Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter: Karin Kanzuki
Two years before she’d appear in Street Fighter Alpha 3, Karin Kanzuki first made her debut in a spin-off manga by Masahiko Nakahiro, titled Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbaro!
As such, Karin shares the great honor of being one of the few non-game characters later added into the games with Gouken, Violent Ken, Evil Ryu and those guys from that one game that's based on a movie that's based on game.
Interestingly enough, there’s evidence to suggest that Capcom wanted to introduce Karin into a game before Street Fighter Alpha 3, with a cameo in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (The Cutting Room Floor [NSFW]).
Karin's scrapped appearance is very clearly based upon Sakura's Street Fighter Alpha 2 sprites, but for her video game debut in the third Alpha entry, she uses a complete set of original sprites.
Furthermore, Karin's appearance in Alpha 3 come with an original design to further differentiate herself from her self-taught rival.
sources: backgrounds (@the2dstagesfg) | unused content (ragequitter 87) | illustration (street fighter galleries) | sprites (Emu Gif Animation)
