In English-language Street Fighter II releases, Vega is the Spanish boss who wears a mask and fights with a claw.
Vega combines imagery from Spanish bullfighting with Japanese ninjutsu. His matador-inspired design includes a mask, long hair, and a distinctive three-pronged claw, making him one of Street Fighter’s most visually recognizable fighters. He is also associated with extreme vanity and a fixation on beauty.
Vega debuted in Street Fighter II in 1991 as one of the four boss characters faced near the end of the single-player game. In later versions, beginning with Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, the bosses became playable. English-speaking players know him as Vega, but the character names were rearranged in Japanese releases: the claw fighter was originally called Balrog, while the boxer known in English as Balrog was called M. Bison.
That naming swap is the main source of confusion. M. Bison is the dictator, Balrog is the boxer, and Sagat is the Muay Thai fighter; only Vega matches the masked Spanish claw fighter described here.