Blanka

is a video game character from the Street Fighter series of fighting game. Blanka is depicted as a feral savage, with green skin and long orange hair, resembling a monster more than a human. He is one of the original eight characters featured in the first version of the Street Fighter II games.

Designed by Akira Yasuda, the concept behind Blanka was conceived early on, appearing in an early design document as an African man named "Anabebe" who was raised by a lion. After the release of Final Fight, Capcom approached the concept of Street Fighter II once more, and considered several designs for such a character, first one based on masked wrestler modeled after Tiger Mask and a later ninja-inspired appearance. The design later changed to a large man with thick hair and sideburns named "Hammer Blanka", before eventually becoming Blanka.

Blanka's first appearance in the Street Fighter series was in Street Fighter II. In his Street Fighter II ending, he reunites with his mother Samantha, who recognizes him from the anklet he wears. She reveals that Blanka was once known as Jimmy, before he was in a plane crash as a little boy. This crash caused him to be raised in the wild, although he has connections to a local village. Ever since the crash, Blanka/Jimmy had been separated from his mother.

According to some sources, Blanka acquired his electrical trait from the same plane crash due to an intense electrical storm at the time (the cause of the crash). According to the instruction manual for the SNES version of Street Fighter II it states he learned the ability from electric eels.