Balrog

For the claw-wielding assassin named Balrog in Japan, see Vega.

Balrog, known as Mike Bison (マイク・バイソン, Maiku Baison^?) in Japan, is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing as a non-playable boss in Street Fighter II before becoming playable in its update, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. He is a greedy American boxer who loves booze, gambling and women. He is also a personal bodyguard to M. Bison.

Biography

Concept

Balrog is loosely based on the real-life semi-retired boxer Mike Tyson.

Another inspiration may include Leon Spinks, the undisputed world heavyweight champion of 1978 who won the title against Muhammad Ali, and whose 1980s undisputed heavyweight champion young brother Michael Spinks faced off against Mike Tyson in 1988 in his only loss and last match of his career. Notably, Leon Spinks would also turn to competing in boxer versus wrestler matches in New Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1980s, including a famous loss by submission to Antonio Inoki, and into the 1990s, would compete in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, which he would win the title of world champion by 1992.

Appearance

Balrog is a tall, heavily built and very muscular African-American boxer. He wears blue boxing trunks with white trim and a torn white shirt under a blue tank top, as well as red boxing gloves and boxing shoes. His short hairstyle is similar to Mike Tyson's haircut from the era of Street Fighter II 's release. Official artwork at the time also depicted him sans a canine tooth in the upper right side of his mouth. This outfit became his "Nostalgia" costume in Street Fighter V.

In Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie he is seen without boxing gloves and he wears dark green commando pants and boots instead of his boxing trunks and shoes (along with Sagat, after his prologue fight with Ryu).^[11] Only when Chun-Li was showing a computer file of Balrog at the start of the movie, he is seen with his boxing gloves.

In Street Fighter V, Balrog wears a blue openly hooded robe with yellow outlines and ripped sleeves; on the back it has the design of "Crazy Buffalo" in a black round sign, a large golden crown with clouds and several red stars, the outline on his boxing gloves are black with gold star designs, his boxer shorts are black and he wears matching boxing boots with white outlines. Likely in allusion to Mike Tyson's famous appearance in the Nintendo game Mike Tyson's Punch Out, his black boxing shorts and boxing boots match those of Tyson in his appearance as the final boss of Punch Out's World Circuit.

His first alternate costume is business attire similar in design to the one he wore in Street Fighter II V; the sleeves are rolled up into cuffs, his boxing gloves are gold and he wears sunglasses. He maintains wearing this outfit in Street Fighter 6 during World Tour and no longer wearing a suit jacket, boxing gloves and sunglasses. His button-up shirt is now indigo and was folded into cuffs and his button-up shirt is partially opened to reveal his chest and does not wear socks while wearing his black dress shoes.

His second costume is somewhat similar to his primary outfit but with a United States flag motif. He wears a white and red striped long sleeve hoodie, blue trousers with white star designs, white sneakers and fingerless gloves.

Name changes

When Street Fighter II was localized for the United States, Capcom wanted to prevent possible lawsuits from Mike Tyson over a character resembling him, whose Japanese name was "Mike Bison." Additionally, Capcom USA's marketing department felt that the name "Vega" did not suit the character to which it was assigned. As a result, the names of three of the four boss characters were rotated as follows:

• The boxer, originally known as M. Bison in Japan, became Balrog in the U.S.
• The Spanish assassin/bullfighter, originally known as Balrog in Japan, became Vega in the U.S.
• The evil dictator and head of Shadaloo, originally known as Vega in Japan, became M. Bison in the U.S.

In some illustrations, including those for the Street Fighter II series, the character's Japanese name "Bison" can be seen on the waistband of his trunks. However, this is usually removed in versions published outside Japan. In later games, the word "Champion" appears on the waistband instead.

Despite the name change, many of the boxer's moves retain a bison/buffalo theme.

Mike Tyson only became aware of the character in 2019, during an eSports interview with ESPN, and commented, "I'm really honored with that impersonation of me."^[12] Prior to the revelation, he was seen posing with a Balrog cosplayer in a humorous pose of himself punching his "impersonator" in San Diego Comic-Con 2014.^[13]

Personality

Similar to Ken Masters, Balrog is generally aggressive, egotistical and arrogant; but in contrast is also ill-tempered, brutish and sadistic. Ken matures as time in his life goes by, while Balrog often refuses to take responsibility for his actions. Both have an affinity for the ladies, but Ken got married to one, while Balrog prefers to stay in his playboy days.

He is a belligerent pugilist who possesses an insatiable urge for the love of money and a vicious, bullying and mean streak. Despite his past as a renowned prizefighter, Balrog habitually resorted to cheating in his matches, and tragically, even caused the death of an opponent, albeit unintentionally.

Balrog is also shown to lack leadership skills; when M. Bison was believed to be dead after the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3, the role of leader of the organization fell to him, and it collapsed immediately, which forced him to work security at casinos and other places just to get by. His lack of skill in pursuits other than fighting has been attributed to his unruly and delinquent youth, as his pursuit of strength and dominance in the mean streets of his home city led him to drop out of school.

Contrary to prevailing beliefs, Balrog exhibits a degree of cunning and underlying intelligence, particularly showcased in Street Fighter V. In that game, he is shown to be capable of devising otherwise successful plans for his (and Ed's) own personal gain. There's also the matter of being able to hide the fact that he was raising Ed with no detection after he had been discovered. He has also been shown to have a much more elaborate fighting style than in the previous games. Whereas in the games following up to Street Fighter IV displayed his method as a brutish, "punch hard to win" style of boxing, his moveset in SFV includes a more refined and tactical approach of boxing, not unlike his British adversary. The common misconception of his intelligence is due to his overall recklessness and lack of leadership skills.

His motivations for joining Shadaloo and M. Bison throughout the Street Fighter series have always been to attain massive wealth, fame and glory so he can be on easy street for life. As such, though Balrog would cheat, steal or even kill to this end, he is not evil so much as he is still greedy, and takes little substantial interest in Shadaloo affairs otherwise; he also relates to characters with similar motivations (e.g. C. Viper).

Balrog's unexpected capacity for genuine connections and fellowship finds its sole expression in his relationship with Ed. Despite occasional conflicts and the challenges stemming from Ed's tumultuous upbringing under his care, followed by the latter's departure, Balrog continues to harbor a heartfelt concern for him. This enduring bond serves as a testament to Balrog's depth beyond his abrasive exterior.

Remaining in contact with Ed and occasionally visiting Neo Shadaloo, Balrog's actions raise questions about the nature of his commitment. Is his involvement driven by nostalgia for the camaraderie of his past within the organization, or does he genuinely care for the individual he once nurtured?

Relationships

Due to his loud mouth, cheating ways, and manipulative, cutthroat attitude, Balrog has made many enemies, with virtually no true allies to speak of, except for one.

Enemies

Chun-Li

Despite Balrog having been shown to have an extreme affinity towards women, Chun-Li is a notable exception. Her constant investigation into Shadaloo activity has earned her Balrog's scorn and he is eager to put her out of business whenever given the chance.

Dudley

Dudley is Balrog's boxing rival and his polar opposite. Balrog is loud, corrupt, and a cheater, while Dudley is refined, well-mannered, and a fair fighter. Due to their many differences, they have nothing but contempt towards each other.

Birdie

Originally allies as members of Shadaloo, they became enemies when Balrog was sent to kill Birdie after the latter sought to overthrow Bison and take control of Shadaloo for himself.

Alex

While their exact relationship is unknown, Balrog likely holds a grudge against Alex for defeating him in the Vale Tudo Eternal Fighting finals.

Ryu

It is unknown if Balrog despises Ryu in the canonical Street Fighter games, but in the Street Fighter UDON comic book series, he certainly does. Vega had wanted to confront and battle against Ken alone at the latter’s wedding while Balrog would accompany him as back-up. Balrog had focused his attention on fighting and battling against Ryu. He even tried a new punch on him, saying “he was the sucker he wanted to try his new move on.” In the end, when the police came, Balrog said “that Vega can be pretty goddamn annoying, but he does some good work, doesn’t he?”, which led to Ryu silencing him with a kick.

Zangief

Balrog strongly dislikes Zangief, likely due to the latter being more burly than Balrog himself. During the events of Street Fighter V's A Shadow Falls, in which Balrog faces off against Zangief in India, he calls the Russian wrestler "a big meathead" and told Zangief he could just die before punching him with a Gigaton Blow. However, Zangief unexpectedly manages to push the blow back with his strong defense, much to Balrog's own shock and surprise.

Ibuki

Balrog did not seem to take Ibuki seriously during the events of A Shadow Falls, taunting her more than R. Mika about the Chess Piece. Balrog had also seemed to mock her with his body language as well after the latter had did her best against him in battle. He took R. Mika more seriously when she had countered his Gigaton Blow just like her mentor Zangief.

Allies

Vega

Balrog greatly annoys Vega, a fellow assassin working for Bison, whom he occasionally is partnered up with. Balrog's contempt for Vega is mostly due to his "pretty boy" persona, with Vega's feelings towards Balrog being mutual. Balrog tends to annoy, tease and make fun of Vega whenever he gets the chance. In spite of this however, the two are not seen fighting each other in A Shadow Falls where the two in fact seem to team up, when they try to fight F.A.N.G at one point after he makes them fight soldiers to test their abilities, likely due to their shared hatred for F.A.N.G.

M. Bison

Balrog's personal affiliation with his employer M. Bison is incredibly distant, being mostly financial only: he cares very little for what Bison's schemes involve, and begrudgingly follows his orders as long as he is generously paid. However, he will not hesitate to rejoin Shadaloo once it rises back into business.

F.A.N.G

Balrog despises F.A.N.G for his constant showboating and mockery. F.A.N.G also hates Balrog for his simplistic attitude and considers him a fool.

Ed

Ed is one of the few persons that Balrog seems to have actually cared about beyond their material use to him, although Ed later came to dislike how Balrog viewed him as weak to the point of constantly needing protection.

A falling-out occurs between Ed and Balrog some time after the fall of Shadaloo, as Ed tried to leave Balrog in an attempt to protect him, due to a fortune telling Ed had received from Menat previously. Ed defeats Balrog in a fight and Balrog sits with his back to Ed silently for a while; Ed then calls to Balrog and the latter shouts "Get lost!" in an emotional way, showing that the boxer grew to sincerely like the boy as a person despite initially rescuing him for selfish reasons. Ed then departs and sometime later forms Neo Shadaloo.

Balrog's relationship with Ed were further expanded in Street Fighter 6. While Ed admits that Balrog is not the "ideal" paternal figure and how he can be "rough" at times, he nonetheless still admires Balrog for how he genuinely cared about him as a human being rather than a "test subject" like how he was always treated when he was young. Afterwards, Balrog resumed being in touch with Ed, and continues being an influence on the new sovereign of Neo Shadaloo.

Urien

Urien paid Balrog in exchange for Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. The boxer would then work for him after the fall of Shadaloo, but planned to one day betray him. Balrog is currently unaware of the part Urien played in manipulating him and Shadaloo and causing Bison's eventual demise.

Story

Background

Rising from a childhood of poverty and a ghetto neighborhood,^[14] Balrog was once a great boxing champion and prize fighter who fought his way to the top. Due to his somewhat cutthroat and ruthless nature from his time on the streets, however, he was banned from boxing in his later career for permanently injuring his opponents and accidentally killing one, as well as his illegal maneuvers, particularly his headbutt. Though he enjoyed great fame, especially in the city of Las Vegas where he lived, he valued money more than glory, leading him to join the Shadaloo criminal organization, where he eventually became M. Bison's chief enforcer.

Street Fighter Alpha 3

"Balrog is the former heavyweight boxing champion. This Shadaloo executive worked his way up from the lower ranks. Armed with the world's strongest punches, his ambition continues."

—Balrog's profile in Street Fighter Alpha 3

While running errands for Bison, he killed Dhalsim's elephant with a single Gigaton Punch. In one mission, Balrog was sent to terminate Birdie, although he did not know the reason for this mission. Birdie told him about the Psycho Drive, and Balrog agreed to help him find it, thinking he could make money from it. When the Psycho Drive exploded, Balrog realized that he had not been paid recently.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo

When Bison committed suicide after being defeated by the World Warriors such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Cammy and especially Guile,^[15] ownership of Shadaloo was transferred to the former prize fighter. Unfortunately, due to his lack of experience and lack of decent management abilities, he ended up running the entire organization into the ground in no time. After the fall of Shadaloo, Balrog ended up back on the streets, working menial jobs such as casino security.

Super Street Fighter IV

When Bison makes his return through the construction of his new body, Balrog is immediately brought back into the organization, hired by Bison to pick up Seth after he was defeated by Ryu before dropping him off his headquarters and guard Bison's replacement bodies, which Balrog refers to as "dolls". Balrog is not satisfied with this, however, and forms a new get-rich-quick scheme. He manages to make his way into the S.I.N. building (along with fellow agent Vega).

While looking for treasure in his ending, he stumbles across a young bandaged boy begging for help. Initially disinterested, Balrog notices a mark in the shape of the Shadaloo symbol glowing on his hand. Realizing the boy could hold some valuable secrets, Balrog pulls him out of the ruins, believing he's finally lucked out.

However, when Balrog asks what the boy can do, he reveal that he is powerless on his own; though Balrog assumes he's useless, he carries the boy off anyway. Balrog is convinced that the child will be of use to him later, and owes his as much in return for rescuing him.^[16]

Street Fighter V

On October 2015, a data mining of Street Fighter V's PC beta test revealed fighter data and character meshes of "Boxer", later revealed to be referring to Balrog, along with six other fighters (Dhalsim, Juri, Urien, Ibuki, Alex and Guile).^[17][18] Balrog and the rest of the characters (except for Dhalsim who was confirmed earlier as a default fighter) were later officially confirmed as DLC on December 5th, 2015 at the PlayStation Experience. Balrog's reveal trailer was released in June 27th, 2016.

Character Story

In his character story, F.A.N.G was impressed to see Balrog had found the bandaged boy from the S.I.N laboratory who is revealed to be Ed. F.A.N.G informs him about their plan(Operation C.H.A.I.N.S.) is now in full swing and to keep this information a secret. He also remarks that his actions are considered betrayal which causes Balrog to fight him. After the commotion, Balrog manages to knock F.A.N.G's hat off before retreating saying that he has work to do. When he calls Ed to come out, Ed manages to burn the hat into ashes.

In China, Balrog and Ed meet up with Urien then Necalli confronts them in order to devour their souls. Urien tells Balrog to beat Necalli down for some reward money, which Balrog excitedly agrees as he fights off Necalli. When Necalli was defeated, he turns into dust. Urien pays him the reward and wants him to deliver the data of Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. in exchange for his service at Shadaloo. Balrog accepts the payment.

Back at the Shadaloo Base, Ed remarks that Urien was more of a jerk. Balrog reveals that will bash his face once the job is done. Ed agrees to his plan as both he and Balrog walk away.

Other character story appearances

Balrog makes a non-speaking cameo in M. Bison's character story. He is shown attending a Shadaloo meeting on the status of the Dolls.

In Urien's character story, which is a contrast to Balrog's own, after the latter defeated Necalli, Balrog accepts the reward from Urien who wants him to deliver the data of Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. in exchange for his service of Shadaloo. When Balrog accepts his reward, he insults him for making a sweeten payment causing Urien to get snapped and scold Balrog for defying the terms of their agreement as the fight ensues. Balrog was no match from Urien and he was assisted by Ed to use his Psycho Powers. Urien manages to disperse it and became interested to see Ed was inherited from Bison's Psycho Powers as he leaves telling Balrog not make their incidents anymore.

A Shadow Falls

In New York, F.A.N.G, Balrog, and Vega bicker about the success and failures of Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. When Bison appears for a report of "the other device", F.A.N.G brings forth two Shadaloo soldiers to test out against Balrog and Vega. After defeating the soldiers, the two kings threaten F.A.N.G. Chun-Li and Guile appear and take notice of the carnage, before finally seeing Bison. Chun-Li confronts them, despite Guile's efforts to stop her. Bison steps forward and engages her himself, stating she was foolish to come. With a burst of Psycho Power, Bison throws Chun-Li to the floor. Guile rushes to her aid, but is intercepted by Vega who challenges him.

Later, after retrieving the control piece in India, Zangief and Guile are attacked by two Shadaloo soldiers. Balrog appears with Ed, unimpressed how weak the soldiers still are. Santamu jumps off of a rooftop and attacks Guile. While the two engage in combat, Balrog battles Zangief who easily endures one of his punches. As Balrog prepares to fight, Ed observes Zangief curiously.

Ed informs Balrog that Zangief may have one of the control pieces. While Balrog distracts Zangief, Ed uses his Psycho Power to retrieve the piece. The duo then makes their escape, leaving behind Santamu and another Shadaloo soldier to hold off Zangief and Guile.

Balrog is next seen during the Street Fighters' assault on Shadaloo's base of operations. There, Ibuki and Mika, now separated from the group, spot Balrog and Ed passing by with a control piece. Balrog challenges the two, in which Ibuki obliges. Despite her efforts, Balrog doesn't stay down. He attacks, but Mika saves Ibuki to return the favor. As Mika takes her turn in fighting Balrog, Ibuki focuses on the oncoming Shadaloo soldiers. Balrog remains standing, but Ibuki and Mika nod to each other as if they have a plan. Mika grapples Balrog, which prompts Ed to assist; only to be foiled by Ibuki's smoke bombs. They steals the piece from Balrog and make their escape.

Ed's Prologue - 'The Nimble Boxer'

Later on, after the fall of Shadaloo and the death of Bison in A Shadow Falls, Ed and Balrog take refuge near a waterfall at New Zealand. However, Ed experiences another one of his nightmares and is about to be possessed by the spirit of M. Bison himself. Ed fights off the spirit and prevents it from possessing him before leaving the tent they're sleeping in to travel elsewhere. Balrog wakes up and asks him what was troubling him. Ed somberly replied that he feared if they stay together, Balrog would eventually get hurt, to which Balrog stated that Ed is too weak to hurt him and that chumps like Ed should shut up and follow orders.

Angered and annoyed, Ed retorts that he's no chump and that the boxer's nothing without him before telling him to go away, while at the same time remembering fonder times together when Balrog was training him and praising him. This erupts into a fight between the two of them, with Balrog insisting that he can't hurt, but Ed prevails. Balrog, in a very uncharacteristic moment, expresses sadness by sobbing while he tries to hide behind his usual wall of toughness and anger, revealing that he didn't want Ed to leave and genuinely cared, and likewise, so did Ed, who leaves behind his only friend and paternal figure.

Street Fighter III series

Balrog does not appear in the Street Fighter III games, but he is mentioned in a Secret File that he participated in an event called the Vale Tudo Eternal Fighting (B.E.F.) prior to the events of Street Fighter III: New Generation. Some of the fighters Balrog defeated in the tournament were Like Bernardo, Kamo Leopoldo and Jumbo Flapjack. He faces Alex in the finals. In the first round, Alex stood still and continued to receive Balrog's punches, as if he had roots in his legs, but as soon as he entered the 2nd round, he knocked Balrog out with a solid blow.^[19] Alex walked away from the fight with only the upper right part of his body being damaged.^[20]

Street Fighter 6

World Tour

Balrog is depicted playing the drums at a concert when Dee Jay reminisces about Shadaloo, mistakenly believing the criminal syndicate was a popular band.

Ed explains to the Avatar how Balrog introduced him to boxing. Ed says that Balrog wasn't the ideal fatherly figure; sharing tough days and getting roughed up by the boxer. However, Ed also admits that he also admired Balrog for how treated him like a person, rather than a weapon or a Psycho Powered experiment, as well as his raw prowess.

Upon regaining some of his memories, the resurrected M. Bison commands the Avatar to seek out information on his former lieutenants Vega and Balrog. To attract Balrog's attention, the Avatar takes part in a fixed tournament held at the underground fighting arena in Nayshall, an event that Balrog has placed wagers on. After "winning" the tournament, the Avatar is contacted by Balrog, thanking them for netting him a sizeable payout on his bets. Despite saying that he couldn't "give two craps" about Shadaloo, Balrog admits that he did enjoy his time in the organization and states he could be interested in a revival of the syndicate. However, he also states that Ed's Neo Shadaloo also interests him and that he could go either way, but a large amount of cash would influence his decision.

Crossover appearances

Capcom vs. SNK games

Balrog is playable in Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000, Capcom vs. SNK 2 and SVC Chaos.

Street Fighter X Tekken

In Street Fighter X Tekken, Balrog is sent alongside Vega to retrieve Pandora. The two despise each other, but continue to work as a team, if only in order to obtain Pandora for themselves. Their rivals are Yoshimitsu and Raven, who ambush them during their travels.

Balrog and Vega's ending depicts Balrog attempting to open the box, but the former prize fighter tires of his co-worker's vanity and decides to kill Vega instead for sole possession of the box. Both are taken over by the influence of Pandora, and proceed to attack each other.

After the credits roll, a post-ending explain Balrog's fate.

If the player defeated Ogre with Balrog, it is stated that he won the fight and killed Vega, obtaining Pandora for himself. Balrog then used its powers to finish off his enemies, starting with his former boss M. Bison.

If the player defeated Ogre with Vega, it is stated that Balrog lost the fight against Vega and was killed.

Street Fighter × Mega Man

Balrog is one of the bosses of Street Fighter × Mega Man. He has twice as much health as the other bosses, and will instantly defeat Mega Man on contact. Balrog will constantly use his Violent Buffalo as the screen scrolls to the right, other enemies and obstacles also must be avoided. If Mega Man survives long enough, Balrog will fall into a bottomless pit, allowing him to advance.

Live-action movies

Street Fighter 1994 film

In the 1994 live action film, he was portrayed by Grand L. Bush and was one of the heroes, who worked as the camera-man in Chun-Li's news-crew. Like the other members (Chun-Li and E. Honda), Balrog held a grudge against Shadaloo for ruining his boxing career. Near the end of the film, he dons his regular outfit from the games, since he hid it underneath some covering clothes which he disposed of during the Shadaloo fortress assault, he even equipped himself with a pair of boxing gloves from the Shadaloo troopers' training area to complete his attire.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

In the film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Balrog is portrayed by the late Michael Clarke Duncan. His role in Shadaloo as one of Bison's loyal enforcers alongside Vega, remains unchanged.

Animations

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

In Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Balrog's portrayal is close to his original role in the game - dumb-muscle for Bison. Interestingly enough, he does not don his boxing gloves when he fights E. Honda. He also wears dark green commando pants, instead of his boxer's shorts. He is voiced by Joe Romersa in the English dub and Joji Nakata in the Japanese version. He first appears in the series as a representative of Shadaloo at a criminal convention in Las Vegas, where he watches a battle between Zangief and Blanka. Later, he accompanies M. Bison to Thailand for the final showdown. While Bison battles Guile and a brainwashed Ken battles Ryu, Balrog battles E. Honda.

Though Balrog has the upper hand initially, repeatedly punching and head butting Honda in quick succession, Honda strikes back with a head butt of his own. The two charge at each other and the impact of their collision causes both of them to hurtle off a cliff side. The rest of their fight is not shown; Honda defeats Balrog, and is seen carrying his unconscious body up the mountainside following Bison's defeat.

Street Fighter 1995 cartoon series

In the 1995 animated series, Street Fighter, Balrog is not only a boxer, but also a scientist as well (in contrary to his trademark "brainless muscle" stereotype) who programs Shadaloo computers for M. Bison. He makes a single appearance in the episode "The Medium is the Message", in which he creates a false video of the Street Fighters defiling a sacred Hindu temple in India under orders from Bison himself. Although the series borrows several elements from the 1994 movie, Balrog and Dee Jay's alliances were switched during production. He is voiced by Paul Dobson.

Street Fighter II V

In the anime series Street Fighter II V, Balrog, despite not being a boxer, still works for Shadaloo as a spy with the task of infiltrating the police forces in charge of investigating and foiling Shadaloo's criminal activities and reporting such operations directly to M. Bison, while posing aside the law officers as a legitimate Interpol executive. Using this disguise, he tricks Cammy, who in the series works as a mercenary assassin and has no relation with Shadaloo, into assassinating federal Hong Kong police officer and Chun-Li's father Dorai after telling her that he is the supposed drug lord in the Chinese branch of Shadaloo's drug route, but Dorai survives the assassination attempt later on, despite his heavy injuries and falling into an unconscious coma. After fighting Fei Long (who was protecting the still-alive Dorai), Cammy realizes she has been deceived by Balrog and attacks him the same way she did to Dorai, but without killing him. Cammy then quits the job and hands the badly injured Balrog over to Fei Long and the local authorities.

Comics

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Others

Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game

In Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game, it is stated that Mr. Ray has been Balrog's manager from his pro-boxing days to his time with the Street Fighter Circuit. Also, Balrog is training Samson Jr., the son of an old friend from the streets.^[21]

Fan film

Balrog is the focus of the short documentary fan film, Balrog: Behind the Glory, which debuted on Evolution 2011 Championships. The short film was produced by Chubby Boy Films.

The film depicts the brief history of Balrog, his childhood story of being bullied and fighting against the bullies, his training from his father who also once boxed, his winning success in his boxing career and popularity in the media, his marriage and divorce with a supermodel, how he was being taken advantage of managers and business due to his greed, his controversial headbutt that killed a boxer, thus resulting into a disqualification-ban in boxing and arrest, his path into Mad Gear and Shadaloo, his name switch from Mike Bison to Balrog, and what has happened to him afterwards. The documentary interviewed Balrog's father Greg Bison, a book author Micah Shultz who wrote about the rise and fall of Shadaloo, and former Trainer Tim Tashun.

Gameplay

Fighting style

As boxers, Balrog, Ed (SF6), and Dudley are the only characters in the Street Fighter series whose movesets are almost entirely comprised of arm-based moves (punches, elbows etc.), since kicks are illegal in boxing, although Balrog has no qualms about violating the rules of boxing both in and out of the ring in other ways. His moveset usually includes a headbutt, and during his second Ultra Combo in Super Street Fighter IV known as Dirty Bull, he grabs and headbutts the opponent, then stomps on their foot - the first time he used his foot at all in the games - and finally nails them with a powerful elbow shot.

Moveset

Despite being an undisciplined boxer, Balrog is strong. He relies on punching speed and raw strength, giving him strong normal attacks. A large portion of his moveset is composed of several variations of dashing punches, including his Super Combos, but he also uses uppercuts, low-sweep attacks, smash blows and overhead swings, which can keep the opponent guessing if used well. Unlike most characters, Balrog did not have any unique attacks until his appearance in Street Fighter V. Many new moves introduced for him introduces evident utilization of tactics, showing that he has strategical skills.

In Street Fighter V, Balrog gains more unrefined boxing moves which serve as a contrast to Dudley's special moves. His V-Skill is the KKB; he is able to twirl his body while moving forward, deflecting projectiles and making string combos together against his opponents. His V-Trigger is named the Crazy Rush; once its activated, it allows him to do a varying combo utilizing both his Charging Buffalo and Bursting Buffalo moves. His Critical Art is the Gigaton Blow; he unleashes a destructive straight punch to his opponent. Balrog also has a new unique attack called Stomping Combo, a crouching punch followed by a stomp, the second time he has attacked with his feet.

Subpages

Quotes

Balrog/Quotes

Pop Culture

Balrog/Pop Culture

Gallery

Balrog/Gallery

Sprites

Balrog/Sprites

Trivia

• Due to his regional name differences, he is often referred to in the international community as "Boxer".

• Due to his appearance, moveset and Japanese name, Balrog was speculated to have been an updated version of the African-American boxer Mike, one of the computer-controlled opponents in the original 1987 game. However, Capcom has insisted that, despite these similarities, they were always intended to be two separate characters. The Street Fighter World Warrior Encyclopedia (hardcover version) also lists them as separate individuals^[2] as does the Street Fighter V website, which has a separate character page for Mike and redesigned artwork for him.^[22]

• In Street Fighter IV, in the background of the Small Airfield stage, there is a black S.I.N. plane where Balrog can be seen in the door of the plane (he will open the door with a punch). If Balrog is selected, Vega will be in the plane instead. If Balrog and Vega are selected, M. Bison himself appears in the plane.
  • This is a reference to the international name change between the three fighters.

• In Street Fighter IV, Balrog yells "My fight money!" when knocked out; this circulated as a joke within the playerbase and was ultimately referenced in Street Fighter V with the Fight Money mechanic.

• Balrog is shown with all his teeth in the Street Fighter IV sub-series, while in the past games, he has a missing canine tooth on the upper right side of his mouth.
  • This could indicate that Balrog wears a prosthetic tooth in later games.

• Balrog is the only one of the four bosses from Street Fighter II that does not appear in the Street Fighter EX games.
  • It should also be noted that despite Balrog not appearing in the EX series, a character named Cracker Jack shares a similar fighting style with him, down to using special and super moves and techniques with the same names and appearances.

• In the arcade versions of the CPS1 installments of Street Fighter II, Balrog's win quote is written incorrectly ("My fists have your blood of them!"). This is corrected in Super Street Fighter II and onwards ("My fists have your blood on them!"); the word "still" is added to the quote in both Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix ("My fists still have your blood on them."). Super Street Fighter IV inserts the expression "Damn!" to the beginning of the quote ("Damn! My fists have your blood on them!"). The Super NES and Sega Genesis ports of the Street Fighter II sub-series, as well as Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers for the Nintendo Switch, all replaced this quote with "Get up, you wimp!", and "Hey, what happened? I'm not through with you yet!", likely due to Nintendo of America's strict censorship policy at the time.

• In the CPS2 installments of Street Fighter II, if the player presses Heavy Punch (Fierce) to select Balrog, giving him his color scheme from Hyper Fighting, he will appear with a darker skin tone, and green boxing gloves. In the CPS1 Hyper Fighting, the color changes are applied to his clothing only; his skin tone color remains unchanged from the original color scheme, and his boxing gloves keep the same red color as the original scheme.

• One of Balrog's rotating win quotes in Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is "My punches are stronger than your kicks", which does not fit in a mirror match because he does not use kicks.

• Balrog has had amusingly bad facial expressions and animations in several of his appearances. This is most apparent in his fight against E. Honda near the end of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie and in the games when Balrog gets hit, he appears cross-eyed.

• In the manga Street Fighter III: Ryu Final, it is said that after Shadaloo was destroyed and Gill established himself, Balrog went into the wrestling world.

• In Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Balrog is shown to be much older than Chun-Li, while his official birth date indicates that he is six months and three days younger than her.

• His counterpart in the 1994 live-action film adaption is one of the good guys who fought against M. Bison and Shadaloo, instead of being a member of Shadaloo likes in all of the other versions.

• On the Street Fighter II casino stage, the nickname of the game's lead designer, Akira Nishitani (Nin Nin), can be seen on the sign for the background casino called "Golden Nugget: Nin Nin Hall". In the remastered version of the stage for Street Fighter V, the casino was renamed "Golden Bullion: Shadaloo Hall"; the word "Nugget" was likely changed to "Bullion" as not to step on the toes of a real life casino of the same name, while Akira has long since left Capcom to form Arika.

• In Street Fighter V, if the story mode costume is selected, during his win animation Balrog's sunglasses will have a reflection of either Bison or Ryu, depending on the side he's facing.

• Despite his height being officialy listed as 6'4" (193 cm),^[4][5] the Lair of the Four Kings stage (when knocked to the left corner) list it as 6'6" (198 cm).^[23]

• In Devil May Cry 5, one of Dante's weapons was named after Balrog.^[24]

• In the World Warrior, Balrog is the only character in the game to have "transition frames" when he crouches and stands that can not be interrupted by Inputs.

Stage themes

Videos

See also

• Balrog's moves in the Street Fighter II series
• Balrog's moves in Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix
• Balrog's moves in Street Fighter: The Movie (the arcade version)
• Balrog's moves in Street Fighter: The Movie (the console version)
• Balrog's moves in Street Fighter Alpha 3
• Balrog's moves in Capcom vs. SNK 2
• Balrog's moves in Street Fighter IV
• Balrog's moves in Super Street Fighter IV
• Balrog's moves in Ultra Street Fighter IV
• Balrog's moves in Street Fighter X Tekken
• Balrog's moves in Street Fighter V

References

Street Fighter series Playable Characters
Main Series
		Ken · Ryu
	The World Warrior	Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Zangief
	Champion Edition	Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
	Super	Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
	Super Turbo	Akuma
	Ultra	Violent Ken
	Alpha	Adon · Birdie · Charlie Nash · Dan · Guy · Rose · Sodom
	Alpha 2	Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Shin Akuma
	Alpha 3	Cody · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika
	Alpha 3 Upper	Eagle · Maki
	Alpha 3 MAX	Ingrid
	New Generation	Alex · Dudley · Elena · Ibuki Necro · Oro · Sean · Yang · Yun
	2nd Impact	Gill · Hugo · Urien
	3rd Strike	Makoto · Q · Remy · Twelve
	IV	Abel · C. Viper · El Fuerte · Gouken · Rufus · Seth
	Super	Hakan · Juri
	Arcade Edition	Oni
	Ultra	Decapre · Poison
	V	F.A.N.G · Laura · Necalli · Rashid
	Season 2	Abigail · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku
	Season 3	Falke · G
	Season 4	Kage · Lucia
	Season 5	Akira · Eleven · Luke
	6	Jamie · JP · Kimberly · Lily · Manon · Marisa
	Year 1	A.K.I.
	Year 2	Mai (Guest) · Terry (Guest)
Spin-offs
		Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber · Sawada
		Cyborg
	EX	Allen · Blair · C. Jack · Darun · D. Dark Hokuto · Kairi · Pullum · Skullomania
	EX Plus	Bloody Hokuto · Cycloid-β · Cycloid-γ · Garuda
	EX2	Hayate · Nanase · Shadowgeist · Sharon
	EX2 Plus	Area · V. Rosso
	EX3	Ace · Bison II
	MSHvSF	Cyber-Akuma · Dark Sakura · Mech-Zangief · Shadow
	MvC	Shadow Lady
		Shin

Street Fighter II Characters
The World Warrior	Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Ken · Ryu · Zangief
Champion Edition	Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
Super	Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
Turbo	Akuma
Ultra	Evil Ryu · Shin Akuma · Violent Ken

Street Fighter: The Movie Characters
Core Roster	Akuma · Balrog · Cammy · Chun-Li · E. Honda · Guile · Ken M. Bison · Ryu · Sagat · Sawada · Vega · Zangief
Arcade Only	Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber
Console Only	Blanka · Dee Jay
CPU Only	Super Bison

Street Fighter Alpha Characters
Alpha		Adon · Akuma · Birdie · Charlie · Chun-Li · Dan · Guy Ken · M. Bison · Rose · Ryu · Sagat · Sodom
Alpha 2	Original	Dhalsim · Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Zangief
	Console	Shin Akuma
	Gold	Cammy
Alpha 3	Original	Balrog · Blanka · Cody · E. Honda · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika · Vega
	Console	Dee Jay · Fei Long · Guile · T. Hawk
	Upper	Eagle · Maki · Yun
	MAX	Ingrid

SNK vs. Capcom Characters
The Match of the Millennium	Akuma · Chun-Li · Dan · Evil Ryu · Guile Ken · M. Bison · Ryu · Sakura · Zangief
Millennium Fight 2000	Balrog · Blanka · Cammy · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Sagat · Vega
Mark of the Millennium 2001	Eagle · Kyosuke · Maki · Rolento · Shin Akuma · Yun
SVC Chaos	Hugo · Violent Ken

Street Fighter IV Characters
Original	Abel · Akuma · Balrog · Blanka · Chun-Li · C. Viper · Dhalsim · E. Honda El Fuerte · Guile · Ken · M. Bison · Rufus · Ryu · Sagat · Vega · Zangief
Console	Cammy · Dan · Fei Long · Gen · Gouken · Rose · Seth · Sakura
Super	Adon · Cody · Dee Jay · Dudley · Guy · Hakan · Ibuki · Juri · Makoto · T. Hawk
Arcade Edition	Evil Ryu · Oni · Yang · Yun
Ultra	Decapre · Elena · Hugo · Poison · Rolento

Street Fighter X Tekken Characters
Core Roster	Abel · Akuma · Balrog · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · Guile · Hugo · Ibuki · Juri Ken · M. Bison · Poison · Rufus · Rolento · Ryu · Sagat · Vega · Zangief
Downloadable	Blanka · Cody · Dudley · Elena · Guy · Sakura

Street Fighter V Characters
Original	Birdie · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · F.A.N.G · Karin · Ken · Laura M. Bison · Nash · Necalli · R. Mika · Rashid · Ryu · Vega · Zangief
Season 1	Alex · Balrog · Guile · Ibuki · Juri · Urien
Season 2	Abigail · Akuma · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku
Season 3	Blanka · Cody · Falke · G · Sagat · Sakura
Season 4	E. Honda · Gill · Kage · Lucia · Poison · Seth
Season 5	Akira · Dan · Eleven · Luke · Oro · Rose
CPU Only	AS · Aprile · Decapre · Enero · Février · Juli · März · Peter Phantom Bison · Santamu · Satsuki · Shadow · Shadow Lady · Two P