{"id":32384,"date":"2024-06-14T10:49:37","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T01:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=32384"},"modified":"2024-06-14T10:49:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T01:49:38","slug":"why-is-street-fighters-m-bison-called-vega-exploring-the-fighting-series-complex-naming-conventions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/why-is-street-fighters-m-bison-called-vega-exploring-the-fighting-series-complex-naming-conventions\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Street Fighter\u2019s M. Bison called Vega? Exploring the fighting series\u2019 complex naming conventions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When M. Bison was announced as the first of four new playable characters<\/a> for Street Fighter 6<\/strong>, some people were confused about the antagonist\u2019s name. While the red-uniformed, Psycho power user is known throughout most of the world as \u201cM. Bison,\u201d in Japan he bears the name of another popular Street Fighter villain, Vega. In fact, the characters Vega, M. Bison, and Balrog had their names switched for international audiences years ago. While the reasons for the name changes make sense, they do little to alleviate the confusion surrounding them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Street<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the final boss of 1991\u2019s Street Fighter 2, the Shadaloo dictator\u2019s original name is \u201cVega\u201d \u2013 which comes from the brightest star in the Lyra constellation. The name was changed to \u201cM. Bison\u201d for the international version of the game when Capcom\u2019s North American branch deemed \u201cVega\u201d not threatening enough. Since \u201cVega\u201d sounds more Spanish, the name was consequently given to Shadaloo\u2019s Spanish ninja bodyguard instead. The dictator \u201cVega\u201d became \u201cM. Bison\u201d and the dictator\u2019s Spanish bodyguard \u201cBalrog\u201d became \u201cVega\u201d for Street Fighter 2\u2019s international release.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Street<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Shadaloo boxer originally known as \u201cM. Bison\u201d would have his name switched to \u201cBalrog\u201d for two reasons: the first being that he couldn\u2019t have the same name as another Street Fighter 2 character and the second was for legal reasons. Since the boxer\u2019s full name, \u201cMike Bison\u201d, was meant to be a play on the real-world boxer Mike Tyson (the character even looks like an exaggerated caricature of him), Capcom decided to change the name to avoid any legal disputes. Strangely, while the \u201cM.\u201d in \u201cM. Bison\u201d used to stand for \u201cMike\u201d, the letter doesn\u2019t have any meaning when attached to the Shadaloo dictator. Some surmise that the \u201cM.\u201d stands for \u201cMajor\u201d, but Capcom has yet to shed any light on the mystery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s why three of Street Fighter\u2019s iconic villains have their names switched. Barring exceptions like these three characters and Akuma (whose original name is \u201cGouki\u201d<\/a>), most of the Street Fighter cast have the same names no matter which country you are in. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Street Fighter 6 is available for PC (Steam<\/a>),\u00a0PS4<\/a>\/PS5<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Xbox Series X|S<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do Street Fighter characters M. Bison, Vega and Balrog all have their names swapped outside Japan? Read on to find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":32398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-32384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy is Street Fighter\u2019s M. Bison called Vega? Exploring the fighting series\u2019 complex naming conventions - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do Street Fighter characters M. Bison, Vega and Balrog all have their names swapped outside Japan? 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