Cristiano Ronaldo Debuts in ‘Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves’ as the Most Random Guest Character in a Fighting Game I’ve Seen

After an initial tease last September from the legendary footballer himself, it looks like the rumors are true. Portuguese football pro Cristiano Ronaldo will be a playable fighter in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves in one of the most baffling guest appearances in history. It’s not the first time an athletic superstar duked it out in a fighting game, after all, the iconic Shaq Fu exists. But it is, to my knowledge, the first time we’ve seen a real-life athlete make a guest spot in a mainstream series. Sorry, MultiVersus, but you don’t count. I’m just very, very confused. Cool, I guess?

‘Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves’ scores with football fans, adds Ronaldo to the roster

Alongside the announcement trailer, an additional character trailer features the in-game Ronaldo and an extended look at his moveset. It’s hard to tell what kind of fighter Ronaldo will be in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. A rush-down, perhaps? In the trailer, we see him whittling down a helpless Terry Bogard with some signature kicks. He also has projectiles which, naturally, take the form of flaming soccer balls. SNK seems to have nailed down the Ronaldo mannerisms pretty well, even including his signature post-goal scoring victory pose.

The official Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves website already has a character page for Cristiano Ronaldo with a full command list available. Fighting game wizards can probably deduce what kind of fighter Ronaldo will be based on his inputs. Other than a Fighting Style labeled “Football + Martial Arts,” though, there’s little info besides a bio that reads:

“One of the top football players in the world. He uses his time off to visit South Town to hone his new football skills. The various techniques he has developed playing football make him an unstoppable force, even to seasoned fighters.”

Sharing is caring

Both SNK and Capcom, two titans of the fighting game scene, haven’t been shy about sharing their characters with one another. Fatal Fury‘s Mai Shiranui and Terry Bogard are both present in this season’s Street Fighter 6 roster. Conversely, Street Fighter icons Ken Masters and Chun-Li are both confirmed to appear in City of the Wolves at some point.

Ronaldo’s appearance definitely makes for one of the more bizarre crossovers in fighting game history. Maybe he’s a big fan of the Fatal Fury series? I don’t know, but hey, I’ll never complain about more characters to play.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves releases April 24, 2025, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.