text: Conception and design Conceived by Akira "Akiman" Yasuda, Honda was designed by Eri Nakamura, with oversight by Akiman due to how new she was at the company. Initially named "Sumo", they wanted to give him a Japanese sounding name, considering "Suzuki" or "Tanaka" before settling on Honda, which they felt would be more familiar to Western audiences. The development team held a rock paper scissors match to pick who would work on which character with Nakamura coming in second and choosing him over "the Beast", a character that would later become Blanka. The character was meant to have above average strength, but below average speed, and intended to be popular in Japan but to also make Japanese fighting styles appeal to foreigners. When creating his design and others for Street Fighter II, Akiman leaned heavily into the concepts of caricature and stereotypes to emphasize the contrast between the characters but also make them instantly recognizable, stating in an interview with Steve Hendershot "subconsciously, I was adding elements with the idea that they could go viral. I wanted a reaction, and perfect things don't instigate many reactions,” an idea partially influenced by his reaction to Mickey Rooneys depiction of an Asian character in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. To differentiate Honda from returning character Ryu, with design notes on the character stating "We made him more 'Japan' than necessary to make it clear to foreigners." Akiman additionally described him as "a character I knew would create misunderstandings about Japan. And that's exactly how I wanted to make him."