Bonus Chapter - Easter Eggs
So this is the section (that will be frequently updated as I polish the previous parts of the series) so that you can see where I got chunks of inspiration from. Some might be more obvious than others. I would like to say first that I have no ownership of the rights to the games or characters.
Also, being creative in my everyday life is important for what I do so I try to find inspiration in anything (little or big) - so some of these ideas might sound a little crazy!
Volume 1 (Beginnings) - Sasha / Cherry
So I started writing Volume 1 back in 2017 (way before the 4th game came out) and predicted that Adam Hunter would have a young daughter with his partner at the time. Later on in volume 5, once Keri and the children left to start a safer life, they changed their identities and names to hide from the syndicate. So by the time Adam's daughter returned in Volume 6 (2020) (and once SOR4 had been released), I used this to rectify the issue of her name by changing it to Cherry.
Volume 2 (Rebirth) - The Twins
Chapter 5 touched on the fact that Mr X had twins, a boy and a girl along his backstory. Again, this story was completed in 2017, way before SOR4 came out so I was really thrilled when the new game had Mr X's children involved as twins. I think it was either sheer luck that I made this prediction, or I'd like to think that maybe, just maybe, the developers are keeping an eye on our stories ;-).
After Mr X's wife and kids were shot by Blaze's family due to them being drug rivals, Dr Dahm was able to save the two children by freezing their bodies in a dormant state for years until they healed. Only, they came back to life having not aged, as two young spoilt villains who were out for revenge.
Axel and Blaze Romance
Since playing the original games, I always had the impression that they were a couple (or something was going on between them). And as I wrote more, I realised that many other fans had shipped these two characters together also. Apparently, if you look closely at the end of the first game, the two of them are holding hands, so chemistry between them was inevitable and was a big part of the story.
Blaze being British
Here, the old manuals and the original Streets of Rage Wiki stated for years that Blaze was British. So there are lots of cheeky references to England and London (which also happens to be my own home town). They even moved to London at the end of Volume 6. Things like cups of tea, fish and chips, full english breakfast and lots of other things can be found referenced in the stories.
Jake Murphy/ Turner
Along Blaze's backstory (Volume 3- Path of a Heroine) as well as Volume 5 (Toxic past). I got inspiration for this villain from Streets of Rage Brazil who, for some reason, have shipped Blaze for years with another fighter called Jake Turner. So I took this as inspiration to create another character (I made him a bad guy because I honestly didn't like him and his face reminded me of my own ex boyfriend lol). So, I then had the idea of connecting him through Tim Murphy in the story as his younger brother. And it worked well as he is now one of the most hated villains in the series by a few other readers. It also connected to the backstory of how Blaze arrived in Wood Oak City after leaving London.
Sammy Hunter
Named after the Bare Knuckle Version of Skate. But in Volume 2 (Rebirth), references are made to his 'real name on his passport', Eddie Hunter.
Leon and Amber Stone
So since SOR4 came out, fans have always commented on Blaze's figure and design being thic - I think she looks great and the developers done fantastic with her design (also referenced in Volume 7). So it's highly likely that she's had a baby or two…. (and no, I don't think it's Cherry as some believe to be- as they're powers and fighting skills are nothing alike).
I thought it would be interesting to introduce a new character like Leon who is technically a hybrid of Blaze and Axel in terms of his fighting abilities and his powers.
Leon Stone - 'Project Burn'
In volumes 6 and 7, when Leon is captured, Steffan (alias Orson Briggs) refers to 'Project Burn' in order to transform the boy into a child soldier and make full use of his powers. Sega were once set to release a 4th game with a character called 'Burn' who was Axel's son (and probably Blaze's too I reckon!) so this is the connection.
"Ellie / Electra"
For most of volume 4 (Chasing Justice), Electra stood in as syndicate leader following Mr X's death. I made her real name in her backstory 'Ellie', close enough to 'Elle' as she was one of the main characters playable in SOR Remake.
Rudra
Also present in volume 4 (Chasing Justice) as Shiva's younger half sister. Also a main playable character found in SOR remake.
Club Sega/ Sega Club - Volume 7
Special credit for this goes to another really talented writer here, Stefan (thatSteffanDude) for giving me this idea after mentioning the old Sega World I used to visit as a kid. He had a really cool scene pictured of Leon visiting the place with his parents as a happy part of the ending to the story. Thank you very much for this suggestion, I am really grateful and was happy to include it in volume 7.
(Disclaimer - the villain in volume 7, 'Steffan' was not named after anybody and is a separate character!)
Yuzo - Volume 1 (Beginnings)
This guy is Zan's assistant above the lab (chapter 9), named after Yuzo Koshiro, the composer.
Barbon's Bar (Volume 1)
Electra's club that Blaze ends up exploding in Chapter 23.
L-Devo (Volume 5 - Toxic Past)
Chapter 32 - this is the bar where Blaze meets Jake for the first time in years. The flashing lights 'L-Devo' can be found in the background on the streets during SOR1.
Vice/ Zack - Chapter 11 (Volume 2 - Rebirth)
Blaze gets her distaste for perverts in the old comics because of Vice. So he is the one who decides to spike her drink and takes her back to Tiger's headquarters so that the team can follow them.
Soozie/ Garnet - (Volume 3- Path of a Heroine)
Also in the comics, Garnet hates Blaze and is mega jealous (you can't blame her really!) Partly because of the Easter Egg above with Vice. So Soozie was the one who hooked up with Axel after they'd broken up (and of course this time Blaze was jealous). Garnet also slapped Blaze around the face in the comics (hence the scene in Volume 4- Chasing Justice when they meet again).
Sore loser!
Blaze was very easy to write about because a lot of her personality throughout the story is based on my own. So I was really thrilled when it was mentioned in the 4th game that she hates to lose because I know that feeling! In volume 1, she had punched her colleague in the face. This was repeated in volume 5 when she punched Tim Murphy (who was acting Commissioner). Her anger issues are reflected throughout the series and in SOR4 so I was really happy to highlight this aspect of her personality from time to time since the first volume.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Of course Sega's mascot deserved a couple of mentions! Volume 6 - Generation Y, Axel receives Sonic Mania for his birthday so that he can play a kid friendly game with Leon. Then in Volume 7 when they visit Sega Club, Max is leaning against a hedgehog statue.
Metro City (Chapter 6 - volume 3)
So Final Fight and Streets of Rage have always been rivals. Once Blaze is taken away from the labs of the syndicate, they reach another run down city close by that the organisation is slowly trying to gain power of. It is even more run down than Wood Oak, containing many brothels and similar criminals that roam the streets. This was definitely worth a mention (I also like Final Fight (even if Streets of Rage is my favourite) and thought it would be great for Wood Oak City to have another familiar neighbouring city.
Sammy/ Skate missing the final battle at the fortress
As much as I miss him in SOR4, he isn't fully present in the game so I sat him out of the final boss battle on the roof of the fortress.
Sword Strike…!
In volume 6 (Generation Y) - chapter 3 - I wanted to make a backstory of how Adam gained his powers after being captured by Dr Dahm. Since he is not present in game 2 or 3, he hasn't had any powers until SOR4 so I thought it would be good to write about this and introduce the concept of him having chi later on.
DLC - Survival Mode
As seen in chapter 10 (Volume 7 - Wood Oak City Bleeding) where the team trains using Zan's latest simulation. A proto-type of the machine was also introduced the same day the DLC was announced in Volume 6 when Blaze attempted to gain back her memory.
'Hawk'
Throughout the series, Axel is sometimes referred to as Hawk (notably his old fighting nickname before joining the police force). This was the name of one of the prototype characters for the original game.
So I will definitely be adding more Easter Eggs as I update the old stories - but if you think of any yourself or spot any others, please let me know :-)!