The Head Press (ヘッドプレス Heddo Puresu?), also known as the Head Stomp, is one of M. Bison's special attacks, introduced along with him in the Street Fighter II series.
| Appearances | Head Press | Somersault Skull Diver |
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| All appearances |   +
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| Street Fighter 6 (Classic) |
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Description[]
Bison's stomp crushes Chun-Li's head in Street Fighter V.
- "A technique from Shadow Rise that stomps on an opponent below you, and performs another jump if the first hit touches the opponent. Its direction can be controlled after use. It won't consume any additional Drive when used from Overdrive Shadow Rise."
- —Street Fighter 6
Executed by charging downward then pressing upward and kick, Bison leaps into the air and lands perfectly on his opponent's head, in a standing position with his arms folded. He then back flips off again almost immediately, and can land a good distance away if desired, even if the attack is blocked.
- "A technique executed from the jump that occurs after Head Press. Will turn towards the enemy when used behind them. Its direction can be controlled back and forth after performing it."
- —Street Fighter 6
The Head Press can optionally be followed up with a Somersault Skull Diver (サマーソルトスカルダイバー Samaasoruto Sukaru Daibaa?) by pressing punch some time after jumping off the opponent's head, but before he lands; Bison will angle himself forward as he descends and, if timed and aimed correctly, strike the opponent with a Psycho Power-infused fist.
After stomping his opponent's head, Bison attacks with the Somersault Skull Diver in Street Fighter V.
The EX Special version introduced in the Street Fighter IV series deals more damage (200 instead of the standard 120), moves faster and knocks down the opponent; the follow-up punch not only is much more powerful but also has much better air maneuverability. Some of these properties are shared with the EX Devil Reverse.
In Street Fighter V, this attack is "combined" with the Devil Reverse: when Bison takes flight, pressing a punch button before Bison lands on his opponent's head will perform the Devil Reverse, while pressing a punch button after the stomp will perform the Somersault Skull Diver, as before. The EX version in this game will knock down before Bison performs a second Head Press to stomp his fallen opponent's body; if punch button is pressed before contact is made, Bison will perform a Devil Reverse, same as the standard version.
M. Bison driving his knee into the back of Cammy's neck during OD Head Press.
In Street Fighter 6, M. Bison can perform Head Press as a follow-up during Shadow Rise by pressing any kick button in midair. Pressing two kick buttons during Shadow Rise performs the OD Head Press. After M. Bison stomps on top of the opponent's head, he leaps in the air once more and performs a backflip with his arms crossed. While completing the rotation on the descent, M. Bison drives his shin into the back of the opponent's neck, collapsing them on their midsection. After the move, M. Bison places a foot on the opponent's head and shoves them aside to create space.
Tactics[]
Bison can move very flexibly after the Head Press makes contact with an earthbound opponent, but when the Head Press hits an airborne opponent, the control over mobility is not as flexible. As the attack can allow Bison to leap clear to the other side of the screen, it works well to get over projectiles.
The timing window and hitbox for this second attack can be quite strict depending on the game version, but it can take an opponent - expecting Bison to rebound far away after the Head Press - completely off guard.
The Head Press' greatest advantage is that it closely resembles the Devil Reverse while Bison is leaping towards the opponent, somewhat forcing them to guess which it is in order to counter properly. If they do nothing to counter and simply block it, Bison will land just out of range and can follow up with most of his other moves.
The Head Press' greatest disadvantage is that the opponent can simply move away to avoid it and counterattack as Bison lands helplessly. This prevents Bison from using the attack ad nauseam, though this can be mitigated with a healthy mix of Head Presses and Devil Reverses.
The Somersault Skull Diver is mainly used as a counter against opponents trying to jump after Bison following a blocked or connected Head Press. While it is highly unlikely that the Skull Diver will connect on a grounded opponent without being countered, a Skull Diver that hits 'deep' leaves the opponent in enough hitstun to be followed up by a ground combo.
In the Marvel vs. Capcom series, the move can be used in mid-air, and is best used during a Super Jump or an air combo.
Trivia[]
- In the Super Nintendo version of The World Warrior this attack had glitchy side effects if Bison performed this attack on another unplayable boss where he would fly off the screen and take a while to come back. This is probably due to these characters not being intended to battle each other.
- This attack had two different outcomes in The World Warrior that were not seen in future installments, the first one would see Bison do a back flip of sorts to go behind his opponent then immediately do his Standing Heavy Kick, the other one would see Bison simply jump away. Interestingly the CPU M. Bison was capable of the second outcome all the way into Super Turbo while the playable Bison since Champion Edition lost both the other two outcomes.
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