A popular and memorable Street Fighter character, Balrog has been referenced many times in pop culture ever since his introduction in Street Fighter II. This is a page listing his references in general pop culture.
Street Fighter
Capcom games
- In Final Fight: Streetwise, if the player goes in Mike Haggar's gym and looks closely at the posters on the wall, it says "Dudley vs. Balrog".
Other video games
- T.J. Combo from Killer Instinct has a similar moveset, physical appearance and fighting style to Balrog, but he throws knees and kicks while Balrog does not.
Comics and Manga
- The manga Osu!! Karate Bu features a protagonist with a similar hairstyle. Since the series started before Street Fighter II was released, it might be possible Balrog's hair was based on Takagi Yoshiyuki's.[citation needed]
Television and Animations
Movies
- Balrog resembles James "Clubber" Lang from the Rocky film series. Both sport blue and white trunks and unorthodox hairstyles for boxers. They also share a belligerent attitude and similar aggressive boxing style, though Balrog incorporates more cheating and Lang uses cleaner tactics.
Internet
- The fact that Balrog only uses punches is referenced in College Humor's parody work, Street Fighter: The Later Years. When Dhalsim asks; "Do you kick?", Balrog responds; "What's a kick?".
- Balrog is set to appear in Death Battle, fighting the aforementioned TJ Combo from Killer Instinct.