Rose (Street Fighter)

"Fate is fate, whether or not you choose to accept it!"

- Rose

Rose (ローズ, born July 3, 1967) is a character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games. She is an Italian fortune teller who wields a mysterious form of energy know as Soul Power.

Concept
Rose was inspired by JoJo's Bizarre Adventure character Lisa Lisa, Rose's outfit is almost identical to Lisa Lisa's and both share a similar fighting style that consits of channeling energy into their scarfs (Soul Power in the case of Rose and Ripple in the case of Lisa Lisa). Additionally, both act as a sort of mentor to the main character.

Of note is that Rose's stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2 is Venice, which is the same city where Joseph Joestar meets Lisa Lisa in the story.

Appearance
Rose is a tall, curvaceous, busty woman with long, purple, wavy hair that flows outward horizontally (her hairdo is bent in a parabolic line in the Street Fighter IV series), with a large, zigzag forelock. She has violet eyes, a fair complexion, and a small mouth with full lips. Most official artwork of Rose make her appear to be pursing her lips.

She wears a loose, red (pink or purple in some artworks) evening gown with a belt and large gold buttons; a violet top with matching tights or stockings under her gown; a set of red high heels; and a large, golden scarf around her shoulders and arms. By channeling her mysterious Soul Power through it, she is able to make the scarf glow and wield it as a weapon. Strangely, her cleavage is easily visible through her top. In most artworks, she appears to be wearing a tank top under her dress, but her SFIV sprite shows her to be wearing a sleeved top with shoulder slits.

In the Street Fighter Alpha series, Rose's hair was animated and flowed back with the wind; it remains mostly stationary in the Street Fighter IV series due to the use of 3D models.

In one of Rose's win poses, she wears a large red ball gown, a choker decorated with an antique key design, and matching earrings (in her ending movie in Alpha 2, she is seen wearing this outfit). Also, a lighting-bolt design is visible on her forehead in this form. In this particular victory pose, she holds tarot cards in each hand, and one in her cleavage. This win pose is reserved for a perfect win in Street Fighter Alpha 3, but is a normal victory in Capcom Fighting Evolution. In the UDON comic book series, Rose is often pictured in this attire, particularly when she is interpreting the future or in some removed location.

In official art for the Street Fighter IV games, Rose's face looks very similar to (and may be inspired by) Italian actress Monica Bellucci.

In Street Fighter V, her outfit remains largely the same, except her shoes and belt are black, and her top and tights are dark gray.

Personality
Rose is a serene, respectful, intelligent, and independent woman who muses quite a lot on destiny and fate. Wise and sophisticated, she is not prone to anger easily, and has a very calm demeanor, even in battle. She states that power is nothing without skill and that she must continue on her path, even if it means to give up her life for the greater good.

Ryu
Rose cares deeply for Ryu due to his inner conflict with the Satsui no Hado and the people who desire that power, such as Bison. She often tries to help him overcome this power and warns him of the people who would stop at nothing to get his power. Even though she knows that she cannot protect Ryu from Bison or Akuma, she would guide him and help him to defeat Bison.

Guy
Guy is a friend who respects Rose for wanting to put an end to Bison's evil on the innocent. Due to their views on what they think is right, they will often argue with each other, but will ultimately help one another.

M. Bison
Rose has a strong hatred for Bison due to his immoral actions over others. With his Psycho Power being the dark side of Soul Power, she seeks to stop him and to put an end to it.

Street Fighter Alpha 2
A fortune teller from Genoa, Rose sensed that Doomsday was approaching, and that a person of great evil was causing it. She found the source of the evil in M. Bison and defeated him, believing that she had rid the world of him for good. Unfortunately, by reading her tarot cards, she discovered M. Bison was still alive.

Sometime before facing M. Bison, she somehow encountered Akuma, noticing that his power was the same power Ryu used in his fateful Shoryuken against Sagat, in which Akuma promptly told her to leave. After Rose realizes who Akuma is, he reacts with anger and tells Rose to perish, and the two fought with Rose surviving their battle.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
In Street Fighter Alpha 3, Rose learned that she and M. Bison shared the same soul. She faced M. Bison once more, ramming her fist through his chest, channeling her energy into his body. Rose used all of her Soul Power to defeat M. Bison, but it was not enough. Rose passed out from complete exhaustion, and was soon found by Guy (whom she met earlier when he was pursuing Shadaloo). When M. Bison was defeated by Ryu (who destroyed his body temporarily in the process), M. Bison's soul went to the Psycho Drive. Charlie sacrificed his life to try and destroy the Psycho Drive, but was not successful. M. Bison's soul then went to Rose's body, making her his temporary host.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo
M. Bison's soul stayed in and controlled Rose's body until a new, albeit weaker body was made for him during the time of Street Fighter II. Akuma supposedly killed M. Bison during the second World Warrior tournament with the Raging Demon, which would destroy his soul.

What became of Rose during this time was largely unknown, but the Street Fighter IV Training Guide revealed that Rose is still alive, but has no memory of what happened to her while being possessed by M. Bison.

Street Fighter IV series
Upon learning from her tarot cards that M. Bison somehow survived Akuma's Raging Demon, Rose enters the new tournament. Her cards also reveal "The Fool", a card which in this case symbolizes reckless heroism, and determines that the person represented by this card is the only hope for defeating M. Bison. She also decides that this person cannot defeat M. Bison until the stars align, and that she must protect him until such a time. However, she knows that she cannot defeat M. Bison herself, as she possesses the same power he has. During her participation in the tournament, she runs into Ryu, dead-set in stopping his advancement for his own protection, stating that he is "the last hope". This results in a fight with much reluctance from both parties.

In her ending, M. Bison ambushes her and grabs hold of her face, taking back what little power of his that remained in her, and awakening the memories of what he did while in her body, as well as visions of the horrific acts he would continue to do. When finished, he lets her live and leaves her unconscious, saying she will make excellent fodder for his insatiable spirit. However, Guy confronts M. Bison and demands that he hand her over or he would destroy M. Bison's jet - his only source of escape. M. Bison reluctantly agrees, and Guy holds his part of the bargain and allows him to escape. Rose wakes up to the sight of Guy, and decides that there is still work left for her to do.