Zangief is a powerhouse wrestler who was born in
Communist Russia.
He is incredibly strong, and towers over his opponents. He honed his skills in
Siberia, where he wrestled bears for fun. These tussles left him scarred
for life, but Zangief wears the scars proudly, for to him the fight is all.
Because of his formidable skills, he soon tired of ordinary foes and quit the
Russian Wrestling Federation. He began wrestling in prize fights, which earned
him money to feed his family. Always looking for new ways to improve his
style, Zangief began to learn new moves. He improved on the
piledriver technique used by professional wrestlers, and created his own
variation he called the "Spinning Piledriver". He also copied a move from
former wrestler Mike Haggar, the
famous "Spinning Clothesline." Zangief hoped to meet Haggar in the ring
one day. Although that dream was never realized, Haggar copied
Zangief's Spinning Piledriver, a fact that made Zangief very proud. A loud,
boisterous individual, Zangief often boasted about his acheivments, and often
told tall tales about the origins of some of his moves. His friends laughed
when he told how being caught in a hurricane inspired the Spinning Piledriver,
and Zangief was never happier in his life.
Zangief managed to make a decent living until the collapse of the
Soviet Union. His happy life ended when he was forced to take a job at a
foundry to
feed his family. Zangief heard of an organization called Shadowlaw, which
was said to pay top dollar to skilled combatents. Desperate to support his
family, Zangief left Russia seeking a job with Shadowlaw. He could not
approach the organization directly, so he attempted to get himself noticed
by them. This strategy backfired. All traces of Shadowlaw vanished when
M. Bison suddenly dissapeared. It was rumoured that
he had been defeated by Chun-Li and Rose, but Zangief could not confirm this. Zangief found
himself defeated as well, at the hands of Ken. Dejected,
he returned home
with nothing but his pride. Although he had returned home empty handed, he
found that he was held in high regard by his people and his government.
The Russian government sympathized with his plight, and offered to help
Zangief support his family.
Over the course of the next few years, Zangief's hatred of the United
States was fueled by the government. In return for their support, Zangief
was asked to perform a task. He was entered into the second Street Fighter
tournament which was hosted by M. Bison. Zangief would be allowed to keep
the prize money offered by Bison if he won, but his main objective was to
defeat Guile. Guile was a member of the American
Special Forces, and his
defeat would prove that the American people were not worthy. This seemed
simple enough to Zangief, but when he faced off against Guile he found
himself barely beaten by the strong warrior. Dishonored, Zangief decided
not to return home right away and watched the rest of the tournament. He
witnessed the battle between Guile and Sagat, Bison's right hand man. Guile,
badly injured from his fight with Zangief, was no match for the Muay Thai
champion and was quickly defeated. However, Zangief witnessed the courage
Guile displayed against immeasurable odds. He then realized that his
government had been wrong about Americans, and had merely set Zangief up as
a political move. Instead of being angry, Zangief decided to let it go.
He returned home to his family, and awaited the day when he could venture
out again to challenge worthy opponents like Guile.
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