Balrog (Street Fighter)
Balrog is a male video game character who features in Street Fighter.
Contents |
Biography
Balrog was a male human where it was said that he had lived a life of poverty in his childhood. To survive, he developed a ruthless and cutthroat nature in order to live on the streets. In time, he became a great boxing champion and prize fighter who fought his way to the top. This saw him enjoying great fame where he came to live in Las Vegas. However, he engaged in illegal manoeuvres where he permanently injured an opponent and accidentally killed another leading to him being banned from boxing. As he valued money over glory, he came to fall into criminal endeavours leading to him eventually joining Shadaloo where he became the chief enforcer of its leader M. Bison.
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.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Balrog was a tall, heavily built and very muscular African-American man.
Typically, he was shown as having a self-centered, hot-tempered, arrogant and sadistic personality.
A greedy American boxer, he loved booze, gambling and women. His motivations had always been to attain massive wealth, fame and glory so that his life would be easy.
It was his ambitious nature that led to him rising from the lower ranks of Shadaloo to one of the organizations executives.
However, he was shown to lack leadership skills and the ability to manage an organization. This was seen when Bison was believed dead whereupon Balrog came to assume the position after it fell on him. The organization then almost immediately collapsed under his leadership forcing him to work security at casinos and other places in order to get by in life.
Though seen as stupid, he was actually quite devious and capable of devising successful plans.
He came to be responsible for raising Ed (エド Edo?) after taking the boy in.
Powers and abilities
It was said that he was armed with the world's strongest punches. Such was his skill that he came to be the former heavyweight boxing champion.
Among the techniques known to him included:
- Gigaton Blow (ギガトンブロー Gigaton Burō?) :
- Dirty Bull (ダーティーブル Daatii Buru?) :
- Buffalo Breaker (バッファローブレーカー, "Baffarōburēkā") :
- Buffalo Head (バッファローヘッド Baffaroo Heddo?) :
- Violent Buffalo (バイオレンスバッファロー Baiorensu Baffaroo?, Violence Buffalo) :
- Crazy Buffalo (クレイジーバッファロー Kureijii Baffaroo?) :
He came to be a member of the Shadaloo (シャドルー Shadorū?) where he stood among its top executives as one of the Four Heavenly Kings (四天王 (してんのう) Shitennō?).
Notes
- Balrog was created by Capcom where he featured in the setting of the Street Fighter universe.
- In Japan, the character was known as M. Bison (マイク・バイソン Maiku Baison?).
- The character was loosely based on the real-life semi-retired boxer Mike Tyson.
In other media
Television
- In Street Fighter, Balrog appeared in the setting of the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Paul Dobson.
- In Street Fighter II V, Balrog appeared in the setting of the anime television series where he was voiced by Japanese actor Tomomichi Nishimura and by English actor Joe Romersa in the dub. Balrog was a Shadaloo spy who had infiltrated Interpol where he hired Cammy to assassinate Chun-Li's father Dorai, under the false pretense that Dorai was the Shadaloo spy. Though Cammy carried out the assassination, Balrog later learnt from his superiors that Dorai survived and Interpol were covering it up to lure the spy up. In a panic, Balrog demanded that Cammy finish Dorai off, which led to a fight between her and Fei-Long inside Dorai's hospital room, during which Cammy learns of Balrog's treachery. Balrog was later confronted by Cammy and he attempted to kill her, but with help from Fei-Long and the Interpol chief, he was subdued and arrested.
Films
- In Street Fighter, Balrog appeared in the setting of the 1994 live action film where he was portrayed by actor Grand L. Bush. Balrog, G. had been a former boxer who refused to throw a match leading to Sagat ruining his boxing career. This led to him holding a grudge against the Shadaloo Tong headed by Sagat where he eventually became a videographer in Chun-Li's news crew.
- In Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Balrog appeared in the setting of the 1994 anime film where he was voiced by Japanese actor Jouji Nakata and by English actor Joe Romersa in the dub. He was portrayed as one of Bison's three top men like in the Street Fighter II games, serving as a representative and informant for Bison during a drug deal in Las Vegas and ends up fighting against E. Honda during the final battle. Honda defeats him off-screen and later carries him to safety. He is presumably handed over to the authorities after Bison is defeated by Ryu and Ken. In battle, he wears dark green cargo pants instead of his boxing trunks, and lacks his boxing gloves.
- In Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Balrog appeared in the setting of the 2009 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Michael Clarke Duncan.
Video games
- In Street Fighter X Tekken, Balrog appeared as a playable character in the setting of the crossover fighting video game where he was tagged with his partner Vega.
Appearances
- Street Fighter II: The World Warrior: (1991)
External Links
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