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Zangief is a close range character as he is a wrestling type. Many of his moves are more complicated to pull off due to the 360 motions input required to perform the moves, making him a character for advanced players. Zangief is one of the slowest of all characters in Street Fighter yet is still one of the most effective. His "spinning piledriver" is the single most damaging regular move in the series. Zangief's Flying Stomach block attack is the only standard move capable of dizzying a character in one hit.
Zangief's name is possibly based on real-life pro wrestler Victor Zangiev, a former Soviet amateur who trained as a professional in NJPW, and who also competed in WCW and UWF International. Zangief is still listed as being from the Soviet Union in all Street Fighter games, even those produced after the fall of the Soviet Union. This may be due to the fact that the majority of games he appears in take place at a time before the Soviet Union's fall. Zangief's prototypical name was Vodka Gobalsky.
[edit] Background
Zangief is said to have trained by wrestling polar bears in Siberia, on which he practiced his trademark Spinning Piledriver after being picked up by a cyclone while performing a piledriver on a bear. The scars covering his body are said to have been the results of wrestling with bears.
As the greatest professional wrestler in the Soviet Union, Zangief was contacted by a man named Erai Hito (Great Man) to represent his country in the second World Warrior tournament. Zangief agreed and began training in the extreme climates of Siberia, determined to demonstrate Russia's magnificent power to all of the world. With the assistance of his government, Zangief emerged from his training as "The Red Cyclone."
In his ending in the Street Fighter II series, Zangief is congratulated by someone who greatly resembles former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev and dances with him. He is referred to as erai hito (or "great man") in the Japanese version. In later versions of the Street Fighter II series, Zangief calls him "Mr. Ex-President".
[edit] Techniques
| Name |
Description |
| Lariat |
Using Zangiefs great weight and proportions, Zangief spins around like a top with his fist extended in either direction. He strikes any opponent who gets in the way of his fists. In Champion Edition, Zangief gains the ability to move left or right while spinning. Beginning in Street Fighter II Turbo, he also gains the ability to control the focus of his spin, making either his upper body or lower body invulnerable to attacks or projectiles. |
| Screw Piledriver |
A devastating move in which Zangief lifts his opponent off the ground, puts them in a piledriving position, and leaps off the ground in a spinning motion. The move ends with Zangief pile driving the opponent into the ground for tremendous damage. |
| Flying Powerbomb |
Zangief gains two new attacks in Super Street Fighter II that perform differently based on how close he is to his opponent when attempting them. When Zangief executes this move, he runs forward at the opponent. If he makes contact with the opponent, he grabs then and leaps into the air, slamming them down into the ground in a power bomb position. Zangief is vulnerable to attack while running at the opponent, and will end up confused if the opponent moves out of the way of the attack. |
| Atomic Suplex |
When attempting the Flying Powerbomb motion, but up close, Zangief performs two Suplexes on his opponent, with a small jump in between each one. He is far less likely to miss with this attack, but it does less damage. |
| Banishing Flat |
By Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Zangief was in bad need of a way to protect his large size of projectile attacks which he had a hard time avoiding. He gains the Banishing Flat move, where he side steps a projectile while holding his hand out. His hand turns green to indicate that he can cancel the projectile out, while at the same time, getting closer to the opponent for a counter attack. |
| Final Atomic Buster |
In this tremendously damaging Super Move, Zangief rushes to grab the opponent. If he connects, he picks them up and performs a German Suplex on them before setting them back up for a very high Spinning Piledriver. Like all of Zangief's throws, this move is unblockable. |
View · edit
| Name |
|
Input |
| Double Lariat |
|
 |
| Screw Piledriver |
 + |
 |
View · edit
| Name |
|
Input |
| Double Lariat |
|
(move  or ) |
| Screw Piledriver |
+ |
|
View · edit
| Name |
|
Input |
| Double Lariat |
|
(move or) |
| Quick Lariat |
|
 (move or) |
| Screw Piledriver |
+ |
|
View · edit
| Name |
|
Input |
| Flying Body Attack |
  + |
 |
| Double Knee Drop |
+ |
 or  |
| Headbutt |
  + |
 or |
| Double Lariat |
|
(move or) |
| Quick Lariat |
|
(move or) |
| Screw Piledriver |
+ |
|
| Flying Powerbomb |
+ |
 |
| Atomic Suplex |
close, + |
|
View · edit
| Name |
|
Input |
| Flying Body Attack |
+ |
|
| Double Knee Drop |
+ |
or |
| Headbutt |
+ |
or |
| Double Lariat |
|
(move or) |
| Quick Lariat |
|
(move or) |
| Screw Piledriver |
+ |
|
| Flying Powerbomb |
+ |
|
| Atomic Suplex |
close, + |
|
| Banishing Flat |
 + |
|
| Final Atomic Buster |
+ |
|
+
or
)
(move 
+
or 
+
or 
+
