Virtua Fighter Crossroads Reveals Lionel Rafale in New Trailer

After teasing an announcement for today, Virtua Fighter Crossroads has finally revealed a new character for the upcoming game. The character in question is Lionel Rafale, a martial artist who uses the Northern Praying Mantis style to fight.

The short trailer showed Lionel sitting with some pretty women at a lounge, where he witnesses Cielo Salina in a fight. The trailer then cuts to a glimpse of some fighting animations as Cielo and Lionel battle.

In a social media post, the Virtua Fighter team introduced Lionel like this:

"Les jeux sont faits, rien ne va plus."

"A mysterious young martial artist named Lionel has arrived in the city of Vilasapara.

"A highly skilled fighter capable of outclassing Cielo in a street fight, he is a force to be reckoned with. But what is his true reason for coming to this city?"

There is some confusion as to the real identity of the character. While Lion Rafale has been a staple of the Virtua Fighter franchise, making his debut in Virtua Fighter 2 in 1994, the new character's name is Lionel, and his place within the story might mean he is a different character altogether.

Lionel might be Lion's son, as the original Lion should canonically be closing in on 40 years of age, and going by the trailer, the character looks quite young.

More details should be made available soon, but with how the game looks, fans are understandably excited about what this Virtua Fighter title could be.