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Balrog is the American name of Mike Bison from the Street Fighter fighting game series. First appearing in Street Fighter II, his name was changed for the American version of the game due to fear of a potential lawsuit from American boxer Mike Tyson. Balrog's Japanese name Mike Bison was said to be a parody of Mike Tyson, possibly bearing the full name of "Michael Gerard Bison," and his in-game portrait bore an uncanny resemblance to Tyson. Capcom retconned his history and made him Mike, one of the first fighters in the first Street Fighter, and later games featured portraits that did not look like Tyson at all.
According to his official biography, Balrog was born in America on September 4, 1969. He stands 198 cm (almost 6' 6") and weighs 102 kg. His blood type is A. His special skill is gambling, and likes women and beer. He dislikes hard work and mathematics.
He was banned from boxing because he killed an opponent, so he entered the World Warrior tournament to make some quick cash. Unfortunately, the young Japanese fighter Ryu defeated him. Balrog then joined the Shadaloo criminal organization, and worked his way up from the bottom. While running errands for M. Bison ("Vega" in Japan), he killed Dhalsim's elephant with a single Gigaton Punch. One mission had Balrog sent to terminate Birdie. Although he didn't know why, Balrog went anyway. Birdie told him about the Psycho Drive, and Balrog agreed to help him find it, thinking he could make money off of it. When the Psycho Drive exploded, Balrog realized that he hadn't been paid recently.
After the events of Street Fighter II, it is likely that Balrog took Shadaloo's reins of power, and then spectacularly ran the organization into the ground. He lost all of his power and influence, and was reduced to a bum on the streets.
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