and Final Destruction, both of which work well at close range. Final Destruction also has unique properties based on the ISM being used, explained below. In V-ISM, Cody has a move called Yoke that can be used to dodge.

In Super Street Fighter IV, he gains an additional sucker punch that can break through Super Armor (along with the Ruffian Kick). Dead End Irony returns as his Super Combo, and works differently, starting with a Ruffian Kick that depends on the kick button used. Final Destruction returns as his first Ultra Combo, and also works differently, centering instead around a single punch. His second Ultra Combo, Last Dread Dust, allows him to strike from a further distance and nullify projectiles by kicking up sand. He follows this with a series of wrench attacks and finishes with a pipe.

In Street Fighter X Tekken, Final Destruction reappears as his Super Art, where it again works differently; it starts similarly to the Dead End Irony from Super Street Fighter IV, and the Ruffian Kick can be Supercharged into it.

In Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Cody retains most of his moves from previous entries and gains more street fighting moves in a flashy style to his arsenal. Cody no longer threw rocks on his opponent or unleashing a refined version of his Criminal Upper. He gains a projectile called the Tornado Sweep, where he shoots a swirling gust of wind to his opponent. Much like Ruffian Kick, heavier versions lack range, but have better vertical hitboxes and power. It's also worth noting that EX Ruffian Kick hits twice, the second hit launching Cody's opponent into the air.

His V-Skill is the Double Kick where he could land two kicks in mid-air on both sides resembling one of his old special attacks in Final Fight.

His first V-Trigger is the Side Arm where Cody relies on hitting his opponent with his combat knife multiple times with Rapid Fire while dealing a combo. His second V-Trigger is the Dirty Coach where Cody relies on hitting the opponent with his pipe. He can execute both Bean Ball and a Gentle Swing once his second V-Trigger activates. He can also throw rocks when unleashing his Gentle Swing to hit his opponent.

His Critical Art is the Criminal Punisher, a far more powerful version of his Criminal Upper where he unleashes a powerful giant tornado on his opponent to deal heavy damage.

Final Fight-Inspired Moves
 Final Fight' s use of weapons - a common feature in "beat 'em up" games - is referenced in Cody's fighting style. His ever-present knife even appears in any fight in the middle of the stage where at least one player is using Cody; this is also a common trait of Cody's, which nods to his home series' usage of various objects as weapons, and the knife is his best weapon in the Final Fight games, and only Cody can pick it up and use it as a melee weapon. The knife can be used for fast, damaging attacks, and can also be throw at the foe (which replaces the Bad Stone). Additionally, in Super Street Fighter IV Cody uses a wrench during his Focus Attack, and uses the wrench along with a pipe during Last Dread Dust, as shown above.

Cody's A-ISM Final Destruction is an homage to a glitch that is well-known in practically almost every beat 'em up game, known as the "infinite jab combo", in Final Fight and any specific beat 'em up game in question; a player could deliver two hits from their neutral combo string, then instantly turn around — instantly canceling the combo — and then turn back and chain the same two hits; repeated, this could act as an infinite combo attack that can repeatedly frame lock the target(s). Cody mimics the attack, and finishes with another combo of punches and a Criminal Upper. His X-ISM Final Destruction changes the Super Combo Gauge to a timer; for a short time, this replaces his moves with the original Final Fight moveset, where tapping any button repeatedly performs his normal combo from Final Fight, and all his air attacks are replaced with the Crack Kick.

The Omega Mode in Ultra Street Fighter IV marks the return of several Final Fight mechanics: the "original" Final Destruction appears in the form of a command move called Final Combination, and Cody also regains his turn-around punch, named Fake Blow. Cody also regains his invincible spinning kick in the form of Mega Crash, which uses a bar of the Super Combo Gauge (in lieu of health, as in the original game).

Quotes
See: Cody/Quotes

Trivia

 * The Streets of Rage series, beat 'em up games created by Sega, feature a main character (Axel Stone) who closely resembles Cody. However, the character's sprite and costume colors were changed in the western version of the third installment, removing any resemblances.
 * Cody bears a mild resemblance to Joe from the original Street Fighter. Both are stated to be from the United States, and Cody's Crack Kick is similar to Joe's kick.
 * Cody's official artwork for Super Street Fighter IV displays a broken brick wall as well as the Street Fighter logo. In the intro for the aforementioned game, he destroys an entire brick wall with just a small rock, and the camera does a closeup on the rock right before he throws it. Both appear to be echoing the original intro of the first Street Fighter, in which the person literally breaking the wall is in fact Joe, who does it with his own fists.
 * The official Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition trailer also shows this as well.


 * Cody is one of the first characters in the franchise to utilize "actual" street fighting as their primary fighting style, despite not originating from that series; of note in this regard is that Final Fight was originally titled Street Fighter '89 and was originally a sequel to the original Street Fighter.


 * Cody's rival in Super Street Fighter IV was originally intended to be Chun-Li, but was then changed to Guy shortly before the release. His win quote against Chun-Li implies that she looked up to him as a hero.
 * However, it seemingly counteracts in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, when according to her win-quote, Chun-Li was still suspicious of Cody and his position as mayor, even though the latter stated to the former (in his win-quote) that he had done his time in prison.


 * Oni and E. Honda are the only characters who recognize that Cody is holding back during all his battles. Before Cody fights the former in Super Street Fighter IV's Arcade Mode, Oni implies that he might actually survive the battle if he doesn't hold back.


 * If Cody wins in a fight against Akuma, he admits that he thought Akuma was rather weak compared to his expectations, being the only character to honestly admit being unimpressed by Akuma's strength.
 * If Cody wins against Oni in Arcade Mode, he'll say that it was the most fun he's had in his life worth living, making it the only time besides fighting Ryu that he admits to having fun.


 * Cody's win quotes against non-human challengers (such as Oni and Ogre) may hint that Cody thinks it is fun to fight against them.


 * On some occasions in Street Fighter Alpha 3, Edi. E (who is a boss from Final Fight) chases Cody around, trying to arrest him after a win. An even rarer occasion shows him getting kicked off the screen after this.


 * In Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX, When Cody is in V-ISM, he can dodge certain attacks while blocking.


 * In Street Fighter Alpha 3 one of Cody's win quotes is "After waiting for so long, it feels good to do more than two moves," referencing Final Fight's limited movesets.
 * When Cody swings his pipe during his second V-Trigger, it resembles Cracker Jack's Batting Hero Special Attack, Home Run Hero Super Combo, and Home Run King Meteor Combo in the Street Fighter EX series and Fighting EX Layer where he wields his baseball bat.
 * Additionally, Negan (from the Walking Dead franchise) in his guest appearance in Tekken 7 resembles his second V-Trigger on its purest form when he utilizes his bob-wired baseball bat named Lucille.


 * During the execution of his Side Arm V-Trigger, the way that Cody initiates his Rapid Fire nearly resembles Chris Redfield's Sweep Combo Hyper Combo in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, its update, and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Cody also wields a combat knife that is nearly similar to Chris' own.
 * In his Street Fighter V character trailer, he is portrayed by NJPW wrestler Kenny Omega. Coincidentally, the person he's talking to on the phone is WWE wrestler Xavier Woods. He even reenacts turning on the TV the same way Haggar does. This is possibly due to their involvement for EVO 2016 as competitors and it's been said that Kenny Omega is also a fan of Cody.
 * Both Kenny Omega and Xavier Woods are notable fans and players of the Street Fighter franchise.


 * Cody's official last name or family name, Travers, was first mentioned in Final Fight: Streetwise, and it has rarely been used since then, as he's commonly referred to as just Cody. Cody's SFV: AE trailer marks one of the few instances of his last name being mentioned outside Streetwise. Since then, his family name became officially and canonically recognized.


 * The fact that Cody has succeeded Haggar as the new Mayor of Metro City (given the fact that Haggar himself had predated former WWE wrestler and commentator Jesse Ventura's past run as the former Governor of Minnesota) has coincided with Glenn Jacobs' (or better known as WWE's Kane) mayoral campaign for Knox County, Tennessee, to which he had won in due time. As of October 2018, Jacobs is still incumbent as the Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee while also continuing to wrestle for the WWE.

Stage Theme
Cody's theme in Super Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition are remixes of the opening music from the original arcade release of Final Fight.

Gallery
Cody/Gallery

Sprites
Cody/Sprites