Street Fighter meets heroes of the Philippine revolution in Bayani, fighting video game
- The characters in fighting game Bayani are loosely based on 19th century revolutionary heroes from Philippine history
- The spark for the game was a question posed to an actor playing a wheelchair-bound paralysed Philippine revolutionary hero on TV about why he never stood up
The elevator pitch for indie fighting game Bayani is simple: Street Fighter but with Filipino national heroes. Don’t be mistaken, though: Bayani isn’t a droll pseudo-educational game sanctioned by an education ministry.
The country’s first prime minister, Apolinario Mabini, makes an appearance in the form of Rio, a character paralysed by polio but who utilises a “mysterious seedling” to free himself of his wheelchair (and of course, enabling him to float and fight telepathically).
Dre – based on Filipino revolutionary leader Andrés Bonifacio – returns to life as a bloodthirsty, Frankenstein-esque creature sewn together with parts of his dead brother’s corpse. Oria, another hero based on Bonifacio’s real-life wife Gregoria de Jesús, was resurrected by Dre using alchemy, causing the character to lose her sight.
Other historical figures, such as Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan, the man who brought Catholicism to the Philippines, and the “Grand Woman of the Revolution” Melchora Aquino, have cameos in Bayani – similarly rendered in striking, anime-inspired designs, with superpowers and outlandish backstories (explorer Fernando wants to find the Fountain of Youth at any cost; Lolang Tsora dabbled in forbidden magic to avenge her husband’s death).