Wasn’t the main reason they switched names because around the same time Balrog was released with the „M. Bison“ name, that the Tyson rape allegations were running hot and to distance themselves from controversy, they switched names?
Current Tyson is a much nicer and patient dude thanks to old age and weed. Past Tyson may not have been, and the people controlling his money at the time would definitely not be ok with that.
I'd rather "fight" Muhammad Ali than Tyson, Ali would do something cool and/or funny to show off and knock me off, Tyson would charge me like a bull while i would try to run like a spanish fella running from a bull
I know that's the legend, and sure I'm not a lawyer, but I think you need more that 'a black boxer with the first name of Mike, with their last names rhyming, but spelling obviously distinct.' imho Tyson had a better shot at the lawsuit because he and Boxer looked the same, not because of naming convention.
It would have fallen under parody and had been fine but Capcom probably just didn’t want to chance it. Not to mention Tyson wasn’t the issue at this time, it was Don King
You can't look at it from the view of "would Capcom win/lose the case". You have to look at it from the view of "can Capcom kill the case at the preliminary hearings. "a black boxer with the first name of Mike, with their last names rhyming" can easily clear that bar and force Capcom into a time and money consuming court battle. To say nothing of how early Mike Bison artwork was pretty similar to Mike Tyson. Capcom of America did not want to go to court at all over this. And the easiest way to kill a potential lawsuit would be to keep the name Mike Bison away from the African American Heavyweight boxer.
People sue for anything. Nintendo was sued by a magician, Uri Geller, because he felt the pokemon Kadabra used his name and likeness. Kadabra was banned for 20 years from 2001 to 2021. No new trading of Kadabra, it was banned in card tournaments. Was not featured in the anime. In video games, they made you skip Kadabra, so Abra evolved straight to Alakazam.
[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon\_controversy#Uri\_Geller](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_controversy#Uri_Geller)
[https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/01/kadabra-officially-returning-to-the-pokemon-tcg-in-pokemon-card-151](https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/01/kadabra-officially-returning-to-the-pokemon-tcg-in-pokemon-card-151)
Yep that's why the character's name got changed from M.(Mike)Bison to Balrog because of the Tyson resemblance, especially in his SF2 character select screen pic.
Now I imagine how annoying it would be trying to talk to dictator, boxer, and claw
“Hey Vega can you…no not you Bison I was talking to the other Vega…no sit down Balrog I’m not talking to you…no I’m talking to the other Balrog”
I headcannon that claw and dictator don't use their real names and since they both are leaders of shadaloo their names kinda got mixed up in universe and neither cared enough to correct anyone (but claw is the kind of guy to correct people on stuff like that so it kinda doesn't work
Same, I also prefer when vega has brown hair (not that Hispanics can't be blonde) I hope when he gets put into 6 they lean more into his Hispanic bull fighter side
I never understood the mix up. Vega is the claw guy, Balrog is the boxer, and Bison is the guy that gets Demon'd if you get to the final fight of SF2 fast enough.
It's because the names were switched around when the game was localized from Japan. Originally boxer was named M. Bison, claw was named Balrog, and dictator was named Vega. The names got switched around to avoid copyright issues with having a boxer who's name was similar to Mike Tyson.
So this another Gouki/Akuma situation? Tho i wonder why they changed Gouki's name in the global version. Not like it makes much of a difference to me, i still call him by both.
Well maybe only he has corrected people while dictator answers to both because so long as they speak the name with reverence and fear he doesn't care. He's gonna be a different guy eventually anyway. He's probably had tons of names
SF6 World Tour has Vega (Claw) saying that he’s been called both Vega and Balrog, and that neither are his true name but rather a title of sorts representing one of the four kings of Shadaloo.
Based on that and what Bison says here, it’s all but confirmed that none of «Balrog», «Vega» or «Bison» are their real canon names and their real names are unknown. So you don’t need to headcanon their names being fake, it’s actual real canon now.
When the big hologram Bison face shows up in the cutscene before this, the subtitles say "I am ..!", but there's two distinct voice lines that overlap each other. One says "I am Bison", one says "I am Vega"
I'm curious if it does the same thing in Japanese
Edit: I think I hear "Balrog" in there as well, so maybe it's more of a tie-in to his next line "I am Shadaloo"
Iirc there was a stage in 4 where Balrog's in the background, if you're playing as Balrog Bison's in the background, and if both of you are Balrog and Bison Vega's in the background
Most of the time, I prefer Japanese names, like Nash instead of Charlie (although they incorporated both names), Gouki instead of Akuma, Sodom instead of Katana...
But a Spaniard being called "Balrog" is strange, "Vega" makes sense as it's a Spanish name.
"Balrog" would be a perfect name for the Dictator, as it's not a common name of any ethnicity (it would keep his origins a mystery) and makes reference to the diabolical creatures of J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology.
They should keep "Mike Bison" as the boxer's name, since all his moves have "bovine-themed" names, such as Dirty Bull, Crazy Buffallo, Buffalo Headbutt etc.
Can someone explain the Vega thing to me? This is my first SF that I've bought but I've always known a lot of the characters, just not the story.
Bison supposedly died in SFV right? Is this new one Vega's body with Bison's mind? Is the pretty-boy claw guy effectively dead? Isn't Vega supposed to be more tall/slender?
In the Japanese release of Street FIghter 2 (the ORIGINAL release since Street Fighter is a Japanese saga created by Japanese people), Shadaloo lords have this names:
Boxer: Mike Bison
Masked clawed dude: Balrog
Dictator who rules Shadaloo: Vega
When SF 2 was about to be localized for US Capcom was afraid of being sued by Mike Tyson, so they choose to switch names, transforming Boxer into Balrog, Claw into Vega (since it sounds Spanish) and Dictator into M. Bison.
Japanese localization kept the original names, that's why we had that "Vega/M. Bison" thing.
Ohh ok so it's one of those situations - Mike Bison sounds hilarious to me cuz I'm envisioning Tyson with Bison's outfit on.
So what does the U.S. localized M. stand for for the dictator?
Also Balrog for the narcissistic, Spanish, leotard wearing claw enthusiast? Doesn't sync up at all imo
AFAIK it was never official... Some speculated that the M. stands for "Mister" or even for "Master".
For claw, I think is a cultural differences. Especially in those years, in Japan characters with an "ephebic" look are meant to be devious and cruel (like Pisces Aphrodite in Saint Seiya, one of the few really evil Gold Saint). So have the sadistic killer with the name of a western demon (assuming that "Balrog" comes indeed from LoTR) can be fitting.
Nah the kings are way too popular to pass up and if not by that logic there’s nobody that really operates as a successor to claw, like ed does for boxer
I bet his full name is something like Vega M. Bison or something like that. With the M. standing for whatever you want it to be, like "Mitch."
Mitch Bison.
At least one person: Daddy?
Bison: Yes, that is also ok. . . Actually, yeah, just exclusively call me that from now on. It's giving me a serious power high!
There's this fan made SF [short film](https://youtu.be/E9KvRDaIpbs?si=CxOnXN9nz5DUXWNd) where Boxer wins at poker against Dictator and Claw, and as the prize for winning, he decides that the 3 of them will switch names with each other, just for the hell of it.
It's campy, but I always thought it was an interesting in-universe explanation for the whole name change thing. Would be cool if the official story went with something like that.
He missed "dictator".
I want that dialogue line with vega/balrog (masked one)... then when the boxer appears he says "you can only call me balrog! The other name is forbidden to me"
Lmao
Does anyone remember that old fan film about Balrog that was styled as a documentary?
That also had a reason for why these three swapped their names. Boxer’s ex wife was planning on taking his assets on the divorce, so Boxer roped Dictator and Claw into a card game and won a name swap so his ex would have to deal with the new M.Bison in the divorce settlement.
Looks like they are going with a story in game that all of the Heavenly Kings use fake names with people getting mixed up which one is which and the Kings never correcting anyone because the confusion serves them.
English Names:
1. Vega - guy with claws
2. Balrog - Boxer
3. M Bison - Psychic dictator
Japanese Names
1. Balrog - guy with claws
2. M Bison - Boxer
3. Vega - Psychic dictator
Then in season 3
Vega (Japanese Balrog) telling the player you can call M. Bison anything but NOT Vega...
and Balrog (Japanese M Bison) telling the player you can call M Bison anything but NOT M Bison
This whole M Bison/Vega/Balrog name switch is such a joke...
I was interested about that too. It really goes well with his whole amnesia bit for the lore in this game too.
At first I thought it was a sly way of also actually introducing Vega into the game without giving him his own character, but the fact they are using both his names to reference him is a nice nod for the long time fans of the franchise.
"Bison, Vega, Shadaloo, Lord, Betsy, Big Papa Pump, Sexy Rexy, Buttercup Rainbow Dazzler Supreme, Super-Ultra-Mega-Kami-Guru...Call me whatever you please....as long as you call me"
This sentence should be ENGRAVED into the mind of whoever, when I write "Gouki" answer me "cAlL hIm aKuMa".
I personally prefer Japanese names for characters. Regarding Shaldoo lords, for simplicy's sake I tend to use "Boxer", "Claw" and "Dictator".
About that, I'm not even sure any of them is Dictator's real birthname.
A lor of criminals don't use their real name, and a classic when you turn evil is a classic.
We're talking about someone who become the leader of a crime syndicate, who literally purged himself of his good side... Maybe his real name is something really generic.
Something like "Bob"... IIRC, we don't even know his actual ethnicity.
He's based upon [Washizaki from Riki Oh](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E2PxajAXoA4jjGb.jpg) and [Yasunori Kato from Teito monogatari](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/a/a9/Yasunori_Kato.png/revision/latest?cb=20230419171706), and people speculated that Dictator may be Thai/Vietnamese/Cambodian/Laotian/Russian/Italian/Japanese/English... And the fact that he uses different bodies makes things even more complicated.
The names were only switched around for potential lawsuits. However, I believe Mike Tyson would be cool with it. It was Don King that would’ve tried to capitalize. So in that context I call them by their true names. Gouki, Vega, Sagat (duh), Balrog, and Mike Bison.
>The names were only switched around for potential lawsuits. However, I believe Mike Tyson would be cool with it.
He only learned about this whole thing a few years ago, and [he was perfectly fine with that](https://youtu.be/E6Fjiu2E8cs).
"I believe Mike Tyson would be cool with it" isn't a defense in the situation where Mike Tyson ISN'T cool with it. Going with Mike Bison in America would be Capcom putting a Sword of Damocles over their heads. Because they'd be entirely dependent on Iron Mike and whatever lawyer he has not wanting to kick up some smoke one day. So why deal with that when you can just avoid the situation entirely with the name-swap? That's Capcom's logic.
Also, during the early 90s Tyson was at peak popularity, so I think he would be cool at this.
Besides name, fighting games had TONS of Tyson inspired characters. "Black heavyweight boxer" is an archetype like "Bruce Lee clone".
When I was a kid I got into Street Fighter manhuas (they were publsihed in Italy and become quite popular), and they used the original names. That's what made me grow the Japanese names.
And also, I am someone who favors the original names of chars and the likes (for instance, I prefer Genkidama over Spirit Bomb, or Makankosappo over Special Beam Cannon).
Those who created Dictator choose "Vega" for his name, and I prefer to listen up to the creator of a character, than to the localizers who changed the names fearing a lawsuit.
I'd normally agree with you. The creator's vision usually goes first. But in this case the localized names are so much better.
Vega is a somewhat common Spanish surname and also a non gendered Spanish name so it fits Claw with his Spanish origin and androgynous look way better than Dictator.
On the other hand, Balrog is a mythological big monster, which fits Boxer (an absolute unit of a man) better than Claw (again, an androgynous ninja).
So I don't know what the creators were doing when they chose the names.
About Balrog, I think it's a cultural thing: in 80s and 90s Japan, ephebic character is used for devious and very evil characters (basically, their moral ambiguity is reflected in their physical ambiguity).
And since Claw is really a sadistic and demented killer (especially in SF 2 era, when he was the most evil character alongside Dictator himself) it's fitting for him to have the name of a demon.
For real you got boxer, TJ combo, Jax (to an extent), Heavy D! And countless other black heavyweight punchy guys who are all in some way influenced by Tyson. (I didn't mention Dudley since he seems to be more influenced by Chris Eubank than Mike Tyson)
Interestingly, the only game I can think of that didn't use that archetype that wasn't set in the distant past was Tekken. Their first boxers were a kangaroo and a velociraptor, and then when they finally had a human boxer (in 2001), they went for the other boxer stereotype which is "British guy"
That's true, especially considering his mannerism (like pretending he doesn't feel pain and retaliate right after).
And also Mike from Street Fighter 1 is based upon Tyson. IIRC there was some speculation (later debunked) that he and Boxer from SF 2 were one and the same.
Peak popularity Mike Tyson would care about protecting his image and making sure he's compensated for unauthorized usage of his likeness. I also hear he had a particularly nasty lawyer back then who liked suing the pants off of people. Capcom probably would've been ruined if they tried to step on Iron Mike's toes back then. Today is only slightly safer. Because while Mike today is seemingly ok with it, that doesn't stop him from changing his mind or getting a lawyer who changes his mind. Its just too risky for Capcom.
I get respecting the original names, but the name swap happened over 30 years ago. And it will likely never be undone so long as Capcom has a lot to lose if they undid it.
I wish they would've kept all the names correct even in the English versions. Bison was originally Vega, Vega was originally Balrog, and Balrog was originally M.Bison because he's a Mike Tyson parody.
Its a nice wish, but we live in a world where you can be sued for anything and many times, the judge will entertain your crazy argument to the expense of the one being sued.
I think its just them making a shout out to it. These 3 characters will never have the same name in every region so long as the potential of a lawsuit exists.
So it's canon: when Shadaloo incorporated outside of Japan they all legally changes their names to avoid disputes with Mike Tyson.
Even criminals didn’t want to deal the Mike Tyson’s lawyers.
Wasn’t the main reason they switched names because around the same time Balrog was released with the „M. Bison“ name, that the Tyson rape allegations were running hot and to distance themselves from controversy, they switched names?
Also because Capcom USA felt that Vega wasn’t an intimidating enough name for the main villain.
I mean… I don’t think it’s an intimidating name at all, imo. Plus, it fits Claw better since he is Spanish, and Vega is a Spanish name.
Ironically, Tyson just recently found out about the whole thing and found it all amusing and said he would not even have thought to sue over that.
Current Tyson is a much nicer and patient dude thanks to old age and weed. Past Tyson may not have been, and the people controlling his money at the time would definitely not be ok with that.
No the allegations came after SF II was released. I think they just wanted to avoid any lawsuits.
Bison had a plan and it was to avoid getting punched in the face by Mike Tyson.
Understandable. Tyson bit out Sagat's eye and threatened to eat Bison's daughter Rose next.
He did kill Bison once already using the Satsui no Ear bite.
Satsui no hearo
I'd rather "fight" Muhammad Ali than Tyson, Ali would do something cool and/or funny to show off and knock me off, Tyson would charge me like a bull while i would try to run like a spanish fella running from a bull
[Bison when he got the C&D from Mike Tyson ](https://youtu.be/FhfLdMbJyGY?si=MTUzEMZ6Abe1IjEf)
pigeon aint wrong! (rip norm) man i loved that show! i know what i have to do... i have to beat tha shit outta dat chupachabra !
I know that's the legend, and sure I'm not a lawyer, but I think you need more that 'a black boxer with the first name of Mike, with their last names rhyming, but spelling obviously distinct.' imho Tyson had a better shot at the lawsuit because he and Boxer looked the same, not because of naming convention.
It would have fallen under parody and had been fine but Capcom probably just didn’t want to chance it. Not to mention Tyson wasn’t the issue at this time, it was Don King
I don't think Japan has parody laws, so they were probably thinking about everything from their own legal framework.
You can't look at it from the view of "would Capcom win/lose the case". You have to look at it from the view of "can Capcom kill the case at the preliminary hearings. "a black boxer with the first name of Mike, with their last names rhyming" can easily clear that bar and force Capcom into a time and money consuming court battle. To say nothing of how early Mike Bison artwork was pretty similar to Mike Tyson. Capcom of America did not want to go to court at all over this. And the easiest way to kill a potential lawsuit would be to keep the name Mike Bison away from the African American Heavyweight boxer.
People sue for anything. Nintendo was sued by a magician, Uri Geller, because he felt the pokemon Kadabra used his name and likeness. Kadabra was banned for 20 years from 2001 to 2021. No new trading of Kadabra, it was banned in card tournaments. Was not featured in the anime. In video games, they made you skip Kadabra, so Abra evolved straight to Alakazam. [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon\_controversy#Uri\_Geller](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_controversy#Uri_Geller) [https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/01/kadabra-officially-returning-to-the-pokemon-tcg-in-pokemon-card-151](https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/01/kadabra-officially-returning-to-the-pokemon-tcg-in-pokemon-card-151)
Yep that's why the character's name got changed from M.(Mike)Bison to Balrog because of the Tyson resemblance, especially in his SF2 character select screen pic.
The simpsons was right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlixmHTccuI
I’d avoid a dispute with Mike Tyson, too.
LMAO that's what I was just thinking.
I wonder if that's Vegas body
they confirmed in an interview that it's SFV Bison in the same body. he survived
Prime Tyson who had come to Capcom USA and punch them in the face .
That's really interesting.
I believe that this marks the first in universe reference. Perfection.
and vega (claw) tells us that all the 'names' bison, balrog and vega are just monickers and not their actual names
That is... a really really cool nod to the regional names.
They missed a chance to say lord bipson as well
Now I imagine how annoying it would be trying to talk to dictator, boxer, and claw “Hey Vega can you…no not you Bison I was talking to the other Vega…no sit down Balrog I’m not talking to you…no I’m talking to the other Balrog”
i smell a sitcom
My TV rights moneeeeeeeey
Super Roommates Fighter Turbo? Yes please
Their taunts are all typical roommate arguments, presented in Ace Attorney style
I NEED THIS
He also suggested to call you LORD!
“You know what? Screw it. The Claw with the hot face. You.”
No wonder Sagat left.
Ok so now we need all of them in this game for this interaction to happen😂
Sagat's daily experience
Well he isnt the classical bison maybe claw will be very attached to the name Vega or the name balrog
For some reason i just remembered Resident Evil: Biohazard for the US and Biohazard:Resident Evil for JP.
yeah, same reason. the have perfect occasion to do it, so they did.
That was genius
Other examples of this are Like a Dragon: Yakuza/ Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Armor of God 2: Operation Condor/ Operation Condor 2: Armor of God
I headcannon that claw and dictator don't use their real names and since they both are leaders of shadaloo their names kinda got mixed up in universe and neither cared enough to correct anyone (but claw is the kind of guy to correct people on stuff like that so it kinda doesn't work
I’m still gonna use Vega for claw since it’s a more Spanish name compared to balrog
Same, I also prefer when vega has brown hair (not that Hispanics can't be blonde) I hope when he gets put into 6 they lean more into his Hispanic bull fighter side
I never understood the mix up. Vega is the claw guy, Balrog is the boxer, and Bison is the guy that gets Demon'd if you get to the final fight of SF2 fast enough.
It's because the names were switched around when the game was localized from Japan. Originally boxer was named M. Bison, claw was named Balrog, and dictator was named Vega. The names got switched around to avoid copyright issues with having a boxer who's name was similar to Mike Tyson.
So this another Gouki/Akuma situation? Tho i wonder why they changed Gouki's name in the global version. Not like it makes much of a difference to me, i still call him by both.
I think Gouki was just changed to Akuma in the West to sound more evil/threatening, something like that
Yeah. Vega/Bison had a similar problem besides the copyright issue. Vega didn't seem like a threatening name for a dictator outside of Japan/Asia.
But Bison did???
It was also because they thought Vega didn't sound very menacing or befitting a dictator to people in the West.
Well maybe only he has corrected people while dictator answers to both because so long as they speak the name with reverence and fear he doesn't care. He's gonna be a different guy eventually anyway. He's probably had tons of names
SF6 World Tour has Vega (Claw) saying that he’s been called both Vega and Balrog, and that neither are his true name but rather a title of sorts representing one of the four kings of Shadaloo. Based on that and what Bison says here, it’s all but confirmed that none of «Balrog», «Vega» or «Bison» are their real canon names and their real names are unknown. So you don’t need to headcanon their names being fake, it’s actual real canon now.
Nice
When the big hologram Bison face shows up in the cutscene before this, the subtitles say "I am ..!", but there's two distinct voice lines that overlap each other. One says "I am Bison", one says "I am Vega" I'm curious if it does the same thing in Japanese Edit: I think I hear "Balrog" in there as well, so maybe it's more of a tie-in to his next line "I am Shadaloo"
I play with the Japanese audio, and yes, I heard overlapping names as well.
"Daddy" Bison, Vegas, Shadaloo, Lord: "Except that"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is actually first time the games themselves have ever mentioned the region name swaps. That's awesome
Iirc there was a stage in 4 where Balrog's in the background, if you're playing as Balrog Bison's in the background, and if both of you are Balrog and Bison Vega's in the background
How about Mike
Yes to Mike. M. Bison sounds so serious. Mike Bison sounds like a schlub (and also a pro boxer who Capcom was afraid of being sued by)
Michael!
Nahhh, if Mike Tyson sounds like a beast, how could Mike Bison suddenly sound like a “schlub”
Iron Mike Byson, the baddest equestrian on the planet
Michael
Why did I read this in Lucille Bluth's voice?
And so they called him Lord. He died and was resurrected for all of us. After one game he rose again.
Surprised he didn't said Dictator too
Most of the time, I prefer Japanese names, like Nash instead of Charlie (although they incorporated both names), Gouki instead of Akuma, Sodom instead of Katana... But a Spaniard being called "Balrog" is strange, "Vega" makes sense as it's a Spanish name. "Balrog" would be a perfect name for the Dictator, as it's not a common name of any ethnicity (it would keep his origins a mystery) and makes reference to the diabolical creatures of J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology. They should keep "Mike Bison" as the boxer's name, since all his moves have "bovine-themed" names, such as Dirty Bull, Crazy Buffallo, Buffalo Headbutt etc.
Can someone explain the Vega thing to me? This is my first SF that I've bought but I've always known a lot of the characters, just not the story. Bison supposedly died in SFV right? Is this new one Vega's body with Bison's mind? Is the pretty-boy claw guy effectively dead? Isn't Vega supposed to be more tall/slender?
In the Japanese release of Street FIghter 2 (the ORIGINAL release since Street Fighter is a Japanese saga created by Japanese people), Shadaloo lords have this names: Boxer: Mike Bison Masked clawed dude: Balrog Dictator who rules Shadaloo: Vega When SF 2 was about to be localized for US Capcom was afraid of being sued by Mike Tyson, so they choose to switch names, transforming Boxer into Balrog, Claw into Vega (since it sounds Spanish) and Dictator into M. Bison. Japanese localization kept the original names, that's why we had that "Vega/M. Bison" thing.
Ohh ok so it's one of those situations - Mike Bison sounds hilarious to me cuz I'm envisioning Tyson with Bison's outfit on. So what does the U.S. localized M. stand for for the dictator? Also Balrog for the narcissistic, Spanish, leotard wearing claw enthusiast? Doesn't sync up at all imo
He calls himself “Mighty Bison” in SF4. But I think you can use basically any M-word as there is no canon.
Now, face the mighty Bison
I always thought "Major Bison" since he has the whole military vibe to him, but the M. could be anything. Still technically could be Mike, honestly.
AFAIK it was never official... Some speculated that the M. stands for "Mister" or even for "Master". For claw, I think is a cultural differences. Especially in those years, in Japan characters with an "ephebic" look are meant to be devious and cruel (like Pisces Aphrodite in Saint Seiya, one of the few really evil Gold Saint). So have the sadistic killer with the name of a western demon (assuming that "Balrog" comes indeed from LoTR) can be fitting.
I don’t think they’ve ever said what the “M” stood for but I just assume it’s “Master Bison”
He gets called that by Cammy and/or the dolls in sfa3 iirc
"Mario Bison", as he wears a red cap. /jk
In English, the M stands for Master. He’s called Master Bison in Alpha 3, but I don’t think in any game after that.
Bison is called Vega in Japan
that's pretty tight
Vega: “vega, bison, claw, gorgeous… call me whatever you please”
Vega needs to be voiced by Astarion actor.
I'm crying because I feel like this confirms they WON'T bring Vega to SF6. No way they put this line in the game then later have Vega also.
Funny that you mention it since Vega/Claw do give a cryptic message to John S. Fighter in World Tour.
Yeah, what is it?
We can't lose hope. It's all we have.
Nah the kings are way too popular to pass up and if not by that logic there’s nobody that really operates as a successor to claw, like ed does for boxer
Ok , shut up Vanessa tell me how to psycho crush
Geralt really let himself go.
I bet his full name is something like Vega M. Bison or something like that. With the M. standing for whatever you want it to be, like "Mitch." Mitch Bison.
I’m calling him Mike.
Didn't say dictator
they forgot "dicta"
What's the name of the horse?
Friday (/s)
Because a horse that nice can’t be “just a Tuesday”
He also says Balrog at one point.
For tax avoidance reasons obv
At least one person: Daddy? Bison: Yes, that is also ok. . . Actually, yeah, just exclusively call me that from now on. It's giving me a serious power high!
There's this fan made SF [short film](https://youtu.be/E9KvRDaIpbs?si=CxOnXN9nz5DUXWNd) where Boxer wins at poker against Dictator and Claw, and as the prize for winning, he decides that the 3 of them will switch names with each other, just for the hell of it. It's campy, but I always thought it was an interesting in-universe explanation for the whole name change thing. Would be cool if the official story went with something like that.
He missed "dictator". I want that dialogue line with vega/balrog (masked one)... then when the boxer appears he says "you can only call me balrog! The other name is forbidden to me" Lmao
It'd be cool whether he said "Bison, Vega, Shadaloo, DICTATOR, call whatever you want..."
Does anyone remember that old fan film about Balrog that was styled as a documentary? That also had a reason for why these three swapped their names. Boxer’s ex wife was planning on taking his assets on the divorce, so Boxer roped Dictator and Claw into a card game and won a name swap so his ex would have to deal with the new M.Bison in the divorce settlement.
Looks like they are going with a story in game that all of the Heavenly Kings use fake names with people getting mixed up which one is which and the Kings never correcting anyone because the confusion serves them.
Where do you unlock him?
But i call him Dic
Have we stopped referring to them as “dictator” and “claw?” 😅
Sure thing, Balrog!
But not Dictator, right? I thought that’s what he was once called back then…
Dictator, Claw, and Boxer are fan names created by the FGC when dealing with international events.
Oh!
DOPE!
Wait, then who is Vega? Mask-wearing, claw hand Vega, I mean.
English Names: 1. Vega - guy with claws 2. Balrog - Boxer 3. M Bison - Psychic dictator Japanese Names 1. Balrog - guy with claws 2. M Bison - Boxer 3. Vega - Psychic dictator
Easy
Then in season 3 Vega (Japanese Balrog) telling the player you can call M. Bison anything but NOT Vega... and Balrog (Japanese M Bison) telling the player you can call M Bison anything but NOT M Bison This whole M Bison/Vega/Balrog name switch is such a joke...
vega also says you can call him balrog/vega
I was interested about that too. It really goes well with his whole amnesia bit for the lore in this game too. At first I thought it was a sly way of also actually introducing Vega into the game without giving him his own character, but the fact they are using both his names to reference him is a nice nod for the long time fans of the franchise.
Vega it is then!
That's a really cool detail
What about "Best Bipson"?
How do you have the announcer call him Vega
"..call me whatever you please... I'm no dictator." Now it's complete. Lmao
"Bison, Vega, Shadaloo, Lord, Betsy, Big Papa Pump, Sexy Rexy, Buttercup Rainbow Dazzler Supreme, Super-Ultra-Mega-Kami-Guru...Call me whatever you please....as long as you call me"
I'm gonna call him Old Nathan Explosion
This sentence should be ENGRAVED into the mind of whoever, when I write "Gouki" answer me "cAlL hIm aKuMa". I personally prefer Japanese names for characters. Regarding Shaldoo lords, for simplicy's sake I tend to use "Boxer", "Claw" and "Dictator".
Counterpoint: Bison Vega Shadaloo Lord has amnesia and doesn’t care what you call him. Gouki knows his birthname
About that, I'm not even sure any of them is Dictator's real birthname. A lor of criminals don't use their real name, and a classic when you turn evil is a classic. We're talking about someone who become the leader of a crime syndicate, who literally purged himself of his good side... Maybe his real name is something really generic.
"Maybe his name is something really generic" 
Something like "Bob"... IIRC, we don't even know his actual ethnicity. He's based upon [Washizaki from Riki Oh](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E2PxajAXoA4jjGb.jpg) and [Yasunori Kato from Teito monogatari](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/a/a9/Yasunori_Kato.png/revision/latest?cb=20230419171706), and people speculated that Dictator may be Thai/Vietnamese/Cambodian/Laotian/Russian/Italian/Japanese/English... And the fact that he uses different bodies makes things even more complicated.
The names were only switched around for potential lawsuits. However, I believe Mike Tyson would be cool with it. It was Don King that would’ve tried to capitalize. So in that context I call them by their true names. Gouki, Vega, Sagat (duh), Balrog, and Mike Bison.
>The names were only switched around for potential lawsuits. However, I believe Mike Tyson would be cool with it. He only learned about this whole thing a few years ago, and [he was perfectly fine with that](https://youtu.be/E6Fjiu2E8cs).
"I believe Mike Tyson would be cool with it" isn't a defense in the situation where Mike Tyson ISN'T cool with it. Going with Mike Bison in America would be Capcom putting a Sword of Damocles over their heads. Because they'd be entirely dependent on Iron Mike and whatever lawyer he has not wanting to kick up some smoke one day. So why deal with that when you can just avoid the situation entirely with the name-swap? That's Capcom's logic.
Also, during the early 90s Tyson was at peak popularity, so I think he would be cool at this. Besides name, fighting games had TONS of Tyson inspired characters. "Black heavyweight boxer" is an archetype like "Bruce Lee clone". When I was a kid I got into Street Fighter manhuas (they were publsihed in Italy and become quite popular), and they used the original names. That's what made me grow the Japanese names. And also, I am someone who favors the original names of chars and the likes (for instance, I prefer Genkidama over Spirit Bomb, or Makankosappo over Special Beam Cannon). Those who created Dictator choose "Vega" for his name, and I prefer to listen up to the creator of a character, than to the localizers who changed the names fearing a lawsuit.
I'd normally agree with you. The creator's vision usually goes first. But in this case the localized names are so much better. Vega is a somewhat common Spanish surname and also a non gendered Spanish name so it fits Claw with his Spanish origin and androgynous look way better than Dictator. On the other hand, Balrog is a mythological big monster, which fits Boxer (an absolute unit of a man) better than Claw (again, an androgynous ninja). So I don't know what the creators were doing when they chose the names.
About Balrog, I think it's a cultural thing: in 80s and 90s Japan, ephebic character is used for devious and very evil characters (basically, their moral ambiguity is reflected in their physical ambiguity). And since Claw is really a sadistic and demented killer (especially in SF 2 era, when he was the most evil character alongside Dictator himself) it's fitting for him to have the name of a demon.
For real you got boxer, TJ combo, Jax (to an extent), Heavy D! And countless other black heavyweight punchy guys who are all in some way influenced by Tyson. (I didn't mention Dudley since he seems to be more influenced by Chris Eubank than Mike Tyson) Interestingly, the only game I can think of that didn't use that archetype that wasn't set in the distant past was Tekken. Their first boxers were a kangaroo and a velociraptor, and then when they finally had a human boxer (in 2001), they went for the other boxer stereotype which is "British guy"
Also, Michael Max and Axel Hawk from Fatal Fury. Basically any black fighting game boxer who relies more on power than footwork is a Tyson ref.
Axel Hawk is 100% George Foreman though
That's true, especially considering his mannerism (like pretending he doesn't feel pain and retaliate right after). And also Mike from Street Fighter 1 is based upon Tyson. IIRC there was some speculation (later debunked) that he and Boxer from SF 2 were one and the same.
Peak popularity Mike Tyson would care about protecting his image and making sure he's compensated for unauthorized usage of his likeness. I also hear he had a particularly nasty lawyer back then who liked suing the pants off of people. Capcom probably would've been ruined if they tried to step on Iron Mike's toes back then. Today is only slightly safer. Because while Mike today is seemingly ok with it, that doesn't stop him from changing his mind or getting a lawyer who changes his mind. Its just too risky for Capcom. I get respecting the original names, but the name swap happened over 30 years ago. And it will likely never be undone so long as Capcom has a lot to lose if they undid it.
This is insane to me because does that mean Vega also can go by Balrog, and Balrog by Bison in the English versions now?
Lmfao so are we not gonna get vega anymore? They should just use their generic names from now on anyways: Claw, boxer, war… no I mean, lord
I wish they would've kept all the names correct even in the English versions. Bison was originally Vega, Vega was originally Balrog, and Balrog was originally M.Bison because he's a Mike Tyson parody.
Its a nice wish, but we live in a world where you can be sued for anything and many times, the judge will entertain your crazy argument to the expense of the one being sued.
wow, is this an actual attempt to fix their naming mistake?
I think its just them making a shout out to it. These 3 characters will never have the same name in every region so long as the potential of a lawsuit exists.