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"Were my killer combos too much for you?!"
—Dee Jay (Super Street Fighter II)

"Show time!"
—Dee Jay (Street Fighter Alpha 3)

"It's show time! (ショウターイム! Shōtāimu!?)"
—Dee Jay (Street Fighter IV series)

"Show time baby!"
—Dee Jay (Street Fighter 6)

Dee Jay (ディージェイ Dī Jei?, DJ), also known as the Music Superstar (ミュージック スーパースター Myūjikku sūpāsutā?)[5], is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Super Street Fighter II. He is a Jamaican kickboxer who has made enormous strides in fame in the Street Fighter world not just as a fighter, but also as a world famous musician and recording artist.

Biography[]

Appearance[]

Dee Jay has a large, muscular physique. He wears orange loose drawstring pants with black sides and yellowish-white lettering that reads "MAXIMUM" and orange sparring gloves. His hairstyle is a braided mohawk, with a letter "M" cut on each side of his head; these letters were absent from his appearance in the Street Fighter IV series. Dee Jay is also seen in the anime movie and some artwork with a Caribbean chain necklace.

Dee Jay's pants originally said "MANTIS" but since his right sprite is a mirror image of his left, the "N" and "S" would be reversed, so it was changed to "MAXIMUM", which is composed of symmetrical letters so that it is the same even when flipped horizontally so that his sprite would be the same regardless of facing.

In Street Fighter 6, Dee Jay's dreadlocks had grown into shoulder-length and wears a light red headband. He wears a red, yellow and black open mini jacket with green fern designs. His pants are now green with cross black and yellow linings and wears beach sandals rather than in barefoot. Dee Jay's fingerless gloves are yellow and red with two white linings. The color scheme of his pants resembles the color of the Jamaican flag and the color scheme of his mini jacket nearly resembles the signature colors used by the late Jamaican singer, Bob Marley.

Personality[]

Dee Jay is generally a good-spirited, cheerful, happy-go-lucky man who loves fighting, dancing and composing rhythms. In most of his in-game poses, artworks and pictures, he is sporting a huge smile and making a thumbs-up hand gesture. Dee Jay is rarely seen without a smile; such rare moments include the Street Fighter II series loss portraits, and loss by time over in Street Fighter Alpha 3. Dee Jay tends to always see the positive side of everything in life, being consistently happy and rarely getting upset, angry or sad even under the worst circumstances. However, despite his laid-back attitude, Dee Jay does not tolerate belligerent troublemakers at his performances, literally kicking them out if necessary.

Dee Jay has also shown to be a ladies' man, flirting with women yet treating them fairly. He seems to prefer women who can fight and match him.

Concept[]

Dee Jay was conceived by American designer James Goddard, and he is the only character in the mainline series to be conceived by an American. While Super Street Fighter II was going to feature Cammy, T. Hawk, and two brothers who had the same design save for a head swap,[6] Goddard felt that it would be redundant to have another pair of characters with the same fighting style. As a result, Capcom added Dee Jay in place of one of the brothers, while the other evolved into Fei Long.

The Japanese team asked Goddard for any more ideas for Dee Jay, which Goddard replied by suggesting kickboxer Billy Blanks. He commented that "a really kick-ass black character would be awesome, instead of someone who was more negative, which is what you tended to see from the Japanese back in those days." In spite of the fact that Blanks played a villain in the film which he saw him in, The King of the Kickboxers, he states "his build and look, I just thought that it would make a great character --high-flying, crazy kicks... I mean, you have to remember, this was Billy Blanks pre-'Tae Bo.' He was so bad-ass." He began designing Dee Jay by drawing a sketch of him and sending it to the Japanese team. He sent the film The King of the Kickboxers[7] by copying a VHS tape and sending it through FedEx. He designed him as a "positive, fun character," implementing elements such as him being Jamaican, a "fun-loving guy," and a person who is trying to "jump-start his music career while kicking a lot of ass."

The idea of two brothers who had the same design save for a head swap resurfaced later in Street Fighter III for kung-fu twins Yun and Yang. In Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX, Yun's story involves him and Yang meeting Dee Jay in order to find out the whereabouts of Fei Long, thus bringing all four related characters together.

His name is a pun on the term DJ (disc jockey), common in the hip-hop scene he is part of.

Character Relationships[]

Fei Long[]

Dee Jay appears to be friends with Fei Long but the friendship are generally work-related. Their connection may have originated from Dee Jay's origins as a head-swap of Fei Long before his character was elaborated upon. In Street Fighter 6, Fei Long invites Dee Jay to star in one of his latest movie, which he accepts.

Kimberly[]

Kimberly is known to be a fan of Dee Jay's music. When Dee Jay and Kimberly met for the first time, they quickly befriended each other after the latter helping him to come up with an idea for a new song. Both viewed each other in high regards after their encounter: Dee Jay is impressed by the ninja girl's "fresh new energy", while Kimberly praised his rhythimic fighting techniques as "downright lyrical".

Manon[]

Manon and Dee Jay are friends and held a respect to each other's accomplishments in street fighting and entertainment industry. They are known to follow each other's social media accounts and regularly compliments each other.

Rufus[]

After Rufus meets Dee Jay, he assumes Dee Jay wants to be his new apprentice and fights to test him. Dee Jay mentions he likes Rufus' rhythm.

Sagat[]

Although these fighters do not interact much throughout the series, Sagat didn't believe Dee Jay was a capable fighter when they encountered each other in Street Fighter Alpha 3; this led to a fight between the two, which Dee Jay won.

Story[]

Street Fighter Alpha 3[]

Known as "The Southern Comet", Dee Jay is a cheerful kickboxer who fights with musical rhythm. Quickly rising to the top of his division, he travels the world looking for new challenges. In his in-game storyline, he anonymously challenges and defeats Adon, another kickboxer in the rival Muay Thai style, with Adon vowing revenge. He eventually finds his true goal: Sagat, the "emperor" of Muay Thai, now fallen from grace and an enforcer for M. Bison, who does not take the cheerful Jamaican seriously. Countering by declaring that in this fight he "means business", Dee Jay challenges Sagat and defeats the former champion, further adding to Sagat's depression over his losing streak.

Sagat's employer, Bison, takes an interest in Dee Jay at this point, offering him a position in Shadaloo. Dee Jay refuses, and when Bison deals with the rejection by trying to kill him, Dee Jay staves Bison off and leaves, unable to truly defeat the dictator while the Psycho Drive is operational. Dee Jay returns to Jamaica and, inspired by his battles, hums a new tune as he walks down the street. This catches the ear of a record producer, who immediately offers Dee Jay a record deal.[8]

Super Street Fighter II[]

Now a major music sensation, Dee Jay enters the second World Warrior tournament to find some new rhythm for his next album. Though how far he gets in the tournament is unknown, he finds the rhythm he seeks and his new record is a smash hit.

Super Street Fighter IV[]

Dee Jay's story role is minimal; feeling restless, he takes a break from his music to test his fighting skill by participating in S.I.N.'s tournament. Soon, footage of him fighting one of the Seth dolls is broadcast around the world.[9] At some point, he encounters and fights Rufus, apparently because he believes the latter has an interesting "rhythm" in his voice and belly.

Street Fighter V[]

During the events of the game, Dee Jay is traveling the world to record a new album.[10]

Street Fighter 6[]

A globally popular dance music superstar, Dee Jay is always ready to have a good time. With a burning love for music and fighting, this Jamaican sensation drives audiences wild with hot new songs and stylish moves.

Arcade Mode[]

Dee Jay: Inspiration Strikes[]

In the opening, the narrator told the player a brief summary of Dee Jay's background. Initially, Dee Jay started his career as a musician and quickly rose to global fame thanks to his passion and rhythm. He then begin his kickboxing after discovered "martial rhythm" that dwells in the "very spirit" of street fighting. Thus, Dee Jay decided to pursue both the music and martial art careers together by create "a fusion of battle and beats" to fuel his musical inspiration and fighting spirit.

The scene then cuts into Dee Jay sitting on a bench and using his smartphone, apparently struggle to come up with a lyric of his new song. Suddenly, Kimberly appears from behind and suggests a lyric, much to Dee Jay's delight. Kimberly then asks if the musician is working on a new song, in which Dee Jay confirms. Despite having met each other for the first time, Dee Jay immidiately offers Kimberly an autograph, to which Kimberly declined as she decided to ask for a battle with him instead. Pleased to meet a fighter who recognize his dual talents, Dee Jay accepts the challenge, as he wanted to "get some creative juices flowing".

After the battle, Dee Jay headed back to his recording room. Happy to finally got an inspiration for a new song thanks his new "ninja friend". He praise Kimberly's fighting skill as being able to make him feel "a rhythm this fresh" that he haven't experienced for the long time, and is looking forward to fight "a new kid on the block bringin' fresh new energy" again.

World Tour[]

Tropical Comet. Funky Hollering. MAXIMUUUUUUUUM. (熱帯彗星。 ファンキー・ホラリング。 マキシマムゥゥゥゥゥゥム。 Nettai suisei. Fankī horaringu. Makishimamu~u~u~u~u~u~umu.?)

"YOW! You got a rhythm that just won't quit! If I didn't know better, I'd think you be me clone! (やったー! やめられないリズムができました! もっとよく知らなかったら、あなたは私のクローンだと思うでしょう! Yatta ̄ ! Yame rarenai rizumu ga dekimashita! Motto yoku shiranakattara, anata wa watashi no kurōnda to omoudeshou!?)"
—Dee Jay's advice after completing training & achieving Mastery

Dee Jay meets the Avatar in one of his parties and concerts. He teaches them to feel the rhythm and dance, while also training him in combat.

Animations[]

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie[]

Dee Jay made a small guest-appearance in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. Here, he beats up a few punks causing trouble at a nightclub before being warned by Guile and Chun-Li that he is being spied on by Bison. In his scenes he wears a golden Caribbean chain necklace. The English dub also portrays him as African-American as opposed to Jamaican.

Street Fighter cartoon[]

Dee Jay also appeared in the Street Fighter 1995 cartoon but his role is minimal. He serves as the team's helicopter pilot. Even though the cartoon follows the movie closely, Dee Jay and Balrog's personalities were switched during production. Dee Jay was a greedy computer expert in the film, while in the cartoon, he is a friendly and capable fighter (and he isn't seen using computers). Yet, in "Demon Island", he is shown to be quite easily angered (a trait that fits more with Balrog) and he also seems to have his own gym in the episode.

Live-action[]

Street Fighter movie[]

In the 1994 live action movie, Dee Jay is portrayed by Miguel A. Nunez Jr.. Here, he is one of the minions of M. Bison and appears to have an aptitude for working with computers (at one point near the ending, he utters to himself, "Oh, mon! I should have stayed at Microsoft"). Though competent, he is also portrayed as cowardly, abandoning Bison as he is giving a speech about accepting defeat. Dee Jay is often paired up with Zangief on-screen, where he plays the "straight man" based on his reactions to Zangief's uninformed and/or stupid comments.

Later, he and Sagat escape from Bison's base via a waterway located beneath the temple-base along with a case full of cash. To their disappointment, they find the case is actually full of worthless Bison Dollars, the currency which Bison intended to establish as part of his new nation.

Comics[]

UDON comics[]

In the UDON comics, Dee Jay appears as a Shadaloo agent, but it is revealed that he had been brainwashed along with Blanka. He is later freed from his brainwashing by Delta Red, and is seen sparring with Blanka and helping Delta Red finding out more information on Shadaloo and their next plains as a way to repay them for freeing him from Bison.

Unfortunately, he and Blanka are recaptured by Bison and Shadaloo and is brainwashed into being their pawn once more; Dhalsim uses his powers to free him from mind control, causing M. Bison to see Dhalsim as a potential threat. After the island that served as the tournament site had sunk into the ocean and everyone was free from Shadaloo's brainwashing, Dee Jay returned back to his home country with a new desire: to make himself and his music popular. He eventually achieves this goal, with his music now so popular that other famous bands throughout the country wanted to join his group.

Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers[]

In the comic crossover, Dee Jay helps B.B. Hood fight against a group of spiders.

Gameplay[]

Fighting Style[]

Dee Jay fights using kickboxing, a popular martial art in most of the world. Dee Jay, however, sees it as a form of dancing (similar to Elena's views on Capoeira).

Moveset[]

Dee Jay is a fairly well-rounded charge character similar to Guile, boasting a wide range of defensive options. His Double Rolling Sobat allows him to approach an opponent while discouraging a ground-based counter. Jackknife Maximum and Machinegun Upper can be used as both an anti-air and a combo finisher. Air Slasher is a solid projectile for both zoning and approaching similar to that of a Sonic Boom.

In OMEGA Mode, Dee Jay becomes a more offense-based character whose inputs have been changed from charges to circular motions, making his moves much more accessible and changing his entire gameplay.

Street Fighter 6 redesigns Dee Jay with a more tricky playstyle built to keep the opponent guessing. Excluding Machine Gun Upper, Dee Jay's main special moves now have feints for their light variations, and Jus Cool lets him move back and forth with a variety of followups. Air Slasher can fire two projectiles without spending any meter, making it useful for keeping opponents at bay. Both Machine Gun Upper and Double Rolling Sobat are no longer charge, giving him more flexibility in their usage.

Subpages[]

Quotes[]

Dee Jay/Quotes

Gallery[]

Dee Jay/Gallery

Sprites[]

Dee Jay/Sprites

Trivia[]

  • Dee Jay has been a target of Shadaloo on numerous occasions; in the animated movie, he was being watched by Shadaloo androids, while in Street Fighter Alpha 3, M. Bison himself has asked Dee Jay to join.
  • Dee Jay is the first of few fighters originating from the Caribbean. He is still the only playable character from Jamaica.
  • According to supplementary materials, Dee Jay's Jamaica stage in Super Street Fighter II and beyond, is a popular spot known as the Lemony located on the beaches of Kingston. His role as a bouncer in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is likely a play on a story regarding local hoodlums taunting the Lemony's owner and Dee Jay, appalled, beats them all up and forces them to get out.
  • His kickboxing manager is a man by the name of Rick.
  • Pullum Purna from the Street Fighter EX series is similar to Dee Jay in some aspects. They are both dark-skinned fighters that make use of dance moves, and are often seen with musical instruments (Dee Jay is often seen with maraccas, while Pullum uses a tambourine).
    • Elena also has similar traits to Dee Jay. They are both dark-skinned, happy-go-lucky fighters who fight barefoot using dance moves and talk about rhythm and beat in their win quotes. They would eventually meet in Ultra Street Fighter IV.
  • The red car featured in Dee Jay's Street Fighter Alpha 3 stage partially resembles a 1958 Plymouth Fury, a coupé car made famous by Stephen King's Christine (a horror novel about an automobile demonically possessed by its previous owner's dead spirit).
  • The choice of the word "MAXIMUM" appearing vertically down his pants allows Dee Jay's sprites to be flipped without the word getting distorted, as all of its letters are symmetrical.
  • The word "MAXIMUM" does not appear on his pants in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. In the Street Fighter 1995 TV series it was shown, but the word "MAXIMUM" would be mispelled in some episodes, (e.g. in Demon Island, it was spelled "MAXIUM", and in Chunnel Vision, it was spelled "MOXIMUM").
  • In Makoto's 3rd Strike ending, Dee Jay makes a cameo appearance among the fighters defeated by Makoto.
  • Dee Jay is the only one of the ten new warriors of Super Street Fighter IV to be in the iPhone and iPod Touch version of Street Fighter IV.
  • In Street Fighter II V Retsuden, Dee Jay's full name is given as Donald Jackson.
  • In the end of his arcade story of Street Fighter 6, the background music where Dee Jay gladly enjoys to compose a new song for him which was inspired by Kimberly is from the late Bob Marley's song "Waiting in Vain".

Videos[]

Stage themes[]

See also[]

References[]

Street Fighter series Playable Characters
Main Series
SF Logo Ken · Ryu
Street-fighter-ii-logo The World Warrior Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Zangief
Champion Edition Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
Super Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
Super Turbo Akuma · Ten Akuma
Ultra Violent Ken
SFAlogo Alpha Adon · Birdie · Charlie Nash · Dan · Guy · Rose · Sodom
Alpha 2 Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Shin Akuma
Alpha 3 Cody · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika
Alpha 3 Upper Eagle · Maki
Alpha 3 MAX Ingrid
Street fighter iii logo New Generation Alex · Dudley · Elena · Ibuki
Necro · Oro · Sean · Yang · Yun
2nd Impact Gill · Hugo · Urien
3rd Strike Makoto · Q · Remy · Twelve
Street fighter iv logo IV Abel · C. Viper · El Fuerte · Gouken · Rufus · Seth
Super Hakan · Juri
Arcade Edition Oni
Ultra Decapre · Poison
SFV-Logo-R-3 V F.A.N.G · Laura · Necalli · Rashid
Season 2 Abigail · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku
Season 3 Falke · G
Season 4 Kage · Lucia
Season 5 Akira · Eleven · Luke
Street fighter 6 logo 6 Jamie · JP · Kimberly · Lily · Manon · Marisa
Year 1 A.K.I.
Spin-offs
Street Fighter The Movie Logo Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber · Sawada
Street-fighter-ii--the-animated-movie Cyborg
Sfexlogo EX Allen · Blair · C. Jack · Darun · D. Dark
Hokuto · Kairi · Pullum · Skullomania
EX Plus Bloody Hokuto · Cycloid-β · Cycloid-γ · Garuda
EX2 Hayate · Nanase · Shadowgeist · Sharon
EX2 Plus Area · V. Rosso
EX3 Ace · Bison II
Marvel vs. Capcom Logo MSHvSF Cyber-Akuma · Dark Sakura · Mech-Zangief · Shadow
MvC Shadow Lady
SFO Shin
Street Fighter II Characters
The World Warrior Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Ken · Ryu · Zangief
Champion Edition Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
Super Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
Turbo Akuma · Ten Akuma
Ultra Evil Ryu · Shin Akuma · Violent Ken
Street Fighter: The Movie Characters
Core Roster Akuma · Balrog · Cammy · Chun-Li · E. Honda · Guile · Ken
M. Bison · Ryu · Sagat · Sawada · Vega · Zangief
Arcade Only Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber
Console Only Blanka · Dee Jay
CPU Only Super Bison
Street Fighter Alpha Characters
Alpha Adon · Akuma · Birdie · Charlie · Chun-Li · Dan · Guy
Ken · M. Bison · Rose · Ryu · Sagat · Sodom
Alpha 2 Original Dhalsim · Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Zangief
Console Shin Akuma
Gold Cammy
Alpha 3 Original Balrog · Blanka · Cody · E. Honda · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika · Vega
Console Dee Jay · Fei Long · Guile · T. Hawk
Upper Eagle · Maki · Yun
MAX Ingrid
Street Fighter IV Characters
Original Abel · Akuma · Balrog · Blanka · Chun-Li · C. Viper · Dhalsim · E. Honda
El Fuerte · Guile · Ken · M. Bison · Rufus · Ryu · Sagat · Vega · Zangief
Console Cammy · Dan · Fei Long · Gen · Gouken · Rose · Seth · Sakura
Super Adon · Cody · Dee Jay · Dudley · Guy · Hakan · Ibuki · Juri · Makoto · T. Hawk
Arcade Edition Evil Ryu · Oni · Yang · Yun
Ultra Decapre · Elena · Hugo · Poison · Rolento
Street Fighter 6 Characters
Original Blanka · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dee Jay · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Jamie · JP · Juri · Ken · Kimberly · Lily · Luke · Manon · Marisa · Ryu · Zangief
Year 1 A.K.I. · Akuma · Ed · Rashid
CPU Only Albert Jackson · Andore Family · Antler Inoki · Axl · Azam · Bosch · Bred · Carlos Miyamoto · Carol · Chandi · Damnd · Eliza · Eternity · F.A.N.G · Fair Libra · G. Oriber · Gerald Golby · J · Kalima · Keiko Asano · Kenichi Kakutani · Li-Fen · Max · Mel · Retsu · Rewancha · Roxy · Rudra · Sheng Long · Somsak · Yua
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