The 39 characters of Marvel vs Capcom 3

MODOK

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #93

As you probably know, MODOK stands for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, but you’d think the ultimate killing machine would look more threatening than that. Created by terrorist group AIM, MODOK’s giant head is useful for some things, including super intelligence, mind control, and the ability to create strong psychic shields. Plus his hover chair is outfitted with a wide array of AIM invented weapons. He’s actually kind of a threat, so just laugh at him behind his back, ok?

Morrigan

First Appearance: Darkstalkers (Arcade)

Morrigan is probably the best-known character of the Darkstalkers franchise, thanks in no small part to her (literally) vamping it up in revealing clothes. A succubus of demon royalty, she was born with incredible power, much of which her father locked away, only giving her access to it upon his death. Even after his passing and with the throne hers, she would much rather dabble in the world of humans, normally by beating the crap out of them and her magical brethren. Not only magically potent, Morrigan also has the ability to transform her bat wings into any number of things, offensive and defensive.

Nate Spencer

First Appearance: Bionic Commando (NES)

Though the arcade version presumably stars the same grappling-arm soldier, he wasn’t officially named until the NES conversion – and even then as the Engrish-y Ladd Spencer. Later this became Rad Spencer, then finally in 2008’s Bionic Commando Rearmed, Nathan “Rad” Spencer. At that point in the series we knew Spencer was special super soldier, equipped with a multipurpose grappling arm that could latch onto objects, deflect bullets or even toss bad guys out of the way. For whatever reason, Capcom ignored that design and instead went with Spencer’s gruffed-out revamp from the 2009 Bionic Commando on PS3/360, at which point we found out he was just one of many bionic soldiers, and that the arm isn’t just fancy tech. No, it’s also the essence of his dead wife, which is needed to complete the bonding process between bionic and organic components. Right. Jesus Christ who cares why he has an arm, just let us hit people with it! /rant

Phoenix

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (as Jean Grey) X-Men #101 (as Phoenix)

One of Prof. Xavier’s first students, Jean Grey was an adept telekinetic and telepath, a very important, if not particularly potent part of the X-Men. All that changed when she became possessed by the Phoenix Force, an intergalactic entity of incredible power. As Phoenix, Jean slowly became accustomed to her new powers, eventually becoming one of the most powerful beings alive. Flight, strength and energy blasts are just a fraction of the Phoenix Force’s power, which has been known to destroy a sun and exterminate an entire solar system, an action perpetrated by the Dark Phoenix persona, which also appears in MvC3. Though the Phoenix Force has possessed many, Jean is easily the most famous holder of the power.

Ryu

First Appearance: Street Fighter (Arcade)

The heart and soul of the Street Fighter series, Ryu is probably the most well-known fighting game character in the world. Master of the Hadouken fireball attack, he’s out to perfect his craft and hone his skills instead of winning tournaments or destroying criminal cartels, even if they often go hand in hand. An orphan trained alongside his longtime friend and rival Ken, Ryu has a personality you could call either “stoic” or “boring.” Even though he’s such a dominant fighter, he doesn’t rest, as he’s always looking for the next challenge with very little else on his mind. One of the few grudges he’s held was against Akuma, the man he thought killed his still-living master.

Sentinel

First Appearance: X-Men #14

Created by Dr. Bolivar Trask, the Sentinels are a series of mutant hunting super-robots out to save humanity from the assumed evil homo superior. Though they have taken many forms and have had many masters, the standard Sentinel is about three stories tall, has AI that quickly learns from its opponent and is pretty tough, though by no means indestructible. The Sentinel from the Marvel vs Capcom series is a little smaller, but still possesses much of the strength, energy blasts, and limited flight capabilities of his brothers.