Zangief

"I am...the Red Cyclone! (アイアム！ レッドサイクロン！)"

- Zangief (Street Fighter IV series)

Zangief (ザンギエフ) also known as the "Red Cyclone" (赤きサイクロン), is a video game character created by Capcom. He is part of the Street Fighter series of fighting games, first starring in Street Fighter II. He is a national Russian hero who is always seen fighting for the glory of his country.

In many games, Zangief is voiced by Wataru Takagi. In the Capcom vs. SNK series, Tesshō Genda voices Zangief. In Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, he is voiced by Tetsuo Kanao (Japanese) and William Johnson (English). In the English version of Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, he is voiced by Joe Romersa.

Appearance
Zangief is a massive fighter, weighing ~400 lbs. and standing slightly over 7 feet tall, placing him among the tallest characters in the entire Street Fighter roster. Since his debut in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior in 1991, Zangief has been portrayed with a beard and a mohawk, along with a uniquely-shaped formation of chest hair on his torso and on his shins. His massive frame is almost entirely covered in scars from his bouts with brown bears in the barren and remote area of Siberia.

As a note of interest, Zangief has some of the least amount of clothing of any Street Fighter character, with his wardrobe consisting of simple red wrestling trunks with a gold belt, along with red and gold wristbands and his red wrestling boots. Zangief actually wore a vest in all his Street Fighter II portraits, except in Turbo Revival and Turbo HD Remix. Starting with Street Fighter Alpha 2, Zangief was adorned with a red cloak that he would remove before starting his matches. The cloak became an accepted fixture of his image, and he was shown with it in the 1994 Street Fighter II animated movie. Although modern 3D interpretations of Zangief have so far not shown him with his cloak, he is still depicted as wearing it before matches in his ending movie on Super Street Fighter IV.

Personality
Born and raised in the Soviet Union, Zangief is an incredibly patriotic character who has been motivated in some way to fight for his Motherland in every single game he has ever been in. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior depicted that Zangief was from the U.S.S.R. when the game was released in 1991. The Soviet Union ceased to exist by the end of 1991, but due to the heavy use of Soviet iconography in and around Zangief's character, including his homestage (an iron plant complete with a giant hammer and sickle logo imprinted on the floor), Zangief was depicted as being from the U.S.S.R. as late as 1998, when Street Fighter Alpha 3 was released (though justifiably, the Alpha series takes place between the first and second games, meaning the U.S.S.R. still existed as of then). Street Fighter IV was the first time Zangief was depicted as being from the Russian Federation in 2008.

Zangief's personality has varied from one media source to another, but he's mostly been portrayed as a very fearless and tactiful fighter who's prone to quick temperaments, and is always very competitive. Zangief is a man who is immensely proud of his physique, and constantly belittles his opponent's smaller muscular build and blaming their losses on their smaller physique. Despite his short temper, Zangief has shown himself to be rather gentle-natured with a good sense of humor at times, once entering a tournament partly to win the admiration of a group of school children. According to the instruction manual of Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition for the Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive, Zangief is described as being "good natured, with a great sense of humor, and totally fearless."

Zangief can be easily misled by his overwhelming sense of patriotism for his home country. In Street Fighter Alpha 2, it was revealed that Gorbachev's intentions for Zangief is only for political gain, although Zangief fails to realize this and continues to fight for the glory and honor of Russia, no matter what the reason may be.

While not fighting, Zangief enjoys hopak (cossack dancing), vodka, and borscht. Some of the things which he doesn't like includes young women (because he views them as a distraction), bears that don't know how to wrestle properly, and (according to the manual for Super Street Fighter II Turbo for the 3DO) projectiles such as Tiger Shots, Hadoukens, and Yoga Fires.

Character development
Zangief's name is possibly derived from real-life pro wrestler Victor Zangiev, a former Soviet amateur who trained as a professional in NJPW, and who also competed in WCW and UWF International. Zangief's prototypical name was Vodka Gobalsky. Zangief's biography apparently plays upon the association between Stalinist regimes and state-funded athletics programs utilizing bodybuilding drugs following the domination of the 1954 World Weightlifting Championships by the Soviet Union. His appearance was possibly influenced by several professional wrestlers who performed with the New Japan Pro Wrestling Circuit during the time period of Street Fighter II's development in the late 1980s and early 1990's. Specifically, his physique is similar to that of Soviet wrestler Salman Hashimikov, while his facial appearance, including his beard, seems to be a slight nod to American wrestler Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, who was a staple in Japanese Pro Wrestling throughout the 80's and 90's.

Zangief is similar to the original 1987 version of Birdie, as both characters are depicted as very large men with mohawk haircuts. Zangief is also similar in terms of build and fighting style to Mike Haggar from Capcom's Final Fight series, whose spinning clothesline move he emulates, not to mention that Zangief's alternate costume in Street Fighter IV is a nod to Haggar's costume. There is a theory supported by Saturday Night Slam Masters on the Super Nintendo that Mike Haggar and Zangief know each other as former wrestling partners before Mike became the mayor of Metro City.

Story
In the Alpha series, Zangief is a national Russian hero nicknamed the "Red Cyclone" who becomes acquainted with the General Secretary of the CPSU, and Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev (who is never identified explicitly by name, but bears more than a passing resemblance to the real life former Soviet President) at the end of Alpha 2, The President promised the country's full support in exchange for traveling around the world and showing off the might of the Soviet Union (and to improve his image abroad, an objective which Zangief wasn't made aware of). After meeting the President, Zangief is sent to train in remote Siberia (albeit with a limited budget).

Street Fighter Alpha 3
Under orders from Gorbachev, Zangief is sent to combat the forces of Shadaloo, which is beginning to spread its corruption into Russia. Zangief encounters many fighters along the way, befriending some such as E. Honda and R. Mika. It is believed that he lost to Blanka before he could accomplish his final objective of destroying the Psycho Drive; however in his ending, he and Honda team up to destroy it (the canonicity of this ending is dubious). In R. Mika´s ending, she followed Zangief as he destroyed the Psycho Drive, and Zangief protected her from the falling apart base. It appears his story is a mix of the two. Nevertheless, the Psycho Drive gets destroyed by someone, at least, and Zangief returns to Russia satisfied.

Street Fighter II
He then participates in the second World Warrior Tournament, hosted by Shadaloo, at the behest of Gorbachev. He loses to either Ken or Ryu (commenting in Street Fighter IV that fireballs are a "pain in the neck" and that "Dragon Punches suck too", suggesting that he has lost to someone who uses them - whether it was Ken or Ryu is unclear, as he tells Ryu "glad you haven't lost it" in his SFIV win quote, but if he loses to Ken in SFIV, Ken tells him "Looks like you're still no match for my Dragon Punch, eh?"). In any case, after the tournament, Zangief - dissatisfied with the outcome - returns to training in the Russian wilderness, wrestling bears. Eventually, he is approached by the largest wrestling organization in the world with an eye to signing the "Red Cyclone" to their promotion. Zangief at first refuses, saying that he is less interested in money than he is in bringing honor to Russia by demonstrating Russian strength. He is promised a stage to better showcase his skills, with his matches watched by millions. Due to the obvious help this will bring to his will to show Russian strength, Zangief gladly accepts.

Street Fighter IV series
Zangief enters the World Tournament held by S.I.N. to prove to his young fans (some of whom are beginning to claim that martial artists are better) that he's still got it. After the tournament, Zangief frantically realizes that he hasn't gotten a souvenir, and says "I didn't even understand what the last guy was saying before I beat him". He then has an idea and takes a photograph holding the beaten Seth (main boss and host of the tournament) in a headlock, which is then viewed by the admiring young fans who recognize Seth as the "bad guy from the TV".

Marvel vs. Capcom series
Zangief has appeared playable in some games of the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

Capcom vs. SNK series
Zangief has also appeared playable in the Capcom vs. SNK games.

Street Fighter EX series
He is also a playable character in the Street Fighter EX games.

Capcom Fighting Evolution
He also appeared in Capcom Fighting Evolution as one of the playable characters.

Street Fighter X Tekken
Zangief appears in Street Fighter X Tekken with Rufus as his tag partner.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation
Zangief also appears in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation; in this portrayal, he never utters a word and growls like a beast instead, showing little to no humanity.

Street Fighter live-action movie
Zangief was played by Andrew Bryniarski in the Street Fighter movie. Here, he was a lackey of Bison's and served as comic relief in the movie, uttering silly lines at inappropriate times (for example, after seeing televised feed of a truck loaded with explosives about to crash into the villains' camp, he yells out "Quick! Change the channel!"). He also had a long fight with E. Honda and one "hero moment" near the end of the movie. Zangief was also a loyalist to Bison until Dee Jay explained Bison was the "bad guy." Zangief then learned that Bison promised Dee Jay that he would be paid, while he himself was not.

Other
Zangief makes a cameo appearance in the 2012 Disney film, Wreck-It Ralph as part of a villains support group, even though he is not a villain within the main Street Fighter storyline. According to the screenwriter, Phil Johnston, Zangief was a source of frustration for him when playing Street Fighter in his childhood. Of note is that Zangief has played the role of villain in a few spin-off appearances, including the movies mentioned above.

UDON comics
Zangief has made several appearances in UDON's Street Fighter comics.

Gameplay/Fighting style
Zangief's signature fighting style is close-range wrestling, with devastating throws and powerful base moves. This makes him tough up close, though often has trouble with foes with projectiles. Many of his moves are more complicated to pull off, due to the 360 motions input required to perform the moves, making him a character for advanced players. This, along with the fact that several of his moves incorporate spins, is likely the basis for his wrestling moniker "Red Cyclone".

Zangief is one of the slowest of all characters in the Street Fighter games, and presents a large target, yet is widely considered high-tier. He has several means to bypass projectile attacks, such as Double Lariat and Banishing Flat, the ability to walk unphased into a hit during his Flying Power Bomb, and the ability of his Spinning Piledriver to grab opponents out of most ground-based moves.

His Spinning Piledriver was the single most damaging special move in the original Street Fighter II series until the introduction of T. Hawk, and is capable of "sucking in" opponents from a surprising distance. Zangief's Flying Stomach block attack is the only standard move capable of dizzying a character in one hit in the Street Fighter II series. In most incarnations, Zangief is extremely dangerous against floored opponents, as he is able to force them to block regular attacks so that he can pin them in place to deliver a powerful throw or hold. From Super Street Fighter II Turbo onwards, Zangief became capable of performing a dynamic rushdown with the addition of his Banishing Flat.

In Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, a "Mecha Zangief" is introduced. This is an even slower version of Zangief who can't block; however, he takes reduced damage from everything, excluding beam-style attacks. He also can't be stopped, taking only a slight slowdown when hit by almost anything, and picks up a Yoga Blast-like attack, the Siberian Breath.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes brought Zangief back in. This time, he could transform into Mecha Zangief, much to the dismay of people who chronically picked speedy characters (such as Wolverine and Spiderman) as a team. He keeps this ability in the second sequel.

In the first two crossover games, he had a unique team super move: the Double Final Atomic Buster. He would rumble towards his enemy similarly to his Flying Powerbomb. Should he reach, his partner shows up from the other side, and both leap up past the top of the arena. The two come crashing down with the unfortunate payload in a single non-spinning piledriver. The move does not reappear in Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

Quotes
See: Zangief/Quotes

Popular Culture
Zangief/Pop Culture

Trivia

 * Mike Haggar (who has a similar fighting style to Zangief as explained above) also wrestles deadly animals, in his case, bull sharks.


 * Zangief's new Ultra Combo, Siberian Blizzard, ends with a move that is incredibly similar to the Kinniku Driver from the popular Japanese manga/anime series Kinnikuman.


 * According to his win quote against Dee Jay in SSFIV, Zangief listens to Tchaikovsky.


 * His name was mentioned in the wrestling game Saturday Night Slam Master by Biff Slamkovich's losing quote "Comrade Zangief was right! You all play cheap!", implying that he is friends with Zangief.


 * Several images of Zangief exist that depict him with blood spewing out of a vein in his head, such as his portrait from Street Fighter Alpha 3. This is shown in the Japanese arcade releases, but censored in the American versions.


 * To date, Pocket Fighter is the only game in which Zangief uses a Cossack dance-based Super Combo.


 * In Makoto's 3rd Strike ending, Zangief can be seen among the fighters defeated by Makoto.


 * In Street Fighter IV, Zangief was a powerhouse with the largest stamina and stun rating in the game. Many considered him too powerful and he was toned down for Super Street Fighter IV. However, even with the changes, Zangief still has the highest damage output in the game, including his first Ultra Combo being the most damaging move in the game.


 * Although Zangief was originally conceived as a rival for Guile, given that they are from the USSR and the USA, respectively, recent adaptations have depicted Zangief as somewhat of a rival towards Ryu, demonstrated in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation (in which Ryu defends Shun from Zangief by fighting him brutally), Street Fighter II V (where Zangief, working for Shadaloo, is ordered to capture Ryu, leading to a skirmish between the two), and the 1994 live-action film (where Zangief, again working for Bison, presents Ryu with his familiar white gi and later aids him and Ken in helping Bison's hostages escape the collapsing base). His win quote towards Ryu in Street Fighter IV implies that the two fought in Street Fighter II and Ryu won. His win quote toward Guile likewise refers to his appreciation for their shared patriotism and hairstyles.


 * Zangief has Vega's picture on his mirror in his SSF2T ending. It is common for fighters (especially boxers) to have a picture of their rival placed in the frame of their mirror (on the picture it is written something like "idiot" in Japanese, maybe because they have different views on beauty).


 * Since grizzly bears are not indigenous to Siberia and Russia, Zangief possibly wrestles Ussuri brown bears, which are similar to grizzlies, but are twice as large.


 * Being 7'.025" (214cm) tall, Zangief is the fourth-tallest character in the whole Street Fighter franchise, behind (in this precise order) Sagat, T. Hawk and Hugo.


 * In his winquote against Kuma in Street Fighter X Tekken, Zangief criticizes Kuma, telling him that "Bears in Siberia are much fiercer! You are like kitten!".

Misc.