Vega (Street Fighter)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Street Fighter character known as "Balrog" in Japan. For the character known as "Vega" in Japan, see
Balrog (Street Fighter)
.
Vega
Street Fighter character
Vega in Super Street Fighter II
First gameStreet Fighter II (1991)
Created byAkira Nishitani[1]
Akira "Akiman" Yasuda[2]
Designed byMizuho "Katuragi" Kageyama[2]
Portrayed byJay Tavare (Street Fighter film, game)
Taboo (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li)
Voiced by
  • Eri "Erichan" Nakamura (
    Hyper Fighting
    )
  • Shō Hayami
    (Drama CD)
  • Kaneto Shiozawa (Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Street Fighter II V, Street Fighter EX series)
  • Yūji Ueda (Street Fighter Alpha 3, Capcom vs. SNK series)
  • Kiyotomi Goshima (Gunspike, SVC Chaos: Capcom vs. SNK)
  • Junichi Suwabe (Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter X Tekken, Street Fighter V)
  • Kazuyuki Ishikawa (Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation)
  • Nobuyuki Hiyama (Real Battle on Film)
  • Chihara Junior (Japanese dub of Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li)
In-universe information
Origin
Spanish
Fighting styleSpanish Ninjutsu

Vega, also known as Balrog (in Japan), is a

bullfighting
, earning him the nickname of "Spanish Ninja".

Vega first appears in the original

Ultra Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V
.

Conception and design

When producing Street Fighter II, game director Akira Nishitani and character designer Akira "Akiman" Yasuda first focused on a list of countries to include fighters from in the title, and then developed each character for them. Nishitani wanted to include a ninja in the roster, however at that point in development Japan already had karate and sumo martial arts characters representing it, and the only remaining countries available to assign a fighter to were Spain and Thailand. Nishitani suggested trying to develop a Spanish ninja, something Yasuda was unsure would work and questioned if someone like that would actually exist.[1][3] The concept was handed to Mizuho "Katuragi" Kageyama, where she was instructed to "Draw a Spanish ninja. Could also be a Thai ninja." With only a two-month window between design and final content, Katuragi first focused on a Thai design, but then Akiman directed her to focus instead on a Spanish design. He pointed to Fist of the North Star as possible inspiration, specifically a nameless masked character that appeared in it hailing from the "Lands of Asura".[2]

Several designs followed, his initial appearance consisting of a masked man in a ripped shirt with long, frizzy hair,

matador's appearance and technique into the character, and the claw taking the place of a matador's traditional sword.[6]

Vega's finalized design is a culmination of the various concepts, appearing as a muscular half-naked matador with a snake tattoo up his right arm, a long three-pronged claw on his left, long hair in a ponytail, and a mask covering his face.

Love’s Labour’s Lost. They built on this further by giving him a deep hatred of visual "ugliness", with Vega valuing beauty above all else and killing what he found unsightly.[6]

Vega was originally named "Spanish Ninja" as a placeholder during development,

Balrog, the game's antagonist became M. Bison, and the Spanish ninja became Vega. The team felt of the three Vega was a poor fit for the character due to his attire, but acknowledged that the risk of a lawsuit was a greater concern.[10]

Vega's inclusion in Street Fighter Alpha 3 was the result of heavy fan request.[11]

Appearances

In video games

Vega's backstory reveals that he was born to a noble family in

cage fighting
circuit, where he quickly became one of the best.

For undisclosed reasons, his family's status dwindled, causing his mother to remarry for financial security. Vega's new stepfather, incensed that his wife only valued him for his money, murdered her right in front of Vega, who killed him in return. The incident warped his mind and caused him to develop a dual personality: suave nobleman by day, sadistic masked murderer by night. Brandishing a three-pronged, razor sharp claw gauntlet, Vega embarked on many murderous rampages, taking great pleasure in mutilating his victims, especially those he perceived as "ugly". The murder of his mother caused him to view "beauty" as a trait of heroism and strength, whereas "ugliness" represented cowardice and evil. Eventually, Vega's insatiable bloodlust and brutal fighting skills caught the attention of criminal leader

Shadaloo as his personal assassin and one of his three Grand Master bodyguards. Vega accepted Bison's offer purely to improve his own aesthetic senses. His official tag partner in the crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken
is Balrog, although they are shown to loathe each other due to their clashing personalities.

Gameplay

Vega is at least 6 ft tall and he is one of the fastest characters in the Street Fighter series, and also one of the most fragile. His strength is in long-range attacks, with the reach advantage provided by his claw, his speed and jumps. During fights, Vega is capable of losing his claw. This reduces his attack range significantly, and prevents him from performing certain moves. Since Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Vega can pick up the claw again if lost. Other games allow Vega to lose his mask, lowering his health but increasing his attack power as a result. In Street Fighter EX2, Street Fighter EX3, and Street Fighter IV Vega can take his claw and mask off manually. Vega becomes able to switch freely between clawed and bare-handed in his most recent rendition, Street Fighter V.

In other media

In the 1994 live-action film version of

home video game
also based on the film. In the arcade version of the game, Vega has the ability to take his mask off and throw it to his opponent. In the home version, this ability was removed and Vega fights unmasked.

In the 2009 live-action film

The Black Eyed Peas
as an assassin for Bison's Shadaloo corporation. This version of Vega retains his claw and mask, but the mask is made of metal and he appears dressed in black from head to toe. The film changed the reason Vega wears the mask, from protecting his face to concealing his identity.

In the 1994 anime film

dub. In the film, he works for Shadowlaw under Bison, and is sent to New York to kill Chun-Li
. He almost succeeds through a vicious and bloody duel that takes its toll on both fighters, but after baiting Vega into a rage by attacking his face, Chun-Li eventually defeats him by Hundred-Burst-Kicking him through her apartment wall into the streets far below where he presumably dies.

In the 1995 anime

ADV Films and Richard Cansino
provided his voice for the Animaze English dub. In the Spanish dub, his full name is listed as Fabio Antonio de la Vega.

Vega appears in two episodes of the 1995 American Street Fighter animated series, "Eye of the Beholder" and "Face of Fury", where he is a former henchman of Bison promised eternal youth who develops a rivalry against Blanka. He was voiced by Paul Dobson in the series.

Vega makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in 1999 anime miniseries

Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind
.

Reception

In 1992, he was ranked 16th on Japanese magazine Gamest's list of the best video game characters introduced in 1991.[12] Vega was voted fifth in Capcom's own poll of 85 characters for the 15th anniversary of Street Fighter, making him the most popular male character.[13]

IGN's D. F. Smith heavily praised the originality in the character, adding "There's never been a Street Fighter character quite like him since."[14] GamesRadar's staff described him as one of the best Capcom characters, calling him their favorite villain from the Street Fighter series, and added that due to his character and unique gameplay the "pretty boy Spaniard and his Wolverine-esque blades are burned into the minds of all fighting game fans." The further complained that he was underused in the series, questioning if perhaps he was "too creepy" for fighting game fans.[15] Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek ranked him highly on their list of Street Fighter characters, stating "Few people in this world have ever had their shit figured out more than Vega," noting how the character was contradictory in many ways, including that he "has his own personal sense of honor, but in a disgusting, self-serving, prejudice way." He further added that while he had a hard time playing as Vega, he praised how well the character's gameplay was done, and was elated when a version of Street Fighter II was released that made him playable.[16] Paste noted "His womanizing character can be a little tired at times, but his style is second-to-none with his mask-and-claw combo," and called him easily one of the series' most memorable villains.[17] In a retrospective of Street Fighter II, a writer for Retromaniac discussed his fascination with the character, due to his own kinship as a Spaniard and the different aspects of his character, such as his claw and mask which his young mind mentally likened to Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees respectively. He added that even after he discovered the character's actual identity "This amalgam of sensations, evidently influenced by the blessed pop culture references at the time, gave a special aura to Vega."[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Akira Yasuda – 2003 Developer Interview". Shmuplations. April 14, 2019. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Street Fighter II Developer's Interview | Guests | Activity Reports". Capcom. November 21, 2018. Archived from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  3. ISBN 978-1772941364
    .
  4. ^ a b "The Making of Street Fighter II". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 33. April 1992. p. 102.
  5. ISBN 4257-090014
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 9781524104696
    .
  7. ^ Kohler, Chris. "The Making Of Street Fighter II (or, Writing is Rewriting)". Insert Credit. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  8. ^ "Street Fighter II – 1991 Developer Interview". Shmuplations.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  9. ^ "Akira Nishitani: Hear It All!". Gamest. No. 64. October 1991. p. 88.
  10. ^ Leone, Matt (February 3, 2014). "Street Fighter 2: An Oral History". Polygon. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  11. ^ "An Interview with Noritaka Funamizu". Game Informer. No. 70. February 1999. p. 10. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  12. ^ 第5回ゲーメスト大賞. GAMEST (in Japanese) (68): 4. Archived from the original on July 8, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  13. ^ "ランキング集計発表!". GeeStore. December 19, 2005. Archived from the original on December 19, 2005. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  14. ^ Smith, D.F. (August 7, 2009). "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters - Day IV". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2008.
  15. GamesRadar. June 25, 2013. Archived from the original
    on January 3, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  16. ^ Jasper, Gavin (February 22, 2019). "Street Fighter Characters Ranked". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  17. ^ Vazquez, Suriel; Van Allen, Eric (March 28, 2016). "Ranking Every Street Fighter Character: The Top 20". Paste. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016.
  18. ^ "Street Fighter 25th Anniversary". Retromaniac (in Spanish). No. 7. November 2013. p. 118.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vega_(Street_Fighter)&oldid=1218086751"