Vega (Street Fighter)

Vega, Claw or Balrog (バルログ) as known in Japan, is a character from the Street Fighter series. An arrogant, sadistic and narcissist gentleman, he wields a claw and has a unique fighting style that combines Ninjutsu and bullfighting and is therefore dubbed "the Spanish Ninja" as well as one of the feared "Four Heavenly Kings".

Street Fighter X Mega Man
Vega appears as one of the final bosses on Street Fighter X Mega Man. His weakness is the Lightning Kick.

Attacks

 * Rolling Crystal Flash (a rolling attack followed up by a slash attack)
 * Sky High Claw (a ramming attack)
 * Flying Barcelona Attack (an airborne attack, spreading his arms)
 * Flying Barcelona Special (an airborne attack, spreading his arms)
 * Super Combo: Bloody High Claw (three slashing attacks, going from left to right upwards, dropping flower petals)

Strategy
Vega appears as the second of M. Bison's henchmen that Mega Man will fight upon clearing the areas of the eight main bosses. His, is the only boss fight that features some unique mechanics. One of them is the ability to climb the wire fence in the background of the boss fight. Although, Vega also uses it for his advantage. Another mechanic is the ability to take off Vega's Mask and Claw, lowering his damage and defense, respectively. However, Vega is able to recover them if he walks over them. Vega's attacks are fast and unpredicatable. His Rolling Crystal Flash goes across the floor and then finishes it off with a claw attack at the end, Mega Man must jump over the roll in order to avoid it. His Sky High Claw is a ramming attack that goes across the screen really quickly, he does the attack at the same height as Mega Man's even when he is jumping. The Flying Barcelona Attack is his most used attack, he will climb up the fence, then jump and land on Mega Man spreading his arms like claws, this attack is the most difficult to avoid, because Vega will chase Mega Man can will change the direction of his attack depending of where Mega Man is moving, a slide can avoid it, but it needs to be used just in the moment where Vega is about to strike. The Flying Barcelona Special is a variant where he sticks to a wall and them jumps to strike Mega Man, again, a slide can be enough to avoid it, but with precise timing. When his Super Combo Gauge is charged, he will use his Super Combo, Bloody High Claw, a variant of his Sky High Claw attack, by will go upwards on the screen, from one side to another three times, dropping flower petals and landing in the middle.

With the Lightning Kick, a good oportunity to use the weapon is when Vega is on a corner, after using a Sky High Claw or a Rolling Crystal Flash, another good oportunity is after using his Bloody High Claw, since he will be on the middle of the screen, open for a moment.

Other appearances
He appears with Mega Man characters in Street Fighter ✕ Tekken, Cannon Spike, SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters series, and Worlds Unite.

Archie Comics
Vega appeared in Worlds Unite, where M. Bison brings him and Balrog 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 a character (Balrog) with his likeness and a 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 boxer is known as M. Bison in Japan and Balrog in the U.S.
 * The Spanish assassin/matador 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.