M. Bison is dead, and Capcom shouldn't bring him back in Street Fighter 6
Where do you go after almost 30 years and world domination schemes?
M. Bison is dead. That's what the ending of Street Fighter 5's A Shadow Falls tells us anyway, and honestly it should remain that way going forward after almost 30 years of holding the story hostage.
With Street Fighter 6 apparently in the works, it feels like the right time to let the evil dictator rest from both the plot and playable roster to solidify his impact on the world and its characters.
Three of the five mainline games in the series plus Alpha, EX and other crossovers featured Shadaloo and Bison as either primary or secondary antagonists, and that plotline seems essentially wrapped in SF5.
The criminal organization is destroyed completely as is Bison's body by Ryu and the world warriors, and now there's nothing really left for the Psycho Power user to do even if he were revived except repeat what Capcom has already done in the past.
Yes, Bison has "died" multiple times in previous games and came back thanks to body swapping shenanigans, but his almost three-decade long chapter is bookended by his body crumbling from the power of nothingness.
We've already gone through the tournament arc in Street Fighter 2. Bison already attempted to brainwash Ryu in Alpha and failed. Then in the last game, some of his evil creations and deeds came back to bite him.
Just think too how many playable characters in the series are clones of Bison or his body doubles from Cammy and the Dolls to Abel, Seth, Ed and Falke, who have forever been tied to the villain up to this point. Now they and everyone else can find new motivations and purpose without worrying about him popping back up another time.
This does assume, however, that Street Fighter 6 will be a direct sequel to SF5, which is further backed up by SF3's story if that does prove to be true.
Shadaloo is completely gone in the 3 series with little more than a mention present for the once mighty syndicate in character interactions, and that powerful void left behind allows Gill's secret society to make their move and take center stage away from Bison and everything he worked towards. Imagine the power vacuum without either of them around.
It could open the door to more intrigue within the Street Fighter universe which is something we haven't really felt since we first saw Gill and his cult — plus whatever's going on with G now.
That doesn't mean that Bison's presence would be completely gone from the world either. His spirit literally lives on after his demise and haunts characters like Ed with the goal of once again reviving, but that's not really what I'm talking about.
So many characters have to move on and find new reasons to fight and continue forward in their lives.
Chun-Li and Guile's mission is complete since they no longer need to hunt down Bison for all of the destruction and death he brought into their lives all those years ago. Does the soldier choose to go home and stay a family man, or will we see something different pull him back into action again?
This goes for the other side of the aisle too. Vega and Balrog are officially on their own now, and while F.A.N.G may still be dedicated to the cause, those guys are going to move on quickly.
Do they let go of past grudges or cling to them more tightly than ever? Will Balrog show more of his caring side and support Ed and his ambitions or will he feel empty now that he has his money but lost something he didn't know he cared about more? Can Vega set up his own assassins guild, maybe find a partner in crime that's equally as messed up as him, or will he continue to fly solo in the shadows watching everyone else's actions?
These are questions we never really got to ask before because they were all just stuck as Bison's henchmen in every single game they appeared in with Vega simply loving "beauty" and violence while Balrog will do anything for his fight money.
Think about how much more depth Sagat's storyline got once he left the generals.
There's also those more directly hurt by Bison which gave us all some of the most interesting setup for potential future plotlines through Neo Shadaloo.
Ed, Falke and many others essentially lived through a nightmare because of the boss character, and they've begun gathering together for a new purpose that we don't really know about yet.
We don't even know who the gorilla and tall guy are from Ed's story mode ending either.
The Doll unit should also finally be free from Bison's control, sans Psycho possession, which has them trying to reclaim their lost lives, and hell maybe it'd be cool to see a reformed Doll as a playable character in Street Fighter 6.
What about his gameplay you may ask. Well, as stated before, we still have Ed and Falke who would likely undergo some major changes if they return again, or they could even introduce a new Psycho Power user to the mix.
Plus there's always the option of adding him back later on as DLC that doesn't have an impact on the story and status of the world.
It's certainly a tough sell for big-time fans / players of the character to leave out a character that's been in almost every game in the series. The trade-off for what his ultimate demise offers, however, gives back more for everyone else in terms of progression.
Hang up the cape and hat. Open the door to the next new generation of fighters and villains who can bring just as much charisma and intimidation as the dictator in their own ways. It's time for the clocks to move forward again.
There's obviously nothing stopping Capcom from using Bison in Street Fighter 6 if they so wish — they clearly left that open with his specter hanging around — but for the series to satisfyingly progress, the dictator should fade into the background though not forgotten.
