Blanka - Character History

Character History

Blanka first appeared in Street Fighter II. In his ending, he reunites with his mother Samantha, who recognizes him from the anklet he wears. She reveals that Blanka was once known as Jimmy, before he was in a plane crash as a little boy. This crash caused him to be raised in the wild, although he has connections to a local village. Ever since the crash, Blanka/Jimmy had been separated from his mother. Blanka's plane crash landed in the Amazon Rainforest and was exposed to electric eels, mutating his appearance and giving him electric powers. He learned capoeira concepts and combined them his electrical power, turning him into one of the most powerful fighters in the world. This led to Blanka being challenged by fighters from various parts of the world, including Ryu and Chun-Li. Blanka also traveled to other places around to world to fight in the games. At the end of Street Fighter II, he encounters his mother who proceeds to tell the truth to him, as his memory was wiped by M. Bison. According to some other sources, Blanka acquired his electrical trait from the same plane crash due to an intense electrical storm at the time (the cause of the crash). According to the instruction manual for the SNES version of Street Fighter II it states he learned the ability from electric eels.

In Street Fighter Alpha 3, his character design was changed to make him less ferocious-looking. His in-game story, just like the in-game stories of the other characters in the series, serves as a precursor to the events of Street Fighter II. The game tells a tale of how Blanka ate a melon on a poacher's truck and traveled to civilization for the first time. Playing the game as Blanka, the player eventually faces Dan Hibiki as one of Blanka's mid-bosses. It is then revealed through in-game dialogue that the two know each other and that Blanka had once saved Dan's life. Blanka faces Zangief as his second mid-boss and unwittingly prevents Zangief from helping to destroy the Shadaloo criminal organization. He then faces Shadaloo member Balrog before facing M. Bison. After Bison is defeated, Blanka, Dan, and Sakura work together and destroy Bison's psycho drive weapon.

Blanka made appearances in several spin-off titles. Blanka is available as a playable character in the later games of the Street Fighter EX series, Street Fighter EX2 and Street Fighter EX3. He also made appearances as a playable character in Capcom vs. SNK and Capcom vs. SNK 2. According to his ending in Capcom vs. SNK 2, he thought he was flown home, but when he got off the plane, he ends up in a zoo instead. In Street Fighter IV, Blanka now lives with his mother in the city. Feeling out of place among the locals, He feels as though he is an embarrassment to his mother and decides to travel the world, getting involved with the events of the game while doing so. However, it turns out his mother was never ashamed of him and loves him just the same.