M. Bison

M. Bison, (The M. standing for Master), known as Vega (ベガ) in Japan, is one of the primary bosses of the Street Fighter fighting game series.

Story
His first chronological appearance was in Street Fighter Alpha, as the head of an elusive criminal and military organization known as Shadaloo. Along with his aspirations for world conquest, M. Bison had been working on perfecting a lethal and deadly energy that would exponentially increase his fighting ability, an inherently evil energy he refers to as "Psycho Power". During the events of Street Fighter Alpha, Shadaloo came to the attention of Interpol, which sent Chun-Li (an operative with a personal vendetta against the crime lord, who had killed her father) to thwart Bison's plans. Chun-Li and M. Bison eventually confronted each other and battled. M. Bison defeated Chun-Li and then escaped on his helicopter while mocking her and promising to kill her in the same manner he killed her father if she confronts him again. During the events of Alpha or Alpha 2, M. Bison also came into conflict with Rose, a mysterious woman who wielded Soul Power, the opposite of Bison's Psycho Power. This fact and the fact that her quest was to stop any and all of M. Bison's evil plans indicate the intricate connection between the two, and would later be revealed in Street Fighter Alpha 3.

By the time of Street Fighter Alpha 3, the Psycho Power began exceeding the limits of his body. Having predicted this event, M. Bison had his scientists engineer a body that he could transfer his essence to, but that body Cammy escaped from Shadaloo's conditioning. M. Bison then turned his sights to Ryu, one of the most powerful fighters in the world, and the personal nemesis of Bison's right-hand man Sagat. Bison defeated and captured Ryu and subjected him to intense psychological conditioning; when Sagat objected, M. Bison turned Ryu on him, telling him he could finally have his rematch. While Sagat battled Ryu, Ryu's friends Ken and Sakura fought M. Bison. With Sagat's urging, Ryu came to his senses and forced M. Bison to retreat to the Psycho Drive, which restored his power.

In Street Fighter Alpha 3, USAF officers Charlie and Guile are on a mission to stop the dictator from using his new creation, a satellite (featured in Street Fighter Alpha 3), which can enhance his Psycho Power abilities. Guile and Charlie are joined by Chun-Li, and the three of them battle M. Bison. In order to take down Shadaloo's leader, Charlie keeps fighting him while the base is set to explode, and eventually sacrifices his own life. M. Bison's soul, however, ended up surviving the explosion and took control of Rose. It is revealed that, while trying to master Psycho Power, Bison had to expel all the humanity and good in his soul to accommodate and supplant the intense energy the power gives him, and that Rose is actually the formation of all of M. Bison's good energy. He stayed inside of Rose's body until his Shadaloo scientists could forge a new body for him, the body seen in Street Fighter II. This body, however, was much weaker, since, having inhabited his "good side"'s soul for a period of time, he retained both his good and evil energies as he transferred to his new body, thus making his Psycho Power considerably less effective.

M. Bison held the second Street Fighter tournament to get revenge against the people who had destroyed the Psycho Drive. His new body was much weaker than the previous, but he was still very powerful. In the end he would fall short of winning, some fans believe he lost to Ken in the finals. He was then confronted by Guile, who had planned on killing him before his family convinced him otherwise. Ultimately he would be destroyed by Akuma, who killed him with the Shun Goku Satsu.

Bison returns in Street Fighter IV, however, his soul transplanted to yet another new body, again not as powerful as his Alpha days. Though his scientists tried to dissuade him (their reasoning being that, in time, a new body could be created that could hold the psycho power in its entirety) Bison chose the weaker body instead of remaining dead any longer, stating that "it would only be a matter of time before [Bison] would inhabit his body, anyway." Bison then took part in Seth's new World Warrior tournament. However, Bison was not heard of in Street Fighter III, and Chun-Li's mid-boss dialogue with Urien in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike suggests that Shadaloo was destroyed. In Street Fighter 4, however, Shadaloo is also thought to be destroyed, though Bison is obviously taking steps to revive it.

Appearance
His general attire consists of a red military uniform with large silver shoulder plates, wrist bands, and shin guards; on his cap is the skull insignia of his crime syndicate known as Shadaloo (sometimes referred to as Shadowlaw or Shadowloo). Bison's eyes lack both pupils and irises (exception in "Street Fighter II"), leaving them a ghastly white color. He sports a dark colored cape in the Alpha series, in which he appears with his original body. In Street Fighter II and the Capcom vs SNK series, he appears with a much slimmer body, and removes his cape before battle.

Shin Bison
Shin Bison is an alternate version of M. Bison with more powerful abilities, fewer weaknesses, and often a different costume. Much like Shin Akuma, this modified version of the character is meant to portray Bison when he chooses to unleash the true depths of his power. The only canon appearance of Shin Bison takes place in Street Fighter Alpha 3 (often referred to as Final Bison) but he has also appeared in both Street Fighter EX2 Plus (referred to as Bison II), and Street Fighter EX3 as a secret, computer-only boss character.

When fighting in this more powerful form, Bison’s abilities differ from game to game. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, his fierce punch attacks send out a wave of energy and his psycho crusher super combo fills the entire screen with a devastating streak of blue flames. This improved psycho crusher is much faster and stronger than its normal counterpart, cannot be blocked in the air, and does severe damage even when blocked.

In Street Fighter EX 2 Plus and Street Fighter EX 3, Shin M. Bison appears with pale, indigo-tinted skin and a white uniform. In both of these games, he has an infinite amount of SC energy, the ability to cancel most of his moves, and three greatly improved Psycho Cannon projectile attacks.

Shin Bison also tends to be far more aggressive than his normal counterpart in all the titles he appears in, and makes frequent use of his teleporting ability.

Gameplay
M. Bison is a "charge character" in that his special moves require that you hold in directions for a few seconds before pulling a move off. One of his special moves is the "Psycho Crusher" which sends him flying in the direction of his opponent with a damaging spin. The "Double Knee Press/Scissors Kick" allows him to do a forward flip which will knock the opponent away. With the "Head Stomp", Bison jumps into the air and homes into the opponent, bouncing off their heads in which he can follow up and smack them with his own hands. Bison also posseses the "Devil's Reverse," wherein he leaps forward like the Head Stomp, but will then flip upside down and chop the enemy with a Psycho Power-covered hand when any punch button is pressed. This acts as both a fake-out version of the Head Stomp, and as a viable attack, allowing Bison to play with his opponent's head.

In the Alpha series, his Psycho Crusher is a super (on A-ISM) instead of a regular move. He gained new moves such as the "Psycho shot" which was his very own projectile and a couple abilities which allowed him to teleport and hover in the air.

His Super Attacks contain a more powerful version of the Psycho Crusher (In Alpha 3, it is his most powerful attack taking up the whole screen when used) and the Knee Press Nightmare, which is a more varied version of the Double Knee Press. In Street Fighter 4, he gains the Nightmare Booster, which is a combination of all of his special moves (two Double Knee Presses, followed by a Psycho Crusher which carries the victim upward, after which he flips upside down similar to the Devil's Reverse, smacks the victim to the ground, and ends it with a full-body version of the Head Stomp).

Other appearances
M.Bison appears in the live-adaptation movie portrayed by Raúl Juliá as the main antagonist, who died shortly after the movie's release. Bison is depicted once more as a megalomaniac with plans of world domination and is depicted as an ordinary human until his final confrontation with Guile which grants him lightning powers and the ability to fly, hinting at the Psycho Power. Though presumed dead at the end of the film, he makes his return in the animated spinoff.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
Bison appears in the movie as the main antagonist, focusing on Chun-Li. He is played by "Neal McDonough". This version of Bison dons a business suit rather than his traditional costume. Shadowlaw is apparently in existence so he can build condos on the waterfront of Bangkok.

Video
M. Bison vs Sagat in Street Fighter IV

M. Bison performing super move on Crimson Viper in Street Fighter IV