as is the rule of anything that has anything to do with fighting games:
YOU MUST FIRST VISIT FIGHTINGWORLD TO STAND A CHANCE!
so here is the detailed story of Cody Travers (note: i haven't cross checked some of the stuff in a very long time so there may be errors. if you find something shady, feel free to ask me and i'll elaborate).
A fifth-degree black belt in karate, Cody was a rough street fighter who fought passionately and energetically. He found love with, Jessica Hagar, the daughter of the mayor of the city (Mike Hagar, the greatest fighter of Metro city). However the on going war between Hagar, hell bent on annihilating crime from his city, and Mad Gear the largest syndicate culminated with Jessica being kidnapped so as to force Hagar to turn a blind eye on the crimes committed in the city by Mad Gear. Enraged, Cody teams up with Mike Hagar (Jessica's dad) and a Bushin Ninja named Guy to rescue Jessica and save the city from these punks. The three-man war on the Mad Gear gang culminated with Mad Gear being annihilated by these three. Cody would eventually be the one to defeat the Mad Gear leader, Belger, and kick him out of the building to his death.
As Cody watches Jessica and Haggar's reunion, he and Guy walk away with Cody pondering over all those fights he has had and where he is heading. Jessica eventually tries to catch up with them but Cody ignores her (oh, ignoring a lady! where are your manners? oh and her wearing high heels wasn't helping either *women*). Eventually she catches up with him (actually Guy turns around and unleashes a fast combo on Cody, dazing him enough for poor Jessica to catch up with him). Jessica wants them to be together but Cody insists that the streets need to be safe first and the city needs him. Clichéd superhero talk, right? I mean come on, he might as well say, "evil is still afoot, Jessica dear, and there is work to be done. come, to the Cody mobile! Away!"
But no. This is where it was not how it seemed. Cody did the one thing no one in fighting videogames does: he lied. In the time he was walking away and thinking over what he had gone through, Cody realized that he was faking the hero act. In reality he was only looking to bust heads and beat up people. He wasn't a hero. He was just an adrenaline junkie looking to bash heads open while using the hero gimmick as an excuse. When he spoke to Jessica, he had already made up his mind that one day, he will actually be a REAL hero for her, without any lies or faking it. Thus the first seed of Cody's fall from grace is planted.
The city, however, didn't know all this. Having rid the Metro city of the Mad Gear made Cody an instant celebrity and soon enough he becomes a Metro City hometown hero thanks to Hagar publicly honoring him and Guy for their efforts to save Jessica and the city. It is much like how the legendary Terry Bogard was for South Town after defeating Geese Howard.
Sometime later Mad Gear come back for more and what better way to show that they are back than by kidnapping Jessica again. Seeing this as his chance to redeem himself as a true hero for the woman he loves, and live up to what Jessica thinks of him, Cody goes and tries to rescue her but sadly Poison has him set up. Poison actually had a crush on Cody but he didn't return her feelings and as we all know: hell hath no fury than a woman scorned. Only in this case its not actually a woman but a transvestite man who got a sex change. But you get picture, right? Using her own crimes to frame Cody, Poison gets her vengeance and just as Cody goes to the cemetery where Jessica was supposed to be but wasn't; Edi E. (the corrupt fat ass cop from the Final fight series) arrests him and Cody winds up in the slammers. And he was to remains there for years.
With such a twist in fate Cody, who honestly wanted to be a real hero for Jessica this time, is embittered to the point of self-loathing. Further embittering him is the fact that he is framed. His view towards everything changed and he became violent and cold and more distant from all those who once looked up to him. The awe that Metro City had for Cody subsided and was replaced with spite. Cody couldn't care less as he remained in the slammers. He even openly admitted that the only reason he went about opposing the Mad Gear was because he wanted to fight and nothing else.
Around this time, he breaks up with Jessica too, and with that shuns away his last connection to the world of loved ones and friends. Then onwards its just plain old ass kicking and Cody literally breaks out of his prison cell on many occasion (he can punch through walls) and goes around picking fights as always (don't you just love this guy?). What a punk. Be more original than a adrenaline junkie breaking down walls to bust some heads. For the next couple of years, all Cody was doing was breaks out of prison, winds up back there again and break out again. Cool. Finally a riot starts one day and Cody escapes, for good this time around. His fighting instinct, however, made him pick fights even when peace was restored in the city. [Note: Cody never picked fights with normal people or innocent people. He just fought bad ass sons of guns who were either looking for trouble, were dumb enough to be street fighting when Cody was around or were just doing something bad].
He runs into Rolento who offers him to join him in his quest for the ultimate society (or whatever) but Cody turns it down which ended with them fighting...and most probably Cody wiping the floor with him. [Note: I was mistaken when I said Cody had already beat Rolento. Cody took the short cut and went directly to the bay area to face Abigail. He didn't go through the industrial area. Probably Guy or Hagar took care of Rolento.]
While walking around doing nothing in particular, he and Guy come across each other again where Guy asks Cody to help him destroy the Psycho drives. Cody turns it down at which Guy is disgusted and disappointed over how far his friend has fallen. Guy would later enters Bison's base but is overwhelmed with the resistance he's getting from the dolls. Cody then helps Guy and knocks out all the dolls with a rapid succession of combos. Before they can stop Bison and destroy the psycho drives, however, Guile, Charlie and Chunli had already beaten them to it by planted bombs on the Psycho Drives. Bailing out in the nick of time, Guy and Cody save themselves. Keep in mind that Guy WAS at the base and that is where he found Rose so it is possible that the above happened. Besides Cody's ending takes place in the same place Guy's ending takes place. So he must have faced that resistance from the dolls as they are the ones who guard the place along with the other guards and so Cody DID come and save his ass.]
As they talk about old times, Guy again reminds Cody of his heroic days but Cody said the same thing: he was faking the hero act and was in fact just a junkie. Guy, however, made him realize that he fought on the good-guy side and could have chosen to assist the bad guys if what he is saying is true. Cody could have always beaten up normal, innocent people if he really wanted to JUST fight...but he didn't and always fought the bad guys. This sparked off Cody's epiphany and he realizes that he was indeed a hero. However, he remains emotionally unchanged overall. He walks away saying it was fun kicking the bad guys' asses together again just like back in the Final Fight days. As Guy watches Cody walk away he realizes that the dormant hero inside Cody, the Cody everyone knew, had been redeemed and even though Cody himself rejected this notion, he and everyone realized that Cody was indeed a HERO. Guy then wanted to know if Cody wanted to go back to Metro city, Cody replies when the time would be right.
Some years later, Cody is eventually is set free. Over the years he has learnt to contain his fighting zeal and now fights only when provoked (keep in mind though that Cody is really hot headed so he'll probably wind up kicking your ass if you do or say something stupid--Just ask Abigail. For more on this Abigail incident read Cody's interesting facts here). Now he trains his younger brother Kyle and together they keep the Metro City clean and thug-free. Over the course of time as Cody reaches/passes his prime, he suffers from arthritis. All those years of fighting finally take a toll on his body leaving him no option but to train his younger brother as his knees have given way...which means the punches no longer have the power they would before (for those who don't know). He becomes Kyle's "corner man" and helps the inexperienced and unpolished Kyle gain experience and become a better fighter. Cody and Kyle resort to "training" in the usual pit fights that happen around Metro City. Kyle shows progress and his "natural" ability.
to be continued.....
~Sado
