Poison

is a character in Capcom's Final Fight and Street Fighter series of video games. Created by Akira Yasuda for Capcom, Poison was originally conceived as a female thug in Final Fight alongside a similar character, Roxy, as part of the game's antagonist group Mad Gear, taking inspiration for her design from Jeanne Basone's appearance as "Hollywood" in professional wrestling magazine G.L.O.W. She later appeared in other Capcom-produced games, media and merchandise in particular those related to the Final Fight and Street Fighter franchises, with later appearances partnering her with fellow Final Fight character Hugo as his wrestling manager. Since her introduction several other designers have contributed to her designs and outfits, including Jun Ikawa, Trent Kaniuga, and Takayuki Nakamura. She is voiced by Atsuko Tanaka since the Street Fighter III series and Masae Yumi in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. Originally intended as athletic fast characters for players to encounter, due to concerns during Final Fights development about reactions from North American audiences to fighting women led to both Poison and Roxy being re-imagined as "newhalfs", a Japanese slang term for trans women. However, Nintendo of America did not consider this satisfactory and both Poison and her palette swap Roxy were replaced by the male characters "Billy" and "Sid" and have been for every subsequent North American port of the title on Nintendo consoles and handhelds. This, coupled with several conflicting statements over the years has led to her gender being questioned, though some statements imply that Poison is transgender, while Roxy is cisgender. Most recently, Capcom has taken the stance that Poison's gender is open to viewer interpretation. The character's sex appeal has led to her being highly regarded, though often with acknowledgment of her gender status. The early ambiguity regarding this subject has led to much discussion and debate amongst fans of the character, and while it has been acknowledged that the original circumstances were less than ideal she is regarded as one of the earliest and most popular examples of a transgender character in video games. Design history Poison's first appearance in Final Fight featured her and a palette swap character named Roxy as recurring minor enemies for the player to fight.