Kinda hard to forget stereotypes.
I don't mean to single you out Sayad; this is something people commonly say about the old designs and I want to talk about it.
Which stereotypes are you talking about? All Japanese people are sumo wrestlers? All russians are 9 foot tall wrestlers? All Indian people stretch? All Brazilians are monsters? All USA army mans have bizarre flat-top hair?
People constantly say these original designs are too stereotypical, but I'm feeling argumentative and I'm going to say they are not.
Sumo is a discipline specific to Japan. So is it a stereotype, or just a culturally-based character choice? The game also has Ryu, who is a generic man in a gi. No stereotype there. Is it stereotypical that he does Karate, a Japanese martial art?
Are these things "stereotypes" because they are sometimes grounded in the culture of their nation? Chun-li's clothing is a possible example of stereotyping. Like, why is she fighting in this traditional Chinese outfit when it's 1992 or whatever and she's a policewoman? And her fighting style is of her culture, but again, I don't think that's sufficient to claim stereotyping.
The classic definition of stereotype is a broad statements about a whole group of people that essentializes them and, consequently, results in individuals being pre-judged in terms of those beliefs. Asians are good at Math. Blacks are better athletes. But Chun-li doesn't fight with calculus, and all the characters in the game are good athletes.
So can someone make the case that these are actually stereotypes, in a bad way, and not just cultural representations that look a touch out of date to our modern eyes?
I mean, is LeBron James a stereotype because he's a tall, athletic black man who plays basketball? To me that's the same as saying Honda is a stereotype because he's a Sumo wrestler from Japan.
Note: I'm not arguing this to say that the old designs should be maintained forever or anything. I'm fine with whatever changes they want to make. I'm not particularly invested in them at all, I'm just interested in the subject of representation and stereotyping.
