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Felicia (Darkstalkers)

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Felicia
Darkstalkers series (Vampire series in Japan), Marvel vs. Capcom series, SNK vs. series character
File:Felicia.jpg
Felicia as she appears in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
First gameDarkstalkers: The Night Warriors

Felicia (フェリシア, Ferishia) is a fictional character in the Darkstalkers series of video games. Created by Capcom, she first appeared in the original Darkstalkers video game and its subsequent sequels, later appearing in other Capcom games outside of the Darkstalkers series and related media and merchandise. Felicia is voiced by Kae Araki in video games, Lisa Ann Beley in the cartoon series, and by Yukana Nogami in the Japanese anime series and Janyse Jaud in the English dub.

Conception and design

Early in the development of Darkstalkers, the development team decided to have two female characters: a catwoman and a vampiress, characters who would become Felicia and Morrigan respectively.[1] Initially, Felicia was intended to be the "sexy" female character of the title, while the vampiress would be the "cute" female character. However, as Morrigan's design took on a tone that emphasized sexiness(she was changed to a succubus), Felicia's character concept was altered accordingly.[2]

Appearances

In video games

In Namco x Capcom, Felicia teams up with King II from Tekken. Of all the two-character teams in the game, this is the only one to include both a Namco character and a Capcom character. They have a single-unit Multiple Assault, the W Shining Wizard, and her Please Help Me is also a Multiple Assault with the added assistance of Armor King.

Felicia is also a playable character in Pocket Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Puzzle Fighter, Capcom Fighting Evolution, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium and is a playable card in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash, SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash 2 and Namco x Capcom. She is also a character card in the Universal Fighting System TCG. She is also a character in the game Cross Edge along with Morrigan Aensland, Lilith Aensland, Demitri Maximoff and Jedah Dohma.

Felicia has been officially confirmed as playable in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

In animation

The anime version, Felicia is shown as already having a certain amount of success as an entertainer and is just starting a tour in the human world with her own traveling show. However, her tour gets off to a rough start when she is almost killed by monks pertaining to an anti Darkstalker militia. (The world is shown as effectively being under vampire Demitri Maximov's rule with various resistance groups opposing him.) She watches as the zombie Lord Raptor saves her by promptly killing them all.

Later, as Pyron begins his bid for world domination, interest in Felicia's show dwindles and she petulantly vents her anger on Pyron's Huitzil army. She destroys a few of the robots before being overwhelmed and she is saved when Jon Talbain intervenes. She is taken in by a human doctor and is befriended by the local children but she is later captured by a paramilitary group who have come to destroy the rest of the advancing Huitzuls. The doctor rescues her and with her faith in humanity renewed she, along with Jon Talbain, lures the Huitzils out of the town using an explosives laden train; when out of the town, Felicia and Jon Talbain escape the train and detonates it, destroying the train and all the robots that had been following.

A major difference between this Felicia and the game's Felicia is that there is no mention of her origin and her religiosity is reversed. While it can be assumed from her being raised by a nun that the game Felicia is Catholic, her anime counterpart informs Raptor she is ambivalent to organized religion. In the anime, she is voiced by Yukana Nogami {Japanese} and Janyse Jaud {English dub}.

Felicia was the main hero in the American cartoon series. Her voice actor was Lisa Ann Beley. She was accompanied by Harry Grimoire, a character created for this particular series whose purpose (aside from a plot device) was mainly to get Felicia into trouble. She's also stated to be several hundred years old in this version (in fact, she got stuck with Harry when she went looking for an ancestor of his), though at this point, she would technically be 28 since the show takes place in 1995. Her dreams of being a singer are never mentioned (although in the first episode she was fired from Cats because her "costume" was "out of date"). Felicia was also depicted as possibly being the last of her kind, despite having other catgirl friends in the game series itself.

In literature

In the UDON Comics version of Darkstalkers, Felicia is still looking for her big break into stardom; unfortunately being a catgirl proves to be a very large roadblock on the path to fame. Along the way, she runs into the werewolf, Jon Talbain who believes that humans are treacherous and vile, while she thinks that the current hatred between humans and Darkstalkers are just a few "bumps in the road." Despite the fact that his interference costs her a potential gig, Felicia asks Jon to accompany her, so that she can try to prove to him that humanity is not all bad. Eventually, they end up at the Catholic orphanage where Felicia grew up. Felicia's origins are much the same as well. One notable exception is the character of the nun who raised her. Here her foster mother is named Sister Cecillia and is still alive and active in her beloved foster daughter's life.

Promotion and reception

Several figurines of Felicia have been made since her introduction, ranging from immobile figurines by companies such as Kaiyodo, Volks, Yujin, Clayz, Kotobukiya, and MIT Japan, to a posable action figure by Medicom Toy.[3]

Sega Saturn Magazine described her as "too cute for her own good", questioning her viability compared to other characters in the franchise.[4] GameDaily named Felicia one of their favorite Capcom characters of all time, placing her 5th on their list of their top 25 and naming her also their favorite female in the Darkstalkers series.[5] In later articles they listed her as one of their favorite American female characters in video games, and also third on their list of the top fifty "Hottest Game Babes".[6][7] Play magazine described her as one of Capcom's "most beloved characters", featuring her in their "Girls of Anime" special.[8] She later appeared in volume 2 of their "Girls of Gaming" series, noting her as one of the greatest female characters in fighting games and adding "what can you say about a cat-girl that wears something so skimpy it barely passes as an outfit?"[9]

References

  1. ^ Udon Staff (2008). Darkstalkers Graphic File. Udon Entertainment. p. 56. ISBN 1897376049.
  2. ^ Udon Staff (2008). Darkstalkers Graphic File. Udon Entertainment. p. 68. ISBN 1897376049.
  3. ^ Udon Staff (2008). Darkstalkers Graphic File. Udon Entertainment. pp. 136–137. ISBN 1897376049.
  4. ^ Yeo, Matt (1998). "Bite Me!". Sega Saturn Magazine (32): 48. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Top 25 Capcom Characters of All Time. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-12-25
  6. ^ Babe of the Week: All-Aerican Girls Gallery. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-12-29
  7. ^ Top 50 Hottest Game Babes on Trial. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-12-29
  8. ^ Halverson, Dave. "Girls of Anime". Play. 1: 20. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Halverson, Dave. "Girls of Gaming". Play. 2: 67. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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