Ah, yes. M. Bison. The final opponent in Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Street Fighter II, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and…man, dude gets a lot of mileage out of one game. In any case, if you’re familiar with fighting games at all, you’re likely familiar with this man; the leader of the Shadaloo crime syndicate with dreams of being a magical Pol Pot. And who also did a bit of name swapping with a psychotic boxer and a narcissistic Spaniard.

Like a lot of people, Street Fighter II was my first introduction to the fighting genre. And it was hard; hard enough that even making it to Sagat was something of an accomplishment. The first time that I saw M. Bison’s portrait pop up on the versus screen, I had no idea what was in store for me. Oh, the naivety of youth.

What was in store for me was the beat down of a lifetime. Those crazy flipping kicks, that imposing stage music. That giant bell in the background. That PSYCHO CURASHA! When I finally beat him, it was an exhilarating moment. Bison stand as a monument to imposing, intimidating bosses in fighting games. And also to confusing backstories. I’m to this day still not sure how exactly Bison, Rose, and Cammy are all supposed to relate to one another.

No, really. What the hell, Capcom? What the hell is even going on here? Because I got totally lost somewhere around the third or fourth retcon of the series continuity.

Unfortunately, Bison is a character that’s lost his intimidating edge over the years. This is partially because he’s not really a boss anymore; he’s more or less just a standard fighter. His role of the big bad has been taken over by a technicolor Messiah-Adonis in a thong and by a robot with a yin-yang ball for a torso.

Of course, there was also the movie Street Fighter, and the USA animated series, and the memes that came with them.

Rest in peace, Raul Julia. Rest in peace.

Oh, Mr. Bison, how far you fell. And yet, no other final boss in a Street Fighter game has ever really been able to match your style or your ability to impose fear. Well, yes, Gill is a huge dick and can heal himself, but work with me here.

And, by the way. Just what does the M stand for, anyway?

Ha. Funny. Capcom never did address the M in his name after the name swap with Claw and Boxer....and they did it to avoid legal consequences.

I'm actually kind of curious of that now.

Bah, to this day I still just refer to him as "dictator".

@Hailinel said:

Just what does the M stand for, anyway?

Matthew. It stands for Matthew. That's why he rages against the world: for giving him such an unintimidating as Matthew. Actually, I decided to look it up on the Street Fighter wiki, and I think it stands for Master. That means his name is just Bison, meaning my original motivations still stands.

I don't believe Bison fell. I just believe that he was so awesome, that they needed to make him a playable character to kick the ass of the other bosses.
 

@Video_Game_King

@Hailinel said:

Just what does the M stand for, anyway?

Matthew. It stands for Matthew. That's why he rages against the world: for giving him such an unintimidating as Matthew.

@MikeGosot said:

himslef

I haven't met that character in Skyrim. Where's he hiding?

@MikeGosot said:

himslef

I haven't met that character in Skyrim. Where's he hiding?

@MikeGosot:

I don't think there are Nazis in Skyrim; Sweden was neutral during World War II.

@MikeGosot:

I don't think there are Nazis in Skyrim; Sweden was neutral during World War II.

Mike Bison

@MikeGosot:

You mean I can punch Nazis in Skyrim?....I can punch them, right? Because I spent today punching a talking dragon to no avail.

Mike Bison, which was the name of Balrog, which was the name of Vega, which was the name of M. Bison. Easy!

@MikeGosot:

You mean I can punch Nazis in Skyrim?....I can punch them, right? Because I spent today punching a talking dragon to no avail.

@MikeGosot:

You'd think it'd be called "@LordXavierBritish Punchfucks All of Skyrim".

@MikeGosot:

You'd think it'd be called "@LordXavierBritish Punchfucks All of Skyrim".

This is all that needs to be said.

Okay so Cammy was kidnapped and brain washed to become one of his DOLLs back before he was able to just clone them or something. And they're there as like... henchmen and body replacesments or whatever. Rose is like the "good" side of his psycho power that he shed at some point cause he just wants the evil part or something... damned if I know, I'm just going off memory here. I'm not sure how this also gave her clairvoyance or why she feels she needs to stop Ryu from fighting him when she knows he's the only one that can defeat him... (cept for... yknow... how Akuma literally killed him) *boggles*

Whatever. Personally, my favorite villains in the series are, by far, Vega (Claw) and Juri. Those two are just so narcissistic and deliciously evil. Hell, they're not even "evil" so much as they just place themselves above everyone else and basically are of the opinion all others who are weaker or less beautiful are merely cattle (including Bison, himself). I spose that's still a type of "evil", but not in a "I want to rule the world cause I'm so evil muahahaha" kind of way like Bison or Seth, or the super boring "I'm Akuma something about ultimate power and kamehamehas blah blah blah whatever" way.

What were we talking about again?

Oh fun fact: Bison on hardest difficulty in SFII for the SNES was the first time a game had frustrated me to the point of tears.

@PixelPrinny said:

What were we talking about again?

I'm not even sure at this point. Something about Skyrim Nazis?

But really, yeah, Street Fighter's story is all kinds of screwy. I just...I don't know what to think about it. O_o

I'm not so much a fan of Vega, but Juri is easily one of my favorite characters in the series for similar reasons. She's just this twisted sadist that really doesn't give a shit about controlling the world.

And yeah, the harder difficulties of Street Fighter II were beyond brutal.