M. Bison


 * "Anyone who opposes me will be destroyed."
 * --M. Bison

M. Bison, known as Vega (ベガ, Bega) in Japan, is the main antagonist of the Street Fighter II and Street Fighter Alpha series. He was inspired by Washizaki (鷲崎, Eagle Cape), a villain from the manga and anime Riki-Oh; and Yasunori Kato (加藤保憲), the antagonist from the fantasy film, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis (aka Teito Monogatari, 帝都物語). In Street Fighter Alpha 3, he refers to himself by the full title of Master Bison (マスター・バイソン, Masutā Baison).

Street Fighter Alpha 2
Bison, leader of the criminal Shadaloo organization, hears of a fighter named Ryu who defeated his new henchman, Sagat. Bison decides to recruit Ryu and begins to search him out. In the meantime, he is confronted by Charlie Nash who questions him on his informants within the U.S. military. Instead, Bison has Nash's own backup helicopter shoot him, knocking him down a waterfall. Bison does not check for a body as he believes he has either killed him or broken his spirit. Bison is also confronted by Rose a woman who uses a similar power to him, and who tells him to change his ways. Though Rose comes out on top in the ensuing conflict, she is unable to do Bison any serious damage.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
By the time of Street Fighter Alpha 3, the Psycho Power begins 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 in the form of Cammy: a genetically engineered young woman using Bison's DNA as a template. He included her in the Dolls: his elite squad of brainwashed young women who serve as assassins. However, over the course of Alpha 3, Cammy's brainwashing begins to weaken and she goes rogue. He sends Vega (one of his enforcers) to retrieve her, and then Juli (one of the Dolls) when Vega fails. Bison then turns 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 sends Juni, another Doll, to gather data on Ryu. Later, Bison finds Ryu and eventually subjects him to his Psycho Power. When Sagat objects, Bison tells Sagat he can finally have his rematch. While Sagat battles Ryu, Ryu's friends Ken and Sakura arrive and fight Bison together. With Sagat's urging, Ryu comes to his senses and defeats Bison, destroying his body temporarily.

Following an encounter between Cammy and the Dolls, the regenerated Bison decides that the Dolls have no further purpose and chooses to kill them. However, he has not counted on their survival instincts kicking in. Despite their complete loyalty they resist with Cammy's help, and Bison taunts that if the psychic link between him and the Dolls is severed, they will die meaning that they cannot kill him without killing themselves. Despite this, they kill him and their minds quickly start to deteriorate.

Meanwhile, USAF officers Charlie and Guile are on a mission to stop the dictator. Guile and Charlie are joined by Chun-Li. After learning that the bombardment of Shadaloo was called off due to corruption in Interpol and Bison's manipulation, Chun-Li realized that they would have to destroy the base themselves.

Cammy, with not much time left, takes advantage of her genetic similarity to Bison in order to operate the Psycho Drive. Using it, she removes the psychic failsafe on the Dolls and saves them.

While Chun-Li and Guile escape the base (which they have rigged with explosives), Charlie keeps fighting the resurrected Bison to allow their escape, and apparently sacrifices his own life. M. Bison's soul, however, ends up surviving the explosion and despite the destruction of the Psycho Drive, takes control of Rose. It is revealed that, while trying to master Psycho Power, M. 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 stays inside of Rose's body until his Shadaloo scientists forge a new body for him.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo
M. Bison then holds the second Street Fighter tournament to get revenge against the people who opposed him during the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3—especially the ones that destroyed the Psycho Drive—and to lure out Ryu once more. His Psycho Power seems to have diminished since the destruction of the Psycho Drive, but he is still very powerful. Bison is destroyed by Akuma (who was not a competitor in the tournament), who appears again to use the Shun Goku Satsu on Bison, saying that Bison is a fool who has been conquered by his power rather than conquering it instead, not knowing that Bison is a master of his own power.

Super Street Fighter IV
At some point before this destruction by Akuma, Bison ordered the creation of at least 26 androids by S.I.N., the weapons division of Shadaloo. #15 was chosen to be the new head of S.I.N., demonstrating a higher level of intelligence than the others. #15 was referred to indirectly as "Bison's right hand". Bison also had a Korean official murdered along with his family. The official's daughter, Juri, survives, however, and #15 gives her cybernetic enhancements, deciding she can be used. After Bison's apparent demise at the hands of Akuma, #15 takes the name Seth and makes his own attempt at world domination, beginning with the announcement of a new tournament. But Juri has a plan of her own and, apparently aware that Bison has survived, tries to pit Bison and Seth against each other in revenge for her parents' murder.

Bison takes the bait and returns, his soul transplanted to yet another new body (again not as powerful as his Alpha days). Though his scientists try 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 chooses the weaker body instead of remaining dead any longer, stating that he never imagined that Seth would go so far and it will only be a matter of time before Bison would inhabit his body, anyway. Bison then takes part in Seth's new World Warrior tournament, completely incapacitating his opponents in the qualifying rounds.

Bison eventually reaches Seth's S.I.N. headquarters at the head of the remaining androids, attacking Seth for losing his mindless servitude to Bison, which makes him useless. Seth protests that he had almost rebuilt Bison's empire, which had fallen into decline since the second World Warrior tournament; however, Bison counters by saying that everything that has happened has, in fact, been part of Bison's plan. Standing over the helpless Seth, Bison is suddenly confronted by Juri, whose plan to have the two destroy each other has failed as Seth did not put up enough of a fight. She threatens Bison, who is unimpressed, and though the resultant fight (if any) is not shown, both seem to survive as both are seen later.

Later, another android which had been fighting Abel shows signs of also developing self-awareness like Seth, and Bison promptly destroys it, remarking that Abel has grown since an unspecified last meeting. His exact relationship with Abel is unknown; however, it is implied that Abel was somehow part of the experiments that created the androids.On his way out of the facility, Bison ambushes Rose, also at the S.I.N. headquarters. Remarking that she owes him something, Bison incapacitates her and threatens to take it back "with interest". As Bison reaches his jet, however, he is confronted by Guy, who threatens to destroy the jet if Bison does not hand her over. Apparently in a hurry, Bison acquiesces and relinquishes the unconscious Rose.

Ultimate Fate: Unknown
What happened to Bison after the events of Super Street Fighter IV is currently unknown. However, Bison was not heard from in Street Fighter III, and Chun-Li's mid-boss dialogue with Urien in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike suggests that Shadaloo was destroyed by Chun-Li. In Street Fighter IV, however, Shadaloo is also thought to be destroyed, though Bison is obviously taking steps to revive it. Additionally, Bison mentions several times in Alpha 3 that he has taken many names and forms over the centuries, though whether he's telling the truth is another matter. Because of this, it is impossible to know whether Bison has been truly killed by the time of 3rd Strike.

In Rose's ending in Super Street Fighter IV, she has a vision of Ryu and Bison fighting. Since this takes place after Street Fighter II, it is possible that this is Ryu and Bison's final battle which resulted in Bison's ultimate demise.

Street Fighter Alpha
He appears as a secret character in Street Fighter Alpha, chosen in the "Random Fighter" box by either via a special input or by timing the choice correctly on him.

In his storyline, Bison defeatsShadaloo's opposition and confronts Rose, who claims that he has abused his powers and that he must be stopped. Bison insists that Rose stops making speeches and fight him. In his ending, Bison emerges victorious, commenting that Rose not only wasted his time, but her own life as well. He also thinks about the fight with Rose in his mind.

This game's storyline is not considered canonical due to the fact that Street Fighter Alpha was retconned by Street Fighter Alpha 2.

Capcom Fighting Jam
On the Capcom Fighting Jam game, Bison's ending shows him fighting and defeating Gill, with Balrog, Vega, Sagat and the twelve Dolls watching the fight. However, as Bison and his followers leave on Shadaloo's plane, Gill performs a Resurrection, looking completely unscathed from the recent fight.

X-Men vs. Street Fighter
In this game, Bison teams up with Magneto looking for world domination, opposing Apocalypse.

Bison's ending shows him defeating Magneto, intending to betray the mutant from the very start.

Magneto's ending shows that Bison has lost the fight. Watching this, the other three Grand Masters (Balrog, Vega and Sagat) side with Magneto, creating the new Four Grand Masters of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Magneto uses the rest of Bison's technology to use it for mutant supremacy instead.

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Bison's ending shows him impressed with Apocalypse's technology on Cyber-Akuma. He plans on using it to create evil versions of current street fighters, such as Charlie (Shadow) as part of his quest for world conquest.

Appearance
His general attire consists of a red military uniform with large silver shoulder plates, wrist bands, and shin guards; on his peaked/service cap is the skull insignia of his crime syndicate known as Shadaloo (sometimes referred to as Shadowlaw or Shadowloo). His clothing highly resembles the uniforms worn by SS officers of Nazi Germany, the winged skull on his visor cap and the first letter of Shadaloo on his belt is shaped as a single sig rune. The fact that Bison has anything to do with Nazi Germany story-wise has yet to be confirmed since there's no official reference to this for except his clothing. Bison's eyes lack both pupils and irises (exception in "Street Fighter Alpha," when he had his original body), 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.

Personality
M. Bison is an archetypical villain character motivated by his own self-seeking interests and lust of power. He is a ruthless, callous and an unforgiving dictator with no hesitations for destroying anyone or anything who opposes him. While demanding absolute loyalty and obedience from his subordinates, Bison considers them as mere pawns rather than human beings and tolerates his henchmen only as long as they serve his dark ambitions: he decided to exterminate Cammy and the Dolls for becoming useless to his further plans in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and tried to eliminate Seth for usurping him in Street Fighter IV. He is not above trying to use coercion by force (during Fei-Long's storyline in SFA3) and brainwashing to convert skilled martial artists to his cause. Bison shows no compassion or mercy at all towards his hapless victims, considering them insignificant and pitiful wretches not worth living. As the founder and leader of Shadaloo, he is prepared to gain power and wealth using all possible criminal activities, ranging from drug trafficking and arms dealing to terrorism and illegal human experimentation. In addition, M. Bison is also supremely arrogant and narcissistic with a vast ego that rivals or may even surpass that of Vega's and a penchant for fancying himself a god. He has nothing but contempt for his opponents and considering himself the truly superior fighter for mastering the Psycho Power. However, Akuma notes during his pre-final boss dialogue in SFA3 that Bison is foolish for not relying solely upon his fists. As stated in his own pre-boss fight dialogue with Ryu in SFA3, Bison's ultimate goal is to rule the world forever and be recognized as the most powerful martial artist of all time. Intending to accomplish that objective, Bison has cheated death and returned to wreck havoc not once, but twice.

Unlike other seemingly villainous boss fighters of the series, like Gill (who desires to rule mankind as a benevolent sovereign) or Akuma (who wants to test his strength against worthy opponents), Bison is quite interested in tormenting, exploiting and ultimately oppressing other people to achieve absolute power for his own personal urges. Unsurprisingly, he has earned the eternal great hatred from many other Street Fighter people (Chun-Li, Guile, Guy, Cammy, Rose, T. Hawk, etc.) for his malevolent and sinister nature. Having banished all goodness in his heart to control Psycho Power, he possesses a dark and irredeemable spirit. He does display a twisted sense of humor which, not to mentioning his characteristic "business before pleasure" attitude, makes him quite a unique and effective villain in the series. Bison also has little regard for the suffering and damages he caused, as mentioned in several of his win quotes and also brands others to be weak or that they don't stand a chance against him.

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 possess 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 Combo (on A-ISM or Z-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 include the Final Psycho Crusher (ファイナルサイコクラッシャー, Fainaru Saiko Kurasshā) (in Street Fighter Alpha 3 it is Final Bison's most powerful attack, taking up the whole screen when used) and the Knee Press Nightmare, which is a super version of the Double Knee Press. In Street Fighter IV, 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).

Final M. Bison
Final M. Bison, or Final Vega (ファイナルベガ, Fainaru Bega) in Japan, also known as Shin M. Bison is an alternate version of M. Bison with far more powerful abilities, much fewer weaknesses, and often a different costume or the same costume. Much like Shin Akuma, this superior version of M. Bison is meant to portray him when he decides to unleash the true, vast depths of his power. The only canon appearance of Final Bison takes place in Street Fighter Alpha 3 (serving as the final boss for every character except Evil Ryu, who fights Shin Akuma, and of course Bison himself), but he has also appeared in both Street Fighter EX2 Plus (referred to as Bison II or Vega II (ベガII, Bega Tsū)), and Street Fighter EX3 as a secret (referred to as True Bison or True Vega (トゥルーベガ, Turū Bega)), computer-only boss character.

When fighting in this much 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 whole 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 inflicts severe damage even when blocked. He also have a different Theme Song, called "Brave or Grave". Final M. 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. Final M. Bison is selectable only in the home versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3.

In Street Fighter EX 2 Plus and Street Fighter EX 3, Final 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 Final M. 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. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, you only get one chance to beat him: should you lose, Bison's ending will play, and the game will end.

Street Fighter: The Movie
M. Bison appears in the 1994 live-action movie portrayed by Raúl Juliá as the main antagonist, who died shortly after the movie's release. Bison is portrayed 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, which were provided through his tech suit and life support system. Bison is defeated by Guile in the final battle of the film and apparently perishes in the destruction of his own base. In an after-credits scene, his hand smashes through the rubble of his base, hinting at his survival and return.

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
M. Bison is the main antagonist of the 1994 anime film, voiced by Tom Wyner. As in the games, he is the leader of Shadaloo (here named "Shadowlaw") and seeks to take control of the world. His primary objective is to locate Ryu, who exhibited spectacular fighting potential during his battle with Sagat, and induct him into the organization as his right-hand man. During his search, he comes across Ken, who displays similar fighting potential and is a childhood friend of Ryu. Bison kidnaps and brainwashes Ken, setting him on Ryu while he personally duels Guile, whom he defeats with ease. When Ken breaks free of Bison's influence, Bison severely injures Ken and leaves him for dead while taking on Ryu. Bison toys around with Ryu for a while until Ken recovers and rejoins the battle. While Bison appears to be the superior fighter, he is eventually pummelled into submission when Ryu and Ken join forces to battle him. The fight concludes with Ryu and Ken launching a combined Hadouken which hits Bison directly and apparently obliterates him, but Bison reappears alive and well at the film's finale in a truck, driving towards Ryu from behind. Ryu notices Bison just in time and prepares to do battle with him once again.

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, and is from Ireland. Bison was abandoned by his Irish missionary parents in Thailand. "Shadoloo" as it is referred to, is a multi-leveled criminal syndicate comprised of 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 bowels 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. It is unknown whether or not Bison's powers will resurrect him, but in the possibility of the film leaving room for a sequel, there is a chance if the writers keep the film loyal to the series. In a deleted scene, where Nash is comforting Rose, her eyes glow a deep red - keeping true to Bison's spirit taking possession of Rose's body in order to return to the living world.

Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game
In role-playing game from White Wolf, Bison gained psychic powers from an alien meteor. Based on these powers, he created his own fighting style, which he calls Ler Drit.

In Popular Culture
Bison's over-the-top characterization in the live-action movie and the subsequent cartoon has proven popular, with most of the movie's scenes (especially those featuring Bison) being lampooned frequently on sites like Youtube, and his "But for me it was Tuesday" speech inspiring a trope on TV Tropes due to the high camp factor.

Bison is also the subject of a popular internet meme. In the US Street Fighter cartoon, Bison watches as the Street Fighters are beaten up in the ring, which prompts him to laugh and say "This is DELICIOUS!" This memorable line is often used when showing great approval over something. After watching Guile get beaten some more, overly dramatic music starts playing as Bison yells "YES! YES!" This even more popular line is referenced whenever showing great approval or celebrating something.

Internet reviewer Douglas Darien Walker (The Nostalgia Critic) took Bison's desire of World Domination into a running gag on his own, whenever a character in the movie he reviews is revealed to have the ambition to take over the world, he would cut to a clip from a scene in the Street Fighter movie wherein Bison yells out "OF COURSE!".

For its two year anniversary, entertainment website That Guy With the Glasses (where the aforementioned Douglas Walker's reviews can be found) produced a web-movie called Kickassia, wherein the site's talent take over a micro nation. During the takeover, Walker was dressed as M. Bison, complete with an altered Shadaloo logo on his hat, displaying the website's logo with wings instead of a skull. The above mentioned running gag returned in Kickassia, when another member of the site interviews him with various questions about his desire to take over the micro-nation of Molossia (located on the Nevada-California border near Reno) with the intention of getting Walker to say the line, only to be responded with comedic variations like "NATURALLY!" and "EVENTUALLY!" It wasn't until he was asked one final unrelated question that he says it.

In the popular free-to-play FPS "Team Fortress 2", there is a community-made hat named the "Team Captain", which is M. Bison's hat. The description for the item is "Our lawyers say YES! YES!", referencing the previously mentioned Internet meme.

Today, Bison is one of the more recognizable video game villains in the industry.

Trivia

 * Despite M. Bison referring to himself as Master Bison in Street Fighter Alpha 3, he is named Lord Bison in his introduction sequence to Arcade mode in Street Fighter IV. In his Intro before the Fight, he refers to himself now as the Mighty Bison.
 * Bison is one of the 19 characters in Street Fighter 4 to not have second rivals in Super Street Fighter 4, despite having an ultra combo video that includes his would-be second rival (Cammy).
 * Brocken from the World Heroes series is very similar to Bison in terms of appearance and moves. This may have been an attempt by rival company ADK to imitate Street Fighter. This is similar to Hanzo being similar to Ryu. These most notable main characters seem to be the only ones potentially imitated. Brocken also bears a resemblance to Brocken Jr. which ran from 1979-87, predating Bison's debut.
 * Bison reveals a curious personality trait in Namco × Capcom: he is hinted to be a lustful man with an interest for women, as all the opponents he choose to copy using Doppel's powers were attractive girls like Chun-Li, Morrigan and Valkyrie (a fact that is also emphasized by the playable party).
 * In "Street Fighter II The Animated Movie", while Bison was prepared for the Dramatic Challenging between Ryu and Ken, Bison loses his cloak by not uses his "Psycho Powers" and uses his normal abilities for an unarmed combat.
 * In Street Fighter Zero 2 HK Comic, While M.Bison faces Akuma, Bison performs an attack named 15 Shadows. In which 15 Shadow appear based off of characters from Street Fighter Alpha 2 (except Sagat, Akuma, and Bison) grab and hold his enemy. Intrestingly they do not attack.
 * Bison is generally established among fans as the official villain of the Street Fighter series.
 * It is possible that Bison may have been born in Thailand, Cambodia or Ireland, although these countries were mentioned in non-canon origins.

Stage Theme
Street Fighter II series    

Street Fighter Alpha series
  

Street Fighter EX series
   

Capcom vs. series
  

Other games