Shadoloo

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Shadoloo (often spelled as Shadowloo, Shadaloo, Shadowlaw and Shadowland, Japanese: シャドルー, Esperanto, in the movie: Ŝadoluo) is a fictional international crime syndicate which is featured prominently in Capcom's Street Fighter series.

[edit] Shadoloo in the Street Fighter series

Shadoloo first appeared in Street Fighter II. Initially listed as merely "a mysterious crime organization", the game's literature mentioned little more than listing some of Shadoloo's ranks. Led by M. Bison, Shadoloo's base in Thailand (appearing to be vaguely near Bangkok) played host to the second World Warrior tournament. Also listed as Shadaloo members were the other three boss characters. In ascending order of seniority they were: Balrog, Vega, and Sagat (the end boss of Street Fighter). Initially Shadoloo's goals and scope were ambiguous at best. They appeared to be smugglers though of what is not explained. Bison is described as "ruling his empire with an iron fist" possibly indicating that he controlled some independent territory. Each of the bosses were motivated by their own selfish desires, and accepted Bison's offer to join his rank based on wealth or opportunity. Balrog was hired as an enforcer to expand his wealth, whereas Vega was a well paid assassin. Sagat was Bison's right-hand man and Shadaloo's second-in-command who was motivated by revenge against Ryu. Some of the characters (specifically Chun-Li, Guile, Thunder Hawk, and Cammy) were involved in this tournament to defeat M. Bison and Shadoloo.

As more games in the series were produced, more and more bits of information regarding Shadoloo came to light. In Super Street Fighter II it was divulged that Shadoloo was responsible for the massacre of T. Hawk's tribe, and that it smuggled drugs or weapons. In addition, a storyline skimping on details was introduced between Cammy and Bison, alluding to the fact that Cammy did work for Bison before her bout with amnesia. During the Alpha series, Shadoloo's motives, capabilities, and scope grew tremendously. This crime organization appeared to be paramilitary with very powerful capabilities. Shadoloo bases were identified in Thailand and Brazil (at the least) that seemed to contain technology and weapons sufficiently advanced to rival a medium sized nation. Bison had control of a very large VTOL jet and employed mad scientists to create cyborgs, clones, mind control rays, satellites, powerful weaponry, large scale attack robots, and the Psycho Drive. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, a series of convoluted plots showed the downfall of at least one of Shadoloo's bases and a great weakening of Bison. Shadoloo would continue to have a large presence during the second World Warrior tournament. However, the end of that tournament resulted in the death of Bison by Akuma. Tidbits of storyline info indicate that after Bison's death, Balrog sought to replace him as the head of Shadoloo. Due to his being horribly inadequate for the leadership of such a vast empire, Chun-Li was able to systematically shut down Shadoloo operations to the point of its total collapse.

Among the assets that Shadoloo has had over the years existed an Island somewhere off the coast of Thailand. In Street Fighter: The Story Telling Game, this island is located where the present day island of Phuket is. In this RPG, the Island is called Mriganka and it, along with some territory on the mainland, had been seized from Thailand and declared independent. In addition to having a mountain carved in the likenesses of all four main bosses, this officially unnamed island was also shown to contain a huge stadium, a variety of golden temples, a cavern located atop a large spire, a swimming pool whose floor opens into a missile silo, a submarine docking port, a nuclear powerplant, a subway, and many sublevels that contain a variety of high tech weapons and monstrosities.

[edit] Shadoloo in other appearances

In Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Bison was the head of a group named Shadowlaw in the English dub. His goals were never clearly stated, but as a means of increasing his powerbase he sent out 'monitor cyborgs' (in fact androids) to observe street fighters around the world. He then planned to collect the most powerful of the fighters, and assimilate them by giving them the choice of "join me or die." It appeared that stubborn fighters would be captured and brainwashed to serve Bison entirely; exemplified by how he treated the captured Ken.

In this movie, Shadolaw had bases through at least some of Asia, with one specifically in Thailand. The base was hidden inside a rock mountain with a Buddha face as the entrance. He also had a tremendous VTOL jet, which he used to fly from continent to continent. His base in Thailand displayed very advanced technology and appeared extensive. He also organized mob conventions (as governed by Balrog) and ordered the assassination of no less than two political figures and Chun-Li. Eventually Bison was defeated by Ryu and Ken together and seemingly met his demise. At the very end of the movie though, he is shown driving a large semi-trailer truck, trying to mow down Ryu. The reason behind his return is left unknown.

In the live action movie Street Fighter, Shadoloo (spelled "Shadaloo" here) was a fictitious country located somewhere in Southeast Asia. Its crazed dictator, Bison, kidnapped and ransomed Allied Nation relief workers. Warring with the AN, he employed such names as Dr. Dhalsim, Zangief, and Dee Jay. His army was of ambiguous size and force, and his plans seemed to be megalomaniacal world domination. He worked hard to 'create' a powerful fighter in the form of Carlos Blanka, via chemical/genetic influence. In the end he was defeated by Guile in combat and seemingly killed, only to make another surprise return after the credits.

[edit] Shadoloo Traits

Street Fighters who have officially been members of Shadoloo are:

• M. Bison
• The Dolls: Enero, Fevrier, März, Aprile, Satsuki, Juni, Juli, Santamu, Xiayu, Jianyu, Noembulu, Decapre & Cammy
• Balrog
• Vega
• Sagat
• Birdie
• Rose (when Bison inhabited her body)

The original four members (M. Bison, Sagat, Vega and Balrog) are referred as the Shitennou in the Japanese version and are referred to as "The Grand Masters" in America.

The insignia for Shadoloo is a winged-skull which has a lightning bolt (forming an "S" for Shadoloo) etched in between the eyes on its forehead.