Balrog, known as M. Bison (マイク・バイソン Maiku Baison) in Japan, is a character from the Street Fighter series. He first appeared as a boss character in Street Fighter II. Rising from a childhood of poverty,[1] Balrog was once a great boxing champion and prizefighter. He was banned from boxing for permanently injuring his opponents and accidentally killing one (as well as his illegal maneuvers, particularly his headbutt), so he joined the Shadaloo criminal organization, and worked his way up from the bottom, eventually becoming M. Bison's chief enforcer as well as one of the feared "Four Heavenly Kings".
Street Fighter X Mega Man
Balrog appears as one of the final bosses on Street Fighter X Mega Man. His weakness is the Mega Buster and the Soul Satellite.
Attacks
Even though he has a very limited moveset, each move will cause Instant Death, including making contact damage.
- Dash Straight (a powerful straight punch)
- Dash Upper (a powerful uppercut jab)
Strategy
Balrog appears as the first of M. Bison's henchmen that Mega Man will fight upon clearing the areas of the eight main bosses. This boss fight is very unique since he follows Mega Man at the start of the stage from behind, unleashing unlimited barrages of punches that will instantaneously drain Mega Man's health should he catch up to him and successfully land a hit. He will do a five punch combo that resembles his Crazy Buffalo Super Combo from the Street Fighter games and then pause for a moment. Though Balrog's style is impetuous, his defense is not impregnable against Mega Buster fire. However, a far easier way to defeat Balrog is to just keep running to the right; eventually Balrog will fall into a pit opened by falling tiles that drop after being traversed by Mega Man. Along the stage, multiple enemies will start to show up. If an enemy hits Mega Man, it will give Balrog the opportunity to get closer and strike him, Mega Man's inviframes won't work with Balrog's punches. After defeating Balrog, Mega Man can quickly slide as far as he can to the right before the stage ends to get a hidden E-Tank.
If one is attempting to make a Perfect run of this stage, it's recommended to use the Soul Satellite weapon to both, shoot and protect Mega Man from incoming shots, the weapon can also take 1 health from Balrog each two shots. So defeating Balrog is entirely possible. But it risks missing an E-Tank at the end of the stage.
Stage
Balrog's stage is based on the Las Vegas, which is his home stage in the Street Fighter II.
Enemies: Note that none of the enemy names are official.
| Image | Enemy |
|---|---|
 |
Balrog (boss) |
 |
"Rocket Missile" |
 |
"Flame Pipi" |
 |
"Gear Eye" |
 |
"Wavy Pipi" |
 |
"Bicycle Met" |
Other appearances
- Balrog has a Guts Man costume in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.
- Balrog had some appearances in crossovers that also featured Mega Man characters, such as Street Fighter ✕ Tekken, Street Fighter × All Capcom, as a card in the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters series, and a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Other media
Archie Comics
Balrog appeared in Worlds Unite, where M. Bison brings him and Vega to fight against Sigma.
Trivia
- When Street Fighter II was localized in the United States, Capcom was afraid of a lawsuit from Mike Tyson over Balrog, because of his likeness and similar sounding name (Balrog's Japanese name being Mike Bison). Additionally, when the designers presented the game to Capcom USA's marketing department, they believed that the name Vega was a weakling's name. They decided to rotate the names of three of the four boss characters in the following manner, the bold parts being a common nickname used by fans:
External links
References
| Street Fighter X Mega Man | |
|---|---|
| Stage select bosses | |
| Rolento • Dhalsim • Urien • Ryu • Blanka • Rose • Crimson Viper • Chun-Li | |
| Other bosses | |
| Balrog • Vega • M. Bison | |
| - Secret bosses - | |
| Sagat • Akuma | |
| Mega Man's Special Weapons | |
| Mine Sweeper • Yoga Inferno • Aegis Reflector • Hadoken • Tropical Hazzard • Soul Satellite • Optic Laser • Lightning Kick • Seiei Enbu | |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Script • List of enemies • Damage data chart • Miscellaneous data | |