The fourth main installment of the [[Street Fighter]] franchise, released in 1997 as a direct sequel to [[Street Fighter II (series)|Street Fighter II]] (as opposed to the earlier [[street fighter zero (series)|Zero/Alpha]] series that acts as a prequel to SFII).

Intended to introduce a "new generation" of fighters, Street Fighter III discarded the character roster from previous games, with only [[Ryu (street fighter)|]] and [[Ken Masters|Ken]] returned, introducing several new characters in their place, most notably the female ninja [[Ibuki (street fighter)|]], twin brothers [[Yun Lee|Yun]] and [[Yang Lee|Yang]], and grappler [[Alex (street fighter)|]]. Street Fighter III introduced the Super Arts selection system and the ability to parry an opponent's attack.

Capcom would later introduce two updates to the game - [i]Second Impact[/i] in 1998, which introduced two new characters as well as bringing back [[Akuma (street fighter)|]], and [i]3rd Strike[/i] in 1999, which introduced 4 new characters and brought back [[Chun-Li]].

The series was initially marked as the latest chronologically in the Street Fighter timeline for 26 years (as [[Street Fighter IV (series)|]] and [[Street Fighter V]] were set between SFII and III) until the release of [[Street Fighter 6]] in 2023.

h4. Introduced in New Generation

* [[Alex (street fighter)|]]
* [[Dudley]]
* [[Elena (street fighter)|]]
* [[Gill (street fighter)|]]
* [[Ibuki (street fighter)|]]
* [[Necro (Street Fighter)|]]
* [[Oro (Street Fighter)|]]
* [[Sean Matsuda]]
* [[Yang Lee]]
* [[Yun Lee]]

h4. Introduced in Second Impact

* [[Hugo Andore]]
* [[Urien]]

h4. Introduced in 3rd Strike

* [[Makoto (street fighter)|]]
* [[Q (Street Fighter)|]]
* [[Remy (Street Fighter)|]]
* [[Twelve]]
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