Template:Anti-Hero Infobox
| “ | To challenge me is to challenge my army | „ |
| ~ Rolento |
Rolento F. Schugerg (ロレント ・ F・シュゲルグ), more commonly referred by his first name, is a video game character, as well as an anti-hero from both the Final Fight and Street Fighter series. Like Sodom before him, he first appeared as a boss character in the first Final Fight, but later evolved into a playable fighter in Street Fighter Alpha 2.
Story
Final Fight series
Rolento made his first appearance as fourth stage's boss in the original Final Fight. According to his original backstory, Rolento is a former member of the special forces unit, the Red Berets, explaining his military appearance and skills. He was put in charge of the gang's secret armory-producing plants in Metro City's industrial area and has great influence. He fights using a baton and his special techniques include a wall kick and his throw. When he's low on energy, he relies on throwing grenades instead. When defeated, instead of fading away like most enemies in the game, he blows himself up with his own grenades. After being defeated by Guy, he gained a scar on his face caused by a shuriken thrown by Guy.
The Industrial Area stage, and by extension Rolento, was excluded in the SNES version of Final Fight (and its revised rerelease, Final Fight Guy) due to space constraint. Because of this, the developers of the SNES sequel, Final Fight 2, saw fit to include him in the following game to compensate his previous omission. In Final Fight 2, he is the boss of the fifth stage, Italy. His general appearance and fighting style remained unchanged from the previous game, and he is the only returning enemy characer besides the Andore from the original game. As an in-joke, the Game Boy Advance version named Final Fight One (which included all of the stages and the Alpha sprites of Guy and Cody Travers as bonuses) had an interaction with Alpha Cody and Rolento, where Cody says that he "doesn't remember going to this path" as a reference to the Industrial Stage's omission in the SNES version of Final Fight.
Final Fight Revenge
After Alpha 3, Rolento then made an appearance in the American-developed Final Fight spin-off game, Final Fight Revenge. His playing style is similar to one he has in the Alpha games and even his storyline is the same (the game takes place between the events of Alpha 2 and Alpha 3).
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Rolento was the third Final Fight character made playable in the Street Fighter Alpha series. He first appears in Street Fighter Alpha 2, following the first game's inclusion of Guy and Sodom, although he previously made a cameo appearance in Sodom's ending in the original game. He fights using many of the same techniques he uses in Final Fight. In the game's storyline, no longer content with being a lackey for the Mad Gear gang, he sought to create his own utopian nation. He fights Sodom, who tries to convince him to rejoin Mad Gear. Rolento refuses, saying he has no need for them anymore. Sodom brands him an "arrogant moron" and instead challenges him to a fight. Rolento then has an encounter with Guy. Rolento realises Guy still remembers him as his "leader". Guy insults Rolento, saying he hasn't learned his lesson and that he hates slow learners. Rolento makes one last threat, saying he will have to rebuild his empire on Guy's face. In the end, he makes his move and attempts to start his new nation in Metro City, driving a tank through the business district. Mayor Mike Haggar is called to stop him.
Street Fighter Alpha 3
In Street Fighter Alpha 3, Rolento, remembering Cody as a powerful fighter from the past, searched for him to try to recruit him into his army. When he eventually found Cody in a prison uniform and handcuffs, Rolento became disheartened about his defeat at the hands of Guy when he was a member of the Mad Gear Gang. He wanted the hero from back in the day, not a loner convict, even though Cody had refused to join anyway. He also sees Sodom and defeates him once more, who then claims the military man had indeed lost sight of what Mad Gear stood for. Eventually, he stumbles upon M. Bison's Psycho Drive after stealing weapons from Shadaloo for his army. He learns the Psycho Drive brainwashes people, and decides against using it. He can't have a utopia if people can't make their own decisions. Sodom, who had tracked Rolento down despite their earlier arguments, hears him proclaim this and realizes that Rolento did not lose sight of Mad Gear's ideals after all. They make up and decide to work together to use those values to make a great Utopian nation.
Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel
Rolento makes an extended cameo appearance in the fourth episode of the anime Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel, hiding in the bushes during the night and trying to take pictures of women in uniform (to him, ordinary girls "become saints" in uniform). The Twin Angels find him, shoot an arrow at his camera, and begin to pursue him. They are stopped when someone takes their picture, not realizing that the angels are her friends; the flash gives Rolento plenty of time to escape.
Later on, the Twin Angels go undercover to investigate gunshots and spot Rolento, who has taken over a family restaurant with three accomplices who also escaped the Twin Angels' clutches. When Rolento demands that they enter so he can take pictures and add them to his photobook, their teacher poses as one of them, creating a diversion that allows the Twin Angels time to escape and transform.
Later, their friend from earlier challenges Rolento to see who would take better pictures; at that moment, the Twin Angels enter, prompting him to charge towards them, wanting to take pictures. The duo agrees under the condition that their faces remain censored, and Rolento and his crew take several pictures of them posing while holding a black bar over their eyes. He eventually begins ignoring one in favor of the other, angering her into blowing up the restaurant. Rolento survives the explosion, and is last seen laying the on the floor, smiling dizzily.
Capcom vs. SNK 2
Rolento appeared playable in the crossover game Capcom vs. SNK 2.
Street Fighter X Tekken
Rolento is a playable character in Street Fighter X Tekken, where his tag partner is Ibuki.
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Rolento's army takes part in at least one conflict; after a battle, Rolento makes a speech to his soldiers about how their mission is to save the world. He receives a report about a private military contractor, S.I.N., which will be testing a new soldier enhancement system (BLECE) at an upcoming tournament. In response, Rolento enters the tournament in order to obtain the enhancement system for himself and his army.
In his ending, Rolento confronts and defeats Seth, feigning an offer to make a deal with him, before using the opportunity to finish him off by blowing him up with his Grenades. Afterwards, he tells his men that the ruined base now belongs to them, and that they are to scour the ruins for anything they can find. As the soldiers begin to search the base, Seth's heavily-damaged Tanden Engine is shown powering down.
Trivia
- In the Super Nintendo versions of Final Fight and Final Fight Guy, Rolento never appeared in the game and his stage was cut.
- In the first and second Final Fight games respectfully, Rolento always leaves afterimages of himself whenever he moves and jumps.
