Darkstalkers, known in Japan as Vampire (ヴァンパイア), is a fighting game series and media franchise created by Capcom. The first game, Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, was released in arcades in 1994. The series is set in a pastiche gothic fiction universe with characters based on monsters from international folklore, and features a stylized 2D graphic style. Darkstalkers introduced gameplay concepts used in later Capcom fighting games, including the Street Fighter Alpha and Marvel vs. Capcom series.

Marvel vs. Capcom is a series of crossover fighting games developed and published by Capcom, featuring characters from their own video game franchises and comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series originated as coin-operated arcade games, though later releases would be specifically developed for home consoles, handhelds, and personal computers.