E. Honda

Edmond Honda (エドモンド 本田, Edomondo Honda), more commonly known as E. Honda, is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter II. He is an honorable champion Sumo wrestler that values tradition. Honda has above average strength, but below average speed. He wears Kabuki makeup when fighting overseas as a way to hide his identity and to promote his Japanese pride. The makeup Honda wears is inspired by the play Shibaraku. The mawashi was also added on top of the loincloth to help improve the design. He has a special fighting move called, "Super Headbutt", where Honda would fly to his opponent and headbutt them. Now that is "super". Honda goes under the name Edmond as an overseas shikona to both appeal to westerners and to reference the Edo period.

Edmond Honda is a very heavy yet very muscular Japanese man, seemingly in his late 30s to early 40s. Honda is quite tall, though he does not appear to be due to his hunched-over fighting stance. He has black hair in a chonmage hairstyle and wears only a white and light blue mawashi with a striking red fundoshi underneath. His face is painted in the kumadori style of red makeup used in kabuki. As a sumo wrestler, he always fights barefoot, though some artwork depicts him wearing a pair of geta (traditional Japanese wooden sandals with two "elevated" clogs). When he's not in a battle, he wears semi-casual attire; a white formal suit jacket with a purple and gold designed button-up shirt underneath, white formal pants and black dress shoes.

E. Honda is an honorable and friendly man who warmly welcomes people he sees as good. Yet quite boastful and ambitious in regard to displaying the strength of sumo (and himself) to the world, and to that end he always gives his all during his training and fighting regimens. Despite his apparent lack of agility and portrayals in other media as clumsy or silly, Honda is a very powerful sumo grand master. He takes both his sumo art and his "Ōzeki" title very seriously, considering it a sacred martial art just like any other; Honda often throws a handful of salt in front of him before he begins to fight, in reference to a real-life sumo ritual often performed as a means of purification known as "shubatsu". Due to his dogmatic belief about sumo, Honda would occasionally get angry at anyone who he thinks is suggesting otherwise. Honda makes remarks towards some of his opponents, suggesting that they might have a better chance had they learned sumo wrestling. Having trained as a sumo wrestler the entire life, Honda is generally strict when it comes to discipline and mannerisms, but was mild-mannered in giving advice on proper manners to his guests and would motivate his student to never give up on training. Outside of the ring though, Honda is very friendly towards anyone he see as good and enjoy socializing with others. Having mastered karaoke singing and hot pot cooking with his students and guests because of this. He also enjoys hot steaming baths between training sessions, his favorite spot being Kapukon Yu. Other than his fighting skill, Honda is also a skilled businessman, evident by him owning several businesses. Such as a bathhouse, and his "Chanko House Edomon" restraurant. To maintain and improve his services, Honda would supervise the business himself and make sure that it would be maintained in his high standard.

In World Tour, E. Honda also is revealed to be quite stubborn to criticism, especially towards his sumo techniques. He notably argued against online criticism that said that his sumo techniques were not "real sumo" from various hate comments he received on social media. Honda exclaims that his critics do not understand how his take on sumo is simply a new "standard" that will become integrated into traditional sumo once more people have learned his style. He also has a nice relationship with Ryu. E. Honda and Ryu hold a very close friendship. Both hold a deep respect and understanding towards each other due to both being Japanese fighters. Whenever they fight, both are known to compliment each other's fighting styles; Ryu admitting that he learns more from Honda every time they fight and Honda suggesting that Ryu take up Sumo with him in fight. Once, Ryu ended up unknowingly helping Honda win a fight against Dhalsim in India and observes him fighting back against the Shadaloo agents. As a show of respect and gratitude, he gives Ryu half of the winnings he made from the match.

Being a fellow master of wrestling, E. Honda and Zangief held mutual respect towards their respective fighting style. While the two would often bluff each other when it comes to their strength and techniques, they were on a good terms with each other regardless. Then we have Hakan. Hakan and E. Honda are very close friends. Though their beliefs in their own respective fighting styles make them more like rivals than friends, they are still on good terms with each other. Sodom once attempted to recruit Honda for his new Mad Gear by defeating him in a match, but failed and was defeated; however, he earned Honda's respect. Later, Sodom became one of Honda's friends and regularly visits his restraurant both for his chanko stew and for a sumo match.

E. Honda is known to have began his training as a child during the 1960s, single-mindedly focused on becoming the greatest sumo wrestler of all time. He would eventually achieve the highly-revered titled of "Ōzeki". In the English localization, he was incorrectly stated as having achieved the title Yokozuna, though his recent appearance states that he's generally considered good enough for that title, held back only by some of his rather outlandish techniques. In 1987, the Mad Gear Gang ringleader Sodom, obsessed with both Japanese culture and trying to revive Mad Gear, attempts to recruit sumo wrestlers, citing them as examples of strong warriors. To achieve this he enters a sumo wrestling competition and faces Fuji-no-miya, who is revealed to be Edmond Honda. Agreeing to join Mad Gear if Sodom wins, Honda fights and defeats Sodom, though he is impressed by his effort nevertheless. In 1989, he travels the world looking for strong opponents and to show the strength of sumo wrestling. Along the way, he meets Ryu and has a sparring match with him, and tells Sakura where she can find him later on. About this time, he fights Sodom again in a friendly match as well. His wanderings lead him to Shadaloo's base, where he meets Zangief, and the two are worked together to help destroy the base. In the aftermath, he took in a few of Bison's Dolls to give them somewhere to stay until they could regain their memories, although which Dolls he sheltered is unknown. In 1991, E. Honda became upset that the rest of the world did not view sumo wrestling with the reverence held by the Japanese. He entered into the Second World Fighting Tournament intent on showing everyone that sumo wrestlers rank among the greatest fighters in the world. Beyond this, he yearns also to improve and prove his own strength, as well as to earn the title of Yokozuna.

His involvement with the second tournament is also part of him investigating the Shadaloo organization in response to sumo wrestlers taking biochemical drugs, and learning of their involvement after capturing some of the dealers. His face painting and dual-nationality name assisted him with remaining covert during his investigation. After the tournament and the fall of Shadaloo, Honda returned to Japan where he continued engaging in sumo wrestling, running his bath house, and training his disciples. In 1994, Honda is not back in Japan for long - he soon joins his third battle competition which is the Worldwide Fighting Tournament, hosted by the S.I.N. syndicate. However his goals have not changed much at all, as he is once again fighting to prove the strength of sumo to the world. During the tournament, he meets up with his old comrade Hakan, but loses his match against him. They later agree to meet again in Japan, but Honda warns him not to expect victory. He also encounters El Fuerte, and helps the aspiring chef by telling him about Japanese food. After the tournament he exclaims "Look out, Olympics, here I come!". However, while on a plane, he comes to the conclusion that in order to get sumo into the Olympics, he will have to join the IOC (International Olympic Committee) himself. In 1996, E. Honda is on a gourmet trip with Hakan and is searching for new disciples. He attempts to teach some of the guests (specifically Laura, Rashid and Ryu) in his bathhouse the proper manners after taking a bath. As many female guests visit his bathhouse (particularly, Menat, Juri, R. Mika and Ibuki), Honda decides to make it into an ideal business.