appearances, while original Vega (the dictator) became M.Bison and original M.Bison (the boxer) became Balrog. Design Vega is one of the few Street Fighter characters to constantly carry a weapon, a tekkō kagi, and the only character to do so in Street Fighter II. This claw is useful for slashing attacks, yet curved in the end to prevent him from lethally stabbing his opponents. This claw gives him a very long range compared to most characters. It is the same type of weapon worn by Geki in the original Street Fighter, though longer. Obsessively narcissistic and vain, Vega considers himself the epitome of beauty and perfection. As such, he wears his expressionless mask not to conceal his identity, but to protect his face from scarring or bruising during battle; in fact, Vega removes it after winning fights, as well as in certain character-select images. Vega wears murrey and yellow ceremonial trousers, a red sash, loafers, and white leggings of a matador, suggesting his involvement with bullfighting. This decorative garb also offers matadors ease of movement, and is ideal for Vega's acrobatic maneuvers. Depending on the games' color palettes, Vega has brown or blonde hair. In the various games in the Street Fighter II series, Vega's game sprite and character select profile shot depict him with brown hair, while his ending in Street Fighter II': Champion Edition and Super Street Fighter II depict him with blonde hair. In Street Fighter EX2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3, Vega is depicted with blonde hair in all iterations. His tattoos consist of a purple snake on his chest and two purple bands which circle his arm. In Capcom vs. SNK 2, in a victory pose, Vega will hold his arm out towards the opponent, with the tattoo coming to life and hissing at it. In the mobile puzzle game Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits, he appears as a super-deformed character. Appearances In video games Vega's backstory reveals that he was born to a noble family in Spain. As he matured, Vega studied bullfighting, a Spanish cultural tradition. He later traveled to Japan to learn ninjutsu, a style that he believed would mesh well with his natural grace and agility. Returning home, Vega combined bullfighting with ninjutsu and entered an underground 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