Sean (Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact)

Despite fan complaints that Sean was another Ryu/Ken clone, this Brazillian used to be a dominating force in the second version of Street Fighter III. He did fantastic damage and was only second to ninja girl Ibuki in strength. It’s easy for a developer to go overboard with nerfs, however, and Sean went from being the best in 2nd Impact to the worst in 3rd Strike, which cemented his reputation for mediocrity.


 

Chun-Li (Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike)

The strongest woman in the world has been dominant in several games, but Chun-Li is most infamous for this outing. The game’s parry system helped her deflect fireballs and counter overzealous pressure that traditionally hurt her, forcing opponents to play at mid-range, where she excels. On top of that, her Houyoku-Sen Super can turn any stray hit into a match-ending blow.


 

Yun (Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike)

Chun-Li had only one bad match-up in 3rd Strike and it was against this aggressive monster. Yun is known for his Divekick, an angled jump attack that makes it easy to start an offense, and his Genei-Jin Super, a Custom Combo-esque move that enables disgusting juggles and it's very easy to build the meter for it. Yun would later wreak havoc in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.


 

Blanka (Capcom vs. SNK 2)

As someone who specializes in hit-and-run attacks, Blanka is annoying to fight but tends to have trouble against those with stronger damage potential. You only need the right circumstances to become dominant, however, and in CVS2 the beastman had strong normal attacks with great priority. A glitch called “roll canceling” also made any special attack invincible, which made fireballs less effective against his Rolling Attack and allowed Blanka to "turtle," or play extremely safe and defensively.

 

C. Viper (Super Street Fighter IV)

C. Viper was the first new Street Fighter character in years, and she has certainly made an impression as someone who both requires very high execution and is worth the investment to learn. This secret agent benefits from an unorthodox playstyle, a momentum-shifting offense, and a scarcity of Viper players, which makes it difficult to prepare for her. Later on, she would appear in the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 series, where she's also very powerful but difficult to use.

 

Fei Long (Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition)

Despite being Capcom’s take on Bruce Lee and the originator of the multi-hit “rekka” special attack, Fei Long was neither very strong in Super Turbo nor got into many other games. Street Fighter IV has done wonders for him, however, as over the years he became more powerful while other characters became weaker. While players harped about newcomers Yun and Yang being overpowered, Fei Long was just as efficient.
 
 

Ryu (Street Fighter X Tekken)

As a recent Shoryuken.com article notes, Ryu is rarely a bad character because of his versatile move set. In Street Fighter X Tekken, he also benefits from new tricks such as his ability to dash out of his fireball to bait jumps or set up a throw attempt. Until a recent patch, his air Hurricane Kick also had a generous hitbox (damage radius). Post-release balance changes are now common, however, which means unfair characters and tactics are easy to adjust for as long as the publisher is willing to support the game.

Unfortunately, I can't cover every game and every Street Fighter top tier. Feel like Super Turbo Balrog, CVS2 Sakura, or Vega from both these games deserves a place in hell? Let me know in the comments.