Adored by the Network: Sega has always shown Virtua Fighter more love than most of their series. During the franchise's peak in the mid 90s, there were spinoff games, official tournaments hosted by Sega, an animated series, and a healthy amount of merchandise. Even into the 2020s, Sega is still fond of the series, as seen with the constant ports in the Like a Dragon games or stand alone titles, as well as new goods.
Dummied Out: Siba was removed last minute from the first game, but can still be accessed with cheating devices.
Fake American: Downplayed as Vanessa's origins are a mystery, Donna Burke (an Australian) voiced Vanessa Lewis with a clear American accent in Virtua Fighter 4.
The final revision of 4, Final Tuned, was exclusive to arcades in Japan.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.note For arcade goers, anyway. This was later mitigated with the international release of Final Showdown, two years after the initial release.
Vaporware: Talks of Virtua Fighter 6 have been happening since at least 2014. Between internal changes within Sega and being unsure of where to take the series, 6 has yet to happen as of December, 2023. At the very least, Ultimate Showdown and 3tb Online have been released to tide over fans until a proper 6 can be made.
A port of Virtua Fighter 3was in development for the Sega Saturn. However, it was never released due to coming so late in the console's lifespan and the fear that it would hurt the sales of the Dreamcast version.
Virtua Fighter 4 was originally planned to be ported to the Dreamcast.
Word of God: According to an interview with Yu Suzuki by a Russian gaming magazine, he envisioned Sarah as a smoker and enjoying tequila shots.
Working Title: Siba's name in development is "Majido", which was a Japanese attempt at the Arabic name "Majid". He is still named this when playing as him via cheat codes in the first game.
Write Who You Know: Akira was actually the very last character added to the first game, replacing the Arab fighter Siba. Suzuki had been learning Hakkyoku-ken, and partially based Akira on his sensei.
Anime:
Cliffhanger: The second season is implied to end on this, as the main storyline of this arc would have been concluded in a planned but unmade third season. Doubles as No Ending.
Executive Meddling: According to the commentary of the Discotek BD release, Yu Suzuki was not fully satisfied with "Wild Vision" for the first season's theme song, believing the series needed something stronger, and opted to have a new one sung by longtime Sega composer Takenobu Mitsuyoshi for the second season. He was also exercised some control over the mood and direction of the second season.
Late Export for You: The second half of the anime wasn't available in English speaking territories until Discotek Media's 2023 SD Blu-ray release of the whole series.
No Dub for You: The first season of the anime received an English dub, but sold poorly, leaving the second season undubbed and untranslated, and while the full series would finally be available in 2023, the second half would be released with subtitles only.
No Export for You: International versions of the anime that did dub the second half sadly don't include "Ai ga Tarinaize" as the opening, this is due to TMS opting to keep "Wild Vision" as the opening for their international masters, and this also applies to the second and third endings.
Averted in Discotek's SD Blu-ray as it retains all of the openings and endings.
However, it was never released due to coming so late in the console's lifespan and the fear that it would hurt the sales of the Dreamcast version.