Birdie (Street Fighter)

Birdie (バーディー) is a video game character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games. He debuted in the first Street Fighter as an non-playable character though later made prominent appearances in the Street Fighter Alpha games. His first appearance depicted him as a late 1970s tall white British punk rocker, but later reappeared in the Alpha series as a hulking black British punk rocker.

Development
Birdie first appears in the original Street Fighter as the first of two opponents the player faces in England. In this game, Birdie is depicted as a tall, white punk rocker with a beak-shaped mohawk hairstyle. He and Eagle are named after the golfing terms Birdie and Eagle. The character reappeared in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams in 1995, Alpha 2 in 1996, and Alpha 3 in 1998. In these three games, Birdie is depicted as a hulking Black British punk rocker with a blonde, blade-shaped mohawk. The character jokes about this inconsistency in Alpha 3, saying he "looked pale because [he] was sick". Birdie fights in the Alpha series with a grappling style similar to Zangief's, using his chains to slam opponents and a dashing headbutt similar to Balrog's punch rush. In the first two Alpha games, Birdie is characterized as a former pub bouncer who seeks to gain fame for himself by joining M. Bison's organization, Shadaloo. In the endings of both games, he defeats Bison in combat and is allowed to join his organization. In Alpha 3, Birdie is already a member of Shadaloo, but seeks to take over the organization by rebelling against Bison.

In other media
Birdie appears in two episodes of the Street Fighter cartoon series. He is shown as an unknown fighter in the episode "The Medium is the Message" and later appears in "Cammy and the Bachelor", teaming up with Final Fight's Sodom to cause a crime wave in England under orders from Bison and Shadaloo. He also makes a small appearance in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation as one of several fighters accompanying Ryu to rescue Shun from Dr. Sadler. He is the first to win a preliminary match (against Dan) and is taken inside the base, but ends up trapped in a machine, which saps him of his fighting potential. He is rescued by Ken and Chun-Li and later apparently dies in the fight against Rosanov. In the anime, he is portrayed as a much more benevolent character, constantly imploring Ken and Chun-Li to flee the base without him and attempting to fight Rosanov even when badly injured.

Birdie also appears in the Street Fighter Alpha manga by Masahiko Nakahira. He hires Ryu, whom he befriended after a past fight, as a bodyguard for his drug smuggling operation. He fights Chun-Li, who leads an ICPO crackdown against his gang, which triggers the Dark Hadou in Ryu after Ryu takes sniper fire intended for Birdie.

Reception
Birdie's appearance in the first Street Fighter was voted joint last in Capcom's own popularity poll of 85 characters for the 15th anniversary of Street Fighter. In 2009, Street Fighter Alpha's Birdie topped the Gameist's list of "The 10 Lamest Street Fighter Characters Ever Conceived". He was one of the fighters that IGN wished to see in Street Fighter IV. Birdie was ranked 39th best character out of 50 by UGO.com. Askmen.com nominated Birdie as one of the five characters they wished to be included in Street Fighter IV. GamesRadar included Birdie among the 20 fighters they wished were included in Street Fighter X Tekken.