Balrog's, Vega's and M Bison's real names

[Kite]

I think that most people already know this, but i'll just tell it for the record.

Did you know that Balrog's Vega's and M Bison's names have been rotated?

I the original Japanese version of Street Fighter 2 there was a black heavy boxer name Mike Bison who also made an appearance in the first SF using only his first name. There was that masked assassin nicknamed Balrog, and there was that powerfull leader of Shadaloo called Vega that was also the final boss.
When SF2 was released in north America, they rotated their names to avoid a possible lawsuit from famous boxer Mike Tyson. Then the game became popular and we've stick with their rotated names, that Do sound a bit awkward if you think about it.

[Jarlino]

I've always liked the name rotation more to be honest.

Named after a Balrog, even though he's a narcist just didn't fit me for Vega/Claw.

And it's entertaining to have people who are not familiar with the history guess what the M. in Dictator's name stands for.

"Master Bison?" "Mighty Bison?" xD

Doesn't really matter to me though, I stick with the Competitive scene names, Claw/Dictator and Boxer.

Also, if you're going to make a thread about a well known thing, you better include all the facts, like how the American translators didn't think Vega would make a good name for a boss.

[Kite]

Originally Posted by Jarlino

I've always liked the name rotation more to be honest.

If we hadn't met/learned the characters with their fake name we would be thinking differently now, thinking that Vega is the coolest f.Boss name in the world.

Changed is also Akuma's name. His original name was Gouki, which is supposed to have a striking resemblance with Ruy's masters name (Gouken) since he originally was his brother.
Akuma is just the Japanese word for devil...

[JDK]

Mike Bison is such a cool name, such a shame they switched it round, dudes even got a bison as his mascot, if i had my way rog would have the face tattoo as part of his alt and his win quote would be something to do with wanting to eat your children ;p

[Iceclimber]

Originally Posted by JDK

Mike Bison is such a cool name, such a shame they switched it round, dudes even got a bison as his mascot, if i had my way rog would have the face tattoo as part of his alt and his win quote would be something to do with wanting to eat your children ;p

He was supposed to be a play on Mike Tyson I think Capcom didn't want Don King to get 70% of a lawsuit if it came to that.

[II ARROWS]

I am not angry because the name rotation... but because now people call them with "Dictator", "Claw" and "Boxer" that is really bad.

[mcfat89]

I prefer the new name rotation, M.Bison sounds meaty and powerful, the same goes for Balrog/boxer, Vega sounds lightweight and agile just like 'Claw'.

BTW these new names Dictator, Boxer and Claw are terrible, imagine having 1 for each character, Sumo, Luchadore, Bear Wrestler, Brazillion Beast....Come to think of it, calling Blanka Brazillion Beast isnt too bad

[II ARROWS]

Well... what about Ryu/Ken and clones?