M. Bison, also known as Dictator, is a video game character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character and villain in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as one of the series' primary antagonists. A would-be world dictator and megalomaniac, M. Bison's ultimate ambition is to control the world's governments through his covert crime syndicate, Shadaloo (shiyadoru, Shadoru, sometimes spelled as "Shadoloo", "Shadowloo" or "Shadowlaw"). He serves as the host of Street Fighter II's fighting tournament and is the last opponent fought in the game.

In Japan, the character is named Vega (bega, Bega), derived from the star of the same name. However, during localization of Street Fighter II for the English language market, Capcom's North American branch felt that the name did not sound threatening enough to North American audiences for the game's final boss, and thus was more suitable for the Spanish cage fighter Vega (Street Fighter). At this same time, another concern arose that the name of another character, Mike Bison, conceived as a parody of real-life boxer Mike Tyson, would be a legal liability for Capcom. As a result, the characters swapped names, and the game's final boss was dubbed M. Bison for international appearances of the character. Though the "M" originally stood for "Mike" in Japan, Capcom has never explained what it stands for in Western releases, calling it "part of the character's mystery". Regardless, Bison has been addressed as Master Bison in Street Fighter Alpha 3 repeatedly, as well as in the animated movie. In his introduction before a fight in (Super) Street Fighter IV, he refers to himself as "The Mighty Bison". In endings in Alpha 2, he is referred to by a henchman as Commander Bison. In Street Fighter V, he is referred to by F.A.N.G as Lord Bison.  When developing Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, it was decided to give him a more muscular appearance, rather than have him resemble "a middle aged man", while his face was modified to appear somewhat demonic. This appearance was later carried onto the Street Fighter Alpha series, featured as his original appearance before the Street Fighter II series.  The first source of inspiration for M. Bison's design came from the character General Washizaki, one of the main villains of the popular martial arts manga Riki-Oh. However the final realized concept (especially the characters mysticism) is widely believed to be a homage to Yasunori Kato, the supernatural villain of the influential Teito Monogatari franchise.

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