Interpol in Street Fighter
Interpol is a commonly used organization in Street Fighter. They are
a convenient international law enforcement organization and make the perfect
foil to Shadoloo, an international criminal syndicate. The fictional
Interpol differs from it's real life counterpart in several ways, however.
Ignoring these discrepancies, Interpol can be one of the most exciting
aspects of any Street Fighter story.
Real Life
The real life Interpol was founded in 1928 and is headquarted in
Lyon, France It serves as a clearinghouse for information, disseminating
data on international criminals to its member states. Interpol has no arrest
authority and does no investigation. Investigations and arrests are left to
the pervue of the member state's police authority. Interpol simply acts as
consultants in cases of international crime. Most of Interpol's activities
concern organized crime, counterfeiting, vehicle theft, and smuggling; all
of which are often international in nature. Realistically, Interpol is
pretty boring. They can't arrest or investigate, so you're more likely to
sit in an office and collate data or give a seminar as an Interpol agent
than bust crooks or get in a car chase.
Fiction
However, the world of Street Fighter knows no such limitations, and
Interpol can easily be adapted to become an effective international
crime-stopping force. To make Interpol fun and exciting in your Street
Fighter story, several small changes have to be made.
Arrest
Interpol in Street Fighter are a much more proactive and adventurous
bunch. Though still lacking official arrest powers, or an issued firearm,
they nonetheless are on the trail of criminals worldwide. Street Fighter
Interpol agents work with local police authorities to make arrests and
conduct investigations. Though still nominally prohibited from conducting
investigations, this doesn't stop Interpol agents from doing all the
investigative work then allowing the local authorities to make the bust and
take all the credit. Additionally, even though prohibited from making
arrests, this doesn't stop Interpol agents from apprehending a criminal and
bringing them in to the local authorities who then make an "official"
arrest. Further, despite not being issued an official Interpol firearm, this
does not restrict the Interpol agent from using a personal firearm for
protection persuant to local gun laws and regulations. In fact, the
restriction on firearms is perfect for the recruitment of skilled Martial
Artists and hand to hand combatants like Street Fighter characters.
Equipment
Interpol agents in Street Fighter are also a much better equipped
group than their real life counterparts. Street Fighter Interpol Agents are
more like secret agents than police officers. Expect Interpol agents to have
wrist communicators, GPS/Cellular tracking devices, hand-held computers,
credit-card-sized photographic equipment, etc. Interpol is just as much an
intelligence agency as the CIA or KGB. Their job is to gather intelligence
on criminal organizations to use as evidence. Any high tech toy or gizmo
that will help them in this pursuit will be used. Using spy-tech enhances
the mystery and fun of an Interpol story, further elevating the fictional
Interpol above their real life counterpart.
Almost all Interpol equipment is small and easily concealable with
the occasional vehicle or aircraft. When numbers of vehicles or aircraft are
necessary, Interpol simply calls for assistance from the local authorities.
Likewise, Interpol bases may appear to be the boring information
collation offices of their real life counterpart, but somewhere there will
be a secret door to the underground base of operations with large computer
displays, banks of whirring computers, and spy-tech testing laboratories.
Entrance to these secret facilities may require special biometric scans such
as X-Ray, retinas, fingerprints, voice-pattern recognition, etc., to gain
entry.
In Street Fighter, Interpol is a well-funded agency with links to
the United Nations (In real life, Interpol was granted Permanent Observer
status to the U.N. General Assembly in 1996). Funding comes from its 177
member nations and is controlled by the Financial Controller section which
reports to the General Assembly comprised of delegates from each member
nation.
Cooperation
Most law-abiding governments will welcome Interpol's assistance,
especially if they get the credit for the investigation and the arrest. In
turn, they will provide assistance to the Interpol agent. Helicopter
deployment or extraction, searches, communication, arrest raids, etc. So
long as the request in in accordance with stopping criminal activity, most
local nations are glad to assist. Conversely, if the local law enforcement
authorities are left out of the loop, are circumvented, ignored, or
disrespected, then local assistance will dry up and even resistance may
develop. A few dots of Resources on a character sheet can be used to procure
local government assistance.Simply roll a number of dice equal to their
Resources dots. The number of successes indicate the quality and kind of
assistance provided.
Contacts
Interpol agents are also rare. What few Interpol agents there are
are highly trained and represent the best agent the member nation has to
offer. To this end, Interpol agents will often recruit outsiders to help. A
network of friendlies is an important asset to any Interpol agent. For PC
Interpol agents, a few dots in Contacts can represent knowing someone or
having a friendly in whatever nation they go to. Simply roll a number of
dice equal to their Contacts dots. The number of successed indicate the
quality and kind of contacts available to the agent. When lacking, some
judicious use of Streetwise can procure some local assistance, though their
trustworthiness may be questionable. Non-Interpol PC's may find themselves
the subjects of just such a search for aid. In which case, successfully
helping Interpol investigate a case will often result in further requests in
the future.
Recruitment
To become an Interpol agent, one must be appointed by their
government's Interpol liason. Interpol has no restriction on who can be an
agent. One might find a Chinese village constable, or a U.S. Special Forces
soldier, or a British M.I.6 Agent, or even someone with no offical police
background whatsoever, all working side by side providing assistance to the
F.B.I. in the apprehension of an international criminal. The Interpol liason
reccomends a potential agent to Headquarters who then does a full background
check on the potential recruit. Should the recuit pass the initial
background check, the liason then approaches the potential agent and offers
them a position in Interpol. If the recuit declines, the invitation remains
open. Should the recuit accept, they are then sent to France for 3 months
training and are instructed in the operations and activities of Interpol.
The new agent retains their former position, whether that be Chinese
village constable, U.S. Special Forces soldier, or British M.I.6 Agent, with
their superiors and peers in full knowledge and acceptance of their new
membership. When Interpol requires the agent's expertise, they are detached
from their "day job" for the duration of their Interpol mission. This often
results in late-night calls to duty or suddent trips around the world, but
to Interpol agents, it's a small price to pay.
Though being an Interpol agent can be a thankless and obscure
profession, the agent can take pride in their accomplishment, even though
local authorities take credit for the work. Interpol agents are also paid
well, compensation for sudden and often dangerous missions. But to an
Interpol agent, the pay is secondary to the service they provide to the
stability of the world.
Cliche's
In order to achieve the right effect for Interpol adventures in
Street Fighter, several cliche'd elements must be included:
The Top Secret underground base.
The Chief of Operations with an eyepatch
The sexy female British Agent in skin-tight outfit.
The buff veteran German agent with unshaven face and cropped
hair.
The absent-minded technician in charge of spy-tech.
The spy-tech car with oil-slick, smoke-screen, and land
mines.
Wrist cameras.
Hand-held communicators.
For more information on the real life Interpol, check out their Web site at
<
http://193.123.144.14/interpol-pr/>.
-
----------------------------------------------------
Christian Conkle
Web Development Specialist
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
work: conklec@...
home: conkle@...
-----------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/streetfighter
Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com