Vega

CHARACTERISTICS

HEIGHT 6'1"[6] (186 cm)[1][2][7][8][9] WEIGHT 185 lbs (84 kg)[7][8] 159 lbs[6] (72 kg)[1][9] EYE COLOR Blue Green (Street Fighter EX series) HAIR COLOR Brown (Street Fighter II series, Street Fighter IV series, SVC Chaos) Blond (Street Fighter Alpha series, Street Fighter EX series, Capcom vs. SNK series, Street Fighter V) BLOOD TYPE O[1][2][9] MEASUREMENTS B121/W73/H83[1][9]

PERSONAL

FIRST GAME Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Street Fighter II': Champion Edition (Playable) BIRTHDATE January 27[1][2], 1967[3]; 24 years old (SFII)[4], 27 years old (SFIV)[5] BIRTHPLACE Spain[1][2] RESIDES Spain FIGHTING STYLE Spanish Ninjutsu[1][2][7] LIKES Beauty[10], himself[1][2], roses[8] DISLIKES Ugly people/things, blood splatter splashback[1][2], Balrog, Juri's provocations, F.A.N.G OCCUPATION Shadaloo King (Ninja/Assassin, formerly) AFFILIATION Shadaloo RIVAL(S) Chun-Li, Cammy (SFA3), Zangief (SFA3), Rose (SFA3), Fei-Long (SFA3), Ken, Balrog, Juri, F.A.N.G, Guile, Abigail, Benimaru Nikaido (CVS), Yoshimitsu, Raven (SFxTK) SKILLS Sticking to walls[1][2][7] MOVESET Cosmic Heel, Back Slash, Short Back Slash, Rolling Crystal Flash, Scarlet Terror, Sky High Claw, Flying Barcelona Attack, Izuna Drop, Remove Claw/Mask, Cage Climb, Crimson CrucifyΩ, Rose ThornΩ, Insanity GazeΩ, Backslash (SVC Chaos), Matador Turn, Super Cage Climb, Flying Barcelona Special, Rolling Izuna Drop, Scarlet Mirage, Red Impact, Hell's Scarlet (SFTM), Bloody High Claw, Splendid Claw, Switching Claw, Crimson Terror, Aurora Spin Edge, Grand Izuna Drop, Matador Turn, Bloody Kiss, Beautiful Severance, Alegrias, Bloody Rain ALIGNMENT Chaotic Neutral STATUS Alive RELATIONSHIP Ignacio (Student?)

introduction of Vega

Vega, known as Balrog (バルログ, Barurogu?) in Japan, is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing as a non-playable boss in Street Fighter II before becoming playable in its update, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. He is a claw-wielding, narcissistic Spanish ninja obsessed with beauty who also serves as a personal bodyguard to M. Bison.

Personality

Vega's character archetype is very familiar in Japanese manga and anime: the Narcissist (ナルシスト, Narushisuto?), often depicted as a long-haired, effeminate self-lover. Certain archetypal characters are comparable to Vega, elaborated on his pop culture page. Vega is vain, overconfident, and highly convinced of his own abilities, almost to the point of megalomania. He is also incredibly sadistic and takes great pleasure in seeing the ugly murdered, and preferably mutilated. He often has a stone-cold demeanor, and does not even show a wide range of emotions. His narcissism and disdain for anything lacking elegance causes him to clash with fellow Shadaloo member Balrog due to the latter's boorish nature. Vega's vanity is demonstrated in how he uses his mask. He wears the mask not to conceal his identity, but to protect his face from scarring or bruising during battle, so that he can more easily view himself as perfect-looking. Vega often removes it after fights during his win poses, and his face is at least partially, if not fully, exposed in some of his character-select mugshots as well as some of his individual endings. Additionally, many characters are able to recognize Vega even if they never see him without his mask. In some games, he can remove the mask during battle.

Vega's unbridled and solipsistic ego is shown even in his taste in interior décor, as his mansion is adorned with portraits, all of himself. Vega is also good at adopting elegant and gentlemanly mannerisms, likely because of his noble background. He has also been described as intelligent and sophisticated.[11] Additionally, he is also attracted by the beauty and strength of young female fighters, such as Chun-Li and Cammy; in the case of the former he frequently compliments on her appearances. At the same time, he seems to derive pleasure from causing pain and despair to Chun-Li, and even enjoys taunting her. With men, on the other hand, Vega tends to completely look down upon them and is seen constantly scolding their fighting abilities and "ugliness" in his win quotes, considering his looks and skills to be superior. He also harbors a tragic side. The family trauma he experienced molded his fragile mind to perceive physical unattractiveness not only as repulsive, but also as a threat. With his attractive mother murdered at the hands of his unattractive stepfather, ugliness came to represent evil and cowardice, while beauty represented heroism and strength. This also implies that Vega's hatred of anything "ugly" may actually be a manifestation of post-traumatic stress disorder. It has also been said that Vega's love of beauty is at least partially rooted in the way he was raised by his mother.

In Super Street Fighter IV, Vega shows a small amount of respect for Guy in his Arcade Mode win quote, saying he expected better of him. While this is surprising considering his personality, it makes sense since both are masters of ninjutsu, and they are arguably the two most agile Street Fighter characters. Additionally, some, if not all, of Vega's win quotes against other ninja fighters suggest that he judges them based on their skills and abilities with the art of ninjutsu (as well as their appearance

Etymology and name change

Vega is the 5th brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest star of its constellation, Lyra. Several of Vega's moves are named to reflect this, such as the Stardust Drop or Cosmic Heel. When Street Fighter II was localized in the United States, Capcom was afraid of a lawsuit from Mike Tyson over a character (Balrog) with his likeness as well as a similar sounding name (his Japanese name being "Mike Bison"). Additionally, when the designers presented the game to Capcom USA's marketing department, they believed that the name "Vega" did not fit the character it was given to. Vega is also a common Spanish surname. They decided to rotate the names of three of the four boss characters in the following manner: The boxer is known as M. Bison in Japan and Balrog in the U.S. The Spanish assassin/bullfighter is known as Balrog in Japan and Vega in the U.S. The evil dictator and head of Shadaloo is known as Vega in Japan and M. Bison in the U.S.

Appearance

Vega is a tall, strikingly handsome young man with long hair that is braided into a ponytail. His hair has switched between brown, black, and blond through various Street Fighter media. In the Street Fighter II series, Vega's hair is colored brown in the sprites, but colored blond in the endings that feature him. The comics give him blond hair, as do Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Street Fighter V. In Street Fighter IV, Vega has brown hair in both the cutscenes and the gameplay. He wears murrey and yellow ceremonial trousers, a red sash, loafers, and white leggings of a matador, suggesting his involvement with bullfighting. This decorative garb offers matadors ease of movement, and is therefore ideal for Vega's acrobatic maneuvers. Vega also has a purple snake tattoo on his chest which circles his left arm, and on his right arm and both his wrists he wears gold-colored armlets. The tattoo shows him to be a villain to a Japanese audience, where body tattoos are usually worn by Yakuza members. In Capcom vs. SNK 2, as a win pose, Vega will hold his arm out, with the tattoo coming to life and hissing at the opponent. In most Street Fighter media, he also maintains long and sharp nails on his hands. Early sketches suggest that Vega was going to resemble a medieval knight wearing a full suit of armor. This idea was scrapped, as Street Fighter was about fighters from all over the world, not from different time periods. There are a few remnants of this concept in Vega's final design, specifically a mask and a sharp metal claw. A similar type of weapon was used by Geki in the original Street Fighter, which has led to speculation that Vega received some training from Geki.[citation needed]

Vega's concept of being a Spanish ninja was not originally in the planning. In the later phases of development, a handful of concepts such as a ninja character, a Thai character and a Spanish character were left incomplete, to which artist Mizuho "Katuragi" Kageyama was assigned to create. Initially, Vega was meant to be a Thai ninja, but was suddenly told to make a Spanish ninja in a similar style to the Nameless Asura, an antagonist in the Fist of the North Star series known for his immense agility, distinct mask, bladed weapons and braided ponytail. Vega has a white mask that is lacking in facial features or expressions. There is a purple symbol on his mask, the same color as his tattoos. It is difficult to tell how durable his mask is. On one hand, Vega is able to crush it to dust with one hand if he loses due to a time over in Street Fighter Alpha 3. On the other hand, it takes several hits before the mask falls off and, even then, he can easily pick up and reapply the mask, with no apparent lasting damage. Much like Sagat's eyepatch in earlier games, Vega's claw will always appear on whatever arm matches the direction he is facing (if he is looking to left side of the screen, it will appear on his left arm, and if he's looking right, it will be on his right) due to sprite mirroring. In the Street Fighter EX series, it will always be on his right arm. In Street Fighter IV, however, he changes his claw every time he switches sides, without mirroring; this can be seen in his tattoo, his accessories, and in the mark on his mask. Curiously enough, during the versus screen, his portrait won't be mirroring all the accessories either, with the unique exception of his claws.

In Street Fighter V, Vega retains his claws and red waist sash but is now wearing a partially opened white shirt. His traditional matador pants are now a light blue denim. The purple snake tattoo that encircles his torso can still be partially seen. His main outfit was maintained in his minor appearance in Street Fighter 6 during World Tour and no longer wielding his claws since he became the owner of his own castle. His alternate costume is an altered version of his outfit. The sleeves of his frill shirt are short and his signature mask is replaced with a golden opera mask. His blond hair is tied in a slick back in a ponytail with a long single fringe in the center of his head. His Halloween DLC costume has him wear a long red coat, a black formal suit with a white tie and black boots. He also wears white gloves and a magician hat on his head. While wearing this outfit, Vega can fight with or without his long coat.

Character Relationships

Vega's criminal actions and general narcissism have made him many enemies. Allies Balrog Balrog and Vega greatly dislike each other, but are occasionally paired up to accomplish one of Shadaloo's goals. Balrog dislikes Vega for the latter's "pretty boy" persona; likewise, Vega dislikes Balrog for the latter's boorishness and constant arrogance. Balrog tends to annoy, tease and make fun of Vega whenever he gets the chance. In spite of this however, the two are not seen fighting each other in A Shadow Falls where the two in fact seem to team up, when they try to fight F.A.N.G. at one point after he makes them fight soldiers to test their abilities, likely due to their shared hatred for F.A.N.G. M. Bison Vega and Bison have a simple professional relationship. Apart from the usual curious attitude, Vega does not have frictions with Bison. However, the assassin does not seem to be interested in helping the Shadaloo leader conquer the world. Whenever the organization is destroyed, Vega reverts to his old lifestyle, but will not hesitate to join again should it resurface. F.A.N.G Although F.A.N.G initially seemed to show co-worker respect towards Vega, the latter thinks of him as an ugly and pathetic individual because of his deeds towards the improvement of Shadaloo Dolls. Because of this, F.A.N.G sees Vega as a "contemptuous little bastard".

Ignacio

Introduced in Street Fighter 6, Ignacio is a young boy who wears a mask like Vega's and appears to be in the nobleman's care or tutelage. He fights and soundly loses to the Avatar, which prompts Vega to thank them for their "assistance" with the boy. The exact details of Ignacio's relationship with Vega remain to be revealed.

Rivals

Juri Juri sees Vega as a "pervert" due to his obsession with beauty, though this is quite hypocritical given her own interactions with other male fighters. Vega on the other hand appears to feel genuinely attracted to Juri's beauty and psychopathic tendencies, calling her the "personification of evil beauty itself" in his SSFIV win quote against her, though he dislikes her provocations, saying that she lacks "delicacy". Chun-Li Vega enjoys pricking Chun-Li. In SFIV, he says that Chun-Li has impressive beauty and strength and tries to play mind games with her by calling himself a ghost. In SFV, he and Chun-Li battle off trying to learn more about her father but Vega escapes. Cammy Cammy hates Vega since he is a part of Shadaloo (in one comic he is the one who scars her cheek). In Street Fighter Alpha 3, Cammy goes rogue, and Vega is sent by M. Bison to find her and to take her back to Shadaloo. When he finds her, he goes into a fight with her, calling her a "guinea pig", which confuses Cammy, unaware of the situation. Cammy wins and wonders what is going on and goes to M. Bison, who explains that she's a clone of him with his DNA. When she defeats him, he is killed and his original body disappears. When the Psycho Drive is blown up, she is near the explosion, but is saved by Vega; she doesn't know he saved her. He still shows interest in her in Street Fighter V, following her around during her character story and during A Shadow Falls. When the Shadaloo base blows up, he throws his mask into the explosion, possibly deciding to abandon her.

Story

Vega was born to a privileged noble family in Spain. For reasons undisclosed, their status dwindled, causing Vega's mother to remarry for financial security. Growing up to the arts of hunting, later as he matured, Vega studied bullfighting, a cultural tradition, finding the sport more exciting and honorable in being able to dispatch his prey up close with his own might. Afterward, he went to Japan and learned ninjutsu, a style he believed meshed well with his natural grace and agility. Combining bullfighting with ninjutsu, Vega went into an underground cage fighting circuit, and quickly became one of the best. His ugly stepfather murdered his beautiful mother because he felt she did not respect him, and Vega killed him in return.[12] The incident warped his mind, and he developed a dual personality: honorable nobleman by day, sadistic murderer by night. It also triggered Vega's obsession with beauty as a wonderful trait, as well as his belief that ugliness is something evil that should be purged.

Street Fighter Alpha 3

Vega oversaw assassination operations for Shadaloo, and was associated with Cammy and the Shadaloo assassins known as the Dolls. When Cammy went rogue however, Vega was assigned to bring her in and although he failed in that mission, Cammy brought herself in and defeated M. Bison, freeing herself and the other Dolls from Bison's brainwashing. When the strain of undoing the brainwashing (as well as a dead-man's trigger in the brainwashing which was meant to kill them if they betrayed Bison) caused Cammy and the other Dolls to collapse, Vega saved them from the burning Shadaloo base because he didn't believe that anything as beautiful as them should die. Super Street Fighter II Turbo Vega then participated in the second World Warrior tournament at the behest of Bison, during which he battled Ken Masters.[13] However, when Bison was seemingly killed by an unknown assailant, Vega disappeared back into his old lifestyle. Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind Vega makes a small appearance near the end, when he is seen along with Balrog in a Shadaloo helicopter. As a heavily injured Seth drags himself aboard, he gives him a message from Bison, telling him that while he "put on a fantastic show", S.I.N.'s success has only come through the manipulation of Shadaloo working behind the scenes to ensure their good fortune.

Super Street Fighter IV

It is unknown what Vega was doing since the fall of Shadaloo; he was rumored to have returned to bullfighting, and was believed by several people to be dead.[14] However, Vega was alive, and a subdivision of Shadaloo called S.I.N. attempted to re-recruit him. Vega quickly accepted the subsidiary's offer, as he was intrigued at the idea of creating new bodies for oneself so as to be eternally young, and was otherwise tired of the aristocratic lifestyle, finding money and power to be an "ugly" combination. At S.I.N. HQ, while Seth was distracted by several assailants (not least of whom was a newly resurrected Bison), Vega stole valuable data on the project, and when Chun-Li did the same thing, he attempted to kill her by setting off the fire alarm, which released a toxic, fire-retardant spray. He escaped in a helicopter from the exploding base and noticed Chun-Li being rescued from the base along with her copy of the data. Mildly displeased that he did not have the only copy, Vega resolved to correct the situation later.

Street Fighter V

On August 3rd, Vega was revealed to return in Street Fighter V.[15] Vega is keeping tabs on the Dolls and thinks that F.A.N.G is foolish for making them loyally follow the commands of Shadaloo. A Shadow Falls In New York, F.A.N.G, Balrog, and Vega bicker about the success and failures of Operation C.H.A.I.N.S. When Bison appears for a report of "the other device", F.A.N.G brings forth two Shadaloo soldiers to test out against Balrog and Vega. After defeating the soldiers, the two kings threaten F.A.N.G. Chun-Li and Guile appear and take notice of the carnage, before finally seeing Bison. Chun-Li confronts them, despite Guile's efforts to stop her. Bison steps forward and engages her himself, stating she was foolish to come. With a burst of Psycho Power, Bison throws Chun-Li to the floor. Guile rushes to her aid, but is intercepted by Vega who challenges him. Later on in Brazil, Vega watches a now fugitive Cammy ride off with Juri and Decapre, obsessed with his own mission of subjugating Cammy. Vega continues to stalk the trio until they arrive in London, where he springs into action and attacks Cammy. After defeating the former Doll handily, Vega approaches the unconscious Cammy to admire her beauty, picking up one of her braids. However, before he gets the chance, he is interrupted by Juri who claims that Cammy was hers since she picked her up first.

As Juri holds off Vega, Cammy regains consciousness. Upon seeing Vega standing beside Decapre, she quickly kicks the mask off his face, forcing him to back off. As Cammy defends the unconscious Decapre, Vega chuckles and retreats. Vega is next seen during the Street Fighters' assault on Shadaloo's base of operations, where he once again encounters Cammy, who had just defeated the brainwashed Juli. After dodging his slash, Cammy gets in her stance as Vega mocks her. Cammy tries to attack him with a Spiral Arrow. He avoids her attack and proceeds with the battle. Although Vega once again emerges victorious, before he can finish her, Decapre appears and saves Cammy. After the other Dolls are freed from their brainwashing, Vega makes his exit.

Street Fighter 6

World Tour Vega is depicted playing a violin at a concert when Dee Jay reminisces about Shadaloo, mistakenly believing the criminal syndicate was a popular band. The resurrected M. Bison, upon regaining some of his memories, orders the Avatar to seek out information on both Vega and Balrog. With the assistance of a contact named "Foo," the Avatar travels to the Colosseo where they are challenged to fight a boy named Ignacio, who wears a mask just like Vega's. The Avatar is instructed to fight the match in a "beautiful" fashion: win without taking any damage. After defeating Ignacio, the Avatar takes the boy's mask and delivers it to Fang Fei in Metro City. They are then instructed to go to Nayshall for their next step in finding Balrog. Upon arriving, Vega contacts the Avatar via text message out of gratitude for their "assistance" with Ignacio. Vega admits that he never cared much for Shadaloo and as the master of his own castle, he never had any desire for absolute power. However, he did see some beauty in Bison's mad ambitions and states that if Bison truly is reborn, then perhaps he may take up his claw once again. In the Japanese version of the game, Vega mentions he is the master of the House of La Cerda, referencing his full name being given as "Vega Fabio la Cerda" in the anime Street Fighter II V.

Fighting style

Vega's fighting style, officially referred as "Spanish Ninjutsu", is a blend of ninjutsu and bullfighting, thus earning him the nickname "Spanish Ninja". Moveset Vega is one of the fastest and most agile characters in the Street Fighter series, but also one of the most delicate; his defensive rating is low compared to most of the other characters to balance his incredible speed. Vega is also one of the few weapon users in the series, and the only one that appears in the Street Fighter II series. Vega's overall style uses a mix of a keepaway game and quick lunges at the opponent. Vega has a powerful air game based on his Flying Barcelona Attack and Sky High Claw, and is more than agile enough to get around the opponent's attacks and strike with rapid succession, leading to potentially devastating setups, confusing cross-ups, or long-range poking attacks with the reach advantage provided by his claw. However, his long reach can easily be beaten out with a counterattack at the right moment, and could leave Vega helpless to an aggressive opponent; most of Vega's moves are hard to maintain a position with, and are not too safe on block. In addition to various airborne attacks, Vega is equipped with low ground attacks such as the Scarlet Terror and Rolling Crystal Flash that can be used to keep the foe off-balance, and he can use long and short Back Slashes to back flip around attacks. In Street Fighter V, Vega is no longer a charge character, making nearly all of his moves easier to pull off.[18]

Claw and mask mechanics

It takes exactly fourteen blocked hits for Vega to lose his claw. This reduces his attack range (and sometimes power) significantly, and prevents him from using certain Super Combos. Since Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Vega is able to retrieve the claw; in Street Fighter Alpha 3, he can lose his mask as well, though the effect is only cosmetic there. In SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, Vega cannot lose his claw. In the Street Fighter EX series, Vega may reinforce or recover his claw with a Super Combo. In the Street Fighter IV series, Vega can throw his claw off as a special taunt. He can also throw his mask, at the cost of two bars of the Super Combo Gauge, to increase his attack power by 25% (damage scaling is still accounted for, however). If Vega wins a fight without his mask on, it is revealed that he sticks his tongue out to either lick his claw or taunt his fallen opponent. In Street Fighter V, Vega has access to two distinct fighting styles; clawed or barehanded, and he can choose to sheathe or unsheathe his claw at any point during battle. Barehanded, Vega gains access to a command grab, and vastly different attack properties. In a drastic change from previous recent appearances, once Vega's claw is knocked off, it cannot be picked back up.[19] Depending on the chosen fighting style, possible combos are different. Overall, sheathing the claw is trading range for more combo potential. In Street Fighter V, the claw does not seem to increase damage Vega deals and therefore only provides him extra range for most of his attacks. However, a few of his moves attacks have increased damage with claw on to make up for loss of combo potential (FBA for example, which knocks the opponent down with claw on, denying any combo option). In Street Fighter V, Vega loses his mask after losing around 80 - 85 % of his health bar. He has a slight increase in damage after losing the mask, but does not seem to have a defense penalty like in previous games.

Trivia

Despite being originally intended as the Dictator's name in the Japanese versions of the Street Fighter games, Vega is actually a proper Spanish name and is sometimes a given name or a surname. It also means Fertile Plains as a noun, or can refer to the star of Vega in the Lyra constellation. Due to how he is named differently in varying regions, he is known in the international community as "Claw". In Super Street Fighter IV, Vega's second alternate costume bears some resemblance to Zorro. In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Vega is referenced in Ryu's win quote against Wolverine. Vega might be the only character in the Street Fighter franchise who is not completely right-handed. Most of his official illustrations place the claw on his left hand, while in Street Fighter V, the claw appears on his right hand. This suggests that Vega is either an ambidextrous individual or, at the very least, a left-hander who has learnt how to use the right hand as a result of the real-life social stigma against "southpaws". Vega is the only character in the Street Fighter series who is able to interact with his stage. In the 1994 Street Fighter film, Vega works for Sagat in the underground fighting ring instead of working for M. Bison in Shadaloo. Vega's clawed weapon, the tekkō-kagi is also the trademark weapon of Oroku Saki/The Shredder in all known incarnations of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The home version of Street Fighter: The Movie is the only game where Vega does not wear his mask. Vega shares his birthday with Dudley. Vega's normal throws are similar to Cammy's; both having a Suplex and a Frankensteiner. Sergei, from Capcom's 3D beat 'em up game Asura's Wrath, share a similar personality and character traits with Vega. Vega's "Fallen Balrog" form (or a design similar to it) can be seen in a variant cover for issue #11 of UDON's Street Fighter Unlimited. Vega's Rolling Crystal Flash special attack is very similar to Gen's Jyasen special attack, as both attacks have the same input, start off with consecutive rolls, and end with a punch attack. In Street Fighter V, Vega no longer has access to Rolling Crystal Flash but instead has a new move called Crimson Terror which overall fits the same role as its predecessor, except that the move now ends with a kick instead of a claw lunge. In those versions of Street Fighter II that make Vega playable, his country of origin (Spain) is represented by the flag that was used during the reign of Francisco Franco (1936-1975), and was declared unconstitutional well before the release of those updates to the game. The usage of this flag may have stemmed from a difficulty with replicating the complex coat of arms design in the modern flag with the graphics at the time. Vega is one of the few characters in the original Street Fighter IV game who has one rival (in his case, Chun-Li) throughout the whole sub-series. Vega's design in Cannon Spike bears a resemblance to Marilyn Manson. In the Matador movie, Vega's mom has a scratch on her face that resembles the mark on Vega's mask.