Rolento

"To challenge me is to challenge my army."

- Rolento

"Now ready to commence the attack! (これより戦闘を開始する！)"

- Rolento (Street Fighter IV series)

Rolento F. Schugerg (ロレント・F・シュゲルグ) is a video game character who debuted as a boss in the beat-em-up game Final Fight, before appearing as a playable fighter in the Street Fighter series starting with Street Fighter Alpha 2. He is a former member of the Mad Gear Gang, obsessed with turning Metro City into a military utopia.

Appearance
Rolento is a muscular, athletic and acrobatic German-American man with solid white eyes (depicted as pupil-less in most official artworks), pronounced jaw and cheekbones, and a scar running down from his forehead through his nose bridge and into the left side of his face.

In his appearance in the original Final Fight, Rolento wore green tiger stripe camouflage fatigues, and his staff and grenades were brown in color. In the Street Fighter series, he now wears a yellow military outfit with a red beret on his head, a red scarf on his neck, leather weapon belts going over his shoulders, brown militia leather boots and fingerless gloves and fights with a green staff and grenades. His staff and grenades were changed to a brownish-green hue in Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Personality
Rolento can be described as a somewhat "twisted" (though very far from being evil) patriot, who consistently bases his entire life, dialogues and behaviors in the "strict military veteran" stereotype, with a rather fanatical zeal. He is often heard praising absolute order and discipline and despising any rebellious or "inadequate" behavior. Having fought in countless wars, particularly the Vietnam War, Rolento is an expert in guerrilla tactics, psychological warfare and weaponry such as knives and grenades, making him a dangerous ace-on-sleeve opponent.

His greatest dream is to build a utopia-style military nation, with himself as its supreme ruler; despite this, the people would ideally be happy, live their plain lives and have freedom to carve their own fates. Any form of violation against the people's rights (such as any dystopic or totalitarian regimen) would be ignoble in his world view; in the Alpha series, Rolento plots to overthrow the diabolical M. Bison and make his dream come true, though he completely scoffs at the usage of the Shadaloo machine known as the Psycho Drive, refusing to contemplate the possibility of brainwashing his would-be citizens. As twisted as he is, his acknowledgement of free will is, perhaps, his most redeeming quality. Rolento is also more than willing to recruit anyone he can - even former enemies or Mad Gear criminals - to this end.

Concept
According to former Capcom member Seth Killian, Rolento was created by Neo_G (Ishizawa Hidetoshi) and his name was supposed to be "Laurence" when he was in the developmental stages of becoming a character, but due to the L and R confusion in the Japanese language as well as the additions of vowels at the end of words in transliteration, "Laurence" became "Rolento". Judging by Japanese transliteration however, Neo_G may have meant the similar name "Laurent" (ロレント), as Lawrence would have instead been rendered as (ロレンス).

Rolento's appearance appears to be heavily inspired by Colonel, a character in the famous manga and anime series, Fist of the North Star. His militaristic tendencies and actions, prior gang membership, and nationality may also derive from the ideas of extremist paramilitary and pro Militia Movement groups that have acted criminally in the United States, in light of Rolento's views currently acting independent of such motives and political stance.

Sodom
While initially hostile against his former comrade, the two share an identical utopia of order, as seen in Street Fighter Alpha 3. Sodom initially thought that Rolento was walking the path of a madman in a similar fashion to Bison until Rolento decided against using the Psycho Drive, and instead swore to destroy it.

Guy
As both were enemies in Final Fight, their hostilities continue, though much toned down.

Cody
Like Guy, Cody and Rolento were also enemies in Final Fight, but Rolento is genuinely shocked to see Cody's descent from grace when he became a convict.

Poison
While technically allies in Final Fight, Poison does not want anything to do with Rolento, having sworn away from anything related to Mad Gear.

Story
According to his original backstory, Rolento is a former member of the fictional US military special forces unit, the Red Berets, explaining his military appearance and skills. However, he eventually left the force and sold himself as a mercenary for hire; information on his career cites him having been in many conflict heavy and civil war torn areas of the world before the 1980s, into Africa, Eastern Bloc Europe, and Central and South America, with having once served under infamous groups such as the East Germany Stasi secret police and Columbian revolutionaries.

His last tour of duty was hinted to be that of the Vietnam War, and though he and his company were elite on the field, his experiences in battle and war saw him became disillusioned with the politics and state of the world, and grew to adopt the ambition of building a utopian nation "for the military man, by the military man". Though mentioned only in Street Fighter EX, he and his unit had a run in with the unit of Doctrine Dark, that went from accidental scuffle to a full on skirmish due to ill reputations with one another and an unfriendly rivalry. Having wiped out Doctrine's company, leaving him the sole survivor, it was because of this event that drove him mad, leaving Rolento responsible for his crippled state and psychotic breakdown. After this, his activities caught the attention of US authorities and other rival adversaries, forcing him to return back to the US in hiding.

Finding camaraderie and solace in Mad Gear's ideals with his own, Rolento soon struck up old connections, including the early Columbian cocaine trade, to finance the group in Metro City.

Final Fight series
Rolento made his first appearance as fourth stage's boss in the original Final Fight. Rolento was put in charge of the gang's secret armory-producing plants in Metro City's industrial area and has great influence. He was defeated by Guy, who scarred him with a thrown shuriken. When defeated, instead of fading away like most enemies in the game, he blows himself up with his own grenades.

The Industrial Area stage, and by extension Rolento, was excluded from the SNES version of Final Fight (and its revised rerelease, Final Fight Guy) due to space constraints. Because of this, the developers of the SNES sequel, Final Fight 2, saw fit to include him in the following game to compensate his previous omission.

In Final Fight 2, he is the boss of the fifth stage, Italy. His general appearance and fighting style remained unchanged from the previous game, and he is the only returning enemy characer besides the Andore from the original game. As an in-joke, the Game Boy Advance version, Final Fight One (which included all of the stages and the Alpha sprites of Guy and Cody as bonuses) had an interaction with Alpha Cody and Rolento, where Cody says that he "doesn't remember going to this path".

Street Fighter Alpha 2
Rolento was the third Final Fight character made playable in the Street Fighter Alpha series. He first appears in Street Fighter Alpha 2, following the first game's inclusion of Guy and Sodom, although he previously made a cameo appearance in Sodom's ending in the original game.

No longer content with being a lackey for the Mad Gear gang, Rolento seeks to create his own utopian nation. Sodom tries to convince him to rejoin Mad Gear, but Rolento refuses, saying he has no need for them anymore; Sodom brands him an "arrogant moron" and instead challenges him to a fight. Rolento then encounters Guy, realizing that he still views him as a Mad Gear "leader". Guy insults Rolento, saying he hasn't learned his lesson and that he hates slow learners, and Rolento threatens to "rebuild his empire" on Guy's face.

In his ending, he makes his move and attempts to start his new nation in Metro City, driving a tank through the business district, and Mayor Mike Haggar is called to stop him.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
In Street Fighter Alpha 3, Rolento remembers Cody as a powerful fighter from the past, and searches for him to try to recruit him into his army. The Cody he finds, however, is in a prison uniform and handcuffs, causing Rolento to become disheartened at his fall. Rolento later encounters and defeats Sodom once more, 'confirming' to the latter that the military man had indeed lost sight of what Mad Gear stood for.

Eventually, Rolento stumbles upon M. Bison's Psycho Drive after stealing weapons from Shadaloo for his army. He learns that the Psycho Drive brainwashes people, and decides against using it - a utopia cannot be created if people can't make their own decisions. Sodom, who had tracked Rolento down despite their earlier arguments, hears him proclaim this and realizes that Rolento did not lose sight of Mad Gear's ideals after all. They make up and decide to work together to use those values to make a great utopian nation.

Ultra Street Fighter IV
Yoshinori Ono, producer for Street Fighter IV admitted that he liked Rolento's playing style, but he couldn't get into the final game because they needed the Final Fight license from Capcom USA. Oddly, when Super Street Fighter IV came about, two Final Fight characters joined the roster, neither of which were Rolento. However, Rolento did appear in Street Fighter X Tekken., and finally made a playable appearance in the Street Fighter IV series with the release of Ultra Street Fighter IV.

Here, after Rolento's army takes part in a conflict(s), Rolento makes a speech to his soldiers about how their mission is to save the world. He receives a report about a private military contractor, S.I.N., which will be testing a new soldier enhancement system (BLECE) at an upcoming tournament. In response, Rolento enters the tournament in order to obtain the enhancement system for himself and his army.

In his ending, Rolento confronts and defeats Seth, feigning an offer to make a deal with him, before using the opportunity to finish him off by blowing him up with his grenades. Afterwards, he tells his men that the ruined base now belongs to them, and that they are to scour the ruins for anything they can find. As the soldiers begin to search the base, Seth's heavily-damaged Tanden Engine is shown powering down.

Final Fight Revenge
After Alpha 3, Rolento then made an appearance in the American-developed Final Fight spin-off game, Final Fight Revenge. His playing style is similar to one he has in the Alpha games and even his storyline is the same (the game takes place between the events of Alpha 2 and Alpha 3).

Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2
Rolento also appeared in the Japan-only released Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2.

Capcom vs. SNK 2
Rolento appeared playable in the crossover game Capcom vs. SNK 2.

Street Fighter X Tekken
Rolento is a playable character in Street Fighter X Tekken, where his tag partner is Ibuki.

Street Fighter × Mega Man
Rolento is one of the bosses of Street Fighter × Mega Man. His level is designed after the Street FIghter IV stage Skyscraper Under Construction.

Street Fighter 1995 cartoon
Rolento appeared in the episode "Final Fight". In the show, he has the ability to teleport and create clones of himself.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation
Rolento makes a cameo as one of the several fighters accompanied by Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li when they fly out to Dr. Sadler's laboratory.

Kaitō Tenshi Twin Angel
Rolento makes an extended cameo appearance in the fourth episode of the anime Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel, hiding in the bushes during the night and trying to take pictures of women in uniform (to him, ordinary girls "become saints" in uniform). The Twin Angels find him, shoot an arrow at his camera, and begin to pursue him. They are stopped when someone takes their picture, not realizing that the angels are her friends; the flash gives Rolento plenty of time to escape.

Later on, the Twin Angels go undercover to investigate gunshots and spot Rolento, who has taken over a family restaurant with three accomplices who also escaped the Twin Angels' clutches. When Rolento demands that they enter so he can take pictures and add them to his photobook, their teacher poses as one of them, creating a diversion that allows the Twin Angels time to escape and transform.

Later, their friend from earlier challenges Rolento to see who would take better pictures; at that moment, the Twin Angels enter, and he charges towards them, wanting to take pictures. The duo agrees under the condition that their faces remain censored, and Rolento and his crew take several pictures of them posing while holding a black bar over their eyes. He eventually begins ignoring one in favor of the other, angering the offended twin into blowing up the restaurant. Rolento survives the explosion, and is last seen laying the on the floor, smiling dizzily.

Cameo Appearances
Rolento makes a small cameo at the end of the Sakura Ganbaru manga along with Dhalsim (and his wife), complaining that they never made an appearance (every other playable character in Street Fighter Alpha 2 appeared in either the Street Fighter Alpha manga or Sakura Ganbaru).

Allies
El Gado and Holly Wood are the primary foot soldiers in Rolento's "army", both trained by Rolento himself. Both El Gado and Holly Wood are knife-wielding enemies who wear military outfits, are known for their agile movement which they forged by dancing, and have a special technique known as the "Jumping Knife Attack". These two also appeared in the Street Fighter Alpha games as part of Rolento's special techniques and win poses, and pilot the stealth helicopter with which the hook and chain are used with in the Take No Prisoners super art.

Holly Wood is named "namely" after his singing and dancing talents, and never enters a battle without his knives. Another version of him appears in the uniform where he throws Molotov cocktails at the opponent, though he's much weaker in this state and wears red instead of the usual orange attire.

El Gado has a prominent role as a playable character in Final Fight Revenge, in which it is revealed that he infiltrated Mad Gear to get revenge on Rolento, who was responsible for the deaths of his family. In the end, Rolento bargains with him (apparently successfully, given he's still alive later on in Capcom's canon) and calls him "E.G." at this point, which may be his nickname.

Other than the two, it is said there are 40 followers of his ideals, who also help him in his plans and executes them with accordingly. Rolento also trains them in their meetings.

In Street Fighter X Tekken, Rolento hires Ibuki to join him in the search for the Pandora artifact. During the course of the story, Rolento promotes her from Private to Corporal, and then to Sergeant, much to her annoyance.

Gameplay
In the Final Fight series, Rolento is known for fighting with a staff, and his special techniques include a wall kick and his throw. When he's low on energy, he begins dashing around the stage and attacks by throwing grenades instead. Rolento's agility and speed carry over to his appearances in the main series, as does his usage of grenades.

In the Street Fighter seres, Rolento is a very evasive character. Many of his special attacks are designed to bait the opponent and strike before they recover. His staff can be used to alter his jump arc and deliver a multi-hit combo attack. He can also throw knives while airborne.

During his Super Combo, Rolento tosses a series of grenades that juggle the opponent. His first Ultra Combo knocks the opponent into the air and showers them with grenades after they land. During his second Ultra Combo, he uses a steel cable to strangle the opponent, with El Gado acting as a pulley.

Fighting style
Rolento's fighting style shares similarities to (and is probably inspired by) Eskrima, a Filipino Martial Art under the Arnis system. His stick fighting lends him range and multiple hitting attacks.

Quotes
See: Rolento/Quotes

Pop Culture
See: Rolento/Pop Culture

Trivia

 * According to the instruction manual for Final Fight 2, Rolento is 5'9" tall and weighs 187 lbs.


 * In Ken's win quote against Rolento in Ultra Street Fighter IV, the former references the latter's use of a helicopter in Final Fight Revenge.


 * Rolento can be considered "Lawful Neutral" because of his strict belief in order and discipline, as explained above. For this reason, though he envisions a utopia, his methods can be questionable, but he does have noble leanings, such as his non-canon Street Fighter Alpha 3 ending, where he destroys the Psycho Drive because he feels that his utopia is not possible if people do not have their own freedom to choose.


 * Due to the majority of his attacks being named after the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam, Rolento might have been a veteran in the Vietnam War. His original attire further supports this—tiger stripe camouflage was first worn by the U.S. Army for use in jungle combat in Vietnam.


 * Rolento's Street Fighter Alpha 2 theme is an arranged version of the Bay Area stage theme from Final Fight. However, he does not make an appearance on this stage, as he is the boss of a different stage, the Industrial Area. As of Ultra Street Fighter IV, Rolento's theme has reverted to his original boss theme.
 * The Bay Area theme also bears a striking similarity to Heat Man's stage theme from Mega Man 2, and the two are actually remixed together as Rolento's stage theme for the Capcom-sanctioned fangame Street Fighter X Mega Man.


 * Rolento's Japanese voice actor, Jin Yamanoi, also voiced Street Fighter EX character Vulcano Rosso.


 * In the original Final Fight, Rolento's dialogue portrait shows him in a color scheme that would later be used for his Alpha 3 appearance.


 * In the arcade version of Street Fighter Alpha 2, Rolento's stage has a billboard of a woman (dressed up as the Statue of Liberty) holding a computer monitor that has the logo of a Japanese computer company called Fujitsu. But due to legal reasons, this was removed on some console versions.

Gallery
Rolento/Gallery

Sprites
Rolento/Sprites