Street Fighter presents Balrog to be a bad guy - unlike the Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Balrog's real name was actually MIKE Bison. Sounds very much like Mike Tyson right? Balrog's special attacks involve names like Charging Buffalo. Now, think about it that Capcom actually took note of the crimes of Mike Tyson to create Balrog (Vega's Japanese name) under the name MIKE Bison.
The Crime Museum gives this detail of Mike Tyson as a crook:
Mike Tyson is a former heavyweight world boxing champion from Brooklyn, New York. Nicknamed “Iron Mike,” Tyson committed several crimes in his youth, including robbing stores, pick pocketing, and mugging people. In September 1991, Tyson was indicted on one count of rape, two counts of criminal deviant behavior, and one count of confinement. He was accused by Desiree Washington, a contestant in the Miss Black America Pageant, who claimed that Tyson forced himself on her in his Indianapolis hotel room. Tyson was convicted on the count of rape as well as on two counts of deviate sexual conduct. The judge sentenced Tyson to ten years in prison, as well as a $30,000 fine. The conviction was upheld in the appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Tyson’s rape case appeal once again. Tyson was released after serving three years and six weeks from the Indiana Youth Center in Plainfield, Indiana.
Both Mike Tyson and Balrog had rough youths, growing up in a bad neighborhood. Mike Tyson would be the type of person that General Vega (Bison in the American import) would recruit. Balrog's backstory of a rough upbringing and brutal tactics. I guess Capcom wanted to find inspiration for a possible Shadaloo brute enforcer. They couldn't have found a better inspiration than Mike Tyson who was truly notorious at that time.
An interesting thing is that Vega's original name Balrog may actually mean demon. In some myths, a balrog is shrouded in darkness. I guess Vega's Japanese design was meant to be that he used stealth attacks like a balrog. The name Balrog was more suitable for Vega for that reason. Meanwhile, the name M. Bison is a lot more meaningful for the boxer because of the character's bullish attacks.
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