M. Bison

This article is about M. Bison, known as "Vega" in Japan. For the character known as "M. Bison" in Japan, see Balrog (Street Fighter). For "Vega" outside Japan, see Vega (Street Fighter).
M. Bison (Vega)
Street Fighter series character

M. Bison in Super Street Fighter II, as drawn by Bengus.
First game Street Fighter II
Designed by Akiman (Street Fighter II)
Voiced by (English) Tom Wyner (Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Street Fighter II V (Animaze Dub)
Markham Anderson (Street Fighter II V (ADV Films dub # 1))
Mike Kleinhenz (Street Fighter II V (ADV Films dub # 2)
Richard Newman (TV series)
Gerald C. Rivers (Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter X Tekken, Street Fighter V, Wreck-It Ralph)
Voiced by (Japanese) Tomomichi Nishimura (Street Fighter Alpha series, Street Fighter EX series, Marvel vs. Capcom series, Namco x Capcom)
Kenji Utsumi (Street Fighter II V, Japanese television dub of the Street Fighter film)
Norio Wakamoto (Capcom vs. SNK series, SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom, Capcom Fighting Evolution, Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter X Tekken, Street Fighter V, Project X Zone 2)
Banjō Ginga (CD drama)
Masaharu Satō (Street Fighter Zero drama CD)
Takeshi Kusaka (Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie)
Makoto Gunji (Street Fighter II Turbo commercial)
Tesshō Genda (Japanese video and DVD dub of the Street Fighter film)
Shin-ichiro Miki (Real Battle on Film)
Kazuhiro Yamaji (Japanese dub of Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li)
Taiten Kusunoki (Wreck-It Ralph)
Motion capture Darko Tuskan (The Movie games)
Portrayed by Raúl Juliá (Street Fighter: The Movie)
Neal McDonough (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li)
Silvio Simac (Street Fighter: Resurrection)
Fictional profile
Nationality Unknown(most media)
British (1994 movie)
Irish (The Legend of Chun-Li)
Fighting style Lerdrit (Psycho Power-infused style)
Occupation Leader of Shadaloo

M. Bison, also known as Vega, is a video game character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character and villain in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as the primary antagonist of the series. As one of the series' most iconic villains, M. Bison is widely considered to be the true main antagonist of the Street Fighter franchise, outshining fellow villains Sagat, Akuma, Gill, and Seth .

A would-be world dictator and megalomaniac, M. Bison rules the fictional Far East country of Mriganka with an iron fist. His ultimate ambition is to control the world's governments through his covert crime syndicate, Shadaloo (シャドルー Shadorū, sometimes spelled as "Shadoloo", "Shadowloo" or "Shadowlaw"). He serves as the host of Street Fighter II's fighting tournament[1] and is the last opponent fought in the game. Several Street Fighter characters—including Guile, T. Hawk, Cammy, Rose and Chun-Li—have their personal vendettas against M. Bison and have entered the tournament in the hopes of facing him personally. M. Bison wields an inherently evil energy known as "Psycho Power".

Conception and development

In Japan, the character is named Vega (ベガ Bega), derived from the star of the same name. However, during localization of Street Fighter II for the English language market, Capcom's North American branch felt that the name sounded non-threatening to North American audiences for the game's final boss and was more suitable for the Spanish cage fighter Balrog. At this same time another concern arose that the name of another character, Mike Bison, conceived as a parody of real-life boxer Mike Tyson, would be a legal liability for Capcom. As a result, the characters swapped names, and the game's final boss was dubbed M. Bison for English language appearances of the character.[2] Capcom has never explained what "M" stands for, calling it "part of the character's mystery".[3] Regardless, Bison has been addressed as Master Bison in Street Fighter Alpha 3 repeatedly, as well as in the animated movie. In his introduction before a fight in (Super) Street Fighter IV, he refers to himself as "The Mighty Bison". In endings in Alpha 2, he is referred to by a henchman as Commander Bison. In Street Fighter V, he is referred to by F.A.N.G as Lord Bison.

When developing Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, it was decided to give him a more muscular appearance, rather than have him resemble "a middle aged man", while his face was modified to appear somewhat demonic.[4] This appearance was later carried onto the Street Fighter Alpha series, featured as his original appearance before the Street Fighter II series.

The first source of inspiration for M. Bison's design came from the character General Washizaki, one of the main villains of the popular martial arts manga Riki-Oh.[5][6] However both Washizaki and M. Bison's designs (especially the latter's supernatural characteristics) are widely believed to be a homage to the character Yasunori Kato, the mystical antagonist of the influential fantasy novel series Teito Monogatari and its subsequent cinematic adaptations.[7][8][9][10]

Appearances

Street Fighter series

Bison first appears in the Street Fighter II: The World Warrior as the final computer-controlled opponent in the single-player mode, following the player's defeat of the other three Grand Masters. The battle takes place in the streets of Bangkok, Thailand in front of a crowd, where he poses with his cape, which he throws off prior to battle. He became a playable character from Champion Edition and onward, while maintaining his position as the final boss until Super Street Fighter II Turbo, in which a hidden character named Akuma defeats Bison and challenges the player as an alternate final boss.

The storyline through the numerous versions of Street Fighter II characterizes Bison as the leader of a criminal organization called "Shadaloo" who sponsors the World Warrior tournament. A few characters who participate in the tournament have a personal vendetta against Bison. Chun-Li and Guile are both seeking to avenge the deaths of their loved ones (Chun-Li's father and Guile's best friend respectively), while T. Hawk wants to avenge both his homeland and his father, that were destroyed and devastated by the villain; the amnesiac Cammy, on the other hand, believes that Bison is connected to her past and learns in her ending that she was once one of his agents (changed to being lovers in the original English localization of the arcade, and then changed into being a DNA copy made for the purpose of impersonating him in the Game Boy Advance version).

Capcom later released Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, a prequel to the Street Fighter II series, further fleshed out and developed the fictional universe of the series. Bison appears in the first Alpha as the final boss for certain characters and a hidden playable character available via a code. Two characters with ties to Bison were introduced: Rose, a fortune teller with spiritual ties to Bison, whose Soul Power is the opposite of Bison's Psycho Power; and Charlie (Nash in Japan), Guile's deceased war buddy previously mentioned in Street Fighter II, who seeks to track him down. Bison, as he appears in the Alpha games, fights wearing a cape. and gains a teleport and a projectile move.

Street Fighter Alpha 2, released the following year in 1996, follows the same plot as the original Alpha, but features completely revamped endings. Bison is featured in this game as a playable character without any cheat codes required.

In Street Fighter Alpha 3, released in 1998, a non-playable version of Bison called Final Bison serves as the final boss of all the characters (with the exception of Bison himself, who fights Ryu). Several revelations are made in this game, including the fact that Rose is the good half of Bison's soul and the fact that Cammy is a female clone of Bison. In the end of the game (regardless which ending the player gets), Bison's body is destroyed and a new one is built for him by his scientists after the game.

In Street Fighter EX, Bison retains a projectile attack and teleport, and gains a new throw, which was later used in Street Fighter IV. In his ending in Street Fighter EX2 Plus, Bison develops an experimental drug called "SH-11". In Street Fighter EX3, he gains a tag-team super move when paired with Vega.

Bison returns in Street Fighter IV, a continuation of Street Fighter II set prior to the events of Street Fighter III. The Street Fighter IV Training Guide reveals that Bison was destroyed by Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu and now inhabits a new body created for him by his scientists. Unlike his previous bodies, this one is capable of withstanding the full strength of his Psycho Power.[11]

Bison appears as the main antagonist of Street Fighter V, where he is depicted with gray hair.[12] This game explains his downfall, as depicted in the story mode "A Shadow Falls." Shadaloo enacts a plan known as "Operation C.H.A.I.N.S." in which seven artificial satellites known as the "Black Moons" were constructed to cause various cities around the world to lose power, thereby creating commotion which fuels Bison's Psycho Power due to negative emotions. When the plan was ultimately foiled, a resurrected Nash sacrifices himself to weaken Bison, leaving Ryu to finish him off with the Power of Nothingness. Since the Power of Nothingness can destroy evil, Bison, being a being of pure evil, can do nothing but laugh as his body corrodes until he finally fades for good, leaving only his Shadaloo hat to be buried within Shadaloo's underground base.

Bison appears in Street Fighter: The Movie, a 1995 video game adaptation of the 1994 film. The game looks similar to early Mortal Kombat games, due to each character being represented by digitized sprites of the film's actors. Bison's portrayer, Raúl Juliá, had intended to participate in the project, but bowed out due to health problems.[13] Consequently, Bison's fight animations were performed by stuntman Darko Tuscan. Film clips of Juliá as Bison are included within the game's cutscenes.

Other games

Alternate versions

In some versions of Street Fighter games, the player will face an alternate version of M. Bison, usually as a computer controlled opponent in the game's single-player mode. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, the player will face against Final Bison (Final Vega in the Japanese version) in the end of the single-player mode (except when playing as Bison himself, Balrog, Juni, or Juli, in which case Ryu will be the last opponent). Final Bison differs from the regular version of M. Bison, in which he uses a fighting style similar to X-ism dubbed Shadaloo-ism (or S-ism), which is available only to him in the arcade version. He has all of the special moves his regular self uses during S-ism, with more powerful basic moves and a new Super Combo dubbed the Final Psycho Crusher (instead of the Knee Press Nightmare his regular self uses during S-ism mode). In the arcade version, the player is not allowed to continue after losing a match against Final Bison; instead, the game will play a bad ending. Final Bison is only selectable in the home versions of the game.

In Street Fighter EX2 Plus for the arcade and PlayStation, another version of Bison appears called "Bison II" (or "Vega II") as a secret final opponent in single-player mode. If the player defeats the regular version of Bison at the end, Bison will resurrect himself as Bison II and challenge the player. Bison II can be distinguished from the regular version of Bison by the white-colored outfit he wears back in EX2, and the background which changes to a colorful light stream coming out of the floor in a pure black room. In EX3 he sports a black uniform, gold plates, and has orange-tinted skin. Like Final Bison in Alpha 3, the player cannot continue after losing against Bison II in EX2.

In Street Fighter EX3, Bison II returns as a playable secret character. His move set is identical to that of his normal counterpart, with the exception of two additional Psycho Cannon attacks.

A third, computer-controlled only version of the character, known as "Shin-Bison" (or "True Vega"), is also included in EX3. Shin-Bison appears with pale, purple-tinted skin, blue-green plates, and a white uniform. In addition to an overall speed increase, he has an infinite amount of SC energy, the ability to cancel most of his attacks, and a new Knee Press Nightmare Meteor combo where he creates three copies of himself, one above and two beside him, which gives the move a massive range boost. This incarnation is considered to be his most formidable.

In other media

Live action

Street Fighter

Raúl Juliá as General M. Bison in Street Fighter.

The late Raúl Juliá plays Bison in the 1994 live-action film adaption of the series. Julia perceived Bison in the same vein of villain as Richard III, and approached the role with a Shakespearean tone.[16] In the film, Bison is both a psychopathic former military general and notorious wealthy drug kingpin who controls, not only Shadaloo City, but also the drug industry with an iron fist. One of his goals in the film to produce supersoldiers to take over the world and establish a new order known as "Pax Bisonica" using his drug money. His ambitions have led to a war with the Allied Nations (AN), led by Colonel Guile, the movie's main character, in Shadaloo City. In the film's climax, he fights Guile and very nearly defeats him with his uniform's built-in electromagnetism (the film's stand-in for Bison's Psycho Power), but he is killed when Guile kicks him into his gigantic monitor screen and leaves him to die when the base explodes. A post-credits scene only available on the home-video release shows Bison resurrected through a solar-powered life support machine.

Though Bison's nationality is unknown in the film, his perfect English speaking and British accent assumes that he is from the United Kingdom and that he plans to conquer England and Great Britain first. The film is Raúl Juliá's final film role before his death, and is dedicated to his memory. Although the film was largely panned by critics and fans, Juliá's performance was widely praised and he was nominated for a posthumous Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. For the role, Raúl Juliá had studied various dictators, their lives and personalities, and as such mimicked many of their hand movements and body language to incorporate into the M.Bison character, most notably Benito Mussolini's hand gestures, and Adolf Hitler's love of art. Julia also studied well known drug lords and their personalities such as Pablo Escobar and his elusiveness.

In the Japanese dub of the film, he is still called "M. Bison" as opposed to "Vega", his name in the original Japanese versions of the series.

This version of Bison appears in the arcade game based on the film, Street Fighter: The Movie, as well as in the home video game bearing the same title. In the home version, he is the main antagonist of the Movie Battle mode, and a non-playable super-powered version of him serves as the final boss. In his ending, he is said to have crushed Colonel Guile in personal combat and defeated his AN Forces, and subsequently brought the world under his control. In the game, Bison is physically portrayed by Darko Tuscan, who served as Raúl Juliá's stunt double in the film, and cutscenes of Juliá as Bison are shown throughout the game. Out of respect for Juliá, Bison is the only character in the game whose actor is left unnamed.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Neal McDonough portrayed Bison in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. He appears as the main antagonist once again, this time opposite Chun-Li. The film shows Bison donning a business suit rather than his signature costume. He is also depicted as a crime boss disguised as a Thailand-based multilingual Irish international businessman instead of a military man/international drug dealer. Bison was abandoned by his Irish missionary parents in Thailand. "Shadaloo" as it is referred to, is a multi-leveled criminal syndicate which is a plutarchy of an unknown number of powerful crime families that have connections ranging from the locale mafiosos of the countries to even factions of the government (in the film's current case, the department of commerce). Though Bison's full goals are not divulged, his first order of business is to buy up an entire waterfront district and restructure it specifically for the wealthy and elite, thus further adding to the funding of his operations. He first appears as a simple mob head, only to skyrocket through the ranks after killing off a number of allied families and usurping their power for himself. He is depicted as being uncomfortably upbeat about everything, as he usually reveals shortly afterward that he is in control of almost every element of espionage and intrigue he is involved with. There is a moderately less supernatural background with Bison than there was with his video game and anime counterparts. In a backstory told by Gen, Bison sacrificed his pregnant wife in the bowls of a supernatural cave, where he imbued his daughter, Rose, with the goodness of his soul, thus ridding himself of any sense of conscience. Bison's raw physical power is seen to borderline on supernatural, as he usually only required one punch or kick to send an opponent hurtling through the air. His power is first exhibited during his introduction where his spiritual energy was so immense, it heralded his arrival by a soft breeze inside Chun-Li's family manor. He is killed at the end of the film in front of his daughter when Chun-Li twists his head around by use of her legs.[17][18]

Street Fighter: Resurrection

Silvio Simac portrayed Bison in Street Fighter: Resurrection appearing in the final episode observing Ryu, Ken, Laura and Nash through a battered Decapre's eyes while sitting down on his throne behind a massive spherical object before burning a chess piece with his Psycho Power and proclaiming that he shall let them come.

Street Fighter: World Warrior

Bison is set to appear in Street Fighter: World Warrior as the primary villain.[19]

Animation

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

Bison is featured prominently in the anime film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. He is the main antagonist of the film and a shared enemy of several other fighters, mainly Chun-Li and Guile. Bison is voiced by Takeshi Kusaka in the Japanese version and Tom Wyner in the English dub. In the English dub, Bison is depicted with an upper-class British-esque accent as in the live-action movie, given that Wyner is English-born. Bison's organization, Shadaloo (here named "Shadowlaw"), is stated as being an international terrorist organization. It employs a great deal of sci-fi technology, including cyborgs (known as "Monitor Cyborgs") which pose as human while broadcasting live images to Bison. As in the games, the "M" in his name is not revealed, although his scientist, Senoh, refers to him as "Master Bison". Intrigued by Ryu's fighting skill after seeing him defeat Sagat, Bison orders a nationwide manhunt to capture and brainwash him to work for Shadowlaw.[20] Ken, Ryu's old friend, is brainwashed by Bison's "Psycho Power" after the terrorist leader easily outmatches him in a fight. Shortly after, Bison instructs Ken to attack Ryu. Ken complies due to Bison Psycho Power control over him. Ken cannot recognize Ryu. Ken viciously beats Ryu until Ken realizes that Ryu is his friend. Bison nearly kills Ken with a large energy shot of Psycho Power. Bison toys with Ryu, while Ken shakes off Bison's attack through meditation. Ken and Ryu challenge Bison simultaneously, but are pummelled by Bison until Ryu catches him off guard and topples him. The fight ends when both Ryu and Ken launch a combined Hadouken which hits Bison directly and seemingly destroys him, but the film's closing scene reveals that Bison survived. Ryu and Bison prepare to fight again as the end credits roll.

Street Fighter II V

Bison appears in the second half of the anime series Street Fighter II V, voiced again by Tom Wyner for the Animaze English dub, but sporting a blue uniform instead of his traditional red one. In the ADV Films dub he was voiced by Markham Anderson and then later on by Mike Kleinhenz. He is still the leader of Shadowlaw, which now has many subdivisions, such as the Ashura Syndicate. When Ashura is destroyed by Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Fei-Long and Dorai (Chun-Li's father), Bison orders Dorai murdered and Ken kidnapped and held ransom after witnessing him defeat Vega in a very dramatic fashion, and later sends his henchman, Zangief, to capture Ryu, whom Bison had seen on the beach practising Hadou, and have him brainwashed. In the meantime, Bison succeeds in brainwashing both Chun-Li and Ryu and setting them on Guile and Ken, respectively, after killing Charlie. In the end, Ken manages to break Bison's control on Ryu, and the two take on Bison. Bison, clearly the superior fighter, easily handles both Ryu and Ken, until they discover that Bison can be damaged with their Hadou powers. Ken is knocked unconscious while Ryu battles on. Bison prepares to finish off Ryu with a Psycho Crusher, but is intercepted by Ken using his Hadou Shoryu Reppa. Ken's strength is depleted and Ryu takes on Bison one-on-one who is still not fully recovered from Ken's attack. Ryu uses a series of moves to defeat a defenseless Bison. As Bison prepares a final Psycho Crusher, Ryu counters with a Hadouken, which hits Bison square in the chest and sends him into the sidereal space.

Street Fighter (US cartoon)

Voiced by Richard Newman, Bison's portrayal in the American Street Fighter animated series is considerably close to his portrayal in both the live-action film and significant aspects of the video game. His primary nemesis is Guile, as in the movie. In the first season, Bison's attack on Chun-Li's village (referenced in the live-action film), appears in a flashback, revealing how he killed Chun-Li's father, who attacked him in futile defiance. Bison later reveals to a vengeful Chun-Li that he also slew his own father in cold blood, and remarks that she doesn't see him whining about it as she does. The second season explored Bison's relationship with Cammy in the same manner as the games and the anime movie, with Cammy being triggered as a "sleeper agent" in the opening episodes. She discovers the truth about Bison in the series finale, but not before she reestablishes her romantic bond with him. Bison seems to worship a Thai deity that instructs him on what to do with his resources, and in the finale, Bison convinces himself he has been told to destroy the Earth through the launching of nuclear missiles. Bison eventually engages Guile in a showdown which concludes when Guile, in a manner reminiscent of the 1994 film, kicks Bison into a computer and fires a sonic boom at him, unleashing a strong magnetic force that pulls Bison into the computer, which explodes afterwards, destroying him completely.

Bison is heavily featured as the primary antagonist of the UDON-published Street Fighter comic series. His story is mostly unchanged from the official version, portraying him as the dark and sinister leader of Shadaloo. He operates behind a veil of various agents and associates who do his bidding as well as having numerous enemies (such as Chun-Li and Guile). Bison is the student of a mysterious woman whose tribe has mastered the art of Soul Power. After being exiled from further training, he studies the forbidden texts of their people and learns the nature of Psycho Power, the negative half of Soul Power. He returns to her later in life and uses this power to massacre his mentor's tribe, leaving only one survivor (Rose). Like the official story, Bison has a great interest in Ryu after watching him defeat Sagat at the last Street Fighter tournament and observing the nature of the Satsui no Hadō. At the end of the first series of comics, Bison is defeated in a battle with his own creation (Charlie, who had been empowered with Shadaloo technology) when Charlie sacrifices himself to plunge Bison into a river. Bison survives the fall and his body is reanimated with the Psycho Drive, whereupon he resumes his role as Shadaloo dictator. As the comic moves forward, Bison announces his "Street Fighter II" tournament, the second global gathering of martial artists, and is documented in the Street Fighter II Turbo series of comics. The tournament itself runs smoothly up until what would have been the final battle between Ryu and Bison. At this point, Akuma intervenes (much like the official story) and demands a fight with Ryu. Bison senses the amount of great power Akuma carries and attempts to subdue him in combat, only to be halted by Rose's spirit who restrains him while Akuma delivers the final blow and seals Bison's soul for good.

Wreck-It Ralph

The "Bad-Anon" villain meeting from Wreck-It Ralph features M. Bison and various other well-known video game characters, including Bowser, Clyde, Doctor Eggman, Neff, and Zangief.

M. Bison makes a cameo appearance in the Disney film Wreck-It Ralph with Gerald C. Rivers reprising the role.[21] He and Zangief appear as members of the villain support group Bad-Anon. During a meeting, he sits between Zangief and Bowser. When Ralph contemplates rebelling against his programming as a villain to become a hero, Bison warns him against it, saying "You're not going Turbo, are you?" referencing a character named Turbo who did something similar and almost destroyed the entire arcade.

Shadaloo

Shadaloo, named Shadowlaw in early localizations, is a fictional crime organization that is run by Bison. Its insignia is a winged skull with a lightning bolt—forming an "S" for Shadaloo—etched onto its forehead. The symbol can be seen on Bison's cap from Champion Edition onwards, as well as in numerous cutscenes.[22] The Four Main members of Shadaloo include Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and Bison himself. Balrog and Vega were recruited by Bison with the promise of massive wealth, whereas Sagat was motivated to join by the prospect of revenge for his defeat at the hands of Ryu in the first Street Fighter tournament. In Street Fighter II, Bison ostensibly hosts the game's fighting tournament to seek out new talent for Shadaloo. Bison's end sequence in Super Street Fighter II sees him establish a new world order.

Bison and Shadaloo feature more prominently in the Alpha series of games. New Shadaloo henchmen are introduced, including the Dolls, a group of female fighters who are programmed to serve Bison. Cammy was bred as a member of this group, but eventually broke from the group and fled to England. The character Birdie joins Shadaloo during his ending sequence in the first Street Fighter Alpha game, but turns against Bison and leaves in Alpha 2.

In Street Fighter Alpha 3, Bison's headquarters is located in the interior of a Thai statue depicting a female deity. During the game over sequence, the face of the statue crumbles away, revealing a skull-like robotic head. The robot's eyes fire a laser into the stratosphere, which is intercepted by Bison's satellite and deflected back toward Earth.[22]

In Street Fighter EX, C. Jack is a member of Shadaloo who seeks to escape the organization. In his ending in the first game, he derails a Shadaloo train.

In Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Shadaloo (here named Shadowlaw) plays out the same role as in the game series. In the English dub, it is established that Bison is not the true master, but merely a figurehead for a politician, Ed Pressman (named after Edward R. Pressman, producer of the 1994 Street Fighter film), who is running for President of the United States. Pressman is not seen throughout the film, and Bison acts as Shadowlaw's master. Pressman's fate after Shadowlaw's fall is unknown. There is no mention of anyone above Bison in Shadowlaw in the original Japanese dub.

In Street Fighter II V, Shadowlaw is shown with varies subdivisions, one of which is known as Ashura, operating primarily in Hong Kong under Mr. Zochi, who himself answers to Bison. In Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, the organisation is not present, but the villain, Dr. Sadler, has connections with Shadowlaw.

In the 1994 live-action Street Fighter film, Shadaloo is a hostile dictatorship. According to maps shown during the film's opening, it is a fictitious country located in a segment of present-day Burma. Zangief and Dee Jay were members of Shadaloo in the film. Members introduced in the game of the film are Blade, Arkane, F7 and Khyber, who were all members of Bison's shock troops. It can be surmised, from a song sung by Bison's soldiers and two posters ("ĝeneralo Bison", "teroristo"), that the official language of Shadaloo is Esperanto. Bison's nationality is not revealed in the film, although it can be assumed that he is depicted as an Englishman, given his use of a perfect English accent and his desire to conquer England first after defeating Guile and the Allied Nations.

In the 2009 live-action film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, Shadaloo (in this case, Shadowlaw) was a major crime syndicate operating out of (but not limited to) Bangkok, Thailand dealing mainly with narcotics, extortion, and several legal fronts such as high priced commercial and residential real-estate. Bison (portrayed by Neal McDonough) rose to power of this organization by hiring Vega to decapitate all the other shareholders to the company, and then later placed their heads on a platter to be discovered by interpol agent Charlie Nash. Bison's appearance in this film is severely altered as well being changed to that of a blonde haired, blue eyed Irish immigrant to Thailand due to his parents being religious missionaries to that country.

Reception

Since he appeared in Street Fighter II, M. Bison has received mostly positive reception. IGN ranked Bison fourth on its list of the "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters", praising his role as a villain in the series that did not rely solely on his henchmen.[23] IGN would also list him as the 19th best video game villain, describing him as a formidable boss and one who has endured for years as a mainstay in the Street Fighter series. GameSpot listed him at number five on its "Top 10 Video Game Villains" list, stating a preference for his attack set while bemoaning his portrayal in the live action film.[24] He was also featured in GameSpot's Top Ten Boss Fights with editors describing him as "cheap."[25] GamePro placed him at number thirty in its "47 Most Diabolical Video-Game Villains of All Time" article, stating "This guy had the nerve to look you dead in the face, threaten your very soul and then tell you he represents an organization called Shadaloo. That's brave, man."[26] GameDaily named Bison one of its favorite Capcom characters of all time, calling him "one of the best end bosses ever."[27] It later listed Bison at number five on their "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" article, describing him as "One of the most vile, powerful end bosses ever put into a video game".[28] He was also 2nd in GamesRadar's "The 12 most misunderstood videogame villains" with comments on the various sub-stories Bison is involved in the Street Fighter series.[29] UGO Networks placed M.Bison at #14 on their list of Top 50 Street Fighter Characters", stating "Bison is the second (Street Fighter's last boss was Sagat) and only true villain in the series. Other bosses in the series are motivated by one thing or another, but Bison's true goal is to oppress the world for his own selfish benefit."[30] 1UP.com listed him as of the characters they wanted to see in Street Fighter X Tekken.[31] In 2016, Screen Rant named M. Bison the "3rd Most Powerful Street Fighter Character", stating "As the main antagonist of the series, it’s only natural M. Bison would also be one of the most powerful characters of the franchise—he’s even proven capable of getting the better of Ryu."[32]

References

  1. The History of Street Fighter - M. Bison. GameSpot Archived June 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved on 2008-3-26.
  2. "Interview with Street Fighter II composer Isao Abe" (in Japanese). Capcom. Archived from the original on 2004-04-09. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
  3. Staff (August 1993). "The Mail". GamePro (49): 14.
  4. SF20: The Art of Street Fighter. UDON. October 2009. ISBN 1-897376-58-8.
  5. 月刊ゲーメスト10月号増刊『ストリートファイターII』p83。
  6. 『COMPLETE FILE STREET FIGHTER II』P59(発行:カプコン、発売:朝日ソノラマ・1992年刊)。
  7. Review of TOKYO: THE LAST MEGALOPOLIS Anthony Romero, Toho Kingdom, September 22, 2006
  8. Comparison between Vega's Image and Kyūsaku Shimada's Portrait (at the bottom of the page). Retrieved on 2009-6-01.
  9. Poll about Vega's Inspiration. Retrieved on 2012-8-04.
  10. Japanese Review of TEITO MONOGATARI (1988). Retrieved on 2012-8-07.
  11. "You must read the Street Fighter IV 'Training Manual' to stand a chance". Destructoid. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  12. " Street Fighter 5 - M. Bison Reveal Trailer". IGN. 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  13. Alan Noon. Street Fighter the Movie Broke My Heart. Shoryuken.com. (2007-1-25) Retrieved on 2008-4-2.
  14. Ending for Marvel vs Capcom - Chun-Li (Arcade). VGMuseum. Retrieved on 2008-4-12.
  15. Ending for Marvel vs Capcom - Shadow Lady (Arcade). VGMuseum. Retrieved on 2008-4-13.
  16. Cruz, Bárbara (1998). Raul Julia: Actor and Humanitarian. Enslow. ISBN 0-7660-1040-6.
  17. The new M. Bison is... Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved on 2008-3-29.
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