is a fictional character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. He debuted as one of the original eight World Warriors in 1991's Street Fighter II and appeared in the game's subsequent updates. In the games he is portrayed as a pilot in the United States Air Force who is seeking to avenge the death of his Air Force buddy Charlie at the hands of the villainous dictator M. Bison. He started out as a major of the Air Force, until he is promoted to a colonel rank in Street Fighter V.
One of the most popular characters in the series, Guile has appeared in other Street Fighter games, including the home port versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 (where he is a playable character alongside Charlie), and Street Fighter IV. He is also a playable character in various spin-off titles, such as the Street Fighter EX, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and SNK vs. Capcom series.
Guile has also appeared in other Street Fighter media: the main protagonist in the 1994 live-action Street Fighter film and its animated spin-off, as well as one of the main characters in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. The character has also been featured in various official comics and merchandise. His music theme, known simply as "Guile's Theme", has been used multiple times, usually to give a sense of victory.
Guile has been perceived as unique among Street Fighter II characters in both appearance and gameplay. He is noted as having only two signature moves in the game, both of which are performed by first holding a direction on the joystick and then pushing in the opposite direction with a punch or kick - the Sonic Boom and the Flash Kick, respectively. Guile has been well received, with the character often placing highly in various lists of the best Street Fighter characters of all time.
Conception and design Early Street Fighter II sketches and notes suggest that Guile was developed specifically to appeal to American fans."The Making Of Street Fighter II (or, Writing is Rewriting)" by Chris Kohler, Insert Credit. Retrieved on 2008-01-10 In an interview with Game On!, Capcom Research and Design head Noritaka Funamizu stated that of the more popular characters in the series with western audiences, Guile was most likely considered the game's main character. Guile's design and hairstyle is based on Rudol von Stroheim and Jean-Pierre Polnareff, characters from the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.Interview with Noritaka Funamizu - Weekly Famitsu Issue 1998/9/25 Guile's name is not a reference to The J. Geils Band; however, his name references a character in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure named after The J. Geils Band.
Appearances
In video games Guile was first introduced in Street Fighter II (1991) as one of the eight selectable characters featured in the first release of the game. The former elite SOF teammate from the United States, Guile along with his best friend and co-pilot Charlie Nash were missing in action during a mission in Shadaloo. In his ending, he defeats Bison and lifts him on his knees by his throat to finish him off just after reminding him of who he murdered, but is dissuaded from killing him by his wife Julia (Jane in Japan) and their daughter Amy (Chris in Japan and Street Fighter 6), he then spares the bruised and bloody Bison and returns to his country to spend time with his family. Guile's returns in console versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998) as an Air Force JTAC ordered to track down Charlie, who has gone missing. In his ending, Charlie holds off Bison while Guile escapes and the base explodes with Charlie still in it, resulting in his death.
Guile also appears as a playable character in Street Fighter EX (1997) and its two sequels, Street Fighter EX2 (1998) and Street Fighter EX3 (2000). His relationship with Ken as brothers-in-law (with their respective wives being sisters) is mentioned for the first time in the games in Ken's ending in the Japanese version of the original EX2. Guile returns as a playable character in Street Fighter IV (2008), Guile investigates S.I.N. and their connection to Shadaloo. Guile also appears as a supporting character in the crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken (2012), with Abel as his official tag partner.
Guile returns as the first of the delayed characters in Street Fighter V (2016–2022), as one of 6 DLC characters. In this game, he is now promoted to a colonel rank. During Shadaloo's final scheme under a Black Moon-based Operation C.H.A.I.N.S., Guile suddenly encounters Charlie, who was resurrected by an unknown assailant, and joined the said third party side, despite their motives for Shadaloo's downfall are same. After Charlie cures Abel of M. Bison's Psycho Power, Guile reconciles with his undead friend. Guile joins the heroes who Karin recruited who join a final assault against the Shadaloo, While Rashid managed to shutdown Shadaloo's Operation C.H.A.I.N.S, Guile, Ryu, and Chun-Li watch Charlie a final time where the latter sacrifices his life to weaken M. Bison. Guile decides to retire from fighting to be with his family and become a mentor of the son of late-Robert Sullivan, Luke. Guile returns in Street Fighter 6 (2023), which itself takes place after Street Fighter III. Guile returns to his duty to investigate the ongoing conspiracy at Nayshall caused by the Amnesia terrorist organization led by JP, ever since they framed Ken for the crime he did not commit.
Guile appears in both the arcade and home versions of Street Fighter: The Movie. Both versions were two separately-produced 1995 fighting games that used digitized footage from the live-action Street Fighter film, in which Guile was the lead character. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme posed for Guile's animation frames in the game.
The Alpha 3 incarnation of Guile appears as a selectable character in several fighting game crossovers which including Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (2000), Capcom vs. SNK (2000), Capcom vs. SNK 2 (2001) and Capcom Fighting Jam (2003). He also appears in the SNK-produced installments of SNK/Capcom crossovers in SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium (1999), SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (2003) and the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters series. A super-deformed version of the character is playable in the mobile puzzle game Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits (2014).
Guile appears in Charlie's ending in X-Men vs. Street Fighter (he is not identified by name, only as "Charlie's friend"), swearing revenge on Bison for apparently killing Charlie. A Guile-inspired costume for players to use in Sony's LittleBigPlanet was released as downloadable content.Acevedo, Jay (2008-12-12). Weekly Playstation Store Update – December 12 . Game Focus. Retrieved on 2008-12-18. Guile appears as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, using Flash Kick and Sonic Boom. Guile was also added to Fortnite Battle Royale, along with Cammy on August 3, 2021. A playable Guile skin will also be added to Exoprimal.
In other media
Live-action
Jacky Cheung's Broom Man in the 1993 Hong Kong parody film Future Cops is based on Guile. Just prior to that, Jan Lamb played a parody version of Guile in Wong Jing's live-action adaptation of City Hunter.
In the 1994 live-action Street Fighter film, going by "William F. Guile", is played by Jean-Claude Van Damme. Guile is commanding the A.N. forces as he searches for General M. Bison. His motivation for searching for Bison is not to avenge Charlie's death but to end Bison's corrupt organization and to rescue Charlie, although he receives a great deal of help to find Bison's base, and is aided in his mission. Van Damme was approached to reprise the role in the reboot, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, but ultimately did not appear.
Guile was planned to appear in the second season of Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, titled Street Fighter: World Warrior; series creator Joey Ansah was interested in casting Scott Adkins as Guile. World Warrior was eventually scrapped in favor of Street Fighter: Resurrection; Guile was mentioned by Ken in the Resurrection episode "Fight & Flight" but did not appear in the series.
WWE superstar Cody Rhodes will play Guile in Kitao Sakurai's upcoming live-action adaptation of the game.
Animation
Guile is one of the main characters in the 1994 anime film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, where he is voiced by Masane Tsukayama in the Japanese original and by Kirk Thornton (credited as Donald Lee) in the English dub. Guile, serving as a jet fighter pilot and ranked as a Captain (O-3) in the U.S. Near the end of the film, Guile manages to track Ryu down but is followed by Bison and a brainwashed Ken. Guile engages Bison who finishes the fight by blasting Guile down a chasm. Guile survives this, although exhausted and bloodied, and when Bison finds Guile, he decides to spare him as an insult, and leaves. Guile is rescued along with Balrog by E. Honda. In his final scene, Guile, fully recovered, is moved to tears when informed that Chun-Li survived Vega's attack.
Based loosely on the storyline of the 1994 film while combining elements from Street Fighter II, Guile serves as the main protagonist of the Street Fighter animated series, and is depicted as the leader of an organization of Street Fighters consisting of himself and fellow fighters. Bison has survived his battle with Guile following the events of the film, and Guile's sole goal is to destroy Bison once and for all.
Guile appears in the 1995 anime series Street Fighter II V, where he is voiced by Tesshō Genda in the Japanese original and once again by Kirk Thornton in the English Animaze dub and by Rob Mungle in the ADV Films dub. In this TV series, Guile is a Master Sergeant (E-7) in the U.S. Air Force, who spends most of his time training physically and who has great pride in the Air Force and motivates Ryu and Ken to improve themselves. Later in the series, Guile is recruited by Ken's father along with his friend Charlie when Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li are taken captive by Shadaloo. He faces Zangief while infiltrating Bison's base. Guile knocks Zangief out, but is unable to save Nash from Bison, who pits a brainwashed Chun-Li against the enraged Sergeant. Outside, Guile fights Chun-Li until Bison's demise snaps her out of her brainwashing. Printed In UDON's Street Fighter comic adaptation, Guile plays a central role alongside Chun-Li, especially in the first arc, though he remains a recurring character throughout later arcs. Like in the official series lore, Guile pursues Shadaloo to uncover the fate of his missing Air Force comrade, Charlie Nash, who originally trained him in combat.
During the first story arc, Guile searches for Ryu, believing him to have ties to Shadaloo. His investigation takes him across the United States and eventually to Japan. There, he and Chun-Li confront Charlie—brainwashed and operating under the codename "Agent Shadow." They manage to fight him off, but their confrontation culminates in a battle against M. Bison. In a pivotal moment, Charlie regains his senses, taps into latent Psycho Power, and sacrifices his life to bring down Bison. Charlie's death, reminiscent of Guile's ending in Street Fighter Alpha 3, leaves Guile devastated and vowing revenge on Shadaloo.
Following these events, Guile continues working with Chun-Li to track Bison, whom they believe survived Charlie’s sacrifice. Throughout this time, Guile struggles to balance his pursuit of vengeance with his strained family life—particularly his relationship with his wife, Julia, and their daughter, Amy. By the conclusion of the comic's second arc, Guile reconciles with his family while maintaining his dedication to stopping Shadaloo.
In the Street Fighter II series of comics, Guile’s role becomes less prominent, but he accepts an invitation to M. Bison's fighting tournament as a final attempt to avenge Charlie. This sets the stage for the events of Street Fighter II Turbo, where Guile officially enters the tournament alongside Chun-Li.