Shadaloo (or Shadowlaw) is a drug and arms ring organization featured in the Street Fighter series.
Shadaloo's Flag
Shadaloo first appeared in Street Fighter II. Initially listed as merely "a mysterious crime organization", the game's literature mentioned little more than listing some of Shadaloo's ranks. Led by M. Bison, Shadaloo's base in Thailand (appearing to be vaguely near Bangkok) played host to the second World Warrior tournament. Also listed as Shadaloo members were the other three boss characters. In ascending order of seniority they were: Balrog, Vega, and Sagat (the end boss of Street Fighter). Initially Shadaloo's goals and scope were ambiguous at best. They appeared to be smugglers, though of what is not explained. Bison is described as "ruling his empire with an iron fist" possibly indicating that he controlled some independent territory. Each of the bosses were motivated by their own selfish desires, and accepted Bison's offer to join his rank based on wealth or opportunity. Balrog was hired as an enforcer to expand his wealth, whereas Vega was a well-paid assassin. Sagat was Bison's right-hand man and Shadaloo's second-in-command, who was motivated by revenge against Ryu. Some of the characters (specifically Chun-Li and Guile, later joined by T. Hawk and Cammy) were involved in this tournament to defeat M. Bison and Shadaloo. As more games in the series were produced, more bits of information regarding Shadaloo came to light. In Super Street Fighter II, it was divulged that Shadaloo was responsible for the massacre of T. Hawk's tribe, and that it smuggled drugs or weapons. In addition, a storyline skimping on details was introduced between Cammy and Bison, alluding to the fact that Cammy worked for Bison before her bout with amnesia.
During the Street Fighter Alpha series, Shadaloo's motives, capabilities, and scope grew tremendously. This crime organization appeared to be paramilitary with very powerful capabilities. Shadaloo bases were identified in Thailand and Brazil that seemed to contain technology and weapons sufficiently advanced to rival a medium-sized nation. Bison had control of a very large VTOL jet and employed scientists to create cyborgs, clones, mind-control rays, satellites, powerful weaponry, large-scale attack robots, and the Psycho Drive. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, a series of convoluted plots showed the downfall of at least one of Shadaloo's bases and a great weakening of Bison. Shadaloo would continue to have a large presence during the second World Warrior tournament. However, the end of that tournament resulted in the death of Bison by Akuma. Tidbits of storyline info indicate that after Bison's death, Balrog sought to replace him as the head of Shadaloo. Due to his being horribly inadequate for the leadership of such a vast empire, Chun-Li was able to systematically shut down Shadaloo operations to the point of its total collapse.