Not your average adaptation of Les Mis.
Les Misérables, an epic Historical Fiction novel by Victor Hugo, is a classic work of literature that involves intertwining stories that highlight themes of redemption and justice even in times of bleak suffering and poverty, and thus, the most obvious choice to make... a Street Fighter-style Fighting Game out of, of course.
Arm Joe, based on a Japanese transliteration of the title of Les Misérables, あぁ 無情 (Aa Mujou), is an independently made game made by a developer going by the alias "Takase" and first released in 1998.
Characters present in this game include:
- Jean Valjean
- Javert
- Cosette
- Enjorlas
- Eponine
- Marius
- Police
- Thénardier
- Robojean
- Ponpon
- Judgement (Final Boss)
This game provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: The novel featured very few moments of action, but in Arm Joe not just is everyone able to engage in fanciful bouts of fisticuffs, but even pull off flashy finishing moves. An especial mention that has to be highlighted is one known only as "Police", who is a nameless police officer, who has a moveset based on that of Akuma from the Street Fighter series.
- Affectionate Parody: Of the Fighting game genre of video games. See Stealth Parody on the YMMV page of this article for details.
- Canon Foreigner: Three fighters on the roster that are not present Hugo's novel are Robojean (a robotic version of Jean Valjean), Ponpon, and Judgement, the Final Boss who is a personification of Judgement.
- The Dividual: "Thenardier" consists of Monsieur and Madame Thenardier who function as a single fighter.
- Expy: Judgement is appearance wise obviously copied from Yujiro Hanma from Baki the Grappler and in terms of his move set is largely modeled on Gill from Street Fighter III.
- Guest Fighter: Ponpon, a tea-loving, female rabbit from another universe, is a character of Takase's own creation who has absolutely no relation to any individuals in Les Miserables. Also, interesting to note that Ponpon has a baby character named "Mako-aniki" (who is modeled on Takase's own son) that serves as an assist for her.
- Mythology Gag: Many of the special attacks by the fighters feature nods to events in the novel. You can check this link here
for details.
