Game-Art-HQ

by SirWolfgang

by CyberII

by Ailcross

“Handsome fighters never lose battles!”

Vega made his debut in Street Fighter II. Originally he was one of the four bosses the player faced after defeating the initial roster of eight fighters. In later editions of Street Fighter II he became a selectable character. He also replaced Geki from Street Fighter I as the new claw-wielding fighter. It is suggested Vega might’ve learned ninjitsu from him but Capcom has not officially confirmed this.

Vega is a very rich man both in terms of money, appearance and skill. His good looks and wealth have given him a huge ego and sense of self-love, thus making him into the most famous Narcissist in the series. He is also infamous for being one of the most psychotic characters in Street Fighter, as his backstory reveals how he developed his taste for blood. His mother married an ugly and abusive man, to which Vega killed him. After this incident he felt the world needed to be rid of “ugly people”, and obsessed over all that was beautiful…including himself.

He became an underground cage fighter where he mixed bull fighting and ninjitsu into his fighting technique. He caught the attention of Shadaloo to which he became their top assassin. His loyalties to Shadaloo are mixed; particularly when it comes to how he views his Cammy White and the other Bison’s Dolls as objects of pure beauty. In the original ending of Street Fighter II Turbo, he simply left Shadowloo after Bison was seemingly killed; though throughout the series he seemed to return on and off when Bison came back.

Vega’s speed and acrobatics made him a huge source of frustration back in the arcade days of Street Fighter II. Big slow characters like Zangief and Honda had a particularly hard time as Vega could overwhelm them with his agility. He was the only character in Street Fighter II and its updates to use a weapon; a claw on his hand which could actually be knocked off with enough hits. His mask (which he uses to protect his “beautiful face”) could also be knocked off with enough hits too. Perhaps most unique to him was his ability to interact with his background stage. He could climb onto the cage walls making him temporarily invulnerable to being hit. He usually used this an opportunity to leap off and catch his opponents with mid-aerial grabs. His agility only improved as later versions of Street Fighter II gave him moves that had him bounce off the walls and swan dive onto opponents with surprising finesse.

He is notably obsessed over the beauty of Chun Li and later Cammy; though neither are particularly fond of him. He also takes a distinct disliking to fellow Shadaloo member Balrog the boxer, the one who was given Vega’s Japanese name after Capcom famously switched his name with M. Bison’s to avoid any connection to boxer Mike Tyson.

About the Artists:

Wolfgang Jon Lehmann is an American male artist who took on the challenge of drawing Ryu in our Street fighter I tribute. He then drew another one of the series’ most iconic characters in the form of Chun Li! Fittingly enough he then took on Vega; Chun Li’s rival and not-so-secret admirer. Here we see him depict Vega doing his quick and ever so annoying swan-dive move that were particularly troublesome if Vega managed to grab you.

Sheila aka. CyberII from Russia likes especially the BlazBlue fighting games by Arc System Works but when we started with the Street Fighter II part of our big Anniversary Tribute to the series, she was one of the first artists that picked the crazy Spanish Claw Fighter, Vega for this project. This was also her first submission to a Game-Art-HQ Art Collaboration!

If you like Hazama from BlazBlue, her gallery is an absolute must-see!

Ailcross is another American artist who is a big fighting game enthusiast and joined the Game-Art-HQ community in 2016.  He joined the Street Fighter Anniversary Tribute with his takes on Chun Li and Vega from the classic Street Fighter II, but I am pretty sure these won’t his last submissions for the project.

Back to the Street Fighter Tribute Main Gallery

Street Fighter II Main Gallery

Street Fighter I Main Gallery

Vega in the Video Game Character Database