Birdie

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

- Birdie

"Oi! It ain't too late to run off to Mum now... (逃げるなら今のうちだぜ？)"

- Birdie (Street Fighter V)

Birdie (バーディー) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing as a non-playable opponent in the original Street Fighter, before becoming playable in Street Fighter Alpha. He is a hulking black British punk rocker who fights using chains.

Appearance
Birdie's appearance has changed with each of the Street Fighter games that he is featured in, though he is generally depicted as a very tall (about the height of Sagat), late 1970s British punk rocker. In the original, he is shown as a tall, muscular white/light-skinned man with a normal blonde mohawk (depicted as orange-red during combat); his outfit is that of a typical punk rocker, with blue jeans and a dark leather vest, studded bracelets, and combat boots. Interestingly enough, Birdie's early Street Fighter V design was nearly identical to his original appearance.

In the Alpha series, Birdie is a hulking, dark-skinned black Briton with dyed blonde hair and a wide, pointy brown mustache that extends to the sides of his head to become sideburns. His lips are now larger, and 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. Birdie's excuse for his drastic change in appearance is that he was pale due to being sick.

His outfit is also changed: his leather vest is now blue and sports a wide, pointed collar; he also wears a necklace with rectangular, yellow beads and a round, red one in the middle, along with several other accessories. These include round, red earrings; fingerless blue gloves; thick, metal bracelets; and brown, oddly pointed shoes, which are more common to punks in Japan than in England.

In Street Fighter V, Birdie has gained a beer belly, and appears much more overweight, in addition to looking grimy and disheveled. His punk attire is updated, with torn jeans, a chav-punk jacket with a large up-turned collar and more detailed combat boots that have replaced his brown pointy shoes. He also gains a tattoo on his stomach, reading "Life Like Dice". His mohawk is also animated more realistically due to the shift from sprites to 3D models; the unusual hole is also absent. His alternate costume is a yellow and black biker jumpsuit similar to Rufus' but in a Shadaloo motif.

His second costume appears similar to a hip-hopper and his mohawk is loose downward and dyed in black. He wears a yellow flak vest, white shorts with red outlines and matching white and red sneakers. The tattoo on his stomach is not seen.

Personality
Birdie's character is very fitting of the "dim-witted brute" archetype. He is violent, short-tempered and generally unkind to others around him, and has an unsettling habit of licking his chain attached to his wrist before and/or after combat. However, he is shown more positively in the expanded media of Street Fighter; for example, in the Alpha manga, he is shown to be friends with Ryu, and allies himself with Chun-Li.

In Street Fighter V, Birdie is presented as more of a comical glutton who enjoys eating, even during fights. Although still just as rude and brash, Birdie seems to be markedly less aggressive towards others, likely due to the fact that he is no longer a part of Shadaloo. He is also very conscious of his mohawk and hates wearing any hats, as he believes it would mess up his hairdo.

Story
Prior to his criminal career, Birdie was a professional wrestler, teaming with occasional rival Titanic Tim (from the 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.

Main Article: Street Fighter
His notoriety got him invited to the first World Warrior tournament. He was apparently sick during the tournament (causing him to look paler). He also lost his fight with Ryu.

Main Article: 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.

Prologue - 'On The Run: Extreme Hunger!'
In his character story, Birdie is shown walking out, fed up from Shadaloo and ignoring F.A.N.G (who is the reason for him leaving); after losing them, and fending off Chun-Li (who was trying to arrest him for questioning), he ends up at the Kanzuki Estate. He fights Karin, and leaves her impressed with his skills; when she asks why he left Shadaloo, Birdie (while having a sumptuous meal) casually answers that he "didn't like how they handled business" (the last straw being that of their newest dress code, and ultimately irritated by being told mandatory orders to wear a hat, hiding his hairdo).

Karin decides to offer Birdie to stay at the Estate as her guest, wishing to test her leadership abilities (reasoning that, if he were to betray her, it would mean she is unworthy still); he eagerly accepts when he is reassured that it means free and unlimited food, whenever he wants. As first order of business, Karin smugly presents him with the challenge of facing one hundred of her bodyguards, much to his shock.

A Shadow Falls
Birdie plays a small role in the general story. He is first seen gorging down chicken legs when the first Black Moon detonates over New York, powering off electricity there and signals. Later, Birdie holds Marz captive while all the other fighters are getting the keys for the Black Moons at the Kanzuki Estate after being captured during an attack by Karin. Marz escapes after Birdie is beaten down by Aprile and Noembelu. Birdie participates in the second attack on the Shadaloo base, fighting Fevrier, complaining that she is using guns, while she points out he uses his chains as a weapon. He is with the rest of the other fighters as the base explodes, meeting with Ryu and Chun-Li, who got out after defeating M. Bison.

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.

Moveset
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 arsenal of moves also include 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.

As seen in Street Fighter V, his V-Trigger, Break Time, is visually similar to Makoto's Tanden Renki, but instead revolves around him consuming food, where he eats a chili pepper that turns him red, giving many of his special moves a boost in hits and power. For his V-Skill, he is able to pull one of three food items out his pocket, with varying effects if his V-Gauge is empty or not full; pulling out a donut has him recover his V-Gauge at its most, pulling out a banana leaves the peel out for the opponent to slip on, and an energy drink allows him to create a makeshift projectile with the can that rolls on the floor; the banana peel and energy drink will do minimum damage. In exchange for this however, they will only fumble the opponent and not permanently down them if the opponent gets hit by them, leaving the foe completely open for other attacks.

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.

In his Super Street Fighter II Turbo ending picture, Ryu can be seen fighting a street thug that appears to be Birdie, though whether or not it is actually him is unconfirmed.

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. The two fight, with Abel emerging the victor.

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, whose attempts to stop it are thwarted 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.

Quotes
Birdie/Quotes

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 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, as well as a painting of the name of former Capcom USA VP of Sales and Marketing, Bill Cravens.


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


 * In Hakan's opening in SSFIV, he is shown beating and interrogating 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.


 * Birdie is the third heaviest Street Fighter character at 507 pounds, following Abigail (584 pounds) and Gill (745 pounds), and followed by Hugo (440 pounds) and Rufus (408 pounds).


 * Birdie's tattoo on his stomach has a similar design to former WWE professional wrestler and current UFC fighter CM Punk.


 * Birdie is the first fighter whose neutral pose can damage the opponent. In Street Fighter V, he picks his nose and flicks the booger at the opponent which acts like a projectile attack.


 * Rose and Birdie's stage in Street Fighter Alpha:Warriors' Dreams is based on Bruce Lee's Way of the Dragon film, where Bruce Lee as "Tang Lung" fights Chuck Norris as "Colt" in the Colosseum in Rome. The background is identical to the movie, and even includes the stray cats who are passing by the stage.


 * Birdie has gained a significant amount of weight after retiring from professional wrestling since the first Street Fighter game. This is reminiscent to the many professional wrestlers who have let themselves go after their retirement.


 * Birdie looks very similar to Zeed, the first opponent faced by Kenshiro in the manga series Hokuto no Ken. His appearance may be based on him.


 * Birdie's story in Street Fighter V resembles much the one of Cracker Jack (from the Street Fighter EX games), who was an ex enforcer for Shadaloo, fleeing the organisation to a billionaires daughter, Blair Dame, and becoming her bodyguard in return for protection.


 * Birdie's battle costume in Street Fighter V resembles the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, as it has Freddie's jacket, mustache, and pants. Additionally, a crown is placed upon Birdie's head.

Gallery
Birdie/Gallery

Sprites
Birdie/Sprites