Street Fighter fans were elated when Capcom revealed that M. Bison would be making a return in the eagerly awaited video game Street Fighter V. Bison of course, is one of the most iconic characters in the Street Fighter series (he made his first appearance in Street Fighter II in the 90’s), and he is also one of the greatest video game villains of all time.
So it is great that he will be a playable character in the upcoming Street Fighter V, as Bison will surely have more than one surprise in store for players. Here follow the top things you might not know about the man in the red beret.
Bison has new tricks up his sleeve
Judging by the trailer above, the man in the red beret is just as vicious a fighter as he ever was, as he squares off against Charlie Nash and beats him to a pulp in the trailer. And Bison appears to have new tricks up his sleeve, as his “psycho power” attacks seem to leave his opponent engulfed in psycho energy (which looks like, err, “purple stuff” in the trailer). Bison also appears to have the ability to deflect projectiles coming at him, and this could make life difficult for opponents like Ryu, who are fond of spamming fireballs at their rivals.
And as a side note, although Bison sports grey hair in the trailer, his fighting abilities do not seem to have diminished one bit. So that “older and wiser” adage certainly holds some truth to it…
Bison was actually named after a boxer
Balrog the boxer is one of the best characters in Street Fighter IV, but he is actually known as M. Bison in Japan…
It is clear that Japanese video game company Capcom based some of the game’s colourful characters on real sportsmen. And it is no surprise that the boxer character in the Street Fighter games was based on former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who was an incredibly popular sports figure in the early 90’s.
The boxer was to be known as M. Bison, but his striking similarity to “Iron Mike” (and the similar name) made some Capcom executives nervous, as they did not want to be sued by pugilist Mike Tyson. So a little name-swapping took place… The boxer was named Balrog and the boss character in the red beret became M. Bison in the US version of the game. But in the Japanese version of the game the boxer is still named M. Bison, while the villain in the red beret is known as Vega…