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Charlie Nash (チャーリー・ナッシュ Chārī Nasshu?) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games, first appearing in Street Fighter Alpha, having originally been referenced by name in Street Fighter II. He is a former Captain of the United States Air Force and friend of Guile, long thought to be dead before being brought back to life as a puppet for the Secret Society.

Biography[]

Name[]

Charlie is known as Nash in Japanese iterations. This is due to Capcom USA's failure to recognize Nash's name in the original Street Fighter II ending where his name was written as なっしゅ (Nasshu) due to the original's text style limited only to hiragana. In the English-scripted ending, Guile accuses M. Bison of killing his friend Charlie in Cambodia. In the Japanese version of the game, he makes no mentioning of Cambodia. However, his wife Julia (ユリア - "Yuria," translated as "Jane" in the English script) does mention Nash by name in the Japanese original.

In the comic adaptation of Street Fighter by UDON as well as Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li film, Charlie's Japanese name is made into his surname, giving him the full name of Charlie Nash. This name was later canonized by Capcom, as seen on Charlie's dog tags in Guile's intro in Street Fighter IV.

Although Charlie goes by his original name "Nash" in Street Fighter V in all regions, including the English-speaking territories, it should be noted that in his prologue story, Guile is calling him by the name of "Charlie" multiple times in the English version. Furthermore his full name is said by C. Viper in M. Bison's prologue story, as well as by Helen in the cinematic story, in both the English and Japanese versions.

Appearance[]

Due to Charlie's integral role as a character in Guile's backstory, many Street Fighter adaptations produced prior to the release of Street Fighter Alpha featured various depictions of Charlie.

Charlie wears green cargo pants with boots of the same color and an orange flak vest. He has glasses, which he takes off before a fight, and an exaggerated hairstyle consisting of a large forelock of blond hair. The glasses are not necessary for him to see, and appear to be purely cosmetic. He has his classic outfit as an alternate costume in Street Fighter V.

In Cannon Spike, Charlie's flak vest is yellow, he has a black sleeveless undershirt within his jacket, his cargo pants are dark green and he wears a different shades of green combat boots.

Charlie retains a similar outfit for his return in Street Fighter V; however, his body appears to have been patched back together, as it is covered in grotesque staples, and patches of his skin are discolored, implying he has had numerous skin grafts since his mission in Street Fighter Alpha 3, or rather, since his death in Street Fighter Alpha 2. His hair is now platinum blonde and his right forearm and hand, right shoulder, and the front-right portion of his skull including his eye, are crudely replaced and stapled up with transplanted dark-skinned body parts. These are implied to come from Eleven, one of the Illuminati's failed mimicry experiments. Another curious feature includes the green gem embedded in his forehead, which is similar to the ones implanted in Gill's and Urien's foreheads which it was casted upon by Helen to keep himself alive. His flak vest and cargo pants are brown while his combat boots are light green. The upper outlines and the collar of his flak vest is golden yellow.

Charlie's premium outfit resembles his original concept art, which was refered to as "assassin".

In his Halloween DLC costume, Nash retains his pants and boots from his primary outfit but gains a long collared vest. His skin tone becomes lighter, making his appearance similar to that of Frankenstein's Monster. He can choose to fight with or without the vest.

Personality[]

Charlie is a calm and confident fighter - sometimes to a fault - with a strong sense of justice. Charlie has a crime-fighting attitude akin to his friend Guile, though more out of righteousness rather than revenge; even so, he sometimes acts reckless. While normally he acts in a professional manner, he lets his emotions get the better of him at times. In his Alpha artwork Charlie is shown relaxing while drinking scotch and reading a book which is very different from Guile’s behaviour.

In Street Fighter V, Charlie's personality is seen to have taken a drastic turn for initially unknown reasons. Instead of the calm, cool, and sarcastic paragon of justice from the Alpha series, Charlie is now cold, sadistic, vengeful, misanthropic and driven by an obsessive need to kill M. Bison. Consumed with this obsession, Charlie is ruthless to friends and enemies alike, three examples (shown in win-quotes) are threatening the life of Chun-Li, telling Alex to not fight him if the former is not prepared for death and having nothing to say to Guile about his revival. He is also far less forgiving and takes on a more nihilistic tone, judging Cammy as being just as guilty as M. Bison due to formerly being his slave, whereas during their encounter in Alpha 3, he considered her an innocent victim of Shadaloo's cruelty. Charlie considers Birdie's existence as useless, calling him an "idiotic pig" and questioning why he is even alive, even though Birdie is no longer a member of Shadaloo at the time of Street Fighter V.

Despite his ruthless personality, however, he still has his calmer side from before, his encounter with Ryu and remembering Chun-Li, Guile and Cammy being two examples. This is also more apparent in A Shadow Falls after he fails to kill Bison. When Rashid mentions his missing friend, Charlie is shocked by his words, having retained his conscience and realizing that his friends need him. This restores his calmer side, which is finally shown after he is rescued by Guile, the two work together to restrain the Psycho Power-consumed Abel, and the former gives him back his dog tag to rekindle their friendship.

It may be thought that the reason for his obvious personality change in Street Fighter V comes from his resurrection, making him akin to a revenant zombie. This is hinted at by the "Paradoxical Avenger" title in his biography card in official SFV social media material. However, information in both the prologue and cinematic story modes may tell a different story: that he'd reached this heated state of mind entirely on his own as a result of everything else that had happened.

Going by his character story, he had rushed to engage M. Bison at the waterfall despite not being medically cleared for duty. After said fight resulted in his betrayal, mutilating fall, certain death, and resurfacing with his new body, he soon discovered that the military had long written him off as dead. Furthermore, as teased by the CGI opening intro and prologue story and ultimately confirmed by the full cinematic story, he was actually physically dead and his resurrected body would not last very long. Rather than zombie-like tunnel vision, it's very likely that his ruthless single-target personality came naturally: his hatred for M. Bison was already boiling over to the point he was losing his cool even before being betrayed by his own men, said hatred was most likely exacerbated as well as mixed in with paranoia following his betrayal, and the knowledge that his resurrected body was living on borrowed time left him in a rush to complete his mission and kill Bison as soon as possible at the expense of all other priorities. The paranoia and hatred was somehow soothed however by the presence of his friends that he once tried to shove off and threatened.

Story[]

Early life[]

Charlie's fierce sense of justice was ever present even at a young age. According to supplementary materials, Charlie Nash's past saw him as a young U.S. Marine enrolled university student with a major in psychology and an interest in martial arts. His career eventually saw him climb the ranks, and become skilled enough to win the Pan American Martial Arts Tournament.

Soon to be a member of a "secret elite military team", Charlie co-piloted a special mission into Thailand along with his long-time friend, Guile. Their mission backfired and they were both captured. After their escape, Charlie was convinced that the enemy had inside information from someone within the U.S. military, and became determined to get to the bottom of it, seeking whoever had been behind the incident in Thailand.

As suggested by the fighter planes seen in the background of his stages, he has some kind of flight training, but rather was in the United States Marine Corps Aviation. Also, the Marine Corps has its own fighting style called Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (or MCMAP).

Sometime before the series, Charlie eventually discovered several of his fellow officers were pushing drugs during their service, and his investigations lead him to discover their connections with Shadaloo. Much to his dismay however, Nash also found that the infrastructural corruption and grasp the criminal organization reached even to his superiors, who dismissed the suspects' possession of narcotics and pushed their power to illegal limits. Not going down without a fight, Charlie pushed his pursuit further as a lone wolf to bring them to justice.

As his investigation into the conspiracy continued, he eventually gained Chun-Li's acquaintance as a connection to the ICPO and a valuable ally.

Street Fighter Alpha and Alpha 2[]

Charlie is given a mission to track down M. Bison and uncover Shadaloo soldiers in the American military army. In his non-canon SFA ending, he defeats Bison. As he calls for backup, Bison attacks him from behind and apparently kills him. In SFA2, Charlie encounters Rolento, who wants to know what Charlie's intentions are. When Charlie mentions about Shadaloo, Rolento decides to stop him.

Charlie's ending sees him eventually tracking Bison down to Brazil and confronting him near a waterfall. After Charlie defeats him he starts to interrogate Bison. Before he can get a response, he is shot from the back by his intended backup helicopter and falls from the waterfall. Bison does not see Nash as a threat anymore and does not bother to confirm whether he died.

Due to Charlie's flashback in A Shadow Falls, his Alpha 2 ending is officially considered canon, which makes his whole Alpha 3 story non-canonical. A remixed version of his Alpha 2 ending theme is even heard in Bison's prologue story and both of them use quotes from the boss battle and ending. Charlie's Street Fighter Alpha ending in Street Fighter V's Arcade Mode, shows that his Alpha 2 ending is indeed canon.

Street Fighter Alpha 3[]

In the game, Charlie's fate has two outcomes. The central plot is that Charlie supposedly goes AWOL; however, he is really undercover to investigate Shadaloo and its connection to the military. By the events of Alpha 3, Charlie is considered incapacitated or even dead, and thus, his appearance is non-canonical. The endings are seen as "what if" endings.

  • In his main ending, found by completing the campaign mode as Charlie, he tracks down Bison, survives the battle and manages to destroy Shadaloo's secret base.
  • In the updated console ports of Alpha 3, Guile is added to the playable roster as well. In Guile's storyline, he is ordered by his superiors to track Charlie. After realizing Charlie's intentions, Guile teams up with Charlie in order to destroy Bison's Psycho Drive, while Bison was regenerated after Ryu destroyed his body in the process. Guile escapes, while Charlie stays behind to hold off Bison and sacrifice his own life in order to destroy M. Bison permanently, though it proved unsuccessful.

Charlie's apparent death encourages Guile to avenge him in Street Fighter II. In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, a scene is shown of Guile visiting Charlie's grave.

Street Fighter IV series[]

Charlie was rumored to be playable in Street Fighter IV; one of All Games Network's articles hinted at one of the new characters being a Sonic Boom user, but this character turned out to be Seth.[5] Charlie is however seen as a memory in Guile's SFIV and SSFIV prologue. His outfit (minus the forelock) is also Guile's alternate costume in Street Fighter IV.

Story-wise, before the rival fight between Guile and Abel, it is presumed that Abel may know information about Charlie after Guile demonstrated a Sonic Boom. Guile wanted answers, but none were given. It was hinted at, but never confirmed, that Abel's adopted father, a retired soldier, may have been Charlie himself. At the time, it was more likely, however, that Abel saw Seth performing a Sonic Boom rather than Charlie, since Charlie was considered long dead at this point in the Street Fighter storyline, while Seth shares an origin with Abel, and also utilizes Sonic Boom technique as his projectile attack.

An official Capcom character relations chart, however, confirms that Charlie was the one who rescued Abel from Shadaloo,[6] providing hard evidence of his survival. Abel's biography page in the Street Fighter: World Warrior Encyclopedia (hardcover version) backs up this evidence as well. Charlie's only other known activity during this time is entrusting Abel to the care of several mercenary friends. This bit however, may have run in direct conflict with his Street Fighter V storyline, as he has been stated to have died since Alpha 2, making it impossible for him to even rescue Abel, much less be a "retired soldier".

Street Fighter V series[]

In the gameplay trailer presented at the end of the 2014 Capcom Cup, Charlie (refered as Nash in all regional versions and in-game) was hinted at through a quick sequence, appearing at the trailer's end. A small portion of his original theme from Street Fighter Alpha plays briefly when he appears. Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono also dressed up as Charlie to further promote his appearance in the game.

On February 24th, 2015, an official trailer featuring Charlie was released on the official Street Fighter YouTube channel where he was seen fighting both Chun-Li and Ryu.[7]

Character story[]

Somehow revived after having been classed as dead by the Air Force, Nash became completely fixated on killing the murderer of his previous life: M. Bison.[8]

Prologue - 'The Man Who Lost It All'

Charlie's character story opens with an internal monologue, where he states that "a man's most crushing loss is always to himself". He awakens in a grotto, emerging from a stone coffin, and is greeted by a woman named Helen, who is relieved to see that he is alive. She tells him that he had suffered severe injuries and asks Charlie if he remembers who was responsible. He recalls what happened, and in a flashback, says he is going to take down Bison. Guile attempts to intervene, telling Charlie he is not cleared for duty and insisting that he join him on this mission. Determined to stop Shadaloo, and observing that Guile has a family that needs him, Charlie declines Guile's offer and insists on fighting Bison alone. Guile observes that Charlie is not behaving rationally, but does not interfere.

Returning to the present, Helen notices that Charlie's memories are returning and asks him what happened when he fought Bison. Charlie explains that he confronted Bison and tried to apprehend him, but the helicopter that had been called for backup instead opened fire on Charlie, and Bison threw him into a waterfall. Helen reveals that the helicopter was piloted by members of the US military that were commanded by Bison, and that Charlie had been considered missing in action, presumed dead. When Charlie discovers that Bison is still alive, he asks Helen if she knows where he is. Helen admits that she does not know, but says she has other information that may be of use. She tells Charlie to give it some thought, and gives him a few days to roam the world to catch up with everything that has happened since his disappearance.

A few days later, he meets Ed. Deducing that he's with Shadaloo, Charlie proceeds to grab Ed and demands answers as to where Bison is, while Ed demonstrates his Psycho Powers from his right hand and taunts him for being a dead body. They are interrupted by F.A.N.G who seeks to take Ed with him. After a short skirmish, F.A.N.G decides to leave with Ed, using a poison gas cloud to escape and remarking at how he found the whole situation annoying. Back in Russia in another few days, Charlie accepts Helen's offer to help her, and Helen tells him to start. Soon after, while remembering Chun-Li, Guile and Cammy, he restates his words from earlier that "a man's most crushing loss is always to himself. But it is also only he that can prevail over himself." With that, Charlie's thoughts are nothing more but to kill Bison, not letting anyone stand in his way.

A Shadow Falls[]

In Charlie's dream, he sees a single sheep beneath the darkness. The animal morphs into Necalli, who attacks him to devour his spirit until an unexpected butterfly ignites a flashing blue light. Charlie finally wakes up in an ancient cave and finds himself in a coffin attended to by Helen (referring to his prologue story) as he remembers the time he confronted Bison and was killed at his hands in the events of Alpha 2. He then glares to see a Phantom Bison, struggling to stand up and walk out of the cave despite his injuries, disregarding Helen's concern. As the Phantom Bison appears behind him, Charlie first fights Bison, then angrily hits him with his Sonic Boom, but to no effect. Nash becomes weighed down by his injuries as Bison evilly smirks, then diminishes into a purple light. Helen is amazed that he remembered so much of his Air Force training despite being out of practice as well as recently dead. She then gives him a mission to acquire a set of white symbolic chess pieces, giving him the picture of the person with the next piece. To Charlie's surprise, the picture she gave him is none other than his best friend Guile. Helen informs him that he needs to take Guile's piece if he wants to stop Shadaloo, and Charlie reluctantly has no choice but to pursue his target.

Charlie finds and confronts Guile, Cammy, and Chun-Li, the last of whom is still injured from Bison's earlier attack. Shocked to see Nash, but not really believing it's him due to his unnatural appearance and cold gaze, Guile tells the two girls to stay back, and both adopt a fighting stance. Charlie manages to overpower Guile as he attempts to hit him with his Sonic Boom. Charlie puts his left hand up to deflect his attack but instead ends up absorbing his projectile, and he is surprised about the change in his body. Just then, Rashid and his attendant Azam come out of hiding, also intent on taking the pieces. While Chun-Li engages Rashid in battle, only to lose her piece to him, Nash is able to get Guile's piece and escape to meet up with Helen.

Charlie and Rashid encounter each other again at the underground arena in Russia, and it's revealed they were both recruited by Helen to stop Shadaloo's plan. Juri Han, another of Helen's recruits, appears and is less than impressed at Helen's team, testing Rashid in a brief fight. Helen then cuts in and explains that the chess pieces are actually control keys for Shadaloo's seven Black Moons, which they are using to fuel Bison's Psycho Power, granting him enough power to rule the world.

Just as Rashid begins to question who she really is, Urien, Helen's superior, also appear and is blithely skeptical at best that her team-building machinations will lead to much success. He decides to test Nash in battle himself, wanting to know if the "creation" that "[his] tech" helped with produced more than "an average puppet." After handily defeating Nash, Urien attempts to strike a final blow at him, but Rashid instead steps in and saves him. When Urien angrily leaves, Helen tells the others that Charlie was long dead and his body is weak. Helen then places her finger on the green gem on Charlie's forehead, and it glows for a few moments and apparently restores some of his lost strength. Questioned about her true intentions, Helen finally reveals that she hates Bison, but is devoted to a different, more suitable world leader, finally convincing Nash, Juri, and Rashid to stop Shadaloo's final plan.

In the first infiltration against Shadaloo and its main base, Charlie is able to find and confront Bison, hellbent on extracting revenge. However, he is no match for Bison and only manages to escape with his "life" due to Necalli's intrusion. He is later found by Rashid and Azam, while Charlie is visibly in pain. When Rashid mentions his missing friend, Charlie is shocked by his words. His conscience and calmer side reawaken, as this reminds him of his own friends. He asks Rashid more about his missing friend until Necalli reappears in pursuit for their souls, having failed to capture Bison's. They manage to escape from the base via Karin's helicopter, with Charlie dangling from the doorway until Guile takes his hand and helps him in.

After regrouping at the Kanzuki Estate, Guile is relieved to see Charlie alive. Both are seen trying to restrain a brainwashed Abel, who is consumed by the Psycho Power. Guile tries his best to keep him at bay and Charlie manages to absorb its power into his own, finally freeing Abel from the Psycho Power's control. As Charlie leaves to regroup with Rashid and Azam, Guile gives him back his military dog tag, finally rekindling their friendship. Abel recognizes Nash and is shocked to see him leaving.

Upon regrouping with Rashid, Juri, and now Cammy, Helen arrives. She happily informs them that, thanks to a phone transmission from one of the missing hackers forced to work or Shadaloo, who relayed a message from Rashid's friend, she now has a solution to stopping the Black Moons plan. She tells Charlie that he will have his opportunity to kill Bison. Charlie shakes his head, stating that killing Bison is beyond his abilities, but his friends may able to do it. This enrages Helen, stating that she made many sacrifices to ensure Charlie would be the one to stop Bison, using the power given to Charlie by her lord, even briefly speaking about a prophecy. Nash remarks that since he is already dead, his power can't catch up to Bison's, which is continually growing through the Black Moons. Helen then taunts him by telling him that he's not immortal and his decay is imminent, saying there are no second chances for a "filthy dead man" like him. However, Charlie already knows this fact, as well as what he has to do, walking away as Rashid follows him.

In the final assault against Shadaloo, Charlie and Rashid proceed to infiltrate the base, and Charlie goes to stop the activation of Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. Charlie arrives to see Guile, Chun-Li, and Ryu, confronted by Bison. As Bison ascends to the top of the Lair of the Four Kings, Charlie tells them to wait, then briefly looks down, pleased with his friends. He then chases after up after Bison, and the two finally having their fated rematch. Despite defeating Bison, Charlie's efforts are in vein, as Bison is regenerated by the power of the Black Moons. Rashid shuts down the Black Moons, but Charlie observes that he is too late. Bison strikes Charlie, but Charlie reveals that this was his plan all along, and that he had been trying tio get Bison as close as possible. Charlie absorbs Bison's Psycho Power with his hand and Bison accuses him of trying to kill himself. Charlie finds funny, since he is already dead. He glows brightly as Guile calls out his name, realizing he can't hold it, but Nash continues taking more until his body overflows with power. Charlie, unable to control this power, explodes. As his body explodes, his dog tag falls back to the ground. Bison emerges unscathed, but Guile and Chun-Li notice something different about the dictator's Psycho Power, now greatly reduced and no longer powerful unlike earlier. Ultimately, M. Bison is defeated by Ryu; Charlie Nash had knowingly sacrificed himself to weaken Bison enough so that Ryu, now having mastered the power of his Hado, could finish Bison off for good.

While it is heavily implied that Charlie's act spelt his certain death, one even witnessed by Guile, his status is officially listed as unknown, leaving a possibility to a fate other than death. In the Arcade Mode ending, his body is shown intact, supporting the Unknown status.

Crossover appearances[]

Marvel vs. Capcom games[]

Charlie was one of the playable characters in X-Men vs. Street Fighter. In his ending, he is captured by M. Bison, who performs terrible experiments on him. Charlie's fate would be left up in the air until Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, where a secret character by the name of Shadow appeared.

Shadow is a palette swap of Charlie, with nearly his entire body blacked out, and a white eye shining behind his glasses. He has all of Charlie's moves, but his attacks set his opponent alight with blue Psycho Power flames. His Hyper Combos also have a brief pause where his eye gleams before the move was pulled off (this made him somewhat unpopular, as the gleam could give an opponent enough time to block or avoid the attack).

Shadow would later appear in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes as a secret helper character. In addition, the ending for Chun-Li also hinted that Bison intended to alter her in the same way, and another hidden character, called Shadow Lady, was a Shadow-altered Chun-Li. Shadow Lady's ending in the game also showed a similar fate befalling fellow Capcom character Jin Saotome.

In Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Charlie appears as his normal self, indicating that this game's events may have taken place prior to the others.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom[]

Charlie was planned to be a playable character (alongside Ibuki and M. Bison) in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but was dropped due to time constraints.[9]

Cannon Spike[]

Outside of fighting games, Charlie is one of the playable characters (and one of the three Street Fighter characters, the other ones being Cammy and Vega) in the multi-directional shooter game Cannon Spike.

Capcom Fighting Evolution[]

Charlie made a cameo appearance (along with fellow Street Fighter characters Dhalsim, Ken, Sean and Dudley) in Pyron's ending.

Street Fighter X Tekken[]

Tekken fighter Steve Fox uses Charlie's outfit as his Swap Costume in Street Fighter X Tekken.

Puzzle Fighter[]

Charlie is one of the selectable character in the mobile game Puzzle Fighter. His Tragedy Assault has him slashing the opponent with his hand and then summoning a lightning bolt.

Comics[]

Street Fighter II manga[]

In Masaomi Kanzaki's manga adaptation of Street Fighter II, Guile is directly responsible for Charlie's death. Years before the events of the manga, M. Bison uses Charlie and other members of Guile's unit as guinea pigs for a mind-controlling substance. Charlie went insane during a mission and began attacking unarmed villagers, causing Guile to kill him. Charlie is shown in the manga as a silhouette with an insane smile.

Street Fighter Alpha manga[]

In the Street Fighter Alpha manga by Masahiko Nakahira, Charlie encounters Chun-Li, Ryu, and Ken in Florida, where Ken had been fighting at a tournament. He personally speaks with Chun-Li, introducing himself and informing her of Shadaloo's growing power. The two discuss their plans to work together against the criminal organization, and Charlie decides to work behind-the-scenes to acquire data and communicate with Chun-Li as she goes along to Shadaloo's tournament with Ryu.

Later on, when Bison launches an attack on Shinjuku-ward, Tokyo, Japan, Charlie joins Chun-Li in attacking Bison's "flying fortress" (a jet containing his Psycho Drive), where he briefly battles Vega. Chun-Li tells Charlie about the Psycho Drive and its connection to Bison's power; this is the final scene in which Charlie appears in the manga.

UDON comics[]

His story in UDON's Street Fighter comics mixes in a few elements from Marvel vs. Capcom.

Charlie is captured by M. Bison and, the as dictator's infamous Psycho Power is forced into his body, he witnesses Chun-Li's father Dorai's demise at the hands of one of the Dolls. Brainwashed into becoming "Agent Shadow" of Shadaloo, Charlie is assigned to monitor those who are perceived as a threat to Bison's criminal empire. After Vega's failed attempt at assassinating Ken and his fiancee Eliza, Shadow is instructed to eliminate Guile and Chun-Li who were closing in on Bison. He confronts the two and emerges victorious, but, before he is to execute them, Guile throws him his dogtags and reminds him of the past and his true identity. Confused, Shadow flees the scene deserting the Shadaloo ranks in the process.

Upon reflection, Charlie realizes that he was nothing but a mindless puppet in the service of a global crime syndicate. He joins his former army buddy Guile and interpol agent Chun-Li in their mission to put an end to Shadaloo schemes. As he briefs in Chun-Li of her father's fate, M. Bison arrives at the scene and guns Charlie down.

Bison proceeds to effortlessly defeat Guile and Chun-Li, but before he is able to finish them off, an injured Charlie intervenes and strikes him down with a Psycho Powered Sonic Boom. Charlie discloses that, in order to turn him into the Bison's mindless drone, Shadaloo scientists infused him with dictator's own Psycho Power which gave him great strength but deprived him of his free will. With his new powers under his command, Charlie goes on to fight Bison who, after initial surprise, quickly regains composure and defeats Nash. In a final, drastic effort, an badly wounded Charlie performs Somersault Justice and cuts down the cliff on which the battle took place plummeting both Bison and himself into the abyss.

Charlie is never seen again, except in Abel's flashback. Here, Charlie is the one who rescues Abel from a burning Shadaloo facility. Some time later, when Abel wakes up from a coma suffering from amnesia, he finds himself adopted by one of Charlie's army buddies. Since Seth and the other numbers were completed after Abel escaped, and Seth somehow learned the one-handed Sonic Boom by the time he collected all the abilities he wanted, it is highly possible that Charlie was captured by Shadaloo or S.I.N. This might be canon, since Guile, according to his win quote against Abel in SSFIV, notices that his friend was the one to rescue Abel.

Two bonus comics focus on Charlie. One of them shows Charlie rescuing Guile who was held hostage by enemy forces; the other shows him sparring with Guile in a military base.

Charlie is the subject of an special UDON comic: Street Fighter V: The Life and Death(s) of Charlie Nash, a compilation of past stories which cover both his background, including his previous military work and encounters with Guile, and every instance of him "dying" up to and including Street Fighter Alpha 3. The comic also cover the details behind his "revival" (showing that it was performed by the Secret Society) leading up to his appearance in Street Fighter V, as well as Charlie's Shadow persona.

Live-action movies[]

Street Fighter live-action movie[]

Charlie is amalgamated with the character of Blanka to form the character Carlos "Charlie" Blanka and is a friend of Colonel Guile and a soldier in his unit, who is taken prisoner in Bison's Shadaloo compound. He is black-haired, green-eyed, Brazilian, Allied Nations uniform-wearing, hybrid of Charlie and Blanka is before the canon appearance of Charlie Nash in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams.

Charlie is amalgamated with the character of Blanka to form the character Carlos "Charlie" Blanka (portrayed by Italian-Australian actor Robert Mammone), a friend of Colonel Guile and a soldier in his unit, who is taken prisoner in Bison's Shadaloo compound. This character appeared before Charlie's canon debut in Street Fighter Alpha.

When Bison discovers the friendship between Charlie and Guile through one of Guile's threats, he sends Charlie to be brainwashed and mutated by Dr. Dhalsim (Bison's unwilling scientist in this film) to become the green-skinned, red-haired killing machine known simply as Blanka. Dhalsim, however, secretly changes Blanka's mental programming to prevent him from becoming a killer.

During a scuffle between Dhalsim and the lab guard, Blanka is released prematurely and his first act is to murder the guard to save Dhalsim. He later attacks Guile when he sneaks into the lab, but recognises him as his friend. He is almost shot by Guile in order to end his suffering, but Dhalsim stops him on the grounds that Blanka is essentially still himself. Blanka and Dhalsim later fight Bison's forces together when the AN army attacks Bison's base. In the climax, however, Blanka refuses to return to civilisation with Guile in his state, choosing to perish in the explosion of Bison's base along with a repentant Dhalsim.

In the video game based on the movie, Blanka is a playable character, though in his mutated incarnation with the original Blanka's moveset. His ending in the home version reveals that he and Dhalsim both survived the explosion and Dhalsim eventually reverted him to his human form.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li[]

In this film, Charlie (portrayed by Chris Klein) is an Interpol agent. When both him and Royal Thai Police detective Maya Sunee mee are called to investigate the murder of several crime syndicate families in Bangkok, Nash informs Maya that the Shadaloo perpetrated these crimes.

Street Fighter: Resurrection[]

Charlie is featured in the series with Alain Moussi portraying the character.

Animations[]

Street Fighter cartoon[]

The American animated Street Fighter TV series, which aired from 1995 to 1997, adapts Blanka's origins from the live-action film into the series, thus merging Blanka and Charlie's characters into one as well.

The episode "Eye of the Beholder" features Blanka reverting to his human form and he is given clothing similar to the ones Charlie wears in the Alpha games, but with Blanka's color scheme (a green vest and brown cargo pants). However, Charlie still retains Blanka's height and voice, and he's a lot slender than Blanka. In addition, Charlie is originally blond and blue-eyed in the original video game series. In the animated series, he has medium brown skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes.

Street Fighter II V[]

In the Street Fighter II V anime series, Charlie (voiced by Ryōichi Tanaka) is referred as Nash. He is Guile's best friend, who has served alongside of him in several combat situations. He dies during the mission to rescue Ken from M. Bison's fortress, killed by Bison himself.

Since the show was produced before the development of Street Fighter Alpha, Charlie does not resemble his in-game counterpart at all. In the show, he holds an impressive similar appearance to the French actor Jean Reno.

While Nash is known as "Charlie" in the English localization of the games, Nash retains his Japanese name for the English dub of the show (except in one scene where Guile calls him "Charlie", implying that his full name is Charlie Nash).

Gameplay[]

Fighting style[]

Charlie was introduced as the one who originally taught Guile his current fighting style. Because of this, Charlie is a "clone" who uses the same fighting style, complete with most of the same normal and special attacks, but with some few differences. The main difference is that Charlie's fighting style is 'perfected' and relaxed, while Guile's is less proficient because of his short temper and lack of focus. This is shown in his ability to throw a Sonic Boom with one hand (and sometimes even his feet), as well as his two-hit Flash Kick that uses both legs. In addition, Charlie also possesses the Knee Bazooka, one of the only few dash attacks in Street Fighter Alpha 3. In A Shadow Falls, Charlie uses the Sonic Hurricane against M. Bison.

Moveset[]

In Street Fighter V, much like his personality and appearance, his moveset has undergone a drastic change while still retaining some of its original roots; he now utilizes the Moonsault Slash, an overhead attack from the air from both X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. His Flash Kick, now called Sonic Scythe, has been altered as it is performed differently and with one leg. Charlie also appears to exhibit powers similar to M. Bison, including his wind-like ki emanates a dark, Psycho Power-esque hue during a few of his attacks and he can teleport with Sonic Move, that allows Charlie to warp behind or above his opponent. As of Street Fighter V, Charlie is no longer a charge character.

In general, Charlie possess a drastically retooled and more violent fighting style; this includes a new tackle maneuver, Tragedy Assault, in which Charlie violently shoves his opponent's head to the ground and shocks them with a bolt of electricity, and the Judgement Sabre in which Charlie forces a vertical Sonic Hurricane into the opponent's head.

Super Combos[]

Charlie's first Super Combo in the Alpha series (and his X-Ism Super) is Somersault Justice, in which Charlie unleashes a series of back-to-back Flash Kicks; in A-Ism levels 1 and 2 feature two Flash Kicks, while level 3 adds a third.

Charlie's second Super Combo is the Sonic Break. Charlie throws a number of Sonic Boom attacks in various ways and numbers depending on the level of Super used. At level 3, Charlie throws a Sonic Boom normally, then via an uppercut, then with a Spinning Back Knuckle and finally kicks a Sonic Boom to demonstrate his mastery of the attack.

Charlie's third Super Combo is the Crossfire Blitz. At level 3, Charlie strings together a series of grounded hard kicks leading into a series of jumping roundhouses and ending with several ki-infused punches, finishing with an uppercut.

In Street Fighter V, Charlie's Critical Art is the Judgement Sabre. When executed, Charlie dashes through his opponent (the attack is a strike but the dash does not deal a hit if unblocked) who becomes enveloped by black mist. Rising up behind them, the mist dissipates and Charlie slams a vertical Sonic Hurricane into the opponent's head, dealing ten hits.

Trivia[]

  • Like Guile, Charlie must have had some flight training, particularly with the AV-8B Harrier II in order to perform the Sonic Boom and Flash Kick.
  • In the Mega Man Remix and the Mega Man Maniax mangas by Ariga Hitoshi, Charlie briefly appears as a news caster in several chapters. Instead of going by his Japanese name of Nash, he is simply called Charlie.
  • In the second promotional trailer for Street Fighter V, which focused on the return of Charlie as a playable character, the theme Nothing Can Keep Me Away from the album Epic Action & Adventure Vol. 10 is playing as the musical background.[10]
  • According to Udon's Street Fighter V comic, The Life and Death(s) of Charlie Nash, it is possible that Charlie may be religious.
  • Charlie's Battle Outfit 1 in Street Fighter V has a color scheme that is possibly inspired by Gray Fox from Konami's Metal Gear series.
  • His Halloween costume in Street Fighter V is based on Victor from the Darkstalkers series, also made by Capcom. Dan even asks if he can shoot electricity now.

References[]

Gallery[]

For more of this character, see their gallery.

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