Eagle

"I'm very glad. Ha ha ha!"

- Eagle

Eagle (イーグル) is a character in the Street Fighter fighting game series. He first appeared in the original game as one of the ten CPU opponents.

Out of all the characters in the original Street Fighter, Eagle is the only one whose second appearance wasn't within the Street Fighter II or Street Fighter Alpha series. In his case, it was in the crossover game Capcom vs. SNK 2, which also marked his playable debut. After that, however, Eagle reappeared in the Street Fighter series by joining the Alpha series as a playable fighter in the handheld versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Appearance
Eagle is a tall, muscular fighter with blond hair arranged in a pompadour, a mustache, and a scar on each side of his face. In the original Street Fighter, Eagle's outfit consisted of a dinner suit without the jacket, a bow tie, and suspenders. However, in Capcom vs. SNK 2 and the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable version of Street Fighter Alpha 3, he wears a white dress shirt with a red ascot tie, black pants, white gloves, dark dress shoes, and of course, his braces (suspenders).

His pomp, braces (suspenders), and formal dress make Eagle some sort of mixed counter-culture counterpart to Birdie, a punk.

Concept
Eagles initial design in the original Street Fighter is a homage to the character Petrov (a bodyguard hired by noblemen) protrayed by Robet Baker from the Bruce Lee film, Fist of Fury.

Starting with his Capcom vs. SNK 2 incarnation, it is apparent that Eagle had been made into an homage to the late Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury. In addition to resembling a blonde version of Mercury, some of Eagle's voice clips are remniscent of him (such as "the show must go on" and "no time for losers"). This has lead to speculation that since Mercury was homosexual, Eagle is as well; this is backed up by several of his Japanese winquotes, which seem to indicate so.

Street Fighter
Eagle was born in the UK. A cold-blooded individual, Eagle is a bouncer who was employed as a newly-rich noble family's bodyguard during the first World Warrior tournament. He was hired to defeat Sagat, but was unsuccessful and returned to the bar scene, eventually becoming a living legend.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
In the GBA and PSP version of Street Fighter Alpha 3, Eagle seeks to perfect the beauty of his style, and find a perfect duel to match. He finds Guile and, knowing he is the bravest and strongest fighter in the Air Force, wants to test him. Guile refuses, saying that he is busy, but Eagle persists they fight nonetheless. After Eagle wins their match, he wants to know what Guile's mission is. Guile tells him he is on a mission to stop a narcotics ring called Shadaloo, and has heard rumors about Sagat joining them. Once Eagle hears this, he decides to find the Muay Thai King in order to test his long-time rival.

Finally, he finds Sagat, and finds it unfitting to see the former Muay Thai King reduced to a mere Shadaloo goon. M. Bison is intrigued to see Sagat defeated by Eagle, and fights him, but emerges the victor. Guile asks him to help do one more thing; rescue Charlie and destroy the Psycho Drive. While they infiltrate Shadaloo's headquarters, they find Charlie trapped in the Psycho Drive Power Plant. Eagle then destroys the machine with his perfected fighting skills and saves Charlie from harm. Eagle is excited that he had the chance to be back on the battlefield and thanks Guile, Chun-Li, and Charlie for the experience.

Capcom vs. SNK 2
Eagle made his playable debut in Capcom vs. SNK 2.

Street Fighter Alpha manga
Eagle appeared in Masahiko Nakahira's Street Fighter Alpha manga (years before his actual comeback in the games) as an opponent seemingly killed by Adon. The same happened with Final Fight character Maki in Nakahira's Sakura Ganbaru manga. Both made their comeback in Capcom vs. SNK 2 with slight redesigns inspired by their manga appearances.

Gameplay and fighting style
Eagle's fighting style involves using two single sticks in a form reminiscent of eskrima (if not outright so). In Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX and Street Fighter: World Warrior Encyclopedia (hardcover version), it is stated that he practices bōjutsu, a type of Japanese martial art involving the use of a single staff.

Quotes
See: Eagle/Quotes.

Trivia

 * He is named after the Golfing term "Eagle." The other British character from the first Street Fighter game, Birdie, is also named after a golf term.


 * He is one of the first two characters to wield a weapon in the series, along with Geki.


 * Regardless of what button is pressed, Eagle always uses his sticks.


 * After fighting Adon in Street Fighter Alpha 3, Eagle says "So little has changed since I saw you last...", a reference to the fact that both were in the original Street Fighter, and that neither had been in the same game again until then.
 * Adon made a cameo appearance in Street Fighter IV, before making a full return for Super Street Fighter IV, but Eagle has not been seen since Street Fighter Alpha 3.


 * The fighting style of Mr. Big (from SNK's Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters series) is similar to Eagle's own fighting style, possessing some similar attributes.


 * Each of Eagle's special attacks and Super Combos are named after a British city, locale, or historical reference.


 * In the original Street Fighter, Eagle's stage is in front of a castle (presumably that of the noble family he works as a bodyguard for) standing in British countryside and overlooking a lake in a valley. The English castle background from Street Fighter II - i.e., the background where Cammy fights - is reminiscent of Eagle's background.


 * Dudley shares some similarities with Eagle: he also wears a dinner suit and hails from England, as well as having the same characteristic of being gentlemen and upholding chivalrous values.


 * While Necro is completely different from Eagle in terms of visual appearance, two of his special moves (Flying Viper and Tornado Hook) are highly reminiscent of Eagle's moves from the original Street Fighter.


 * In Capcom vs. SNK 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX, it is shown that Eagle and Zangief have some sort of rivalry before they fight. However, this is somewhat dubious, since they have never been shown interacting with each other. Rather, it is more likely that said intro is actually based in the fact that both of them have similar special moves (Zangief's Double Lariat and Eagle's Manchester Black).


 * In the GameBoy Advance version of Street Fighter Alpha 3, Eagle's winquote to Guile indicates that he thinks Guile himself does not live up to his name.

Gallery
Eagle/Gallery

Sprites
Eagle/Sprites