Zangief (Street Fighter)

Zangief, also known as Red Cyclone, is a character from the Street Fighter series.
==Charactah Account==
Zangief is a Russian wrestler and the boisterous bruiser of the series. Like Honda, he enters the tournament to further the glory of his country and art. The numerous scars come from his training methods: wrestling bears. He also hates Vega immensely. Same goes for projectiles. By the time of V, he has started a "Wrestlers' Alliance" whose known members include himself, Rainbow Mika, Laura Matsuda, and Rashid's butler Azam, and he has begun a pilgrimage around the world along with Mika in order to further hone their "Muscle Spirit".
Born and raised in the Soviet Union, Zangief is an incredibly patriotic character who has been motivated in some way to fight for his Motherland in every single game he has ever been in. While his personality has varied from one media source to another, Zangief is mostly been portrayed as a very fearless and tactical fighter who is prone to quick temperaments, and is always very competitive. He is immensely proud of his physique, and constantly belittles his opponent's smaller muscular build and blaming their losses on their smaller physique. His win quotes often consists of critiques towards his specific opponents about their lack of power, or him telling his opponents to build more muscle.
Despite his short temper, Zangief has shown himself to be rather gentle-natured with a good sense of humor at times, once entering a tournament partly to win the admiration of a group of school children. According to the instruction manual of Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition for the Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive, Zangief is described as being "good natured, with a great sense of humor, and totally fearless". Zangief can be easily misled by his overwhelming sense of patriotism for his home country. In Street Fighter Alpha 2, it was revealed that the President wants Zangief to train and fight around the world primarily to boost his own prestige abroad, although Zangief fails to realize this and continues to fight for the glory and honor of Russia, no matter what the reason may be. 
==Appearance==
===Anime===
*Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie
*Street Fighter II Movie
*Street Fighter II: The Animated Series
===Comics===
*Capcom Gals Comic Anthology
*Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
*Nintendo Power
*Street Fighter
*Street Fighter Classic
*Street Fighter II
*Street Fighter II Turbo
*Street Fighter IV: Target Exclusive
*Street Fighter Legends: Sakura
*Street Fighter Reloaded
*Street Fighter Remix
*Street Fighter Tribute
*Street Fighter Unlimited
*Street Fighter V Wrestling Special
*Street Fighter VS Darkstalkers
*Street Fighter vs. G.I. Joe
*Street Fighter Zero 3
*Street Fighter: Hyper Looting
*Street Fighter: Round One - FIGHT!
*Street Fighter: The Battle of Shadaloo
*Super Street Fighter
*Umehara - Fighting Gamers!
*Undisputed Street Fighter
===Manga===
*Street Fighter: Sakura Gives it Her Best!
===Video Games===
*Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2
*Capcom Arcade Hits Volume 1
*Capcom Arcade Stadium
*Capcom Classics Collection
*Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded
*Capcom Classics Collection: Volume 2
*Capcom Fighting Collection
*Capcom Fighting Evolution
*Capcom Super League Online
*Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium
*Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
*Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro
*Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
*Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition
*I Wanna Be The Guy
*Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter
*Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
*Marvel vs. Capcom Origins
*Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
*Monster Strike
*NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol.1
*Pocket Fighter
*SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium
*Street Fighter 6
*Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
*Street Fighter Alpha 2
*Street Fighter Alpha 3
*Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX
*Street Fighter Alpha Anthology
*Street Fighter Battle Combination
*Street Fighter Collection
*Street Fighter Collection 2
*Street Fighter Duel
*Street Fighter EX
*Street Fighter EX Plus
*Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha
*Street Fighter EX2
*Street Fighter EX2 Plus
*Street Fighter EX3
*Street Fighter II Pinball
*Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting
*Street Fighter II': Champion Edition
*Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
*Street Fighter IV
*Street Fighter IV Champion Edition
*Street Fighter IV Volt
*Street Fighter IV: Arena
*Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation
*Street Fighter Series
*Street Fighter V
*Street Fighter X All Capcom
*Street Fighter X Tekken
*Street Fighter: The Movie
*Super Street Fighter II
*Super Street Fighter II Turbo
*Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
*Super Street Fighter II: The Tournament Battle
*Super Street Fighter II: Turbo Revival
*Super Street Fighter IV: Pachislot Edition
*Teppen
*The Battle Cats
*The Capcom Collection
*Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers
*Ultra Street Fighter IV
*X-Men vs. Street Fighter
==Trivia==
*Mike Haggar (whose fighting style was the basis for Zangief's as explained above) also wrestles deadly animals, in his case, Bull Sharks.
*Being 7'.025" (214 cm) tall, Zangief is the sixth-tallest character in the whole Street Fighter franchise, behind (in this precise order) Birdie, Sagat, T. Hawk, Hugo, and Abigail.
*Street Fighter II: The World Warrior depicted Zangief being from from the USSR when the game was released in February, 1991. The Soviet Union would cease to exist the following December. However, due to the heavy use of Soviet iconography in and around Zangief's character, including his home stage (an iron plant complete with a giant hammer and sickle logo imprinted on the floor), and also because of his appearances in the Street Fighter Alpha takes place before the events of Street Fighter II, Zangief was depicted as being from the USSR in the main series as late as 1998 when Street Fighter Alpha 3 was released. Street Fighter IV was the first time Zangief was depicted as being from the Russian Federation in 2008.
**Street Fighter II's latest iteration, Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers, would see all former Soviet symbols such as the hammer and sickle logo on the Russian stage removed. Zangief's stage was accordingly updated as Russia, down to the announcer voice clip.
*Zangief, alongside Sagat, would've been playable characters if a fourth installment of the Street Fighter III series happened.
*Zangief's Ultra Combo, Siberian Blizzard, ends with a move that is incredibly similar to the Kinniku Driver from the popular Japanese manga/anime series Kinnikuman.
**Zangief's introduction in Street Fighter 6's World Tour mode has him getting his mask removed by two other wrestlers in a double clothesline, referencing Neptuneman's Cross Bomber technique.
*According to Zangief's win quote against Dee Jay in SSFIV, Zangief listens to Tchaikovsky.
*Zangief's name was mentioned in the wrestling game Saturday Night Slam Masters by Biff Slamkovich's losing quote "Comrade Zangief was right! You all play cheap!", implying that he is friends with Zangief.
*Several images of Zangief exist that depict him with blood spewing out of a vein in his head, such as his portrait from Street Fighter Alpha 3. This is shown in the Japanese arcade releases, but censored in the American versions.
*To date, Pocket Fighter and The Match of the Millennium are the only games in which Zangief uses a Cossack dance-based Super Combo.
**In the Street Fighter EX games, Zangief has a foot stomp Super Combo that functions similarly with the above attack.
*In Makoto's 3rd Strike ending, Zangief can be seen among the fighters defeated by Makoto.
*In Street Fighter IV, Zangief was a powerhouse with the largest stamina and stun rating in the game. Many considered him too powerful and he was toned down for Super Street Fighter IV. However, even with the changes, Zangief still has the highest damage output in the game, including his first Ultra Combo being the most damaging move in the game.
*Although Zangief was originally conceived as a rival for Guile, given that they are from the USSR and the USA, respectively, his behavior toward Guile likewise refers to his appreciation for their shared patriotism and hairstyles. It is rather through the late 1980's and early 1990's American fandom by the tensions of the real life Cold War that still promoted this rather uncanon depiction; not only did the 1994 live-action film portray him as a Shadaloo villain, but background notes and creator interviews of Wreck It Ralph showed that audience influence held sway on Zangief being a villain through national tensions.
**Rather, some adaptations have depicted Zangief as somewhat of a rival towards Ryu, demonstrated in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation (in which Ryu defends Shun from Zangief by fighting him brutally), Street Fighter II V (where Zangief, working for Shadaloo, is ordered to capture Ryu, leading to a skirmish between the two), and the 1994 live-action film (where Zangief, again working for Bison, presents Ryu with his familiar white gi and later aids him and Ken in helping Bison's hostages escape the collapsing base). His win quote towards Ryu in Street Fighter IV implies that the two fought in Street Fighter II and Ryu won.
*Zangief has Vega's picture on his mirror in his Turbo ending. It is common for fighters (especially boxers) to have a picture of their rival placed in the frame of their mirror (on the picture it is written something like "idiot" in Japanese, maybe because they have different views on beauty).
*Since grizzly bears are not indigenous to Siberia and Russia, it is speculated that Zangief possibly wrestles Ussuri Brown Bears, which are similar to grizzlies, but are indigenous to the North East of Russia, and twice as large, making this feat even more impressive.
**Other sources usually state he wrestles Kodiak Bears, but Kodiaks are native to the Kodiak Archipelago, (which is located to the south of Alaska), again it's more possible that Zangief wrestles Kamchatka Brown Bears which are native to the Kamchatka Peninsula (which is located in the Russian Far East, near the Bering Sea), These bears are considered to be the ancestors of the Kodiak Bear and are almost as big as the Kodiak as well. He also sometimes wrestles Polar Bears, which can be found in northern Russia above the Arctic Circle.
*In the UDON comics, Zangief's text is always written in yellow over red speech bubbles, much like the red flag of the USSR with its yellow hammer-and-sickle emblem, to show off his devotion to his homeland. In addition, the writing is in bold italics most of the time, indicative of how loudly he usually speaks (an exception is his flabbergasted, quiet "This is wrestling...?" after Rainbow Mika defeats him in the backup story of #13).
*In his win quote against Kuma in Street Fighter X Tekken, Zangief criticizes Kuma, telling him that "Bears in Siberia are much fiercer! You are like kitten!".
*In Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival, in the 'Fight Akuma' Time Attack mode, if the player keeps pressing the light punch button while playing as Zangief in close proximity, it will force Shin Akuma to immediately go into a crouch, and will keep being forced to a crouch as long the player keeps pressing the light punch button while playing as Zangief. This does not work for the other characters.
*Zangief's second alternate costume in Street Fighter V bears a slight resemblance to the real life WWE superstars, The Undertaker in his appearance in Wrestlemania XX, and Hulk Hogan when he competed in a wrestling ring in the late 2000's.
*Though Zangief is covered in scars on the front of his body none appear on his back. This is because he never turns his back on an enemy and prides himself on the ability to stop attacks head-on.
*In the CPS1 installments of Street Fighter II, Zangief's scars were the same color as his speedo. This was changed starting with Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers in that his scars now match the color of his hair.
*Zangief is the second character to have a throw that targets on crouching opponents, the first being R. Mika. The third character following Zangief to have a throw that targets crouching opponents is G.
*Despite Zangief being the original grappler of the series and having the most number of regular throws in The World Warrior, Zangief didn't get any regular Air Throws until Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers. He has had Aerial Russian Slam that is more akin to an anti air throw such as Soul Throw, and while Borscht Dynamite acts very similarly to an air throw, it is a special attack.
**With so many regular throws, this is a very likely reason why future Street Fighter installments have limited to two different regular throws for each character (for balancing reasons).
*There is a continuity error that occurs with Zangief's fight with his opponent in front of the Shadaloo base in A Shadow Falls, Zangief defeats his opponent after withstanding her sword with his "muscle power", yet in the next scene when Birdie blocks gunshots from his own opponent, Zangief is shown still fighting the opponent he managed to defeat earlier.
*Prior to Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Zangief spoke only Russian in-game and some English catchphrases. He had a speech in Japanese in the aforementioned game's win screen (only in the Japanese and American versions-- these do not play in Asian versions). This changed in Street Fighter IV onwards where he gains an English and a dedicated Japanese voice actor.
*As seen in Street Fighter Alpha 3, Zangief keeps his liquor flask inside his shorts.
*In his playable appearance in Street Fighter 6, Zangief's main outfit resembles the current wrestling outfit worn by WWE Superstar, Bobby Lashley.
**Coincidentally, Zangief's quote for his EX Screw Pile Driver is "I am almighty!", much like Bobby Lashley's nickname, "All Mighty".
*Zangief's main role in Street Fighter 6 where he serves as both a mentor and teacher in wrestling references other wrestlers in real-life who teaches new generation of students in a wrestling school or being trained by their respective parents who were actually wrestlers.
==Gallery==
File:Zangief (Street Fighter) Render 01.png
File:Zangief (Street Fighter) Render 02.png
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File:Zangief (Street Fighter) Render 07.png
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==External Links==
*Zangief at Street Fighter Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:Street Fighter