Birdie

"I am Birdie! The most rotten villain in the World...I hope!"

- Birdie

Birdie (バーディ, Bādi) is a video game character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. He first appeared in the original game as one of the ten CPU opponents and made later prominent appearances in the Street Fighter Alpha games.

Appearance
Birdie is a hulking black Briton with dyed blonde hair, a blue leather vest, several rings, and oddly pointed shoes. His unusual looking shoes are more common to punks in Japan, rather than the combat boots worn by punks in Birdie's native England. He also has a tattoo of a red heart on the side of his head and sports a patently impossible hole in the center of his mohawk, giving his unique hairstyle the appearance of a sharp bird's beak. Overall, he is depicted as a late 1970's British punk rocker.

Birdie's appearance in the Alpha series was distinctly changed from his appearance in the original Street Fighter. In the original game, Birdie was a tall, not particularly heavyset Caucasian with a regular (without the hole) orange-red mohawk in confrontation screen and blonde during rounds. In the Alpha series, Birdie is considerably larger, more muscular and has a different skin color. Acknowledging this, there is a win quote in Street Fighter Alpha 3, in which he says he was pale because he was sick. His lips are also larger than his original appearance.

Story
Prior to his criminal career, Birdie was a professional wrestler, teaming with occasional rival Titanic Tim (from the Saturday Night Slam Masters series) as the "500 Million Trillion Powers". He turned to a life of crime when his wrestling career ended, doing some street fighting on the side to add to his income, as well as nightclub bouncing.

Street Fighter
His notoriety got him invited to the first World Warrior tournament. He was suffering from a particularly nasty strain of flu, however, and lost his fight with Ryu.

Street Fighter Alpha 2
Despite this setback, Birdie rose up the criminal ranks. He eventually became aware of an organization called Shadaloo and, tracking down their leader, M. Bison, demonstrated his fighting skills to join them. However, Bison only wanted a test subject, and used Birdie to perform painful and demeaning experiments. Birdie resolved to get even.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
Sneaking into a Shadaloo data room, he learned about the Psycho Drive machine, not aware that M. Bison was watching him. Thinking he could use it to overthrow Bison and become lord of Shadaloo himself, he set out to find it. Bison sent Balrog to kill Birdie, but Birdie convinced Balrog to help him instead by telling him how the Psycho Drive could make them powerful. Hindered by Balrog's incompetence, however, Birdie couldn't find the Drive before it exploded. Birdie's fate after the storyline is unknown.

Gameplay/Fighting style
Birdie combines brawling with wrestling. His favorite techniques involve headbutting the opponent through the use of his attacks, Bull Head and Bull Horn. Bull Horn offers a moment of invulnerability before attacking so it can be used to avoid projectiles and other attacks. It can be charged up much like Balrog's Turn Punch, but unlike Turn Punch it hits multiple times. His Bull Head is a full on charging headbutt but using it leaves him completely open so the player should use it carefully.

His best attacks are his grappling techniques, Bandit Chain and Murderer Chain. The player should use his other attacks to get in close, then pull off his grappling techniques to cause damage. He also has good air superiority and priority with his standing fierce and roundhouse.

Birdie has also developed fighting moves which utilize his bizarre haircut (Bull Head, Bull Thorn, one of his regular throws as well as one Alpha Combo).

Cameo Appearances
Birdie appears as a card in the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash series. He also makes a non-playable appearance in Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix.

Street Fighter Alpha manga
Birdie appears in the Street Fighter Alpha manga series, where he is shown in a surprisingly more positive fashion; Birdie is a leader of a group of drug dealers, but is a close friend and companion to Ryu, as Ryu was the first person (other than Birdie's own mother) to be kind to him. He proves to be a violent but honorable ally, even teaming up with Chun-Li (who had previously tried to arrest him) in order to stop Ryu from killing everyone while under the influence of the Satsui no Hado.

UDON comics
Birdie also appeared in UDON's Street Fighter IV comic, where he was seen "ripping heads off baby dolls for ammo" when Abel found him while searching for information on the S.I.N. organization.

SF Alpha: The Animation
In Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, he is the most prominent of the Alpha characters, and is depicted with an American accent and an oddly noble and heroic personality. Though just as arrogant and violent as his game counterpart, he still implored Ken and Chun-Li to leave him and escape with the others even though his ki was being extracted, and he continuously defends them from Dr. Sadler's android enforcer despite being severely beaten several times. He is last seen being taken to safety.

Street Fighter cartoon
Birdie makes his first animated show appearance in the episode The Medium is the Message, along with several other characters from the Street Fighter Alpha subseries. Birdie was one of several competitors in a tournament taking place in Chhatarpur, India, though his role, along with the other Alpha characters, was minimal. He was shown facing Adon near the beginning of the episode, though the outcome of the brawl was unknown. Later on, Guile and Blanka took on Guy and Birdie in a 2-on-2 match, winning handily.

Birdie makes a second appearance alongside fellow Alpha character Sodom in Cammy and the Bachelor, taking on a much more central role than previously. The two characters, under the employ of Bison, are responsible for a crime spree causing havoc across London. This crime wave catches the attention of Delta Red, who attempt to stop it only to be stopped themselves by Bison and his henchmen. Birdie, in contrast to his cameo appearance in "The Medium is the Message", has several speaking roles, and his character is expanded upon somewhat. The episode raises the possibility that Birdie is either a hired hand for or a member of Shadaloo, in direct comparison to his involvement with the organization in Street Fighter Alpha 2/3.

Trivia

 * He is named after the golfing term "Birdie." The other English character from the first Street Fighter game; Eagle, is also named after a golf term.


 * As mentioned above, one of Birdie's rivals is Titanic Tim from Capcom's Slam Masters series of wrestling games.
 * Furthermore, When Birdie and Tim were a tag team, they went by the name "500 Trillion Powers", a parody of the mid-80s Randy Savage/Hulk Hogan tag team, "The Mega Powers."
 * The tag team name "500 Million Trillion Powers" could also possibly a play off a tag team from the wrestling manga Kinnikuman, the "20 Million Powers".


 * In Birdie's stage in the original Street Fighter, several posters of Velvet Underground (recognizably enough, from their album The Velvet Underground and Nico) can be seen on the walls.


 * Birdie's SF1 stage music is remixed for the first two Street Fighter Alpha games.


 * Birdie also has the notable quality of being one of the few Street Fighter characters to change so drastically in his appearance (Caucasian to Black, changes in hair, clothes and stance).


 * Birdie, when standing up full height (best seen while walking), is about the height of Sagat, making him one of the tallest characters in the series.


 * In Hakan's opening in SSFIV, he is shown beating and interogating a punk who closely resembles Birdie's original design.


 * Birdie is the first black British character in the series, followed by Dudley.


 * According to UDON's Street Fighter: World Warrior encyclopedia Birdie sees Zangief as a rival, not because of his wrestling background but because he perceives Zangief's mohawk as a challenge.

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