Understand why Bison is called Vega and M. Bison is Balrog in Street Fighter II due to localization name swaps.
In Japan, the character you know as M. Bison was originally named Vega. The character known as Balrog in the US version was named M. Bison in Japan, a name intended as a spoof of the boxer Mike Tyson. When Street Fighter II cabinets were localized for the US, Capcom feared a potential likeness lawsuit due to the M. Bison name. To avoid this, they swapped a few character names around.
Tips
- Remember that M. Bison was Vega in Japan, and Balrog was M. Bison in Japan.
- The name swap was done to prevent legal issues related to Mike Tyson's likeness.
100% Human-Written. AI Fact-Checked. Community Verified. Learn how AntMag verifies content