Mike Haggar

Mike "Macho" Haggar is a character from the Final Fight and Slam Masters series.

Biography

Profile

Haggar made his debut in the original Final Fight, originally released for the arcades in 1989. He is described as a former "Street Fighter" turned Mayor (much in the vein of real-life former wrestler Jesse Ventura who, years after retiring, would go on to be the Governor of Minnesota from 1999 through 2003), who has sworn to diminish the city's ever-increasing crime rate after winning the election.

Story

Slam Masters

In addition to Final Fight, Haggar also appeared in a trilogy of pro wrestling games by Capcom: Saturday Night Slam Masters in 1993, which was followed by an updated version titled Muscle Bomber Duo and a sequel titled Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters 2 in 1994. According to the original Japanese plot, the games are actually set before Final Fight and depict Haggar's professional wrestling career prior to being elected mayor. However, the English localization of the series removes all references of the games being set in the past and even erroneously describes Haggar as the "former mayor of Metro City". Haggar seems to have been loosely modeled after the late real-life wrestler Randy Savage in his Slam Masters incarnation; his ring name is "Macho" Mike Haggar, and the games even feature a winning pose in which he lifts his daughter Jessica onto his shoulder (a possible nod to Savage and his valet, Miss Elizabeth).

During his Time as a wrestler, Haggar trained the Hyper Cannons, two young wrestlers, Biff Slamkovich from Russia, and Gunloc from America. His partner in the Tag Team "Knuckle Busters" was Alexander The Grater. Much later, during Street FIghter III: 2nd Impact, he was teamed with the Black Widow in the Tag Team "The Muscle Bombers" during an apparent return to the CWA. They faced Hugo and Elena.

Final Fight

The plot of Final Fight centers around the Mad Gear Gang's attempt to manipulate the newly-elected Haggar by kidnapping his young daughter, Jessica. Instead of submitting to the gang's demands, Haggar enlists the help of Jessica's boyfriend, Cody and his friend Guy, to combat the gang and defeat their leader Belger.

Final Fight 2

In Final Fight 2, Haggar sets out to defeat the newly revived Mad Gear Gang led by Retu in order to rescue Guy's girlfriend and master. In this game Haggar is joined by Maki, Guy's future sister-in-law and Bushin-style fighter, and Carlos, a South American swordsman friend of Haggar staying with him at the time. Haggar's appearance did not change much between the two games, other than a slight change in his outfit. However, he did gain the Spinning Piledriver, replacing his regular Piledriver, as a special move.

Final Fight 3

In Final Fight 3, Haggar is rejoined by Guy and the two team up with Lucia Morgan, a female cop, and another ex-Street Fighter named Dean to battle the Skull Cross Gang, a new criminal organization that has taken over Mad Gear's position by becoming the new dominant gang of Metro City. Haggar's design is changed drastically from the previous Final Fight games, with the character being given a pony tail and shorts. Haggar was also given a new super combo called the Final Hammer, which is actually a series of various wrestling moves.

Other Appearances

He was also featured in the lesser-known Saturday Night Slam Masters and its sequel. He is also a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and its updated version. Haggar did not appear as a playable character again until Final Fight Revenge, an American-developed competitive fighting game set immediately after the events of the original Final Fight. Haggar's story in Final Fight Revenge revolves once again around the disappearance of his daughter, who has vanished following a series of riots in Metro City. Jessica's disappearance is not resolved in Haggar's ending, which is instead a recreation of Rolento's ending in Street Fighter Alpha 2, which depicts Rolento's attempt to takeover the city. Eventually, the "Street Fighter Zero 3 Secret File Book" would reveal that Haggar was able to rescue his daughter from danger, and that Jessica would eventually leave Metro City to study abroad in Europe.

An aging and grizzled Mike Haggar resurfaced in Final Fight: Streetwise, released in 2006. In Streetwise, Haggar runs a gym, "Mike's Mat and Muscle", and a dock "Mike's Maritime Maintenance". He has seemingly isolated himself from most of Metro City, and says many of its citizens have forgotten him. Jessica's whereabouts are not commented on, nor does she even seem to exist anymore. Haggar's new objective is in aiding new protagonist Kyle by teaching him grappling moves and fighting alongside him in one portion of the game. Haggar is also playable (along with Cody, Guy and Kyle) in Streetwise's survival battle mode.

Abilities

Of the three playable characters in the original Final Fight, Haggar is the slowest but the most powerful. In addition, he also specializes in the use of a steel pipe, swinging it faster than the other characters.

Suplex - Haggar wraps his arms around the opponent's midsection, and follows it up by pulling them backwards over his torso and head, smashing them into the ground behind him.
Bomb Slam - Haggar wraps his arms around the opponent's shoulders after bending them forward, then lifts them overhead and slams them into the ground head first
Back Flip Drop - This move involves Haggar grabbing an opponent from behind, then leaping into the air and driving the enemy down head first.
Piledriver - .Haggar wraps his arms around the opponent's midsection after bending them forward, then jumps and slam them into the ground head first

Spinning Piledriver - Replacing his original Piledriver move, the Spinning Piledriver has Haggar grabbing an opponent midsection after bending them forward by the midsection, leaping several feet into the air, spinning with him on descent, and smashing him down on the ground for massive damage. In Slam Masters series this is his finisher, and is called "Pothole Plugger". In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Haggar uses only a regular Piledriver, possibly to keep his moveset distinct, to a degree, from Zangief's.

Double Lariat - Haggar clenches his fists and stretches his arms out horizontally, and then spins toward the opponent in an effort to connect.

Violent Axe - Haggar dashes forward and delivers an axe-handle punch to his enemies. In Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters 2 and Final Fight 3, he swings upwards once. In Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, he can add another downward swing to the end of it.

Giant Haggar Press - Haggar leaps into the air and comes down in an explosive body press.

Rapid Fire Fist - Haggar delivers repeated punches to his opponent's midsection, topping it off with an enhanced version of his Violent Axe.

Trivia

Zangief from the Street Fighter series is similar to Haggar in terms of build and fighting style. In Street Fighter IV, Zangief has an alternate costume purchasable that is also Haggar's costume.
Haggar is depicted as a former Street Fighter contender and tournment winner in his original Final Fight profile. Strange enough, he has yet to appear playable in any Street Fighter game (perhaps because of the gameplay similarities with Zangief).
Haggar also appeared in the Japan-only release Capcom World 2.
A bust in Haggar's likeness awards the player who comes across it 5000 points in Captain Commando, connecting the Metro City of the past with the Metro City of the future.
In a character video for Street Fighter X Tekken, he was tag teamed by King and Marduk and supplexed into submission. He also appeared as a cameo in one of the stages from the game, where he is seen crashing through the stairs at the end of the second round and is later seen chasing Sodom around the stage on the third round.

Mike Haggar

Contents