- "Hold back if you want. It's your funeral."
- —Haggar (Marvel vs Capcom 3)
Mike Haggar is a character in the Final Fight series, and is an ex-wrestler from the Saturday Night Slam Masters series. Though he never made an official debut as a playable character in the Street Fighter series, he still plays a role in the back-stories of Cody and Guy, as well as being a major enemy to the Mad Gear Gang in the Final Fight series. He has many cameo appearances in Street Fighter stages.
Story
Pre-Street Fighter
In addition to the two Final Fight sequels for the Super NES, Haggar also appeared in a trilogy of pro wrestling games by Capcom: Saturday Night Slam Masters in 1993, which was followed by an updated version titled Muscle Bomber Duo and a sequel titled Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters 2 in 1994. According to the original Japanese plot, the games are actually set before Final Fight and depicts Haggar's professional wrestling career prior to being elected mayor. However, the English localization of the series removes all references of the games being set in the past and even goes as far to describe Haggar as the "former mayor of Metro City".
Final Fight series
Haggar made his debut in the original Final Fight, originally released for the arcades in 1989. He is described as a former "Street Fighter" turned Mayor who has sworn to diminish the city's ever-increasing crime rate after winning the election. The plot of Final Fight centers around the Mad Gear Gang's attempt to manipulate the newly elected Haggar by kidnapping his young daughter, Jessica. Instead of submitting to the gang's demands, Haggar enlists the help of Jessica's boyfriend, Cody and his friend Guy, to combat the gang and defeat their leader Belger. Of the three playable characters in the game, Haggar is the slowest but most powerful. He uses wrestling techniques such as a piledriver and the spinning clothesline. In addition, he also specializes in the use of a steel pipe (a pick-up weapon in the game), swinging it faster than the other characters.
Haggar appeared in two additional Final Fight sequels for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, following two different Super NES ports of the first game. In 1993's Final Fight 2, Haggar sets out to defeat the newly revived Mad Gear Gang led by Retu in order to rescue Guy's girlfriend and master. In this game Haggar is joined by Maki, Guy's future sister-in-law and Bushin-style fighter, and Carlos, a South American swordsman friend of Haggar staying with him at the time. Haggar's appearance did not change much between the two games, other than a slight change in his outfit). However, he did gain Zangief's spinning piledriver, replacing his regular piledriver, as a special move.
In 1995's Final Fight 3, Haggar is rejoined by Guy and the two team up with Lucia Morgan, a female cop, and another ex-Street Fighter named Dean to battle the Skull Cross Gang, a new criminal organization that has taken over Mad Gear's position by becoming the new dominant gang of Metro City. Haggar's design is changed drastically from the previous Final Fight games, being given a pony tail and shorts. Haggar was also given a new super combo called the "Final Hammer", which is actually a series of various wrestling moves.
Haggar did not appear as a playable character again until 1999's Final Fight Revenge, an American-developed competitive fighting game set immediately after the events of the original Final Fight. Haggar's story in Final Fight Revenge revolves once again around the disappearance of his daughter, who has vanished following a series of riots in Metro City. Jessica's disappearance is not resolved in Haggar's ending, which is instead a recreation of Rolento's ending in Street Fighter Alpha 2, which depicts Rolento's attempt to take over the city.
Street Fighter Alpha series
Mike Haggar appears in the background of Guy's stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2, where he is seen putting J into a headlock. He is seen in the background of Guy's Street Fighter Alpha 3 stage as well.
Super Street Fighter IV
In Super Street Fighter IV, Haggar makes four cameo appearances. First, a statue of Haggar can be seen in the background of the Metro City stage. Second, the bonus car stage has a billboard of Haggar which can also be seen in the background. The third cameo is seen during Cody's prologue, which shows a picture of him, Guy, and Haggar on a poster (with the caption "THE HEROES SAVED OUR CITY", a reference to the aftermath of Final Fight). Finally, one of Zangief's alternate costumes is based on Haggar's outfit in a reference to their rivalry and similarities.
Other appearances
Haggar in Alex's Ending in Capcom Fighting Evolution
Capcom Fighting All-Stars
Mike Haggar was planned to be a playable character in Capcom Fighting All-Stars but the game was canceled. If this game came out, it would have been the first time Haggar was playable in a fighting game that also featured characters from the Street Fighter series; instead, he makes that appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Capcom Fighting Evolution
Haggar makes a non-playable appearance in Alex's CFE ending where he is seen wrestling him.
Final Fight: Streetwise
In Final Fight: Streetwise, Haggar is no longer a mayor and runs a gym, 'Mike's Mat and Muscle', and a dock 'Mike's Maritime Maintenance'. He has seemingly isolated himself from most of Metro City, and says many of its citizens have forgotten him. He aids Kyle by teaching him grappling moves.
Namco x Capcom
Haggar makes an appearance in Namco x Capcom as an ally character where he is voiced by Tesshō Genda.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Ultimate
Mike Haggar is one of the many playable characters in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and its update; his attacks consist of moves using a steel pipe (his main weapon from Final Fight), his normal wrestling moves from Final Fight, and some of Zangief's moves. In his ending, his political career skyrockets after he defeated Galactus, eventually making him the President of the United States of America with Tony Stark (Iron Man) as his Vice President, being supported by Captain America and Chris Redfield.
Street Fighter X Tekken
Haggar briefly appears in a cinematic trailer for Street Fighter X Tekken. He is seen being suplexed by King.
In the background of the Final Fight-themed stage, Haggar is seen chasing Sodom.[1]
Street Fighter cartoon
Haggar in the US cartoon series
He appears in the episode titled Final Fight where his daughter Jessica is kidnapped by the Mad Gear Gang. Haggar is threatened by Belger to not stop them. Haggar, being too lazy to obliterate the Mad Gear Gang himself by flexing his muscles, instead has Ryu and Ken go under cover and join Mad Gear to rescue Jessica. In the end Haggar kicks the door down to Belger's office while Cody and Guy defeat Belger.
Trivia
- Haggar seems to have been loosely modeled after real-life wrestler Randy Savage in the game; his ring name in Slam Masters is Mike "Macho" Haggar, and the games even feature a winning pose in which he lifts his daughter Jessica onto his shoulder, a possible nod to Randy Savage and his valet, Miss Elizabeth.
- Also, Haggar switches his career from wrestler to politician sometime between Slam Masters 2 and Final Fight. Coincidentally, Jesse Ventura would go on to be the Governor of Minnesota from 1999 through 2003, years after retiring from wrestling.
- Contrary to popular belief, Haggar was the basis for Zangief's moveset. In canon, Zangief having Haggar's moves was explained as Zangief seeing one of Haggar's fights and deciding to use the "Spinning Clothesline" in his array of techniques. Due to this, Haggar responded by using the "Spinning Piledriver" as if it were his own.
- To reelect their similarity, one of Zangief's alternate outfits in Street Fighter IV is Haggar's attire from the first Final Fight.
- While not directly related to either character, one of Hakan's alternate colors lends him somewhat of a resemblance to Haggar.
- Haggar is of Scottish ancestry and seems quite proud. He bears the Scottish flag in his gym in Final Fight: Streetwise.
- Mike Haggar is the only character from the Final Fight series to be playable in the Marvel vs. Capcom series (a case of irony, since he has yet to debut as a playable character in the Street Fighter series).
Gallery
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